The Oxford Shakespeare: The Complete Works
Page 329
And hoist thee up to the shouting plebeians;
Follow his chariot, like the greatest spot
Of all thy sex; most monster-like be shown
For poor’st diminutives, for dolts, and let
Patient Octavia plough thy visage up
With her prepared nails.
Exit Cleopatra
’Tis well thou’rt gone,
If it be well to live. But better ’twere
Thou fell’st into my fury, for one death
Might have prevented many. Eros, ho!
The shirt of Nessus is upon me. Teach me,
Alcides, thou mine ancestor, thy rage.
Let me lodge Lichas on the horns o’th’ moon,
And with those hands that grasped the heaviest club
Subdue my worthiest self. The witch shall die.
To the young Roman boy she hath sold me, and I fall
Under this plot. She dies for’t. Eros, ho!
Exit
4.14 Enter Cleopatra, Charmian, Iras, Mardian
CLEOPATRA
Help me, my women! O, he’s more mad
Than Telamon for his shield; the boar of Thessaly
Was never so embossed.
CHARMIAN
To th’ monument!
There lock yourself, and send him word you are dead.
The soul and body rive not more in parting
Than greatness going off.
CLEOPATRA
To th’ monument!
Mardian, go tell him I have slain myself.
Say that the last I spoke was ‘Antony’,
And word it, prithee, piteously. Hence, Mardian,
And bring me how he takes my death. To th’
monument!
Exeunt
4.15 Enter Antony and Eros
ANTONY
Eros, thou yet behold’st me?
EROS
Ay, noble lord.
ANTONY
Sometime we see a cloud that’s dragonish,
A vapour sometime like a bear or lion,
A towered citadel, a pendent rock,
A forked mountain, or blue promontory
With trees upon’t that nod unto the world
And mock our eyes with air. Thou hast seen these signs;
They are black vesper’s pageants.
EROS
Ay, my lord.
ANTONY
That which is now a horse even with a thought
The rack distains, and makes it indistinct
As water is in water.
EROS
It does, my lord.
ANTONY
My good knave Eros, now thy captain is
Even such a body. Here I am Antony,
Yet cannot hold this visible shape, my knave.
I made these wars for Egypt, and the Queen—
Whose heart I thought I had, for she had mine,
Which whilst it was mine had annexed unto’t
A million more, now lost—she, Eros, has
Packed cards with Caesar, and false-played my glory
Unto an enemy’s triumph.
Nay, weep not, gentle Eros. There is left us
Ourselves to end ourselves.
Enter Mardian
O thy vile lady,
She has robbed me of my sword!
MARDIAN
No, Antony,
My mistress loved thee, and her fortunes mingled
With thine entirely.
ANTONY
Hence, saucy eunuch, peace!
She hath betrayed me, and shall die the death.
MARDIAN
Death of one person can be paid but once,
And that she has discharged. What thou wouldst do
Is done unto thy hand. The last she spake
Was ‘Antony, most noble Antony!’
Then in the midst a tearing groan did break
The name of Antony. It was divided
Between her heart and lips. She rendered life,
Thy name so buried in her.
ANTONY
Dead, then?
MARDIAN
Dead.
ANTONY
Unarm, Eros. The long day’s task is done,
And we must sleep. (To Mardian) That thou depart’st
hence safe
Does pay thy labour richly. Go.
Exit Mardian
Off, pluck off.
Eros helps Antony to unarm
The seven-fold shield of Ajax cannot keep
The battery from my heart. O, cleave, my sides!
Heart, once be stronger than thy continent;
Crack thy frail case. Apace, Eros, apace.
No more a soldier. Bruised pieces, go;
You have been nobly borne.—From me a while.
Exit Eros
I will o’ertake thee, Cleopatra, and
Weep for my pardon. So it must be, for now
All length is torture. Since the torch is out,
Lie down, and stray no farther. Now all labour
Mars what it does; yea, very force entangles
Itself with strength. Seal, then, and all is done.
Eros!-I come, my queen.-Eros!-Stay for me.
Where souls do couch on flowers we’ll hand in hand,
And with our sprightly port make the ghosts gaze.
Dido and her Aeneas shall want troops,
And all the haunt be ours. Come, Eros, Eros!
Enter Eros
EROS
What would my lord?
ANTONY
Since Cleopatra died
I have lived in such dishonour that the gods
Detest my baseness. I, that with my sword
Quartered the world, and o’er green Neptune’s back
With ships made cities, condemn myself to lack
The courage of a woman; less noble mind
Than she which by her death our Caesar tells
‘I am conqueror of myself.’ Thou art sworn, Eros,
That when the exigent should come, which now
Is come indeed—when I should see behind me
Th’inevitable prosecution of
Disgrace and horror—that on my command
Thou then wouldst kill me. Do’t. The time is come.
Thou strik‘st not me; ’tis Caesar thou defeat’st.
Put colour in thy cheek.
EROS
The gods withhold me!
Shall I do that which all the Parthian darts,
Though enemy, lost aim and could not?
ANTONY
Eros,
Wouldst thou be windowed in great Rome and see
Thy master thus with pleached arms, bending down
His corrigible neck, his face subdued
To penetrative shame, whilst the wheeled seat
Of fortunate Caesar, drawn before him, branded
His baseness that ensued?
EROS
I would not see’t.
ANTONY
Come then; for with a wound I must be cured.
Draw that thy honest sword, which thou hast worn
Most useful for thy country.
EROS
O sir, pardon me! 80
ANTONY
When I did make thee free, swor’st thou not then
To do this when I bade thee? Do it at once,
Or thy precedent services are all
But accidents unpurposed. Draw, and come.
EROS
Turn from me then that noble countenance
Wherein the worship of the whole world lies.
ANTONY (turning away) Lo thee!
EROS
My sword is drawn.
ANTONY
Then let it do at once
The thing why thou hast drawn it.
EROS
My dear master, My captain, and my Emperor: let me say,
Before I strike this bloody stroke, farewell.
ANTONY ’Tis said, man; and farewell.
&
nbsp; EROS
Farewell, great chief. Shall I strike now?
ANTONY
Now, Eros.
⌈Eros stabs himself⌉
EROS
Why, there then, thus I do escape the sorrow
Of Antony’s death.
He dies
ANTONY
Thrice nobler than myself,
Thou teachest me, O valiant Eros, what
I should and thou couldst not. My queen and Eros
Have by their brave instruction got upon me
A nobleness in record. But I will be
A bridegroom in my death, and run into’t
As to a lover’s bed. Come then, and, Eros,
Thy master dies thy scholar. To do thus
I learned of thee.
He stabs himself
How, not dead? Not dead?
The guard, ho! O, dispatch me!
Enter a guard ⌈and Decretas⌉
FIRST GUARD
What’s the noise?
ANTONY
I have done my work ill, friends. O, make an end
Of what I have begun!
SECOND GUARD
The star is fall’n.
FIRST GUARD
And time is at his period.
ALL THE GUARDS
Alas
And woe!
ANTONY Let him that loves me strike me dead.
FIRST GUARD
Not I.
SECOND GUARD Nor I.
THIRD GUARD
Nor anyone.
Exeunt the guard
DECRETAS
Thy death and fortunes bid thy followers fly.
He takes Antony’s sword
This sword but shown to Caesar, with this tidings,
Shall enter me with him.
Enter Diomedes
DIOMEDES
Where’s Antony?
DECRETAS
There, Diomed, there.
DIOMEDES
Lives he? Wilt thou not answer, man?
Exit Decretas
ANTONY
Art thou there, Diomed? Draw thy sword, and give me
Sufficing strokes for death.
DIOMEDES
Most absolute lord,
My mistress Cleopatra sent me to thee.
ANTONY
When did she send thee?
DIOMEDES
Now, my lord.
ANTONY Where is she?
DIOMEDES
Locked in her monument. She had a prophesying fear
Of what hath come to pass; for when she saw—
Which never shall be found—you did suspect
She had disposed with Caesar, and that your rage
Would not be purged, she sent word she was dead;
But fearing since how it might work, hath sent
Me to proclaim the truth; and I am come,
I dread, too late.
ANTONY
Too late, good Diomed. Call my guard, I prithee.
DIOMEDES
What ho, the Emperor’s guard! The guard, what hot
Come, your lord calls.
Enter four or five of the guard of Antony
ANTONY
Bear me, good friends, where Cleopatra bides.
’Tis the last service that I shall command you.
FIRST GUARD
Woe, woe are we, sir, you may not live to wear
All your true followers out.
ALL THE GUARDS
Most heavy day!
ANTONY
Nay, good my fellows, do not please sharp fate
To grace it with your sorrows. Bid that welcome
Which comes to punish us, and we punish it,
Seeming to bear it lightly. Take me up.
I have led you oft; carry me now, good friends,
And have my thanks for all.
Exeunt bearing Antony ⌈and Eros⌉
4.16 Enter Cleopatra ⌈and her maids aloft⌉, with Charmian and Iras
CLEOPATRA
O Charmian, I will never go from hence.
CHARMIAN
Be comforted, dear madam.
CLEOPATRA
No, I will not.
All strange and terrible events are welcome,
But comforts we despise. Our size of sorrow,
Proportioned to our cause, must be as great
As that which makes it.
Enter Diomedes ⌈below⌉
How now? Is he dead?
DIOMEDES
His death’s upon him, but not dead.
Look out o’th’ other side your monument.
His guard have brought him thither.
Enter below Antony, borne by the guard
CLEOPATRA
O sun, Burn the great sphere thou mov‘st in; darkling stand
The varying shore o’th’ world! O Antony, 11
Antony, Antony! Help, Charmian,
Help, Iras, help, help, friends below!
Let’s draw him hither.
ANTONY
Peace. Not Caesar’s valour
Hath o’erthrown Antony, but Antony’s
Hath triumphed on itself.
CLEOPATRA
So it should be, That none but Antony should conquer Antony.
But woe ’tis so!
ANTONY
I am dying, Egypt, dying. Only
I here importune death awhile until
Of many thousand kisses the poor last
I lay upon thy lips.
CLEOPATRA
I dare not, dear, Dear, my lord, pardon. I dare not,
Lest I be taken. Nor th’imperious show
Of the full-fortuned Caesar ever shall
Be brooched with me, if knife, drugs, serpents, have
Edge, sting, or operation. I am safe.
Your wife, Octavia, with her modest eyes
And still conclusion, shall acquire no honour
Demuring upon me. But come, come, Antony.—
Help me, my women.—We must draw thee up.
Assist, good friends.
ANTONY
O quick, or I am gone!
CLEOPATRA
Here’s sport indeed. How heavy weighs my lord!
Our strength is all gone into heaviness,
That makes the weight. Had I great Juno’s power
The strong-winged Mercury should fetch thee up
And set thee by Jove’s side. Yet come a little.
Wishers were ever fools. O come, come, come!
They heave Antony aloft to Cleopatra
And welcome, welcome! Die when thou hast lived,
Quicken with kissing. Had my lips that power,
Thus would I wear them out.
They kiss
ALL THE LOOKERS-ON A heavy sight.
ANTONY I am dying, Egypt, dying.
Give me some wine, and let me speak a little.
CLEOPATRA
No, let me speak, and let me rail so high
That the false hussy Fortune break her wheel,
Provoked by my offence.
ANTONY
One word, sweet queen.
Of Caesar seek your honour, with your safety. O!
CLEOPATRA
They do not go together.
ANTONY
Gentle, hear me.
None about Caesar trust but Proculeius.
CLEOPATRA
My resolution and my hands I’ll trust,
None about Caesar.
ANTONY
The miserable change now at my end
Lament nor sorrow at, but please your thoughts
In feeding them with those my former fortunes,
Wherein I lived the greatest prince o’th’ world,
The noblest; and do now not basely die,
Not cowardly put off my helmet to
My countryman; a Roman by a Roman
Valiantly vanquished. Now my spirit is going;
I can no more.
CLEOPATRA
Noblest of men, woot die?<
br />
Hast thou no care of me? Shall I abide
In this dull world, which in thy absence is
No better than a sty?
Antony dies
O see, my women,
The crown o’th’ earth doth melt. My lord!
O, withered is the garland of the war.
The soldier’s pole is fall’n. Young boys and girls
Are level now with men. The odds is gone,
And there is nothing left remarkable
Beneath the visiting moon.
She falls
CHARMIAN O, quietness, lady!
IRAS She’s dead, too, our sovereign.
CHARMIAN
Lady!
IRAS Madam!
CHARMIAN
O, madam, madam, madam!
IRAS
Royal Egypt, Empress!
CHARMIAN
Peace, peace, Iras!
CLEOPATRA (recovering)
No more but e’en a woman, and commanded
By such poor passion as the maid that milks
And does the meanest chores. It were for me
To throw my sceptre at the injurious gods,
To tell them that this world did equal theirs
Till they had stol’n our jewel. All’s but naught.
Patience is sottish, and impatience does
Become a dog that’s mad. Then is it sin
To rush into the secret house of death
Ere death dare come to us? How do you, women?
What, what, good cheer! Why, how now, Charmian?
My noble girls! Ah, women, women! Look,
Our lamp is spent, it’s out. Good sirs, take heart;
We’ll bury him, and then what’s brave, what’s noble,
Let’s do it after the high Roman fashion,
And make death proud to take us. Come, away.
This case of that huge spirit now is cold.
Ah, women, women! Come. We have no friend
But resolution, and the briefest end.
Exeunt, those above bearing off Antony’s body
5.1 Enter Caesar with his council of war: Agrippa, Dolabella, Maecenas, Gallus, Proculeius
CAESAR
Go to him, Dolabella, bid him yield.
Being so frustrate, tell him, he but mocks
The pauses that he makes.
DOLABELLA
Caesar, I shall. Exit