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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;
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 Roman boy she hath sold me, and I fall
Under this plot : she dies for't.-Eros, ho!

[Exit.

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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,—
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!

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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!
Heart, once be stronger than thy continent,
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
Mars what it does; yea, very force entangles
Itself with strength: Seal then, and all is done.
Eros!-I come, my queen:-Eros!-Stay for me:
Where sou do couch on flowers, we'll hand in hand,
And with our sprightly port make the ghosts gazet.
Dido and her Eneas shall want troops,
And all the haunt be ours.-Come, Eros, Eros!
Re-enter Eros.

Eros. What would my lord?
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
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,

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Now, Eros. Eros. Why, there then :-[Falls on his sword.] Thus do I escape the sorrow of Antony's death.

[Dies.

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

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

[Falling on his sword. I learn'd of thee. How! not yet dead? not dead?The guard!-ho!-O, despatch me.

Enter Dercetas and Guard.

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sying 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
Would not be purg', she sept 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.

Ant. Too late, good Diomed: Call my guard, I pr'ythee.

Dio. What, ho! the emperor's guard! The guard, what, ho!

Come, your lord calls.

Enter some of the Guard.

Ant. Bear me, good friends, where Cleopatra bides; 'Tis the last service that I shall command you. 1 Guard. Woe are we, sir, you may not live to wear All your true followers out. 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 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 Ant.

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Cleo.

Enter Antony, borne by the Guard.
O thou sun,

Peace.

Burn the great sphere thou mov'st in!-darkling stand
The varying shore o'the world!-0 Antony!
Antony, Antony !-Charmian, help; help, Iras;
Help, friends below; let's draw him hither.
Ant.
Not Caesar's valour hath o'erthrown Antony,
But Antony's hath triumph'd on itself.
Cleo. So it should be, that none but Antony
Should conquer Antony; but woe 'tis so!
Ant. I am dying, Egypt, dying; only
I here importune death a while, until
Of many thousand kisses the poor last
I lay upon thy lips.

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O, quick, or I am gone.

Cleo. Here's sport, indeed!-How heavy weighs my lord!

Our strength is all gone into heaviness,

That makes the weight: Had I great Juno's power,
The strong-wing'd Mercury should fetch thee up,
And set thee by Jove's side. Yet come a little,-
Wishers were ever fools :-0, come, come, come;
[They draw Antony up.
And welcome, welcome; die, where thou hast liv'd:
Quicken with kissing; had my lips that power,
Thus would I wear them out.

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A heavy sight!

Ant. I am dying, Égypt, dying :

Give me some wine, and let me speak a little.

Cleo. No, let me speak; and let me rail so high, That the false housewife Fortune break her wheel, Provok'd by my offence.

Ant.

One word, sweet queen: Of Cresar seek your honour, with your safety.-O! Cleo. They do not go together. Ant.

Gentle, hear me: None about Cæsar trust, but Proculeius. Cleo. My resolution, and my hands, I'll trust; None about Cæsar.

Ant. The miserable change now at my end, Lament nor sorrow at: but please your thoughts, In feeding them with those my former fortunes Wherein I liv'd, the greatest prince o'the world, The noblest: and do now not basely die, Nor cowardly; put off my helmet to My countryman, a Roman, by a Roman Valiantly vanquish'd. Now, my spirit is going; I can no more.

Cleo.

Noblest of men, woo't die?

Hast thou no care of me? shall I abide
In this dull world, which in thy absence is
No better than a stye ?-O, see, my women,
The crown a'the earth doth melt :-My lord!-
O, wither'd is the garland of the war,

[Dies.

The soldier's pole is fallen: young boys, and girls,
Are level now with men: the odds is gone,
And there is nothing left remarkable
Beneath the visiting moon.

[She faints.

Char.

O, quietness, lady!

Iras. She is dead too, our sovereign.

Char.

Lady,

Iras.

Madam,

Royal Egypt!

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Cleo. No more but e'en a woman; and commanded By such poor passion as the maid that milks, And does the meanest chares.-It were for me To throw my sceptre at the injurious gods; To tell them, that this world did equal theirs, Till they had stolen our jewel. All's but naught; Patience is sottish; and impatience does

Become a dog that's mad: Then is it sin,
To rush into the secret house of death,
Ere death dare come to us?-How do you, women?
What, what? good cheer! Why, how now, Charnian?
My noble girls!-Ah, women, women! look,
Our lamp is spent, it's out :-Good sira, take heart :-
[To the Guard below.
We'll bury him: and then, what's brave, what's noble,
Let's do it after the high Roman fashion,
And make death proud to take us. Come, away:
This case of that huge spirit now is cold.

Ah, women, women! come; we have no friend
But resolution, and the briefest end.

[Exeunt; those above bearing off Antony's body.

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Enter Dercetas, with the sword of Antony.
Cas. Wherefore is that? and what art thou, that
dar'st
Appear thus to us

Der.
I am call'd Dercetas;
Mark Antony I serv'd, who best was worthy
Best to be serv'd: whilst he stood up, and spoke,
He was my master; and I wore my life,

To spend upon his haters: If thou please
To take me to thee, as I was to him
I'll be to Cæsar; if thou pleasest not,
I yield thee up my life.

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Diseases in our bodies: I must perforce
Have shown to thee such a declining day,
Or look on thine; we could not stall together
In the whole world: But yet let me lament,
With tears as sovereign as the blood of hearts,
That thou, my brother, my competitor
In top of all design, my mate in empire,
Friend and companion in the front of war,
'The arm of mine own body, and the heart

Where mine his thoughts did kindle,-that our stars,
Unreconciliable, should divide

Our equalness to this.-Hear me, good friends,-
But I will tell you at some meeter season;

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So the gods preserve thee!

[Exit.

Cæs. Come hither, Proculeius; Go, and say, We purpose ber no shame: give her what comforts The quality of her passion shall require; Lest, in her greatness, by some mortal stroke

She do defeat us: for her life in Rome

Would be eternal in our triumph: Go,

And, with your speediest, bring us what she says,
And how you find of her.

Pro.
Cæsar, I shall. [Exit Pro.
Cas. Gallus, go you along.-Where's Dolabella,
To second Proculeius?

Agr. Mec.

Dolabella!

[Exit Gallus.

Cæs. Let him alone, for I remember now How he's employed; he shall in time be ready. Go with me to my tent; where you shall see How hardly I was drawn into this war; How calm and gentle I proceeded still In all my writings: Go with me, and see What I can show in this.

SCENE II-Alexandria. A Room in the Monu

ment. Enter Cleopatra, Charmian, and Iras.
Cleo. My desolation does begin to make
A better life: "Tis paltry to be Cæsar;
Not being fortune, he's but fortune's knave,
A minister of her will; And it is great
To do that thing that ends all other deeds;
Which shackles accidents, and bolts up change;
Which sleeps, and never palates more the dung,
The beggar's nurse and Cæsar's.

Enter, to the Gutes of the Monument, Proculeius, Gallus, and Soldiers.

Pro. Cæsar sends greeting to the queen of Egypt; And bids thee study on what fair demands Thou mean'st to have him grant thee.

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Cleo. [Within.]

Pray you, tell him

I am his fortune's vassal, and I send him
The greatness he has got. I hourly learn
A doctrine of obedience; and would gladly
Look him i'the face.

This I'll report, dear lady.
Pro.
Have comfort; for, I know, your plight is pitied
Of him that caus'd it.

Gal. You see how easily she may be surpris'd; [Here Proculeius, and two of the Guard, ascend the Monument by a ladder placed against a window, and having descended, come behind Cleopatra. Some of the Guard unbar and open the gates.

Guard her till Cæsar come.

Iras.

[To Proculeius and the Guard. Exit Gallus
Royal queen!

Char. O Cleopatra! thou art taken, queen!--
Cleo. Quick, quiek, good hands. [Drawing a dagger.
Pro.

Hold, worthy lady, bold:

[Seizes and disarma her.

Do not yourself such wrong, who are in this Reliev'd, but not betray'd.

Cleo.

What, of death too,

Cleopatra,

That rids our dogs of languish?
Pro.

Do not abuse my master's bounty, by
The undoing of yourself: let the world see
His nobleness well acted, which your death
Will never let come forth.

Cleo.
Where art thou, death?
Come hither, come! come, come, and take a queen
Worth many babes and beggars.

Pro. O, temperance, lady! Cleo. Sir, I will eat no meat; I'll not drink, sir: If idle talk will once be necessary, I'll not sleep neither: This mortal house I'll ruin, Do Cæsar what he can. Know, sir, that I Will not wait pinion'd at your master's court; Nor once be chastis'd with the sober eye Of dull Octavia. Shall they hoist me up, And show me to the shouting varletry Of censuring Rome? Rather a ditch in Egypt Be gentle grave to me! rather on Nilus' mud Lay me stark naked, and let the water-flies Blow me into abhorring! rather make My country's high pyramides my gibbet, And bang me up in chains!

Pro.

You do extend These thoughts of horror further than you shall Find cause in Cæsar.

Dol.

Enter Dolabella.

Proculeius,

What thou hast done thy master Cæsar knows, And he hath sent for thee: as for the queen, I'll take her to my guard.

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Cleo. His legs bestrid the ocean; his rear'd arm
Crested the world: his voice was propertied
As all the tuned spheres, and that to friends;
But when he meant to quail and shake the orb,
He was as rattling thunder. For his bounty,
There was no winter in't; an autumn 'twas,
That grew the more by reaping: His delights
*** Were dolphin-like; they show'd his back above
The element they liv'd in: In his livery

Walk'd crowns, and crownets; realms and islands were
As plates dropp'd from his pocket.
Dol.

Cleopatra,

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Hear me, good madam :
Your loss is as yourself, great; and you bear it
As answering to the weight: 'Would I might never
O'ertake pursu'd success, but I do feel,
By the rebound of yours, a grief that shoots
My very heart at root.

I thank you, sir.

Cleo.
Know you what Cæsar means to do with me?

Dol. I am loath to tell you what I would you knew.
Cleo. Nay, pray you, sir,-

Dol.

Though he be honourable,-
Cleo. He'll lead me then in triumph?
Dol.

I know it.

Within. Make way there,-Cæsar.

Madam, he will;

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We will extenuate rather than enforce:
If you apply yourself to our intents,
(Which towards you are most gentle) you shall find
A benefit in this change: but if you seek
To lay on me a cruelty, by taking
Antony's course, you shall bereave yourself
Of my good purposes, and put your children
To that destruction which I'll guard them from,
If thereon you rely. I'll take my leave.

Cleo. And may, through all the world: 'tis yours;
and we

Your 'scutcheons, and your signs of conquest, shall
Hang in what place you please. Here, my good lord.
Cas. You shall advise me in all for Cleopatra.
Cleo. This is the brief of money, plate, and jewels,
I am possess'd of: 'tis exactly valued;
Not petty things admitted.-Where's Seleucus?
Sel. Here, madam.

Cleo. This is my treasurer; let him speak, my lord,
Upon his peril, that I have reserv'd

To myself nothing. Speak the truth, Seleucus.
Sel. Madam,

I had rather scel my lips, than, to my peril,
Speak that which is not.

Cleo.
What have I kept back?
Sel. Enough to purchase what you have made known.
Cæs. Nay, blush not, Cleopatra ; I approve
Your wisdom in the deed.

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Cæs.

Good I queen, let us entreat you.
Cleo. O Cæsar, what a wounding shame is this;
That thou, vouchsafing here to visit me,
Doing the honour of thy lordliness

To one so meek, that mine own servant should
Parcel the sum of my disgraces by
Addition of his envy! Say, good Cæsar,
That I some lady trifles have reserv'd,
Immoment toys, things of such dignity
As we greet modern friends withal; and say,
Some nobler token I have kept apart

Enter Cæsar, Gallus, Proculeius, Mecenas, Seleucus, For Livia, and Octavia, to induce

and Attendants.

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