The Same. Another Room. | |
| |
Enter ANTONY and EROS. | |
| Ant. Eros, thou yet behold’st me? | |
| Eros. Ay, noble lord. | 4 |
| Ant. Sometimes we see a cloud that’s dragonish; | |
| A vapour sometime like a bear or lion, | |
| A tower’d citadel, a pendant rock, | |
| A forked mountain, or blue promontory | 8 |
| With trees upon ’t, that nod unto the world | |
| And mock our eves with air: thou hast seen these signs; | |
| They are black vesper’s pageants | |
| Eros. Ay, my lord. | 12 |
| Ant. That which is now a horse, even with a thought | |
| The rack dislimns, and makes it indistinct, | |
| As water is in water. | |
| Eros. It does, my lord. | 16 |
| Ant. 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, | 20 |
| Whose heart I thought I had, for she had mine, | |
| Which whilst it was mine had annex’d unto ’t | |
| A million more, now lost; she, Eros, has | |
| Pack’d cards with Cæsar, and false-play’d my glory | 24 |
| Unto an enemy’s triumph. | |
| Nay, weep not, gentle Eros; there is left us | |
| Ourselves to end ourselves. | |
| |
Enter MARDIAN. | 28 |
| O! thy vile lady; | |
| She has robb’d me of my sword. | |
| Mar. No, Antony; | |
| My mistress lov’d thee, and her fortunes mingled | 32 |
| With thine entirely. | |
| Ant. Hence, saucy eunuch; peace! | |
| She hath betray’d me and shall die the death. | |
| Mar. Death of one person can be paid but once, | 36 |
| And that she has discharg’d. 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 | 40 |
| The name of Antony; it was divided | |
| Between her heart and lips. She render’d life, | |
| Thy name so buried in her. | |
| Ant. Dead, then? | 44 |
| Mar. Dead. | |
| Ant. 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. | 48 |
| Off, pluck off: | |
| The seven-fold shield of Ajax cannot keep | |
| The battery from my heart. O! cleave, my sides; | |
| Heart, once be stronger than thy continent, | 52 |
| Crack thy frail case! Apace, Eros, apace. | |
| No more a soldier; bruised pieces, go; | |
| You have been nobly borne. From me awhile. [Exit EROS. | |
| I will o’ertake thee, Cleopatra, and | 56 |
| Weep for my pardon. So it must be, for now | |
| All length is torture; since the torch is out, | |
| Lie down, and stray no further. Now all labour | |
| Mars what it does; yea, very force entangles | 60 |
| 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; | 64 |
| Dido and her Æneas shall want troops, | |
| And all the haunt be ours. Come, Eros! Eros! | |
| |
Re-enter EROS. | |
| Eros. What would my lord? | 68 |
| Ant. Since Cleopatra died, | |
| I have liv’d in such dishonour, that the gods | |
| Detest my baseness. I, that with my sword | |
| Quarter’d the world, and o’er green Neptune’s back | 72 |
| With ships made cities, condemn myself to lack | |
| The courage of a woman; less noble mind | |
| Than she, which by her death our Cæsar tells | |
| ‘I am conqueror of myself.’ Thou art sworn, Eros, | 76 |
| That, when the exigent should come,—which now | |
| Is come indeed,—when I should see behind me | |
| The inevitable prosecution of | |
| Disgrace and horror, that, on my command, | 80 |
| Thou then wouldst kill me: do ’t; the time is come. | |
| Thou strik’st not me, ’tis Cæsar thou defeat’st. | |
| Put colour in thy cheek. | |
| Eros. The gods withhold me! | 84 |
| Shall I do that which all the Parthian darts, | |
| Though enemy, lost aim and could not? | |
| Ant. Eros, | |
| Wouldst thou be window’d in great Rome, and see | 88 |
| Thy master thus with pleach’d arms, bending down | |
| His corrigible neck, his face subdu’d | |
| To penetrative shame, whilst the wheel’d seat | |
| Of fortunate Cæsar, drawn before him, branded | 92 |
| His baseness that ensu’d? | |
| Eros. I would not see’t. | |
| Ant. Come, then; for with a wound I must be cur’d. | |
| Draw that thy honest sword, which thou hast worn | 96 |
| Most useful for thy country. | |
| Eros. O, sir! pardon me. | |
| Ant. When I did make thee free, swor’st thou not then | |
| To do this when I bade thee? Do it at once, | 100 |
| Or thy precedent services are all | |
| But accidents unpurpos’d. Draw, and come. | |
| Eros. Turn from me then that noble countenance, | |
| Wherein the worship of the whole world lies. | 104 |
| Ant. Lo thee! [Turning from him. | |
| Eros. My sword is drawn. | |
| Ant. Then let it do at once | |
| The thing why thou hast drawn it. | 108 |
| Eros. My dear master, | |
| My captain, and my emperor, let me say, | |
| Before I strike this bloody stroke, farewell. | |
| Ant. ’Tis said, man; and farewell. | 112 |
| Eros. Farewell, great chief. Shall I strike now? | |
| Ant. Now, Eros. | |
| Eros. Why, there then; thus do I escape the sorrow [Kills himself. | |
| Of Antony’s death. | 116 |
| Ant. 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 | 120 |
| 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 [Falls on his sword. | 124 |
| I learn’d of thee. How! not dead? not dead? | |
| The guard, ho! O! dispatch me. | |
| |
Enter DERCETAS and Guard. | |
| First Guard. What’s the noise? | 128 |
| Ant. I have done my work ill, friends: O! make an end | |
| Of what I have begun. | |
| Sec. Guard. The star is fallen. | |
| First Guard. And time is at his period. | 132 |
| All. Alas, and woe! | |
| Ant. Let him that loves me strike me dead. | |
| First Guard. Not I. | |
| Sec. Guard. Nor I. | 136 |
| Third Guard. Nor any one. [Exeunt Guard. | |
| Der. Thy death and fortunes bid thy followers fly. | |
| This sword but shown to Cæsar, with this tidings, | |
| Shall enter me with him. | 140 |
| |
Enter DIOMEDES. | |
| Dio. Where’s Antony? | |
| Der. There, Diomed, there. | |
| Dio. Lives he? | 144 |
| Wilt thou not answer, man? [Exit DERCETAS. | |
| Ant. Art thou there, Diomed? Draw thy sword, and give me | |
| Sufficing strokes for death. | |
| Dio. Most absolute lord, | 148 |
| My mistress Cleopatra sent me to thee. | |
| Ant. When did she send thee? | |
| Dio. Now, my lord. | |
| Ant. Where is she? | 152 |
| Dio. Lock’d 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 dispos’d with Cæsar, and that your rage | 156 |
| Would not be purg’d, she sent you 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. | 160 |
| Ant. Too late, good Diomed. Call my guard, I prithee. | |
| Dio. What, ho! the emperor’s guard! The guard, what, ho! | |
| Come, your lord calls! | |
| |
Enter four or five of the Guard of ANTONY. | 164 |
| Ant. 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. | 168 |
| All. Most heavy day! | |
| Ant. 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 | 172 |
| 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. | |
