A forked mountain, or blue promontory

With trees upon't, that nod unto the world,

And mock our eyes with air: thou hast seen these signs; They are black vesper's pageants. 1

Eros.

Ay, my lord.

Ant. That which is now a horse, even with a thought The rack dislimns,2 and makes it indistinct

Ant. My good knave3 Eros, now thy captain is
Even such a body: here I am Antony;

Yet cannot hold this visible shape, my knave.
I made these wars for Egypt; and the Queen, -
Whose heart I thought I had, for she had mine;
Which, whilst it was mine, had annex'd unto't
A million more, now lost, she, Eros, has
Pack'd cards with Cæsar, and false-play'd my glory
Unto an enemy's triumph.

Nay, weep not, gentle Eros; there is left us

Ourselves to end ourselves.

1 The beauty both of the expression and the allusion is lost, unless we recollect the frequency and the nature of these shows in Shakespeare's age. The following apposite passage from a sermon, by Bishop Hall, is cited by Boswell: "I feare some of you are like the pageants of your great solemnities, wherein there is a show of a solid body, whether of a lyon or elephant, or unicorne; but if they be look'd into, there is nothing but cloth, and sticks, and ayre."

2 To dislimn is to unpaint or obliterate what was before painted or limned. – Rack, from reek, vapour, was used of certain clouds. See The Tempest, page 125, note 32.

3 Knave was often used as a playful or familiar term of endearment.

4 To pack the cards was often used metaphorically for contriving together to deceive another. The meaning is, that Cleopatra, by collusion, falsely played the great game they were engaged in, so as to sacrifice Antony's fame to that of his enemy.

Ant.

Hence, saucy eunuch; peace! She hath betray'd me, and shall die the death.

Mar. Death of one person can be paid but once, And that she has discharged: what thou wouldst do Is done unto thy hand: the last she spake

Was, Antony! most noble Antony!

Then in the midst a tearing groan did break
The name of Antony; it was divided

Between her heart and lips: she render'd life,
Thy name so buried in her.

Ant.

Mar.

Dead, then?

Dead.

Ant. Unarm me, Eros; the long day's task is done, And we must sleep.-[To MARDIAN.] That thou depart'st

hence safe,

Does pay thy labour richly; go.

[Exit MARDIAN.

Off, pluck off:

The seven-fold shield of Ajax cannot keep

The battery from my heart.5 O, cleave, my sides!

Heart, once be stronger than thy continent,

Crack thy frail case! - Apace, Eros, apace.

No more a soldier: bruisèd pieces, go;

5 The battery proceeding from my heart, which is strong enough to break through the sevenfold shield of Ajax; keep having the sense of retain or hold in.

You have been nobly borne.—From me awhile.—[Exit EROS.
I will o'ertake thee, Cleopatra, and

Weep for my pardon. So it must be, for now
All length is torture:6 since the torch is out,
Lie down, and stray no further: now all labour
Mars what it does; yea, very force entangles

Itself with strength: seal, then,7 and all is done.—

Eros! I come, my Queen. — Eros! - Stay for me:
Where souls do couch on flowers, we'll hand in hand,
And with our sprightly port make the ghosts gaze :
Dido and her Æneas shall want troops,

And all the haunt be ours. Come, Eros, Eros !

Re-enter EROS.

Eros. What would my lord?

Ant.

Since Cleopatra died,

I've lived in such dishonour, that the gods

Detest my baseness. I, that with my sword

Quarter'd the world, and o'er green Neptune's back
With ships made cities, condemn myself to lack
The courage of a woman; less noble-minded
Than she which by her death our Cæsar tells
I'm conqueror of myself. Thou art sworn, Eros,
That, when the exigent should come, — which now
Is come indeed, - when I should see behind me
Th' inevitable prosecution of

Disgrace and horror, that, on my command,

6 That is, all length of journey or travel; as is shown by the following part of the sentence. Steevens thought the Poet must have written life instead of length.

7 The allusion is to the execution of a deed or indenture, where the fixing of the seal finishes the business.

Thou then wouldst kill me: do't; the time is come:
Thou strikest not me, 'tis Cæsar thou defeat'st.

Put colour in thy cheek.

Eros.

The gods withhold me !

Shall I do that which all the Parthian darts,
Though enemy, lost aim, and could not?

Ant.

Eros,

Wouldst thou be window'd in great Rome, and see

Thy master thus with pleach'd arms,8 bending down
His corrigible neck, his face subdued

9

To penetrative shame, whilst the wheel'd seat

Of fortunate Cæsar, drawn before him, branded
His baseness that ensued? 10

Eros.

I would not see't.

Ant. Come, then; for with a wound I must be cured. Draw that thy honest sword, which thou hast worn

Most useful for thy country.

Eros.

O, sir, pardon me!

Ant. When I did make thee free, sworest thou not

then

To do this when I bade thee? Do it at once;

Or thy precedent services are all

But accidents unpurposed. Draw, and come.

Eros. Turn from me, then, that noble countenance Wherein the worship of the whole world lies.

Ant. Lo thee!

Eros. My sword is drawn.
Ant.

[Turning from him.

Then let it do at once

The thing why thou hast drawn it.

8" Pleach'd arms" is arms interwoven, or folded together.
9 Corrigible for corrected, and penetrative for penetrating.
10 Branded with baseness him that followed.

Eros.

My dear master,

My captain, and my Emperor, let me say,

Before I strike this bloody stroke, farewell.
Ant. 'Tis said, man; and farewell.

Eros. Farewell, great chief. Shall I strike now?
Ant.

Now, Eros.

Eros. Why, there then : [Falls on his sword.] thus I do

escape the sorrow

Of Antony's death.

Ant.

Thrice-nobler than myself!

[Dies.

My Queen and Eros

Thou teachest me, O valiant Eros, what

I should, and thou couldst not.

Have by their brave instruction got upon me
A nobleness in recórd: but I will be

A bridegroom in my death, and run into't
As to a lover's bed. Come, then; and, Eros,
Thy master dies thy scholar: to do thus

[Falling on his sword. How! not yet dead? not dead? –

I learn'd of thee.

The guard, ho! - O, dispatch me !

Enter DERCETAS and Guard.

I Guard.

What's the noise?

Ant. I've done my work ill, friends: O, make an end

Of what I have begun.

2 Guard.

I Guard. And time is at his period.

All.

Ant. Let him that loves me strike me dead.

I Guard.

2 Guard. Nor I.

The star is fall'n.

Alas, and woe!

Not I.

[Exeunt Guard.

3 Guard. Nor any one.