Lep. Ant. No, Lepidus, let him The honor's sacred which he Supposing that I lacked it.' The article of my oath, Soft, Cæsar. speak; Cæs. To lend me arms, and aid, when I required them; The which you both denied. Ant. Neglected, rather; And then, when poisoned hours had bound me up To have me out of Egypt, made wars here; Lep. 'Tis nobly spoken. Mec. If it might please you to enforce no further The griefs between ye; to forget them quite, Were to remember that the present need Speaks to atone you.1 Lep. Worthily spoken, Mecænas. Eno. Or, if you borrow one another's love for the instant, you may, when you hear no more words of Pompey, return it again: you shall have time to wrangle in, when you have nothing else to do. Ant. Thou art a soldier only; speak no more. more. Eno. Go to, then; your considerate stone." Cæs. I do not much dislike the matter, but The manner of his speech; for it cannot be, 1 "The theme of honor which he now speaks of, namely, the religion of an oath, for which he supposes me not to have a due regard, is sacred; it is a tender point, and touches my character nearly." 2" Nor my greatness work without mine honesty." 3 Grievances. 4 i. e. reconcile you. 5 "Go to, then; henceforward I will be as mute as a marble statue." We shall remain in friendship, our conditions What hoop should hold us stanch, from edge to edge Agr. Cas. Speak, Agrippa. Give me leave, Cæsar, Agr. Thou hast a sister by the mother's side, Admired Octavia. Great Mark Antony Is now a widower. Cæs. Say not so, Agrippa; Ant. I am not married, Cæsar; let me hear Agr. To hold you in perpetual amity, To make you brothers, and to knit your hearts And all great fears, which now import their dangers, By duty ruminated. Ant. Will Cæsar speak? Cæs. Not till he hears how Antony is touched With what is spoke already. What power is in Agrippa, The power of Cæsar, and May I never His power unto Octavia. Ant. 1 That is, "You might be reproved for your rashness, and would well deserve it." The old copy reads "proof." Warburton made the emendation. To this good purpose, that so fairly shows, And sway our great designs! Cæs. There is my hand. A sister I bequeath you, whom no brother To join our kingdoms, and our hearts; and never Lep. Happily, amen! Ant. I did not think to draw my sword 'gainst Pompey; For he hath laid strange courtesies, and great, Of late upon me. Lest my remembrance suffer ill report; At heel of that, defy him. Lep. I must thank him only,' Time calls upon us. Where lies he? What's his strength Of us must Pompey presently be sought, Or else he seeks out us. Ant. Cæs. About the mount Misenum. Ant. By land? Cæs. Great, and increasing; but by sea He is an absolute master. Ant. So is the fame. 'Would we had spoke together! Haste we for it; Yet, ere we put ourselves in arms, despatch we The business we have talked of. Cæs. And do invite you to my sister's view, Ant. Not lack your company. Lep. With most gladness; Let us, Lepidus, Noble Antony, Not sickness should detain me. [Flourish. Exeunt CESAR, ANTONY, and LEPIDUS. 1 "I must barely return him thanks, and then I will defy him.” Mec. Welcome from Egypt, sir. Eno. Half the heart of Cæsar, worthy Mecænas! -my honorable friend, Agrippa! Agr. Good Enobarbus! Mec. We have cause to be glad that matters are so well digested. You stayed well by it in Egypt. Eno. Ay, sir; we did sleep day out of countenance, and made the night light with drinking. Mec. Eight wild-boars roasted whole at a breakfast, and but twelve persons there. Is this true? Eno. This was but as a fly by an eagle; we had much more monstrous matter of feast, which worthily deserved noting. Mec. She's a most triumphant lady, if report be square1 to her. Eno. When she first met Mark Antony, she pursed up his heart upon the river of Cydnus.2 Agr. There she appeared, indeed; or my reporter devised well for her. Eno. I will tell you: The barge she sat in like a burnished throne, Burned on the water: the poop was beaten gold; Purple the sails, and so perfumed, that The winds were lovesick with them; the oars were silver; Which to the tune of flutes kept stroke, and made In her pavilion, (cloth of gold, of tissue,) 1 i. e. if report quadrates, or suits with her merits. 2 Enobarbus is made to say, that Cleopatra gained Antony's heart on the river Cydnus; but it appears from the conclusion of his own description, that Antony had never seen her there. 2 Agr. And made a gap in nature. Agr. Rare Egyptian! Eno. Upon her landing, Antony sent to her, It should be better he became her guest; For what his eyes eat only. Agr. Royal wench! She made great Cæsar lay his sword to bed; Eno. I saw her once Hop forty paces through the public street; And having lost her breath, she spoke, and panted, And, breathless, power breathe forth. Mec. Now Antony must leave her utterly. 1 i. e. waited upon her looks, discovered her will by her looks. 2 "Made their bends adornings." On this passage there are several pages of notes in the variorum Shakspeare, which, as Steevens remarks, supply a powerful instance of the uncertainty of verbal criticism; for the same phrase is there explained with reference to four different imagesbows, groups, eyes, and tails. "The plain sense of the passage seems to be, each inclined her person so gracefully, that the very act of humiliation was an improvement of her own beauty.' 3 "Yarely frame," i. e. readily perform. |