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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,
How I convey my shame' out of thine eyes
By looking back on what I have left behind
'Stroy'd in dishonour.

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
And palter in the shifts of lowness; who
With half the bulk o'the world play'd as I pleas'd,
Making, and marring fortunes. You did know,
How much you were my conqueror; and that
My sword, made weak by my affection, would
Obey it on all cause.

2 He is unqualitied-] Perhaps, unqualitied signifies unmanned in general, disarmed of his usual faculties.

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death will seize her; but -] But has here, as once before in this play, the force of except, or unless.

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• 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":
An argument that he is pluck'd, when hither
He sends so poor a pinion of his wing,

Which had superfluous kings for messengers,
Not many moons gone by.

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.

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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,
I have no ears to his request. The queen
Of audience, nor desire, shall fail; so she
From Egypt drive her all-disgraced friend',
Or take his life there: This if she perform,
She shall not sue unheard. So to them both.
Eup. Fortune pursue thee!
Cæs.

Bring him through the bands.
[Exit EUPHRONIUS.

To try thy eloquence, now 'tis time: Despatch;
From Antony win Cleopatra: promise, [to THYREUS.
And in our name, what she requires; add more,
From thine invention, offers: women are not,

In their best fortunes, strong: but want will perjure
The ne'er-touch'd vestal: Try thy cunning, Thyreus ;
Make thine own edict for thy pains, which we
Will answer as a law.

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Cas. Observe how Antony becomes his flaw1; And what thou think'st his very action speaks In every power that moves.

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Thyr.

royalty.

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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.
Cleo. What shall we do, Enobarbus ?
Eno.

Think, and die.
Cleo. Is Antony, or we, in fault for this?
Eno. Antony only, that would make his will
Lord of his reason. What although † 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 nick'd his captainship; at such a point,
When half to half the world oppos'd, he being
The mered question': '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.

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,
And he will fill thy wishes to the brim
With principalities.

Cleo.

That head, my lord?

"What though "-MALONE.

2 Have nick'd his captainship ;] i. e. set the mark of folly on it.

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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
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 declin'd', sword against sword,
Ourselves alone: I'll write it; follow me.

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

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

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.

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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.

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