Drum. Enter BRUTUS, CASSIUS, and their Army; Oct. Mark Antony, shall we give sign of battle? Antony, The posture of your blows are yet unknown; But for your words, they rob the Hybla bees, And leave them honeyless. Ant. Not stingless too. Bru. O, yes, and soundless too: For you have stol'n their buzzing, Antony, And, very wisely, threat before you sting. Ant. Villains, you did not so when your vile daggers Hack'd one another in the sides of Cæsar : And bow'd like bondmen, kissing Cæsar's feet; [us sweat, I draw a sword against conspirators: So I hope; [Exeunt Ocr., ANT., and their Army. Cas. Why now, blow, wind; swell, billow; and swim, bark! The storm is up, and all is on the hazard. Lucilius; hark, a word with you. My lord. Mes. Cas. Messala, This is my birth-day; as this very day Was Cassius born. Give me thy hand, Mes- Now, most noble Brutus, Bru. Even by the rule of that philosophy, By which I did blame Cato for the death Which he did give himself:-I know not how, But I do find it cowardly and vile, For fear of what might fall, so to prevent Cas. SCENE II.-The Field of Battle. Let them set on at once; for I perceive SCENE III.-Another Part of the Field. Alarum. Enter CASSIUS and TITINIUS. Cas. O, look, Titinius, look, the villains fly! * Foremost. + Accompanied. + Directions for the officers. Myself have to mine own turn'd enemy: Enter PINDARUS. As in thy red rays thou dost sink to night, Mes. Mistrust of good success hath done this Pin. Fly further off, my lord, fly further off; Thou never com'st unto a happy birth, Cas. This hill is far enough. Look, look, Ti- Are those my tents, where I perceive the fire? Cas. Till he have brought thee up to yonder troops, Titinius is Enclosed round about with horsemen, that Now be a freeman; and, with this good sword, Stand not to answer: Here take thou the hilts; Re-enter TITINIUS, with MESSALA. Mes. It is but change, Titinius; for Octavius Tit. These tidings will well comfort Cassius. But kill'st the mother that engender'd thee. [rus? [Exit MES. Alas, thou hast misconstrued every thing. [tears Cato. [Exeunt. SCENE IV.-Another Part of the Field. Alarum. Enter, fighting, Soldiers of both Armies; then BRUTUS, CATO, LUCILIUS, and Others. Bru. Yet, countrymen, O, yet hold up your heads! [with me? Cato. What bastard doth not? Who will go I will proclaim my name about the field:I am the son of Marcus Cato, ho! A foe to tyrants, and my country's friend; I am the son of Marcus Cato, ho! [Charges the enemy. Bru. And I am Brutus, Marcus Brutus, I; Brutus, my country's friend; know me for Brutus. [Exit, charging the enemy. CATO is overpowered, and falls. Luc. O young and noble Cato, art thou down? Why, now thou diest as bravely as Titinius; And may'st be honour'd, being Cato's son.. 1 Sold. Yield, or thou diest. Luc. Only I yield to die : There is so much that thou wilt kill me straight; [Offering money. Kill Brutus, and be honour'd in his death. 1 Sold. We must not.-A noble prisoner! 2 Sold. Room, ho! Tell Antony, Brutus is ta'en. 1 Sold. I'll tell the news.-Here comes the general : Enter ANTONY. Brutus is ta'en, Brutus is ta'en, my lord. Luc. Safe, Antony; Brutus is safe enough: I dare assure thee, that no enemy [Exeunt. SCENE V.-Another Part of the Field. Enter BRUTUS, DARDANIUS, CLITUS, STRATO, and VOLUMNIUS. Bru. Come, poor remains of friends, rest on this rock. [lord, Cli. Statilius show'd the torch-light; but, my It is a deed in fashion. Hark thee, Clitus.- Cli. O Dardanius! Dar. O Clitus! Cli. What ill request did Brutus make to thee? Dar. To kill him, Clitus : Look, he meditates. Cli. Now is that noble vessel full of grief, That it runs over even at his eyes. [word. Bru. Come hither, good Volumnius: list a Vol. What says my lord? Bru. Why, this, Volumnius: The ghost of Cæsar hath appeared to me Two several times by night: at Sardis, once; And, this last night, here in Philippi' fields. I know my hour is come. Vol. Not so, my lord. Bru. Nay, I am sure it is, Volumnius. Thou see'st the world, Volumnius, how it goes; Our enemies have beat us to the pit: It is more worthy to leap in ourselves, Than tarry till they push us. Good Volumnius, Thou know'st, that we two went to school together; Even for that our love of old, I pray thee, Hold thou my sword-hilts, whilst I run on it. Vol. That's not an office for a friend, my lord, [Alarum still. Cli. Fly, fly, my lord; there is no tarrying here. Bru. Farewell to you;-and you;—and you, Strato, thou hast been all this while asleep; Night hangs upon mine eyes; my bones would rest, That have but labour'd to attain this hour. Hence; I will follow. Stra. Give me your hand first: Fare you well, my lord. Bru. Farewell, good Strato.-Cæsar, now be I kill'd not thee with half so good a will. [still: [He runs on his Sword, and dies. Alarum. Retreat. Enter OCTAVIUS, ANTONY, MESSALA, LUCILIUS, and their Army. Oct. What man is that? [master ? Mes. My master's man.-Strato, where is thy Stra. Free from the bondage you are in, Messala; The conquerors can but make a fire of him; For Brutus only overcame himself, And no man else hath honour by his death. Luc. So Brutus should be found.-I thank thee, Brutus, That thou hast prov'd Lucilius' saying true. Oct. All that serv'd Brutus, I will entertain them. * Fellow, wilt thou bestow thy time with me? Stra. Ay, if Messala will prefer+ me to you. Oct. Do so, Messala. Mes. How died my master, Strato? Stra. I held the sword, and he did run on it. Mes. Octavius, then take him to follow thee, That did the latest service to my master. Ant. This was the noblest Roman of them all: All the conspirators, save only he, Did that they did in envy of great Cæsar; He, only, in a general honest thought, And common good to all, made one of them. His life was gentle; and the elements So mix'd in him, that Nature might stand up, And say to all the world, "This was a man!" Oct. According to his virtue let us use him, * Receive into my service. THIS varied and gorgeous historical tragedy, though perfect in itself, may yet be regarded as a continuation of Julius Cæsar. In the commencement of that play, absolute power is lodged in one man; a wide circle of terrible events roll on; every effort is made by the republican party, and much noble blood spilt, to preserve the political freedom of Rome: but the wheel comes round, and the conclusion of Antony and Cleopatra sees a second Cæsar in possession of that absolute power which the first met his death in attempting to consolidate, and the three divisions of the Roman world are at length united under one imperial ruler. In Julius Cæsar, the character of Antony is but slightly sketched; but it is here elaborated with a truthful and powerful pen. Antony is a singular mixture of contending qualities: brave and generous, yet selfishly luxurious in his habits; a hardy soldier, yet an effeminate man; condescending and affable so far as to drink and jest with his soldiers, yet so proud and imperious as to make princes his vassals, and to bestow upon his sons the vainglorious title of "the kings of kings." His virtues and his vices seemed to wrestle for the possession of the man; and although the latter triumphed, yet Antony so sinned, that men often admired while they condemned. The personal appearance of Antony is thus described by Plutarch, from whom Shakespeare borrowed the materials for this tragedy :-"Antony had a noble dignity of countenance, a graceful length of beard, a large forehead, an aquiline nose; and, upon the whole, the same manly aspect that we see in the pictures and statues of Hercules. There was, indeed, an ancient tradition, that his family was descended from Hercules, by a son of his, called Anteon; and it was no wonder if Antony sought to confirm this opinion, by affecting to resemble him in his air and in his dress." Generous, but rapacious-a great general, but a greater voluptuary;-"such was the frail, the flexible Antony, when the love of Cleopatra came in to the completion of his ruin. This awakened every dormant vice, inflamed every guilty passion, and totally extinguished the gleams of remaining virtue." His first meeting with the captivating Egyptian occurred thus: he sent her his commands to meet him in Cilicia, to answer some accusations laid against her of assisting Cassius in his war against Antony and Octavius. The messenger, seeing the great beauty and fascination of Cleopatra, immediately concluded that she had nothing to fear from the gallant Antony :— "Whom ne'er the word of 'No,' woman heard speak:" and therefore paid great court to, and solicited her to go "in her best attire." This hint was not lost upon the quick-witted Egyptian: she went; but it was not to sue, but to conquer. Shakespeare has closely followed Plutarch in his gorgeous description of Cleopatra sailing to meet Antony down the river Cydnus; though he has certainly beautified that exquisite narrative, throwing a soft voluptuous languor into it, singularly consistent with the scene, and breathing the very soul of beauty. Cleopatra was the widow of King Ptolemy, and had been the paramour of Cæsar: the early spring of youth was therefore past, but she was still in the summer of her beauty; nay, she had not yet reached the B full meridian of womanly maturity; her vivacity was even beyond her personal attractions, and her conversational powers were remarkably varied and brilliant; while her voice was singularly melodious, and had the softness of music. Her beauty, we are told, was not so remarkable as her manners were fascinating and irresistible. Her accomplishments also were very great; and she spoke most languages freely, giving audience herself, without the aid of interpreters, to the ambassadors of the Ethiopians, Hebrews, Arabs, Syrians, Medes, and Parthians. Cleopatra completely enslaved the affections of Antony, and carried him in triumph with her to Alexandria, where they passed their time in feasts and revels, and established a society of their friends, whom they called the Inimitable Livers. Antony's marriage with Octavia, after the death of his first wife, Fulvia, was merely an act of political expediency: we feel that Enobarbus is right, when he says Antony "will to his Egyptian dish again." In the play the incidents are drawn closely together, and Antony's desertion of Octavia seems immediately to follow his marriage; but this was not the case; he had lived with her long enough to become the father of three children, before he left her for the embraces of Cleopatra, to whom, on his return, he bestowed kingdoms for presents; and in his inordinate vanity, gave the names of the sun and moon to the twins she bore him. Octavius Cæsar was glad of a pretext to quarrel with Antony: he had disposed of his colleague, Lepidus; and could he also dispose of Antony, the whole Roman empire would be under his authority: he therefore availed himself of the insult offered to his sister, and made war upon Cleopatra; the final result of which, was the ruin and suicide both of her and her princely paramour. Antony's power was sufficient to have made him conqueror of the civilised world: he had five hundred armed vessels, each with eight or ten banks of oars; a hundred thousand foot soldiers, and twelve thousand horse; and Shakespeare has, in the play, enumerated the kings and princes who fought under his banner. But his affection for Cleopatra had subdued both his judgment and his valour, and he fled disgracefully before Cæsar for a time he was deeply dejected, and lived in melancholy retirement; but he soon returned to Alexandria, and again gave way to festivity and enjoyment. In conjunction with Cleopatra, he now established a society, which they called The Companions in Death, into which they admitted their immediate adherents, and spent their time in continual feasting and diver is but a tissue of refined and poetical sensuality), such is her devotion to Antony, and so winning is the gigantic extravagance of her affection for him, that we not only forgive her errors, but admire and applaud the actor of them. Antony and Cæsar are placed in strong contrast to each other; the one brave, reckless and prodigal, the other cool, prudent, and avaricious. "Caesar gets money,' says Pompey, "where he loses hearts." Antony is a warrior and a prodigal, and Octavius a statesman, whose feelings are strictly under command. Enobarbus, although an historical character, and to be found in Plutarch, does not there appear very prominently, and may, to no small extent, be called a creation of the pen of Shakespeare. He found the name in history, but not the man be pictured. Enobarbus forms one of the rich sunlights of the picture; his plain bluntness has all the cheering hilarity of comedy. But his jocularity would be out of place in the latter scenes of the tragedy: how admirably does Shakespeare obviate this. The dotage and ill-fortune of Antony transform Enobarbus into a serious man, and finally corrupt this hitherto faithful soldier; he deserts his master, and flies to the service of Cæsar. The munificent Antony sends after him his chests and treasure, which, in the hurry of flight, he had left behind: this act of kindness strikes the M. ANTONY, OCTAVIUS CÆSAR, M. EMIL. LEPIDUS, penitent fugitive to the heart, and, wasting in grief, he goes forth to die; and alone, without the camp, breathing his deep sorrow to the cold moon, does Enobarbus end his life in the bitterness of despair, As his final ruin draws on, Antony is alternately Is not a single doom: in the name lay That of Cleopatra follows; it is consistent with "As she would catch another Antony This tragedy is attributed to the year 1608. Antony and Cleopatra. Persons Represented. SEXTUS POMPEIUS. DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS, VENTIDIUS, EROS, SCARUS, Friends of Antony. DERCETAS, DEMETRIUS, PHILO, MECENAS, AGRIPPA, DOLABELLA, Friends of Cæsar. PROCULEIUS, THYREUS, Act First. TAURUS, Lieutenant-General to Cæsar. ALEXAS, MARDIAN, SELEUCUs, and DIOMEDES, A Soothsayer. A Clown. CLEOPATRA, Queen of Egypt. OCTAVIA, Sister to Cæsar, and Wife to Antony. SCENE.-Dispersed in several parts of the Roman Empire. And is become the bellows, and the fan, Cleo. If it be love indeed, tell me how much. Cleo. I'll set a bourn + how far to be belov'd. Ant. Then must thou needs find out new heaven, new earth. Enter an Attendant. Att. News, my good lord, from Rome. |