ACT V. SCENE I.

CESAR'S Camp before Alexandria.

Enter CESAR, AGRIPPA, DOLABELLA, MECENAS, GALLUS, PROCULEIUS, and Others1.

Cæs. Go to him, Dolabella, bid him yield;

Being so frustrate, tell him,

He mocks us by the pauses that he makes2.

Dol. Cæsar, I shall.

[Exit DOLABELLA.

Enter DERCETAS, with the Sword of ANTONY.

Cas. Wherefore is that? and what art thou, that

dar'st

Appear thus to us?

Der.

I am call'd Dercetas.

Mark Antony I serv'd, who best was worthy

Best to be serv'd: whilst he stood up, and spoke,

He was my master, and I wore my life,

To spend upon his haters. If thou please
To take me to thee, as I was to him
I'll be to Cæsar; if thou pleasest not,
I yield thee up my life.

Cæs.

What is't thou say'st? Der. I say, O Cæsar! Antony is dead.

Cæs. The breaking of so great a thing should make A greater crack: the round world should have shook

1

"Enter

Proculeius, and Others.] The old stage-direction runs thus: Caesar, Agrippa, Dolabella, Menas, with his Council of war." It seems evident that Menas is a misprint for Mecænas, and the name (as Thirlby pointed out) is printed Mec. in the prefixes, which of itself detects the error.

2 He mocks US BY the pauses that he makes.] The old copies omit "us by," which were added by Malone, and which we adopt, because they, or some equivalent words, are necessary to the sense, as well as to the measure, which is regulated according to the folio, 1623.

Lions into civil streets,

And citizens to their dens. The death of Antony
Is not a single doom: in the name lay

A moiety of the world.

Der.

He is dead, Cæsar;

Not by a public minister of justice,

Nor by a hired knife; but that self hand,
Which writ his honour in the acts it did,

Hath, with the courage which the heart did lend it,
Splitted the heart. This is his sword;

I robb'd his wound of it: behold it stain'd

With his most noble blood.

Cæs.

Look you sad, friends?

And strange it is',

The gods rebuke me, but it is tidings
To wash the eyes of kings.

Agr.

That nature must compel us to lament

Our most persisted deeds.

Mec.

Waged equal with him3.

Agr.

His taints and honours

A rarer spirit never

Did steer humanity; but you, gods, will give us
Some faults to make us men. Cæsar is touch'd.

Mec. When such a spacious mirror's set before him, He needs must see himself.

Cæs.

O Antony!

I have follow'd thee to this;-but we do lance
Diseases in our bodies. I must perforce
Have shown to thee such a declining day,

Or look on thine: we could not stall together

Lions into civil streets ;] Johnson was of opinion that a line here had been lost, and perhaps there is some omission or corruption in the text; but still it is intelligible as it stands, and we of course adhere to it.

4 And strange it is,] This and the next speech, here assigned to Agrippa, are given to Dolabella in the old copies. Dolabella had made his exit.

5 WAGED equal with him.] There would be ground for preferring weigh of the folio, 1632, to "waged" of the folio, 1623, if "waged" did not afford an easy and evident meaning: to "wage" is here to be taken in the sense of contend. The two later folios corrupt weigh of the second folio (spelt way) into may.

In the whole world. But yet let me lament,
With tears as sovereign as the blood of hearts,
That thou, my brother, my competitor

In top of all design, my mate in empire,
Friend and companion in the front of war,
The arm of mine own body, and the heart

Where mine his thoughts did kindle, that our stars,
Unreconcileable should divide

Our equalness to this.-Hear me, good friends,
But I will tell you at some meeter season:

Enter a Messenger.

The business of this man looks out of him;
We'll hear him what he says.-Whence are you?
Mess. A poor Egyptian yet. The queen my mistress,
Confin'd in all she has, her monument,

Of thy intents desires instruction,

That she preparedly may frame herself

To the way she's forced to.

Cæs.

Bid her have good heart:

She soon shall know of us, by some of ours,
How honourable and how kindly we

Determine for her; for Cæsar cannot live
To be ungentle.

Mess.

So the gods preserve thee!

Cæs. Come hither, Proculeius. Go, and say,

[Exit.

We purpose her no shame: give her what comforts

The quality of her passion shall require,

Lest in her greatness by some mortal stroke

She do defeat us; for her life in Rome
Would be eternal in our triumph. Go,

And with your speediest bring us what she says,
And how you find of her.

6

for Cæsar cannot LIVE] So the sense requires us to read; but the old folios all have leare, which was altered to "live" by Southern, in his copy of the fourth folio. He anticipated Pope in a change, which, if not made, would directly contradict the poet's meaning.

Pro.

Cæsar, I shall. [Exit PROCUleius.

Cæs. Gallus, go you along.—Where's Dolabella, To second Proculeius?

[Exit GALLUS.

Cæs. Let him alone, for I remember now
How he's employed: he shall in time be ready.
Go with me to my tent, where you shall see
How hardly I was drawn into this war,
How calm and gentle I proceeded still
In all my writings. Go with me, and see
What I can show in this.

[Exeunt.

SCENE II.

Alexandria. A Room in the Monument'.

Enter CLEOPATRA, CHARMIAN, and IRAS.

Cleo. My desolation does begin to make
A better life. 'Tis paltry to be Cæsar:
Not being fortune, he's but fortune's knave,
A minister of her will; and it is great
To do that thing that ends all other deeds,
Which shackles accidents, and bolts up change;
Which sleeps, and never palates more the dung,
The beggar's nurse and Cæsar's.

Enter, to the Gates of the Monument, PROCULEIUS, Gal-
LUS, and Soldiers.

Pro. Cæsar sends greeting to the queen of Egypt; And bids thee study on what fair demands

Thou mean'st to have him grant thee.

7 A Room in the Monument.] As in a former scene of the last Act, (p. 111) we must suppose Cleopatra and her two attendants in the monument above, at the back of the stage.

Cleo.

Pro. My name is Proculeius.

Cleo.

What's thy name?

Antony

Did tell me of you, bade me trust you; but

I do not greatly care to be deceiv'd,

That have no use for trusting. If your master
Would have a queen his beggar, you must tell him,

That majesty, to keep decorum, must

No less beg than a kingdom: if he please
To give me conquer'd Egypt for my son,
He gives me so much of mine own, as I
Will kneel to him with thanks.

Pro.
Be of good cheer;
You are fallen into a princely hand, fear nothing.
Make your full reference freely to my lord,
Who is so full of grace, that it flows over
On all that need. Let me report to him
Your sweet dependancy, and you shall find
A conqueror, that will pray in aid for kindness,
Where he for grace is kneel'd to.

Cleo.

Pray you, tell him

I am his fortune's vassal, and I send him
The greatness he has got. I hourly learn
A doctrine of obedience, and would gladly
Look him i' the face.

Pro.
This I'll report, dear lady.
Have comfort; for, I know, your plight is pitied
Of him that caus'd it.

Gal. You see how easily she may be surpris'd.

[PROCULEIUS, and two of the Guard, ascend the Monument by a Ladder, and come behind CLEOPATRA. Some of the Guard unbar and open the Gates.

Some of the Guard unbar and open the Gates.] This necessary stagedirection is wanting in the old copies. Malone formed one from Plutarch, with more particularity than seems required to explain the situation.