Together with my

brave Egyptians all,
By the discandying of this pelleted storm
Lie graveless, till the flies and gnats of Nile
Have buried them for prey!

Ant.

I am satisfied.
Cæsar sits down in Alexandria, where
I will oppose his fate. Our force by land
Hath nobly held; our sever'd navy too
Have knit again, and fleet, threatening most

sea-like.

170

Where hast thou been, my heart? Dost thou
hear, lady?

If from the field I shall return once more
To kiss these lips, I will appear in blood;
I and my sword will earn our chronicle:
There's hope in 't yet.

Cleo. That's my brave lord!

Ant. I will be treble-sinew'd, hearted, breath'd,

And fight maliciously: for when mine hours.
Were nice and lucky, men did ransom lives 180
Of me for jests; but now I'll set my teeth,
And send to darkness all that stop me.

Come,

165. "discandying"; the original has discandering. Discandying was proposed by Thirlby, and has been generally received. Of course it signifies melting out of a candied, that is, a solid state; which agrees well with the context, "a pelleted storm" being a storm of bullets. Moreover, discandy occurs, in a similar sense, in Act iv. sc. 10 of this play. Knight and Verplanck, however, retain discandering, and explain it to mean dis-squandering, that is, scattering. It is true, as they remark, that squander was sometimes used for scatter; as in The Merchant of Venice, Act i. sc. 3. It is also true, that the prepositive dis, di, was often used augmentatively or intensively. And it is also true, that the sense of scattering is congruent to the rest of the expression. All which might be good reason for adopting disquandering; but not, it seems to us, for retaining discandering.-H. N. H.

Let's have one other gaudy night: call to me
All my sad captains; fill our bowls once more:
Let's mock the midnight bell.

Cleo.

It is my birth-day:

I had thought to have held it poor, but since my lord

Is Antony again, I will be Cleopatra.

Ant. We will yet do well.

Cleo. Call all his noble captains to my lord.

Ant. Do so, we 'll speak to them; and to-night I'll force

The wine peep through their scars.

my queen;

190

Come on,

There's sap in 't yet. The next time I do fight
I'll make death love me, for I will contend
Even with his pestilent scythe.

[Exeunt all but Enobarbus. Eno. Now he'll outstare the lightning. To be

furious

Is to be frighted out of fear; and in that mood
The dove will peck the estridge; and I see still,
A diminution in our captain's brain

Restores his heart when valor preys on reason,
It eats the sword it fights with. I will seek 200
Some way to leave him.

[Exit.

183. “gaudy night"; feast days, in the colleges of either university, are called gaudy days, as they were formerly in the Inns of Court. "From gaudium," says Blount, "because, to say truth, they are days ›f joy, as bringing good cheer to the hungry students."-H. N. H

ACT FOURTH

SCENE I

Before Alexandria. Cæsar's camp.

Enter Caesar, Agrippa, and Maecenas, with his army: Cæsar reading a letter.

Cæs. He calls me boy, and chides as he had power To beat me out of Egypt; my messenger

He hath whipp'd with rods; dares me to per-
sonal combat,

Cæsar to Antony. Let the old ruffian know
I have many other ways to die, meantime
Laugh at his challenge.

Mæc.

Cæsar must think, When one so great begins to rage, he 's hunted Even to falling. Give him no breath, but now Make boot of his distraction. Never anger Made good guard for itself.

Cæs.

10

Let our best heads
Know that to-morrow the last of many battles
We mean to fight. Within our files there are,

"He

5. "I have many other ways to die"; Upton would read: hath many other ways to die: mean time I laugh at his challenge.” This is certainly the sense of Plutarch, and given so in modern translations; but Shakespeare was misled by the ambiguity of the old one: "Antonius sent again to challenge Cæsar to fight him: Cæsar answered, that he had many other ways to die than so."H. N. H.

Of those that served Mark Antony but late,
Enough to fetch him in. See it done:

And feast the army; we have store to do 't,
And they have earn'd the waste. Poor Antony!

Exeunt.

SCENE II

Alexandria. Cleopatra's palace.

Enter Antony, Cleopatra, Enobarbus, Charmian, Iras, Alexas, with others.

Ant. He will not fight with me, Domitius?

Eno.

Ant. Why should he not?

No.

Eno. He thinks, being twenty times of better for

tune,

He is twenty men to one.

Ant.

To-morrow, soldier,

By sea and land I 'll fight: or I will live,

Or bathe my dying honor in the blood

Shall make it live again. Woo't thou fight well?

Eno. I'll strike, and cry "Take all.'

Ant.

Well said; come on.

Call forth my household servants: let's to-night
Be bounteous at our meal.

Enter three or four Servitors.

8. "Take all'"; let the survivor take all; no composition; victory or death.-H. N. H.

Thou hast been rightly honest;-so hast thou;-
Thou,—and thou,-and thou: you have served

me well,

And kings have been your fellows.

Cleo.

this?

[Aside to Eno.] What means

Eno. [Aside to Cleo.] 'Tis one of those odd tricks

Ant.

which sorrow shoots

Out of the mind.

And thou art honest too.
I wish I could be made so many men,
And all of you clapp'd up together in
An Antony, that I might do you service
So good as you have done.

Serv.

The gods forbid!

Ant. Well, my good fellows, wait on me to-night: Scant not my cups, and make as much of me 21 As when mine empire was your fellow too

And suffer'd my command.

Cleo.

Ant.

[Aside to Eno.] What does he mean?
Eno. [Aside to Cleo.] To make his followers weep.
Tend me to-night;
May be it is the period of your duty:
Haply you shall not see me more; or if,
A mangled shadow: perchance to-morrow
You'll serve another master. I look on you
As one that takes his leave. Mine honest
friends,

I turn you not away; but, like a master
Married to your good service, stay till death:
Tend me to-night two hours, I ask no more,
And the gods yield you for 't!

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