Eros.

O, sir, pardon me!

Ant. When I did make thee free, swor'st 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 countenance, Wherein the worship of the whole world lies.

Ant. Lo thee! 2

Eros. My sword is drawn.
Ant.

The thing why thou hast drawn it.

Eros.

[Turning from him.

Then let it do at once

My dear master,

My captain, and my emperor, let me say,
Before I strike this bloody stroke, farewell.
Ant. 'Tis said, man ;—and farewell.3

Eros. Farewell, great chief. Shall I strike now ?
Ant.

Eros. Why, there then ;

Now, Eros.

[Falls on his sword.

Thus I do escape the sorrow

[Dies.

Thrice nobler than myself!

Of Antony's death.

Ant.

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.

When I did make thee free, &c.] Compare in Julius Cæsar, v. 3, the last speech of Cassius. See Extracts from Plutarch, 48. 2 Lo thee!] Look thou. Thee was often used as a nominative. Fare thee well! Haste thee! Hie thee! are common examples.

'Tis said, man, &c.] You have just said it, and now I respond farewell.

I learned of thee.-How! not dead? not dead?

The guard-ho!—O, despatch me.

First G.

Enter DERCETAS and Guard.

What's the noise?

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

Not I.

Ant. Let him that loves me strike me dead.

First G.

Second G. Nor I.

Third G. Nor any one.

[Exeunt Guard.

Der. Thy death and fortunes bid thy followers fly. This sword but shown to Cæsar, with this tidings, Shall enter me with him.1

Ant. Art thou there, Diomed? Draw thy sword, and

give me

Sufficing strokes for death.

Dio.

My mistress Cleopatra sent me to thee.
Ant. When did she send thee?

Most absolute lord,

Dio.

Now, my lord.

Ant.

Where is she?

1 Enter me with him.] Get me into his service.

Dio. Locked in her monument.

fear

She had a prophesying

Of what hath come to pass; for when she saw
(Which never shall be found)1 you did suspect
She had disposed 2 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.

Ant. Too late, good Diomed.-Call my guard, I prithee.

Dio. What, ho! the emperor's guard! the guard, what, ho!

Come, your lord calls!

Enter some of the Guard.

Ant. Bear me, good friends, where Cleopatra bides; 'Tis the last service that I shall command you.

First G. Woe, woe3 are we, sir, you may not live to

wear

All your true followers out.

All.

Most heavy day!
Ant. Nay, good fellows, do not please sharp fate
To
grace 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.

1 Found.] Found to be a just suspicion.

2 Disposed.] Come to an arrangement or agreement. Woe.] Here used as an adjective, meaning grieved. To grace it.] By gracing it.

SCENE XV.-The same. A Monument.

Enter, above, CLEOPATRA, CHARMIAN, and IRAS. Cleo. O, Charmian, I will never go from hence. Char. Be comforted, dear madam.

Cleo.

No, I will not:

All strange and terrible events are welcome,
But comforts we despise; our size of sorrow,
Proportioned to our cause, must be as great
As that which makes it.-

Enter, below, DIOMEDES.

How now! is he dead?

Dio. His death 's upon him, but not dead. Look out o' the other side your monument, His guard have brought him thither.

Cleo.

Enter, below, ANTONY, borne by the Guard.

O, sun,

Burn the great sphere thou mov'st in! darkling stand
The varying shore o' the world!1-O, Antony!
Antony, Antony !-Help, Charmian; help, Iras, help;-
Help, friends below;-let 's draw him hither.

Ant.

Not Cæsar's valour hath o'erthrown Antony,
But Antony's hath triumphed on itself.

Cleo. So it should be, that none but Antony
Should conquer Antony; but woe 't is so !

Ant. I am dying,-Egypt,2-dying; only

I here impórtune death a while, until

Peace!

1 Darkling stand, &c.] And let the varying shore of the world stand undistinguishable in utter darkness.

and we were left darkling,' K. Lear, i. 4.

'So out went the candle

Of many thousand kisses the poor last

I lay upon thy lips.

Cleo.

I dare not, dear,

(Dear my lord, pardon,) I dare not,

Lest I be taken: not the imperious show

Of the full-fortuned 1 Cæsar ever shall

Be brooched with me; 2 if knife, drugs, serpents, have
Edge, sting, or operation, I am safe:

Your wife Octavia, with her modest eyes

And still conclusion,3 shall acquire no honour

4

Demuring upon me.—But come, come, Antony,—
Help me, my women,--we must draw thee up ;-
Assist, good friends.

Ant.

O, quick, or I am gone!

Cleo. Here's sport, indeed !-How heavy weighs my lord!

Our strength is all gone into heaviness;

That makes the weight. Had I great Juno's power,
The strong winged Mercury should fetch thee up,
And set thee by Jove's side. Yet come a little,—
Wishers were ever fools,5-0, come, come, come!

[They draw ANTONY up.
And welcome, welcome! die where thou hast lived !
Quicken with kissing! had my lips that power,
Thus would I wear them out.

Full-fortuned.] See p. 95, note 5.

2 Brooched with me.] Adorned with me, as with a brooch on his hat. The brooch was an ornamental hat buckle, rare and costly in Shakspeare's time. He is the brooch, indeed, and gem of all the See the Editor's K. Richard II., p. 116, note 1. Quiet inference or judgment.

nation,' Hamlet, iv. 7. Still conclusion.]

4 Demuring.] Looking demurely.

5 Wishers were ever fools.]

Cleopatra here refers to such vain

wishes as that she has just expressed. 'Had I great Juno's power,' &c. See Extracts from Plutarch, 49,