Go with me to my tent; where you shall fee SCENE II. THE MONUMENT. Enter Cleopatra, Charmian, and Iras. [Exeunt. Cleo. My defolation does begin to make 1-fortune's knave,] The fervant of fortune. 2 -and it is great To do that thing, that ends all other deeds; Which hackles accidents, and bolts, up change; Enter JOHNS. The beggars nurfe, and Cafar's.] The action of fuicide is here faid, to fhackle accidents; to bolt up change; to be the beggar's nurfe, and Cæfar's. So far the defcription is intelligible. But when it is faid, that it fleeps, and never palates more the dung, we find neither sense nor propriety; which is occafioned by the lofs of a whole line between the third and fourth, and the corrupt reading of the laft word in the fourth. We should read the paffage thus, -and it is great To do that thing, that ends all other deeds; (Which fleeps, and never palates more the DUGG :) That this line in hooks was the fubftance of that loft, is evident R 4 from Enter Proculeius, Gallus, &c. Pro. Cæfar fends greeting to the queen of Ægypt; And bids thee ftudy on what fair demands Thou mean'ft to have him Cleo. What's thy name? grant thee. Pro. My name is Proculeius. Cleo. Antony Did tell me of you, bade me truft I do not greatly care to be deceiv'd, you; but That have no ufe for trufting. If your master No lefs beg than a kingdom: if he please, Pro. Be of good cheer: You are fallen into a princely hand. Fear nothing: from its making fenfe of all the reft: which are to this effect, It is great to do that which frees us from all the accidents of humanity, Lulls our over wearied nature to repofe, (which now fleeps, and has no more appetite for wordly enjoyments,) and is equally the nurse of Cafar and the beggar. WARBURTON. I cannot perceive the lofs of a line, or the need of an emendation. The commentator feems to have entangled his own ideas; his fuppofition that fuicide is called the beggar's nurse and Cæjar's, and his conceffion that the pofition is intelligible, fhew, I think, a mind not intent upon the business before it. The difficulty of the paffage, if any difficulty there be, arifes only from this, that the act of fuicide, and the state which is the effect of fuicide are confounded. Voluntary death, fays fhe, is an act which bolts up change; it produces a flate, Which fleeps, and never palates more the dung, The beggar's nurse, and Cæfar's. Which has no longer need of the grofs and terrene fuftenance, in the use of which Cæfar and the beggar are on a level. The fpeech is abrupt, but perturbation in fuch a ftate is furely natural. JOHNSON. Make Make your 3 Cleo. Pray you, tell him, I am his fortune's vaffal, and I + fend him Pro. This I'll report, dear lady. Have comfort; for, I know, your plight is pity'd Of him that caus'd it. [Afide.] You fee how eafily fhe may be furpriz'd. [Here Gallus and guard afcend the monument, and enter behind. Guard her, 'till Cæfar come. Iras. 3 that will pray in aid for kindness,] Praying in aid is a law term, ufed for a petition made in a court of justice for the calling in of help from another that hath an intereft in the cause in queftion. HANMER. 4 -fend him The greatnefs he has got. I allow him to be my conqueror ; I own his fuperiority with complete fubmiffion. JOHNSON. Char. You fee bow saftly she may be furpriz'd.] Here Charmian, who is fo faithful as to die with her miftrefs, by the ftupidity of the editors is made to countenance and give directions for her being furprized by Cæfar's meffengers. But this blunder is for want of knowing, or obferving, the hiftorical fact. When Cæfar fent Proculeius to the queen, he fent Gallus after him with new inftructions and while one amufed Cleopatra with propofitions from Cæfar, through the crannies of the monument, the other scaled it by a ladder, entered it at a window backward, and made Cleopatra, and those with her, prisoners. I have reformed the paffage therefore, (as, I am perfuaded, the author defigned it ;) from the authority of Plutarch. THEOBALD. This line in the first edition is given not to Charmian, but to Proculeius; and to him it certainly belongs, though perhaps Iras. Royal queen ! ! Char. Oh Cleopatra! thou art taken, queen !- [Drawing a dagger. Proculeius rufes in, and difarms the queen. Pro. Hold, worthy lady, hold: Do not yourself fuch wrong," who are in this Reliev'd, but not betray'd. Cleo. What of death too, that rids our dogs of 7 languish? Pro. Cleopatra, Do not abuse our mafter's bounty, by The undoing of yourfelf: let the world fee His nobleness well acted, which your death mifplaced. I would put it at the end of his foregoing speech, Where be for grace is kneel'd to. [Afide to Gallus.] You fee, how easily she may be surpriz’d. Then while Cleopatra makes a formal anfwer, Galius, upon the hint given, feizes her, and Proculeius, interrupting the civility of his answer, Cries out, your plight is pity'd Of bim that caus'd it. Guard ber till, Cafar come. who are in this JOHNSON. RELIEV'D, but not betray'd.] As plaufible as this reading is, it is corrupt. Had Shakefpcare used the word reliev'd, he would have added, and not betray'd. But that he ufed another word the reply fhews, What of death too: which will not agree with releved; but will direct us to the genuine word, which is, BEREAV'D, but not betray'd. i. e. bereaved of death, or of the means of destroying yourself, but not betray d to your deftruction. By the particle too, in her reply, fhe alludes to her being before bereaved of Antony. And thus his fpeech becomes correct, and her reply pertinent. WARE. I do not think the emendation neceffary, fince the fenfe is not made better by it, and the abruptnefs in Cleopatra's anfwer is more forcible in the old reading. JOHNSON. JOHNSON. For languif, I think we may read, anguish. Will never let come forth. Cleo. Where art thou, death? Come hither, come! come, come, and take a queen 'Worth many babes and beggars! Pro. Oh, temperance, lady! Cleo. 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, Of cenfuring Rome? Rather a ditch in Ægypt 8 Worth many babes and beggars.] Why, death, wilt thou not rather feize a queen, than employ thy force upon babes and beggars. JOHNSON. 9 If idle TALK will once be necessary,] This nonfenfe fhould be reformed thus, If idle TIME will once be neceffary. i, e. if repofe be neceffary to cherish life, I will not fleep. WARBURTON. I do not fee that the nonfenfe is made fenfe by the change. Sir T. Hanmer reads, If idle talk will once be accessary; Neither is this better. I know not what to offer better than an eafy explanation. That is, I will not eat, and if it will be neceffary now for once to waste a moment in idle tak of my purpose, I will not fleep neither. In common converfation we often use will be, with as little relation to futurity. As, Now I am going, it will be fit for me to dine firft. JOHNSON. My country's high pyramids my gibbet,] The poet feems either to have defigned we fhould read the word country as a triffyllable, or pyramides, Lat. instead of pyramids. The verfe will otherwife be defective. STEEVENS. Pro. |