The Dramatic Works of William Shakspeare

Sooth. Cesar's.

Therefore, O Antony, stay not by his side:
Thy demon, that's thy spirit which keeps thee, is
Noble, courageous, high, unmatchable,
Where Cesar's is not; but, near him, thy angel
Becomes a fear, as being o'erpower'd: therefore
Make space enough between you.

Ant. Speak this no more.

Sooth. To none but thee; no more, but when to thee.

If thou dost play with him at any game,
Thou art sure to lose; and, of that natural luck,
He beats thee 'gainst the odds; thy lustre thickens,
When he shines by: I say again, thy spirit
Is all afraid to govern thee near him;
But, he away, 'tis noble.

Ant. Get thee gone:

Say to Ventidius, I would speak with him:
[Exit SOOTHSAYER.
He shall to Parthia.-Be it art, or hap,
He hath spoken true: The very dice obey him;
And, in our sports, my better cunning faints
Under bis chance: if we draw lots, he speeds:
His cocks do win the battle still of mine.
When it is all to nought; and his quails ever
Beat mine, inhoop'd, at odds. I will to Egypt:
And though I make this marriage for my peace,
Enter VENTIDIUS.

I'the east my pleasure lies :-O come, Ventidius,
You must to Parthia; your commission's ready:
Follow me, and receive it.
[Exeunt.

SCENE IV. The same.-A Street. Enter LEPIDUS, MECENAS. and AGRIPPA. Lep. Trouble yourselves no urther: pray you, hasten

Did hang a salt-fish on his hook, which he With fervency drew up.

Cleo. That time!-0 times !—

I laugh'd him out of patience; and that night
1 laugh'd him into patience; and next morn,
Ere the ninth hour, I drunk him to his bed;
Then put my tires and mantles on him, whilst
I wore his sword Philippan. Oh! from Italy;
Enter a MESSENGER.

Ram thou thy fruitful tidings in mine ears,
That long time have been barren.
Mess. Madam, madam,-

Cleo. Antony's dead?

If thou say so, villain, thou kill'st thy mistress:
But well and free

If thou so yield him, there is gold, and here
My bluest veins to kiss: a hand, that kings
Have lipp'd, and trembled kissing.

Mess. First, madam, he's well.

Cleo. Why, there's more gold. But, Sirab, mark: We use

To say the dead are well; bring it to that,
The gold I give thee will I melt, and pour
Down thy ill-uttering throat.

Mess. Good madam, hear me.
Cleo. Well, go to, I will;

But there's no goodness in thy face: If Antony
Be free, and healthful, why so tart a favour *
To trumpet such good tidings? If not well,
Thou should'st come like a fury crown'd with
Not like a formal man.
[snakes,

Mess. Will't please you hear me?

Cleo. I have a mind to strike thee, ere thou speak'st:

Yet, if thou say, Antony lives, is well,

Or friends with Cesar, or not captive to him,
I'll set thee in a shower of gold, and hail
Rich pearls upon thee.

Mess. Madam, he's well.
Cleo. Well said.

Mess. And friends with Cesar.
Cleo. Thou'rt an honest man.

Mess. Cesar and he are greater friends than

[food

Mess. For the best turn i'the bed.

Cleo. I am pale, Charmian.

Cleo. Give me some music; music, moody

of us that trade in love.

Attend. The music, ho!

Enter MARDIAN.

Mar. As well as I can, madam.

Cleo. And when good will is show'd, though it come too short,

The actor may plead pardon. I'll none now:
Give me mine angle; we'll to the river: there,
My music playing far off, I will betray
Tawny-finn'd fishes; my bended hook shall pierce
Their slimy jaws; and, as I draw them up,
I'll think them every one an Antony,
And say, Ah, ha! you're caught.

Char. 'Twas merry, when

You wager'd on your angling; when your diver

• The ancients used to match quails as we match cocks. + Inclosed. 1 Mount Misenum. § Melancholy. Billiards were unknown then.

Mess. Nay, then I'll run :-
What mean you, madam? I have made no fault.
[Exit.
Char. Good madam, keep yourself within
The man is innocent.
[yourself;
Cleo. Some innocents 'scape not the thunder-
bolt.-

Melt Egypt into Nile! and kindly creatures
Turn all to serpents !-Call the slave again :
Though I am mad, I will not bite him:-Call.
Char. He is afeard to come.

Cleo. I will not hurt him :

These hands do lack nobility, that they strike
A meaner than myself; since I myself
Have given myself the cause.-Come hither, Sir.
Re-enter MESSENGER.

Though it be honest, it is never good

To bring bad news: Give to a gracious message
A host of tongues; but let ill tidings tell
Themselves, when they be felt.

Mess. I have done my duty.

Cleo. Is he married?

I cannot hate thee worser than I do,

If thou again say, Yes.

Mess. He is married, madam.

That else must perish here.
And carry back to Sicily much tall⚫ youth

The senators alone of this great world,
Pom. To you all three,
Chief factors for the gods,-I do not know,
Wherefore my father should revengers want,
Having a son and friends; since Julius Cesar,
Who at Philippi the good Brutus ghosted, †
There saw you labouring for him. What was it,
That mov'd pale Cassius to conspire? And what
Made the all-honour'd, honest Roman, Brutus,
With the arm'd rest, courtiers of beauteous
freedom,

Have one man but a man? And that is it,
To drench the Capitol; but that they would
Hath made me rig my navy; at whose burden
The anger'd ocean foams; with which I meant
Cast on my noble father.
To scourge the ingratitude that despiteful Rome

Ces. Take your time.

Ant. Thou canst not fear us, Pompey, with
thy sails,

We'll speak with thee at sea: at land thou know'st
How much we do o'er-count thee.

Pom. At land, indeed,

Thou dost o'er-count me of my father's house :

Cleo. The gods confound thee! dost thou hold But, since the cuckoo builds not for himself,

there still?

Mess. Should I lie, madam?

Cleo. Oh! I would thou didst ;

So half my Egypt were submerg'd and made

A cistern for scal'd snakes! Go, get thee hence;
Hadst thou Narcissus in thy face, to me
Thou would'st appear most ugly. He is married?
Mess. I crave your highness' pardon.
Cleo. He is married?

Mess. Take no offence, that I would not offend

you:

To punish me for what you make me do,
Seems much unequal: He is married to Octavia.
Cleo. Oh! that his fault should make a knave
of thee,

That art not !-What? thou'rt sure of 't?-Get
thee hence:

The merchandise which thou hast brought from
Rome,

Are all too dear for me; Lie they upon thy band,
And be undone by 'em! [Exit MESSENGER.
Char. Good your highness, patience.
Cleo. In praising Antony, I have disprais'd

Cesar.

Char. Many times, madam.
Cleo. I am paid for't now.

Lead me from hence,

Remain in't as thou may'st.

Lep. Be pleas'd to tell us,

(For this is from the present, §) how you take The offers we have sent you.

Ces. There's the point.

Ant. Which do not be entreated to, but weigh What it is worth embrac'd.

Ces. And what may follow,

To try a larger fortune.

Pom. You have made me offer
of Sicily, Sardinia; and I must

Measures of wheat to Rome: This 'greed upon,
Rid all the sea of pirates; then, to send
To part with unhack'd edges, and bear back
Our targe undinted.

Ces. Ant. Lep. That's our offer.
Pom. Know then,

1 came before you here, a man prepar'd
To take this offer:
Put me to some impatience: Though I lose
But Mark Antony
The praise of it by telling, you must know,
When Cesar and your brothers were at blows,
Your mother came to Sicily, and did find
Her welcome friendly.

Ant. I have heard it, Pompey;
And am well studied for a liberal thanks,
Which I do owe you.

Pom. Let me have your hand:

I did not think, Sir, to have met you here.
Ant. The beds i'the east are soft; and thanks
to you,

quick-That call'd me, timelier than my purpose,
For I have gain'd by it.

I faint; O Iras, Charmian, Tis no matter :-
Go to the fellow, good Alexas; bid him
Report the feature of Octavia, her years,
Her inclination, let him not leave out
The colour of her hair :-bring me word
ly.-
Let him for ever go :-Let him not-Charmian,
[Exit ALEXAS.
Though he be painted one way like a Gorgon,
T'other way he's a Mars :-Bid you Alexas
[To MARDIAN.

Ces. Since I saw you last,
There is a change upon you.

Pom. Well, I know not

hither;

Bring me word how tall she is.-Pity me, Char-But in my bosom shall she never come, mian,

What counts | harsh fortune casts upon my face:

But do not speak to me.-Lead me to my chamber.

[Exeunt.

To make my heart her vassal.

Lep. Well met here.

Pom. I hope so, Lepidus.-Thus we are

agreed:

I crave our composition may be written,
And seal'd between us.

Ces. That's the next to do.

Pom. We'll feast each other, ere we part; and

let us
Draws lots who shall begin.

Ant. That will I, Pompey.

Pom. No, Antony, take the lot: but, first
Or last, your fine Egyptian cookery

Grew fat with feasting there.
Shall have the fame. I have heard, that Julius

Ant. You have heard much.
Pom.I have fair meanings, Sir.

[Cesar

1 Affright.
Marks.

will use his affection where it is: he married but his occasion here.

Ant. And fair words to them.

Pom. Then so much have I heard:

And I have heard, Apollodorus carried→
Eno. No more of that :-He did so.

Eno. Sir,

I never lov'd you much: but I have prais'd yon,
When you have well deserv'd ten times as much
As I have said you did.

Pom. Enjoy thy plainness,

It nothing ill beconies thee.-
Aboard my galley I invite you all:
Will you lead, lords?

Ces. Ant. Lep. Shew us the way, Sir.
Pom. Come.

[Exeunt POMPEY, CESAR, ANTONY, LEPIDUS, Soldiers, and Attendants. Men. Thy father, Pompey, would ne'er have made this treaty.-[Aside.]-You and I have known, Sir.

Eno. At sea, I think.

Men. We have, Sir.

Eno. You have done well by water.
Men. And you by land.

Eno. I will praise any man that will praise me: though it cannot be denied what I have done by land.

Men. Nor what I have done by water.
Eno. Yes, something you can deny for your
own safety: you have been a great thief by sea.
Men. And you by land.

Eno. There I deny my land service. But give me your hand, Menas: If our eyes had authority, here they might take two thieves kissing.

Men. All men's faces are true, whatsoe'er their hands are.

Eno. But there is never a fair woman has a true face.

Men. No slander; they steal hearts. Eno. We came hither to fight with you. Men. For my part, I am sorry it is turned to a drinking. Pompey doth this day laugh away his fortune.

Eno. If he do, sure, he cannot weep it back again.

Men. You have said, Sir. We looked not for Mark Antony: Pray you, is he married to Cleopatra ?

Eno. Cesar's sister is call'd Octavia.
Men. True, Sir; she was the wife of Caius
Marcellus.

Eno. But she is now the wife of Marcus Antonius.

Men. Pray you, Sir?

Eno. 'Tis true.

Men. Then is Cesar, and he, for ever knit together.

Eno. If I were bound to divine of this unity, I would not prophesy so.

Men. I think the policy of that purpose made more in the marriage, than the love of the parties.

SCENE VII.-On Board POMPEY'S Galley,
lying near Misenum.

Music. Enter two or three SERVANTS with a
Banquet.

1 Serv. Here they'll be, man: Some o'their plants are ill-rooted already, the least wind i'the world will blow them down.

2 Serv. Lepidus is high-coloured.

1 Serv. They have made him drink almsdrink.

2 Serv. As they pinch one another by the disposition, he cries out, no more; reconciles them to his entreaty, and himself to the drink.

1 Serv. But it raises the greater war between him and his discretion.

2 Serv. Why, this is to have a name in great men's fellowship; I had as lief have a reed that will do me no service, as a partizan ‡ I could not heave.

1 Serv. To be called into a huge sphere, and not to be seen to move in't, are the holes where eyes should be, which pitifully disaster the cheeks.

A Sennet sounded. Enter CESAR, ANTONY,
POMPEY, LEPIDUS, AGRIPPA, MECENAS,
ENOBARBUS, MENAS, with other Captains.
Ant. Thus do they, Sir: [To CESAR.] They
take the flow o'the Nile.

By certain scales i'the pyramid; they know,
By the height, the lowness, or the mean, § if
dearth,

Or foizon, follow; The higher Nilus swells,
The more it promises: as it ebbs, the seedsinan
Upon the slime and ooze scatters his grain,
And shortly comes to harvest.

Lep. You have strange serpents there.
Ant. Ay, Lepidus.

Lep. Your serpent of Egypt is bred now of your mud by the operation of your sun: so is your crocodile.

Ant. They are so.

Pom. Sit, and some wine.-A health to Lepidus.

Lep. I am not so well as I should be, but I'll ne'er out.

Eno. Not till you have slept; I fear me, you'll be in, till then.

Lep. Nay, certainly, I have heard the Ptolemies' pyramises are very goodly things; without contradiction, I have heard that.

Men. Pompey, a word.

[Aside.

Pom. Say in mine ear: What is't?
Men. Forsake thy seat, I do beseech thee,
captain,
[Aside.

And hear me speak a word.

Pom. Forbear me till anon.-
This wine for Lepidus.

Lep. What manner o'thing is your crocodile ? Ant. It is shaped, Sir, like itself; and it is as broad as it hath breadth: it is just so high as it is, and moves with its own organs it lives by that which nourisheth it; and the elements once

Eno. I think so too. But you shall find the
band that seems to tie their friendship toge-out of it, it transmigrates.
ther, will be the very strangler of their amity :
Octavia is of a holy, cold, and still conver-
sation. +

Men, Who would not have his wife so?
Eno. Not he that himself is not so; which is

Mark Antony. He will to his Egyptian dish
again: then shall the sighs of Octavia blow the
fire up in Cesar: and, as I said before, that
which is the strength of their amity, shall prove
the immediate author of their variance. Antony

Lep. What colour is it of?
Ant. Of its own colour too.
Lep. 'Tis a strange serpent.
Ant. 'Tis so. And the tears of it are wet.
Ces. Will this description satisfy him?
Ant. With the health that Pompey gives him,
else he is a very epicure.

Pom. [To MENAS aside.] Go, hang, Sir, hang
Tell me of that? away!

• Desert.

+ Feet.

¡Plenty.

Pike.

Middle.

Pyramids.

Do as 1 bid you.-Where's this cup I call'd | Make battery to our ears with the loud music ;for ? The while, I'll place you: Then the boy shal

Men. If for the sake of merit thou wilt hear me,

Rise from thy stool.

[Aside. Pom. I think thou'rt mad. The matter? [Rises, and walks aside. Men. I have ever held my cap off to thy fortunes.

Pom. Thou hast serv'd me with much faith:

cup.

Thou art, if thou dar'st be, the earthly Jove :
Whate'er the ocean pales, or sky inclips, †
Is thine, if thou wilt have't.

Pom. Show me which way.

Men. These three world-sharers, these competitors, t

Are in thy vessel: let me cut the cable;
And, when we are put off, fall to their throats:
All there is thine.

Pom. Ah, this thou should'st have done,
And not have spoke on't! In me, 'tis villany;
In thee it had been good service. Thou must
know,

'Tis not my profit that does lead mine honour;
Mine honour it. Repent, that e'er thy tongue
Hath so betray'd thine act: Being done unknown,
I should have found it afterwards well done;
But must condemn it now. Desist and drink.
Men. For this,

[Aside. I'll never follow thy pall'd fortunes more.Who seeks, and will not take, when once 'tis Shall never find it more. [offer'd,

Ant. Bear him ashore.-I'll pledge it for him,

Pom. This health to Lepidus.

It's monstrous labour, when I wash my brain, And it grows fouler.

Ant. Be a child o'the time.

Ces. Possess ¶ it, I'll make answer: but I had rather fast

From all, four days, than drink so much in one. Eno. Ha, my brave emperor! [To ANTONY. Shall we dance now the Egyptian Bacchanals And celebrate our drink?

Pom. Let's ha't, good soldier.

Ant Come, let us all take hands;

sing:

The holding

every man shall bear, as loud As his strong sides can volley.

[Music plays. ENOBARBUS places them hand in hand.

SONG.

Come, thou monarch of the vine,
Plumpy Bacchus, with pink eynet
In thy vats our cares be drown'd:
With thy grapes our hairs be crown'd
Cup us, till the world go round;
Cup us, till the world go round!

Ces. What would you more ?-Pompey, good night. Good brother,

Let me request you off: our graver business Frowns at this levity.-Gentle lords, let's part; You see, we have burnt our cheeks: strong Enobarbe

Is weaker than the wine; and mine own tongue Splits what it speaks: the wild disguise hath

almost

Antick'd us all. What needs more words? Good night.

Good Antony your hand.

Pom. I'll try you o'the shore.

Ant. And shall, Sir: give's your hand.
Pom. O Antony,

You have my father's house, But what? we are friends:

Come, down into the boat.

Eno. Take heed you fall not.

[Exeunt POMPEY, CESAR, ANTONY, and Attendants.

Menas, I'll not on shore.

Men. No, to my cabin.

These drums !-these trumpets, flutes! what!~ Let Neptune hear we bid a loud farewell

To these great fellows: Sound, and be hang'ɖ sound out.

[A Flourish of Trumpets, with Drums. Eno. Ho, says 'a!-There's my cap. Men. Ho-noble captain!

Come.

ACT III.

[Exeunt.

SCENE I-A plain in Syria.

Enter VENTIDIUS, as after conquest, with SILIUS, and other Romans, Officers, and Soldiers; the dead body of PACORUS borne before him.

Ven. Now, darting Parthia, art thou struck;

and now

Pleas'd fortune does of Marcus Crassus' death
Make me revenger.-Bear the king's son's body
Before our army:-Thy Pacorus, Orodes,
Pays this for Marcus Crassus.
Sil. Noble Ventidius,

Whilst yet with Parthian blood thy sword is
warm,
[Media,
The fugitive Parthians follow; spur through
Mesopotamia, and the shelters whither
The routed fly: so thy grand captain, Antony,
Shall set thee on triumphant chariots, and
Put garlands on thy head.

Ven. O Silius, Silius,

I have done enough: A lower place, note well,
May make too great an act: For learn this, Silius;
Better leave undone, than by our deed acquire
Too high a fame, when him we serve's away.
Cesar, and Antony, have ever won
More in their officer than person: Sossius,
One of my place in Syria, his lieutenant,

Till that the conquering wine hath steep'd our sense For quick accumulation of renown,
In soft and delicate Lethe.

Becomes his captain's captain; and ambition,
The soldier's virtue, rather makes choice of loss,
Than gain, which darkens him.

I could do more to do Antonius good,
But 'twould offend him; and in his offence
Should my performance perish.

Sil. Thou hast, Ventidius,

That without which a soldier, and his sword, Grants scarce distinction. Thou wilt write to

Antony ?

Ven. I'll humbly signify what in his name, That magical word of war, we have effected; How, with his banners, and his well-paid ranks, The ne'er-yet-beaten horse of Parthia

We have jaded out o'the field.

Sil. Where is he now ?

Ven. He purposeth to Athens: whither with what haste

The weight we must convey with us will permit, We shall appear before him.-On, there; pass along. [Exeunt. SCENE II.-Rome.-An Antechamber in CESAR'S house.

Enter AGRIPPA, and ENOBARBUS, meeting. Agr. What, are the brothers parted?

Eao. They have despatch'd with Pompey, he is gone;

The other three are sealing. Octavia weeps
To part from Rome: Cesar is sad; and Lepidus,
Since Pompey's feast, as Menas says, is troubled
With the green-sickness.

Agr. 'Tis a noble Lepidus.

Eno. A very fine one: Oh! how he loves Ce

sar!

Agr. Nay, but how dearly he adores Mark
Antony !

Eno. Cesar? Why, he's the Jupiter of men.
Agr. What's Antony? The god of Jupiter.

For what you seem to fear: So, the gods keep you,

And make the hearts of Romans serve your ends! We will here part.

Ces. Farewell, my dearest sister, fare thee well;

The elements be kind to thee, and make
Thy spirits all of comfort! fare thee well.
Oct. My noble brother!—

Ant. The April's in her eyes: It is love's spring And these the showers to bring it on.-Be cheerful.

Oct. Sir, look well to my husband's house; and

Ces. What, Octavia ?

Ant. Come, Sir, come;

I'll wrestle with you in my strength of love :

Fro. Spake you of Cesar? How? the nonpa-Look, here I have you; thus I let you go riel!

Agr. O Antony! O thou Arabian bird!*

Eno. Would you praise Cesar, say,-Cesar; -go no farther.

Agr. Indeed, he plied them both with excellent praises.

Eno. But he loves Cesar best;-Yet he loves Antony:

Ho! hearts, tongues, figures, scribes, bards, poets, cannot

Think, speak, cast, write, sing, number, ho, his
To Antony. But as for Cesar,

Kneel down, kneel down, and wonder.
Agr. Both he loves.

[love

Eno. They are his shards, and he their beetle. So,[Trumpets.

This is to horse.-Adieu, noble Agrippa. Agr. Good fortune, worthy soldier; and farewell.

Eater CESAR, ANTONY, LEPIDUS, and Oc

And give you to the gods.

Ces. Adieu; be happy!

Lep. Let all the number of the stars give light To thy fair way!

Ces. Farewell, Farewell!

[Kisses OCTAVIA.

t Band and
Of air and water.
Cesar's sister. This scene is levelled at Queen Elizabeth's 'ealousy
of her rival, Mary, Queen of Scots.

« Anterior Continuar »

Livros

The Dramatic Works of William Shakspeare: With Glossarial Notes, a Sketch of ...