The Works of William Shakespeare, Complete

Cleo. Let it alone; let us to billiards: Come, Charmian.

Char. My arm is sore, best play with Mardian. Cleo. As well a woman with an eunuch play'd, As with a woman:-Come, you'll play with me, sir? Mar. As well as I can, madam.

Cleo. And when good will is show'd, though it come too short,

The actor may plead pardon. I'll none now:-
Give me mine angle,-We'll to the river: there,
My music playing far off, I will betray

Tawny-finn'd fishes; my bended hook shall pierce
Their slimy jaws; and, as I draw them up,
I'll think them every one an Antony,
And say, Ah! ha! you're caught.
Char.

'Twas merry, when
You wager'd on your angling; when your diver
Did hang a salt-fish on his hook, which he
With fervency drew up.

Cleo.

That time!-0 times!I laugh'd him out of patience; and that night I laugh'd him into patience; and next morn, Ere the ninth hour, I drunk him to his bed; Then put my tires and mantles on him, whilst I wore his sword Philippan. O! from Italy;

Mess.

But yet, madam

Cleo. I do not like but yet, it does allay The good precedence; fye upon but yet: But yet is as a gaoler to bring forth Some monstrous malefactor. Pr'ythee, friend, Pour out the pack of matter to mine ear, The good and bad together: He's friends with Cæsar;

In state of health, thou say'st; and, thou say'st, free. Mess. Free, madam! no; I made no such report: He's bound unto Octavia.

Cleo.

Mess. For the best turn i' the bed. Cleo.

For what good turn?

I am pale, Charmian. Mess. Madam, he's married to Octavia. Cleo. The most infectious pestilence upon thee! [Strikes him down.

Mess. Good madam, patience. Cleo. What say you?-Hence, [Strikes him again. Horrible villain! or I'll spurn thine eyes Like balls before me; I'll unhair thy head;

[She hales him up and down. Thou shalt be whipp'd with wire, and stew'd in brine,

Smarting in ling'ring pickle.

Mess.

Gracious madam,

[Exit.

Char.Good madam, keep yourself within yourself; The man is innocent.

Cleo. Some innocents 'scape not the thunderbolt.Melt Egypt into Nile! and kindly creatures Turn ail to serpents!-Call the slave again; Though I am mad, I will not bite him:-Call. Char. He is afeard to come.

Cleo. I will not hurt him:These hands do lack nobility, that they strike A meaner than myself; since I myself Have given myself the cause.-Come hither, sir. Re-enter Messenger.

Though it be honest, it is never good

To bring bad news: Give to a gracious message A host of tongues; but let ill tidings tell Themselves, when they be felt.

Mess.

Cleo. Is he married?

I have done my duty.

I cannot hate thee worser than I do, If thou again say,

Mess.

Yes.

He is married, madam.

Cleo. The gods confound thee! dost thou hold there still?

Mess. Should I lie, madam?

Cleo.

O, I would, thou didst; So half my Egypt were submerged, and made A cistern for scaled snakes! Go, get thee hence; Hadst thou Narcissus in thy face, to me Thou wouldst appear most ugly. He is married? Mess. I crave your highness' pardon. Cleo.

He is married? Mess. Take no offence, that I would not offend you:

To punish me for what you make me do,
Seems much unequal: He is married to Octavia.
Cleo. O, that his fault should make a knave of thee,
That art not!-What? thou'rt sure of't?-Get thee

Go to the fellow, good Alexas; bid him
Report the feature of Octavia, her years,
Her inclination; let him not leave out
The color of her hair:-bring me word quickly.-
[Exit ALEXAS.
Let him for ever go:-Let him not-Charmian,
Though he be painted one way like a Gorgon,
T'other way he's a Mars:-Bid you Alexas

[To MARDIAN. Bring me word, how tall she is.-Pity me, Charmian,

But do not speak to me.-Lead me to my chamber. [Exeunt.

SCENE VI.-Near Misenum. Enter POMPEY and MENAS, at one side, with Drum and Trumpet: at another, CESAR, LEPIDUS, ANTONY, ENOBARBUS, MECENAS, with Soldiers marching.

Pom. Your hostages I have, so have you mine; And we shall talk before we fight.

Cæs.

Most meet,

That first we come to words; and therefore have we
Our written purposes before us sent;
Which, if thou hast consider'd, let us know
If 'twill tie up thy discontented sword;
And carry back to Sicily much tall2 youth
That else must perish here.

Pom.
To you all three,
The senators alone of this great world,
Chief factors for the gods,-I do not know,
Wherefore my father should revengers want,
Having a son, and friends; since Julius Cæsar,
Who at Philippi the good Brutus ghosted,3
There saw you laboring for him. What was it,
That mov'd pale Cassius to conspire? And what
Made the all-honor'd, honest, Roman Brutus,
With the arm'd rest, courteous of beauteous free-
dom,

To drench the Capitol; but that they would
Have one man but a man? And that is it,
Hath made me rig my navy; at whose burden
The anger'd ocean foams; with which I meant
To scourge the ingratitude that despiteful Rome
Cast on my noble father.

Cæs.

Take your time.

Ant. Thou canst not fear us, Pompey, with thy
sails;

We'll speak with thee at sea: at land, thou know'st
How much we do o'er-count thee.

Pom.
At land, indeed,
Thou dost o'er-count me of my father's house:
But, since the cuckoo builds not for himself,
Remain in't, as thou may'st.
Lep.

Eno. At sea, I think.

Men. We have, sir.

Eno. You have done well by water.
Men. And you by land.

Eno. I will praise any man that will praise me, though it cannot be denied what I have done by

Men. Nor what I have done by water.

Be pleas'd to tell us, land.
(For this is from the present,5) how you take
The offers we have sent you.
Cæs.
There's the point.
Ant. Which do not be entreated to, but weigh
What it is worth embraced.

Cæs.

To try a larger fortune.
Pom.

And what may follow,

You have made me offer
Of Sicily, Sardinia; and I must
Rid all the sea of pirates; then, to send
Measures of wheat to Rome: This 'greed upon,
To part with unhack'd edges, and bear back
Our targe6 undinted.

Cæs. Ant. Lep. Pom.

That's our offer.

Eno. Yes, something you can deny for your own safety: you have been a great thief by sea. Men. And you by land.

Eno. There I deny my land service. But give me your hand, Menas: If our eyes had authority, here they might take two thieves kissing.

Men. All men's faces are true, whatsoe'er their hands are.

Eno. But there is never a fair woman has a true face.

Men. No slander; they steal hearts.
Eno. We came hither to fight with you.
Men. For my part, I am sorry it is turned to a
Know, then, drinking. Pompey doth this day laugh away his
fortune.

I came before you here, a man prepar'd
To take this offer: But Mark Antony
Put me to some impatience :-Though I lose
The praise of it by telling, you must know,
When Cæsar and your brothers were at blows,
Your mother came to Sicily, and did find
Her welcome friendly.
Ant.
I have heard it, Pompey;
And am well studied for a liberal thanks,
Which I do owe you.

Pom.

Let me have your hand:

I did not think, sir, to have met you here.
Ant. The beds i' the east are soft; and thanks to
you,

That call'd me, timelier than my purpose, hither,
For I have gain'd by it.
Cæs.
Since I saw you last,
There is a change upon you.
3 Haunted.

⚫ Brave.
Present subject.

• Affright.
Target, shield.

will be the very strangler of their amity; Octavia is of a holy, cold, and still conversation.

Men. Who would not have his wife so! Eno. Not he, that himself is not so; which is Mark Antony. He will to his Egyptian dish again: then shall the sighs of Octavia blow the fire up in Cæsar; and, as I said before, that which is the strength of their amity, shall prove the immediate author of their variance. Antony will use his affection where it is; he married but his occasion here. Men. And thus it may be. Come, sir, will you aboard? I have a health for you.

Eno. I shall take it, sir: we have used our throats in Egypt.

Men. Come; let's away.

[Exeunt.

SCENE VII.-On board Pompey's Galley, lying near Misenum.

Music. Enter two or three Servants, with a Banquet. 1 Serv. Here they'll be, man: Some o' their plants? are ill-rooted already; the least wind i' the world will blow them down.

2 Serv. Lepidus is high-colored.

1 Serv. They have made him drink alms-drink. 2 Serv. As they pinch one another by the disposition, he cries out, No more; reconciles them to his entreaty, and himself to the drink.

1 Serv. But it raises the greater war between

him and his discretion.

2 Serv. Why, this it is to have a name in great men's fellowship: I had as lief have a reed that will do me no service, as a partizan' I could not heave. 1 Serv. To be called into a huge sphere, and not to be seen to move in't, are the holes where eyes should be, which pitifully disaster the checks.

A Sennet sounded. Enter CESAR, ANTONY, POMPEY, LEPIDUS, AGRIPPA, MECENAS, ENOBARBUS, MENAS, with other Captains.

Ant. Thus do they, sir: [To CESAR.] They take the flow o' the Nile

By certain scales i' the pyramid; they know,
By the height, the lowness, or the mean, if dearth,
Or foison,2 follow: The higher Nilus swells,
The more it promises: as it ebbs, the seedsman
Upon the slime and ooze scatters his grain,
And shortly comes to harvest.

Lep. You have strange serpents there.
Ant. Ay, Lepidus.

Lep. Your serpent of Egypt is bred now of your mud by the operation of your sun; so is your crocodile.

Ant. They are so.

Pom. Sit, and some wine.-A health to Lepidus. Lep. I am not so well as I should be, but I'll

ne'er out.

Eno. Not till you have slept; I fear me, you'll be in, till then.

Lep. Nay, certainly, I have heard, the Ptolemies' pyramises are very goodly things; without contradiction, I have heard that. Men. Pompey, a word. Pom.

[Aside. Say in mine ear: What is't? Men. Forsake thy seat, I do beseech thee, captain, And hear me speak a word. [Aside. Pom. Forbear me till anon.This wine for Lepidus.

Lep. What manner o' thing is your crocodile? Ant. It is shaped, sir, like itself; and it is as broad as it hath breadth; it is just so high as it is, and moves with its own organs; it lives by that which nourisheth it; and the elements once out of it, it transmigrates.

Lep. What color is it of?
Ant. Of its own color too.
Lep. 'Tis a strange serpent.

Ant. "Tis so. And the tears of it are wet.
Cæs. Will this description satisfy him?

Ant. With the health that Pompey gives him, else he is a very epicure.

Pom. [To MENAS, Aside.] Go, hang, sir, hang!
Tell me of that? away.

Do as I bid you.-Where's this cup I call'd for?
Men. If for the sake of merit thou wilt hear me,
Rise from thy stool.
Pom.

[Aside.

I think, thou'rt mad. The matter? [Rises, and walks aside. Men. I have ever held my cap off to thy fortunes.

• Feet.

Pike.

Are in thy vessel: Let me cut the cable;
And, when we are put off, fall to their throats:
All there is thine.
Pom.
Ah, this thou shouldst have done,
In thee, it had been good service. Thou must know,
And not have spoken on't! In me, 'tis villany;
Mine honor, it. Repent, that e'er thy tongue
'Tis not my profit that doth lead mine honor;
Hath so betray'd thine act: Being done unknown,
I should have found it afterwards well done;
But must condemn it now. Desist, and drink.
Men. For this?

[Aside.

Who seeks, and will not take, when once 'tis offer'd,
I'll never follow thy pall'de fortunes more.-
Shall never find it more.
Pom.
This health to Lepidus.
Ant. Bear him ashore.-I'll pledge it for him,

Pompey.

Eno. Here's to thee, Menas. Men.

Enobarbus, welcome.

Pom. Fill till the cup be hid. Eno. There's a strong fellow, Menas. [Pointing to the Attendant who carries off LEPIDUS.

Men. Eno.

Why?

He bears

The third part of the world, man: Seest not? Men. The third part then is drunk: 'Would it were all,

That it might go on wheels!

Eno. Drink thou; increase the reels.

Men. Come.

It's monstrous labor when I wash my brain,
I could well forbear it.
And it grows fouler.
Ant.

Be a child o' the time. Cæs. Possess it, I'll make answer: But I had rather fast

From all, four days, than drink so much in one.
Shall we dance now the Egyptian Bacchanals,
Eno. Ha, my brave emperor! [TO ANTONY.
And celebrate our drink?

Pom.
Let's ha't, good soldier.
Ant. Come, let us all take hands;
Till that the conquering wine hath steep'd our sense
In soft and delicate Lethe.

⚫ Plenty.

• Cloyed.

• Confederates.

Eyes.

Understand. • Burden, chorus.

Whilst yet with Parthian blood thy sword is warm,
The fugitive Parthians follow; spur through Media,
Mesopotamia, and the shelters whither
The routed fly: so thy grand captain Antony
Shall set thee on triumphant chariots, and
Put garlands on thy head.

O Silius, Silius,

Ven. I have done enough: A lower place, note well, May make too great an act: For learn this, Silius; Better leave undone, than by our deed acquire Too high a fame, when him we serve's away. Cæsar and Antony have ever won More in their officer, than person: Sossius, One of my place in Syria, his lieutenant, For quick accumulation of renown,

Which he achiev'd by the minute, lost his favor:
Who does i' the wars more than his captain can,
Becomes his captain's captain; and ambition,
The soldier's virtue, rather makes choice of loss,
Than gain, which darkens him.

I could do more to do Antonius good,
But 'twould offend him; and in his offence
Should my performance perish.

Sil.

Thou hast, Ventidius, That without which a soldier, and his sword, Grants scarce distinction. Thou wilt write to Antony?

Ven. I'll humbly signify what in his name, That magical word of war, we have effected; How, with his banners, and his well-paid ranks, The ne'er-yet-beaten horse of Parthia We have jaded out o' the field. Sil. Where is he now? Ven. He purposeth to Athens: whither with what haste

The weight we must convey with us will permit, We shall appear before him.-On, there; pass along. [Exeunt. SCENE II.-Rome. An Ante-chamber in Cæsar's House.

Enter AGRIPPA and ENOBARBUS, meeting. Agr. What, are the brothers parted?

Eno. They have despatch'd with Pompey, he is

gone;

The other three are sealing. Octavia weeps
To part from Rome; Cæsar is sad; and Lepidus,
Since Pompey's feast, as Menas says, is troubled
With the green-sickness.
Agr.

'Tis a noble Lepidus. Eno. A very fine one: 0, how he loves Cæsar! Agr. Nay, but how dearly he adores Mark Antony!

Eno. Cæsar, why he's the Jupiter of men.
Agr. What's Antony! The god of Jupiter.
Pucorus was the son of Orodes, king of Parthia.

Eno. Spake you of Cæsar? How? the nonpareil!
Agr. O Antony! O thou Arabian bird!2
Eno. Would you praise Cæsar, say,-Cæsar;-

go no further.

Agr. Indeed, he ply'd them both with excellent praises.

Eno. But he loves Cæsar best;-Yet he loves Antony:

Ho! hearts, tongues, figures, scribes, bards, poets,

cannot

Think, speak, cast, write, sing, number, ho, his love
To Antony. But as for Cæsar,
Kneel down, kneel down, and wonder.
Agr.

Both he loves.
Eno. They are his shards,3 and he their beetle.
So.-
[Trumpets.

This is to horse.-Adieu, noble Agrippa.
Agr. Good fortune, worthy soldier; and farewell.
Enter CESAR, ANTONY, LEPIDUS, and OCTAVIA.
Ant. No further, sir.

Cæs. You take from me a great part of myself;
Use me well in it.-Sister, prove such a wife
As my thoughts make thee, and as my furthest band4
Shall pass on thy approof.-Most noble Antony,
Let not the piece of virtue, which is set
Betwixt us, as the cement of our love,
To keep it builded, be the ram, to batter
The fortress of it: for better might we
Have loved without this mean, if on both parts
This be not cherish'd.

Ant.

In your distrust. Cæs.

Ant.

Make me not offended

I have said.

You shall not find, Though you be therein curious, the least cause For what you seem to fear: So, the gods keep you, And make the hearts of Romans serve your ends! We will here part.

Cæs. Farewell, my dearest sister, fare thee well; The elements be kind to thee, and make Thy spirits all of comfort! fare thee well. Octa. My noble brother!

Ant. The April's in her eyes: It is love's spring, And these the showers to bring it on.-Be cheerful. Octa. Sir, look well to my husband's house; andCæs. What, Octavia?

Octa. I'll tell you in your ear

Ant. Her tongue will not obey her heart, nor can Her heart inform her tongue: the swan's down feather,

That stands upon the swell at full of tide,
And neither way inclines.
Eno. Will Cæsar weep? [Aside to AGRippa.
Agr.
He has a cloud in's face.
Eno. He were the worse for that, were he a horse;
So is he, being a man.
Agr.
Why, Enobarbus?
When Antony found Julius Cæsar dead,
He cried almost to roaring; and he wept,
When at Philippi he found Brutus slain.
Eno. That year, indeed, he was troubled with a
rheum;

What willingly he did confound,7 he wail'd:
Believe it, till I weep too.

The phoenix.

Octavia.

Mess. Most gracious majesty,—
Cleo.

Octavia?

Mess. Ay, dread queen.

Cleo.

Mess.

Didst thou behold

Where?

Cleo. I have one thing more to ask him yet,
good Charmian:

But 'tis no matter: thou shalt bring him to me
Where I will write: All may be well enough.
Char. I warrant you, madam.
[Exeunt.

SCENE IV. Athens. A Room in Antony's House.
Enter ANTONY and OCTAVIA.

Ant. Nay, nay, Octavia; not only that.-
That were excusable, that, and thousands more
Of semblable import,-but he hath waged
New wars 'gainst Pompey; made his will, and read it
To public ear:

Spoke scantly of me: when perforce he could not
But pay me terms of honor, cold and sickly

He vented them; most narrow measure lent me :
When the best hint was given him, he not took't,
Or did it from his teeth."

Octa.
O my good lord,
Believe not all; or, if you must believe,
Stomach2 not all. A more unhappy lady,
If this division chance, ne'er stood between,
Praying for both parts:

And the good gods will mock me presently,
When I shall pray, 0, bless my lord and husband!
Undo that prayer, by crying out as loud,

O, bless my brother! Husband win, win brother,
Prays, and destroys the prayer; no midway
'Twixt these extremes at all.

Ant.

Gentle Octavia,
Let your best love draw to that point, which seeks
Best to preserve it: If I lose mine honor,
I lose myself: better I were not yours,
Madam, in Rome Than yours so branchless. But, as you requested,
Yourselfshall go between us: The mean time, lady,
I'll raise the preparation of a war

I look'd her in the face, and saw her led
Between her brother and Mark Antony.
Cleo. Is she as tall as me?
Mess.
She is not, madam.
Cleo. Didst hear her speak? Is she shrill-tongued,
or low?

Mess. Madam, I heard her speak; she is low-
voiced.

Cleo. That's not so good:-He cannot like her long.

Char. Like her! O Isis! 'tis impossible.

Shall stain3 your brother: Make your soonest haste;
So your desires are yours.
Ócta.
Thanks to my lord.
The Jove of power make me, most weak, most weak,
Your reconciler! Wars 'twixt you twain would be
As if the world should cleave, and that slain men
Should solder up the rift.

Ant. When it appears to you where this begins,
Turn your displeasure that way; for our faults

Cleo. I think so, Charmian: Dull of tongue, and Can never be so equal, that your love

dwarfish!

There is gold for thee.

Mess. Round even to faultiness.
Cleo.
For the most part too,
They are foolish that are so.-Her hair, what color?
Mess. Brown, madam: And her forehead is as
low
As she would wish it.
Cleo.
Thou must not take my former sharpness ill:-
I will employ thee back again; I find thee
Most fit for business: Go, make thee ready;
Our letters are prepared. [Exit Messenger.
Char.
A proper man.
Cleo. Indeed, he is so: I repent me much,
That so I harry'd him. Why, methinks, by him,
This creature's no such thing.
O, nothing, madam.

Char.

Cleo. The man hath seen some majesty, and should know.

Char. Hath he seen majesty? Isis else defend, And serving you so long!

Can equally move with them. Provide your going;
Choose your own company, and command what cost
Your heart has mind to.
[Exeunt.

SCENE V.-Another Room in the same.

Enter ENOBARBUS and EROS, meeting.

Eno. How now, friend Eros?

Eros. There's strange news come, sir.
Eno. What, man?

Eros. Cæsar and Lepidus have made wars upon
Pompey.

Eno. This is old: What is the success ?4

Eros. Cæsar, having made use of him in the wars 'gainst Pompey, presently denied him rivality would not let him partake in the glory of the action and not resting here, accuses him of letters he had formerly wrote to Pompey; upon his own appeal, seizes him: So the poor third is up, till death enlarge his confine.

Eno. Then, world, thou hast a pair of chaps, no

The rush that lies before him; cries Fool, Lepidus!

And threats the throat of that his officer,
That murder'd Pompey.

Eno.
Eros. For Italy, and Cæsar. More, Domitius
My lord desires you presently: my news

Our great navy's rigged.

I might have told hereafter.
Eno.
'Twill be naught
But let it be.-Bring me to Antony.
Eros. Come, sir.

[Exerent.

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