Hast sold me to this novice; and my heart
Makes only wars on thee.-Bid them all fly!
For when I am reveng'd 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 spaniel'd me at heels, to whom I gave
Their wishes, do discandy, melt their sweets
On blossoming Cæsar; and this pine is bark'd,
That overtopp'd them all! Betray'd I am :
O, this false soul of Egypt! this grave charm,"
Whose beck'd forth my wars, and call'd them
eye
home;

Whose bosom was my crownet, my chief end,-
Like a right gipsy, hath, at fast and loose,
Beguil'd me to the very heart of loss.—
What, Eros, Eros!

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 grasp'd the heaviest club,

Subdue my worthiest self. The witch shall die! To the young Roman boy she hath sold me, and I fall

Under this plot: she dies for 't!-Eros, ho!

(*) First folio, pannelled. Corrected by Hanmer. (†) Old text, dolts. Corrected by Warburton.

[Exit.

a O, this false soul of Egypt! this grave charm,-] Mr. Collier's annotator would read,

"O, this false spell of Egypt, this great charm." Spell is very plausible; but "great charm" is infinitely less expressive and appropriate than "grave charm," i. e. pernicious, deadly, fatal sorceress.

bfast and loose,-] A cheating game similar to what is now

called pricking at the belt or girdle.

c Subdue my worthiest self.] The commentators, excepting Hanmer, have not suspected any corruption here; but would Antony, in this hour of bitter remorse, speak of his "worthiest self"? He might have said, "my worthless self;" yet the context, "the witch shall die," makes it more probable he is thinking of Cleopatra, and that what the author wrote was, "Subdue my worthless elf." Elf being synonymous with witch or fairy.

d

the boar of Thessaly-] The boar killed by Meleager. e-emboss'd.] See note (a), p. 228, Vol. I.

sides!

The seven-fold shield of Ajax cannot keep
The battery from my heart. O, cleave, my
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 farther. 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 gare:

(*) First folio, Cæsars.

Not Cæsar'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 't is so!

ANT. I am dying,-Egypt,-dying; only
I here impórtune death a while, until
Of many thousand kisses the poor last
I lay upon thy lips.—

CLEO.
I dare not, dear,
(Dear my lord, pardon,) I dare not,
Lest I be taken: not the imperious show
Of the full-fortun'd Cæsar ever shall

Be brooch'd with me; if knife, drugs, serpents, have

Edge, sting, or operation, I am safe:
Your wife Octavia, with her modest eyes
And still conclusion, shall acquire no honour
Demuring upon me.-But come, come, Antony,-
Help me, my women,—we must draw thee up ;-
Assist, good friends.

ANT.

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

That the false housewife, Fortune," break her wheel,

Provok'd by my offence. ANT.

One word, sweet queen: Of Cæsar 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,
Not cowardly put off my helmet to
My countryman,-a Roman by a Roman
Valiantly vanquish'd.(3) 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 sty ?-O, see, my women,
[ANTONY dies.
The crown o' the earth doth melt !-My lord!-
O, wither'd is the garland of the war!
The soldier's pole is fall'n: young boys and girls
Are level now with men; the odds is gone,
And there is nothing left remarkable
Beneath the visiting moon.

CHAR.

[Faints. O, quietness, lady!

CHAR. Peace, peace, Iras! CLEO. No more, but e'en *

[commanded

a woman, and 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 stol'n our jewel.-All's but nought; 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, [Charmian! What, what! good cheer! Why, how now, My noble girls!-Ah, women, women! look, Our lamp is spent, it's out!-Good sirs, take heart: :[noble, We'll bury him; and then, what's brave, what's Let's do it after the high Roman fashion, And make Death proud to take us. Come,

women?

d

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.

(*) First folio, in, corrected by Capell.

of addressing women was not unusual; and, consequently, that the modern stage direction here, "[To the Guard below," is improper. Thus, as quoted by Mr. Dyce from Beaumont and Fletcher's play of "The Coxcomb," Act IV. Sc. 3, the mother, speaking to Viola, Nan. and Madge, says,

"Sirs, to your tasks, and shew this little novice

How to bestir herself," &c.

Again, as quoted by Mr. Dyce from the same authors' "A King and No King," Act III. Sc. 1,

"Spa. I do beseech you, madam, send away
Your other women, and receive from me
A few sad words, which, set against your joys,
May make 'em shine the more.

Pan. Sirs, leave me all.

[Exeunt Waiting-women.

VOL. III.

PP

577