ed. He that happens to be so may consult the popular history of Nixon, the Cheshire prophet. ACT II. Scene 2. Page 299. CAL. When beggars die, there are no comets seen; The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes. This might have been suggested by what Suetonius has related of the blazing star which appeared for seven days together, during the celebration of games instituted by Augustus in honour of Julius. The common people believed that this comet indicated his reception among the gods; and not only his statues were accordingly ornamented with its figure, but medals were struck on which it was represented. One of these, struck by Augustus, is here exhibited. Pliny relates that a comet appeared before the death of Claudius, lib. ii. c. 25; and Geffrey of Monmouth speaks of one that preceded the death of Aurelius Ambrosius; but the comets would have appeared though the men had not died, and the men would not have lived longer had the comets never been seen. Sc. 2. p. 300. SER. Plucking the entrails of an offering forth They could not find a heart within the beast. CES. The gods do this in shame of cowardice: Cæsar should be a beast without a heart, If he should stay at home to day, for fear. Dr. Johnson remarks on this occasion, that "the ancients did not place courage in the heart." He had forgotten his classics strangely. "Nunc animis opus, Ænea, nunc pectore firmo." "Corda pavent comitum, mihi mens interrita mansit." Ovid. Metam. lib. xv. 514. "Cor pavet admonitu temeratæ sanguine noctis." Ovid. Epist. xiv. 16.1 Ovid. Epist. xix. 192. "Nescio quæ pavidum frigora pectus habent." ANT. ACT III. Scene 1. Page 329. for mine eyes, Seeing those beads of sorrow stand in thine, We have a similar expression in The tempest, Act v. Sc. 1., where Prospero says, "Holy Gonzalo, honourable man, Mine eyes even sociable to the shew of thine, ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. ACT I. Scene 1. Page 410. ANT. Let Rome in Tiber melt! and the wide arch As Of the rang'd empire fall! Here is my space. range signifies compass, extent, so the verb seems to be used, rather licentiously, in the present instance, in the sense of spread, extended. It may be doubted, at least, whether there be any allusion to a triumphal arch, as Dr. Warburton supposed, or even of a fabric standing on pillars, according to Dr. Johnson. The wide arch may refer to the vast concave of the Roman world, its wide domains covered by the arch of heaven, which has been beautifully styled by some oriental writer "the star-built arch of heaven." See The tales of Inatulla by Dow, vol. i. p. 78. Sc. 3. p. 440. CLEO. O my oblivion is a very Antony She compares her memory to Antony, and says she is treacherously abandoned and neglected by both. Mr. Steevens's explanation of the first line is satisfactory; but one cannot well agree with him or Mason, that "I am all forgotten" can possibly mean, "I forget myself, or every thing." ANT. ACT II. Scene 4. Page 490. and his quails Ever beat mine, inhoop'd at odds. It may be doubted whether quail-fighting was practised in Shakspeare's time, though Dr. Farmer appears to have thought so; but when our poet speaks of their being inhoop'd, he might suppose that Cæsar's or Antony's quails, which he found in Plutarch, were trained to battle like game cocks in a ring or circle. Hanmer plausibly reads incoop'd, but no change is necessary. |