Ah, let be, let be! thou art The armorer of my heart:-False, false; this, this. Cleo. Sooth, la, I'll help: Thus it must be.

Ant.

Well, well; We shall thrive now.-Seest thou, my good fellow? Go, put on thy defences. Eros.

Briefly, sir. Cleo. Is not this buckled well? Ant, Rarely; rarely: He that unbuckles this, till we do please To doff'ts for our repose, shall hear a storm.Thou fumblest, Eros; and my queen's a squire More tight at this than thou: Despatch.-O love, That thou couldst see my wars to-day, and knew'st The royal occupation! thou shouldst see

Enter an Officer, armed.

A workman in't. -Good-morrow to thee; wel

come;

Thou look'st like him that knows a warlike charge:
To business that we love, we rise betime,
And go to it with delight.

1 Off.

A thousand, sir,

Early though it be, have on their riveted trim,
And at the port expect you.

[Shout. Trumpets. Flourish.

Enter other Officers and Soldiers.

2 Off. The morn is fair.-Good-morrow, general. All. Good-morrow, general. Ant.

'Tis well blown, lads. This morning, like the spirit of a youth That means to be of note, begins betimes.So, so; come, give me that: this way, well said. Fare thee well, dame, whate'er becomes of me: This is a soldier's kiss: rebukable [Kisses her. And worthy shameful check it were, to stand On more mechanic compliment; I'll leave thee, Now, like a man of steel.-You that will fight, Follow me close; I'll bring you to't.-Adieu. [Exeunt ANTONY, EROS, Officers, and

Soldiers.

Char. Please you, retire to your chamber! Cleo. Lead me. He goes forth gallantly. That he and Cæsar might Determine this great war in single fight! Then, Antony,-But now,-Well, on. [Exeunt.

SCENE V.-Antony's Camp near Alexandria. Trumpets sound. Enter ANTONY and EROS; a Soldier meeting them.

Sold. The gods make this a happy day to Antony. Ant. 'Would, thou and those thy scars had once prevail'd

To make me fight at land!

Sold. Hadst thou done so, The kings that have revolted, and the soldier That has this morning left thee, would have still Follow'd thy heels.

Ant.

Sold.

One ever near thee: Call for Enobarbus,
He shall not hear thee; or from Cæsar's camp

SCENE VI.-Cæsar's Camp before Alexandria. Flourish. Enter CESAR, with AGRIPPA, ENOBARBUS, and others.

Cæs. Go forth, Agrippa, and begin the fight: Our will is, Antony be took alive;

Make it so known.

Agr. Cæsar, I shall. [Exit AGRIPPA. Cas. The time of universal peace is near: Prove this a prosperous day, the three-nook'd world Shall bear the olive freely.

Mess.

Enter a Messenger.

Is come into the field.

Cæs.

Antony

Go, charge Agrippa Plant those that have revolted in the van, That Antony may seem to spend his fury Upon himselt. [Exeunt CESAR and his Train. Eno. Alexas did revolt; and went to Jewry, On affairs of Antony: there did persuade Great Herod to incline himself to Cæsar, And leave his master Antony: for this pains, Cæsar hath hang'd him. Canidius, and the rest That fell away, have entertainment, but No honorable trust. I have done ill; Of which I do accuse myself so sorely, That I will joy no more.

Mock me not, Enobarbus.
I tell you true: Best that you safed the bringer
Out of the host; I must attend mine office,
Or would have done't myself. Your emperor
Continues still a Jove.
[Exit Soldier.
Eno. I am alone the villain of the earth,
And feel I am so most. O Antony,
Thou mine of bounty, how wouldst thou have paid
My better service, when my turpitude
Thou dost so crown with gold! This blows y
heart:

If swift thought break it not, a swifter mean
Shall outstrike thought: but thought wilt do't,I feel.
I fight against thee!-No: I will go seek
Some ditch, wherein to die: the foul'st best fits

serves

For a fair victory.

Scar.

Enter EROS.

beaten, sir; and our advantage

Let us score their backs, And snatch 'em up, as we take hares, behind; 'Tis sport to maul a runner.

Ant.
Once for thy spritely comfort, and ten-fold
For thy good valor.

Scar.

I will reward thee

Come thee on.

I'll halt after. [Exeunt. SCENE VIII.-Under the Walls of Alexandria. Alarum. Enter ANTONY, marching; SCARUS and

Forces.

For doughty3-handed are you; and have fought
Not as you serv'd the cause, but as it had been
Each man's like mine; you have shown yourselves
all Hectors.

Enter the city, clip your wives, your friends,
Tell them your feats; whilst they with joyful tears
Wash the congealment from your wounds, and kiss
The honor'd gashes whole.-Give me thy hand;
[To SCARUS.
Enter CLEOPATRA, attended.
To this great fairy5 I'll commend thy acts.
Make her thanks bless thee.-0 thou day o' the
world,

Chain mine arm'd neck; leap thou, attire and all,
Through proof of harness to my heart, and there
Ride on the pants triumphing.

Cleo.

Lord of lords!

O infinite virtue! com'st thou smiling from
The world's great snare uncaught?
Ant.

My nightingale, We have beat them to their beds. What, girl? though grey

Do something mingle with our brown; yet have we
A brain that nourishes our nerves, and can
Get goal for goal of youth. Behold this man;
Commend unto his lips thy favoring hand:-
Kiss it, my warrior:-He hath fought to-day,
As if a god, in hate of mankind, had
Destroy'd in such a shape.
Cleo.

I'll give thee, friend, An armor all of gold; it was a king's.

Ant. He has deserv'd it, were it carbuncled Like holy Phoebus' car.-Give me thy hand; Through Alexandria make a jolly march;

Bear our hack'd targets like the men that owe them.

Had our great palace the capacity

To camp this host, we all would sup together;
And drink carouses to the next day's fate,
Which promises royal peril.-Trumpeters,
With brazen din blast you the city's ear;
Make mingle with our rattling tambourines;
That heaven and earth may strike their sounds to-
gether,

Applauding our approach.

SCENE IX. Cæsar's Camp.

[Exeunt.

Eno. O sovereign mistress of true melancholy, The poisonous damp of night disponge upon me: That life, a very rebel to my will,

May hang no longer on me: Throw my heart
Against the flint and hardness of my fault;
Which, being dried with grief, will break to powder,
And finish all foul thoughts. O Antony,
Nobler than my revolt is infamous,
Forgive me in thine own particular;
But let the world rank me in register
A master-leaver, and a fugitive:

O Antony! O Antony!

2 Sold.

To him.

Let's speak

hath raughts him. [Drums afar off. Let us bear him

1 Sold. The hand of death
Hark, the drums
Demurely wake the sleepers.
To the court of guard: he is of note: our hour
Is fully out.

3 Sold. Come on, then; He may recover yet.

[Exeunt with the Body. SCENE X.-Between the two Camps. Enter ANTONY and SCARUS, with Forces, marching.

Ant. Their preparation is to-day by sea; We please them not by land.

Scar. For both, my lord Ant. I would, they'd fight i' the fire, or in the air, We'd fight there too. But this it is; our foot Upon the hills adjoining to the city, Shall stay with us: order for sea is given; They have put forth the haven: Further on, Where their appointment we may best discover, And look on their endeavor. [Exeunt.

Enter CAESAR and his Forces, marching. Cæs. But being charged, we will be still by land, Which, as I take't, we shall; for his best force Is forth to man his galleys. To the vales, And hold our best advantage.

Re-enter ANTONY and SCARUS.

[Exeunt.

Alarum afar off, as at a Sea-Fight.
Re-enter ANTONY.

All is lost;
This foul Egyptian hath betray'd me:
My fleet hath yielded to the foe; and yonder
They cast their caps up, and carouse together
Like friends long iost.-Triple-turn'd whore!! 'tis

thou

Hast sold me to this novice; and my heart
Makes only wars on thee.-Bid them all fly;
For when I am revenged upon my charm,
I have done all :-Bid them all fly, be gone.
[Exit SCARUS.

sun, thy uprise shall I see no more:
Fortune and Antony part here; even here
Do we shake hands.-All come to this?-The hearts
That spaniel'd me at heels, to whom I gave
Their wishes, do discandy, melt their sweets
On blossoming Cæsar; and this pine is bark'd,
That over-topp'd them all. Betray'd I am:
O this false soul of Egypt! this grave charm,
Whose eye beck'd forth my wars, and call'd them

home;

Whose bosom was my crownet,2 my chief end,
Like a right gipsy, hath, at fast and loose,2
Beguil'd me to the very heart of loss.-
What, Eros, Eros!

Enter CLEOPatra.

1 Sold. Let's hear him, for the things he speaks May concern Cæsar. 3 Solt.

Let's do so. But he sleeps.

1 Sold. Swoons rather; for so bad a prayer as his Was never yet for sleeping.

2 Sold.

Go we to him.

3 Sold. Awake, awake, sir; speak to us. 2 Sold.

• Brave.

• Embrace.

• Reached.

2 Finish.

A cheating game, at present named pricking at the belt. For the smallest piece of money.

The shirt of Nessus is upon me: Teach me,
Alcides, thou mine ancestor, thy rage:
Let me lodge Lichas on the horns o' the moon;
And with those hands that grasp'd the heaviest club,
Subdue my worthiest self. The witch shall die;
To the Roman boy she hath sold me, and I fall
Under this plot: She dies for't.-Eros, ho! [Exit.
SCENE XI.-Alexandria. A Room in the Palace.
Enter CLEOPATRA, CHARMIAN, IRAS, and MARDIAN.
Cleo. Help me, my women! O, he is more mad
Than Telamon for his shield; the boar of Thessaly
Was never so emboss'd.7

It does, my lord.

Ant. My good knave, Eros, now thy captain is
Even such a body: here I am Antony;
Yet cannot hold this visible shape, my knave.
I made these wars for Egypt; and the queen,-
Whose heart, I thought, I had, for she had mine;
Which, whilst it was mine, had annex'd unto't
A million more, now lost,-she, Eros, has
Pack'd cards with Cæsar, and false play'd my glory
Unto an enemy's triumph.-

Nay, weep not, gentle Eros; there is left us
Ourselves to end ourselves.-O, thy vile lady!
Enter MARDIAN.

She has robbed me of my sword.

Mar. No, Antony: My mistress lov'd thee, and her fortunes mingled With thine entirely.

Ant.

Hence, saucy eunuch; peace: She hath betray'd me, and shall die the death. Mar. Death of one person can be paid but once; And that she has discharged: What thou wouldst do, Is done unto thy hand: the last she spake

Was, Antony! most noble Antony!

Then in the midst a tearing groan did break
The name of Antony: it was divided
Between her heart and lips: she render'd life,
Thy name so buried in her.
Ant.

Mar.

Dead then?

Dead.

Ant. Eros, unarm; the long day's task is done, And we must sleep:-That thou depart'st hence safe,

Does pay thy labor richly: Go.-Off, pluck off';-
[Exit MARDIAN.
The seven-fold shield of Ajax cannot keep
The battery from my heart. O, cleave, my sides!
Heart, once be stronger than thy continent,9
Crack thy frail case!-Apace, Eros, apace.-
No more a soldier:-Bruised pieces, go;
You have been nobly borne.-From me a while.
[Exit EROS.

I will o'ertake thee, Cleopatra, and
The boy that brought the poisoned shirt to Hercules.
Ajax Telamon for the shield of Achilles.
Foaming at the mouth.

i. e. The thing that contains thee.

The fleeting clouds.

Weep for my pardon. So it must be, for now
All length is torture:-Since the torch is out,
Lie down, and stray no further: Now all labor
Mars what it does; yea, very force entangles
Itself with strength: Seal then, and all is done.-
Eros! I come, my queen:-Eros! Stay for me:
Where souls do couch on flowers, we'll hand in
hand,

And with our sprightly port make the ghosts gaze:
Dido and her Æneas shall want troops,
And all the haunt be ours.-Come, Eros, Eros!
Re-enter EROS.

Eros. What would my lord?
Ant.
Since Cleopatra died,
I have liv'd in such dishonor, that the gods
Detest my baseness. I, that with my sword
Quarter'd the world, and o'er green Neptune's back
With ships made cities, condemn myself, to lack
The courage of a woman; less noble mind
Than she, which, by her death, our Cæsar tells,
I am conqueror of myself. Thou art sworn, Eros,
That, when the exigent should come, (which now
Is come, indeed,) when I should see behind me
The inevitable prosecution of

Disgrace and horror, that, on my command,
Thou then wouldst kill me: do't; the time is

The thing why thou hast drawn it.
Eros.

My dear master,
My captain, and my emperor! let me say,
Before I strike this bloody stroke, Farewell.
Ant. 'Tis said, man;-and farewell.
Eros. Farewell, great chief. Shall I strike now?
Ant.
Now, Eros.
Eros. Why, there then :- [Falls on his sword.
Thus do I escape the sorrow
Of Antony's death.
Ant.
Thrice nobler than myself!
Thou teachest me, O valiant Eros, what

[Dies.

I should, and thou couldst not. My queen and

Eros

Have, by their brave instruction, got upon me
A nobleness in record: But I will be
A bridegroom in my death, and run into't
As to a lover's bed. Come then; and, Eros,
Thy master dies thy scholar; to do thus
[Falling on his sword.
I learn'd of thee. How! not yet dead? not dead?-
The guard!-ho!-O, despatch me.

Enter DERCETAS and Guard.
What's the noise?
Ant. I have done my work ill, friends: 0, make

1 Guard.

an end

Most absolute lord, My mistress Cleopatra sent me to thee. Ant. When did she send thee? Dio.

Ant.

Now, my lord.

Where is she? Dio. Lock'd in her monument. She had a prophesying fear

Of what hath come to pass: for when she saw
(Which never shall be found) you did suspect
She had dispos'd with Cæsar, and that your rage
Would not be purg'd, she sent you word she was
dead;

But, fearing since how it might work, hath sent
Me to proclaim the truth; and I am come,
I dread, too late.

Ant. Too late, good Diomed:-Call my guard, I pr'ythee.

Dio. What ho! the emperor's guard! guard, what ho!

Come, your lord calls.

Enter some of the Guard.

The

Ant. Bear me, good friends, where Cleopatra

bides:

fate

To grace it with your sorrows: bid that welcome
Which comes to punish us, and we punish it,
Seeming to bear it lightly. Take me up:
I have led you oft; carry me now, good friends,
And have my thanks for all.

[Exeunt, bearing ANTONY.

SCENE XIII.-A Monument.
Enter above, CLEOPATRA, CHARMIAN, and IRAS.
Cleo. O Charmian, I will never go from hence.
Char. Be comforted, dear madam.
Cleo.
No, I will not:
All strange and terrible events are welcome,
But comforts we despise; our size of sorrow,
Proportion'd to our cause, must be as great
Enter DIOMEDES.

As that which makes it.-How now? Is he dead?
Dio. His death's upon him, but not dead.
Look out o' the other side your monument,
His guard have brought him thither.

Enter ANTONY, borne by the Guard.
Cleo.
O thou sun,
Burn the great sphere thou mov'st in!-darkling
stand

The varying shore o' the world!-0 Antony!
Antony, Antony!-Charmian, help; help, Iras;
Help, friends below: Let's draw him hither.
Ant.
Not Cæsar s valor hath o'erthrown Antony,
But Antony's hath triumph'd on itself.

Peace:

Cleo. So it should be, that none but Antony
Should conquer Antony; but woe 'tis so!
Ant. I am dying, Egypt, dying; only
I here importune death awhile, until
Of many thousand kisses the poor last
I lay upon thy lips.-

Cleo.
I dare not, dear,
(Dear my lord, pardon,) I dare not,
Lest I be taken not the imperious show
Of the full-fortuned Cæsar ever shall

Be brooch'd3 with me; if knife, drugs, serpents,

have

Edge, sting, or operation, I am safe:
Your wife Octavia, with her modest eyes,
And still conclusion,4 shall acquire no honor
Demuring upon me.-But come, come, Antony,-
Help me, my women,-we must draw thee up;-
Assist, good friends.
O, quick, or I am gone.

Ant.

Cleo. Here s sport indeed!-How heavy weighs my lord!

Our strength is all gone into heaviness,
That makes the weight: Had I great Juno's power,
The strong-wing'd Mercury should fetch thee up,
And set thee by Jove's side. Yet come a little,-
Wishers were ever fools;-0. come, come, come;
[They draw ANTONY up.
And welcome, welcome! die,where thou hast liv'd:
Quicken with kissing; had my lips that power,
Thus would I wear them out.

All.

A heavy sight!
Ant. I am dying, Egypt, dying:
Give me some wine, and let me speak a little.

Cleo. No, let me speak; and let me rail so high, That the false housewife Fortune break her wheel, Provoked by my offence.

Ant.

One word, sweet queen:

Of Cæsar, seek your honor, with your safety.-O!
Cleo. They do not go together.
Ant.

Gentle, hear me:
None about Cæsar trust, but Proculeius.
Cleo. My resolution, and my hands, I'll trust:
None about Cæsar.

Ant. The miserable change now at my end, Lament nor sorrow at: but please your thoughts, In feeding them with those my former fortunes Wherein I liv'd, the greatest prince o' the world, The noblest: and do now not basely die, Nor cowardly; put off my helmet to Valiantly vanquish'd. Now, my spirit is going; My countryman, a Roman, by a Roman [Dies.

I can no more. Cleo.

Noblest of men, woo't die!
Hast thou no care of me? Shall I abide
In this dull world, which in thy absence is
No better than a stye -0. see, my women,
The crown o' the earth doth melt:-My lord!-
O, wither'd is the garland of the war,

The soldier's pole is fallen; young boys, and girls,
Are level now with men; the odds is gone,
And there is nothing left remarkable
Beneath the visiting moon.

Chur.

[She faints O quietness, lady! Iras. She is dead too, our sovereign. Char. Iras.

Char. O madam, madam, madam!

Lady,Madam,

Royal Egypt!

Iras. Empress! Char. Cleo. No more, but e'en a woman; and commanded

Peace, peace, Iras.

By such poor passion as the maid that milks,
And does the meanest chares.6-It were for me
To throw my sceptre at the injurious gods;
To tell them that this world did equal theirs,
Till they had stolen our jewel. All's but naught;
Patience is sottish; and impatience does
Become a dog that's mad: Then is it sin,
To rush into the secret house of death,
Ere death dare come to us?-How do you, women?
What, what? good cheer! Why, how now, Char-
mian?

My noble girls!-Ah, women, women, look!
Our lamp is spent, it's out:-Good sirs, take
heart:-
[To the Guard below.
We'll bury him: and then what's brave, what's
noble,

Let's do it after the high Roman fashion,
And make death proud to take us. Come away:
This case of that huge spirit now is cold.
Ah, women, women! come; we have no friend
But resolution, and the briefest end.

SCENE I-Cæsar's Camp before Alexandria. Enter CESAR, AGRIPPA, DOLABELLA, MECENAS, GALLUS, PROCULEIUS, and others.

Cæs. Go to him, Dolabella, bid him yield; Being so frustrate, tell him, he mocks us by The pauses that he makes.

Dol.

Cæsar, I shall. [Exit DOLABELLA. Enter DERCETAS, with the Sword of ANTONY. Cæs. Wherefore is that? and what art thou, that dar'st Appear thus to us?

Der. I am call'd Dercetas ; Mark Antony I serv'd, who best was worthy Best to be serv'd: whilst he stood up and spoke, He was my master; and I wore my life, To spend upon his haters: If thou please To take me to thee, as I was to him

I'll be to Cæsar; if thou pleasest not,

I yield thee up my life.
Cæs.

What is't thou say'st?

Der. I say, O Cæsar, Antony is dead. Cæs. The breaking of so great a thing should make A greater crack: The round world should have shook Lions into civil streets,

And citizens to their dens.-The death of Antony Is not a single doom; in the name lay

A moiety of the world.

Der.

He is dead, Cæsar;

Not by a public minister of justice,
Nor by a hired knife; but that self hand,
Which writ his honor in the acts it did,
Hath, with the courage which the heart did lend it,
Splitted the heart.-This is his sword;

I robb'd his wound of it; behold it stain'd
With his most noble blood.

Cæs.
Look you sad, friends?
The gods rebuke me, but it is a tidings
To wash the eyes of kings.
Agr.

And strange it is,
That nature must compel us to lament
Our most persisted deeds.

Mec.

Waged equal with him.

His taints and honors

Agr. A rarer spirit never Did steer humanity: but you, gods, will give us Some faults to make us men. Cæsar is touch'd. Mec. When such a spacious mirror's set before him,

He needs must see himself.

Cæs.

O Antony!

I have follow'd thee to this:-But we do lance
Diseases in our bodies: I must perforce
Have shown to thee such a declining day,
Or look on thine; we could not stall together
In the whole world: but yet let me lament,
With tears as sovereign as the blood of hearts,
That thou, my brother, my competitor
In top of all design, my mate in empire,
Friend and companion in the front of war,
The arm of mine own body, and the heart
Where mine his thoughts did kindle,-that our

Cæs. Come hither, Proculeius: Go, and say, The quality of her passion shall require; We purpose her no shame: give her what comforts Lest, in her greatness, by some mortal stroke She do defeat us: for her life in Rome Would be eternal in our triumph: Go, And, with your speediest, bring us what she says, And how you find of her.

Pro. Cæsar, I shall. [Exit PROCULEIUS. Cæs. Gallus, go you along.-Where's Dolabella, To second Proculeius? [Exit GALLUS.

Agr. Mec.

Dolabella!

Cæs. Let him alone, for I remember now How he's employed; he shall in time be ready. Go with me to my tent; where you shall see How hardly I was drawn into this war; How calm and gentle I proceeded still In all my writings: Go with me and see What I can show in this.

[Exeunt.

SCENE II.-Alexandria. A Room in the
Monument.

Enter CLEOPATRA, CHARMIAN, and IRAS.
Cleo. My desolation does begin to make
A better life: 'Tis paltry to be Cæsar;
Not being fortune, he's but fortune's knave,8
A minister of her will; And it is great
To do that thing that ends all other deeds;
Which shackles accidents, and bolts up change;
Which sleeps, and never palates more the dung,
The beggar's nurse and Cæsar's.

Enter, to the Gates of the Monument, PROCULEIUS, GALLUS, and Soldiers.

Pro. Cæsar sends greeting to the queen of Egypt;
And bids thee study on what fair demands
Thou mean'st to have him grant thee.
Cleo. [Within.].

Pro. My name is Proculeius.
Cleo. [Within.]

What's thy name?

Antony

Did tell me of you, bade me trust you; but
I do not greatly care to be deceiv'd,

That have no use for trusting. If your master
Would have a queen his beggar, you must tell him,
That majesty, to keep decorum, must

No less beg than a kingdom: if he please
To give me conquer'd Egypt for my son,
He gives me so much of mine own, as I
Will kneel to him with thanks.

Pro.
Be of good cheer,
You are fallen into a princely hand, fear nothing:
Make your full reference freely to my lord,
Who is so full of grace, that it flows over
On all that need: Let me report to him
Your sweet dependency; and you shall find
A conqueror, that will pray in aid for kindness,
Where he for grace is kneel'd to.

Pro.

This I'll report, dear lady. Have comfort; for I know, your plight is pitied Of him that caus'd it.

Gal. You see how easily she may be surpris'a; [Here PROCULEIUS, and two of the Guard ascend the Monument by a Ladder plowed against a Window, and having descended come behind CLEOPATRA. Some of the Guard unbar and open the Gates. Guard her till Cæsar come.

[To PROCULEIUS and the Guard. Exit GALLUS.

Iras. Royal queen!

Char. O Cleopatra! thou art taken, queen!Cleo. Quick, quick, good hands.

Pro.

[Drawing a Dagger.

Hold, worthy lady, hold: [Seizes and disarms her. Do not yourself such wrong, who are in this

Its.

• Servant.