Do strongly speak to us; but the letters too "Subdues all pangs, all fears." M. Mason. [Exeunt 6 Petition us at home:] Wish us at home; call for us to reside at home. Johnson. 7 the courser's hair, &c.] Alludes to an old idle notion that the hair of a horse dropt into corrupted water, will turn to an animal. Pope. So, in Holinshed's Description of England, p. 224: "— A horsehaire laid in a pale full of the like water will in a short time stirre and become a living creature. But sith the certaintie of these things is rather proved by few," &c. Again, in Churchyard's Discourse of rebellion, &c. 1570: "Hit is of kinde much worsie than horses heare "That lyes in donge, where on vyle serpents brede." Steevens. Dr. Lister, in the Philosophical Transactions, showed that what were vulgarly thought animated horse-hairs, are real insects. It was also affirmed, that they moved like serpents, and were poisonous to swallow. Tollet. 8 Say, our pleasure, To such whose place is under us, requires Our quick remove from hence.] Say to those whose place is under us, i. e. to our attendants, that our pleasure requires us to remove in haste from hence. The old copy has-" whose places under us," and "require." The correction, which is certainly right, was made by the editor of the second folio. Malone. I should read the passage thus: Say our pleasure To such who've places under us, requires Our quick remove &c. The amendment is as slight as that adopted by the editor, and makes the sense more clear. M. Mason. SCENE III. Enter CLEOPATRA, CHARMIAN, IRAS, and ALEXAS. Cleo. Where is he?9 Char. I did not see him since. Cleo. See where he is, who 's with him, what he does:I did not send you;-If you find him sad, Say, I am dancing; if in mirth, report That I am sudden sick: Quick, and return. [Exit ALEX. Char. Madam, methinks, if you did love him dearly, You do not hold the method to enforce The like from him. Cleo. What should I do, I do not? Char. In each thing give him way, cross him in nothing. Cleo. Thou teachest like a fool: the way to lose him. Char. Tempt him not so too far: I wish, forbear; In time we hate that which we often fear. Enter ANTONY. But here comes Antony. Cleo. I am sick, and sullen. Ant. Now, my dearest queen, Cleo. Pray you, stand further from me. What's the matter? Cleo. I know, by that same eye, there's some good news. What says the married woman?-You may go; 'Would, she had never given you leave to come! 9 Where is he?] The present defect of metre might be supplied, by reading: Where is he now? So, in Macbeth: "The thane of Fife had a wife; where is she now? Steevens. 1 I did not send you;] You must go as if you came without my order or knowledge. Johnson. So, in Troilus and Cressida: 2 "We met by chance; you did not find me here." Malone. the sides of nature Will not sustain it.] So, in Twelfth Night: "There is no woman's sides "Can bide the beating of so strong a passion. Steevens. Let her not say, 'tis I that keep you here, Cleo. O, never was there queen So mightily betray'd! Yet, at the first, Ant. Cleopatra, Cleo. Why should I think, you can be mine, and true, Though you in swearing shake the throned gods,3 Who have been false to Fulvia? Riotous madness, To be entangled with those mouth-made vows, Which break themselves in swearing! Ant. Most sweet queen, Cleo. Nay, pray you, seek no colour for your going, But bid farewel, and go: when you sued staying, Then was the time for words: No going then;— Eternity was in our lips, and eyes; Bliss in our brows' bent ;4 none our parts so poor, Or thou, the greatest soldier of the world, Art turn'd the greatest liar. Ant. How now, lady! Cleo. I would, I had thy inches; thou should'st know, There were a heart in Egypt. Hear me, queen: Ant. 3 Though you in swearing shake the throned gods,] So, in Timon of Athens: 4 "Although, I know, you'll swear, terribly swear, -in our brows' bent;] i. e. in the arch of our eye-brows. So, in King John: 66 Why do you bend such solemn brows on me?" Steevens. 5 a race of heaven:] i. e. had a smack or flavour of heaven, Warburton. This word is well explained by Dr. Warburton; the race of wine is the taste of the soil. Sir T. Hanmer, not understanding the word, reads, ray. See Vol. II, p. 37, n. 7. Johnson. I am not sure that the poet did not mean, was of heavenly origin. Malone. 6 Remains in use-] The poet seems to allude to the legal distinction between the use and absolute possession. Johnson. Shines o'er with civil swords: Sextus Pompeius Breeds scrupulous faction: The hated, grown to strength, Cleo. Though age from folly could not give me freedom, It does from childishness:-Can Fulvia die?8 Ant. She 's dead, my queen: Look here, and, at thy sovereign leisure, read The same phrase has already occurred in The Merchant of Venice: "I am content, so he will let me have "The other half in use,-." Steevens. should safe my going,] i. e. should render my going not dangerous, not likely to produce any mischief to you. Mr. Theobald, instead of safe, the reading of the old copy, unnecessarily reads salve. Malone. safe my going, is the true reading. So, in a subsequent scene, a soldier says to Enobarbus: 66 Best you safed the bringer 8 It does from childishness:—Can Fulvia die?] That Fulvia was mortal, Cleopatra could have no reason to doubt; the meaning therefore of her question seems to be: Will there ever be an end of your excuses? As often as you want to leave me, will not some Fulvia, some new pretext be found for your departure? She has already said that though age could not exempt her from follies, at least it frees her from a childish belief in all he says. Steevens. I am inclined to think, that Cleopatra means no more thanIs it possible that Fulvia should die? I will not believe it. Ritson. Though age has not exempted me from folly, I am not so childish, as to have apprehensions from a rival that is no more. And is Fulvia dead indeed? Such, I think, is the meaning. Malone. The garboils she awak'd;] i.e. the commotion she occasioned. The word is used by Heywood, in The Rape of Lucrece, 1638: -thou Tarquin, dost alone survive, "The head of all those garboiles." Again, by Stanyhurst, in his translation of the first Book of Virgil's Aneid, 1582: See, when, and where she died. Cleo. Ant. Quarrel no more, but be prepar'd to know Cleo. Cut my lace, Charmian, come;—. But let it be.-I am quickly ill, and well: Ant. My precious queen, forbear; And give true evidence to his love, which stands "Now manhood and garboils I chaunt and martial horror.” Again, in Jarvis Markham's English Arcadia, 1607: "Days of mourning by continuall garboiles were, however, numbered and encreased." The word is derived from the old French garbouil, which Cotgrave explains by hurlyburly, great stir." Steevens. In Cawdrey's Alphabetical Table of hard Words, 8vo. 1604, garboile is explained by the word hurlyburly. Malone. 1 at the last, best:] This conjugal tribute to the memory of Fulvia, may be illustrated by Malcolm's elogium on the thane of Cawdor: 66 -nothing in his life "Became him, like the leaving it." Steevens. 20 most false love! Where be the sacred vials thou should'st fill With sorrowful water?] Alluding to the lachrymatory vials, or bottles of tears, which the Romans sometimes put into the urn of a friend. Johnson. So, in the first Act of The Two Noble Kinsmen, said to be written by Fletcher, in conjunction with Shakspeare: 3 "Balms and gums, and heavy cheers, Steevens. Now, by the fire, &c.] Some word, in the old copies, being here wanting to the metre, I have not scrupled to insert the adverb-Now, on the authority of the following passage in King John, as well as on that of many others in the different pieces of our author: "Now, by the sky that hangs above our heads, "I like it well: -" Steevens. So Antony loves.] i. e. uncertain as the state of my health is the love of Antony. Steevens. |