Beneath the fall I have.-Pr'ythee, go hence;

Or I shall show the cinders of my spirits
Through th' ashes of mischance.
Thou wouldst have mercy on me.

Cæs.

[To SELEUCUS.

Wert thou a man,

Forbear, Seleucus.

[Exit SELEUCUSs.

Cleo. Be it known, that we, the greatest, are misthought For things that others do; and when we fall,

We answer others' merits in our name,

Are therefore to be pitied.

Cæs.

Cleopatra,

Not what you have reserv'd, nor what acknowledg'd,
Put we i' the roll of conquest: still be it your's,
Bestow it at your pleasure; and believe,

Cæsar's no merchant, to make prize with you

Of things that merchants sold. Therefore be cheer'd;
Make not your thoughts your prisons: no, dear queen;
For we intend so to dispose you, as

Yourself shall give us counsel. Feed, and sleep :
Our care and pity is so much upon you,
That we remain your friend; and so, adieu.
Cleo. My master, and my lord!

Cæs.

Not so.

Adieu.

[Flourish. Exeunt CÆSAR, and his train.

Cleo. He words me, girls, he words me, that I should not Be noble to myself: but hark thee, Charmian.

[Whispers CHARMIAN.

Iras. Finish, good lady; the bright day is done, And we are for the dark.

Cleo.

Hie thee again:

I have spoken already, and it is provided;
Go, put it to the haste.

Char.

Madam, I will.

owing to the mistake of the abbreviation ye: we derive the change from the corr. fo. 1632, from whence if Mr. Singer procured it, he observes silence upon the point: it is not one of the emendations he claims for his own corrected second folio, but for himself. See the same mistake, in "Coriolanus," A. i. sc. 6, Vol. iv. p. 620, in "King Lear," A. i. sc. 1, Vol. v. p. 620, &c.

6 Through th' ashes of MISCHANCE.] So the corr. fo. 1632, for “the ashes of my chance" of the old copies. There cannot be a doubt about the fitness of the change, and the misprint explains itself.

Re-enter DOLABELLA.

Dol. Where is the queen?

Char.

Cleo:

Behold, sir. [Exit CHARMIAN.
Dolabella?

Dol. Madam, as thereto sworn by your command,
Which my love makes religion to obey,

I tell you this: Cæsar through Syria
Intends his journey, and within three days
You, with your children, will he send before.
Make your best use of this; I have perform'd
Your pleasure, and my promise.

Cleo.

I shall remain your debtor.

Dol.

Dolabella,

I your servant.

Adieu, good queen: I must attend on Cæsar.

Cleo. Farewell, and thanks. [Exit DOLABELLA.] Now, Iras, what think'st thou ?

Thou, an Egyptian puppet, shalt be shown
In Rome, as well as I: mechanic slaves,

With greasy aprons, rules, and hammers, shall
Uplift us to the view: in their thick breaths,
Rank of gross diet, shall we be enclouded,
And fore'd to drink their vapour.

Iras.

The gods forbid !

Cleo. Nay, 'tis most certain, Iras. Saucy lictors

Will catch at us, like strumpets; and scald rhymers
Ballad us out o' tune: the quick comedians
Extemporally will stage us, and present

Our Alexandrian revels: Antony

Shall be brought drunken forth, and I shall see
Some squeaking Cleopatra boy my greatness'

I' the posture of a whore.

Iras.

Cleo. Nay, that is certain.

Oh, the good gods!

Iras. I'll never see it; for, I am sure, my nails Are stronger than mine eyes.

7 Some SQUEAKING Cleopatra boy my greatness] It may be worth noting that squeaking of the folio, 1623, became "speaking" in the folio, 1632, but squeaking is restored by the old annotator on that edition. In "Othello," A. iii. sc. I (this Vol. p. 59), the same error of speak for " squeak" seems committed in all the old copies. In the instance before us, speaking went through all the folios after that of 1632, and it remained unchanged even by Rowe.

Cleo.

Why, that's the way

To fool their preparation, and to conquer
Their most absurd intents".-Now, Charmian ?—

Re-enter CHARMIAN.

Show me, my women, like a queen :-go fetch
My best attires;-I am again for Cydnus,
To meet Mark Antony.-Sirrah, Iras, go'.
Now, noble Charmian, we'll dispatch indeed;

And, when thou hast done this chare, I'll give thee leave
To play till dooms-day. Bring our crown and all.—
Wherefore's this noise?

Guard.

[Exit IRAS. A noise within.

Enter one of the Guard.

Here is a rural fellow,

That will not be denied your highness' presence:

He brings you figs.

Cleo. Let him come in.-What poor an instrument

May do a noble deed! he brings me liberty.
My resolution's plac'd, and I have nothing
Of woman in me: now from head to foot

I am marble-constant; now, the fleeting moon
No planet is of mine.

[Exit Guard.

Re-enter Guard, with a Clown bringing in a basket.

Cleo. Avoid, and leave him.-
Hast thou the pretty worm of Nilus there,
That kills and pains not?

[Exit Guard.

Clown. Truly I have him; but I would not be the party that should desire you to touch him, for his biting is immortal: those that do die of it do seldom or never recover.

Cleo. Remember'st thou any that have died on't?

8 Their most ABSURD intents.] Cleopatra may mean to laugh at the futile intents of the Romans: Theobald altered the text to "assur'd intents," and so it is amended in the corr. fo. 1632; but still we do not consider the change at all imperative, and do not make it.

:

9 SIRRAH, Iras, go.] In Vol. iii. p. 330, we have seen "sirrah" used otherwise than derogatorily here we find it also applied to a woman, but of course as a mere expletive. Steevens produced an instance from Arthur Hall's translation of Homer, where Hector addresses the "maids" of Andromache as Sirs, and it would be easy to multiply proofs of the application of "sirrah" to women.

Clown. Very many, men and women too. I heard of one of them no longer than yesterday; a very honest woman, but something given to lie, as a woman should not do but in the way of honesty, how she died of the biting of it, what pain she felt.-Truly, she makes a very good report o' the worm; but he that will believe all that they say, shall never be saved by half that they do. But this is most fallible, the worm's an odd worm '.

Cleo. Get thee hence: farewell.

Clown. I wish you all joy of the worm.

Cleo. Farewell.

[Clown sets down the basket. Clown. You must think this, look you, that the worm will do his kind.

Cleo. Ay, ay; farewell.

Clown. Look you, the worm is not to be trusted but in the keeping of wise people; for, indeed, there is no goodness in the worm.

Cleo. Take thou no care: it shall be heeded.

Clown. Very good. Give it nothing, I pray you, for it is not worth the feeding.

Cleo. Will it eat me?

Clown. You must not think I am so simple, but I know the devil himself will not eat a woman: I know, that a woman is a dish for the gods, if the devil dress her not; but, truly, these same whoreson devils do the gods great harm in their women, for in every ten that they make, the devils mar five'. Cleo. Well, get thee gone: farewell.

Clown. Yes, forsooth; I wish you joy of the worm. [Exit.

Re-enter IRAS, with a robe, crown, &c.

Cleo. Give me my robe, put on my crown; I have
Immortal longings in me. Now, no more

The juice of Egypt's grape shall moist this lip.-
Yare, yare, good Iras'; quick.-Methinks, I hear
Antony call: I see him rouse himself

1

the worm's an ODD worm.] m.] "The worm's an adder worm in the corr. fo. 1632, but we do not venture to introduce the change, not being convinced that the Clown may not mean that the adder is a strange or uncommon worm. Still, the emendation is plausible, and adder was then pronounced like "odder."

2

the devils mar FIVE.] So the old impressions, for "the devils mar nine" of the corr. fo. 1632: the satire is broader in the emendation.

3 YARE, YARE, good Iras;] We have already had "yare," i. e. nimble, dexterous, in this play, A. iii. sc. 5, and it here requires no farther explanation.

To praise my noble act; I hear him mock
The luck of Caesar, which the gods give men
To excuse their after wrath. Husband, I come :
Now to that name my courage prove my title!
I am fire, and air; my other elements

I give to baser life.-So,-have you done?
Come then, and take the last warmth of my lips.
Farewell, kind Charmian :-Iras, long farewell.

[Kisses them. IRAS falls and dies.

Have I the aspick in my lips? Dost fall?
If thou and nature can so gently part,
The stroke of death is as a lover's pinch,
Which hurts, and is desir'd.

Dost thou lie still?

If thus thou vanishest, thou tell'st the world

It is not worth leave-taking.

Char. Dissolve, thick cloud, and rain, that I may say,

The gods themselves do weep.

Cleo.

This proves me base:

If she first meet the curled Antony',

He'll make demand of her, and spend that kiss,

Which is my heaven to have.-Come, thou mortal wretch,

[To the asp which she applies to her breast.

With thy sharp teeth this knot intrinsicate'

Of life at once untie: poor venomous fool,

Be angry, and dispatch. Oh! couldst thou speak,
That I might hear thee call great Cæsar ass
Unpolicied!

Dost thou not see my baby at my breast,

That sucks the nurse asleep?

Char.

Peace, peace!

Oh, break! oh, break!

Cleo. As sweet as balm, as soft as air, as gentle.

4 If she first meet the curled Antony,] The folio, 1632, here corrupts the

text of the folio, 1623, by printing

"If she proves the curled Antony,"

which Rowe, without consulting the original edition, gave

"If she approve the curled Antony."

The old annotator on the folio, 1632, in his margin, first altered the line to

"If she first should meet the curled Antony;"

but he subsequently erased "should," and left the passage precisely as it stands in the folio, 1623.

5 this knot INTRINSICATE] For intricate. In "King Lear," A. ii. sc. 2, Vol. v. p. 654, we have seen the word "intrinse" employed in the same way.