Iras. Go to him, madam, speak to him; He is unqualitied' with very shame. Cleo. Well then,-Sustain me :-O! Eros. Most noble sir, arise; the queen approaches; Her head's declined, and death will seize her; but❜ Your comfort makes the rescue. Ant. I have offended reputation; A most unnoble swerving. Eros. Sir, the queen. Ant. O whither hast thou led me, Egypt? See, Cleo. O my lord, my lord! Forgive my fearful sails! I little thought, You would have follow'd. Ant. Egypt, thou knew'st too well, My heart was to thy rudder tied by the strings, And thou should'st tow me after: O'er my spirit Thy full supremacy thou knew'st; and that Thy beck might from the bidding of the gods Command me. Cleo. Ant. O, my pardon. Now I must To the young man send humble treaties, dodge 2 He is unqualitied-] Perhaps, unqualitied signifies unmanned in general, disarmed of his usual faculties. 3 death will seize her; but -] But has here, as once before in this play, the force of except, or unless. • How I convey my shame ] How, by looking another way, I withdraw my ignominy from your sight. tied by the strings,] That is, by the heart-string. Cleo. O pardon, pardon. Ant. Fall not a tear, I say; one of them rates All that is won and lost: Give me a kiss; Even this repays me.-We sent our schoolmaster, Is he come back ?-Love, I am full of lead :Some wine, within there, and our viands: -Fortune knows, We scorn her most, when most she offers blows. [Exeunt. SCENE X. Cæsar's Camp in Egypt. Enter CESAR, DOLABELLA, THYREUS, and Others. Cæs. Let him appear that's come from Antony.Know you him? Dol. Cæsar, 'tis his schoolmaster": Which had superfluous kings for messengers, Cæs. Enter EUPHRONIUS. Approach, and speak. Eup. Such as I am, I come from Antony: I was of late as petty to his ends, As is the morn-dew on the myrtle leaf To his grand sea. his schoolmaster:] The name of this person was Euphronius. He was schoolmaster to Antony's children by Cleopatra. 7 as petty to his ends, As is the morn-dew on the myrtle leaf To his grand sea.] His grand sea may mean his full tide of prosperity; or it may mean the sea from which the dew-drop is exhaled. Shakspeare might have considered the sea as the source of dews as well as rain. His is used instead of its. Cæs. Be it so; Declare thine office. Eup. Lord of his fortunes he salutes thee, and Requires to live in Egypt: which not granted, He lessens his requests; and to thee sues To let him breathe between the heavens and earth, A private man in Athens: This for him. Next, Cleopatra does confess thy greatness; Submits her to thy might; and of thee craves The circle of the Ptolemies for her heirs, Now hazarded to thy grace. Cæs. For Antony, Bring him through the bands. To try thy eloquence, now 'tis time: Despatch; In their best fortunes, strong: but want will perjure Cas. Observe how Antony becomes his flaw1; And what thou think'st his very action speaks In every power that moves. 8 Thyr. royalty. 9 Cæsar, I shall. [Exeunt. circle of the Ptolemies-] The diadem; the ensign of · friend,] i. e. paramour. 1 how Antony becomes his flaw;] That is, how Antony conforms himself to this breach of his fortune, SCENE XI. Alexandria. A Room in the Palace. Enter CLEOPATRA, ENOBARBUS, CHARMIAN, and IRAS. Think, and die. Cleo. Pr'ythee, peace. Enter ANTONY, with EUPHRONIUS. Ant. Is this his answer? Eup. Ant. Ay, my lord. 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 grizled head, Cleo. That head, my lord? "What though "-MALONE. 2 Have nick'd his captainship ;] i. e. set the mark of folly on it. The mered question:] Mered is, I suspect, a word of our author's formation, from mere : he being the sole, the entire subject or occasion of the war. MALONE. Ant. To him again; Tell him he wears the rose May be a coward's; whose ministers would prevail As i'the command of Cæsar: I dare him therefore And answer me declin'd', sword against sword, [Exeunt ANTONY and EUPHRONIUS. To suffer all alike. That he should dream, Att. Cleo. What, no men! Enter an Attendant. A messenger from Cæsar. more ceremony? - See, my Against the blown rose may they stop their nose, That kneel'd unto the buds.-Admit him, sir. WO Eno. Mine honesty, and I, begin to square'. [Aside. The loyalty, well held to fools, does make his gay comparisons apart, And answer me declin'd,] I require of Cæsar not to depend on that superiority which the comparison of our different fortunes may exhibit to him, but to answer me man to man, in this decline of my age or power. JOHNSON. be stag'd to the show,] that is, exhibited like conflicting gladiators, to the publick gaze. are A parcel of their fortunes ;] i. e. as we should say at present, are of a piece with them. |