Enter CESAR, ANTONY, LEPIDUS, and OCTAVIA.

Ant. No further, sir.

Cæs. You take from me a great part of myself;
Use me well in it.-Sister, prove such a wife
As my thoughts make thee, and as my furthest band1
Shall pass on thy approof.-Most noble Antony,
Let not the piece of virtue, which is set
Betwixt us, as the cement of our love,
To keep it builded, be the ram, to batter
The fortress of it; for better might we

Have loved without this mean, if on both parts
This be not cherished.

Ant.

Make me not offended

I have said.

You shall not find,

2

Though you be therein curious, the least cause

For what you seem to fear. So, the gods keep you, And make the hearts of Romans serve your ends! We will here part.

Cæs. Farewell, my dearest sister, fare thee well. The elements be kind to thee, and make

Thy spirits all of comfort! fare thee well.
Octa. My noble brother!—————

Ant. The April's in her eyes; it is love's spring, And these the showers to bring it on.-Be cheerful. Octa. Sir, look well to my husband's house; and— Cæs.

Octavia?

Octa.

I'll tell you in your ear.

What,

Ant. Her tongue will not obey her heart, nor can Her heart inform her tongue; the swan's down

feather,

That stands upon the swell at full of tide,

And neither way inclines.

Eno. Will Cæsar weep

?

[Aside to AGRIPPA.

1 Band and bond were once synonymous.

2 i. e. scrupulous, particular.

Agr.

He has a cloud in's face.1

Eno. He were the worse for that, were he a horse; So is he being a man.

Agr.
Why, Enobarbus?
When Antony found Julius Cæsar dead,
He cried almost to roaring; and he wept
When at Philippi he found Brutus slain.

Eno. That year, indeed, he was troubled with a rheum;

What willingly he did confound, he wailed,
Believe it, till I weep3 too.

Cæs. No, sweet Octavia,

You shall hear from me still; the time shall not
Outgo my thinking on you.

Come, sir, come;

Ant.
I'll wrestle with you, in my strength of love.
Look, here I have you; thus I let you go,
And give you to the gods.

Cæs.

Adieu! be happy!

Lep. Let all the number of the stars give light

To thy fair way!

Cæs.

Ant.

Farewell, farewell! [Kisses OCTAVIA.
Farewell!

[Trumpets sound. Exeunt.

SCENE III. Alexandria. A Room in the Palace.

Enter CLEOPATRA, CHARMIAN, IRAS, and ALEXAS.

Cleo. Where is the fellow?

Alex.

Half afeard to come.

Cleo. Go to, go to.-Come hither, sir.

1 A horse is said to have a cloud in his face, when he has a dark-colored spot in his forehead between his eyes. This, being supposed to indicate an ill temper, is of course looked upon as a great blemish.

2 To confound is to consume, to destroy.

3 Theobald reads, "till I wept too."

Alex.

Enter a Messenger.

Good majesty,

That Herod's head

Herod of Jewry dare not look upon you,
But when you are well pleased.

Cleo.

I'll have; but how? when Antony is gone

Through whom I might command it.-Come thou near.

Mess. Most gracious majesty,

Cleo.

Octavia?

Didst thou behold

Mess. Ay, dread queen.

Cleo.

Where?

Mess.

Madam, in Rome

I looked her in the face; and saw her led
Between her brother and Mark Antony.
Cleo. Is she as tall as me?

Mess.

She is not, madam.

Cleo. Didst hear her speak? Is she shrill-tongued

or low?

Mess. Madam, I heard her speak; she is low-voiced. Cleo. That's not so good; he cannot like her long. Char. Like her? O Isis! 'tis impossible.

Cleo. I think so, Charmian. Dull of tongue, and dwarfish!

What majesty is in her gait?
If e'er thou look'dst on majesty.

Mess.

Remember,

She creeps;

Her motion and her station1 are as one:

She shows a body rather than a life;

A statue, than a breather.

He's very knowing,

I do perceive't:-There's nothing in her yet;

The fellow has good judgment.

Char.

Excellent.

Cleo. Guess at her years, I pr'ythee.

Mess. Madam,

She was a widow.

Cleo.

Widow ?-Charmian, hark.

Mess. And I do think, she's thirty.

Cleo. Bear'st thou her face in mind? is't long or

round?

Mess. Round even to faultiness.

Cleo. For the most part too, they are foolish that are so.1.

Her hair, what color?

Mess. Brown, madam; and her forehead

As low as she would wish it.

There is gold for thee.

Cleo.
Thou must not take my former sharpness ill:-
I will employ thee back again. I find thee
Most fit for business. Go, make thee ready;
Our letters are prepared.

Char.

Cleo. Indeed, he is so.

[Exit Messenger.

I repent me much,

That I so harried him. Why, methinks, by him,

This creature's no such thing.

Char.

Nothing, madam.

Cleo. The man hath seen some majesty, and should

know.

Char. Hath he seen majesty? Isis else defend,

And serving you so long!

Cleo. I have one thing more to ask him yet, good

Charmian.

But 'tis no matter; thou shalt bring him to me
Where I will write. All may be well enough.
Char. I warrant you, madam.

[Exeunt.

1 This is from the old writers on physiognomy. Thus in Hill's Pleasant History, &c. 1613:-"The head very round, to be forgetful and foolish." 2 To harry is to harass, to worry, to use roughly, to vex, or molest, from the old Norman-French harier, of the same meaning.

SCENE IV. Athens. A Room in Antony's House.

Enter ANTONY and OCTAVIA.

Ant. Nay, nay, Octavia, not only that,— That were excusable, that, and thousands more Of semblable import,—but he hath waged

New wars 'gainst Pompey; made his will, and read it
To public ear;

Spoke scantly of me; when perforce he could not
But pay me terms of honor, cold and sickly

He vented them; most narrow measure lent me.
When the best hint was given him, he not took't,
Or did it from his teeth.1

Oct.
O my good lord,
Believe not all; or, if you must believe,

Stomach not all. A more unhappy lady,

If this division chance, ne'er stood between,

Praying for both parts; the good gods will mock me presently,

When I shall pray, O, bless my lord and husband!

Undo that prayer, by crying out as loud,

O, bless
my
brother! Husband win, win brother,
Prays, and destroys the prayer; no midway
"Twixt these extremes at all.

Ant.

Gentle Octavia,

Let your best love draw to that point, which seeks
Best to preserve it. If I lose mine honor,

I lose myself; better I were not yours,

Than yours so branchless. But, as you requested, Yourself shall go between us. The mean time, lady, I'll raise the preparation of a war

Shall stain 2 your brother. Make your soonest haste; your desires are yours.

So

1 i. e. to appearance only, not seriously. Thus Dryden, in his Wild Gallant:-"I am confident she is only angry from the teeth outward."

2 Mr. Boswell suggests that, perhaps, we should read, "Shall stay your brother." To stain is not here used for to shame or disgrace, as Johnson supposed; but for to eclipse, extinguish, throw into the shade, to put out ;. from the old French esteindre.