1 Sold. Let's hear him; for the things he speaks May concern Cæsar. But he sleeps. 1 Sold. Swoons rather; for so bad a prayer as his Was never yet for sleep. 2 Sold. Go we to him. 3 Sold. Awake, sir, awake! speak to us. 2 Sold. Hear you, sir? [Drums afar off. 1 Sold. The hand of death hath raught him2. Hark! the drums Demurely wake the sleepers. Let us bear him 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 i' 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, 2 The hand of death hath RAUGHT him.] "Raught" was most frequently used as the past tense of to reach. See Vol. ii. p. 326; Vol. iv. p. 548; Vol. v. p. 246. But it is also sometimes made the past tense of to reace, as in Vol. v. p. 144, and in Nash's "Pierce Penniless," 1592, "I raught his head from his shoulders, and sheathed my sword in his body." See the reprint of this tract by the Shakespeare Society, p. 82. In this place in our text either sense will answer the purpose, for the "1 Soldier" may mean either that death has reached, or has reft Enobarbus. They have put forth the haven3) Where their appointment we may best discover, Enter CESAR, and his Forces, marching. [Exeunt. Cæs. But being charg'd1, we will be still by land, Re-enter ANTONY and SCARUS. [Exeunt. Ant. Yet they are not join'd. Where yond' pine does stand, I shall discover all: I'll bring thee word Straight, how 'tis like to go. Scar. [Exit. Swallows have built In Cleopatra's sails their nests: the auguries 5 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, 3 [Alarum afar off, as at a Sea Fight. (order for sea is given, They have put forth the haven)] These words, as Mr. Knight suggests, are parenthetical, and we have printed them accordingly: without them, the sense runs on quite clearly, and any addition to the text, such as "Let's seek a spot," proposed by Malone; or "Farther on," recommended by Monck Mason, is unnecessary. Antony says, "our foot shall stay with us upon the hills adjoining to the city-where we may best discover the appointment and look upon the endeavour of the enemy." 4 BUT being charg'd,] i. e. Unless we be charged. "But" is still frequently employed in the north of England as a preposition, equivalent to without. Several ancient instances may be found in the "Coventry Mysteries,” printed by the Shakespeare Society, and edited by Mr. Halliwell. Steevens collects various authorities on the point, but they are not necessary: he derives “but," in this sense, from the Sax. butan. 5 the AUGURIES] i. e, the declarations of the augurs: it is unnecessary, with all modern editors, to change the word, found in all the old copies, to augurers. Ant. Re-enter ANTONY. All is lost! This foul Egyptian hath betrayed me: My fleet hath yielded to the foe; and yonder [Exit SCARUS. O sun! thy uprise shall I see no more: Do we shake hands.-All come to this?-The hearts O this false soul of Egypt! this grave charm,- Like a right gipsy, hath, at fast and loose', Beguil❜d me to the very heart of loss.— What, Eros! Eros! Enter CLEOPatra. Ah, thou spell! Avaunt! Cleo. Why is my lord enrag'd against his love? 6 That SPANIEL'D me at heels,] The credit of this happy emendation is due to Sir T. Hanmer: the folios all read, no doubt corruptly, "that pannelled me at heels." "Fast and loose" 7 Like a right GIPSY, hath, at FAST AND LOOSE,] was the same game as that now commonly called "pricking in the garter," and it was commonly (Sir J. Hawkins observes) employed by gipsies, as a mode of defrauding the unwary. Steevens quoted T. Freeman's Epigrams, 1614, at length, but the two first lines are all that really illustrate the text : "Charles the Egyptian, who by jugling could Make fast or loose, or whatsoere he would," &c. Aut. Vanish, or I shall give thee thy deserving, [Exit CLEO. "Tis well thou'rt gone, If it be well to live; but better 'twere Let me lodge Lichas on the horns o' the moon; [Exit. SCENE XI. Alexandria. A Room in the Palace. 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 8 For poor'st diminutives, for DoITS ;] The old copy has dolts, which was most likely a misprint for "doits:" the error would be a very easy one for a compositor to make, and the change much smaller than to suppose, with Tyrwhitt, that "for" was a printer's blunder for to; or with Malone, that "for," in both places, ought to be fore. Of course Shakespeare never paused to consider whether doit was an ancient Roman coin; and Warburton substituted "doits" for dolts, which makes the sense of the passage evident: Mr. Amyot truly observes, that "doits" is a word of frequent occurrence in Shakespeare. We therefore, without hesitation, adopt Warburton's amendment. Was never so emboss'd'. 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! [Exeunt. SCENE XII. The Same. Another Room. 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 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. Was never so EMBOSS'D.] For an explanation of this hunting term, which means foaming at the mouth, see Vol. iii. pp. 108. 271; where T. Heywood's "Edward IV." pt. i. is quoted, since printed by the Shakespeare Society, and edited by Mr. Barron Field. |