The soul and body rive not more in parting,
Than greatness going off.

Cleo.
To the monument:-
Mardian, go tell him I have slain myself;
Say, that the last I spoke was, Antony,
And word it, pr'ythee, piteously: Hence,

Mardian; and bring me how he takes my death.-
To the monument.

Exeunt.

Enter ANTONY and EROS.

Ant. Eros, thou yet behold'st me?

Eros.

Ay, noble lord.

Ant. Sometime, 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

With trees upon't, that nod unto the world,

And mock our eyes with air: Thou hast seen these

Ay, my lord.

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.

Ant. My good knave, Eros, now thy captain is Even such a body: here I am Antony;

8 They are black vesper's pageants.] The beauty both of the expression and the allusion is lost, unless we recollect the frequency and the nature of these shows in Shakspeare's age.

• The rack dislimns ;] i. e. the fleeting away of the clouds destroys the picture.

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 annex'd unto't
A million more, now lost,-she, Eros, has
Pack'd cards with Cæsar, and false play'd my glory
Unto an enemy's triumph.-

Nay, weep not, gentle Eros; there is left us
Ourselves to end ourselves.-O, thy vile lady!

Enter MARDIAN.

She has robb'd me of my sword.

No, Antony;

Mar. My mistress lov'd thee, and her fortunes mingled 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; And that she has discharg'd: What thou would'st

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 render'd life,
Thy name so buried in her.

Ant.

Mar.

Dead then?

Dead.

Ant. Eros, unarm; the long day's task is done, And we must sleep:-That thou depart'st hence

safe,

Does pay thy labour richly; Go.-Off, pluck off;[Exit MARDIAN. The seven-fold shield of Ajax cannot keep

The battery from my heart. O, cleave, my sides!

VOL. VIII.

That, when the agent sould come. which now kore, mee

when I mcuit see behind me

The rentable prosecution o

Dague and sorror, that, on my command,

Thos then wou Ll me: &t the time is come:

try cincuente me ning that contains thee.

Seat them, and du time Mercher taken from civil Bioftata, where, when all is agreed on, the sealing compleats the ontruct; wo be har determined to de, and nothing remained but to give the stroke.

Thou strik'st not me, 'tis Cæsar 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?

Eros,

Ant.
Would'st thou be window'd in great Rome, and see
Thy master thus with pleach'd arms, bending down
His corrigible neck, his face subdued

To penetrative shame; whilst the wheel'd seat
Of fortunate Cæsar, drawn before him, branded
His baseness that ensued?"

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 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;

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.
Ant. Lo thee.

Eros. My sword is drawn.
Ant.

[Turning from him.

Then let it do at once

The thing why thou hast drawn it.

Eros.

My dear master,

-pleach'd arms,] Arms folded in each other.

5 His corrigible neck,] Corrigible for corrected, and afterwards penetrative for penetrating.

6 His baseness that ensued?] The poor conquered wretch that followed.

JOHNSON.

7 the worship of the whole world-] The worship, is the dignity, the authority.

Heart, once be stronger than thy continent,2
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 further: Now all labour
Marrs what it does; yea, very force entangles
Itself with strength: Seal then, and all is done.3-
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 Æneas shall want troops,

And all the haunt be ours.-Come, Eros, Eros!

Re-enter EROS.

Eros. What would

Ant.

my lord?

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
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,
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,
Thou then would'st kill me: do't; the time is come:

2

thy continent,] i. e. the thing that contains thee.

3 Seal then, and all is done.] Metaphor taken from civil contracts, where, when all is agreed on, the sealing compleats the contract; so he hath determined to die, and nothing remained but to give the stroke.