Sel. Enough to purchase what you have made
Caf. Nay, blush not, Cleopatra; I approve

Your wisdom in the deed.

Cleo. Sec, Cæfar! O, behold,

How pomp is follow'd! mine will now be yours;
And, should we shift eftates, yours will be mine.
The ingratitude of this Seleucus does

Even make me wild :-O flave, of no more truft
Than love that's hir'd !-What, gocft thou back?
thou fhalt

Go back, I warrant thee; but I'll catch thine eyes,
Though they had wings: Slave, foul-lefs villain,
O rarely base !

Caf. Good queen, let us intreat you.

[dog!

30

35

Cleo. O Cæfar, what a wounding shame is this; 40
That thou, vouchsafing here to vifit me,
Doing the honour of thy lordliness

To one fo meek, that mine own fervant should
Parcel the fum of my difgraces by
Addition of his envy! Say, good Cæfar,
That I fome lady trifles had referv'd,
Immoment toys, things of fuch dignity
As we greet modern friends withal; and say,
Some nobler token I have kept apart
For Livia, and Octavia, to induce
Their mediation; must I be unfolded

[me

With one that I have bred? The gods! It fmites
Beneath the fall I have. Pr'ythee, go hence ;

[To Seleucus.

That we remain your friend: And fo, adieu.
Cleo. My mafter, and my lord!

Caf. Not fo: Adieu.

[Exeunt Cæfar, and bis train. Cleo. He words me, girls, he words me, that I should not

Be noble to myself: But hark thee, Charmian.
[Whispers Charmian.
Iras. Finish, good lady; the bright day is done,
And we are for the dark.

Cleo. Dolabella,

I fhall remain your debtor.
Dol.
your fervant.

45 Adieu, good queen; I muft attend on Cæfar.
[Exit.

Cleo. Farewel, and thanks. Now, Iras, what

think't thou?

Thou, an Ægyptian puppet, shalt be shewn
50 In Rome, as well as I: mechanic flaves
With greafy aprons, rules and hammers, shall
Uplift us to the view; in their thick breaths,
Rank of grofs diet, shall we be enclouded,
And forc'd to drink their vapour.

Or I fhall fhew the cinders of my spirits [man, 55
Through the ashes of my chance 3: Wert thou a
Thou would't have mercy on me.

Caf. Forbear, Seleucus.

[Exit Seleucus.

Iras. The gods forbid !

Cleo. Nay, 'tis moft certain, Iras: Saucy lictors Will catch at us, like ftrumpets; and scald 5 rhi

mers

1 i. e. close up my lips as effectually as the eyes of a hawk are closed. 2 i. e. base in an uncommon degree. 3 Or fortune. The meaning is, Begone, or I fhall exert that royal fpirit which I had in my profperity, in fpight of the imbecility of my prefent weak condition. 4 Merits is in this place taken in an ill fenfe, for actions meriting cenfure. 5 Scald was a word of contempt, implying poverty, disease, and filth.

Ballad

Ballad us out o' tune: the quick comedians
Extemporally will ftage us, and present
Our Alexandrian revels; Antony

Shall be brought drunken forth, and I fhall fee

Some fqueaking Cleopatra boy I my greatness
I' the posture of a whore.

Iras. O the good gods!
Cleo. Nay, that's certain.

Iras. I'll never fee it; for, I am fure, my nails
Are stronger than mine eyes.

Cleo. Why, that's the way

To fool their preparation, and to conquer
Their most abfurd intents.-Now, Charmian !—
Enter Charmian.

That will not be deny'd your highness' prefence;
He brings you figs.

Cleo. Let him come in. What a poor inftrument
[Exit Guard.

May do a noble deed! he brings me liberty.
My refolution's plac'd; and I have nothing
Of woman in me: Now from head to foot
I am marble-conftant: now the fleeting 2 moon
No planet is of mine.

Re-enter Guard, with a Clown bringing a basket.
Guard. This is the man.

Cleo. Avoid, and leave him.

[Exit Guard

Haft thou the pretty worm 3 of Nilus there,

That kills and pains not?

but in the keeping of wife people; for, indeed, there is no goodness in the worm.

Cleo. Take thou no care; it shall be heeded. Clown. Very good: give it nothing, I pray you, 5 for it is not worth the feeding.

Cleo. Will it eat me?

Clown. You must not think I am so fimple, but I know, the devil himself will not eat a woman: I know, that a woman is a dish for the gods, if the 10 devil drefs her not. But, truly, thefe fame whorefon devils do the gods great harm in their women; for in every ten that they make, the devils mar five.

15

20

25

30

worm.

Cleo. Well, get thee gone; farewel.
Clown. Yes, forfooth; I wish you joy o' the
[Exit.
Cleo. Give me my robe, put on my crown; I have
Immortal longings in me: Now no more
The juice of Egypt's grape fhall moift this lip :---
Yare, yare 5, good Iras ; quick.---Methinks, I hear
Antony call; I fee him roufe himself

To praife my noble aft; I hear him mock
The luck of Cæfar, which the gods give men
To excufe their after wrath: Hufband, I come:
Now to that name my courage prove my title!
I am fire, and air; my other elements

I give to bafer life.---So,---have you done?
Come then, and take the laft warmth of my lips.
Farewel, kind Charmian:---Iras, long farewel.
[applying the afp.
Have I the afpick in my lips? Doft fall? [To Iras.
If thou and nature can fo gently part,
The ftroke of death is as a lover's pinch,
Which hurts, and is defir'd. Doft thou lye ftill?
35If thus thou vanifheft, thou tell'ft the world
It is not worth leave-taking.

Clown. Truly I have him: but I would not be the party that should defire you to touch him, for 40 his biting is immortal; thofe, that do die of it, do feldom or never recover.

[Iras dies.

Char. Diffolve, thick cloud, and rain; that I may fay,

The gods themselves do weep!

Cleo. This proves me base:

If fhe first meet the curled Antony,
He'll make demand of her; and spend that kiss,
Which is my heaven to have.---Come, thou mortal
wretch,

45 With thy fharp teeth this knot intrinficate

Cleo. Remember'ft thou any that have dy'd on't?
Clown. Very many, men and women too.
heard of one of them no longer than yesterday:
a very honest woman, but fomething given to lye:
as a woman should not do, but in the way of ho-
nefty: how the dy'd of the biting of it, what pain
The felt,---Truly, she makes a very good report o
the worm: But he that will believe all that they 50
fay, fhall never be faved by half that they do:
But this is moft fallible, the worm's an odd worm.
Cles. Get thee hence; farewel.

Clown. I wish you all joy of the worm.
Cleo. Farewel.

Clown. You must think this, look you, that the worm will do his kind 4.

Cleo. Ay, ay; farewel.

Clown. Look you, the worm is not to be trusted,

55

We have before obferved, that the parts of women were acted on the stage by boys in our author's time. 2 i. e. inconftant. 3 Worm is the Teutonick word for ferpent; and in the Northern counties, the word worm is ftill given to the ferpent fpecies in general. 4 i. e. will act according to his 5 i. e. make haste, be nimble, be ready. 6 i. e. an afs without more policy than to leave the means of death within my reach, and thereby deprive his triumph of its nobleft decoration. 3 F

nature.

Char.

[Charmian applies the afp.
O, come; apace, dispatch :---I partly feel thee.
1 Guard. Approach, ho! All's not well: Cæfar's
beguil'd.
[call him.15
2 Guard. There's Dolabella fent from Cæfar;---
1 Guard. What work is here?---Charmian, is
this well done?

Char. It is well done, and fitting for a princess
Defcended of fo many royal kings.
Ah, foldier!

Took her own way.--The manner of their deaths?-- 35 High order in this great folemnity. [Exeunt omnes • I do not fee them bleed.

Mr. Steevens conjectures, that our author may have written wild (i. e. vile according to ancient fpelling) for worthlefs.

Thieves, Senators, Pact, Painter, Jeweller, and Merchant; with Servants and Attendants,
SCENE, Athens; and the Woods not far from it.

Poet. When we for recompence bave prais'd the vile, It flains the glory in that happy verfe

Enter Poet, Painter, Jeweller, and Merchant, at 5 Which aptly fings the good.

Poet.

Several doors.

OOD day, fir.

Pain. I am glad you are well.

Peet. I have not feen you long: How goes the

Mer. 'Tis a good form. [Looking on the jewel.
Jew. And rich: here is a water, look you.
Pain. You are rapt, fir, in fome work, fome
To the great lord.
[dedication

Poet. A thing flipt idly from me.

Our poefy is as a gum, which oozes

From whence 'tis nourished: The fire i' the flint

Shews not, 'till it be ftruck; our gentle flame

Provokes itself, and, like the current, flies

[fir?

Speaks his own standing 6? what a mental power

Mer. O, pray, let's fee't: For the lord Timon,

Breathed is inured by conftant practice; so trained as not to be wearied. To breathe a horse is to exercife him for the course. 2 i. e. he exceeds, goes beyond common bounds. 3 i. e. come up to the price. 4 We must here fuppofe the poet bufy in reading his own work; and that these three lines are the introduction of the poem addreffed to Timon, which he afterwards gives the painter an 5 i. e. according to Dr. Johnson, The figure rifes well from the canvas. C'est bien relevé. That is, How the graceful attitude of this figure proclaims that it stands firm on its centre, or gives evidence in favour of its own fixture.

account of.

3 F 2

This

1

This eye fhoots forth? how big imagination
Moves in this lip? to the dumbnefs of the gefture
One might interpret.

Pain. It is a pretty mocking of the life.
Here is a touch; Is 't good?

Poet. I'll fay of it,

It tutors nature: artificial ftrife"

Lives in thefe touches, livelier than life.
Enter certain Senators.

Pain. How this lord is follow'd!

Peet. The fenators of Athens;-Happy men!
Fain. Look, more!
[of vifitors.

Poet. You fee this confluence, this great flood
I have, in this rough work, fhap'd out a man,
Whom this beneath world doth embrace and hug
With ampleft entertainment: My free drift
Halts not particularly 2, but moves itself
In a wide fea of wax 3: no levell'd malice
Infects one comma in the course I hold;
But flies an eagle flight, bold, and forth on,
Leaving no tract behind.

Pain. How fhall I understand you?
Poct. I'll unbolt 4 to you.

Poet. Nay, fir, but hear me on:

All thofe which were his fellows but of late, (Some better than his value) on the moment Follow his ftrides, his lobbies fill with tendance, 5 Rain facrificial whifp'rings in his ear 11, Make facred even his stirrop, and through him Drink the free air '2.

[mood,

Pain. Ay, marry, what of thefe ?
Poet. When Fortune, in her shift and change of
IcSpurns down her late belov'd, all his dependants,
Which labour'd after him to the mountain's top,
Even on their knees and hands, let him flip down,
Not one accompanying his declining foot.
Pain. 'Tis common:

15 A thoufand moral paintings I can fhew,

That fhall demonftrate thefe quick blows of fortune
More pregnantly than words. Yet you do well,
To fhew lord Timon, that mean eyes 13 have feen
The foot above the head.

20 Trumpets found. Enter Timon, addreffing himself
courteously to every fuitor.

Tim. Imprifon'd is he, fay you? [Toa Messenger. Mf. Ay, my good lord: five talents is his debt; His means moft fhort, his creditors moft ftrait: 25 Your honourable letter he defires

You fee, how all conditions, how all minds,
(As well of glib and flippery 5 creatures, as
Of grave and auftere quality) tender down
Their fervices to lord Timon: his large fortune,
Upon his good and gracious nature hanging,
Subdues and properties to his love and tendance
All forts of hearts; yea, from the glafs-fac'd flat-30
terer 6

To Apemantus, that few things loves better
Than to abhor himself; even he drops down
The knee before him, and returns in peace
Moft rich in Timon's nod.

Pain. I faw them speak together.

Puet. Sir, I have upon a high and pleasant hill
Feign'dFortune to be thron'd: The bafe o' the mount
Is rank'd with all deferts 7, all kind of natures,
That labour on the bosom of this sphere
To propagate their ftates: amongst them all,
Whofe eyes are on this fovereign lady fix'd,
One do I perfonate of Timon's frame,

To thofe have fhut him up; which failing him,
Periods his comfort.

Tim. Noble Ventidius! Well;

I am not of that feather, to shake off
My friend when he must need me. I do know him
A gentleman, that well deferves a help,
Which he fhall have: I'll pay the debt, and free him.
Mef. Your lordship ever binds him.
[fom;
Tim. Commend me to him: I will fend his ran-
35 And, being enfranchis'd, bid him come to me:-
'Tis not enough to help the feeble up,
But to fupport him after.-Fare you well.
Mef. All happiness to your honcur 14!
Enter an old Athenian.

40

Old Ath. Lord Timon, hear me speak.
Tim. Freely, good father.

Whom Fortune with her ivory hand wafts to her;
Whose prefent grace to prefent flaves and fervants 45
Tranflates his rivals.

Pain. "Tis conceiv'd to fcope 9.

This throne, this Fortune, and this hill, methinks,
With one man beckon'd from the reft below,
Bowing his head against the fleepy mount
To climb his happiness, would be well exprefs'd
In our condition 1.

[Exit.

Old Atb. Thou haft a fervant nam'd Lucilius.
Tim. I have fo: What of him?

[thee.

Old Arb. Most noble Timon, call the man before
Tim. Attends he here, or no?-Lucilius!

Enter Lucilius.

Luc. Here, at your lordship's fervice.
Old Ath. This fellow here, lord Timon, this

thy creature,

50By night frequents my houfe. I am a man That from my first have been inclin'd to thrift; And my estate deferves an heir more rais'd,

Strife is either the contest or act with nature. 2 i. e. My defign does not stop at any fingle character. 3 Anciently they wrote upon waxen tables with an iron stile. 4 i. e. I'll open, I'll explain. 5 Slippery is fmouth, unrefifting. Meaning, the flatterer who thows in his own look, as by reflection, the looks of his patron. 7 i. e. cover'd with ranks of all kinds of men. 8 i. e. to advance or improve their various conditions of life. 9 i. e. 'Tis properly imagin'd.

10 Condition for art.

That is, calumniate thofe whom Timon hated or envied, or whofe vices were oppofite to his own. This offering up, to the perfon flattered, the murdered reputation of others, Shakspeare, with the utmost beauty of thought and expreffion, calls facrificial whisp'rings, alluding to the victims offered up 12 That is, catch his breath in affected fondnefs. 13 i. e. inferior spectators. 14 The common addrefs to a loid in our author's time, was your benour, which was indifferently used with your lordship.

to idols.

Than