Is done unto thy hand: the last she spake
Was, Antony! most noble Antony!'
Then in the midst a tearing groan did break
The name of Antony; it was divided

Between her heart and lips: she render'd life,
Thy name so buried in her.

Ant.

Mar.

Dead then?

Dead.

Ant. Unarm, Eros; the long day's task is done, And we must sleep. That thou depart'st hence

safe,

Does pay thy labor richly; go.-—Off, pluck off:

[Exit Mardian.

The sevenfold shield of Ajax cannot keep

The battery from my heart. O, cleave, my sides!
Heart, once be stronger than thy continent; 1
Crack thy frail case!—Apace, Eros, apace.—
No more a soldier: bruised pieces, go;
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 farther. Now all labor
Mars what it does; yea, very force entangles
Itself with strength: seal then, and all is done.—
Eros !—I come, my queen.—Eros !-Stay for me.

1 i. e. the thing that contains thee.

Where souls 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 died,

I have lived in such dishonor, that the gods

Detest my baseness. I, that with my sword Quarter'd the world, and o'er green Neptune's back With ships made cities, condemn myself, to lack The courage of a woman; less noble mind

Than she, which, by her death, our Cæsar tells,

'I am conqueror of myself.' Thou art sworn,

Eros,

That, when the exigent should come, (which now Is come indeed) when I should see 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 strikest not me; 'tis Cæsar thou defeat'st.

Put color in thy cheek.

Eros.

The gods withhold me!

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

Ant.

Eros

Wouldst thou be window'd in great Rome, and see

Thy master thus with pleach'd1 arms, bending

down

His corrigible neck, his face subdued

To penetrative shame; whilst the wheel'd seat
Of fortunate Cæsar, drawn before him, branded
His baseness that ensued?

Eros.

I would not see 't.

Ant. Come then; for with a wound I must be

cured.

Draw that thy honest sword, which thou hast worn Most useful for thy country.

Eros.

O, sir, pardon me.

Ant. When I did make thee free, sworest thou

not then

To do this when I bade thee? Do it at once;

Or thy precedent services are all

But accidents unpurposed. Draw, and come.

Eros. Turn from me then that noble coun

My captain, and my emperor! let me say,
Before I strike this bloody stroke, farewell.
Ant. 'Tis said, man;-and farewell.

Eros. Farewell, great chief. Shall I strike now?
Ant.
Now, Eros.
Eros. Why, there then.-[falls on his sword.]
Thus do I escape the sorrow

Of Antony's death.

Ant.

[dies.

Thrice nobler than myself!

Thou teachest me, O valiant Eros, what

I should, and thou couldst not. My queen and

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

[falling on his sword.

I learn'd of thee. How! not dead? not dead ?-
The guard!-ho!-O, despatch me.

1 Guard.

Enter DERCETAS and GUArd.

What's the noise?

Ant. I have done my work ill, friends: 0, make

an end

Of what I have begun.

2 Guard.

1 Guard. And time is at his period.

All.

Ant. Let him that loves me, strike me dead.

The star is fallen.

Alas, and woe!

Not I.

3 Guard. Nor any one.

[Exeuns Guard.

1 Guard.

2 Guard. Nor I.

Der. Thy death and fortunes bid thy followers

fly.

This sword but shown to Cæsar, with this tidings, Shall enter me with him.

My mistress Cleopatra sent me to thee.

Ant. When did she send thee?

Of what hath come to pass: for when she saw
(Which never shall be found) you did suspect
She had disposed1 with Cæsar, and that your rage
Would not be purged, she sent you word she was

dead;

But, fearing since how it might work, hath sent
Me to proclaim the truth; and I am come,
I dread, too late.

1 Made terms.