Mess.

Enter a Messenger.

Is come into the field.

Cas.

Antony

Go, charge Agrippa Plant those that have revolted in the van, That Antony may seem to spend his fury Upon himself.

[Exeunt CES. and his Train. Eno. Alexas did revolt; and went to Jewry, On affairs of Antony; there did persuade2 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 honourable trust. I have done ill; Of which I do accuse myself so sorely, That I will joy no more.

Enter a Soldier of Cæsar's. Enobarbus, Antony Hath after thee sent all thy treasure,3 with

Sold.

So, Lyly, in Euphues and his England, 1580: "The island is in fashion three-corner'd," &c. Malone.

Shall bear the olive freely.] i. e. shall spring up every where spontaneously and without culture. Warburton.

Dr. Warburton mistakes the sense of the passage. To bear does not mean to produce, but to carry; and the meaning is, that the world shall then enjoy the blessings of peace, of which olive branches were the emblem. The success of Augustus could not so change the nature of things, as to make the olive-tree grow without culture in all climates, but it shut the gates of the temple of Janus. M. Mason.

I doubt whether Mr. M. Mason's explication of the word bear be just. The poet certainly did not intend to speak literally; and might only mean, that, should this prove a prosperous day, there would be no occasion to labour to effect a peace throughout the world; it would take place without any effort or negociation. Malone.

My explanation of this passage is supported by the following lines in The Second Part of King Henry IV, Vol. IX, p. 140, where Westmorland says

2

"There is not now a rebel's sword unsheath'd,
"But peace puts forth her olive every where." M. Mason.

· persuade —] The old copy has dissuade, perhaps rightly. Johnson. It is undoubtedly corrupt. The words in the old translation of Plutarch are: "for where he should have kept Herodes from revolting from him, he persuaded him to turne to Cæsar." Malone.

His bounty overplus: The messenger
Came on my guard; and at thy tent is now,
Unloading of his mules.

Eno. I give it you.

Sold.

Mock me not, Enobarbus.

I tell you true: Best that you saf'd the bringers
Out of the host; I must attend mine office,
Or would have done 't myself. Your emperor
Continues still a Jove.

Eno. I am alone the villain of the earth,
And feel I am so most.? O Antony,

[Exit Sold.

Thou mine of bounty, how would'st thou have paid
My better service, when my turpitude

Thou dost so crown with gold! This blows my heart:8

3 Hath after thee sent all thy treasure, &c.] So, in the old translation of Plutarch: "Furthermore, he dealt very friendly and courteously with Domitius, and against Cleopatraes mynde. For, he being sicke of an age we when he went, and tooke a little boate to go to Cæsar's campe, Antonius was very sory for it, but yet he sent after him all his caryage, trayne, and men: and the same Domitius, as though he gaue him to vnderstand that he repented his open treason, he died immediately after." Steevens.

5

4 Mock me not,] Me was supplied by Mr. Theobald. Steevens. Best that-] For the insertion of the pronoun-that, to assist the metre, I am answerable. Steevens.

6

saf'd the bringer -] I find this verb in Chapman's version of the Fourth Book of Homer's Odyssey:

and make all his craft

"Sail with his ruin, for his father saf't." Steevens. And feel I am so most.] That is, and feel I am so, more than any one else thinks it. M. Mason.

Surely, this explanation cannot be right. I am alone the villain of the earth, means, I am pre-eminently the first, the greatest villain of the earth. To stand alone, is still used in that sense, where any one towers above his competitors.-And feel I am so most, must signify, I feel or know it myself, more than any other person can or does feel it. Reed.

8 This blows my heart:] All the latter editions have: This bows my heart:

I have given the original word again the place from which I think it unjustly excluded. This generosity, (says Enobarbus) swells my heart, so that it will quickly break, if thought break it not, a swifter mean. Johnson.

That to blow means to puff or swell, the following instance, in the last scene of this play, will sufficiently prove :

on her breast

"There is a vent of blood, and something blown."

If swift thought break it not, a swifter mean
Shall outstrike thought: but thought will do 't, I feel.
I fight against thee!-No: I will go seek

Some ditch, wherein to die; the foul'st best fits
My latter part of life.

SCENE VII.

Field of Battle between the Camps.

[Exit.

Alarum. Drums and Trumpets. Enter AGRIPPA, and Others.

Agr. Retire, we have engag'd ourselves too far: Cæsar himself has work, and our oppression1 Exceeds what we expected.

[Exeunt.

Alarum. Enter ANTONY and SCARUS, wounded. Scar. O my brave emperor, this is fought indeed! Had we done so at first, we had driven them home With clouts about their heads.

Ant.

Thou bleed'st apacè.
Scar. I had a wound here that was like a T,
But now 'tis made an H.

Ant.

They do retire.

Scar. We'll beat 'em into bench-holes; I have yet Room for six scotches more.

Enter EROS.

Eros. They are beaten, sir; and our advantage serves For a fair victory.

Scar.

Let us score their backs,

And snatch 'em up, as we take hares, behind;

'Tis sport to maul a runner.

Ant.

I will reward thee

Once for thy spritely comfort, and ten-fold
For thy good valour. Come thee on.

Again, in King Lear:

9

"No blown ambition doth our arms excite

but thought will do 't, I feel.] Thought, in this passage, as in many others, signifies melancholy. See p. 314, n. 1. Malone. and our oppression -] Oppression for opposition.

1

Warburton.

Sir T. Hanmer has received opposition. Perhaps rightly. Johnson Our oppression means, the force by which we are oppressed or overpowered. Malone.

So, in Romeo and Juliet:

"At thy good heart's oppression." Steevens.

Scar.

I'll halt after. [Exeunt.

SCENE VIII.

Under the Walls of Alexandria.

Alarum. Enter ANTONY, marching; SCARUS, and Forces.
Ant. We have beat him to his camp: Run one before,
And let the queen know of our guests.-To-morrow,
Before the sun shall see us, we 'll spill the blood
That has to-day escap'd. I thank you all;
For doughty-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 all Hectors.
Enter the city, clip your wives,3 your friends,
Tell them your feats; whilst they with joyful tears
Wash the congealment from your wounds, and kiss
The honour'd gashes whole.-Give me thy hand;

Enter CLEOPATRA, attended. To this great fairy I'll commend thy acts,

2 Run one before,

[TO SCAR.

And let the queen know of our guests.] Antony, after his suc cess, intends to bring his officers to sup with Cleopatra, and orders notice to be given of their guests. Johnson.

3

clip your wives,] To clip is to embrace. See Vol. II, p. 104, n. 3; and Vol. VI, p. 312, n. 9. Steevens.

4 To this great fairy -] Mr. Upton has well observed, that fairy, which Dr. Warburton and Sir T. Hanmer explain by Inchantress, comprises the idea of power and beauty. Johnson.

Fairy, in former times, did not signify only a diminutive ima ginary being, but an inchanter, in which last sense, as has been observed, it is used here. But Mr. Upton's assertion, that it comprizes the idea of beauty as well as power, seems questionable; for Sir W. D'Avenant employs the word in describing the weird sisters, (who certainly were not beautiful) in the argument prefixed to his alteration of Macbeth, 4to. 1674: "These two, travelling together through a forest, were met by three fairie witches, (weirds the Scotch call them,)" &c. See also Vol. VI, p. 378, n. 6. Malone.

Surely, Mr. Upton's remark is not indefensible. Beauty united with power, was the popular characteristick of Fairies generally considered. Such was that of The Fairy Queen of Spenser, and Titania, in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Sir W. D'Avenant's particular use of any word is by no means decisive. That the language of Shakspeare was unfamiliar to him, his own contemptible alterations of it have sufficiently demonstrated.

Steevens,

Make her thanks bless thee.-O thou day o' the world,
Chain mine arm'd neck; leap thou, attire and all,
Through proof of harness5 to my heart, and there
Ride on the pants triúmphing."

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 favouring 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 armour all of gold; it was a king's.1

5 -proof of harness-] i. e. armour of proof. Harnois, Fr. Arnese, Ital. Steevens.

See Vol. VII, p. 234, n. 3. Malone.

6

triumphing.] This word is so accented by Chapman, in his version of the Eleventh Iliad:

66

Crept from his covert and triúmph'd: Now thou art maim'd, said he." Steevens.

7 The world's great snare —] i. e. the war. So, in the 116th Psalm: "The snares of death compassed me round about." Thus also Statius:

8

with our brown;] Old copy-younger brown: but as this epithet, without improving the idea, spoils the measure, I have not scrupled, with Sir Thomas Hanmer and others, to omit it as an interpolation. See p. 356, n. 6. Steevens.

9 Get goal for goal of youth.] At all plays of barriers, the boundary is called a goal; to win a goal, is to be superior in a contest of activity. Johnson.

1 it was a king's.] So, in Sir T. North's translation of Plutarch: "Then came Antony again to the palace greatly boasting of this victory, and sweetly kissed Cleopatra, armed as he was when he came from the fight, recommending one of his men of arms unto her, that had valiantly fought in this skirmish. Cleopatra, to reward his manliness, gave him an armour and head. piece of clean gold." Steevens.