That which combin'd us, was most great, and let not Of what I was i'the morning; but, next day,
A leaner action rend us. What's amiss,
May it be gently heard! When we debate
Our trivial difference loud, we do commit
Murder in healing wounds; then, noble partners,
(The rather, for I earnestly beseech,)

Touch you the sourest points with sweetest terms,
Nor curstuess grow to the matter!

Ant. 'Tis spoken well:

Were we before our armies, and to fight,

I should do this.

Caes. Welcome to Rome!

Ant. Thank you!

Caes. Sit.

Ant. Sit, sir!

Caes. Nay,

Then

told him of myself; which was as much,
As to have ask'd him pardon. Let this fellow
Be nothing of our strife! if we contend,
Out of our question wipe him!

Caes. You have broken

The article of your oath, which you shall never
Have tongue to charge me with.

Lep. Soft, Caesar!

Ant. No, Lepidus, let him speak!

The honour's sacred, which he talks on now,
Supposing, that I lack'd it. But on, Caesar;

The article of

my oath,

Caes. To lend me arms, and aid, when I requir'd them;

The which you both denied.

Ant. Neglected, rather;

Ant. I learn, you take things ill, which are not so; And then, when poison'd hours had bound me up

Or, being, concern you not.

Caes. I must be laugh'd at,

If, or for nothing, or a little, I

Should say myself offended; and with you

Chiefly i'the world: more laugh'd at, that I should
Once name you derogately, when to sound your name
It not concern'd me.

Ant. My being in Egypt, Caesar,
What was't to you?

Caes. No more than my residing here at Rome
Might be to you in Egypt: yet, if you there
Did practise on my state, your being in Egypt
Might be my question.

Ant. How intend you, practis'd?

Caes. You may be pleas'd to catch at mine intent,
By what did here befal me. Your wife, and brother,
Made wars upon me; and their contestation
Was theme for you, you were the word of war.
Ant. You do mistake your business; my brother

never

Did urge me in his act: I did inquire it;

And have my learning from some true reports,
That drew their swords with you. Did he not rather
Discredit my authority with yours,

And make the wars alike against my stomach,
Having alike your cause? Of this, my letters
Before did satisfy you. If you'll patch a quarrel,
As matter whole you have not to make it with,
It must not beiwith this.

Caes. You praise yourself

By laying defects of judgment to me; but
You patch'd up your excuses.

Ant. Not so, not so;

I know, you could not lack, I am certain on't,
Very necessity of this thought, that I,

Your partner in the cause 'gainst which he fought,
Could not with graceful eyes attend those wars,
Which 'fronted mine own peace. As for my wife,
I would, you had her spirit in such another:
The third o'the world is yours; which with a snaffle,
You may pace easy, but not such a wife.
Eno. 'Would, we had all such wives, that the men
might go to wars with the women!

Ant. So much uncurable, her garboils, Caesar,
Made out of her impatience, (which not wanted
Shrewduess of policy too,) I grieving grant,
Did you too much disquiet: for that, you must
But say, I could not help it.

'Cues. I wrote to you,

When rioting in Alexandria; you

Did pocket up my letters, aud with taunts
Did gibe my missive out of audience.

Ant. Sir,

He fell upon me, ere admitted; then

Three kings I had newly feasted, and did want

From mine own knowledge. As nearly, as I may,
I'll play the penitent to you; but mine honesty
Shall not make poor my greatness, nor my power
Work without it. Truth is, that Fulvia,
To have me out of Egypt, made wars here;
for which myself, the ignorant motive, do
So far ask pardon, as befits mine honour
To stoop in such a case.

Lep. "Tis nobly spoken.

Mec. If it might please you, to enforce no further
The griefs between ye: to forget them quite,
Were to remember, that the present need
Speaks to atone you.

Lep. Worthily spoke, Mecaenas!

Eno. Or, if you borrow one another's love for the instant, you may, when you hear no more words of Pompey, return it again: you shall have time to wrangle in, when you have nothing else to do. Ant. Thou art a soldier only; speak no more! Eno. That truth should be silent, I had almost forgot. Ant. You wrong this presence, therefore speak no more!

Eno. Go to then; your considerate stone.

Caes. I do not much dislike the matter, but
The manner of his speech: for it cannot be,
We shall remain in friendship, our conditions
So differing in their acts. Yet, if I knew
What hoop should hold us staunch, from edge to edge
O'the world I would pursue it.

Agr. Give me leave, Caesar,

Caes. Speak, Agrippa!

Agr. Thou hast a sister by the mother's side, Admir'd Octavia: great Mark Antony

Is now a widower.

Caes. Say not so, Agrippa!

If Cleopatra heard you, your reproof

Were well deserv'd of rashness.

Ant. I am not married, Caesar; let me hear
Agrippa further speak.

Agr. To hold you in perpetual amity,
To make you brothers, and to knit your hearts
With an unslipping knot, take Antony
Octavia to his wife! whose beauty claims
No worse a husband, than the best of man;
Whose virtue, and whose general graces, speak
That which none else can utter. By this marriage,
All little jealousies, which now seem great,
And all great fears, which now import their dangers,
Would then be nothing: truths would be but tales,
Where now half tales be truths: her love to both,
Would, each to other, and all loves to both,
Draw after her. Pardon, what I have spoke!
For 'tis a studied, not a present thought,
By duty ruminated.

Ant. Will Caesar spcak?

Lep. Happily, amen!

and never

S

Th

As amorous of their strokes. For her own person,
It beggar'd all description: she did lie
In her pavilion, (cloth of gold, of tissue,)
O'erpicturing that Venus, where we see
The fancy out-work nature: on each side her,
Stood pretty dimpled boys, like smiling Cupids,
With diverse-colour'd fans, whose wind did seem
To glow the delicate cheeks, which they did cool,
And what they undid, did.

Agr. O, rare for Antony!

Eno. Her gentlewomen, like the Nereides,
So many mermaids, tended her i'the eyes,
And made their bends adornings: at the helm
A seeming mermaid steers; the silken tackle
Swell with the touches of those flower-soft hands,
That yarely frame the office. From the barge
A strange invisible pérfume hits the sense
Of the adjacent wharfs. The city cast
Her people out upon her; and Antony,

Ant. I did not think to draw my sword 'gainst Pom-Enthron'd in the market-place, did sit alone,

Whistling to the air, which, but for vacancy,
Had gone to gaze on Cleopatra too,
And made a gap in nature.

Eno. Half the heart of Caesar, worthy Mecaenas!
- my honourable friend, Agrippa!
Agr. Good Enobarbus!

Agr. Rare Egyptian!

Eno. Upon her landing, Antony sent to her,
Invited her to supper: she replied,

It should be better, he became her guest;
Which she entreated. Our courteous Antony,
Whom ne'er the word of No woman heard speak,
Being barber'd ten times o'er, goes to the feast;
And, for his ordinary, pays his heart,
For what his eyes eat only.

Mec. We have cause to be glad, that matters are so well digested. You stay'd well by it in Egypt. Eno. Ay, sir; we did sleep day out of countenance, and made the night light with drinking.

Mec. Eight wild boars roasted whole at a breakfast, and but twelve persons there; is this true? Eno. This was but as a fly by an eagle: we had

Agr. Royal wench!

She made great Caesar lay his sword to bed;
He plough'd her, and she cropp'd.
Eno. I saw her once

Hop forty paces through the public street:
And having lost her breath, she spoke, and panted,
That she did make defect, perfection,
And, breathless, power breathe forth.
Mec. Now Antony must leave her utterly.
Eno. Never; he will not;

Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale
Her infinite variety. Other women
Cloy th' appetites, they feed; but she makes hungry,
Where most she satisfies. For vilest things
Become themselves in her; that the holy priests
Bless her, when she is riggish.

Mec. If beauty, wisdom, modesty, can settle
The heart of Antony, Octavia is
A blessed lottery to him.

much more monstrous matter of feast, which worth-SCENE III. The same. A room in CAESAR's house. ily deserved noting.

Mec. She's a most triumphant lady, if report be square to her.

Eno. When she first met Mark Antony, she pursed up his heart, upon the river of Cydnus.

Agr. There she appear'd indeed; or my reporter

devised well for her.

Eno. I will tell you:

The barge, she sat in, like a burnish'd throne,
Burn'd on the water: the poop was beaten gold;
Purple the sails, and so perfumed, that
The winds were love-sick with them: the oars were

silver;

Which to the tune of flutes kept stroke, and made
The water, which they beat, to follow faster,

Enter CAESAR, ANTONY, OCTAVIA between them;
Attendants, and a Soothsayer.
Ant. The world, and my great office, will some-

times

Sooth.'Would I had never come from thence, nor you Thither!

Ant. If you can, your reason?

Sooth. I see't in

My motion, have it not in my tongue: but yet
Hie you again to Egypt.

Ant. Say to me,

Tawny-finn'd fishes; my bended hook shall pierce
Their slimy jaws; and, as I draw them up,
I'll think them every one an Antony,
And say, Ah, ha! you're caught!
Char. 'Twas merry, when

You wager'd on your angling; when your diver
Did hang a salt-fish on his hook, which he

Whose fortunes shall rise higher, Caesar's, or mine? With fervency drew up.

Sooth. Caesar's.

Therefore, O Antony, stay not by his side:

Thy daemon, that's thy spirit which keeps thee, is
Noble, courageous, high, unmatchable,

Where Caesar's is not; but, near him, thy angel
Becomes a Fear, as being o'erpower'd; therefore
Make space ene between you.

Ant. Speak this no more!

Cleo. That time! O times!

I laugh'd him out of patience; and that night
I laugh'd him into patience: and next morn,
Ere the ninth hour, I drunk him to his bed;
Then put my tires and mantles on him, whilst
I wore his sword Philippan. O! from Italy; -
Enter a Messenger.

Sooth. To none but t':ce; no more, but when to thee. Ram thou thy fruitful tidings in mine ears,

If thou dost play with him at any game,

Thou art sure to lose; and, of that natural luck,

Hle beats thee 'gainst the odds; thy lustre thickens,
When he shines by: I say again, thy spirit

Is all afraid to govern thee near him;

But, he away, 'tis noble.

Ant. Get thee gone!

Say to Ventidius, I would speak with him:

[Exit Soothsayer.

He shall to Parthia. - - Be it art, or hap,
He hath spoken true: the very dice obey him;
And, in our sports, my better cunning faints
Under his chance: if we draw lots, he speeds:
His cocks do win the battle still of mine.
When it is all to nought; and his quai' ever
Beat mine, inhoop'd, at odds. I will Egypt:
And though I make this marriage for my peace,

Enter VENTIDIUS.

J

I'the east my pleasure lies. O, come, Tentidius,
You must to Parthia; your commission's ready!
Follow me, and receive it!

[Exeunt.

SCENE IV. The same.
Enter LEPIDUS, MECAENAS, and AGRIPPA.
Lep. Trouble yourselves no further: pray you,

hasten

That long time have been barren.

Mess. Madam, madam,—

Cleo. Antony's dead?

If thou say so, villain, thou kill'st thy mistress:
But well and free,

If thou so yield him, there is gold, and here
My bluest veins to kiss; a hand, that kings
Have lipp'd, and trembled kissing.

Mess. First, madam, he's well!

Cleo. Why, there's more gold. But, sirrah, mark!
We use

To say, the dead are well: bring it to that,
The gold I give thee, will I melt, and pour
Down thy ill-uttering throat.

Mess. Good madam, hear me!
Cleo. Well, go to, I will!

But there's no goodness in thy face: if Antony
Be free, and healthful, why so tart a favour
To trumpet such good tidings? If not well,
Thou should'st come like a fury crown'd with snakes,
Not like a formal man.

Mess. Will't please you hear me?

Cleo. I have a mind to strike thee, ere thou speak'st:
Or friends with Caesar, or not captive to him,
Yet, if thou say, Antony lives, is well,
I'll set thee in a shower of gold, and hail
Rich pearls upon thee.

Mess. Madam, he's well.
Cleo. Well said.

Mess. And friend with Caesar.
Cleo. Thour't an honest man.

Mess. Caesar and he are greater friends, than ever.
Cleo. Make thee a fortune from me.

Mess. But yet, madam,

yet:

Cleo. I do not like but yet, it does allay
The good precedence; fye upon but
But yet is as a gaoler to bring forth
Some monstrous malefactor. Pr'ythee, friend,
Pour out the pack of matter to mine ear,
The good and bad together. He's friends with Caesar
In state of health, thou say'st; and, thou say'st, free.
Mess. Free, madam! no; I made no such report:
He's bound unto Octavia.

Cleo. For what good turn?

Mess. For the best turn i'the bed.

What mean you, madam? I have made no fault. [Exit.
Char. Good madam, keep yourself within yourself;
The man is innocent.

Cleo. Some innocents 'scape not the thunderbolt.
Melt Egypt into Nile! and kindly creatures
Turn all to serpents! Call the slave again;
Though I am mad, I will not bite him:— - call!
Char. He is afeard to come.
Cleo. I will not hurt him :-
These hands do lack nobility, that they strike
A meaner than myself; since I myself
Have given myself the cause, - Come hither, sir!
Re-enter Messenger.

Though it be honest, it is never good

To bring bad news: give to gracious message
An host of tongues; but let ill tidings tell
Themselves, when they be felt.

Mess. I have done my duty.

Cleo. Is he married?

I cannot hate thee worser, than I do,

If thou again say, Yes.

Mess. He is married, madam!

Pom. To you all three,

The senators alone of this great world,
Chief factors for the gods, I do not know,
Wherefore my father should revengers want,
Having a son, and friends; since Julius Caesar,
Who at Philippi the good Brutus ghosted,
There saw you labouring for him. What was it,
That mov'd pale Cassius to conspire? And what
Made the all-honour'd honest Roman, Brutus,
With the arm'd rest, courtiers of beauteous freedom,
To drench the Capitol; but that they would
Have one man but a man? And that is it,
Hath made me rig my navy; at whose burden
The anger'd ocean foams; with which I meant
To scourge the ingratitude that despiteful Rome
Cast on my noble father.

Caes. Take your time.

Ant. Thou canst not fear us, Pompey, with thy sails;
We'll speak with thee at sea: at land, thou know'st
How much we do o'er-count thee.

Pom. At land, indeed,

Thou dost o'er-count me of my father's house:
But, since the cuckoo builds not for himself,
Remain in't as thou may'st.

Cleo. The gods confound thee! dost thou hold there Lep. Be pleas'd to tell us,
still?

Mess. Should I lie, madam?

Cleo. O, I would thou didst;

So half my Egypt were submerg'd, and made

A cistern for scal'd snakes! Go, get thee hence!
Hadst thou Narcissus in thy face, to me

Thou would'st appear most ugly. He is married?
Mess. I crave your highness' pardon.
Cleo. He is married?

Mess. Take no offence, that I would not offend you:
To punish me for what you make me do,
Seems much unequal: he is married to Octavia.
Cleo. O, that his fault should make a knave of thee,
That art not!-What? thou'rt sure of't?-Get thee
hence!

(For this is from the present,) how you
The offers we have sent you.

The merchandise, which thou hast brought from Rome,
Are all too dear for me. Lic they upon thy hand,
And be undone by 'em!
[Exit Messenger.
Char. Good your highness, patience!
Cleo. In praising Antony, I have disprais'd Caesar.
Char. Many times, madam.

Cleo. I am paid for't now.

Lead me from hence,

--

I faint; O, Iras, Charmian! "Tis no matter!
Go to the fellow, good Alexas; bid him
Report the feature of Octavia, her years,
Her inclination, let him not leave out

-

Caes. There's the point.

take

Ant. Which do not be entreated to, but weigh
What it is worth embrac'd.

Caes. And what may follow,
To try a larger fortune.

Pom. You have made me offer
Of Sicily, Sardinia; and I must
Rid all the sea of pirates; then, to send
Measures of wheat to Rome. This 'greed upon,
To part with unhack'd edges, and bear back
Our targe undinted.

Caes. Ant. et Lep. That's our offer.
Pom. Know then,

I came before you here, a man prepar'd
To take this offer: but Mark Antony
Put me to some impatience. Though I lose
The praise of it by telling, you must know,
When Caesar and your brothers were at blows,
Your mother came to Sicily, and did find
Her welcome friendly.

The colour of her hair :-bring me word quickly!
[Exit Alexas.
Let him for ever go!-let him not-Charmian,
Though he be painted one way like a Gorgon,
Tother way he's a Mars. Bid you Alexas [To Mardian.
Bring me word, how tall she is. Pity me, Charmian,
But do not speak to me!-Lead me to my chamber!
[Exeunt.

SCENE VI.-Near Misenum.

Enter POMPEY and MENAS, at one side, with drum
and trumpet: at another, CAESAR, LEPIDUS, ANTONY,
ENOBARBUS, MECAENAS, with Soldiers marching.

Ant. I have heard it, Pompey:
And am well studied for a liberal thanks,
Which I do owe you.

Pom. Let me have your hand!

last,

I did not think, sir, to have met you here.
Ant. The beds i'the east are soft; and thanks to you,
That call'd me, timelier than my purpose,
hither;
For I have gain'd by it.
Cues. Since I saw you
There is a change upon you.
Pom. Well, I know not,
What counts harsh fortune casts upon my
But in my bosom shall she never come,
To make my heart her vassal.
Lep.. Well met here!

Pom. I hope so, Lepidus!-Thus we are
I crave, our composition may be written,

face;

agreed

D

Οι

Sh

G

And seal'd between us.

Caes. That's the next to do.

Pom. We'll feast each other, ere we part; and let us Draw lost who shall begin.

Ant. That will I, Pompey.

Pom. No, Antony, take the lot! but, first,
Or last, your fine Egyptian cookery

Shall have the fame. I have heard, that Julius Caesar
Grew fat with feasting there.
Ant. You have heard much.
Pom. I have fair meanings, sir.
Ant. And fair words to them.

Pom. Then so much have I heard:

And I have heard, Apollodorus carried-
Eno. No more of that:- he did so.

Pom. What, I pray you?

Eno. A certain queen to Caesar in a mattress.

Pom. I know thee now; how far'st thou soldier?
Eno. Well;

And well am like to do; for, I perceive,

Four feasts are toward.

Pom. Let me shake thy hand;

I never hated thee: I have seen thee fight,
When I have envied thy behaviour.

Eno. Sir,

I never lov'd you much; but I have prais'd you,
When you have well deserv'd ten times as much,
As I have said you did.

Pom. Enjoy thy plainness,

It nothing ill becomes thee.-
Aboard my galley I invite you all:
Will you lead, lords?

Caes. Ant. et Lep. Show us the way, sir!
Pom. Come! [Exeunt Pompey, Caesar, Antony,
Lepidus, Soldiers, Attendants.

Men. Thy father, Pompey, would ne'er have made this treaty.-[Aside.]-You and I have known, sir. Eno. At sea, I think.

Men. We have, sir.

Eno. You have done well by water.
Men. And you by land.

Eno. I will praise any man, that will praise me; though it cannot be denied what I have done by land. Men. Nor what I have done by water.

Eno. Yes, something you can deny for your own safety; you have been a great thief by sea. Men. And you by land.

Eno. There I deny my land service. But give me your hand, Menas: if our eyes had authority, here they might take two thieves kissing.

Men. All men's faces are true, whatsoe'er their hands

are.

the very strangler of their amity. Octavia is of a holy, cold, and still conversation.

Men. Who would not have his wife so? Eno. Not he, that himself is not so; which is Mark Antony. He will to his Egyptian dish again : then shall the sighs of Octavia blow the fire up in Caesar; and, as I said before, that which is the strength of their amity, shall prove the immediate author of their variance. Antony will use his affection where it is; he married but his occasion here. Men. And thus it may be. Come, sir, will you aboard? I have a health for you..

Eno. I shall take it, sir! We have used our throats in Egypt.

Men. Come; let's away!

[Exeunt.

Music. Enter two or three Servants, with a banquet. 1 Serv. Here they'll be, man. Some o'their plants are ill-rooted already, the least wind i'the world will blow them down.

2 Serv. Lepidus is high-coloured.

1 Serv. They have made him drink alms-drink. 2 Serv. As they pinch one another by the disposition, he cries out, no more; reconciles them to his entreaty, and himself to the drink.

1 Serv. But it raises the greater war between him and his discretion.

2 Serv. Why, this it is to have a name in great men's fellowship: I had as lief have a reed that will do me no service, as a partizan I could not heave.

1 Ser. To be called into a huge sphere, and not to be seen to move in't, are the holes where eyes should be, which pitifully disaster the cheeks. A Sennet sounded. Enter CAESAR, ANTONY, POMPEY, LEPIDUS, AGRIPPA, MECAENAS, ENOBARBUS, MENAS, with other Captains.

Ant. Thus do they, sir: [To Caesar.] they take
the flow o'the Nile

By certain scales i'the pyramid; they know,
By the height, the lowness, or the mean, if dearth,
Or foizon, follow: the higher Nilus swells,
The more it promises: as it ebbs, the seedsman
Upon the slime and ooze scatters his grain,
Ang shortly comes to harvest.

Lep. You have strange serpents there.
Ant. Ay, Lepidus.

Lep. Your serpent of Egypt is bred now of your mud by the operation of your sun: so is your crocodile.

Ant. They are so.

Lep. I am not so well, as I should be,but I'll ne'er out. Eno. Not till you have slept; I fear me, you'll be in, till then.

Eno. But there is never a fair woman has a true face. Pom. Sit, and some wine. A health to Lepidus! Men. No slander; they steal hearts. Eno. We came hither to fight with you. Men. For my part, I am sorry it is turned to a drinking. Pompey doth this day laugh away his fortune.

Lep. Nay, certainly, I have heard, the Ptolemies' pyramises are very goodly things; without contradiction, I have heard that. Men. Pompey, a word!

[Aside.

Pom. Say in mine ear: what is't?
Men. Forsake thy seat, I do beseech thee, captain,
[Aside.

And hear me speak a word!

Pom. Forbear me till anon.-
This wine for Lepidus!

Lep. What manner o'thing is your crocodile?
Ant. It is shaped, sir, like itself; and it is as broad,
as it hath breadth: it is just so high as it is, and
moves with its own organs: it lives by that which
nourisheth it; and the elements once out of it, it
transmigrates.

Lep. What colour is it of?