SCENE X.
Between the two Camps.
Enter Antony, and Scarus, with their army.
Ant.
Their preparation is to-day by sea;
We please them not by land.
Scar.
For both, my lord.
Ant.
I would, they'd fight i' the fire, or in the air;
We'd fight there too. But this it is; Our foot
Upon the hills adjoining to the city,
Shall stay with us: order for sea is given;
5 noteThey have put forth the haven,
6 note
Where their appointment we may best discover,
And look on their endeavour.
[Exeunt.
Enter Cæsar, and his army.
Cæs.
7 note
But being charg'd, we will be still by land,
-- 262 --
Which, as I take it, we shall; for his best force
Is forth to man his gallies. To the vales,
And hold our best advantage.
[Exeunt.
Re-enter Antony, and Scarus.
Ant.
Yet they're not join'd: Where yonder pine does stand,
I shall discover all: I'll bring thee word
Straight, how 'tis like to go.
[Exit.
Scar.
Swallows have built
In Cleopatra's sails their nests: the augurers8 note
Say, they know not,—they cannot tell;—look grimly,
And dare not speak their knowledge. Antony
Is valiant, and dejected; and, by starts,
His fretted fortunes give him hope, and fear,
Of what he has, and has not.
[Exit.
Alarum afar off, as at a sea-fight.
Re-enter Antony.
Ant.
All is lost;
-- 263 --
This foul Ægyptian hath betrayed me:
My fleet hath yielded to the foe; and yonder
They cast their caps up, and carouse together
Like friends long lost.—9 note
Triple-turn'd whore! 9Q0965 'tis thou
Hast sold me to this novice; and my heart
Makes only wars on thee.—Bid them all fly;
For when I am reveng'd upon my charm,
I have done all:—Bid them all fly, be gone.
O sun, thy uprise shall I see no more:
Fortune and Antony part here; even here
Do we shake hands.—All come to this?—The hearts
1 note
That spaniel'd me at heels, to whom I gave
-- 264 --
Their wishes, do discandy, melt their sweets
On blossoming Cæsar; and this pine is bark'd,
That over-topp'd them all. Betray'd I am:
O this false soul of Ægypt! 2 note
this grave charm,—
Whose eye beck'd forth my wars, and call'd them home;
Whose bosom was my crownet3 note
, my chief end,—
Like a right gipsy4 note
, hath, at fast and loose,
-- 265 --
Beguil'd me 5 noteto the very heart of loss.—
What, Eros, Eros!
Enter Cleopatra.
Ah, thou spell! Avaunt.—
Cleo.
Why is my lord enrag'd against his love?
Ant.
Vanish; or I shall give thee thy deserving,
And blemish Cæsar's triumph. Let him take thee,
And hoist thee up to the shouting Plebeians:
Follow his chariot, like the greatest spot
Of all thy sex; 6 note
most monster-like, be shewn
-- 266 --
For poor'st diminutives to dolts; and let
Patient Octavia plough thy visage up
7 noteWith her prepared nails. 'Tis well thou'rt gone,—
[Exit Cleopatra.
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:
8 note
Let me lodge Lichas on the horns o' the moon;
And with those hands, that grasp'd 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.
-- 267 --
Samuel Johnson [1778], The plays of William Shakspeare. In ten volumes. With the corrections and illustrations of various commentators; to which are added notes by Samuel Johnson and George Steevens. The second edition, Revised and Augmented (Printed for C. Bathurst [and] W. Strahan [etc.], London) [word count] [S10901].
