Antony and Cleopatra (Arden Shakespeare: Third Series)
Page 11
The honoured gashes whole11.--
Enter Cleopatra
Give me thy hand.
To Scarrus
To this great fairy12 I'll commend thy acts,
Make her thanks bless thee.--
O thou day13 o'th'world,
To Cleopatra
Chain mine armed neck14, leap thou, attire and all,
Through proof of harness15 to my heart, and there
Ride on the pants triumphing16!
They embrace
CLEOPATRA Lord of lords!
O infinite virtue18, com'st thou smiling from
The world's great snare uncaught?
She offers Scarrus her hand
ANTONY My nightingale,
We have beat them to their beds. What, girl! Though grey
Do something22 mingle with our younger brown, yet ha' we
A brain that nourishes our nerves23 and can
Get goal for goal of youth24. Behold this man:
Commend25 unto his lips thy favouring hand.
Kiss it, my warrior: he hath fought today
As if a god in hate of mankind had
Destroyed in such a shape28.
CLEOPATRA I'll give thee, friend,
An armour all of gold: it was a king's.
ANTONY He has deserved it, were it carbuncled31
Like holy Phoebus' car32. Give me thy hand:
Through Alexandria make a jolly march,
Bear our hacked targets34 like the men that owe them.
Had our great palace the capacity
To camp36 sup this host, we all would sup together
And drink carouses37 to the next day's fate
Which promises royal peril38. Trumpeters,
With brazen39 din blast you the city's ear,
Make mingle40 with rattling taborins,
That heaven and earth may strike their sounds together41,
Applauding our approach.
Exeunt Trumpets sound
[Act 4 Scene 9]
running scene 26
Location: Caesar's camp outside Alexandria
* * *
Enter a Sentry and his Company, Enobarbus follows
SENTRY If we be not relieved within this hour,
We must return to th'court of guard2: the night
Is shiny3 and they say we shall embattle
By th'second hour i'th'morn.
FIRST WATCH This last day was a shrewd5 one to's.
ENOBARBUS O, bear me witness, night--
SECOND WATCH What man is this?
FIRST WATCH Stand close8, and list him.
They stand aside
ENOBARBUS Be witness to me -- O thou blessed moon --
When men revolted shall upon record
Bear hateful memory10, poor Enobarbus did
Before thy face repent!
SENTRY Enobarbus?
SECOND WATCH Peace! Hark further.
ENOBARBUS O sovereign mistress of true melancholy15,
The poisonous damp of night16 disponge upon me,
That life, a very rebel to my will17,
May hang no longer on me. Throw my heart
Against the flint19 and hardness of my fault,
Which, being dried with grief20, will break to powder
And finish all foul thoughts. O Antony,
Nobler than my revolt is infamous,
Forgive me in thine own particular23,
But let the world rank me in register24
A master-leaver and a fugitive25.
O Antony! O Antony!
He sinks down and dies
FIRST WATCH Let's speak to him.
SENTRY Let's hear him, for the things he speaks
May concern Caesar.
SECOND WATCH Let's do so. But he sleeps.
SENTRY Swoons31 rather, for so bad a prayer as his
Was never yet for sleep.
FIRST WATCH Go we to him.
SECOND WATCH Awake, sir, awake! Speak to us!
FIRST WATCH Hear you, sir?
SENTRY The hand of death hath raught36 him.
Drums afar off
Hark! The drums demurely37 wake the sleepers.
Let us bear him to th'court of guard:
He is of note39: our hour is fully out.
SECOND WATCH Come on, then,
He may recover yet.
Exeunt [with the body]
[Act 4 Scene 10]
running scene 27
Location: the battlefield outside Alexandria
* * *
Enter Antony and Scarrus with their Army
ANTONY Their preparation is today by sea,
We please them not by land.
SCARRUS For both3, my lord.
ANTONY I would they'd fight i'th'fire or i'th'air4,
We'd fight there too. But this it is: our foot5
Upon the hills adjoining to the city
Shall stay with us. Order for sea is given:
They have put forth the haven8,
Where their appointment9 we may best discover,
And look on their endeavour.
Exeunt
[Act 4 Scene 11]
running scene 27 continues
Enter Caesar and his Army
CAESAR But being charged1 we will be still by land,
Which, as I take't, we shall2, for his best force
Is forth to man his galleys. To the vales3,
And hold our best advantage4.
Exeunt
[Act 4 Scene 12]
running scene 27 continues
Alarum afar off, as at a sea-fight. Enter Antony and Scarrus
ANTONY Yet they are not joined1: where yond pine does stand,
I shall discover all. I'll bring thee word
Straight, how 'tis like to go.
Exit
SCARRUS Swallows have built
In Cleopatra's sails their nests. The augurers5
Say they know not, they cannot tell, look grimly,
And dare not speak their knowledge. Antony
Is valiant and dejected, and by starts8
His fretted9 fortunes give him hope and fear
Of what he has and has not.
Enter Antony
ANTONY All is lost:
This foul Egyptian hath betrayed me:
My fleet hath yielded to the foe, and yonder
They cast their caps up, and carouse together
Like friends long lost. Triple-turned whore!15 '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 charm18,
I have done all. Bid them all fly. Be gone!
[Exit Scarrus]
O sun, thy uprise20 shall I see no more.
Fortune and Antony part here, even here
Do we shake hands. All come to this? The hearts
That spanieled23 me at heels, to whom I gave
Their wishes, do discandy24, melt their sweets
On blossoming Caesar, and this pine25 is barked
That overtopped them all. Betrayed I am.
O this false soul of Egypt! This grave27 charm
Whose eye becked28 forth my wars and called them home,
Whose bosom was my crownet, my chief end29,
Like a right gipsy30 hath at fast and loose
Beguiled31 me to the very heart of loss.
What, Eros, Eros!--
Enter Cleopatra
Ah, thou spell32! Avaunt!
CLEOPATRA Why is my lord enraged against his love?
ANTONY Vanish or I shall give thee thy deserving
And blemish Caesar's triumph35. Let him take thee
And hoist thee up to the shouting plebeians36.
Follow his chariot like the greatest spot37
Of all thy sex. Most monster-like, be shown38
For39 poor'st diminutives, for dolts, and let
Patient40 Octavia plough thy visage up
Wi
th her prepared41 nails!
Exit Cleopatra
'Tis well thou'rt gone
If it be well to live. But better 'twere
Thou fell'st into43 my fury, for one death
Might have prevented many. Eros, ho!
The shirt of Nessus45 is upon me. Teach me,
Alcides46, thou mine ancestor, thy rage:
Let me lodge Lichas47 on the horns o'th'moon,
And with those hands that grasped the heaviest club48
Subdue my worthiest49 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
[Act 4 Scene 13]
running scene 27 continues
Location: Alexandria
* * *
Enter Cleopatra, Charmian, Iras, Mardian
CLEOPATRA Help me, my women! O, he's more mad
Than Telamon for his shield2: the boar of Thessaly
Was never so embossed3.
CHARMIAN To th'monument4!
There lock yourself and send him word you are dead:
The soul and body rive6 not more in parting
Than greatness going off7.
CLEOPATRA To th'monument!
Mardian, go tell him I have slain myself:
Say that the last I spoke was 'Antony',
And word it -- prithee -- piteously. Hence, Mardian,
And bring me how he takes my death. To th'monument!
Exeunt
[Act 4 Scene 14]
running scene 27 continues
* * *
Enter Antony and Eros
ANTONY Eros, thou yet behold'st me1?
EROS Ay, noble lord.
ANTONY Sometimes we see a cloud that's dragonish3,
A vapour sometime like a bear or lion,
A towered citadel, a pendent5 rock,
A forked mountain, or blue promontory6
With trees upon't that nod unto the world
And mock8 our eyes with air. Thou hast seen these signs:
They are black vesper's9 pageants.
EROS Ay, my lord.
ANTONY That which is now a horse, even with a thought11
The rack12 dislimns and makes it indistinct
As water is in water.
EROS It does, my lord.
ANTONY My good knave15 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 Egypt18, and the queen --
Whose heart I thought I had, for she had mine,
Which whilst it was mine had annexed unto't
A million more, now lost -- she, Eros, has
Packed22 cards with Caesar, and false-played my glory
Unto an enemy's triumph23.
Nay, weep not, gentle Eros, there is left us
Ourselves to end ourselves.--
Enter Mardian
O, thy vile lady!
She has robbed me of my sword26.
MARDIAN No, Antony,
My mistress loved thee and her fortunes mingled
With thine entirely28.
ANTONY Hence, saucy30 eunuch. Peace!
She hath betrayed me and shall die the death.
MARDIAN Death of one person can be paid but once,
And that she has discharged33. What thou wouldst do
Is done unto thy hand34: 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 lips37: she rendered38 life,
Thy name so buried in her.
ANTONY Dead, then?
MARDIAN Dead.
ANTONY Unarm, Eros: the long day's task is done
And we must sleep.--That thou depart'st
hence safe
To Mardian
Does pay thy labour richly43. Go.--
Exit Mardian
Off, pluck off!
Eros unarms him
The seven-fold shield of Ajax46 cannot keep
The battery47 from my heart.--O, cleave, my sides!
Heart, once be stronger than thy continent48,
Crack thy frail case!--Apace49, Eros, apace!--
No more a soldier: bruised pieces50, go.
You have been nobly borne.--From51 me awhile.--
Exit Eros
I will o'ertake thee, Cleopatra, and
Weep for my pardon.--So it must be, for now
All length54 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 strength56. Seal57 then, and all is done.--
Eros!--I come, my queen.--Eros!--Stay58 for me:
Where souls do couch on flowers59 we'll hand in hand
And with our sprightly port60 make the ghosts gaze.
Dido and her Aeneas61 shall want troops,
And all the haunt be ours62.--Come, Eros, Eros!
Enter Eros
EROS What would63 my lord?
ANTONY Since Cleopatra died,
I have lived in such dishonour that the gods
Detest my baseness. I, that with my sword
Quartered the world and o'er green Neptune's back67
With ships made cities68, condemn myself to lack
The courage of a woman, less noble mind
Than she which by her death our Caesar tells
'I am conqueror of myself'. Thou art sworn, Eros,
That when the exigent72 should come, which now
Is come indeed, when I should see behind me
Th'inevitable prosecution74 of
Disgrace and horror, that on my command
Thou then wouldst kill me. Do't: the time is come:
Thou strikest not me, 'tis Caesar thou defeat'st.
Put colour in thy cheek.
EROS The gods withhold79 me!
Shall I do that which all the Parthian darts80 --
Though enemy81 -- lost aim, and could not?
ANTONY Eros,
Wouldst thou be windowed83 in great Rome and see
Thy master thus with pleached84 arms, bending down
His corrigible85 neck, his face subdued
To penetrative86 shame, whilst the wheeled seat
Of fortunate Caesar, drawn before him, branded
His baseness that ensued87?
EROS I would not see't.
ANTONY Come, then. For with a wound I must be cured.
Draw that thy honest91 sword which thou hast worn
Most useful for thy country.
EROS O, sir, pardon me93!
ANTONY When I did make thee free, swor'st thou not then
To do this when I bade thee? Do it at once,
Or thy precedent96 services are all
But accidents unpurposed97. Draw, and come.
EROS Turn from me then that noble countenance
Wherein the worship99 of the whole world lies.
ANTONY Lo thee!100
Turns away from him
EROS My sword is drawn.
ANTONY Then let it do at once
The thing why thou hast drawn it.
EROS My dear master,
My captain and my emperor, let me say,
Before I strike this bloody stroke, farewell.
ANTONY 'Tis said, man, and farewell.
EROS Farewell, great chief. Shall I strike now?
ANTONY Now, Eros.
EROS Why, there then: thus I do escape the sorrow
Of Antony's death.
Kills himself
ANTONY Thrice-nobler than myself!
Thou teachest me, O valiant Eros, what
I should and thou couldst not114. My queen and Eros
Have by their brave instruction115 got upon me
A nobleness in record116. But I wi
ll be
A bridegroom in my death and run into't
As to a lover's bed117. Come then,--and, Eros,
Thy master dies thy scholar: to do thus
I learned of thee.--How, not dead? Not dead?--
The guard, ho! O, dispatch me121!
Falls on his sword
Enter a [Company of] Guard
One of them Dercetus
FIRST GUARD What's the noise?
ANTONY I have done my work ill, friends: O, make an end
Of what I have begun!
SECOND GUARD The star is fall'n.
FIRST GUARD And time is at his period126.
ALL Alas, and woe!
ANTONY Let him that loves me strike me dead.
FIRST GUARD Not I.
SECOND GUARD Nor I.
THIRD GUARD Nor anyone.
Exeunt [all the Guard but Dercetus]
DERCETUS Thy death and fortunes bid thy
followers fly.
This sword but shown to Caesar with this tidings,
Shall enter me with him134.
Takes Antony's sword
Enter Diomedes
DIOMEDES Where's Antony?
DERCETUS There, Diomed there!
DIOMEDES Lives he? Wilt thou not answer, man?
[Exit Dercetus with Antony's sword]
ANTONY Art thou there, Diomed? Draw thy
sword, and give me
Sufficing strokes for death139.
DIOMEDES Most absolute140 lord,
My mistress Cleopatra sent me to thee.
ANTONY When did she send thee?
DIOMEDES Now, my lord.
ANTONY Where is she?
DIOMEDES Locked in her monument. She had a prophesying
fear
Of what hath come to pass, for when she saw --
Which never shall be found147 -- you did suspect
She had disposed148 with Caesar, and that your rage
Would not be purged, she sent you word she was dead:
But, fearing since how it might work150, hath sent
Me to proclaim the truth, and I am come,
I dread, too late.
ANTONY Too late, good Diomed. Call my guard, I prithee.
DIOMEDES What, ho, the emperor's guard! The guard,
what, ho!
Come, your lord calls!
Enter four or five of the Guard of Antony
ANTONY Bear me, good friends, where Cleopatra bides156:
'Tis the last service that I shall command you.
FIRST GUARD Woe, woe are we, sir, you may not live to wear
All your true followers out158.
ALL Most heavy160 day!
ANTONY Nay, good my fellows, do not please sharp161 fate
To grace162 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 [and Eros]
[Act 4 Scene 15]
running scene 28
Location: outside Cleopatra's monument, Alexandria
* * *
Enter Cleopatra and her maids aloft, with Charmian and Iras