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

Sold.

Enter a Soldier of Cæsar's.

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,

8

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

If swift thought break it not, a swifter mean

heart: 9

Shall outstrike thought: but thought will do't, I feel.1
I fight against thee! No: I will go seek
Some ditch, wherein to die; the foul'st best fits
My latter part of life.

+ Mr. Malone omits that.

[Exit.

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.

9 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.

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 oppression2 Exceeds what we expected.

[Exeunt.

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. [Exeunt.

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

VOL. VII.

Alarum.

SCENE VIII.

Under the Walls of Alexandria.

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. O thou day o' the world, Chain mine arm'd neck; leap thou, attire and all,

5

Through proof of harness to my heart, and there
Ride on the pants triumphing.

Cleo.

Lord of lords!

O infinite virtue! com'st thou smiling from
The world's great snare uncaught?

3

Ant.

6

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.

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

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

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

grey

Do something mingle with our brown+; 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 Phoebus' car. - Give me thy hand;
Through Alexandria make a jolly march;

Bear our hack'd targets like the men that owe them: *
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; 9

That heaven and earth may strike their sounds together,
Applauding our approach.

+ our younger brown ;"- MALONE.

[Exeunt.

7 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.

• 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.

9

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

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.

A shrewd one to us.

Eno.

This last day was

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!

1 Sold.

3 Sold.

Hark further.

Enobarbus !

Peace;

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 3
Against the flint and hardness of my fault;
Which, being dried with grief, will break to powder,
And finish all foul thoughts. O Antony,

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.

2

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

3

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 the intrusion of a conceit so far-fetched and unaffecting. JOHNSON.