Imatges de pàgina
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Nay, weep not, gentle Eros, there is left us
Our felves to end our felves. Oh the vile Lady!

She has robb'd me of

Mar. No, Antony,

Enter Mardian.

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My Mistress lov'd thee, and her Fortunes mingled
With thine intirely.

Ant. Hence, fawcy Eunuch, peace, fhe hath betraid me, And the thall die the death.

Mar. Death of one Perfon can be paid but once, And that he has difcharg'd. What thou would'ft do Is done unto thy Hand; the laft fhe fpake

Was Antony! most noble Antony! ·

Then in the midft a tearing Groan did break
The Name of Antony; it was divided.

Between her Heart and Lips; the rendred Life
Thy Name fo buried in her.

Ant. Dead then?

Mar. Dead.

Ant. Unarm me, Eros, the long Day's task is done, And we must fleep; that thou depart'ft hence fafe Does pay thy labour richly; go. Oh, pluck off,

[Exit Mardian. The feven-fold fhield of Ajax cannot keep

The battery from my Heart. Oh cleave my fides.
Heart, once be ftronger than thy Continent,[ Unarming himself.
Crack thy frail Cafe. Apace, Eros, apace,

No more a Soldier-bruifed pieces go,

You have been nobly born; from me a while. [Exit Eros.
I will o'er-take thee, Cleopatra, and

Weep for my pardon. So it muft be, for now
All length is Torture; fince the Torch is out,
Lye down and ftray no farther. Now all labour
Marrs what it does, yea, very force entangles
It felf with ftrength; feal then and all is done.
Eros!I come, my Queen-Eros! Stay for me,
Where Souls do couch on Flowers, we'll Hand in Hand,
And with our fprightly Port make the Ghofts gaze;
Dido, and her Æneas fhall want Troops,
And all the haunt be ours. Come, Eros, Eros!

Enter

A Minifter of her will; and it is great,
To do that thing that ends all other deeds,
Which fhackles accidents, and bolts up change,
Which fleeps, and never pallats more the dung,
The Beggar's Nurfe, and Cafar's.

Enter Proculeius.

Pro. Cafar fends greeting to the Queen of Ægypt,
And bids thee ftudy on what fair demands
Thou mean'ft to have him grant thee.

Cleo. What's thy name?

Pro. My name is Proculeius.

Cleo. Antony

Did tell me of you, bad me truft you, but
I do not greatly care to be deceiv'd

That have no ufe for trufting. If your Mafter
Would have a Queen his Beggar, you must tell him,
That Majefty, to keep decorum, muft

No lefs beg than a Kingdom: If he please
To give me conquer'd Egypt for my Son,
He gives me fo much of mine own, as I
Will kneel to him with thanks.

Pro. Be of good cheer:

You're faln into a princely Hand, fear nothing,
Make your full reference freely to my Lord,
Who is fo full of Grace, that it flows over
On all that need. Let me report to him
Your fweet dependency, and you fhall find
A Conqueror that will pray in aid for kindness,
Where he for Grace is kneel'd to.

Cleo. Pray you tell him,

I am his Fortunes Vaffal, and I send him
The greatnefs he has got. I hourly learn
A Doctrine of Obedience, and would gladly
Look him i'th' Face.

Pro. This I'll report, dear Lady,

Have comfort, for I know your plight is pitied
Of him that caus'd it.

Char. You fee how eafily fhe may be furpris'd:
Guard her 'till Cafar come.

Iras. Royal Queen.

Char. Oh Cleopatra, thou art taken Queen.

Cleo

Cleo. Quick, quick, good hands.
Pro. Hold, worthy Lady, hold:

Do not your felf fuch wrong, who are in this
Reliev'd, but not betray'd.

Cleo. What of Death too that rids our Dogs of languish? Pro. Cleopatra, do not abuse my Mafter's bounty, by Th' undoing of your felf: Let the World fee

His Nobleness well acted, which your Death

Will never let come forth.

Cleo. Where art thou, Death?

Come hither, come: Oh! Come, and take the Queen
Worth many Babes and Beggars.

Pro. Oh temperance, Lady.

Cleo. Sir, I will eat no meat, I'll not drink, Sir:
If idle talk will once be neceffary,

I'll not fleep neither. Tis mortal houfe I'll ruin,
Do Cafar what he can. Know, Sir, that I
Will not wait pinnion'd at your Mafter's Court,
Not once to be chaftis'd with the fober Eye
Of dull Octavia. Shall they hoift me up,
And fhew me to the fhouting Varlotry
Of cenfuring Rome? rather a ditch in Ægypt.
But gentle, Grave, unto me: rather on Nilus mud
Lay me ftark-nak'd, and let the water-Flies

Blow me into abhorring: rather make

My Country's high Pyramides my Gibbet,
And hang me up in Chains.

Pro. You do extend

These thoughts of horror further than

Find caufe in Cafar.

Dol. Proculeius,

Enter Dolabella.

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What thou haft done, my Mafter Cafar knows,
And he hath fent for thee: as for the Queen,

I'll take her to my Guard.

Pro. So, Dolabella,

It fhall content me beft; be gentle to her:

To Cafar I will fpeak what you shall please,
If you'll employ me to him.

Cleo. Say, I would die.

[Exit Proculeius.

Dol. Moft Noble Emprefs, you have heard of me.

Cleo.

Cleo. I cannot tell.

Dol. Affuredly you know me.

Cleo. No matter, Sir, what I have heard or known: You laugh when Boys or Women tell their Dreams, Is't not your trick?

Dol. I understand not, Madam.

Cleo. I Dreamt there was an Emperor Antony; Oh fuch another Sleep, that I might fee

But fuch another Man.

Dol. If it might please ye

Cleo. His Face was as the Heav'ns, and therein stuck A Sun and Moon, which kept their course, and lighted The little o'th' Earth

Dol. Moft Sovereign Creature

Cleo. His Legs beftrid the Ocean, his rear'd Arm
Crefted the World: his Voice was propertied
As all the tuned Spheres, and that to Friends:
But when he meant to quail, and shake the Orb,
He was as ratling Thunder. For his bounty,
There was no Winter in't. An Antony it was,
That grew the more by reaping: his delights
Were Dolphin-like, they fhew'd his back above
The Element they liv'd in; In his Livery

Walk'd Crowns and Crownets: Realms and Iflands
As Plates dropt from his Pocket.

Dol. Cleopatra.

Cleo. Think you there was, or might be such a Man As this I dreamt of?

· Dol. Gentle Madam, no.

Cleo. You lie up to the hearing of the gods;
But if there be, or ever were one fuch,

It's paft the fize of dreaming: Nature wants ftuff
To vy ftrange forms with Fancy, yet t'imagine
An Antony were Nature's piece, 'gainst Fancy,
Condemning Shadows quite.

Dol. Hear me, good Madam :

Your lofs is as your felf, great; and you bear it
As anfwering to the weight: would I might never
O'er-take purfu'd Succefs, but I do feel

By the rebound of yours, a grief that fuits-
My very Heart at Root,

Cleo.

Cleo. I thank

you, Sir,

Know you what Cafar means to do with me?

Dol. I am loth to tell you what, I would you
Cleo. Nay, pray you, Sir.

Dol. Though he be honourable.

Cleo. He'll lead me then in triumph.

Dol. Madam, he will, I know't.

knew.

Enter Cæfar, Gallus, Mecenas, Proculeius and Attendants.

All. Make way thereCafar.

Caf. Which is the Queen of Egypt?
Dol. It is the Emperor, Madam.
Caf. Arife, you shall not kneel:

I pray you rife, rife, Ægypt.

.

[Cleo. kneels.

Cleo. Sir, the gods will have it thus,
My Mafter and my Lord I must obey.
Caf. Take to you no hard thoughts,
The Record of what injuries you did us,
Though written in our Flesh, we fhall remember
As things but done by chance.

Cleo. Sole Sir o'th' World,

I cannot project mine own cause so well
To make it clear, but do confefs I have
Been laden with like frailties, which before
Have often fham'd our Sex.

Caf. Cleopatra, know,

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We will extenuate rather than inforce :

If you apply your self to our intents,

Which towards you are moft gentle, you shall find
A benefit' in this change, but if you seek

To lay on me a Cruelty, by taking

Antony's courfe, you fhall bereave your felf
Of my good purposes, and put your Children
To that deftruction which I'll guard them from,
If thereon you rely. I'll take my leave.

Cleo. And may through all the World: 'tis yours, and we
Your Scutcheons, and your figns of Conqueft thall
Hang in what place you pleafe. Here, my good Lord.
Caf. You fhall advise me in all for Cleopatra.

Cleo. This is the brief: of Mony, Plate, and Jewels I am poffeft of, 'tis exactly valued,

Not petty things admitted. Where's Seleucas ?

Sel.

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