Imatges de pàgina
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Of him that caus'd it.

Gal. You fee how eafily fhe may be surpriz'd; [Here PROCULEIUS, and two of the guard, afcend the monument by a ladder placed against a window, and having defcended, came behind CLEOPATRA. Some of the guard unbar and open the gates1.

Guard her till Cæfar come.

[to Proculeius and the guard. Exit Gallus. Iras. Royal queen!

6 Gal. You fee bow eafily fhe may be surprix'd;

Char.

Guard ber till Cafar come.] To this fpeech, as well as the preceding, Pro. [i. e. Proculeius] is prefixed in the old copy. It is clear from the paffage quoted from Plutarch in the following note that this was an error of the compofitor's at the prefs, and that it belongs to Gallus; who, after Proculeius hath, according to his fuggeftion, afcended the monument, goes out to inform Cæfar that Cleopatra is taken. That Cæfar was informed immediately of Cleopatra's being taken, appears from Dolabella's first speech to Proculeius on his entry. See p. 584: "Proculeius,

"What thou haft done, thy mafter Cæfar knows," &c. This information, it is to be prefumed, Cæfar obtained from Gallus. The ftage-directions being very imperfect in this scene in the old copy, no exit is here marked; but as Gallus afterwards enters along with Cæfar, it was undoubtedly the authour's intention that he thould here go out. In the modern editions this as well as the preceding speech is given to Proculeius, though the error in the old copy clearly fhews that wa fpeakers were intended. MALONE.

7 In the old copy there is no stage-direction. That which is now inferted is formed on the old translation of Plutarch: "Proculeius came to the gates that were very thicke and strong, and furely barred; but yet there were fome cranews through the which ber voyce might be beard, and fo they without understood that Cleopatra demaunded the kingdome of Egypt for her fonnes: and that Porculeius aunfwered her, that the fhould be of good cheere and not be affrayed to refer all unto Cæfar. After he had viewed the place very well, he came and reported her aunfwere unto Cæfar: who immediately fent Gallus to fpeak once againe with her, and bad him purposely hold her with talk, whilft Proculeius did fet up a ladder against that bigh windowe by the which Ansonius was trefed up, and came down into the monument with two of his men bard by the gate, where Cleopatra ftood to hear what Gallus faid unto her. One of her women which was shut in her monument with her, fawe Proculeius by chaunce, as he came downe, and fhreeked out, O, poore Cleopatra, thou art taken. Then when the fawe Proculeius behind her as she came from the gate, the thought to have

stabbed

Char. O Cleopatra! thou art taken, queen!-
Cleo. Quick, quick, good hands. [drawing a dagger.
Pro. Hold, worthy lady, hold: [Seizes and difarms her.
Do not yourself 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
The undoing of yourfelf: let the world fee
His nobleness well acted, which your death
Will never let come forth.

Cleo. Where art thou, death?

Come hither, come! come, come, and take a queen
Worth many babes and beggars9!

Pro. O, temperance, lady!

Cleo. Sir, I will eat no meat, I'll not drink, fir;

If idle talk will once be neceffary,

I'll not fleep neither': This mortal house I'll ruin,

Do

stabbed herself with a short dagger fhe wore of purpofe by her fide. But Proculeius came fodainly upon her, and taking her by both the hands, fayd unto her, Cleopatra, first thou shalt doe thy felfe great wrong, and fecondly unto Cæfar, to deprive him of the occafion and opportunitie openlie to fhew his vauntage and mercie, and to give his enemies caufe to accuse the most courteous and noble prince that ever was, and to appeache him as though he were a cruel and mercilesse man, that were not to be trusted. So, even as he spake the word, he tooke her dagger from her, and hooke her clothes for feare of any poyfon hidden about her." MALONE.

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- of languifh?] So, in Romeo and Juliet, A& I. fc. ii:

"One defperate grief cure with another's languish." STEEV. 9 Worth many babes and beggars!] Why, death, wilt thou not rather feize a queen, than employ thy force upon babes and beggars. JOHNSON. 1 If idle talk will once be neceffary,

I'll not fleep neither :] I will not eat, and if it will be necessary now for once to waste a moment in idle talk of my purpose, I will not fleep neither. In common converfation we often ufe will be, with as little relation to futurity. As, Now I am going, it will be fit for me to dine firft. JOHNSON.

Once may mean fometimes. Of this ufe of the word I have already. given inftances, both in the Merry Wives of Windfor, and K. Hen. VIII. The meaning of Cleopatra feems to be this. If idle talking be fome

times

Do Cæfar what he can. Know, fir, that I
Will not wait pinion'd at your master's court;
Nor once be chaftis'd with the fober eye
Of dull Octavia. Shall they hoift me up,
And fhew me to the fhouting varletry

Of cenfuring Rome? Rather a ditch in Egypt
Be gentle grave unto me! rather on Nilus' mud
Lay me ftark naked, 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

The thoughts of horror further than you shall
Find caufe in Cæfar.

Dol. Proculeius,

Enter DOLABELLA.

What thou haft done thy master Cæsar knows,
And he hath fent for thee: for the queen,
I'll take her to my guard.

Pro. So, Dolabella,

It fhall content me beft: be gentle to her.

To Cæfar I will speak what you shall please, [to CLEO. If you'll employ me to him.

Cleo. Say, I would die.

[Exeunt PROCULEIUS, and Soldiers.

times neceffary to the prolongation of life, why I will not fleep for fear of talking idly in my fleep.

The fenfe defigned, however, may be-If it be neceffary to talk of performing impoffiblities, why, I'll not fleep neither. STEEVENS.

The explications above given appear to me so unfatisfactory, and so little deducible from the words, that I have no doubt that a line has been loft after the word neceffary, in which Cleopatra threatened to obferve an obftinate filence. The line probably began with the words l'il, and the compofitor's eye glancing on the fame words in the line be neath, all that intervened was loft. See p. 508, n. 7, and p. 577, n. I.

The words I'll not fleep neither, contain a new and diftinét menace. I once thought that Shakspeare might have written-I'll not speak neither; but in p. 492, Cæfar comforting Cleopatra, fays, "feed, and Sleep" which fhews that fleep in the paffage before us is the true reading. MALONE.

2 My country's bigb pyramides my gibbet,] See p. 492,n. 7. MALONE.

Dol.

Dol. Most noble empress, you have heard of me?
Cleo. I cannot tell.

Dol. Affuredly, you know me.

Cleo. No matter, fir, 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 dream'd, there was an emperor Antony ;O, fuch another fleep, that I might fee

But fuch another man!

Dol. If it might please you,

Cleo. His face was as the heavens; and therein stuck A fun, and moon; which kept their course, and lighted The little O, the earth 3.

Dol. Moft fovereign creature,

Cleo. His legs bestrid the ocean+: his rear'd arm
Crefted the worlds: his voice was property'd
As all the tuned spheres, and that to friends";
But when he meant to quail and shake the orb,
He was as rattling thunder. For his bounty,
There was no winter in't; an autumn 'twas,

3 The little O, the earth.] Thefe words appearing in the old copy thus, The little o tb' earth, Theobald conjectured with fome probability that Shakspeare wrote

The little O o'the earth.

When two words are repeated near to each other, printers very often omit one of them. The text however may well ftand. Shakspeare frequently uses O for an orb or circle.

66

can we cram

"Within this wooden O the very cafques, &c. Again, in A Midsummer-Night's Dream:

So in K. Hen. V.

"Than all you firy oes, and eyes of light." MALONE. 4 His legs beftrid the ocean, &c.] So, in Julius Cæfar: "Why, man, he doth beftride the narrow world, "Like a Coloffus." MALONE.

- bis rear'd arm

s Crefted the world.] Alluding to fome of the old crefts in heraldry, where a raised arm on a wreath was mounted on the helmet.

PERCY.

6- and that to friends;] Thus the old copy. The modern editors read, with no less obfcurity:

-

- when that to friends.

STEEVENS.

That

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 were
As plates dropp'd from his pocket.

Dol. Cleopatra,―

Cleo. Think you, there was, or might be, fuch a man As this I dream'd of?

Dol. Gentle madam, no.

Cleo. You lie, up to the hearing of the gods.

1 For bis bounty,

There was no winter in't; an autumn 'twas,

That grew the more by reaping :] The old copy has-an Antony it The emendation is Mr. Theobald's. The following lines in Shakspeare's 53d Sonnet add fupport to the emendation:

was.

"Speak of the fpring, and foison of the year,
"The one doth fhadow of your bounty fhew;
"The other as your bounty doth appear,
"And you in every bleffed fhape we know."

By the orber in the third line, i. e. the foifon of the year, the poet means autumn, the feafon of plenty.

Again, in the Tempeft:

"How does my bounteous fifter [Ceres]

MALONE.

I cannot refift the temptation to quote the following beautiful paffage from B. Jonfon's New Inn, on the fubject of liberality. "He gave me my first breeding, I acknowledge; "Then fhow'r'd his bounties on me, like the hours "That open-handed fit upon the clouds,

"And prefs the liberality of heaven

"Down to the laps of thankful men." STEEVENS.

As plates-] Plates mean, I believe, filver money. So, in Marlowe's Jew of Malta, 1633:

Rat'ft thou this Moor but at 200 plates ?" STEEVENS. Mr. Steevens justly interprets plates to mean filver money. The balls or roundels in an efcutcheon, according to their different colours, have different names. If gule, or red, they are called torteauxes; if or or yellow, bezants; if argent or white, plates, which are buttons of filver, without any impreffion, but only prepared for the ftamp.-So, Spenter's Faery Queene, B. II. C.VII. St. 5 :

"Some others were new driven, and diftent
"Into great ingoes, and to wedges fquare;
"Some in round plates withouten moniment,
"But most were stampt, and in their metal bare,

"The antique shapes of kings and kefars, straung and rare.”

WHALLEY.

But,

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