Next, Cleopatra does confess thy greatness; 1 Cæs. Cæs. Bring him through the bands. [Exit EUPHRONIUS. To try thy eloquence, now 'tis time; despatch. [To THYREUS. Will answer as a law. Thyr. Cæsar, I go. Cæs. Observe how Antony becomes his flaw; 3 And what thou think'st his very action speaks In every power that moves. Thyr. Cæsar, I shall. [Exeunt. 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? 1 The diadem, the crown. 2 Friend here means paramour. 3 Note how Antony conforms himself to this breach in his fortune." 4 To think, or take thought, was anciently synonymous with to grieve, Eno. Antony only, that would make his will Have nicked' his captainship. At such a point, Cleo. Pr'ythee, peace. Enter ANTONY, with EUPHRONIUS. Ant. Is this his answer? Eup. Ay, my lord. Ant. 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 grizzled head, With principalities. Cleo. That head, my lord? 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 As i' the command of Cæsar. I dare him therefore And answer me declined,3 sword against sword, [Exeunt ANTONY and EUPHRONIUS. 1 i. e. set the mark of folly upon it. So in the Comedy of Errors : His man with scissors nicks him like a fool." 2 i. e. he being the object to which this great contention is limited or by which it is bounded. 3 His gay comparisons may mean those circumstances of splendor and power in which he, when compared with me, so much exceeds me. "I require of Cæsar not to depend on that superiority which the comparison Eno. Yes, like enough, high-battled Cæsar will To suffer all alike. That he should dream, Att. Enter an Attendant. A messenger from Cæsar. Cleo. What, no more ceremony?—See, my women!— Against the blown rose may they stop their nose, That kneeled unto the buds.-Admit him, sir. Eno. Mine honesty, and I, begin to square.3 [Aside. The loyalty, well held to fools, does make Our faith mere folly;-yet he that can endure Does conquer him that did his master conquer, Enter THYREUS. Cleo. Cæsar's will? Thyr. Hear it apart. Cleo. None but friends; say boldly. Thyr. So, haply, are they friends to Antony. Eno. He needs as many, sir, as Cæsar has; Or needs not us. If Cæsar please, our master Will leap to be his friend. For us, you know, Whose he is, we are; and that's Cæsar's. Thyr. So. Thus, then, thou most renowned; Cæsar entreats, Further than he is Cæsar.4 of our different fortunes may exhibit, but to answer me man to man in this decline of my age and power." 1 i. e. be exhibited, like conflicting gladiators, to the public gaze. 2 i. e. are of a piece with them. 3 To square is to quarrel. 4 Thus the second folio. The first folio has, ". than he is Cleo. Go on; right royal. Thyr. He knows that you embrace not Antony As you did love, but as you feared him. Čleo. O! Thyr. The scars upon your honor, therefore, he Does pity, as constrained blemishes, Not as deserved. Cleo. He is a god, and knows What is most right. Mine honor was not yielded, But conquered merely. Eno. To be sure of that, [Aside. [Exit ENOBARbus. Shall I say to Cæsar I will ask Antony.-Sir, sir, thou'rt so leaky, Thyr. What you require of him? for he partly begs And put yourself under his shroud, The universal landlord. Cleo. What's your name? Thyr. My name is Thyreus. Most kind messenger, Say to great Cæsar this in disputation,2 Caesar's," which brings obscurity with it. We have a clear meaning in the present reading: :-"Cæsar entreats, that at the same time you consider your desperate fortunes, you would consider he is Cæsar; that is, generous and forgiving, able and willing to restore them." Malone thinks that the previous speech, which is given to Enobarbus, was intended for Cleopatra. 1 Shakspeare probably wrote embraced. 2 Warburton suggests that we should read, "in deputation," i. e. "as my deputy, say to great Cæsar this," &c. The old punctuation of this line has been altered in the modern editions: the passage has been made obscure by printing it thus: "Say to great Cæsar this, In disputation I kiss his conquering hand." The following passage in King Henry IV. Part I. seems to support "Of all the favorites that the absent king I kiss his conquering hand. Tell him, I am prompt Thyr. If that the former dare but what it can, No chance may shake it. Give me grace2 to lay Cleo. Your Cæsar's father Oft, when he hath mused of taking kingdoms in, The bidding of the fullest man, and worthiest Eno. You will be whipped. Ant. Approach, there;-Ay, you kite!-Now, gods and devils! 4 Authority melts from me. Of late, when I cried, Ho! Enter Attendants. Antony yet. Take hence this Jack, and whip him. Eno. 'Tis better playing with a lion's whelp, Than with an old one dying. Ant. Moon and stars! Whip him.-Were't twenty of the greatest tributaries That do acknowledge Cæsar, should I find them 1 i. e. breath which all obey. Obeying for obeyed. 2 Grant me the favor. 3 The most complete and perfect. 4 A muss is a scramble. |