Des. It was his bidding; therefore, good Emilia,
Give me my nightly wearing, and adieu:
We must not now displease him.

Emil. I would you had never seen him!

Des. So would not I; my love doth so approve him, That even his stubbornness, his checks, and frowns,Prythee, unpin me,-have grace and favour in them. Emil. I have laid those sheets you bade me on the bed. Des. All's one.-Good father! how foolish are our If I do die before thee, pr'ythee, shroud me [minds!In one of those same sheets.

Emil. Come, come, you talk.

Des. My mother had a maid call'd Barbara :
She was in love; and he she loved proved mad,
And did forsake her: she had a song of "willow;"
An old thing 'twas, but it express'd her fortune,
And she died singing it: that song to-night
Will not go from my mind; I have much to do,
But to go hang my head all at one side,

And sing it like poor Barbara.--Pr'ythee, despatch.
Emil. Shall I go fetch your nightgown?

Des. No, unpin me here.

This Lodovico is a proper man.
Emil. A very handsome man.

Des. And he speaks well.

Emil. I know a lady in Venice who would have walked barefoot to Palestine for a touch of his nether lip. Des. [Singing.]

"The poor soul sat sighing by a sycamore-tree,

Sing all a green willow;

Her hand on her bosom, her head on her knee,
Sing willow, willow, willow:

The fresh streams ran by her, and murmur'd her
Sing willow, &c.

[means;

Hersalt tears fell from her, and soften'd the stones;"Lay by these:

"Sing willow, willow, willow;"

Pr'ythee, hie thee; he'll come anon:

"Sing all a green willow must be my garland. Let nobody blame him, his scorn I approve,”Nay, that's not next.-Hark! who is it that knocks? Emil. It is the wind.

Des. [Singing]

"I call'd my love false love; but what said he then? Sing willow, &c.

If I court mo women, you'll couch with mo men." So get thee gone: good night. Mine eyes do itch; Doth that bode weeping?

Emil. 'Tis neither here nor there.

Des. I have heard it said so.-O, these men, these

men!

Dost thou in conscience think,-tell me. Emilia,That there be women do abuse their husbands

In such gross kind?

Emil. There be some such, no question.

Des. Wouldst thou do such a deed for all the world? Emil. Why, would not you?

Des. No, by this heavenly light!

Emil. Nor I neither by this heavenly light;

I might do 't as well i' the dark.

Des. Wouldst thou do such a deed for all the world? Emil. The world is a huge thing: 'tis a great price For a small vice.

Des. Good troth, I think thou wouldst not.

Emil. By my troth, I think I should; and undo't when I had done. Marry, I would not do such a thing for a joint-ring, nor for measures of lawn, nor for gowns, petticoats, nor caps, nor any petty exhibition; but, for the whole world,-why, who would not make her husband a cuckold, to make him a monarch? I should venture purgatory for't.

Des. Beshrew me, if I would do such a wrong for the whole world.

Emil. Why, the wrong is but a wrong i' the world; and, having the world for your labour, 'tis a wrong in your own world, and you might quickly make it right.

Des. I do not think there is any such woman.
Emil. Yes, a dozen; and as many

To the vantage as would store the world they play'd for.
But I do think it is their husbands' faults,

If wives do fall. Say that they slack their duties,
And pour our treasures into foreign laps;

Or else break out in peevish jealousies,

Throwing restraint upon us; or say they strike us,

Or scant our former having in despite;

Why, we have galls; and though we have some grace,
Yet we have some revenge. Let husbands know
Their wives have sense like them: they see and smell,
And have their palates both for sweet and sour,
As husbands have. What is it that they do,
When they change us for others? Is it sport?
I think it is; and doth affection breed it?
I think it doth. Is't frailty that thus errs?
It is so too:-and have not we affections,
Desires for sport, and frailty, as men have?
Then let them use us well: else, let them know,
The ills we do, their ills instruct us to.

[send, Des. Good night, good night: heaven me such usage Not to pick bad from bad, but by bad mend! [Exeunt.

ACT V.

SCENE I.-CYPRUS. A Street.

Enter IAGO and RODERIGO.

(come:

Iago. Here, stand behind this bulk; straight will he Wear thy good rapier bare, and put it home: Quick, quick, fear nothing; I'll be at thy elbow: It makes us, or it mars us; think on that, And fix most firm thy resolution.

Rod. Be near at hand; I may miscarry in 't. Iago. Here, at thy hand; be bold, and take thy sword. [Retires to a little distance. Rod. I have no great devotion to the deed; And yet he has given me satisfying reasons:'Tis but a mau gone:-forth, my sword; he dies.

[Goes to his stand. Iago. I have rubb'd this young quat almost to the

sense,

And he grows angry. Now, whether he kill Cassio,
Or Cassio him, or each do kill the other,

Every way makes my gain: live Roderigo,
He calls me to a restitution large

Of gold and jewels that I bobb'd from him,
As gifts to Desdemona;

It must not be: if Cassio do remain,
He hath a daily beauty in his life,

That makes me ugly; and, besides, the Moor
May unfold me to him; there stand I in much peril:
No, he must die :—but so, I hear him coming.

Enter CASSIO.

Rod. I know his gait, 'tis he.-Villain, thou diest! [Rushes from his post, and makes a pass at CASSIO. Cas. That thrust had been mine enemy indeed, But that my coat is better than thou think'st;

I will make proof of thine. [Draws, and wounds ROD. Rod. O, I am slain!

[LAGO rushes from his post, cuts CASSIO behind in the leg, and exit. Cas. I am maim'd for ever.-Help, ho! murder! murder! [Falls.

Enter OTHELLO, at a distance.

Oth. The voice of Cassio:-Iago keeps his word.
Rod. O, villain that I am!

Oth. Hark! 'tis even so.

Cas. O, help! ho! light! a surgeon!

Oth. 'Tis he:-O brave Iago, honest and just, That hast such noble sense of thy friend's wrong! Thou teachest me.-Minion, your dear lies dead, And your fate hies apace-strumpet, I come! Forth of my heart those charms, thine eyes, are blotted; Thy bed, lust-stain'd, shall with lust's blood be spotted. [Exit OTHELLO.

Enter LODOVICO and GRATIANO, at a distance. Cas. What, ho! no watch? no passage? murder! murder!

Gra. 'Tis some mischance; the cry is very direful. Cas. O, help!

Lod. Hark!

Rod. O wretched villain!

Lod. Two or three groaus;-it is a heavy night: These may be counterfeits; let's think 't unsafe

Bian. What is the matter, ho? who is 't that cried? Lago. Who is 't that cried?

Bian. O my dear Cassio! my sweet Cassio! O Cassio! Cassio! Cassio!

Iago. O notable strumpet!-Cassio, may you suspect Who they should be, that have thus mangled you? Cas. No.

Gra. Iam sorry to find you thus: I have been to seek Iago. Lend me a garter: so.-O, for a chair, To bear him easily hence!

[you.

Bian. Alas, he faints!--O Cassio! Cassio! Cassio! Jago. Gentlemen all, I do suspect this trash To be a party in this injury.Patience a while, good Cassio.-Come, come; Lend me a light.-Know we this face, or no? Alas! my friend, and my dear countryman, Roderigo? no:-yes, sure; O heaven! Roderigo. Gra. What, of Venice?

Iago. Even he, Sir; did you know him?

Gra. Know him? ay.

lago. He, he, 'tis he.-O, that's well said;-the chair:

[A chair brought in. Some good man bear him carefully from hence; I'll fetch the general's surgeon.-[To BIANCA.] For you, mistress,

Save you your labour.-He that lies slain here, Cassio, Was my dear friend: what malice was between you? Cas. None in the world; nor do I know the man. Iago. [To BIANCA.] What, look you pale?-0, bear him out o' the air.

[CAS. and ROD. are borne off. Stay you, good gentlemen.-Look you pale, mistress?Do you perceive the gastness of her eye?Nay, if you stare, we shall hear more anon.Behold her well; I pray you, look upon her: Do you see, gentlemen? nay, guiltiness will speak, Though tongues were out of use.

Enter EMILIA.

Emil. Alas, what's the matter? what's the matter, husband?

Jago. Cassio hath here been set on in the dark By Roderigo, and fellows that are scaped;

He's almost slain, and Roderigo dead.

Emil. Alas, good gentleman! alas, good Cassio! Iago. This is the fruit of whoring.-Pr'ythee, Emilia, Go know of Cassio where he supp'd to-night.What, do you shake at that?

Bian. He supp'd at my house, but I therefore shake Iago. O, did he so? Icharge you, go with me. [not. Emil. Fie, fie upon thee, strumpet!

Bian. I am no strumpet; but of life as honest As you that thus abuse me.

Emil. As I? foh! fie upon thee!

Iago. Kind gentlemen, let's go see poor Cassio dress'd.

Come, mistress, you must tell us another tale.—
Emilia, run you to the citadel,

And tell my lord and lady what has happ'd.—
Will you go on, I pray?-[Aside.] This is the night
That either makes me, or fordoes me quite.

SCENE II-A Bedchamber.

[Exeunt.

DESDEMONA in bed asleep. A light burning. Enter OTHELLO.

Oth. It is the cause, it is the cause, my soul,Let me not name it to you, you chaste stars!-It is the cause.-Yet I'll not shed her blood; Nor scar that whiter skin of hers than snow, And smooth as monumental alabaster.

[Takes off his sword
Yet she must die, else she'll betray more men.
Put out the light, and then put out the light:
If I quench thee, thou flaming minister,

I can again thy former light restore,
Should I repent me:-but once put out thine,
Thou cunning'st pattern of excelling nature,

I know not where is that Promethean heat

That can thy light relume. When I have pluck'd thy I cannot give it vital growth again,

It needs must wither:--I'll smell it on the tree.

[rose,

[Kissing her.

O balmy breath, that dost almost persuade
Justice to break her sword!-One more, one more.-
Be thus when thou art dead, and I will kill thee,
And love thee after:-one more, and this the last:
So sweet was ne'er so fatal. I must weep,
But they are cruel tears: this sorrow's heavenly;
It strikes where it doth love.-She wakes,-
Des. Who's there? Othello?

Oth. Ay, Desdemona.

Des. Will you come to bed, my lord?

Oth. Have you pray'd to-night, Desdemona?
Des. Ay, my lord.

Oth. If you bethink yourself of any crime,
Unreconciled as yet to heaven and grace,
Solicit for it straight.

Des. Alas, my lord, what may you mean by that? Oth. Well, do it, and be brief; I will walk by:

I would not kill thy unprepared spirit;

No.-heaven forfend!-I would not kill thy soul. Des. Talk you of killing?

Oth. Ay, I do.

Des. Then, heaven

Have mercy on me!

Oth. Amen, with all my heart!

Des. If you say so, I hope you will not kill me.
Oth. Humph!

Des. And yet I fear you; for you are fatal then, When your eyes roll so: why I should fear I know not, Since guiltiness I know not; but yet I feel I fear.

Oth. Think on thy sins.

Des. They are loves I bear to you.

Oth. Ay, and for that thou diest.

Des. That death's unnatural that kills for loving.Alas! why gnaw you so your nether lip? Some bloody passion shakes your very frame: These are portents; but yet I hope, I hope, They do not point on me.

Oth. Peace, and be still! Des. I will so.

What's the matter?

Oth. I say, amen.

Des. And have you mercy too!-I never did
Offend you in my life; never loved Cassio,
But with such general warranty of heaven

As I might love: I never gave him token.

Oth. By heaven, I saw my handkerchief in his hand.

O perjured woman! thou dost stone my heart,
And mak'st me call, what I intend to do,-

A murder, which I thought a sacrifice:

I saw the handkerchief.

Des. He found it then;

I never gave it him :-send for him hither,

And let him confess a truth.

Oth. He hath confess'd.

Des. What, my lord?

Oth. That he hath used thee.

Des. How? unlawfully?

Oth. Ay.

Des. He'll not say so.

Oth. No, his mouth is stopp'd;

Honest Ingo hath ta'en order for 't.

Des. My fear interprets then.- what, is he dead? Oth. Had all his hairs been lives, my great revenge Had stomach for them all.

Des. Alas! he is betray'd, and I undone.

Oth. Out, strumpet! weep'st thou for him to my face?
Des. O, banish me, my lord, but kill me not!
Oth. Down, strumpet!

Des. Kill me to-morrow; let me live to-night!
Oth. Nay, if you strive,--

Des. But half an hour!

Oth. Being done,

There is no pause.

Des. But whole I say one prayer!
Oth. It is too late.

[He smothers her.

Emil. Within. My lord, my lord! what, ho! my lord, my lord!

Oth. What noise is this?-Not dead? not yet quite I, that am cruel, am yet merciful;

I would not have thee linger in thy pain:-
So, so.

Emil. Within.] What ho! my lord, my lord!
Oth. Who's there?

[dead?

Emil. [Within.] 0, good my lord, I would speak a

word with you!

Were't good?

Oth. Yes;-'tis Emilia :-by and by.-She's dead.
'Tis like she comes to speak of Cassio's death:
The noise was high.--Ha! no more moving?
Still as the grave. Shall she come in?
I think she stirs again :-no.-What's the best?
If she come in, she'll sure speak to my wife:
My wife! my wife! what wife?-I have no wife.
O, insupportable! O heavy hour!
Methinks it should be now a huge cclipse

Of sun and moon, and that the affrighted globe
Should yawn at alteration.

Emil, [Within.] I do beseech you I may speak with O, good my lord!

[you,

Oth. I had forgot thee: 0, come in, Emilia :Soft, by and by:-let me the curtains draw.Where art thou? What's the matter with thee now? [Unlocks the door.

Enter EMILIA.

Emil. O, good my lord, yonder's foul murder done! Oth. What? now?

Emil. But now, my lord.

Oth. It is the very error of the moon;

She comes more near the earth than she was wont,
And makes men mad.

Emil. Cassio, my lord, has kill'd a young Venetian, Call'd Roderigo.

Oth. Roderigo kill'd!

And Cassio kill'd?

Emil. No, Cassio is not kill'd.

Oth. Not Cassio kill'd? Then murder's out of tune,

And sweet revenge grows harsh.

Des. O, falsely, falsely murder'd!
Emil. Alas! what cry is that?
Oth. That! what?

Emil. Out, and alas! that was my lady's voice:-
Help! help, ho! help!-O lady, speak again!
Sweet Desdemona! O sweet mistress, speak!
Des. A guiltless death I die.

Emil. She said so; I must needs report the truth. Oth. She's, Like a liar, gone to burning hell; 'Twas I that kill'd her.

Emil. O, the more angel she,

And you the blacker devil!

Oth. She turn'd to folly, and she was a whore. Emil. Thou dost belie her, and thou art a devil. Oth. She was false as water.

Emil. Thou art rash as fire to say

That she was false; 0, she was heavenly true!
Oth. Cassio did tup her; ask thy husband else.
O, I were damn'd beneath all depth in hell,
But that I did proceed upon just grounds
To this extremity. Thy husband knew it all.
Emil. My husband?

Oth. Thy husband.

This deed of thine is no more worthy heaven, Than thou wast worthy her.

Oth. Peace! you were best.

[love!

Emil. Thou hast not half the power to do me harm

As I have to be hurt. O gull! O dolt!

As ignorant as dirt! thou hast done a deed, -

I care not for thy sword; I'll make thee known, Thongh I lost twenty lives.-Help! help, ho! help! The Moor has kill'd my mistress! Murder! murder!

Enter MONTANO, GRATIANO, and Iaco.
Mon. What is the matter?-How now, general?
Emil. O, are you come, Iago? you have done well
That men must lay their murders on your neck.
Gra. What is the matter?

Emil. Disprove this villain, if thou be'st a man:
He says thou told'st him that his wife was false:
I know thou didst not, thou'rt not such a villain;
Speak, for my heart is full.

Iago. I told him what I thought; and told no mort
Than what he found himself was apt and true.
Emil. But did you ever tell him she was false?
lago. I did.

Emil. You told a lie; an odious, damned lie; Upon my soul, a lie; a wicked lie:

She false with Cassio?-Did you say with Cassio? lago. With Cassio, mistress. Go to, charm your

Emil. Nay, lay thee down and roar; For thou hast kill'd the sweetest innocent

That e'er did lift up eye.

Oth. O, she was foul!

[Hanging over his wife.

[Rising.

I scarce did know you, uncle: there lies your niece,
Whose breath, indeed, these hands have newly stopp'd:

I know this act shews horrible and grim,
Gra. Poor Desdemona! I am glad thy father's dead.

Thy match was mortal to him, and pure grief
Shore his old thread in twain: did he live now,
This sight would make him do a desperate turn,
Yea, curse his better angel from his side,
And fall to reprobation.

Oth. 'Tis pitiful: but yet Iago knows
That she with Cassio hath the act of shame

A thousand times committed: Cassio confess'd it:

And she did gratify his amorous works
With that recognisance and pledge of love
Which I first gave her; I saw it in his hand:

It was a handkerchief, an antique token

My father gave my mother.

Emil. O heaven! O heavenly powers!

lago. Come, hold your peace

Emil. Twill out, 'twill out;-I hold my peace, Sir? no;

No, I will speak as liberal as the air;

Let heaven, and men, and devils, let them all, All, all, cry shame against me, yet I'll speak. lago. Be wise, and get you home.

Emil. I will not.

Gra. Fie!

Your sword upon a woman!

[IAGO offers to stab his wife.

[speak'st of

Emil. O thou dull Moor! that handkerchief thou I found by fortune, and did give my husband; For often, with a solemn earnestness, (More than, indeed, belong'd to such a trifle,) He begg'd of me to steal it.

Iago. Villanous whore!

Emil. She gave it Cassio! no, alas; I found it, And I did give 't my husband.

iago. Filth, thou liest.

Emil. By heaven, I do not; I do not, gentlemen.O murderous coxcomb! what should such a fool Do with so good a wife?

[IAGO stabs EMILIA, then runs out. Oth. Are there no stones in heaven But what serve for the thunder?-Precious villain! Gra. The woman falls; sure, he has kill'd his wife. Emil. Ay, ay:-0, lay me by my mistress' side! Gra. He's gone, but his wife's kill'd.

Mon. 'Tis a notorious villain. Take you this weapon, Which I have here recover'd from the Moor. Come, guard the door without; let him not pass, But kill him rather. I'll after that same villain, For 'tis a damned slave.

[Exeunt MONTANO and GRATIANO.
Oth. I am not valiant neither,
But every puny whipster gets my sword:-
But why should honour outlive honesty?
Let it go all.

Emil. What did thy song bode, lady?
Hark, canst thou hear me? I will play the swan,
And die in music:-" Willow, willow, willow."-
Moor, she was chaste: she loved thee, cruel Moor;
So come my soul to bliss as I speak true:
So speaking as I think, I die,-I die.

Oth. I have another weapon in this chamber,
It is a sword of Spain, the ice-brook's temper;-
O, here it is.-Uncle, I must come forth.

[Dies.

Gra. [Within. If thou attempt it, it will cost thee Thou hast no weapon, and perforce must suffer. [dear; Oth. Look in upon me then, and speak with me, Or, naked as I am, I will assault thee.

Re-enter GRATIANO.

Gra. What is the matter?

Oth. Behold, I have a weapon;

A better never did itself sustain

Upon a soldier's thigh. I have seen the day,
That, with this little arm and this good sword,
I have made my way through more impediments
Than twenty times your stop:-but, O vain boast!
Who can control his fate? 'tis not so now.-
Be not afraid, though you do see me weapon'd;
Here is my journey's end, here is my butt,
And very sea-mark of my utmost sail.
Do you go back dismay'd? 'tis a lost fear;
Man but a rush against Othello's breast,
And he retires:-where should Othello go?-

Now, how dost thou look now? Oll-starr'd wench?
Pale as thy smock! when we shall meet at compt,
This look of thine will hurl my soul from heaven,
And fiends will snatch at it. Cold, cold, my girl!
Even like thy chastity.-

O cursed, cursed slave!-Whip me, ye devils,
From the possession of this heavenly sight!
Blow me about in winds! roast me in sulphur!
Wash me in steep-down gulfs of liquid fire!-
O Desdemona! Desdemona! dead!

Dead! 01 01 01

Enter LODOVICO, MONTANO, CASSIO carried in a chair,
and Officers, with IAGO, prisoner.
Lod. Where is this rash and most unfortunate man?
Oth. That's he that was Othello;-here I am.
Lod. Where is that viper? bring the villain forth.
Oth. I look down towards his feet;-but that's a
If thou be'st a devil, I cannot kill thee. [fable.-

[OTHELLO wounds IAGO. Lod. Wrench his sword from him. Iago. I bleed, Sir; but not kill'd.

Oth. I am not sorry neither; I'd have thee live;
For, in my sense, 'tis happiness to die.

Lod. O thou Othello! that wert once so good,
Fallen in the practice of a cursed slave,
What shall be said to thee?

Oth. Why, anything:

An honourable murderer, if you will;

For naught I did in hate, but all in honour.

Lod. This wretch hath part confess'd his villany:
Did you and he consent in Cassio's death?
Oth. Ay.

Cas. Dear general, I never gave you cause.
Oth. I do believe it, and I ask your pardon.—
Will you, I pray you, demand that demi-devil,
Why he hath thus ensnared my soul and body?

Iago. Demand me nothing: what you know, you know: From this time forth I never will speak word. Lod. What, not to pray?

Gra. Torments will ope your lips.

Oth. Well, thou dost best.

Lod. Sir, you shall understand what hath befallen, Which, as I think, you know not.

Here is a letter,

Found in the pocket of the slain Roderigo;
And here another: the one of them imports
The death of Cassio to be undertook
By Roderigo.

Oth. O villain!

Cas. Most heathenish, and most gross! Lod. Now, here's another discontented paper, Found in his pocket too; and this, it seems, Roderigo meant to have sent this damned villain; But that, belike, Iago in the interim Came in and satisfied him.

Oth. O the pernicious caitiff!—

How came you, Cassio, by that handkerchief
That was my wife's?

Cas. I found it in my chamber:

And he himself confess'd, but even now,
That there he dropp'd it, for a special purpose,
Which wrought to his desire.

Oth. O fool! fool! fool!

Cas. There is, besides, in Roderigo's letter,-
How he upbraids Iago, that he made him
Brave me upon the watch; whereon it came
That I was cast and even but now he spake,
After long seeming dead,-Iago hurt him,
Iago set him on.

Lod. You must forsake this room, and go with us:
Your power and your command is taken off,
And Cassio rules in Cyprus. For this slave,

If there be any cunning cruelty

That can torment him much, and hold him long,

It shall be his. You shall close prisoner rest,

Till that the nature of your fault be known
To the Venetian state. Come, bring him away.

Oth. Soft you; a word or two before you go.

I have done the state some service, and they know it
No more of that.-I pray you, in your letters,
When you shall these unlucky deeds relate,
Speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate,

Nor set down aught in malice: then must you speak
Of one that loved, not wisely, but too well;"

Of one not easily jealous, but, being wrought,
Perplex'd in the extreme; of one, whose land,
Like the base Indian, threw a pearl away,

Richer than all his tribe; of one, whose subdued eyes,
Albeit unused to the melting mood,

Drop tears as fast as the Arabian trees
Their medicinal gum: set you down this:
And say, besides,-that in Aleppo once,
Where a malignant and a turban'd Turk
Beat a Venetian, and traduced the state,
I took by the throat the circumcised dog,
And smote him-thus.

Lod. O bloody period!

Gra. All that's spoke is marr'd.

[Stabs himself.

Oth. I kiss'd thee ere I kill'd thee;-no way but this, [Falling upon DESDEMONA. Killing myself, to die upon a kiss. [Dies.

Cas. This did I fear, but thought he had no weapon;

For he was great of heart.

GALLUS,

MENAS,

MENECRATES, Friends to POMPEY
VARRIUS,

TAURUS, Lieutenant-general to CESAR.

CANIDIUS, Lieutenant-general to ANTONY.

SILIUS, an Officer in VENTIDIUS' Army.

EUPHEONIUS, an Ambassador from ANTONY to CASAR. ALEXAS, MARDIAN, SELEUCUS, and DIOMEDES, Attendants on CLEOPATRA.

A Soothsayer.--A Clown.

CLEOPATRA, Queen of Egypt.

OCTAVIA, Sister to CESAR, and Wife to ANTONY.

CHARMIAN,} Attendants on CLEOPATRA.

ACT I.

SCENE I.-ALEXANDRIA. A Room in CLEOPATRA'S

l'alace.

Enter DEMETRICS and PHILO.

Phi Nay, but this dotage of our general's
O'erflows the measure: those his goodly eyes,
That o'er the files and musters of the war

Have glow'd like plated Mars, now bend, now turn,
The office and devotion of their view
Upon a tawny front: his captain's heart,
Which in the scuffles of great fights hath burst
The buckles on his breast, reneges all temper;
And is become the bellows and the fan
To cool a gipsy's lust. Look where they come!
Flourish.

Enter ANTONY and CLEOPATRA, with their
trains; Eunuchs fanning her.
Take but good note, and you shall see in him
The triple pillar of the world transform'd
Into a strumpet's fool: behold and see.

Cleo. If it be love indeed, tell me how much.
Ant. There's beggary in the love that can be reckon'd.
Cleo. I'll set a bourn how far to be beloved. [earth.
Ant. Then must thou needs find out new heaven, new
Enter an Attendant.

Att. News, my good lord, from Rome.
Ant. Grates me:-the sum.

Cleo. Nay, hear them, Antony:

Fulvia, perchance, is angry; or, who knows

If the scarce-bearded Caesar have not sent

His powerful mandate to you, "Do this, or this;
Take in that kingdom, and enfranchise that;
Perform 't, or else we damn thee."

Ant. How, my love!

Cleo. Perchance,-nay, and most like,

You must not stay here longer; your dismission

Is come from Cæsar; therefore hear it, Antony.Where's Fulvia's process? Cæsar's, I would say?

Both?

Call in the messengers.-As I am Egypt's queen,
Thou blushest, Antony; and that blood of thine
Is Cæsar's homager; else so thy cheek pays shame
When shrill-tongued Fulvia scolds.-The messengers!
Ant. Let Rome in Tiber melt, and the wide arch
Of the ranged empire fall! Here is my space.
Kingdoms are clay: our dungy earth alike
Feeds beast as man: the nobleness of life

Is to do thus; [Embracing.] when such a mutual pair,
And such a twain can do 't, in which I bind,
On pain of punishment, the world to weet,
We stand up peerless.

Ant. But stirr'd by Cleopatra.-

Now, for the love of Love, and her soft hours,
Let's not confound the time with conference harsh:
There's not a minute of our lives should stretchi
Without some pleasure now: what sport to-night?
Cleo. Hear the ambassadors.

Ant. Fie, wrangling queen!

Whom everything becomes,-to chide, to laugh,
To weep; whose every passion fully strives
To make itself in thee fair and admired!

No messenger; but thine, and all alone,
To-night we'll wander through the streets, and note
The qualities of people. Come, my queen;
Last night you did desire it :-speak not to us.

[Exeunt ANTONY and CLEOPATRA, with their train.
Dem. Is Caesar with Antonius prized so slight?
Phi. Sir, sometimes, when he is not Antony,
He comes too short of that great property
Which still should go with Antony.

Dem. I am full sorry

That he approves the common liar, who
This speaks of him at Rome; but I will hope

Of better deeds to-morrow. Rest you happy! [Exeunt.

SCENE II.-The same. Another Room.

Enter CHARMIAN, IRAS, ALEXAS, and a Soothsayer. Char. Lord Alexas, sweet Alexas, most anything Alexas, almost most absolute Alexas, where's the Soothsayer that you praised so to the queen? O, that I knew this husband, which, you say, must charge his horns with garlands!

Alex. Soothsayer!

Sooth. Your will?