Ant. Unarm, Eros; the long day's task is done,
And we must fleep:--That thou depart'st hence safe,
Does pay thy labour richly; Go.-Off, pluck off ;—
[Exit Mardian.

The feven-fold fhield of Ajax cannot keep
The battery from my heart. O, cleave, my fides!
Heart, once be stronger than thy continent 2,
Crack thy frail cafe !-Apace, Eros, apace.-
No more a foldier:-Bruifed pieces, go;
You have been nobly borne.-From me a while.

[Exit Eros.

5

With ships made cities, condemn myself, to lack
The courage of a woman, less noble mind
Than fhe, which, by her death, our Cæfar tells,
I am conqueror of myself. Thou art fworn, Eros,
That, when the exigent should come, (which now
Is come, indeed) when I should fee behind me
The inevitable profecution of

Difgrace and horror, that, on my command,
Thou then would'ft kill me : do 't, the time is come:
10 Thou ftrik'ft not me, 'tis Cæfar thou defeat'st.
Put colour in thy cheek.

1301

351

40

I will o'ertake thee, Cleopatra, and
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 labour
Marrs what it does; yea, very force entangles
Itfelf with ftrength: Seal then 3, and all is done.—
Eros!-I come, my queen :—Eros !—Stay for me:
Where fouls do couch on flowers, we'll hand in hand, 45
And with our fprightly port make the ghosts gaze;
Dido and her Æneas fhall want troops,
And all the haunt be ours.-Come, Eros, Eros!
Re-enter Eros.

Eros. What would my lord?

Aut. Since Cleopatra dy'd,

I have liv'd in fuch dishonour, that the gods
Deteft my baseness. I, that with my sword
Quarter'd the world, and o'er green Neptune's back

Eras. I would not fee 't.

[cur'd.

Ant. Come then; for with a wound I must be Draw that thy honest sword, which thou haft worn Moft ufeful for thy country.

Eros. O, fir, pardon me.

[then

Ant. Thrice nobler than myself!

Thou teacheft me, O valiant Eros, what

I fhould, and thou could'ft not. My queen and Eros
Have, by their brave inftruction, got upon me

50 A noblenefs 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 mafter dies thy fcholar; to do thus

[Falling on bis faword.

Shakspeare has here (Dr. Warburton fays), as ufual, taken his metaphor from a low trivial subject; but has ennobled it with much art, by fo contriving that the principal term in the fubject from whence the metaphor was taken, fhould belong to, and fuit the dignity of, the fubject to which the metaphor is transferred; thereby providing at once for the integrity of the figure, and the nobleness of the thought; and this by the word triumph, which either fignifics Octavius's conqueft, or what we now call, contractedly, the trump at cards, then called the triumph or the triumphing fort. 2 i. e. the thing that contains thee. 3 Dr. Johnson thinks we should read, "Seel then, and all is done :” i. e. Clofe thine eyes for ever, and be quiet. To feel barks is to close their eyes. 4 Arms folded in each 6 Gerrigible for corrected, and afterwards penetrative for penetrating.

other. 5

the authority.

Worship is the dignity

I learn'd

Of what I have begun.

2 Guard. The ftar is fallen.

1 Guard. And time is at his period.

All. Alas, and woe!

Ant. Let him that loves me, ftrike me dead.

1 Guard. Not I.

2 Guard. Nor I.

3 Guard. Nor any one.

[Exeunt.

Der. Thy death and fortunes bid thy followers fly.

Cleo. No, I will not :

All strange and terrible events are welcome,
But comforts we defpife; our fize of forrow,

10 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 fide your monument,

This sword but fhewn to Cæfar, with this tidings, 15 His guard have brought him thither.
Shall enter me with him.

Enter Diomedes.

Dio. Where's Antony?

Der. There, Diomed, there.

Dio. Lives he? Wilt thou not anfwer, man ?
[Exit Dercetas.
Ant. Art thou there, Diomed? Draw thy
fword, and give me

Sufficing ftrokes for death.

Dio. Moft abfolute lord,

My mistress Cleopatra fent me to thee.
Ant. When did the fend thee?

Dio. Now, my lord.

Ant. Where is the?

[phefying fear

Enter Antony, borne by the guard.

Cleo. O fun,
[ftand
Burn the great sphere thou mov'st in ;-darkling
The varying fhore o' the world 3 !-O Antony !
20 Antony, Antony !

Help, Charmian, help; Iras, help; help, friends
Below; let's draw him hither.

Ant. Peace:

Not Cæfar's valour hath o'erthrown Antony, 25 But Antony's hath triumph'd on itself.

Dio. Lock'd in her monument. She had a pro-30
Of what hath come to pafs: for when she saw
(Which never fhall be found) you did suspect

She had difpos'd1 with Cæfar, and that your rage
Would not be purg'd, the fent you word she was

dead;

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

I pr'ythee.

I

Cleo. So it fhould be, that none but Antony
Should conquer Antony; but woe 'tis fo!
Ant. I am dying, Egypt, dying; only

I here importune death a while, until
Of many thousand kiffes the poor last
lay upon thy lips.-

Cleo. I dare not,

[have

Dear, dear, my lord, pardon; I dare not,
Left I be taken: not the imperious fhew
35 Of the full-fortun'd Cæfar ever shall
Be brooch'd with me 4; if knife, drugs, ferpents,
Edge, fting, or operation, I am safe.
Your wife Octavia, with her modeft eyes,

Ant. Too late, good Diomed :-Call my guard,
[guard, what, ho!40
Dio. What, ho! the emperor's guard! The
Come, your lord calls.

Enter a Guard.

Ant. O, quick, or I am gone.
Cleo. Here's fport, indeed!-How heavy weighs
45 Our ftrength 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 fet thee by Jove's fide. Yet come a little,-
Withers were ever fools ;-O,come, come, come ;-
[They draw Antony up to Cleopatra.
And welcome, welcome! die, where thou haft

[fate 50

Ant. Nay, good my fellows, do not please sharp
To grace it with your forrows: 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

To difpofe may here fignify to make terms, to fettle matters. 2 i. e. without light. the fun to burn his own orb, the vehicle of light, and then the earth will be dark. 4 i. e. adorn'd. A brooch was an ornament formerly worn in the hat. Brooches in the North are buckles fet with stones, fuch as those with which shirt-bofoms and handkerchiefs are clasped. 5 i. e. filent coolness of refolution. • Dr. Johnson supposes the meaning of these strange words to be, "Here's trifling! You do not work in earnest." 7 That is, Revive by my kifs.

Clea

Cles. No, let me fpeak; and let me rail fo high, That the falfe hufwife Fortune break her wheel, Provok'd by my offence.

Ant. One word, fweet queen:

Of Cæfar feek your honour, with your safety.--O!--| 5
Clea. They do not go together.

Ant. Gentle, hear me :

None about Cæfar trust, but Proculeius.

Cleo. My refolution, and my hands, I'll truft,
None about Cæfar.

Ant. The miferable change now at my end,
Lament nor forrow at: but please your thoughts
In feeding them with those my former fortunes
Wherein I liv'd, the greatest prince o' the world,
The nobleft: and do now not bafely die,
Nor cowardly; put off my helmet to

My countryman, a Roman, by a Roman
Valiantly vanquifh'd. Now, my fpirit is going;
I can no more.-

[Antony dies.

Cleo. Nobleft of men, woo't die?
Haft thou no care of me? fhall I abide

In this dull world, which in thy absence is
No better than a ftye !-O, fee, my women,
The crown o' the earth doth melt :-My lord !---
O, wither'd is the garland of the war,

The foldier'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 vifiting moon.

Gar. O, quietness, lady!

[She faints.

Iras. She is dead too, our fovereign.
Char. Lady!

Iras. Madam !--

Char. O madam, madam, madam,---
Iras. Royal Ægypt! emprefs!
Char. Peace, peace, Iras.

Cleo. No more---but e'en a woman; and commanded

By fuch poor paffion as the maid that milks,
10 And does the meaneft chares 2.---It were for me
To throw my fcepter at the injurious gods;
To tell them, that this world did equal theirs,
'Till they had ftolen our jewel. All's but naught;
Patience is fottish; and impatience does

15 Become a dog that's mad: Then is it fin,
To rush into the fecret houfe of death,

Ere death dare come to us ?---How do you, women?
What, what? good cheer! Why, how now, Char-
mian ?

20 My noble girls !---Ah, women, women! look, Our lamp is fpent, it's out:-Good firs, take

heart :--

[noble,

Caf Go

O to him, Dolabella, bid him yield;
Being fo fruftrated, tell him, he mocks

The paufes that he makes 3.

Del. Cæfar, I fhall.

Caf. The breaking of fo great a thing should make
A greater crack: The round world

40 Should have fhook lions into civil streets,
And citizens to their dens 4:---The death of Aa-
tony

45

[Exit Dolabella.

Enter Dercetas, with the fword of Antony.
Caf. Wherefore is that? and what art thou,
Appear thus to us?
[that dar'ft

Der. I am call'd Dercetas ;
Mark Antony I ferv'd, who beft was worthy

Best to be ferv'd: whilft he ftood up, and spoke,
He was my mafter; 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 Cæfar; if thou pleasest not,

I yield thee up my life.

Caf. What is 't thou say'st?

Der. I fay, O Cæfar, Antony is dead.

Is not a fingle doom; in the name lay
A moiety of the world.

Der. He is dead, Cæfar;

Not by a publick minister of justice,
Nor by a hired knife; but that felf hand,
Which writ his honour in the acts it did,

Hath, with the courage which the heart did lend it, 50 Splitted the heart.---This is his sword,

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

Caf. Look you fad, friends?

The gods rebuke me, but 5 it is a tidings
55 To wash the eyes of kings.

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

Mec. His taints and honours

'He at whom the foldiers pointed, as at a pageant held high for obfervation.

2 i. e. taskwork.

Hence the modern term cbare-woman. 3 i. e. he trifles with us. 4 Dr. Johnson conjectures, that a line is loft here. Mr. Malone, however, believes that only two words are wanting, and proposes to read, "The round world foould have fbook, Thrown raging lions into civil fireets, And citizens to their dens.” 5 But for if not.

Waged

I have follow'd thee to this ;-But we do lance
Diseases in our bodies. I muft perforce
Have fhewn to thee fuch a declining day,
Or look on thine; we could not stall together
In the whole world: But yet let me lament,
With tears as fovereign 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

ftars,

Unreconciliable, should divide

Our equalness to this 2.---Hear me, good friends,---
But I will tell you at some meeter season ;

Enter an Egyptian.

The bufinefs of this man looks out of him,
We'll hear him what he fays.---Whence are you?
Egypt. A poor Ægyptian yet: The queen my
mistress,

Confin'd in all fhe has, her monument,
Of thy intents defires inftruction;
That the preparedly may frame herself
To the way she's forc'd to.

Caf. Bid her have good heart;

She foon fhall know of us, by fome of ours,
How honourably and how kindly we
Determine for her: for Cæfar cannot live
To be ungentle.

Egypt. So the gods preferve thee!

[Exit.

[Exeunt.

In all my writings: Go with me, and fee
What I can fhew in this.

SCENE II.
The Monument.

Enter Cleopatra, Charmian, and Iras.
Cleo. My defolation does begin to make
A better life: 'Tis paltry to be Cæfar;
Not being fortune, he's but fortune's knave 3,
10A minifter of her will; And it is great

15

To do that thing that ends all other deeds;
Which fhackles accidents, and bolts up change;
Which fleeps, and never palates more the dung,
The beggar's nurfe and Cæfar's.---

Enter, below, Proculeius, Gallus, &c.
Pro. Cæfar fends greeting to the queen of

Ægypt;

And bids thee ftudy on what fair demands
20 Thou mean'ft to have him grant thee.
Cleo. What's thy name?

Pro. My name is Proculeius.
Cleo. Anteny

Did tell me of you, bade me truft you; but 251 do not greatly care to be deceiv'd,

That have no ufe for trufting. If your mafter
Would have a queen his beggar, you must tell him,
That majefty, to keep decorum, must
No lefs beg than a kingdom: if he please
30 To give me conquer'd Ægypt for my fon,
He gives me fo 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:
35 Make your full reference freely to my lord,
Who is fo full of grace, that it flows over
On all that need: Let me report to him
Your fweet dependancy; and you shall find
A conqueror, that will pray in aid 5 for kindness,
Where he for grace is kneel'd to.

Caf. Come hither, Proculeius; Go, and say,
We purpose her no fhame: give her what com-40

Cleo. Pray you, tell him

I am his fortune's vaffal, and I fend him The greatness he has got 5. I hourly learn A doctrine of obedience; and would gladly 45 Look him i' the face.

50

[Exit Gallus.

Caf. Let him alone, for I remember now
How he's employ'd; he fhall in time be ready.
Go with me to my tent; where you fhall fee
How hardly I was drawn into this war;
How calm and gentle I proceeded still

Char. O Cleopatra! thou art taken, queen! 55 Cleo. Quick, quick, good hands.

[Drawing a dagger. Proculeius rufes in, and difarms the Queen.

* i. e. his taints and bonours were an equal match; were opposed to each other in just proportions, like the counterparts of a wager. 2 That is, should have made us, in our equality of fortune, difagree to a pitch like this, that one of us muft die. 3 i. e. the fervant of fortune. 4 i. e. Voluntary death produces a state which has no longer need of the grofs and terrene fuftenance, in the use of which Cæfar and the beggar are on a level. 5 Praying in aid is a law term, used for a petition made

in a court of justice for the calling in of help from another that hath an intereft in the caufe in question. ⚫ I allow him to be my conqueror.

Pr

Cico. What, of death too, that rids our dogs of
Pro. Cleopatra,

Do not abuse our mafter's bounty, by

The undoing of yourself: let the world fee
His nobleness weil afted, which your death
Will never let come forth.

Cles. Where art thou, death?

Dol. Moft fovereign creature,--

Cleo. His legs beftrid the ocean; his rear'd arm
Crefted the world: his voice was property'd
As all the tuned spheres, and that to friends;

5 But when he meant to quail and shake the orb, He was as rattling thunder. For his bounty, There was no winter in't; an autumn 'twas, That grew the more by reaping: His delights Were dolphin-like; they fhew'd his back above [queen to The element they liv'd in: In his livery

Come hither, come! come, come, and take a
Worth many babes and beggars !

Pro. O, temperance, Fady!

Clea. Sir, I will eat no meat, I'll not drink, fir;
If idle talk will once be neceffary',

I'll not fleep neither: This mortal houfe I'll ruin,
Do Cæfar what he can. Know, fir, that I
Will not wait pinion'd at your master's court;
Nor once be chaftis'd with the fober eye
Of dull Octavia. Shall they hoift me up,
And shew me to the shouting varletry

Of cenfuring Rome? Rather a ditch in Ægypt
Be gentle grave unto me! rather on Nilus' mud
Lay me ftark naked, and let the water-flies
Blow me into abhorring! rather make
My country's high pyramides my gibbet,
And hang me up in chains!

Pro. You do extend

These thoughts of horror further than you shall
Find caufe in Cæfar.

Enter Dolabella.

Del. Proculeius,

What thou haft done thy mafter Cæfar knows,
And he hath fent for thee: as for the queen,
I'll take her to my guard.

Pro. So, Dolabella,

It shall content me beft: be gentle to her.---
To Cæfar I will fpeak what you shall please,

If you'll employ me to him.

Cleo. Say, I would die.

[were
Walk'd crowns, and crownets; realms and islands
As plates 3 dropt from his pocket.
Dol. Cleopatra,-

[man Cleo. Think you there was, or might be, fuch a 15 As this I dream'd of?

Dol. Gentle madam, no.

Cleo. You lye, up to the hearing of the gods.
But, if there be, or ever were one fuch,
It's paft the fize of dreaming: Nature wants ftuff
20 To vie ftrange forms with fancy; yet, to imagine
An Antony, were nature's piece 'gainst fancy,
Condemning fhadows quite 4.

Dol. Hear me, good madam:

Your lofs is as yourself, great; and you bear it
25 As anfwering to the weight: 'Would I might never
O'ertake purfu'd fuccefs, but I do feel,

By the rebound of yours, a grief that shoots
My very heart at root.

Cleo. I thank you, fir.

30 Know you, what Cæfar means to do with me? Dol. I am loth to tell you what I would you Cleo. Nay, pray you, fir,--

Dol. Though he be honourable,--

Cleo. He'll lead me then in triumph?

35

Dol. Madam, he will; I know it.

All. Make way there,---Cæfar.

[knew.

Enter Cæfar, Gallus, Mecanas, Proculeius, and

Attendants.

Caf. Which is the queen of Ægypt?

[To Cleopatra.

40

Dol. It is the emperor, madam.

[Exit Proculeius.

Cæfar. Arife, you shall not kneel:

I pray you, rife; rise, Ægypt.

Cleo. Sir, the gods

[Cleo. kneels.

Will have it thus; my master and my lord
I must obey.

Caf. Take to you no hard thoughts:
The record of what injuries you did us,
Though written in our flesh, we shall remember
As things but done by chance.

Cleo. Sole fir o' the world,

cannot project 5 mine own caufe fo well
To make it clear; but do confess, I have
Been laden with like frailties, which before
Have often fham'd our fex.

Caf. Cleopatra, know,

We will extenuate rather than enforce:
If you apply yourself to our intents,

1 Once may mean fometimes. The meaning of Cleopatra feems to be this: If idle talking be fometimes neceffary to the prolongation of life, why I will not fleep, for fear of talking idly in my fleets i. e. the little orb or circle. 3 Plates probably mean, filver money. 4 The word piece is a terra appropriated to works of art. Here Nature and Fancy produce each their piece, and the piece done by Nature had the preference. Antony was in reality paft the fize of dreaming; he was more by Nature than Fancy could prefent in fleep. 5. To project a cause is to reprefent a caufe; to project it will, is co plan or contrive a fcheme of defence. (Which