Eno. Antony only, that would make his will
Lord of his reason. What though you fled
From that great face of war, whose several ranges
Frighted each other? Why should he follow?
The itch of his affection should not then

Have nicked' his captainship. At such a point,
When half to half the world opposed, he being
The mered question; 2 'twas a shame no less
Than was his loss, to course your flying flags,
And leave his navy gazing.

Cleo.

Pr'ythee, peace.

Enter ANTONY, with EUPHRONIUS.

Ant. Is this his answer?

Eup.

Ay, my lord.

Ant. The queen shall then have courtesy, so she

Will yield us up.

Eup. He says so.

Ant.

Let her know it.

To the boy Cæsar send this grizzled head,
And he will fill thy wishes to the brim

With principalities.

Cleo.

That head, my lord?

Ant. To him again. Tell him, he wears the rose
Of youth upon him; from which the world should note
Something particular. His coin, ships, legions
May be a coward's; whose ministers would prevail
Under the service of a child, as soon

As i' the command of Cæsar. I dare him therefore
To lay his gay comparisons apart,

And answer me declined,3 sword against sword,
Ourselves alone. I'll write it; follow me.

[Exeunt ANTONY and EUPHRONIUS.

1 i. e. set the mark of folly upon it. So in the Comedy of Errors :—

His man with scissors nicks him like a fool."

2 i. e. he being the object to which this great contention is limited or by which it is bounded.

3 His gay comparisons may mean those circumstances of splendor and power in which he, when compared with me, so much exceeds me. "I require of Cæsar not to depend on that superiority which the comparison

Eno. Yes, like enough, high-battled Cæsar will
Unstate his happiness, and be staged to the show,1
Against a sworder.-I see, men's judgments are
A parcel of their fortunes; and things outward
Do draw the inward quality after them,

2

To suffer all alike. That he should dream,
Knowing all measures, the full Cæsar will
Answer his emptiness!-Cæsar, thou hast subdued
His judgment too.

Att.

Enter an Attendant.

A messenger from Cæsar. Cleo. What, no more ceremony?-See, my women!— Against the blown rose may they stop their nose, That kneeled unto the buds.-Admit him, sir.

Eno. Mine honesty, and I, begin to square.3 [Aside. The loyalty, well held to fools, does make

Our faith mere folly ;-yet he that can endure
To follow with allegiance a fallen lord,

Does conquer him that did his master conquer,
And earns a place i' the story.

Enter THYREus.

Cleo. Cæsar's will? Thyr. Hear it apart. Cleo. None but friends; say boldly. Thyr. So, haply, are they friends to Antony. Eno. He needs as many, sir, as Cæsar has; Or needs not us. If Cæsar please, our master Will leap to be his friend. For us, you know, Whose he is, we are; and that's Cæsar's. Thyr.

So.

Thus, then, thou most renowned; Cæsar entreats,
Not to consider in what case thou stand'st,

Further than he is Cæsar.4

of our different fortunes may exhibit, but to answer me man to man in

this decline of my age and power."

1 i. e. be exhibited, like conflicting gladiators, to the public gaze.

2 i. e. are of a piece with them.

3 To square is to quarrel.

4 Thus the second folio. The first folio has, ".

than he is

Cleo.

Go on; right royal.

Thyr. He knows that you embrace 1 not Antony As you did love, but as you feared him.

Cleo.

O!

Thyr. The scars upon your honor, therefore, he Does pity, as constrained blemishes,

Not as deserved.

Cleo.

He is a god, and knows

What is most right. Mine honor was not yielded,

But conquered merely.

Eno.

To be sure of that, [Aside.

[Exit ENOBARBUS.

Shall I say to Cæsar

I will ask Antony.-Sir, sir, thou'rt so leaky,
That we must leave thee to thy sinking, for
Thy dearest quit thee.

Thyr.

What you require of him? for he partly begs
To be desired to give. It much would please him
That of his fortunes you should make a staff
To lean upon; but it would warm his spirits,
To hear from me you had left Antony,

And put yourself under his shroud,

The universal landlord.

Cæsar's," which brings obscurity with it. We have a clear meaning in the present reading:-"Cæsar entreats, that at the same time you consider your desperate fortunes, you would consider he is Cæsar; that is, generous and forgiving, able and willing to restore them." Malone thinks that the previous speech, which is given to Enobarbus, was intended for Cleopatra.

1 Shakspeare probably wrote embraced.

2 Warburton suggests that we should read, "in deputation," i. e. "as my deputy, say to great Cæsar this," &c. The old punctuation of this line has been altered in the modern editions: the passage has been made obscure by printing it thus::

"Say to great Cæsar this, In disputation

I kiss his conquering hand."

The following passage in King Henry IV. Part I. seems to support
Warburton's emendation:-

"Of all the favorites that the absent king
In deputation left behind him here."

I kiss his conquering hand. Tell him, I am prompt
To lay my crown at his feet, and there to kneel;
Tell him, from his all-obeying1 breath I hear
The doom of Egypt.

Thyr.
'Tis your noblest course.
Wisdom and fortune combating together,
If that the former dare but what it can,
No chance may shake it. Give me grace to lay
My duty on your hand.

Cleo.

2

Your Cæsar's father

Oft, when he hath mused of taking kingdoms in,
Bestowed his lips on that unworthy place,

3

The bidding of the fullest man, and worthiest
To have command obeyed.

Eno.

You will be whipped.

Ant. Approach, there;-Ay, you kite!-Now, gods

and devils!

4

Authority melts from me. Of late, when I cried, Ho!
Like boys unto a muss, kings would start forth,
And cry, Your will? Have you no ears? I am

Enter Attendants.

Antony yet. Take hence this Jack, and whip him.
Eno. "Tis better playing with a lion's whelp,

Than with an old one dying.

Ant.

Moon and stars!

Whip him.-Were't twenty of the greatest tributaries That do acknowledge Cæsar, should I find them

So saucy with the hand of she here (what's her name,
Since she was Cleopatra ?1)-Whip him, fellows,
Till, like a boy, you see him cringe his face,
And whine aloud for mercy. Take him hence.
Thyr. Mark Antony,

Ant.

Tug him away; being whipped,

Bring him again.-This Jack of Cæsar's shall
Bear us an errand to him.-

[Exeunt Attend., with THYREUS.

You were half blasted ere I knew you.-Ha!
Have I my pillow left unpressed in Rome,
Forborne the getting of a lawful race,
And by a gem of women, to be abused
By one that looks on feeders ?2

Cleo.

Good my lord,

Ant. You have been a boggler ever.

But when we in our viciousness grow hard,

(0, misery on't!) the wise gods seel3 our eyes;
In our own filth drop our clear judgments; make us
Adore our errors; laugh at us, while we strut
To our confusion.

Cleo.

O, is it come to this?

Ant. I found you as a morsel, cold upon

Dead Cæsar's trencher; nay, you were a fragment
Of Cneius Pompey's; besides what hotter hours,
Unregistered in vulgar fame, you have

Luxuriouly picked out.-For, I am sure,

Though you can guess what temperance should be,
You know not what it is.

Cleo.

Wherefore is this?

Ant. To let a fellow that will take rewards,

And say, God quit you! be familiar with
My playfellow, your hand; this kingly seal,
And plighter of high hearts!-O, that I were
Upon the hill of Basan,5 to outroar

1 Since she ceased to be Cleopatra.

2 i. e. on menials. Servants are called eaters and feeders by several

5 This is an allusion, however improper, to the Psalms.