Even such a body: here I am Antony,
Yet cannot hold this visible shape, my knave.
I made these wars for Egypt18, and the queen —
Whose heart I thought I had, for she had mine,
Which whilst it was mine had annexed unto’t
A million more, now lost — she, Eros, has
Packed22 cards with Caesar, and false-played my glory
Unto an enemy’s triumph23.
Nay, weep not, gentle Eros, there is left us
Ourselves to end ourselves.—
Enter Mardian
O, thy vile lady!
She has robbed me of my sword26.
MARDIAN No, Antony,
My mistress loved thee and her fortunes mingled
With thine entirely28.
ANTONY Hence, saucy30 eunuch. Peace!
She hath betrayed me and shall die the death.
MARDIAN Death of one person can be paid but once,
And that she has discharged33. What thou wouldst do
Is done unto thy hand34: the last she spake
Was ‘Antony! Most noble Antony!’
Then in the midst a tearing groan did break
The name of Antony: it was divided
Between her heart and lips37: she rendered38 life,
Thy name so buried in her.
ANTONY Dead, then?
MARDIAN Dead.
ANTONY Unarm, Eros: the long day’s task is done
And we must sleep.—That thou depart’st
hence safe
To Mardian
Does pay thy labour richly43. Go.—
Exit Mardian
Off, pluck off!
Eros unarms him
The seven-fold shield of Ajax46 cannot keep
The battery47 from my heart.—O, cleave, my sides!
Heart, once be stronger than thy continent48,
Crack thy frail case!—Apace49, Eros, apace!—
No more a soldier: bruisèd pieces50, go.
You have been nobly borne.—From51 me awhile.—
Exit Eros
I will o’ertake thee, Cleopatra, and
Weep for my pardon.—So it must be, for now
All length54 is torture: since the torch is out,
Lie down and stray no further. Now all labour
Mars what it does: yea, very force entangles
Itself with strength56. Seal57 then, and all is done.—
Eros!—I come, my queen.—Eros!—Stay58 for me:
Where souls do couch on flowers59 we’ll hand in hand
And with our sprightly port60 make the ghosts gaze.
Dido and her Aeneas61 shall want troops,
And all the haunt be ours62.—Come, Eros, Eros!
Enter Eros
EROS What would63 my lord?
ANTONY Since Cleopatra died,
I have lived in such dishonour that the gods
Detest my baseness. I, that with my sword
Quartered the world and o’er green Neptune’s back67
With ships made cities68, condemn myself to lack
The courage of a woman, less noble mind
Than she which by her death our Caesar tells
‘I am conqueror of myself’. Thou art sworn, Eros,
That when the exigent72 should come, which now
Is come indeed, when I should see behind me
Th’inevitable prosecution74 of
Disgrace and horror, that on my command
Thou then wouldst kill me. Do’t: the time is come:
Thou strikest not me, ’tis Caesar thou defeat’st.
Put colour in thy cheek.
EROS The gods withhold79 me!
Shall I do that which all the Parthian darts80 —
Though enemy81 — lost aim, and could not?
ANTONY Eros,
Wouldst thou be windowed83 in great Rome and see
Thy master thus with pleached84 arms, bending down
His corrigible85 neck, his face subdued
To penetrative86 shame, whilst the wheeled seat
Of fortunate Caesar, drawn before him, branded
His baseness that ensued87?
EROS I would not see’t.
ANTONY Come, then. For with a wound I must be cured.
Draw that thy honest91 sword which thou hast worn
Most useful for thy country.
EROS O, sir, pardon me93!
ANTONY When I did make thee free, swor’st thou not then
To do this when I bade thee? Do it at once,
Or thy precedent96 services are all
But accidents unpurposed97. Draw, and come.
EROS Turn from me then that noble countenance
Wherein the worship99 of the whole world lies.
ANTONY Lo thee!100
Turns away from him
EROS My sword is drawn.
ANTONY Then let it do at once
The thing why thou hast drawn it.
EROS My dear master,
My captain and my emperor, let me say,
Before I strike this bloody stroke, farewell.
ANTONY ’Tis said, man, and farewell.
EROS Farewell, great chief. Shall I strike now?
ANTONY Now, Eros.
EROS Why, there then: thus I do escape the sorrow
Of Antony’s death.
Kills himself
ANTONY Thrice-nobler than myself!
Thou teachest me, O valiant Eros, what
I should and thou couldst not114. My queen and Eros
Have by their brave instruction115 got upon me
A nobleness in record116. But I will be
A bridegroom in my death and run into’t
As to a lover’s bed117. Come then,—and, Eros,
Thy master dies thy scholar: to do thus
I learned of thee.—How, not dead? Not dead?—
The guard, ho! O, dispatch me121!
Falls on his sword
Enter a [Company of] Guard
One of them Dercetus
FIRST GUARD What’s the noise?
ANTONY I have done my work ill, friends: O, make an end
Of what I have begun!
SECOND GUARD The star is fall’n.
FIRST GUARD And time is at his period126.
ALL Alas, and woe!
ANTONY Let him that loves me strike me dead.
FIRST GUARD Not I.
SECOND GUARD Nor I.
THIRD GUARD Nor anyone.
Exeunt [all the Guard but Dercetus]
DERCETUS Thy death and fortunes bid thy
followers fly.
This sword but shown to Caesar with this tidings,
Shall enter me with him134.
Takes Antony’s sword
Enter Diomedes
DIOMEDES Where’s Antony?
DERCETUS There, Diomed there!
DIOMEDES Lives he? Wilt thou not answer, man?
[Exit Dercetus with Antony’s sword]
ANTONY Art thou there, Diomed? Draw thy
sword, and give me
Sufficing strokes for death139.
DIOMEDES Most absolute140 lord,
My mistress Cleopatra sent me to thee.
ANTONY When did she send thee?
DIOMEDES Now, my lord.
ANTONY Where is she?
DIOMEDES Locked in her monument. She had a prophesying
fear
Of what hath come to pass, for when she saw —
Which never shall be found147 — you did suspect
She had disposed148 with Caesar, and that your rage
Would not be purged, she sent you word she was dead:
But, fearing since how it might work150, hath sent
Me to proclaim the truth, and I am come,
I dread, too late.
ANTONY Too late, good Diomed. Call my guard, I prithee.
DIOMEDES What, ho, the emperor’s guard! The guard,
what, ho!
Come, your lord call
s!
Enter four or five of the Guard of Antony
ANTONY Bear me, good friends, where Cleopatra bides156:
’Tis the last service that I shall command you.
FIRST GUARD Woe, woe are we, sir, you may not live to wear
All your true followers out158.
ALL Most heavy160 day!
ANTONY Nay, good my fellows, do not please sharp161 fate
To grace162 it with your sorrows. Bid that welcome
Which comes to punish us, and we punish it,
Seeming to bear it lightly. Take me up:
I have led you oft, carry me now, good friends,
And have my thanks for all.
Exeunt, bearing Antony [and Eros]
[Act 4 Scene 15]
running scene 28
Location: outside Cleopatra’s monument, Alexandria
* * *
Enter Cleopatra and her maids aloft, with Charmian and Iras
CLEOPATRA O, Charmian, I will never go from hence.
CHARMIAN Be comforted, dear madam.
CLEOPATRA No, I will not:
All strange and terrible events are welcome,
But comforts we despise. Our size of sorrow,
Proportioned to our cause, must be as great
As that which makes it.—
Enter Diomedes
Below
How now? Is he dead?
DIOMEDES His death’s upon him, but not dead.
Look out o’th’other side your monument:
His guard have brought him thither.
Enter Antony and the Guard
Below
CLEOPATRA O sun,
Burn the great sphere12 thou mov’st in! Darkling stand
The varying shore o’th’world13! O Antony,
Antony, Antony! Help, Charmian! Help, Iras, help!
Help, friends below! Let’s draw him hither.
ANTONY Peace!
Not Caesar’s valour hath o’erthrown Antony,
But Antony’s hath triumphed on itself.
CLEOPATRA So it should be, that none but Antony
Should conquer Antony, but woe ’tis so!
ANTONY I am dying, Egypt, dying: only
I here importune22 death awhile until
Of many thousand kisses the poor last
I lay upon thy lips.
CLEOPATRA I dare not, dear.
Dear my lord, pardon: I dare not,
Lest I be taken. Not th’imperious show27
Of the full-fortuned Caesar ever shall
Be brooched29 with me. If knife, drugs, serpents have
Edge, sting, or operation30, I am safe:
Your wife Octavia, with her modest eyes
And still conclusion32, shall acquire no honour
Demuring33 upon me. But come, come, Antony.—
Help me, my women.—We must draw thee up.—
Assist, good friends.
They begin lifting
ANTONY O, quick, or I am gone.
CLEOPATRA Here’s sport indeed! How heavy weighs my lord!
Our strength is all gone into heaviness38,
That makes the weight. Had I great Juno39’s power,
The strong-winged Mercury40 should fetch thee up
And set thee by Jove’s side. Yet come a little:
Wishers were ever fools42. O, come, come, come.
They heave Antony aloft to Cleopatra
And welcome, welcome! Die when thou hast lived43,
Quicken44 with kissing: had my lips that power,
Thus would I wear them out.
Kisses him
ALL A heavy46 sight!
ANTONY I am dying, Egypt, dying.
Give me some wine and let me speak a little.
CLEOPATRA No, let me speak, and let me rail so high49
That the false housewife50 Fortune break her wheel,
Provoked by my offence51—
ANTONY One word — sweet queen —
Of Caesar seek your honour with your safety. O!
CLEOPATRA They do not go together54.
ANTONY Gentle, hear me:
None about Caesar trust but Proculeius56.
CLEOPATRA My resolution and my hands I’ll trust:
None about Caesar.
ANTONY The miserable change now at my end,
Lament nor sorrow at, but please your thoughts
In feeding them with those my former fortunes
Wherein I lived, the greatest prince o’th’world,
The noblest: and do now not basely die,
Not cowardly put off my helmet to
My countryman64. A Roman by a Roman65
Valiantly vanquished. Now my spirit is going:
I can no more.
CLEOPATRA Noblest of men, woo’t68 die?
Hast thou no care of me? Shall I abide
In this dull world, which in thy absence is
No better than a sty71?—O, see, my women,
The crown o’th’earth doth melt.—My lord?—
Antony dies
O, withered is the garland73 of the war,
The soldier’s pole74 is fall’n: young boys and girls
Are level now with men: the odds is gone75
And there is nothing left remarkable76
Beneath the visiting77 moon.
She faints
CHARMIAN O, quietness, lady!
IRAS She’s dead too, our sovereign.
CHARMIAN Lady!
IRAS Madam!
CHARMIAN O madam, madam, madam!
IRAS Royal Egypt! Empress!
Cleopatra stirs
CHARMIAN Peace, peace, Iras!
CLEOPATRA No more, but e’en85 a woman, and commanded
By such poor passion86 as the maid that milks
And does the meanest chares87. It were for me
To throw my sceptre88 at the injurious gods
To tell them that this world did equal theirs
Till they had stol’n our jewel. All’s but naught:
Become a dog that’s mad: then is it sin
To rush into the secret house of death
Ere death dare come to us? How do you, women?
What, what, good cheer! Why, how now, Charmian?
My noble girls? Ah, women, women! Look,
Our lamp97 is spent, it’s out.—Good sirs, take heart,
We’ll bury him, and then, what’s brave98, what’s noble,
Let’s do’t after the high Roman fashion
And make death proud to take us. Come, away.
This case of that huge spirit now is cold.
Ah, women, women! Come, we have no friend
But resolution and the briefest end103.
Exeunt, bearing of Antony’s body
[Act 5 Scene 1]
running scene 29
Location: Caesar’s camp outside Alexandria
* * *
Enter Caesar, Agrippa, Dolabella, Maecenas, [Gallus, Proculeius], with his Council of War
CAESAR Go to him, Dolabella, bid him yield.
Being so frustrate2, tell him he mocks
The pauses3 that he makes.
DOLABELLA Caesar, I shall.
[Exit]
Enter Dercetus with the sword of Antony
CAESAR Wherefore is that? And what art thou that dar’st
Appear thus6 to us?
DERCETUS I am called Dercetus:
Mark Antony I served, who best was worthy
Best to be served: whilst he stood up and spoke
He was my master, and I wore my life
To spend upon his haters10. If thou please
To take me to thee, as I was to him
I’ll be to Caesar: if thou pleasest not,
I yield thee up my life.
CAESAR What is’t thou say’st?
DERCETUS I say — O Caesar — Antony is dead.
CAESAR The breaking17 of so great a thing should make
; A greater crack18. The round world
Should have shook lions into civil19 streets
And citizens to their dens20. The death of Antony
Is not a single doom21: in the name lay
A moiety22 of the world.
DERCETUS He is dead, Caesar,
Not by a public minister of justice,
Nor by a hirèd knife, but that self25 hand
Which writ his honour in the acts it did
Hath, with the courage which the heart did lend it,
Splitted the heart. This is his sword:
I robbed his wound of it. Behold it stained
With his most noble blood.
Shows sword
CAESAR Look you, sad friends.
Points to the sword
The gods rebuke me, but it is tidings
To wash the eyes of kings.
AGRIPPA And strange it is
That nature must compel us to lament
Our most persisted36 deeds.
MAECENAS His taints and honours waged equal with37 him.
AGRIPPA A rarer spirit never
Did steer humanity39: but you gods will give us
Some faults to make us men. Caesar is touched.
MAECENAS When such a spacious mirror’s set before him,
He needs must see himself.
CAESAR O Antony,
I have followed thee to this, but we do launch44
Diseases in our bodies. I must perforce
Have shown46 to thee such a declining day
Or look on thine: we could not stall47 together
In the whole world. But yet let me lament,
With tears as sovereign as the blood of hearts49
That thou my brother, my competitor50
In top of all design51, my mate in empire,
Friend and companion in the front52 of war,
The arm of mine own body, and the heart
Where mine his thoughts did kindle53, that our stars,
Unreconciliable54, should divide
Our equalness to this55.—Hear me, good friends —
But I will tell you at some meeter season57:
The business of this man looks out of him58:
We’ll hear him what he says.—
Enter an Egyptian
Whence are you?
EGYPTIAN A poor Egyptian yet60, the queen my mistress,
Confined in all she has, her monument,
Of thy intents62 desires instruction,
That she preparedly may frame herself63
To th’way she’s forced to.
CAESAR Bid her have good heart.
She soon shall know of us, by some of ours66,