Cas. You are too indulgent: Let us grant, it is not Amiss to tumble on the bed of Ptolemy; To give a kingdom for a mirth; to sit And keep the turn of tippling with a slave; To reel the streets at noon, and stand the buffet With knaves that smell of sweat; say this becomes him, (As his composure must be rare indeed, No way excuse his soils, when we do bear So great weight in his lightness. If he fill'd His vacancy with his voluptuousness, Lep. Enter a Messenger. Here's more news. Mess. Thy biddings have been done; and every hour, Most noble Cæsar, shalt thou have report How 'tis abroad. Pompey is strong at sea; And it appears, he is belov'd of those That only have fear'd Cæsar; to the ports The discontents' repair, and men's reports Give him much wrong'd. Cas. I should have known no less : It hath been taught us from the primal state, That he, which is, was wish'd, until he were; And the ebb'd man, ne'er lov'd, till ne'er worth love, So great weight in his lightness.] The word light is one of Shakspeare's favourite play-things. The sense is-His trifling levity throws so much burden upon us. JOHNSON. Call on him for't;] Call on him, is visit him. Says Cæsar-If Antony followed his debaucheries at a time of leisure, I should leave him to be punished by their natural consequences, by surfeits and dry bones. -JOHNSON. a That only have fear'd Cæsar ;) Those whom not love but fear made adherents to Cæsar, now show their affection for Pompey.-JOHNSON. ► The discontents] i. e. The malecontents. Comes dear'd, by being lack'd. This common body, Like a vagabond flag upon the stream, Goes to, and back, lackeying the varying tide, To rot itself with motion. Mess. Cæsar, I bring thee word, Menecrates and Menas, famous pirates, Make the sea serve them; which they ears and wound With keels of every kind: Many hot inroads They make in Italy; the borders maritime Lack blood to think on't,d and flush youthe revolt : No vessel can peep forth, but 'tis as soon Taken as seen; for Pompey's name strikes more, Leave thy lascivious wassels. When thou once Hirtius and Pansa, consuls, at thy heel Lep. It is pity of him. Cas. Let his shames quickly Drive him to Rome: 'Tis time we twain Did show ourselves i'the field; and, to that end, د they ear-] i. e. They plough. d Lack blood to think on't,] Turn pale at the thought of it.-JOHNSON. e flush youth-] i. e. Youth ripened to manhood; youth whose blood is at the flow. STEEVENS. wassels.] i. e. Festivities, or intemperances. gilded puddle-) There is frequently observable on the surface of stagnant pools that have remained long undisturbed, a reddish gold coloured slime; to this appearance the poet here refers.-HENLEY. Assemble we immediate council: Pompey Thrives in our idleness. Lep. To-morrow, Cæsar, I shall be furnish'd to inform you rightly Both what by sea and land I can be able, To 'front this present time. Till which encounter, It is my business too. Farewell. Lep. Farewell, my lord: What you shall know mean Of stirs abroad, I shall beseech you, sir, To let me be partaker. [time Cas. Doubt not, sir; I knew it for my bond.h [Exeunt. SCENE V. Alexandria. A Room in the Palace. Enter CLEOPATRA, CHARMIAN, IRAS, and MARDIAN. Cleo. Charmian, Char. Madam. Cleo. Ha, ha! Give me to drink mandragora.i Char. Why, madam? Cleo. That I might sleep out this great gap of time, Mar. What's your highness' pleasure? Cleo. Not now to hear thee sing; I take no pleasure In aught an eunuch has: 'Tis well for thee, That, being unseminar'd, thy freer thoughts May not fly forth of Egypt. Hast thou affections? Mar. Yes, gracious madam. Cleo. Indeed? h I knew it for my bond.] That is, to be my bounden duty.-M. MASON. mandragora.] A plant of which the infusion was supposed to procure 1 sleep.-JOHNSON. Mar. Not in deed, madam; for I can do nothing But what in deed is honest to be done: What Venus did with Mars. Cleo. O Charmian, Where think'st thou he is now? Stands he, or sits he? Or does he walk? or is he on his horse? O happy horse, to bear the weight of Antony! Do bravely, horse! for wot'st thou whom thou mov'st? And burgonets of men. - He's speaking now, With looking on his life. Alex. Enter ALEXAS. Sovereign of Egypt, hail! Cleo. How much unlike art thou Mark Antony! Yet, coming from him, that great medicine hath How goes it with my brave Mark Antony? Alex. Last thing he did, dear queen, He kiss'd-the last of many doubled kisses, This orient pearl;-His speech sticks in my heart. Cleo. Mine ear must pluck it thence. Alex. Good friend, quoth he, Say, The firm Roman to great Egypt sends k burgonet-] i. e. A kind of helmet. With his tinct gilded thee.] Alluding to the philosopher's stone, which, by its touch, converts base metal into gold. The alchemists call the matter, whatever it be, by which they perform transmutation, a medicine.-JOHNSON. 4 To mend the petty present, I will piece And soberly did mount an arm-gaunt1 steed, Who neigh'd so high, that what I would have spoke Was beastly dumb'd by him. Cleo. What, was he sad, or merry? Alex. Like to the time o' the year, between the extremes Of heat and cold; he was nor sad, nor merry. Cleo. O well-divided disposition!-Note him, Why do you send so thick?m Cleo. Who's born that day When I forget to send to Antony, Ever love Cæsar so? Char. O that brave Cæsar! Cleo. Be chok'd with such another emphasis ! Say, the brave Antony. The valiant Cæsar! Cleo. By Isis, I will give thee bloody teeth, If thou with Cæsar paragon again My man of men. Char. By your most gracious pardon, I sing but after you. My sallad days; 1 - arm-gaunt-] i. e. Worn by military service. This implies the military activity of the master; all the rest of the senses given by the commentators are reproachful, and, therefore, inconsistent with the speech which is made to display the gallantry of a lover to his mistress. -NARES. Steevens, at the suggestion of M. Mason, reads termagant, i. e. furious. so thick?] i. e. In such quick succession. |