The wounded chance of Antony, though my reason
Sits in the wind against me.

[Exeunt.

SCENE IX.-Alexandria.-A Room in the Palace.

Enter ANTONY and Attendants.

Ant. Hark, the land bids me tread no more upon 't, It is asham'd to bear me!-Friends, come hither,

I am so lated in the world, that I

Have lost my way for ever:-I have a ship
Laden with gold; take that, divide it; fly,
And make your peace with Cæsar.

Att.

Fly! not we.
Ant. I have fled myself; and have instructed cowards
To run, and show their shoulders.-Friends, be gone;
I have myself resolv'd upon a course,
Which has no need of you; be gone:

My treasure's in the harbour, take it.-0,
I follow'd that I blush to look upon:
My very hairs do mutiny, for the white
Reprove the brown for rashness, and they them
For fear and doting.-Friends, be gone; you shall
Have letters from me to some friends, that will
Sweep your way for you. Pray you, look not sad,
Nor make replies of loathness: take the hint
Which my despair proclaims; let that be left
Which leaves itself: to the sea-side straightway:
I will possess you of that ship and treasure.
Leave me, pray, a little : pray you now :-
Nay, do so; for, indeed, I have lost command,
Therefore I pray you :-I'll see you by and by.
[Sits down.

Enter EROS and CLEOPATRA, led by CHARMIAN and

IRAS.

Eros. Nay, gentle madam, to him ;-Comfort him. Iras. Do, most dear queen.

Char. Do! why, what else?

Cleo. Let me sit down. O Juno!

Ant. No, no, no, no, no.

Eros. See you here, sir?
Ant. O fie, fie, fie!

Char. Madam,—

Iras. Madam; O good empress!-
Eros. Sir, sir,-

Ant. Yes, my lord, yes:-He, at Philippi, kept
His sword even like a dancer; a while I struck
The lean and wrinkled Cassius; and 't was I
That the mad Brutus ended: he alone
Dealt on lieutenantry, and no practice had
In the brave squares of war: Yet now-No matter.
Cleo. Ah, stand by.

Eros. The queen, my lord, the queen.

Iras. Go to him, madam, speak to him;

He is unqualitied with very shame.

Cleo. Well then,-Sustain me:-O!

Eros. Most noble sir, arise; the queen approaches;

Her head's declin'd, and death will seize her; but Your comfort makes the rescue.

Ant. I have offended reputation;

A most unnoble swerving.

Eros.

Sir, the queen.

Ant. O, whither hast thou led me, Egypt? See, How I convey my shame out of thine eyes

By looking back on what I have left behind

'Stroy'd in dishonour.

Cleo.

O my lord, my lord!

Forgive my fearful sails; I little thought

You would have follow'd.

a A passage in 'All's Well that Ends Well' explains this

allusion:

"Till honour be bought up, and no sword worn,

But one to dance with."

b Made war by lieutenants.

Ant.
My heart was to thy rudder tied by the strings,
And thou shouldst tow me after: O'er my spirit
Thy full supremacy thou knew'st; and that
Thy beck might from the bidding of the gods
Command me.

Egypt, thou knew'st too well

Cleo.

Ant.

O, my pardon.

Now I must

To the young man send humble treaties, dodge
And palter in the shifts of lowness; who
With half the bulk o' the world play'd as I pleas'd,
Making and marring fortunes. You did know
How much you were my conqueror; and that
My sword, made weak by my affection, would
Obey it on all cause.

Ant. Fall not a tear, I say; one of them rates All that is won and lost: Give me a kiss: Even this repays me.-We sent our schoolmaster, Is he come back?-Love, I am full of lead :— Some wine, within there, and our viands:-Fortune knows

We scorn her most when most she offers blows.

SCENE X.-Cæsar's Camp, in Egypt.

[Exeunt.

Enter CESAR, DOLABELLA, THYREUS, and others. Cæs. Let him appear that 's come from Antony.Know you him?

Dol.

Cæsar, 't is his schoolmaster:
An argument that he is pluck'd, when hither
He sends so poor a pinion of his wing,

Which had superfluous kings for messengers,
Not many moons gone by.

Enter EUPHRONIUS.

Cæs.

Approach, and speak.

Eup. Such as I am, I come from Antony :
I was of late as petty to his ends,

As is the morn-dew on the myrtle-leaf
To his grand sea.

Cæs.

Be it so: Declare thine office.
Eup. Lord of his fortunes he salutes thee, and
Requires to live in Egypt: which not granted,
He lessens his requests; and to thee sues
To let him breathe between the heavens and earth,
A private man in Athens: This for him.
Next, Cleopatra does confess thy greatness;
Submits her to thy might; and of thee craves
The circle of the Ptolemies for her heirs,
Now hazarded to thy grace.

Cæs.
For Antony,
I have no ears to his request. The queen
Of audience, nor desire, shall fail; so she
From Egypt drive her all-disgraced friend,
Or take his life there: This if she perform,
She shall not sue unheard. So to them both.
Eup. Fortune pursue thee!

Cæs.

Bring him through the bands.
[Exit EUPHRONIUS.

To try thy eloquence, now 't is time: Despatch;
From Antony win Cleopatra: promise,

[To THYREUS.
And in our name, what she requires; add more,
From thine invention, offers: women are not
In their best fortunes strong; but want will perjure
The ne'er-touch'd vestal: Try thy cunning, Thyrens,
Make thine own edict for thy pains, which we
Will answer as a law.

Thyr.

Cæsar, I go.

Cæs. Observe how Antony becomes his flaw; And what thou think'st his very action speaks In every power that moves.

Thyr.

Cæsar, I shall.

[Exeunt.

SCENE XI.-Alexandria. A Room in the Palace. Enter CLEOPATRA, ENOBARBUS, CHARMIAN, and IRAS.

Cleo. What shall we do, Enobarbus?

Eno.
Think, and die.
Cleo. Is Antony, or we, in fault for this?
Eno. Antony only, that would make his will
Lord of his reason. What although you fled
From that great face of war, whose several ranges
Frighted each other? why should he follow?
The itch of his affection should not then

Have nick'd his captainship; at such a point,
When half to half the world oppos'd, he being
The mered question: "T was a shame no less
Than was his loss, to course your flying flags,
And leave his navy gazing.

Cleo.

Prithee, peace.

Enter ANTONY, with EUPHRONIUS.

Ant. Is that his answer?

Eup.

Ay, my lord.

Ant. The queen shall then have courtesy, so she will

Us up.

yield

Eup. He says so.

Ant.

Let her know it.

To the boy Cæsar send this grizzled head,
And he will fill thy wishes to the brim
With principalities.

Clco.

That head, my lord?

Ant. To him again: Tell him, he wears the rose Of youth upon him; from which the world should note Something particular: his coins, ships, legions,

May be a coward's; whose ministers would prevail

a Mered. Mere is a boundary; and to mere is to mark, to limit.