I'll bring thee word straight, how 'tis like to go. [Exit.
Scar. Swallows have built

In Cleopatra's fails their nests: the augurs
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.

Re-enter ANTONY.

Ant. All is lost;

[Exit.

This foul Ægyptian hath betray'd me:
My fleet hath yielded to the foe; and yonder
They caft their caps up, and carouse together
Like friends long loft. 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 fly. Begone,
Oh, fun, thy uprise shall I fee no more :
Fortune and Antony part here; even here
Do we shake hands. - All come to this? The hearts
That pannell'd me at heels, to whom I gave
Their wishes, do discandy, melt their sweets
On bloffoming Cæfar; and this pine is bark'd,
That over-topt them all. Betray'd I am :
Oh this falfe foul of Ægypt! this grave charm [3]
Whose eye beck'd forth my wars, and call'd them home:
Whose bosom was my crownet, my chief end-
Like a right gypsey, hath, at fast and loofe,
Beguil'd me to the very heart of lofs.[4]-
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 Cæfar's triumph. Let him take thee, And hoist thee up to the shouting Plebeians : Follow his chariot, like the greatest spot Of all thy fex, most monster-like, be shewn

[3] By 'this grave charm, is meant, 'this fublime, this majestic beauty. JOHNS.

For poor'ft diminutives, for doits; [5] and let
Patient Octavia plough thy visage up
With her prepared nails. [6] 'Tis well thou'rt gone

[Exit CLEOPATRA.

If it be well to live: But better twere,
Thou fell'ft into my fury; for one death
Might have prevented many.-Eros, ho!-
The shirt of Neffus is upon me: Teach me,
Alcides, thou mine ancestor, thy rage;
Let me lodge, Lichas, on the horns o'the moon ;[7]
And with those hands, that grasp'd the heaviest club,
Subdue my worthiest self. The witch shall die;
To the young Roman boy the hath fold me, and I fall
Under his plot : she dies for't. Eros, ho!

SCENE XI.

[Exit,

CLEOPATRA's Palace. Enter CLEOPATRA, CHAR-
MIAN, IRAS, and MARDIAN.

Cleo. Help me, my women! O, he is more mad Than Telamon for his shield; the boar of Theffaly Was never so emboss'd.[8]

Char. To the monument;

There look yourself, and fend him word you are dead. The foul and body rive not more at 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 mon

ument.

[Exeunt.

[5] Doits-i. e. farthings. WARB.

[6] i. e. With nails which she suffered to grow for this purpose.

WARB.

[7] This image our poet seems to have taken from Seneca's Hercules, who fays Lichas being launched into the air, sprinkled the clouds with his blood. Sophocles, on the fame occafion, talks at a much foberer rate.

WARB.

[8] Emboss'd-a hunting term: when a deer is hard run and foams at the mouth, he is faid to be imbost. A dog also, when he is ftrained with hard running, will have his knees swelled, and then he is faid to be imbott, from the French word 'boffe,' which signifies a tumour. HANMER.

SCENE XII.

Enter ANTONY and EROS.

Ant. Eros, thou yet behold'st me?

Eros. Ay, noble lord.

Ant. Sometimes, we fee 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,

Ant.

Ay, my

lord..

That, which is now a horse, even with a thought

The rack dislimns ; [9] 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;
Yet cannot hold this visible shape, my knave.
I made these wars for Ægypt; and the queen-
Whose heart, I thought, I had, for she had mine;
Which, whilst it was mine, had annex'd unto't
A million more, now loft-she, Eros, has
Pack'd cards with Cæfar, and false play'd my glory
Unto an enemy's triumph.-

Nay, weep not, gentle Eros; there is left us

Ourselves to end ourselves.

Oh, thy vile lady!

Enter MARDIAN.

She has robb'd me of my sword.

Mar. No, Antony;

My mistress lov'd thee, and her fortunes mingled
With thine intirely.

Ant. Hence, saucy eunuch; peace;

She hath betray'd me, and shall die the death.

Mar. Death of one person can be paid but once; And that she hath discharg'd: What thou would'st do Is done unto thy hand; the last she spake Was, Antony! most noble Antony !

[9] i.e. The fileeting away of the clouds destroys the picture, STEE

Then in the midst a tearing groan did break
The name of Antony; it was divided
Between her heart and lips: she rendred life,
Thy name fo buried in her.

Ant. Dead then ?

Mar. Dead.

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

The feven-fold shield of Ajax cannot keep
The battery from my heart.[1] Oh, cleave my fides!
Heart, once be stronger than thy continent;
Crack thy frail cafe !-Apace, Eros, apace.-
No more a foldier ;-Bruised pieces, go;
You have been nobly borne. From me a while.-
[Exit EROS..

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
Mars what it does; yea, very force entangles
Itself with strength: Seal then, and all is done.[2]-
Eros !-I come, my queen :-Eros!-Stay for me:
Where fouls do couch on flowers, we'll hand in hand,
And with our sprightly port, make the ghosts gaze:
Dido and her Æneas shall want troops,
And all the haunt be ours. Come, Eros, Eros!

Re-enter EROS.

Eros. What would my lord?

Ant. Since Cleopatra dy'd,

I have liv'd in such dishonour, that the Gods Detest my baseness. I, that with my fword Quarter'd the world, and o'er green Neptune's back

[1] I would read,.... This battery from my heart.- JOHNS. [2] Metaphor taken from civil contracts, where, when all is agreed on, the fealing compleats the contract; fo he had determined to die, and nothing remain'd but to give the stroke. WARB.

I believe the reading is..... feel then, and all is done. To feel hawksa

is to close their eyes. The meaning will be,

.fince the torch is out,

Lie down, and stray no further. Now all labour
Marrs what it does. Seel then, and all is done.

Glofe thine eyes for ever, and be quiet.

JOHNS.

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

Disgrace and horror, that on my command,
Thou then wouldst kill me: Do't, the time is come:-
Thou strik'st not me, 'tis Cæfar thou defeat'st.
Put colour in thy cheek.

Eros. The Gods withhold me!

Shall I do that, which all the Parthian darts,
Though enemy, loft aim, and could not ?

Ant. Eros,

Would'st thou be window'd in great Rome, and fee Thy mafter thus with pleach'd arms, [3] bending down

His corrigible neck, his face fubdu'd

To penetrative shame; whilst the wheel'd feat
Of fortunate Cæfar, drawn before him, branded
His baseness that ensued ?[4]

Eros. I would not fee't.

Ant. Come, then; for with a wound I must be cur'd. Draw that thy honest sword, which thou hast worn Most useful for thy country.

Eros. Oh, fir, pardon me.

Ant. When I did make thee free, swor'st thou not then To do this when I bade thee? Do it at once;

Or thy precedent services are all

But accidents unpurpos'd. Draw, and come.

Eros. Turn from me then that noble countenance, Wherein the worship of the whole world lies.[5] Ant. Lo thee.

Eros. My sword is drawn.

Ant. Then let it do at once

The thing why thou hast drawn it.

Eros. My dear master,

[Turning from hims

My captain, and my emperor! Let me say,
Before I strike this bloody stroke, farewel.
Ant. 'Tis faid, man ;-and farewel.

Eros. Farewel, great chief. Shall I strike now?

[3] Pleacht arms-arms folded in each other.
[4] The poor conquered wretch that followed.
[5] The worship-is the dignity, the authority.