Our faith mere folly: yet he, that can endure
To follow with allegiance a fallen lord,
Does conquer him that did his master conquer,
And earns a place i' the story.

Cleo.

Thyr. Hear it apart.

Enter THYREUS.

Cæsar's will?

Cleo.
Thyr. So, haply, are they friends to Antony.
Eno. He needs as many, sir, as Cæsar has,
Or needs not us. If Cæsar please, our master
Will leap to be his friend: for us, you know,
Whose he is, we are, and that's Cæsar's.

None but friends: say boldly.

Thyr.

So.

Thus then, thou most renown'd: Cæsar entreats,
Not to consider in what case thou stand'st,

Farther than he is Cæsar ".

Cleo.

Go on right royal.

Thyr. He knows, that you embrace not Antony As you did love, but as you fear'd him.

Cleo.

Oh!

Thyr. The scars upon your honour, therefore, he Does pity, as constrained blemishes,

Not as deserv'd.

Cleo.

He is a god, and knows

What is most right. Mine honour was not yielded,
But conquer'd merely.

Eno.

[Aside.] To be sure of that,
I will ask Antony.-Sir, sir, thou'rt so leaky,
That we must leave thee to thy sinking, for
Thy dearest quit thee.

[Exit ENOBARBUS.

Shall I say to Cæsar

Thyr.
What you require of him? for he partly begs

To be desir'd to give, It much would please him,
That of his fortunes you should make a staff
To lean upon; but it would warm his spirits,
To hear from me you had left Antony,
And put yourself under his shroud, who is "
The universal landlord.

7

6 Farther than he is CESAR.] "Than he is Cæsar's" in the folio, 1623, and "Cæsar" in the folio, 1632.

7 under his shroud, WHO IS] The two last words are from the corr. fo. 1632.

Cleo.

What's your name?

Thyr. My name is Thyreus.

Cleo.

Most kind messenger,

Say to great Cæsar, that in deputation

I kiss his conqu'ring hand: tell him, I am prompt
To lay my crown at 's feet, and there to kneel:
Tell him, from his all-obeying breath I hear
The doom of Egypt.

"Tis your noblest course.

Thyr.
Wisdom and fortune combating together,

If that the former dare but what it can,

No chance may shake it.

My duty on your hand.

Cleo.

Give me grace to lay

Your Cæsar's father oft,

When he hath mus'd of taking kingdoms in',
Bestow'd his lips on that unworthy place,

The bidding of the fullest man, and worthiest
To have command obey'd.

Eno.

You will be whipp'd.

Ant. Approach, there.-Ay, you kite!-Now, gods and

devils!

Authority melts from me: of late, when I cry'd, "ho!"
Like boys unto a muss " kings would start forth,

10

And cry, "Your will?" Have you no ears? I am

Enter Attendants.

Antony yet. Take hence this Jack, and whip him.
Eno. 'Tis better playing with a lion's whelp,

8 Say to great Cæsar, THAT in DEPUTATION

I kiss his conqu'ring hand:]

'Deputation was Warburton's suggestion, and it is fully confirmed by the corr. fo. 1632; which adds, that we must also read "that" for this of the old copies.

9 of taking kingdoms in,] i. e. Of conquering, or overrunning kingdoms. See pp. 134. 194, &c. To "take in " still means to get the better of.

10 Like boys unto a MUSS] A "muss was of old used for a scramble, Fr. mousche. Ben Jonson employs it in his "Bartholomew Fair," A. iv. sc. 1, and in his "Magnetic Lady," A. iv. sc. 1; but the last instance (Vol. vi. p. 82) is accidentally not noted in Gifford's index.

Than with an old one dying.

Ant.

Moon and stars!

Whip him.-Were't twenty of the greatest tributaries
That do acknowledge Cæsar, should I find them

So saucy with the hand of-she here, what's her name,
Since she was Cleopatra ?-Whip him, fellows,

Till, like a boy, you see him cringe his face,
And whine aloud for mercy. Take him hence.
Thyr. Mark Antony,-

Ant.

Tug him away: being whipp'd,

Bring him again.-The Jack of Cæsar's shall

Bear us an errand to him.- [Exeunt Attend. with THYREUS. You were half blasted ere I knew

you:

ha!

Have I my pillow left unpress'd in Rome,
Forborne the getting of a lawful race,
And by a gem of women, to be abus'd
By one that looks on feeders'?

Cleo.

Good my lord,

Ant. You have been a boggler ever :—

But when we in our viciousness grow hard,
(Oh misery on't!) the wise gods seel our eyes',

In our own filth drop our clear judgments; make us
Adore our errors; laugh at us, while we strut

To our confusion.

Cleo.

Oh! is it come to this?

Ant. I found you as a morsel, cold upon

Dead Cæsar's trencher: nay, you were a fragment
Of Cneius Pompey's; besides what hotter hours,
Unregister'd in vulgar fame, you have
Luxuriously pick'd out; for, I am sure,

Though you can guess what temperance should be,
You know not what it is.

Cleo.

Wherefore is this?

Ant. To let a fellow that will take rewards, And say, "God quit you!" be familiar with My playfellow, your hand; this kingly seal',

1 By one that looks on FEEDERS ?]

condescended to look upon a "feeder."

2

"Feeders" are servants: Cleopatra had

the wise gods SEEL our eyes,] To "seel" the eyes of a hawk was a term in falconry see Vol. v. p. 422. It was perhaps only another form of seal, and it is sometimes doubtful which form should be preserved.

3 THIS kingly seal,] So the old copies; but the corr. fo. 1632 converts "this" into that: the use of "this" would almost imply that Antony had seized Cleopatra's hand.

And plighter of high hearts!-Oh! that I were
Upon the hill of Basan, to outroar

The horned herd, for I have savage cause;
And to proclaim it civilly were like

A halter'd neck, which does the hangman thank
For being yare about him.-

Re-enter Attendants, with THYREUS.

Is he whipp'd?

1 Att. Soundly, my lord. Ant.

Cry'd he? and begg'd he pardon?

1 Att. He did ask favour.

Ant. If that thy father live, let him repent

Thou wast not made his daughter; and be thou sorry
To follow Cæsar in his triumph, since

Thou hast been whipp'd for following him: henceforth,
The white hand of a lady fever thee;

Shake thou to look on't'.-Get thee back to Cæsar,
Tell him thy entertainment: look, thou say,
He makes me angry with him; for he seems
Proud and disdainful, harping on what I am,
Not what he knew I was. He makes me angry,
And at this time most easy 'tis to do't,
When my good stars, that were my former guides,
Have empty left their orbs, and shot their fires
Into the abysm of hell. If he mislike

My speech, and what is done, tell him, he has
Hipparchus, my enfranchis'd bondman, whom
He may at pleasure whip, or hang, or torture,
As he shall like, to quit me. Urge it thou:
Hence, with thy stripes! begone!

Cleo. Have you done yet?

Ant.

[Exit THYREUS.

Alack! our terrene moon

pp. 163. 194, is nimble, clever, dexterous.

5 Shake THOU to look on't.] "Shake but to look on't" in the corr. fo. 1632, which we do not follow, because it, probably, marks only the peculiarity of some old performer in the part of Antony.

With one that ties his points"?

Cleo.

Not know me yet?

Ah, dear! if I be so,

Ant. Cold-hearted toward me?
Cleo.
From my cold heart let heaven engender hail,
And poison it in the source, and the first stone
Drop in my neck: as it determines, so
Dissolve my life'! The next Cæsarion smite,
Till by degrees the memory of my womb,
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!

8

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', threat'ning most sealike.
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
Of me for jests; but now, I'll set my teeth,
And send to darkness all that stop me.-Come,
Let's have one other gaudy night'.—Call to me

6 With one that ties his POINTS?] "Points' were tags at the ends of laces used to fasten the dress. See The Winter's Tale," A. iv. sc. 3, Vol. iii. p. 76.

7 DISSOLVE my life!] But for the verse, we might, perhaps, more properly and intelligibly read, "as it dissolres, so determine (or end) my life." "Determine " and dissolve may, however, be taken as convertible terms.

8 By the DISCANDYING] All the folios corruptly read, discandering: “discandying" was Thirlby's change; and, as Malone observes, the verb to "discandy" is found in the next act. Three lines above, the old impressions read smile for smite."

9- AND FLEET,] i. e. "And float," which Johnson needlessly substituted. To "fleet" and to float are only different forms of the same word: A. S. fleotan. For "and fleet" the corr. fo. 1632 has "a fleet," treating "fleet" as if it were a noun-quite needlessly.

1 one other GAUDY night.] i. e. Night of joy, from gaudium: the expression of "gaudy days" is still in use in the Inns of Court, though now more commonly

VOL. VI.

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