That Photinus an eunuch, and your maids,

Manage this war.

Cleo.

Sink Rome; and their tongues rot,

That speak against us! A charge we bear i̇' the war, And as the president of my kingdom will,

Appear there for a man. Speak not against it;

I will not stay behind.

That from Tarentum, and Brundusium,

He could so quickly cut the Ionian sea,

And take in Toryne?-You have heard on't, sweet? Cleo. Celerity is never more admir'd,

Than by the negligent.

Ant.

A good rebuke,

Which might have well become the best of men,

To taunt at slackness.-Canidius, we

Will fight with him by sea.

Cleo.

By sea!

What else?

For that he dares us to't.

Can. Why will my lord do so? Ant. Eno. So hath my lord dar'd him to single fight. Can. Ay, and to wage this battle at Pharsalia, Where Cæsar fought with Pompey; but these offers, Which serve not for his vantage, he shakes off, And so should you.

Eno. Your ships are not well mann'd; Your mariners are muliters, reapers', people Ingross'd by swift impress: in Cæsar's fleet

6 And TAKE IN Toryne?] i. e. conquer or subdue it. See Vol. vi. p. 152. 7 Your mariners are MULITERS, reapers, &c.] The oldest copy has militers. The correction was made in the second folio, and it is confirmed by the translation of Plutarch, by Sir T. North, 1579, where it is said that Antony's sailors were "muliters, reapers, harvest-men."

Are those, that often have 'gainst Pompey fought.
Their ships are yares, yours, heavy: no disgrace
Shall fall you for refusing him at sea,

Being prepar'd for land.

Ant.

By sea, by sea.

Eno. Most worthy sir, you therein throw away
The absolute soldiership you have by land;
Distract your army, which doth most consist
Of war-mark'd footmen; leave unexecuted
Your own renowned knowledge; quite forego
The way which promises assurance, and

Give up yourself merely to chance and hazard,
From firm security.

Cleo. I have sixty sails, Cæsar none better.
Ant. Our overplus of shipping will we burn,

And with the rest, full-mann'd, from the head of Actium

Beat th' approaching Cæsar: but if we fail,

Enter a Messenger.

We then can do't at land.-Thy business?

Mess. The news is true, my lord; he is descried;
Cæsar has taken Toryne.

Ant. Can he be there in person? 'tis impossible;
Strange, that his power should be.-Canidius,
Our nineteen legions thou shalt hold by land,
And our twelve thousand horse: we'll to our ship.

Enter a Soldier.

Away, my Thetis !-How now, worthy soldier!
Sold. O, noble emperor! do not fight by sea;

Trust not to rotten planks. Do you misdoubt

Their ships are YARE,] i. e. nimble and light-easy to be managed. We have already had "yarcly" on p. 36, and "yare occurs again towards the close of the present act. See also Vol. ii. p. 72, and Vol. iii. p. 391.

This sword, and these my wounds? Let the Egyptians,
And the Phoenicians, go a ducking; we

Have used to conquer standing on the earth,
And fighting foot to foot.

Ant.

Well, well.-Away!

[Exeunt ANTONY, CLEOPATRA, and ENOBARBUS. Sold. By Hercules, I think, I am i̇' the right.

Can. Soldier, thou art; but his whole action grows Not in the power on't: so our leader's led,

And we are women's men.

Sold.

You keep by land

The legions and the horse whole, do you not?

Can. Marcus Octavius', Marcus Justeius,

Publicola, and Cælius, are for sea;

But we keep whole by land. This speed of Cæsar's

Enter a Messenger.

Mess. The emperor calls Canidius.

Can. With news the time's with labour; and throws

forth

Each minute some.

[Exeunt.

9

but his whole action grows

Not in the power on't:] Malone properly interprets this disputed passage to mean, that Antony, in his conduct, does not rely upon that which is his chief power or strength, viz. his forces by land.

1 Marcus Octavius,-] This speech, according to the prefix in the folio, 1623, belongs to a person whose name began with Ven, but none such is on the stage. The mistake is not corrected in any of the later folios.

SCENE VIII.

A Plain near Actium.

Enter CESAR, TAURUS, Officers, and Others.

Cæs. Taurus!

Taur.

Cæs.

My lord.

Strike not by land; keep whole :

Provoke not battle, till we have done at sea.

Do not exceed the prescript of this scroll:
Our fortune lies upon this jump2.

Enter ANTONY and ENOBARBUS.

[Exeunt.

Ant. Set we our squadrons on yond' side o' the hill,

In eye of Cæsar's battle; from which place

We may the number of the ships behold,
And so proceed accordingly.

[Exeunt.

Enter CANIDIUS, marching with his Land Army one Way over the Stage; and TAURUS, the Lieutenant of CÆSAR, the other Way. After their going in, is heard the Noise of a Sea-Fight3.

Alarum. Re-enter ENOBARBUS.

Eno. Naught, naught, all naught! I can behold no longer.

The Antoniad', the Egyptian admiral,

With all their sixty, fly, and turn the rudder:
To see't, mine eyes are blasted.

2

upon this JUMP.] i. e. upon this hazard. Shakespeare has already used the verb "to jump," in the sense of to risk or hazard, in "Coriolanus," Vol. vi. p. 203, and in "Macbeth," Vol. vii. p. 116. Here we have the substantive.

3 - the Noise of a Sea-Fight.] This is the old simple stage-direction.

The Antoniad,] Such, according to North's Plutarch, was the name of Cleopatra's ship.

Scar. The greater cantle of the world is lost With very ignorance: we have kiss'd away

Kingdoms and provinces.

Eno.

How appears the fight?

Scar. On our side like the token'd pestilence",

Where death is sure. Yond' ribald-rid' nag of Egypt,

Whom leprosy o'ertake! i̇' the midst o' the fight,

When vantage like a pair of twins appear'd,

Both as the same, or rather ours the elder;—
The brize upon her like a cow in June,

Hoists sails, and flies.

Eno.

That I beheld:

Mine eyes did sicken at the sight, and could not
Endure a further view.

Scar.

She once being loof'd,

The noble ruin of her magic, Antony,

Claps on his sea-wing, and like a doting mallard,
Leaving the fight in height, flies after her.

I never saw an action of such shame:
Experience, manhood, honour, ne'er before
Did violate so itself.

5 The greater CANTLE-] i. e. the larger portion or piece. For the etymology of the word "cantle," see Vol. iv. p. 283, note 3.

6

the TOKEN'D pestilence,] When the plague broke out, it was known by certain signs called tokens, and God's tokens.

7 Yond' RIBALD-RID-] The folios, 1623, 1632, and 1664, have the word ribaudred: the folio, 1685, ribauldred. Steevens altered it to "ribald-rid," but the line would read better with "ribald" only.

8 The BRIZE upon her-] The "brize" is the gad-fly. See Vol. vi. p. 29. 9 She once being LOOF'D] To "loof," or luff, (as it is pronounced) is certainly, as the commentators state, to bring a ship nearer the wind; but in this place we may doubt if it be not put for aloof'd, and the meaning would then be, " She having once borne away, or made off."