Our faith mere folly:- Yet, he, that can endure
To follow with allegiance a fallen lord,

Does conquer him that did his master conquer,
And earns a place i' the story.

Cleo.

Enter THYREUS.

Thyr. Hear it apart.

Cæsar's will?

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; aud that's, Cæsar's.

Thyr.

So.

Thus then, thou most renown'd; Cæsar entreats,
Not to consider in what case thou stand'st,

Further than he is Cæsar.

Cleo.

Go on: Right royal.

Thyr. He knows, that you embrace not Antony As you did love, but as you fear'd him.

Cleo.

O!

Thyr. The scars upon your honour, therefore, he Does pity, as constrained blemishes,

Not as deserv'd.

Cleo.

He is a god, and knows

What is most right: Mine honour was not yielded,
But conquer'd merely.

Eno.

To be sure of that,

I will ask Antony. - Sir, sir, thou'rt so leaky,
That we must leave thee to thy sinking, for

Thy dearest quit thee.

Thyr.

[Aside.

Exit ENOBARBUS.

Shall I say to Cæsar

What you require of him? for he partly begs
To be desir'd to give. It much would please him,
That of his fortunes you should make a staff
To lean upon but it would warm his spirits,

To hear from me you had left Antony,

And put yourself under his shrowd,
The universal landlord.

Cleo.

What's your name?

Most kind messenger,

Thyr. My name is Thyreus.
Cleo.

Say to great Cæsar this, In disputation

I kiss his conqu'ring hand: tell him, I am prompt
To lay my crown at his feet, and there to kneel:

Tell him, from his all-obeying breath I hear
The doom of Egypt.

Thyr.
'Tis your noblest course.
Wisdom and fortune combating together,

If that the former dare but what it can,

No chance may shake it. Give me grace to lay
My duty on your hand.

Cleo.

Your Cæsar's father

Oft, when he hath mus'd of taking kingdoms in,
Bestow'd his lips on that unworthy place,

The bidding of the fullest man', and worthiest
To have command obey'd.

Eno.

You will be whipp'd.

Ant. Approach, there:-Ay, you kite!-Now gods

and devils!

Authority melts from me: Of late, when I cry'd, ho!

9 Tell him, from his all-obeying breath, &c.] All-obeying breath is, in Shakspeare's language, breath which all obey. Obeying for obeyed. So, inexpressive for inexpressible, delighted for delighting, &c.

Give me grace-] Grant me the favour.

the fullest man,] The most complete and perfect.

Like boys unto a muss2, kings would start forth,
And cry, Your will? Have you no ears? I am

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

So saucy with the hand of she here, (What's her name, Since she was Cleopatra?) - Whip him, fellows,

Till, like a boy, you see him cringe his face,

And whine aloud for mercy: Take him hence.
Thyr. Mark Antony,-

Ant.

Tug him away: being whipp'd,

Bring him again:-This Jack of Cæsar's shall
Bear us an errand to him.—

[Exeunt Attend. with THYREUS.

You were half blasted ere I knew you:— Ha!
Have I my pillow left unpress'd in Rome,
Forborne the getting of a lawful race,
And by a gem of women3, to be abus'd
By one that looks on feeders?*

Cleo.

Good my lord,

Ant. You have been a boggler ever: But when we in our viciousness grow hard, (O misery on't!) the wise gods seel our eyes;

In our own filth drop our clear judgments; make us

2 Like boys unto a muss,] i. e. a scramble.

“A jewel

3 —a gem of women,] Beautiful horses, rich garments, &c. in Chapman's translations, are frequently spoken of as gems. of a man," is a phrase still in use among the vulgar.

4 By one that looks on feeders ?] A feeder, or an eater, was anciently the term of reproach for a servant. One who looks on feeders, is one who throws away her regard on servants, such as Antony would represent Thyreus to be.

Adore our errors; laugh at us, while we strut
To our confusion.

Cleo.

O, is it come to this?

Ant. I found you as a morsel, cold upon
Dead Cæsar's trencher: nay, you were a fragment
Of Cneius Pompey's; besides what hotter hours,
Unregister'd in vulgar fame, you have

Luxuriously pick'd out:-For, I am sure,
Though you can guess what temperance should be,
You know not what it is.

Cleo.

Wherefore is this?

Ant. To let a fellow that will take rewards,
And say, God quit you! be familiar with
My playfellow, your hand; this kingly seal,
And plighter of high hearts!-O, that I were
Upon the hill of Basan, to outroar

The horned herd! for I have savage cause;
And to proclaim it civilly, were like

A halter'd neck, which does the hangman thank
For being yare about him.-Is he whipp'd?

Re-enter Attendants, with THYREUS.

1 Att. Soundly, my lord.

Ant.

Cry'd he? and begg'd he pardon?

1 Att. He did ask favour.

Ant. If that thy father live, let him repent

Thou wast not made his daughter; and be thou sorry To follow Cæsar in his triumph, since

Thou hast been whipp'd for following him : henceforth,
The white hand of a lady fever thee,

Shake thou to look on't.-Get thee back to Cæsar,
Tell him thy entertainment: Look, thou say,
He makes me angry with him: for he seems

5 Luxuriously pick'd out :] Luxuriously means wantonly. 6 The horned herd!] It is not without pity and indignation that the reader of this great poet meets so often with this low jest, which is too much a favourite to be left out of either mirth or fury.

Proud and disdainful; harping on what I am;
Not what he knew I was: He makes me angry;
And at this time most easy 'tis to do't;

When my good stars, that were my former guides,
Have empty left their orbs, and shot their fires
Into the abism of hell. If he mislike

My speech, and what is done; tell him, he has
Hipparchus, my enfranchis'd bondman, whom
He may at pleasure whip, or hang, or torture,
As he shall like, to quit me7: Urge it thou:
Hence, with thy stripes, begone.

Cleo. Have you done yet?

Ant.

[Exit THYREUS.

Alack, our terrene moon

Is now eclips'd; and it portends alone

The fall of Antony !

Cleo.

I must stay his time.

Ant. To flatter Cæsar, would you mingle eyes

With one that ties his points?

Cleo.

Ant. Cold-hearted toward me?
Cleo.

Not know me yet?

Ah, dear, if I be so,

From my cold heart let heaven engender hail,
And poison it in the source; and the first stone
Drop in my neck: as it determines, so
Dissolve my life! The next Cæsarion smite;1
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!

Ant.

I am satisfied.

7 to quit me:] To repay me this insult; to requite me.

8 With one that ties his points?] i. e. with a menial attendant. Points were laces with metal tags, with which the old trunkhose were fastened.

9 as it determines,] That is, as the hailstone dissolves.

The next Cæsarion smite !] Cæsarion was Cleopatra's son by Julius Cæsar.