Of which I do accuse myself so sorely,
That I will joy no more.

Enter a Soldier of Cæsar's.
Sold.

Enobarbus, Antony
Hath after thee sent all thy treasure, with
His bounty overplus: The messenger
Came on my guard; and at thy tent is now,
Unloading of his mules.

Eno. I give it you.
Sold.

Mock me not, Enobarbus.
I tell you true: Best that you saf'd the bringer
Out of the host; I must attend mine office,
Or would have done't myself. Your emperor
Continues still a Jove.

[Exit Soldier. Eno. I am alone the villain of the earth, And feel I am so most.

O Antony, Thou mine of bounty, how would'st thou have paid My better service, when my turpitude Thou dost so crown with gold! This blows my heart:9 If swift thought break it not, a swifter mean Shall outstrike thought: but thought will do't, I feel.' I fight against thee ! – No: I will go seek Some ditch, wherein to die; the foul'st best fits My latter part of life.

[Erit.

8

+ Mr. Malone omits that.

8 And feel I am so most.] i. e. I am pre-eminently the first, the greatest villain of the earth. To stand alone, is still used in that sense, where any one towers above his competitors. And feel I am so most, must signify, I feel or know it myself, more than any other person can or does feel it. REED.

This blows my heart :) This generosity, (says Enobarbus,) swells my heart, so that it will quickly break, if thought break it not, a swifter mean.

but thought will do't, I feel.] Thought, in this passage, as in many others, signifies melancholy.

9

SCENE VII.

Field of Battle between the Camps.

Alarum. Drums and Trumpets. Enter AGRIPPA, and

Others.
Agr. Retire, we have engag'd ourselves too far:
Cæsar himself has work, and our oppression?
Exceeds what we expected.

[Ereunt.

Alarum. Enter Antony and SCARUS, wounded.
Scar. O my brave emperor, this is fought indeed!
Had we done so at first, we had driven them home
With clouts about their heads.
Ant.

Thou bleed'st apace.
Scar, I had a wound here that was like a T,
But now 'tis made an H.
Ant.

They do retire.
Scar. We'll beat 'em into bench-holes; I have yet
Room for six scotches more.

Enter Eros.

Eros. They are beaten, sir; and our advantage serves
For a fair victory.
Scar.

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 spritely comfort, and ten-fold
For thy good valour. Come thee on.
Scar.

I'll halt after. (Ereunt.

and our oppression - ] i. e. the force by which we are oppressed or overpowered.

SCENE VIII.

Under the Walls of Alexandria.

Alarum. Enter ANTONY, marching; Scarus, and

Forces. Ant. We have beat him to his camp; Run one before, And let the queen know of our guests. — To-morrow, Before the sun shall see us, we'll spill the blood That has to-day escap'd. I thank you all; For doughty-handed are you ; and have fought Not as you serv'd the cause, but as it had been Each man's like mine; you have shown all Hectors, 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 honour'd gashes whole. - Give me thy hand;

[TO SCARUS.

Enter CLEOPATRA, attended.
To this great fairy - I'll commend thy acts,
Make her thanks bless thee. - thou day o'the world,
Chain mine arm'd neck; leap thou, attire and all,
Through proof of harness 5 to my heart, and there
Ride on the pants triúmphing.
Cleo.

Lord of lords !
O infinite virtue ! com’st thou smiling from
The world's great snare uncaught ?
Ant.

My nightingale,

clip your wives,] To clip is to embrace. * To this great fairy-] Mr. Upton has well observed, that fairy, which Dr. Warburton and Sir T. Hanmer explain by inchantress, comprises the idea of power and beauty. Johnson.

- proof of harness -] i. e. armour of proof. Harnois, Fr. Arnese, Ital.

The world's great snare -) i. e. the war.

6

We have beat them to their beds. What, girl ? though

grey Do something mingle with our brown t; yet have we A brain that nourishes our nerves, and can Get goal for goal of youth?. Behold this man; Commend unto his lips thy favouring hand ; Kiss it, my warrior: - He hath fought to-day, As if a god, in hate of mankind, had Destroy'd in such a shape. Cleo.

I'll give thee, friend, An armour all of gold; it was a king's.

Ant. He has deserv'd it, were it carbuncled Like holy Phæbus' car. Give me thy hand; Through Alexandria make a jolly march ; Bear our hack'd targets like the men that owe them :8 Had our great palace the capacity To camp this host, we all would sup together; And drink carouses to the next day's fate, Which promises royal peril. - Trumpeters, With brazen din blast you the city's ear; Make mingle with our rattling tabourines; That heaven and earth may strike their sounds together, Applauding our approach.

[Exeunt,

9

†“our younger brown ;" — Malone.

i Get goal for goal of youth.] At all plays of barriers, the bounddary is called a goal; to win a goal, is to be a superior in a contest of activity.

8 Bear our hack'd targets like the men that owe them:] i.e. hack'd as much as the men to whom they belong; or perhaps, Bear our hack'd targets with spirit and exultation, such as becomes the brave warriors that own them.

tabourines ;) A tabourin was a small drum. It is often mentioned in our ancient romances.

9

SCENE IX.

Cæsar's Camp.

Sentinels on their post. Enter ENOBARBUS.

1 Sold. If we be not reliev'd within this hour,
We must return to the court of guard : " The night
Is shiny; and, they say, we shall embattle
By the second hour i'the morn.
2 Sold.

This last day was
A shrewd one to us.
Eno.

O, bear me witness, night,
3 Sold. What man is this?
2 Sold.

Stand close, and list to him. + Eno. Be witness to me, O thou blessed moon, When men revolted shall upon record Bear hateful memory, poor Enobarbus did Before thy face repent ! I Sold.

Enobarbus! 3 Sold. Hark further.

Eno. O sovereign mistress of true melancholy, The poisonous damp of night disponge upon me;? That life, a very rebel to my will, May hang no longer on me: Throw my heart » Against the flint and hardness of my fault; Which, being dried with grief, will break to powder, And finish all foul thoughts. O Antony,

Peace;

2

1

the court of guard:] i.e. the guard-room, the place where the guard musters. The same expression occurs again in Othello. + " list him.” — MALONE.

disponge upon me:) i. e. discharge, as a sponge, when squeezed, discharges the moisture it had imbibed. STEEVENS.

Throw my heart - ] The pathetick of Shakspeare too often ends in the ridiculous. It is painful to find the gloomy dignity of this noble scene destroyed by intrusion of a conceit so far-fetched and unaffecting. Johnson.