Enter CESAR, and his forces, marching.

Ca. But1 being charged, we will be still by land,
Which, as I take 't, we shall; for his best force

Is forth to man his galleys. To the vales,
And hold our best advantage.

[Exeunt.

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.

Sca.

[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 knowlege. 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.

All is lost :

Ant.
This foul Egyptian hath betrayed me;

My fleet hath yielded to the foe; and yonder
They cast their caps up, and carouse together

1 Unless.

1

Like friends long lost.-Triple-turn'd whore!1 'tis

thou

Hast sold me to this novice; and my heart
Makes only wars on thee. Bid them all fly;
For when I am revenged 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
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,2
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,3

Beguiled me to the very heart of loss.

What, Eros, Eros!

Enter CLEOPATRA.

Ah, thou spell! Avaunt.

Cle. Why is my lord enraged against his love?

1 Cleopatra first belonged to Julius Cæsar, then to Antony,

and now, as Antony supposes, to Augustus.

2 This destructive piece of witchcraft.

A cheating game, since known by the name of ' pricking at the belt.'

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

With her prepared nails. [Exit Cleopatra.] '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 young 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. Cle. Help me, my women! O, he is more mad

1 For the smallest piece of money.

2 Mark Antony claimed to be a descendant of Hercules.

Than Telamon for his shield: the boar of Thessaly Was never so emboss'd.1

Char.

To the monument!

There lock yourself, and send him word you are

dead.

The soul and body rive 2 not more in parting,
Than greatness going off.

Cle.
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
To the monument !

death.

[Exeunt.

Ant. Sometime we see a cloud that 's dragonish ;

A vapor, sometime, like a bear or lion,

A tower'd citadel, a pendent 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;

Foaming at the mouth.

2 Split.

They are black vesper's pageants.

Eros.

Ay, my lord.

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

thought,

The rack dislimns; 1 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 Egypt; 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 lost;-she, Eros, has
Pack'd cards with Cæsar, and false play'd my glory
Unto an enemy's triumph.--

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

Enter MARDIAN.

She has robb'd me of my sword.

Mar.

No, Antony;

My mistress loved 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 has discharged: what thou wouldst do,

1 The fleeting away of the clouds destroys the picture.