Anthony & Cleopatra

1. MESS. The nature of bad news infects the teller. ANT. When it concerns the fool or coward. On: Things that are past are done with me. ’Tis thus: Who tells me true, though in his tale lie death, I hear him as he flatter’d.

A rarer spirit never Did steer humanity; but you gods will give us Some faults to make us men. Caesar is touch’d.

Alack, sir, no, her passions are made of nothing but the finest part of pure love. We cannot call her winds and waters sighs and tears; they are greater storms and tempests than almanacs can report.

All strange and terrible events are welcome, But comforts we despise; our size of sorrow, Proportion’d to our cause, must be as great As that which makes it.

and then, what’s brave, what’s noble, Let’s do’t after the high Roman fashion, And make death proud to take us. Come, away, This case of that huge spirit now is cold. Ah, women, women! Come, we have no friend But resolution and the briefest end.

Antony Is valiant, and dejected, and by starts His fretted fortunes give him hope and fear Of what he has, and has not.

Antony Shall be brought drunken forth, and I shall see Some squeaking Cleopatra boy my greatness I’ th’ posture of a whore.

Bid her have good heart. She soon shall know of us, by some of ours, How honorable and how kindly we Determine for her; for Caesar cannot live To be ungentle.

But stirr’d by Cleopatra. Now for the love of Love, and her soft hours, Let’s not confound the time with conference harsh; There’s not a minute of our lives should stretch Without some pleasure now. What sport tonight?

But this it is: our foot Upon the hills adjoining to the city Shall stay with us—order for sea is given, They have put forth the haven— Where their appointment we may best discover, And look on their endeavor.

By the fire That quickens Nilus’ slime, I go from hence Thy soldier, servant, making peace or war As thou affects.

CHAR. Is this the man? Is’t you, sir, that know things? SOOTH. In nature’s infinite book of secrecy A little I can read.

Cheer your heart, Be you not troubled with the time, which drives O’er your content these strong necessities, But let determin’d things to destiny Hold unbewail’d their way.

Come then; for with a wound I must be cur’d. Draw that thy honest sword, which thou hast worn Most useful for thy country.

Dear my lord, pardon—I dare not, Lest I be taken. Not th’ imperious show Of the full-fortun’d Caesar ever shall Be brooch’d with me, if knife, drugs, serpents have Edge, sting, or operation.

Do you misdoubt This sword, and these my wounds? Let th’ Egyptians And the Phoenicians go a-ducking; we Have us’d to conquer standing on the earth, And fighting foot to foot.

ENO. Ay, sir, we did sleep day out of countenance, and made the night light with drinking. MAEC. Eight wild-boars roasted whole at a breakfast, and but twelve persons there; is this true? ENO. This was but as a fly by an eagle; we had much more monstrous matter of feast, which worthily deserv’d noting.

Egypt, thou knew’st too well My heart was to thy rudder tied by th’ strings, And thou shouldst 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.

Enter the city, clip your wives, your friends, Tell them your feats, whilst they with joyful tears Wash the congealment from your wounds, and kiss The honor’d gashes whole.

epicurean cooks Sharpen with cloyless sauce his appetite, That sleep and feeding may prorogue his honor, Even till a Lethe’d dullness—

For this, I’ll never follow thy pall’d fortunes more. Who seeks, and will not take when once ’tis offer’d, Shall never find it more.

Fortune knows We scorn her most when most she offers blows.

Hark, the drums Demurely wake the sleepers. Let us bear him To th’ court of guard; he is of note. Our hour Is fully out.

He were the worse for that were he a horse; So is he being a man.

Her love to both Would each to other and all loves to both Draw after her.

Her tongue will not obey her heart, nor can Her heart inform her tongue—the swan’s down feather, That stands upon the swell at the full of tide, And neither way inclines.

his captain’s heart, Which in the scuffles of great fights hath burst The buckles on his breast, reneges all temper, And is become the bellows and the fan To cool a gypsy’s lust.

His delights Were dolphin-like, they show’d his back above The element they liv’d in. In his livery Walk’d crowns and crownets; realms and islands were As plates dropp’d from his pocket.

Horrible villain, or I’ll spurn thine eyes Like balls before me; I’ll unhair thy head, She hales him up and down. Thou shalt be whipt with wire, and stew’d in brine, Smarting in ling’ring pickle.”

I am alone the villain of the earth, And feel I am so most. O Antony, Thou mine of bounty, how wouldst thou have paid My better service, when my turpitude Thou dost so crown with gold!

I have done enough; a lower place, note well, May make too great an act. For learn this, Silius: Better to leave undone, than by our deed Acquire too high a fame when him we serve’s away.

I know that a woman is a dish for the gods, if the devil dress her not. But truly, these same whoreson devils do the gods great harm in their women; for in every ten that they make, the devils mar five.

I never hated thee. I have seen thee fight, When I have envied thy behavior. ENO. Sir, I never lov’d you much, but I ha’ prais’d ye When you have well deserv’d ten times as much As I have said you did.

I never saw an action of such shame; Experience, manhood, honor, ne’er before Did violate so itself.

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.

I will be treble-sinew’d, hearted, breath’d, And fight maliciously; for when mine hours Were nice and lucky, men did ransom lives Of me for jests;

If every of your wishes had a womb, And fertile every wish, a million.

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, Comes dear’d by being lack’d.

It were for me To throw my sceptre at the injurious gods, To tell them that this world did equal theirs Till they had stol’n our jewel.

Know, sir, that I Will not wait pinion’d at your master’s court, Nor once be chastis’d with the sober eye Of dull Octavia.

Let Rome in Tiber melt, and the wide arch Of the rang’d empire fall! Here is my space, Kingdoms are clay; our dungy earth alike Feeds beast as man; the nobleness of life Is to do thus

Let the old ruffian know I have many other ways to die; mean time Laugh at his challenge.

Let us score their backs, And snatch ’em up, as we take hares, behind: ’Tis sport to maul a runner. ANT. I will reward thee Once for thy sprightly comfort, and tenfold For thy good valor.

Like to the time o’ th’ year between the extremes Of hot and cold, he was nor sad nor merry.

Many hot inroads They make in Italy; the borders maritime Lack blood to think on’t, and flush youth revolt. No vessel can peep forth, but ’tis as soon Taken as seen; for Pompey’s name strikes more Than could his war resisted.

Mark Antony In Egypt sits at dinner, and will make No wars without-doors. Caesar gets money where He loses hearts. Lepidus flatters both, Of both is flatter’d; but he neither loves, Nor either cares for him.

Mechanic slaves With greasy aprons, rules, and hammers shall Uplift us to the view. In their thick breaths, Rank of gross diet, shall we be enclouded, And forc’d to drink their vapor.

My music playing far off, I will betray Tawny-finn’d fishes; my bended hook shall pierce Their slimy jaws; and as I draw them up, I’ll think them every one an Antony, And say, “Ah, ha! Y’ are caught.

My queen and Eros Have by their brave instruction got upon me A nobleness in record; but I will be A bridegroom in my death, and run into’t As to a lover’s bed.

Nature wants stuff To vie strange forms with fancy; yet t’ imagine An Antony were nature’s piece ’gainst fancy, Condemning shadows quite.

Nay, but this dotage of our general’s O’erflows the measure.

No, sweet Octavia, You shall hear from me still; the time shall not Outgo my thinking on you.

Not what you have reserv’d, nor what acknowledg’d, Put we i’ th’ roll of conquest. Still be’t yours, Bestow it at your pleasure, and believe Caesar’s no merchant, to make prize with you Of things that merchants sold.

Now boast thee, death, in thy possession lies A lass unparallel’d. Downy windows, close, And golden Phoebus never be beheld Of eyes again so royal!

Now he’ll outstare the lightning: to be furious Is to be frighted out of fear, and in that mood The dove will peck the estridge;

O my good lord, Believe not all, or if you must believe, Stomach not all. A more unhappy lady, If this division chance, ne’er stood between, Praying for both parts.

O this false soul of Egypt! This grave charm, Whose eye beck’d forth my wars and call’d them home, Whose bosom was my crownet, my chief end, Like a right gypsy, hath at fast and loose Beguil’d me to the very heart of loss.

O, I follow’d that I blush to look upon. My very hairs do mutiny; for the white Reprove the brown for rashness, and they them For fear and doting.

O, never was there queen So mightily betrayed! Yet at the first I saw the treasons planted.

Our courteous Antony, Whom ne’er the word of “No” woman heard speak, Being barber’d ten times o’er, goes to the feast; And for his ordinary pays his heart For what his eyes eat only.

Pardon what I have spoke, For ’tis a studied, not a present thought, By duty ruminated.

Patience is sottish, and impatience does Become a dog that’s mad. Then is it sin To rush into the secret house of death Ere death dare come to us?

Prithee go hence, Or I shall show the cinders of my spirits Through th’ ashes of my chance. Wert thou a man, Thou wouldst have mercy on me.

Quarrel no more, but be prepar’d to know The purposes I bear; which are, or cease, As you shall give th’ advice.

rebukable And worthy shameful check it were, to stand On more mechanic compliment. I’ll leave thee Now like a man of steel. You that will fight, Follow me close, I’ll bring you to’t. Adieu.

Repent that e’er thy tongue Hath so betray’d thine act. Being done unknown, I should have found it afterwards well done, But must condemn it now.

Salt Cleopatra, soften thy wan’d lip! Let witchcraft join with beauty, lust with both, Tie up the libertine in a field of feasts, Keep his brain fuming;

Shall they hoist me up, And show me to the shouting varlotry Of censuring Rome? Rather a ditch in Egypt Be gentle grave unto me!

She’s good, being gone; The hand could pluck her back that shov’d her on. I must from this enchanting queen break off; Ten thousand harms, more than the ills I know, My idleness doth hatch.

Since my becomings kill me when they do not Eye well to you. Your honor calls you hence, Therefore be deaf to my unpitied folly, And all the gods go with you!

Take to you no hard thoughts. The record of what injuries you did us, Though written in our flesh, we shall remember As things but done by chance.

That which is now a horse, even with a thought The rack dislimns, and makes it indistinct As water is in water.

The higher Nilus swells, The more it promises; as it ebbs, the seedsman Upon the slime and ooze scatters his grain, And shortly comes to harvest.

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.

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 rend’red life, Thy name so buried in her.

the oars were silver, Which to the tune of flutes kept stroke, and made The water which they beat to follow faster, As amorous of their strokes.

The shirt of Nessus is upon me; teach me, Alcides, thou mine ancestor, thy rage. Let me lodge Lichas on the horns o’ th’ moon, And with those hands, that grasp’d the heaviest club, Subdue my worthiest self.

The time of universal peace is near. Prove this a prosp’rous day, the three-nook’d world Shall bear the olive freely.

Then, noble partners, The rather for I earnestly beseech, Touch you the sourest points with sweetest terms, Nor curstness grow to th’ matter.

This common body, Like to a vagabond flag upon the stream, Goes to and back, lackeying the varying tide, To rot itself with motion.

This grief is crown’d with consolation: your old smock brings forth a new petticoat, and indeed the tears live in an onion that should water this sorrow.

This is the news: he fishes, drinks, and wastes The lamps of night in revel; is not more manlike Than Cleopatra; nor the queen of Ptolomy More womanly than he;

Though it be honest, it is never good To bring bad news. Give to a gracious message An host of tongues, but let ill tidings tell Themselves when they be felt.

Till by degrees the memory of my womb, Together with my brave Egyptians all, By the discandying of this pelleted storm, Lie graveless, till the flies and gnats of Nile Have buried them for prey!

Tis sweating labor To bear such idleness so near the heart As Cleopatra this.

tis to be chid— As we rate boys who, being mature in knowledge, Pawn their experience to their present pleasure, And so rebel to judgment.

To come thus was I not constrain’d, but did it On my free will. My lord, Mark Antony, Hearing that you prepar’d for war, acquainted My grieved ear withal;

To try thy eloquence, now ’tis time; dispatch. From Antony win Cleopatra, promise, And in our name, what she requires; add more, From thine invention, offers.

Tomorrow, Before the sun shall see ’s, we’ll spill the blood That has today escap’d. I thank you all, For doughty-handed are you, and have fought Not as you serv’d the cause, but as’t had been Each man’s like mine;

Tomorrow, Caesar, I shall be furnish’d to inform you rightly Both what by sea and land I can be able To front this present time.

Tomorrow, soldier, By sea and land I’ll fight; or I will live, Or bathe my dying honor in the blood Shall make it live again. Woo’t thou fight well?

Trumpeters, With brazen din blast you the city’s ear, Make mingle with our rattling taborines, That heaven and earth may strike their sounds together, Applauding our approach.

Twas a shame no less Than was his loss, to course your flying flags, And leave his navy gazing.

We, ignorant of ourselves, Beg often our own harms, which the wise pow’rs Deny us for our good; so find we profit By losing of our prayers.

When I did make thee free, swor’st thou not then To do this when I bade thee? Do it at once, Or thy precedent services are all But accidents unpurpos’d. Draw, and come.

When you sued staying, Then was the time for words; no going then; Eternity was in our lips and eyes, Bliss in our brows’ bent; none our parts so poor But was a race of heaven.

whose beauty claims No worse a husband than the best of men; Whose virtue and whose general graces speak That which none else can utter.

Wisdom and fortune combating together, If that the former dare but what it can, No chance may shake it.

With news the time’s with labor, and throes forth Each minute some.

With thy sharp teeth this knot intrinsicate Of life at once untie. Poor venomous fool, Be angry, and dispatch. O, couldst thou speak, That I might hear thee call great Caesar ass Unpolicied!

yet he that can endure To follow with allegiance a fall’n lord Does conquer him that did his master conquer, And earns a place i’ th’ story.

You lie up to the hearing of the gods! But if there be, nor ever were one such, It’s past the size of dreaming.

Young boys and girls Are level now with men; the odds is gone, And there is nothing left remarkable Beneath the visiting moon.

Your loss is as yourself, great; and you bear it As answering to the weight. Would I might never O’ertake pursu’d success, but I do feel, By the rebound of yours, a grief that smites My very heart at root.