Demurely wake the sleepers. Let us bear him
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 endeavour."

[Exeunt.

Enter CESAR, and his Forces, marching.

Ces. But being charg'd, we will be still by land, Which, as I take't, we shall;" for his best force Is forth to man his gallies. To the vales, And hold our best advantage.

5 Hark, the drums

Demurely-] Demurely for solemnly.

• Where their appointment we may best discover,

[Exeunt.

And look on their endeavour.] i. e. where we may best discover their numbers, and see their motions.

7 But being charg'd, we will be still by land,

Which, as I take't, we shall ;] i. e. unless we be charg'd we will remain quiet at land, which quiet I suppose we shall keep. But being charg'd was a phrase of that time, equivalent to unless we be.

Re-enter ANTONY and SCARUS.

Ant. Yet they're not join'd: Where yonder pine

does stand,

I shall discover all: I'll bring thee word
Straight, how 'tis like to go.

Scar.

[Exit.

Swallows have built

In Cleopatra's sails their nests: the augurers
Say, they know not,-they cannot tell;-look grimly,
And dare not speak their knowledge. Antony
Is valiant, and dejected; and, by starts,

His fretted fortunes give him hope, and fear,
Of what he has, and has not.

Ant.

Alarum afar off, as at a Sea Fight.

Re-enter ANTONY.

All is lost;

This foul Egyptian hath betrayed me:

My fleet hath yielded to the foe; and yonder
They cast their caps up, and carouse together
Like friends long lost.-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 reveng'd upon my charm,
I have done all :-Bid them all fly, be gone.

[Exit SCARUS.

O 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

8

Triple-turn'd whore !] She first belonged to Julius Cæsar, then to Antony, and now, as he supposes to Augustus. It is not likely that in recollecting her turnings, Antony should not have that in contemplation which gave him most offence.

Their wishes, do discandy, melt their sweets
On blossoming Cæsar; and this pine is bark'd,
That overtopp'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, my chief end,'
Like a right gipsy, hath, at fast and loose,
Beguil'd me to the very heart of loss.3-
What, Eros, Eros!

Enter CLEOPATRA.

Ah, thou spell! Avaunt.

Cleo. Why is my lord enrag'd against his love? Ant. Vanish; or I shall give thee thy deserving, And blemish Cæsar's triumph. Let him take thee, And hoist thee up to the shouting Plebeians: Follow his chariot, like the greatest spot

Of all thy sex; most monster-like, be shown

9

this

grave charm,] By this grave charm, is meant, this sublime, this majestick beauty; or rather, this deadly, or destructive piece of witchcraft.

was my crownet, my chief end,] i. e. last purpose, probably from finis coronat opus.

2 Like a right gipsy, hath, at fast and loose,

Beguil'd me, &c.] There is a kind of pun in this passage, arising from the corruption of the word Egyptian into gipsy. The old law-books term such persons as ramble about the country, and pretend skill in palmistry and fortune-telling, Egyptians. Fast and loose is a term to signify a cheating game, of which the following is a description. A leathern belt is made up into a number of intricate folds, and placed edgewise upon a table. One of the folds is made to resemble the middle of the girdle, so that whoever should thrust a skewer into it would think he held it fast to the table; whereas, when he has so done, the person with whom he plays may take hold of both ends, and draw it away. This trick is now known to the common people, by the name of pricking at the belt or girdle, and perhaps was practised by the Gypsies in the time of Shakspeare. SIR J. HAWKINS.

3

to the very heart of loss] To the utmost loss possible.

For poor'st diminutives, to dolts;1 and let
Patient Octavia plough thy visage up

With her prepared nails. [Exit CLEO.] 'Tis well thou'rt gone,

If it be well to live: But better 'twere

Thou fell'st into my fury, for one death
Might have prevented many.-Eros, ho!-
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."

Char.

To the monument; There lock yourself, and send him word you are dead.

most monster-like, be shown

For poor'st diminutives, to dolts;] i. e. shown as monsters are, not only for the smallest piece of money, but to the most stupid and vulgar spectators.

Let me lodge Lichas on the horns o'the moon;] This image our poet may have taken from Seneca's Hercules, who says Lichas being launched into the air, sprinkled the clouds with his blood; or more probably from Golding's version of Ovid's Metamorphosis. Than Telamon for his shield;] i. e. than Ajax Telamon for the armour of Achilles, the most valuable part of which was the shield. The boar of Thessaly was the boar killed by Meleager.

7 Was never so emboss'd.] A hunting term: when a deer is hard run, and foams at the mouth, he is said to be imbost.

The soul and body rive not more in parting,
Than greatness going off.

Cleo.

To the monument:

Mardian, go tell him I have slain myself;
Say, that the last I spoke was, Antony, -
And word it, pr'ythee, piteously: Hence,
Mardian; and bring me how he takes my death.—
To the monument.

[Exeunt.

SCENE XII.

The same. Another Room.

Enter ANTONY and EROS.

Ant. Eros, thou yet behold'st me?

Eros.

Ay, noble lord. Ant. Sometime, we see a cloud that's dragonish;

A vapour, sometime, like a bear, or lion,

A tower'd citadel, a pendant rock,

A forked mountain, or blue promontory

With trees upon't, that nod unto the world,

And mock our eyes with air: Thou hast seen these

signs;

They are black vesper's pageants.

Eros.

Ay, my lord.

Ant. That, which is now a horse, even with a

thought,

The rack dislimns; and makes it indistinct,

As water is in water.

Eros.

It does, my lord.

Ant. My good knave, Eros, now thy captain is Even such a body: here I am Antony;

They are black vesper's pageants.] The beauty both of the expression and the allusion is lost, unless we recollect the frequency and the nature of these shows in Shakspeare's age.

9 The rack dislimns ;] i. e. the fleeting away of the clouds destroys the picture.