storms and tempests than almanacks can report: this cannot be cunning in her; if it be, she makes a shower of rain as well as Jove. Ant. 'Would I had never seen her! Eno. O, sir, you had then left unseen a wonderful piece of work; which not to have been blessed withal, would have discredited your travel. Ant. Fulvia is dead. Eno. Sir? Ant. Fulvia is dead. Ant. Dead. Eno. Why, sir, give the gods a thankful sacrifice. When it pleaseth their deities to take the wife of a man from him, it shows to man the tailors of the earth; comforting therein,1 that when old robes are worn out, there are members to make new. If there were no more women but Fulvia, then had you indeed a cut, and the case to be lamented: this grief is crowned with consolation; your old smock brings forth a new petticoat:—and, indeed, the tears live in an onion,2 that should water this sorrow. Dr. Young has seriously employed this image, though suggested as a ridiculous one by Enobarbus: 66 Sighs there are tempests here," says Carlos to Leonora, in The Revenge. Steevens. 1 -- it shows to man the tailors of the earth; comforting therein, &c.] I have printed this after the original, which, though harsh and obscure, I know not how to amend. Sir Thomas Hanmer reads-They show to man the tailors of the earth; comforting him therein, &c. I think the passage, with somewhat less alte ration, for alteration is always dangerous, may stand thus-It shows to men the tailors of the earth, comforting them, &c. Johnson. The meaning is this-As the gods have been pleased to take away your wife Fulvia, so they have provided you with a new one in Cleopatra; in like manner as the tailors of the earth, when your old garments are worn out, accommodate you with new ones. Anonymous. When the deities are pleased to take a man's wife from him, this act of theirs makes them appear to man like the tailors of the earth: affording this comfortable reflection, that the deities have made other women to supply the place of his former wife; as the tailor, when one robe is worn out, supplies him with another. Malone. 2 the tears live in an onion, &c.] So, in The Noble Soldier, 1634: "So much water as you might squeeze out of an onion Ant. The business she hath broached in the state, Cannot endure my absence. Eno. And the business you have broached here cannot be without you; especially that of Cleopatra's, which wholly depends on your abode. Ant. No more light answers. Let our officers had been tears enough," &c. i. e. your sorrow should be a forced one. In another scene of this play we have onion-eyed; and, in The Taming of a Shrew, the lord says: If the boy have not a woman's gift "To rain a shower of commanding tears, "An onion will do well." Again, in Hall's Virgidemiarum, Lib. VI: "Some strong-smeld onion shall stirre his eyes "Rather than no salt teares shall then arise." Steevens. 3 The cause of our expedience-] Expedience for expedition. Warburton. 4 And get her love to part.] I have no doubt but we should read leave, instead of love. So afterwards: "Would she had never given you leave to come!" M. Mason. The old reading may mean-And prevail on her love to consent to our separation. Steevens. I suspect the author wrote: And get her leave to part. The greater part of the succeeding scene is employed by Antony, in an endeavour to obtain Cleopatra's permission to depart, and in vows of everlasting constancy, not in persuading her to forget him, or love him no longer : 66 I go from hence, Thy soldier, servant; making peace, or war, "As thou affect'st." I have lately observed that this emendation had been made by Mr. Poe. If the old copy be right, the words must mean, I will get her love to permit and endure our separation. But the word get connects much more naturally with the word leave than with love. The same error [as I have since observed] has happened in Titus Andronicus, and therefore I have no longer any doubt that leave was Shakspeare's word. In that play we find: "He loves his pledges dearer than his life," instead of-He leaves, &c. Malone. 5 more urgent touches,] Things that touch me more senSibly, more pressing motives. Johnson. So, Imogen says in Cymbeline: Do strongly speak to us; but the letters too Our quick remove from hence.8 Eno. I shall do 't. 66 —a touch more rare "Subdues all pangs, all fears." M. Mason. [Exeunt. 6 Petition us at home:] Wish us at home; call for us to reside at home. Johnson. 7 the courser's hair, &c.] Alludes to an old idle notion that the hair of a horse dropt into corrupted water, will turn to an animal. Pope. So, in Holinshed's Description of England, p. 224: "— A horsehaire laid in a pale full of the like water will in a short time stirre and become a living creature. But sith the certaintie of these things is rather proved by few," &c. Again, in Churchyard's Discourse of rebellion, &c. 1570: "Hit is of kinde much worsie than horses heare "That lyes in donge, where on vyle serpents brede." Steevens. Dr. Lister, in the Philosophical Transactions, showed that what were vulgarly thought animated horse-hairs, are real insects. It was also affirmed, that they moved like serpents, and were poisonous to swallow. Tollet. 8 Say, our pleasure, To such whose place is under us, requires Our quick remove from hence.] Say to those whose place is under us, i. e. to our attendants, that our pleasure requires us to remove in haste from hence. The old copy has-"whose places under us," and "require." The correction, which is certainly right, was made by the editor of the second folio. Malone. I should read the passage thus: Say our pleasure To such who've places under us, requires Our quick remove &c. The amendment is as slight as that adopted by the editor, and makes the sense more clear. M. Mason. SCENE III. Enter CLEOPATRA, CHARMIAN, IRAS, and ALEXAS. Cleo. Where is he?? Char. I did not see him since. Cleo. See where he is, who 's with him, what he does:I did not send you;1-If you find him sad, Say, I am dancing; if in mirth, report That I am sudden sick: Quick, and return. [Exit ALEX. Char. Madam, methinks, if you did love him dearly, You do not hold the method to enforce The like from him. Cleo. What should I do, I do not? Char. In each thing give him way, cross him in nothing. Cleo. Thou teachest like a fool: the way to lose him. Char. Tempt him not so too far: I wish, forbear; In time we hate that which we often fear. Enter ANTONY. But here comes Antony. Cleo. I am sick, and sullen. Ant. Now, my dearest queen,— Cleo. Pray you, stand further from me. What's the matter? Cleo. I know, by that same eye, there's some good news. What says the married woman?-You may go; 'Would, she had never given you leave to come! Where is he?] The present defect of metre might be sup plied, by reading: Where is he now? So, in Macbeth: "The thane of Fife had a wife; where is she now? Steevens. 1- I did not send you;] You must go as if you came without my order or knowledge. Johnson. So, in Troilus and Cressida: 2 "We met by chance; you did not find me here." Malone. the sides of nature Will not sustain it.] So, in Twelfth Night: "There is no woman's sides "Can bide the beating of so strong a passion. Steevens. Let her not say, 'tis I that keep you here, Cleo. O, never was there queen So mightily betray'd! Yet, at the first, Cleo. Why should I think, you can be mine, and true, Though you in swearing shake the throned gods,3 Who have been false to Fulvia? Riotous madness, To be entangled with those mouth-made vows, Which break themselves in swearing! Ant. Most sweet queen, Cleo. Nay, pray you, seek no colour for your going, But bid farewel, and go: when you sued staying, Then was the time for words: No going then;Eternity was in our lips, and eyes; Bliss in our brows' bent ;4 none our parts so poor, Or thou, the greatest soldier of the world, Art turn'd the greatest liar. Ant. How now, lady! Cleo. I would, I had thy inches; thou should'st know, There were a heart in Egypt. Ant. Hear me, queen: The strong necessity of time commands 3 Though you in swearing shake the throned gods,] So, in Timon of Athens: Although, I know, you 'll swear, terribly swear, -in our brows' bent;] i. e. in the arch of our eye-brows. So, in King John: "Why do you bend such solemn brows on me?" Steevens. 5 a race of heaven:] i. c. had a smack or flavour of heaven. Warburton. This word is well explained by Dr. Warburton; the race of wine is the taste of the soil. Sir T. Hanmer, not understanding the word, reads, ray. See Vol. II, p. 37, n. 7. Johnson. I am not sure that the poet did not mean, was of heavenly origin. Malone. Remains in use-] The poet seems to allude to the legal distinction between the use and absolute possession. Johnson. |