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And finish all foul thoughts. O Antony,
Nobler than my revolt is infamous,

Forgive me in thine own particular;

But let the world rank me in register

A master-leaver, and a fugitive:

O Antony! O Antony!

2 Sold. Let's speak

To him.

to

[Dies.

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.

Alarum afar off, as at a Sea Fight.
Re-enter ANTONY.

Ant. All is lost!

This foul Egyptian hath betrayed me:

My fleet have 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:
I have done all :-Bid them all fly, begone.
For when I am reveng'd upon my charm,
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
Their wishes, do discandy, melt their sweets
On blossoming Cesar; 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;

1 Sold. Let's hear him, for the things he speaks Like a right gipsy, hath, at fast and loose, §

Whose bosom was my crownet, my chief end,

May concern Cesar.

3 Sold. Let's do so.

But he sleeps.

1 Sold. Swoons rather; for so bad a prayer as his

Was never yet for sleeping.

2 Sold. Go we to him.

3 Sold. Awake, awake, Sir; speak to us.

2 Sold. Hear you, Sir.

1 Sold. The hand of death hath raught § him.
Hark, the drums

Demurely wake the sleepers.
To the court of guard; he is
Is fully out.

3 Sold. Come on then; He may recover yet.

[Drums afar off. Let us bear him of note: our hour

[Exeunt with the Body.

SUENE X.-Between the two Camps. Enter ANTONY and SCARUS, with Forces marching.

Ant. Their preparation is to-day by ɛea; 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,
Aud look on their endeavour.

[Exeunt.

As becomes the warriors that own them. + The guard-room. 1 Pour out, as a sponge when squeezed. The ancient preterite tense of reach,

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Ant. Vanish; or I shall give thee thy desery-
ing,

And blemish Cesar'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
For poor'st diminutives, to dolts: || 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!

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SCENE XL-Alexandria.-A Room in the Heart, once be stronger than thy continent,⚫

Palace.

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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;
Bay, 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.

Crack thy frail case!-Apace, Eros, apace.--.
No more a soldier :-Bruised pieces, gor
You have been nobly borne.-From me awhile
[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.

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back

Ant. Sometime, we see a cloud that's dra- With ships made cities, condemn myself, to lack

gonish ;

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

The rack dislimbs; and makes It Indistinct,
As water is in water.

Eras. It does, my lord.

[is

Ant. My good knave, Eros, now thy captain Even such a body here I am Antony; Yet cannot hold this visible shape, my knave. I made these wars for Egypt; and the queen, buse heart, I thought, I had, for she had

(Which, whilst it was mine, had annex'd unto't A me more, now lost)-she, Eros, has Park'd cards with Cesar and false play'd my Isto an enemy's triumph.[glory

Nay, weep not, gentle Eros; there is left us Cursives to end ourselves.-Oh! thy vile lady!

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The courage of a woman; less noble mind
Than she, which, by her death, our Cesar tells,
I am conquerer of myself. Thou art sworu,
Eros,
[now
Is come indeed) when I should see behind me
That, when the exigent should come, (which
The inevitable prosecution of

Disgrace and horror, that, on my command,
Thou then would'st kill me: do't; the time is

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Ant. Thrice nobler than myself! Thou teachest me, O valiant Eros, what

•Than the body which contains thee. taphor borrowed from civil contracts. Corrected Corrod

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I should, and thou could'st not. My queen and | All strange and terrible events are welcome,

Eros

Have, by their brave instruction, got upon me
A nobleness in record: but I will be
A bridegroom in my death, and run into't
As to a lover's bed. Come then; and, Eros,
Thy master dies thy scholar to do thus

I learn'd of thee. dead?

[Falling on his Sword. How! not yet dead? not

The guard !--ho !-Oh! despatch me.

Enter DERCETAS and GUARD.

1 Guard. What's the noise ?

But comforts we despise; our size of sorrow,
Proportion'd to our cause, must be as great

Enter DIOMEDES.

As that which makes it.-How now? is he dead!
Dio. His death's upon him, but not dead.
Look out o'the other side your monument,
His guard hath brought him thither.

Enter ANTONY, borne by the GUARD.
Cleo. O thou sun,

Burn the great sphere thou mov'st in!-dark-
ling stand

Ant. I have done my work ill, friends; Oh! The varying shore o'the world!-0 Antony!

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Come, your lord calls.

Enter some of the GUARD.

Ant. Bear me, good friends, where Cleopatra
bides:

'Tis the last service that I shall command you.
1 Guard. Woe are we, Sir, you may not live
to wear

All your true followers out.

All. Most heavy day!

Ant. Nay, good my fellows, do not please
sharp fate

To grace it with your sorrows: bid that welcome
Which comes to punish us, and we punish it
Seeming to bear it lightly. Take me up:
I have led you oft; carry me now, good friends,
And have my thanks for all.

[Exeunt, bearing ANTONY. SCENE XIII.-The same.--A Monument. Enter above, CLEOPATRA, CHARMIAN, and

IRAS.

The strong-wing'd Mercury should fetch thee up,
And set thee by Jove's side. Yet come a
little,-
Wishers were ever fools;-0 come, come, come;
[They draw ANTONY up.
And welcome, welcome! die where thou hast
liv'd:
Quicken with kissing; had my lips that power,
Thus would I wear them out.

All. A heavy sight!

Ant. I am dying, Egypt, dying:

Give me some wine, and let me speak a little.
Cleo. No, let ne speak; and let me rail so

high,

That the false housewife Fortune break ber
Provok'd by my offence.
[wheel

Ant. One word, sweet queen:

Of Cesar seek your honour, with your safe

ty.-O!

Cleo. They do not go together.
Ant. Gentle, hear me :

None about Cesar trust, but Proculeius.

Cleo. My resolution, and my hands, I'll trust;
None about Cesar.

Ant. The miserable change now at my end,
Lament nor sorrow at: but please your thoughts,
In feeding them with those my former fortunes
Wherein I liv'd, the greatest prince o'the world,
The noblest; and do now not basely die,
Nor cowardly; put off my helmet to
My countryman; a Roman, by a Roman,
Valiantly vanquish'd. Now, my spirit is going;
I can no more.
[Dies.

Cleo. Noblest of men, woo't die?
Hast thou no care of me? shall I abide

Cleo. O Charmian, I will never go from hence. In this dull world, which in thy absence is
Char. Be comforted, dear madam.

Cleo. No, I will not:

• Made terms with

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By such poor passion as the maid that milks,
And does the meanest chares. It were for me
To throw my sceptre at the injurious gods;
To tell them, that this world did equal theirs,
Td: they had stolen our jewel. All's but naught;
Prience is sottish; and impatience does
Become a dog that's mad: Then, is it sin,
To rush into the secret house of death,
Ere death dare come to us 1-How do you,
women?

What, what? good cheer? Why, how now,
Charmian !

My noble girls !-Ah, women, women! look, Our lamp is spent, it's out:-Good Sirs, take beart:

[To the GUARD below. We'll bury bim and then, what's brave, what's Doble,

Let's do it after the high Roman fashion,
And make death proud to take us. Come, away:
This case of that huge spirit now is cold.
Al, women, women! come; we have no friend
But resolution, and the briefest end.
[Exeunt: those above bearing off ANTONY'S
Body.

ACT V.

Hath, with the courage which the heart did lend it,

Splitted the heart.-This is his sword,

I robb'd his wound of it: behold it stain'd
With his most noble blood.

Ces. Look you sad, friends }

The gods rebuke me, but it is a tidings
To wash the eyes of kings.

Agr. And strange it is,

That nature must compel us to lament
Our most persisted deeds.

Mec. His taints and honours
Waged equal with him.

Agr. A rarer spirit never Did steer humanity: but you, Some faults to make us men.

gods, will give us Cesar is touch'd.

Mec. When such a spacious mirror's set before him,

He needs must see himself.

Ces. O Antony !

I have foliow'd thee to this :-But we do lance
Diseases in our bodies: I must perforce
Have shown to thee such a declining day,
Or look on thine; we could not stall together
In the whole world: But yet let me lament,
With tears as sovereign as the blood of hearts,
That thou, my brother, my competitor
In top of all design, my mate in empire,
Friend and companion in the front of war,
The arm of mine own body, and the heart
Where nine his thoughts did kindle,—that
our stars,

Unreconcileable, should divide

Our equalness to this.-Hear me, good friends,But I will tell you at some meeter season;

Enter a MESSENGER.

The business of this man looks out of him,
We'll hear him what he says.-Whence are you?
Mess. A poor Egyptian yet. The queen my
mistress,

Confin'd in all she has, her monument,
Of thy intents desires instruction:

That she preparedly may frame herself
To the way she's forced to.

Ces. Bid her have good heart;

SCENE 1.-CESAR'S Camp before Alexan. She soon shall know of us, by some of ours,

dria.

How honourable and how kindly we Determine for her: for Cesar cannot live

Enter CESAR, AGRIPPA, DOLABELLA, MECE-To be ungentle.
NAS, GALLUS, PROCULEIUS, and others.
Cz. Go to him, Dolabella, bid him yield;
ng so frastrate, tell him, he mocks us by
The passes that he makes.
D. Cesar, I shall.

[Exit DOLABELLA.

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[Exit.

Mess. So the gods preserve thee!
Ces. Come hither, Proculeius: Go, and say,
We purpose her no shame give her what com-
forts

The quality of her passion shall require;
Lest, in her greatness, by soine mortal stroke
She do defeat us; for her life in Rome,
Would be eternal in our triumph: Go,
And, with your speediest, bring us what she says,
And how you find of her.
Pro. Cesar I shall.

[Exit PROCULEIUS. Ces. Gallus, go you along.-Where's Dolabella,

To second Proculeius?

Agr. Mec. Dolabella!

[Exit GALLUS.

Ces. Let him alone, for I remember now How he's employed: he shall in time be ready. Go with me to any teut, where you shall see How hardly I was drawn into this war; How calin and gentle I proceeded still In all my writings: Go with me, and see What I can show in this.

[Exeunt.

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And bids thee study on what fair demands
Thou mean'st to have him grant thee.

Cleo. [Within.] What's thy name?
Pro. My name is Proculeius.
Cleo. [Within.] Antony

Did tell me of you, bade me trust you; but
I do not greatly care to be deceiv'd,

That have no use for trusting. If your master
Would have a queen his beggar, you must tell him,
That majesty, to keep decorum, must

No less beg than a kingdom: if he please
To give me conquer'd Egypt for my son,
He gives me so much of mine own, as I
Will kneel to him with thanks.

Pro. Be of good cheer:

You are fallen into a princely band; fear

thing;

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It shall content me best: be gentle to her.-
To Cesar I will speak what you shall please.
[TO CLEOPATRA.

If you'll employ me to him.
Cleo. Say, I would die.

[Exeunt PROCULEIUS, and Soldiers. Dol. Most noble empress, you have heard of

me?

Cleo. I cannot tell.

Dol. Assuredly, you know me.

Cleo. No matter, Sir, what I have heard, or known.

no-You laugh, when boys, or women, tell their dreams;

Make your full reference freely to my lord,
Who is so full of grace, that it flows over
On all that need: Let me report to him
Your sweet dependancy; and you shall find
A conqueror, that will pray in aid for kindness,
Where he for grace is kneel'd to.

Cleo. [Within.] Pray you, tell him

I am his fortune's vassal, and I send bim
The greatness he has got. I hourly learn
A doctrine of obedience, and would gladly
Look him i'the face.

Pro. This I'll report, dear lady.
Have comfort: for I know your plight is pitied
Of him that caus'd it.

Gal. You see how easily she may be surpriz'd ;

[Here PROCULEIUS, and two of the Guard, ascend the Monument by a Ladder placed against a Window, and having descended, come behind CLEOPATRA. Some of the Guard unbar and open the Gates. Guard her till Cesar come.

[TO PROCULEIUS and the Guard. Exit.
GALLUS.

Iras. Royal queen!
Char. O Cleopatra! thou art taken, queen !—
Cleo. Quick, quick, good hands.

[Drawing a Dagger. Pro. Hold, worthy lady, hold:

[Seizes and disarms her.

Do not yourself such wrong, who are in this
Reliev'd, but not betray'd.

Cleo. What, of death too

That rids our dogs of languish ?

Pro. Cleopatra,

Do not abuse my master's bounty, by

The undoing of yourself: let the world see

His nobleness well acted, which your death

Will never let come forth.

Cleo. Where art thou, death?

Is't not your trick?

Dol. I understand not, madam.

Cleo. I dream'd, there was an emperor An

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To vie strange forms with fancy; yet, to imaAn Antony, were nature's piece 'gainst fancy, Condemning shadows quite.

Dol. Hear me, good madam:

Come hither, come ! come, come, and take a queen Your loss is as yourself, great; and you bear it

Worth many babes and beggars !

Pro. O temperance, lady!

Cleo. Sir, I will eat no meat, I'll not drink, If idle talk will once be necessary, [Sir; I'll not sleep neither: This mortal house I'll ruin,

Do Cesar what he can. Know, Sir, that I
Will not wait pinion'd at your master's court;
Nor once be chastis'd with the sober eye
Of dull Octavia. Shall they hoist me up,
And show me to the shouting varletry
Of censuring Rome? Rather a ditch in Egypt
Be gentle grave to me! rather on Nilus' mud
Lay me stark naked, and let the water-flies

• The crown which he has won.
Rabble.

↑ In bonds.

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