Scene VII...Field of Battle between the Camps.

Alarum. Drums and Trumpets. Enter AGRIPPA

and others. Agr. Retire: we have engaged ourselves too far. Cæsar himself has work, and our oppression Exceeds what we expected.

[Exeunt. Alarum. Enter Antony, and Scarus, wounded.

Scar. O my brave emperor, this is fought indeed! Had we done so at first, we had driven them home With clouts about their heads. Ant.

Thou bleed'st apace. Scar. I had a wound here that was like a T; But now 't is made an H. Ant.

They do retire. Scar. We 'll beat 'em into bench-holes: I have yet Room for six scotches more.

Through proof of harness to my heart, and there
Ride on the pants triumphing.

Cleo. Lord of lords !
O infinite virtue! com'st thou smiling from
The world's great snare uncaught?

Ant. My nightingale,
We have beat them to their beds. What, girl,

though grey Do something mingle with our younger brown; Yet have we a brain that nourishes our nerves, And can get goal for goal of youth. Behold this

man;
Commend unto his lips thy favouring hand:-
Kiss it, my warrior.—He hath fought to-day
As if a god, in hate of mankind, had
Destroyed in such a shape.

Cleo. I'll give thee, friend,
An armour all of gold: it was a king's.

Ant. He has deserved it, were it carbuncled
Like holy Phæbus' car.–Give me thy hand:
Through Alexandria make a jolly march;
Bear our hacked targets like the men that owe

them. Had our great palace the capacity To

camp this host, we all would sup together, And drink carouses to the next day's fate, Which promises royal peril.— Trumpeters, With brazen din blast you the city's ear; Make mingle with our rattling tabourines; That heaven and earth may strike their sounds

together, Applauding our approach!

[Ereunt.

Enter Eros. Eros. They are beaten, sir; and our advantage

serves For a fair victory.

Scar. Let us score their backs, And snatch 'em up, as we take hares, behind : "T is sport to maul a runner.

Ant. I will reward thee
Once for thy sprightly comfort, and tenfold
For thy good valour. Come thee on.
Scar. I'll halt after.

[Exeunt.

Scene VIII.- Under the Walls of Alexandria.

Scene IX.-CÆSAR's Camp.

Alarum. Enter Antony, marching ; Scarus, and

Forces. Ant. We have beat him to his camp. Run one

before, And let the queen know of our guests.-To

morrow, Before the sun shall see us, we 'll spill the blood That has to-day escaped. I thank you all ; For doughty-handed are you, and have fought Not as you served the cause, but as 't had been Each man's like mine: you have shewn all Hectors. Enter the city, clip your wives, your friends, Tell them your feats; whilst they with joyful tears Wash the congealment from your wounds, and

kiss The honoured gashes whole.--Give me thy hand:

[To Scarus. Enter Cleopatra, attended. To this great fairy I 'll commend thy acts ; Make her thanks bless thee.-0 thou day o'the

world! Chain mine armed neck: leap thou, attire and all,

Sentinels on their posts. Enter ENOBARBUS.

1st Sol. If we be not relieved within this hour, We must return to the court of guard. The night Is shiny, and they say we shall embattle By the second hour i' the morn.

2nd Sol. This last day was a shrewd one to us. Eno. O, bear me witness, night,3rd Sol. What man is this? 2nd Sol. Stand close, and list him.

Eno. Be witness to me, O thou blesséd moon, When men revolted shall

upon

record Bear hateful memory, poor Enobarbus did Before thy face repent!

1 st Sol. Enobarbus !
3rd Sol. Peace : hark further.

Eno. O sovereign mistress of true melancholy,
The poisonous damp of night disponge upon me,
That life, a very rebel to my will,
May hang no longer on me! throw my heart
Against the flint and hardness of my fault;

Scene X.-Between the two Camps.

Enter Antony and Scarus, with Forces marching.

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 : They have put forth the haven. Further on;

Re-enter ANTONY and SCARUS.
Ant. Yet they 're not joined. Where yond'

pine does stand
I shall discover all : I 'll bring thee word
Straight how 't is like to go.

[Exit. Scar. Swallows have built In Cleopatra's sails their nests : the augurers 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.

Alarum afar off, as at a sea-fight.

Scene XI.-Alexandria. A Room in the Palace.

Re-enter ANTONY.

Ant. All is lost!
This foul Egyptian hath betrayed me:
My fleet hath yielded to the foe; and yonder
They cast their caps up, and carouse together
Like friends long lost.–Triple-turned whore !

't is thou
Hast sold me to this novice : and my heart
Makes only war on thee.—Bid them all fly:
For when I am revenged upon my charm,
I have done all.-Bid them all fly; be gone!

[Exit Scarus.
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 That spanielled me at heels, to whom I gave Their wishes, do discandy, melt their sweets On blossoming Cæsar : and this pine is barked, That overtopped them all. Betrayed I am: O this false soul of Egypt! this grave charm,Whose eye becked forth my wars, and called

them home; Whose bosom was my crownet, my chief end,Like a right gipsy, hath, at fast and loose, Beguiled me to the very heart of loss.What, Eros, Eros!

Enter CLEOPATRA, CHARMIAN, IRAs, and

MARDIAN. Cleo. Help me, my women ! O, he is more mad Than Telamon for his shield: the boar of Thessaly Was never so embossed.

Char. To the monument : There lock yourself, and send him word you are

dead. 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’y thee, 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 towered citadel, a pendant rock, A forkéd mountain, or blue promontory With trees upon 't, that nod unto the world, And mock our eyes with air :—thou hast seen

these signs?
They are black vesper's pageants.

Eros. 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.

lord.
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 annexed unto 't
A million more, now lost)-she, Eros, has
Packed cards with Cæsar,and false played my glory
Unto an enemy's triumph.
Nay, weep not, gentle Eros: there is left us
Ourselves to end ourselves.-0, thy vile lady!

It does, my

Enter CLEOPATRA. Ah, thou spell : avaunt ! Cleo. Why is my lord enraged against his

love? Ant. Vanish; or I shall give thee thy deserving, And bleinish 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: most monster-like, be shewn For poor'st diminutives, to dolts ; and let Patient Octavia plough thy visage up With her prepared nails. [Exit CLEOPATRA.

'Tis well thou 'rt gone, If it be well to live : but better 't were 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 grasped 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.

Enter MARDIAN. She hath robbed me of my

sword. Mar. No, Antony ; My mistress loved thee, and her fortunes mingled With thine entirely.

Ant. Hence, saucy eunuch; peace : She hath betrayed me, and shall die the death.

Mar. Death of one person can be paid but once; And that she has discharged: what thou wouldst 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 rendered life, Thy name so buried in her. Ant.

Dead, then? Mar.

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.—[Erit Mardian.

Off, pluck off!The sevenfold 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 awhile.

[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 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 !

Ant. Eros,
Wouldst thou be windowed in great Rome, and see
Thy master thus, with pleached arms, bending

down
His corrigible neck, his face subdued
To penetrative shame ; whilst the wheeled 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

cured.
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 unpurposed. Draw, and come.
Eros. Turn from me, then, that noble coun-

tenance, Wherein the worship of the whole world lies. Ant. Lo thee.

[Turning from him. Eros. My sword is drawn.

Ant. Then let it do at once
The thing why thou hast drawn it.

Eros. My dear master,
My captain, and my emperor, let me say,
Before I strike this bloody stroke, farewell.

Ant. 'Tis said, man;—and farewell.
Eros. Farewell, great chief. Shall I strike now?
Ant. 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 I learned of thee [Falls on his sword.]—How! not

yet dead? not dead ?The guard !-ho!-O, despatch me!

Re-enter Eros.

Eros. What would my lord ?

Ant. Since Cleopatra died, I have lived in such dishonour that the gods Detest my baseness. I, that with my sword Quartered 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
Wouldst kill me:-do't ; the time is come:
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 ?

Enter Dercetas and Guard. 1st Guard. What's the noise ? Ant. I have done my work ill, friends : 0, make

an end

Of what I have begun.