Pom. I'll try you on the fhore.

Ant. And fhall, fir: give us your hand.

Pom. O, Antony, you have my father's house 7,

But what? we are friends: Come, down into the boat. Eno. Take heed you fall not.

[Exeunt Poм. CES. ANT. and Attendants,

Menas I'll not on fhore.

Men. No, to my cabin.

Thefe drums!-thefe trumpets, flutes! what!

Let Neptune hear we bid a loud farewel

To these great fellows: Sound, and be hang'd, found out.

[A flourish of trumpets, with drums.

Eno. Ho, fays 'a!-There's my cap.

Men. Ho!-noble captain! Come!

ACT III.

[Exeunt.

SCENE I.

A Plain in Syria.

Enter VENTIDIUS, as after conqueft, with SILIUS and other Romans, officers, and foldiers; the dead body of Pacorus borne before him.

Ven. Now, darting Parthia, art thou ftruck; and now Pleas'd fortune does of Marcus Craffus' death

Make me revenger.-Bear the king's fon's body

Before our army:-Thy Pacorus, Orodes,

Pays this for Marcus Craffus.

Sil. Noble Ventidius,

Whilft yet with Parthian blood thy fword is warm,
The fugitive Parthians follow; fpur through Media,
Mefopotamia, and the shelters whither

The routed fly: fo thy grand captain Antony
Shall fet thee on triumphant chariots, and

Put garlands on thy head.

70, Antony, you have my father's boufe,] See p. 486, n. 1.

MALONE.

8 - Aruck —] alludes to darting. Thou whofe darts have so often ftruck others, art ftruck now thyfelf. JOHNSON.

9- Thy Pacorus, Orodes,] Pacorus was the fon of Orodes, king of Parthia. STEEVENS.

VOL. VII.

K k

Ven.

Ven. O Silius, Silius,

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 ferve's away.
Cæfar, and Antony, have ever won

More in their officer, than perfon: Soffius,
One of my place in Syria, his lieutenant,
For quick accumulation of renown,

Which he achiev'd by the minute, loft his favour.
Who does i' the wars more than his captain can,
Becomes his captain's captain: and ambition,
The foldier's virtue, rather makes choice of lofs,
Than gain, which darkens him.

I could do more to do Antonius good,

But 'twould offend him; and in his offence
Should my performance perish.

Sil. Thou haft, Ventidius, that,

Without the which a foldier, and his fword,

Grants scarce diftinction". Thou wilt write to Antony?
Ven. I'll humbly fignify what in his name,
That magical word of war, we have effected;
How, with his banners, and his well-paid ranks,
The ne'er-yet-beaten horse of Parthia

We have jaded out o' the field.

Sil. Where is he now ?

- when him we ferve's away.] Thus the old copy, and fuch cer tainly was our authour's phrafeology. So, in the Winter's Tale:

"I am appointed him to murder you."

See alfo Coriolanus, p. 298, n. * The modern editors, however, all read, more grammatically, when be we ferve, &c. MALONE.

2

that,

without the which a foldier, and his fword,

Grants fearce diftinétion.] Grant, for afford. It is badly and obfcurely expreffed: but the fenfe is this: Thou haft that, Ventidius, which if thou didst want, there would be no diftinction between thet and thy fword. You would be both equally cutting and fenfelefs. This was wildom or knowledge of the world. Ventidius had told him the reafons why he did not purfue his advantages: and his friend, by this compliment, acknowledges them to be of weight. WARBURTONI

Ven. He purpofeth to Athens: whither with what haste The weight we must convey with us will permit, * We thall appear before him.-On, there; pafs along. [Exeunt.

SCENE II.

Rome. An Ante-chamber in Cæfar's House.
Enter AGRIPPA, and ENOBARBUS, meeting.

Agr. What, are the brothers parted?

Eno. They have difpatch'd with Pompey, he is gone; The other three are fealing. Octavia weeps

Το

part from Rome: Cæfar is fad; and Lepidus, Since Pompey's feaft, as Menas fays, is troubled With the green fickness.

Agr. 'Tis a noble Lepidus.

Eno. A very fine one: O, how he loves Cæfar!
Agr. Nay, but how dearly he adores Mark Antony!
Eno. Cæfar? Why, he's the Jupiter of men.
Agr. What's Antony? The god of Jupiter.
Eno. Spake you of Cæfar? How? the nonpareil!
Agr. O Antony! O thou Arabian bird 3!

Eno. Would you praife Cæfar, fay,-Cæfar;-go no further.

Agr. Indeed, he ply'd them both with excellent praises. Eno. But he loves Cæfar beft;-Yet he loves Antony: Ho! hearts, tongues, figures, fcribes, bards, poets*,

cannot

Think,

How I believe, was here, as in another place in this play, print ed by mistake, for bo. See alfo Vol. III. p. 96, n. 6. MALONE. 3-Arabian bird!] The phoenix. JOHNSON.

4-bards, poets,- Not only the tautology of bards and poets, but the want of a correfpondent action for the poet, whofe bufinefs in the next line is only to number, makes me fufpect fome fault in this paffage, which I know not how to mend. JOHNSON.

I fufpect no fault. The ancient bard fung his compofitions to the harp; the poet only commits them to paper. Verfes are often called numbers, and to number, a verb (in this fenfe) of Shakspeare's coining, is to make verses.

This puerile arrangement of words was much ftudied in the age of Shakspeare, even by the firft writers.

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500

Think, fpeak, caft, write, fing, number, ho,
His love to Antony. But as for Cæfar,
Kneel down, kneel down, and wonder.
Agr. Both he loves.

Eno. They are his fhards, and he their beetle ". So,This is to horfe.-Adieu, noble Agrippa. [Trumpets. Agr. Good fortune, worthy foldier; and farewel. Enter CESAR, ANTONY, LEPIDUS, and OCTAVIA. Ant. No further, fir.

Caf. You take from me a great part of myself";
Ufe me well in it.-Sifter, prove fuch a wife

As my thoughts make thee, and as my fartheft band
Shall pass on thy approof.-Moft noble Antony,
Let not the piece of virtue, which is set

Betwixt us, as the cement of our love,

So, in An excellent Sonnet of a Nymph, by Sir P. Sidney; printed in England's Helicon, 1614:

"Vertue, beautie, and fpeech, did ftrike, wound, charme,
"My heart, eyes, eares, with wonder, love, delight:

First, fecond, laft, did binde, enforce, and arme,

"His works, thowes, futes, with wit, grace, and vowes-might:
"Thus honour, liking, truft, much, farre, and deepe,
"Held, pearft, pofleft, my judgment, fence, and will;
"Till wrongs, contempt, deceite, did grow, fteale, creepe,
"Bands, favour, faith, to breake, defile, and kill.
"Then griefe, unkindnes, proofe, tooke, kindled, taught,
"Well grounded, noble, due, fpite, rage, difdaine:

But ah, alas (in vaine) my mind, fight, thought, "Doth him, his face, his words, leave, fhunne, refraine "For nothing, time, nor place, can loofe, quench, ease, "Mine own, embraced, fought, knot, fire, disease." 5 They are bis fhards, and be their beetle.] i. e. They are the wings that raise this beavy lumpish infect from the ground. So, in Macbeth: the hard-borne beetle." STEEVENS.

STEEV.

6 You take from me a great part of myself;] So, in the Tempeft: "I have given you here a third of my own life." STEEVENS.

So, in Troilus and Creffida:

"I have a kind of felf refides in you." MALONE.

-as my farthest band] As I will venture the greatest pledge of fecurity, on the trial of thy conduct. JOHNSON.

Band and bond in our authour's time were fynonymous. See Vol. II. pi 178, n. 7. MALONE.

To

To keep it builded*, be the ram, to batter
The fortress of it: for better might we

Have lov'd without this mean, if on both parts
This be not cherish'd.

Ant. Make me not offended

In your distrust.

Caf. I have faid.

Ant. You fhall not find,

Though you be therein curious, the leaft caufe
For what you feem to fear: So, the gods keep you,
And make the hearts of Romans ferve your ends!
We will here part,

Caf. Farewel, my dearest fifter, fare thee well;
The elements be kind to thee, and make

CC -the cement of our love

To keep it builded,] So, in our authour's 119th Sonnet :
"And ruin'd love, when it is built anew,

"Grows fairer than at firft." MALONE.

Thy

-therein curious,] i. e. fcrupulous. So, in the Taming of the Shrew "For curious I cannot be with you." STEEVENS.

9 The elements be kind, &c.] This is obfcure. It seems to mean, May the different elements of the body, or principles of life, maintain fuch proportion and barmony as may keep you cheerful. JOHNSON.

The elements be kind, &c. I believe means only, May the four elements, of which this world is compofed, unite their influences to make thee cheerful. There is, however, a thought which feems to favour Dr. Johnson's explanation in The two noble Kinsmen by Fletcher, and Shakspeare:

My precious maid,

"Those best affections that the heavens infuse
"In their best temper'd pieces, keep enthron'd
"In your dear heart!"

Again, in Twelfth Night:

fay."

"Does not our life confift of the four elements ?-Faith, so they

And another, which may ferve in fupport of mine:

the elements,

"That know not what nor why, yet do effect

Rare iffues by their operance."

Thefe parting words of Cæfar to his fifter, may indeed mean no more than the common compliment which the occafion of her voyage very naturally required. He wishes that ferene weather and profperous winds may keep ber spirits free from every apprehenfion that might disturb or alarm them. STEEVENS.

Dr. Johnfon's explanation of this paffage is too profound to be just. Octavia was about to take a long journey both by land and by water.

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Her