10 'Take all' "Winner takes all" (gambling phrase; plays on the sense of "Lower my ship's sails in defeat and surrender everything") 14 honest honorable, faithful
16 fellows fellow servants
18 tricks whims, caprices
22 clapped up combined
27 Scant ... cups give me plenty to drink
29 suffered was under, was subject to
33 period end
34 Haply perhaps
if ... shadow if you do, it will be as a mutilated ghost
35 Perchance maybe
41 yield reward
43 discomfort grief, distress
44 onion-eyed i.e. weeping
47 the ... me may I be bewitched
48 Grace forgiveness/the herb of grace (rue)
hearty kind-hearted/sincere/noble, courageous
49 dolorous sad, dismal
50 for your comfort in order to cheer you up
51 burn ... torches i.e. spend all night in revelry 55 consideration serious thoughts
1 day i.e. of battle
2 determine one way decide matters/conclude one way or another 5 Belike probably
7 careful cautious, wary
10 absolute positive, free from all doubt
12 brave valiant/splendid
purpose determination
hautboys oboe-like instruments
14 List listen
18 signs well is a good omen
21 Hercules legendary Greek hero of immense strength, supposed ancestor of Antony 28 masters sirs
29 we have quarter our watch extends
30 give off cease
3 chuck chick (term of endearment)
4 thine iron the armor that you are holding
6 brave defy
10 False that's wrong (Cleopatra has got the wrong piece of armor, or has tried to attach a piece incorrectly) 11 Sooth in truth
la emphatic exclamation
12 Well i.e. Cleopatra's assistance
14 thy defences your own armor
15 Briefly shortly
17 Rarely splendidly
18 we ... repose I choose to remove it in order to rest (Antony uses the royal pronoun) 19 doff't take it off
storm rain of blows
20 squire young man of good birth attendant on a knight
21 tight deft
dispatch hurry up
22 knew'st understood
23 royal occupation business of kings, i.e. warfare 24 workman expert craftsman
25 him one
knows ... charge has a military responsibility (i.e. comes to deliver a message)/has experience of fighting 26 betime early
29 riveted trim armor
30 port gate
33 'Tis well blown referring either to the flourish of trumpets or to the dawning of the morning 35 of note famous
37 dame queen/my lady
39 check reprimand
stand insist
40 mechanic compliment formal etiquette
41 that will who intend to
45 That if only
46 Determine decide/end
1 happy fortunate
2 Would I wish
prevailed succeeded in persuading
5 revolted deserted
21 charge order
22 subscribe sign
25 Dispatch do it straightaway
2 took captured
5 universal peace the Pax Romana, a long period of relative peace established under the rule of Emperor Augustus (Octavius' subsequent title); also the beginning of the Christian era 6 three-nooked three-cornered; refers either to the tripartite division of lands ruled by a triumvirate, or to the continents of Europe, Africa, and Asia 7 bear the olive bring forth the olive tree/wear an olive garland (symbolic of peace) freely willingly, readily/abundantly/without impediment
10 van vanguard, the front
13 Jewry Judaea, modern Israel/Palestine
14 dissuade persuade to change his allegiance
15 Great Herod Herod the Great, King of the Jews
18 fell away deserted
entertainment hospitality/employment
24 bounty overplus generous gift in addition
29 safed escorted safely
30 host army
office duties
33 alone the only, the worst
34 most more than anyone else, most acutely
36 turpitude wickedness, depravity
37 blows swells/batters
38 swift thought instant despair
mean method (i.e. suicide)
39 outstrike deal a heavier blow than/obliterate
41 foul'st worst/muddiest
Alarum a call to arms
1 Retire retreat, fall back
2 has work has his hands full
our oppression the pressure on us
5 droven driven
6 clouts cloths, bandages/blows
9 H puns on "ache" (the two were similarly pronounced)
11 bench-holes toilet holes
12 scotches gashes
13 serves is as good as/gives us the opportunity
15 score mark with cuts
16 snatch ... behind an image from hare-hunting
17 runner one who runs away, a coward
19 sprightly comfort spirited encouragement
21 halt limp
2 gests deeds
5 doughty-handed hardy in battle
6 as ... cause as though you merely served the general cause as't ... mine as if each of you had the same personal motivation as I 7 shown all Hectors all behaved like Hector, the most renowned Trojan warrior 8 clip embrace
10 congealment congealed blood
11 whole better, healed (puns on "hole")
12 fairy magical being, enchantress
13 day light
14 Chain ... neck put your arms round my armor-clad neck
15 proof of harness invulnerable armor
16 pants triumphing in triumph on my panting breast
18 virtue courage
22 something somewhat
23 nerves muscles
24 Get ... youth score as many victories as a young man (the image may be of running or of football) 25 Commend entrust
28 such a shape the shape of a man
31 carbuncled studded with gems
32 holy Phoebus' car the chariot of the Greek and Roman sun god 34 targets shields
owe own
like ... them i.e. honorably (or possibly "hacked at like the soldiers they belong to") 36 camp accommodate
sup eat
37 carouses toasts
38 royal peril great danger, fit for a king
39 brazen brass/bold
40 Make mingle combine your sounds with those of
taborins drums
41 That ... together so that their sounds reverberate back and forth from earth to heaven 2 th'court of guard the guardroom
3 shiny bright
embattle prepare for battle
5 shrewd bad, difficult/damaging
8 close concealed
list listen to
10 When ... memory when deserters are remembered with hatred in written accounts 15 sovereign ... melancholy i.e. the moon, associated with melancholy and madness 16 damp of night the damp night air was considered noxious disponge pour down as from a squeezed sponge
17 rebel ... will i.e. because Enobarbus wishes to die 19 flint stony hardness
20 dried with grief each sigh was thought to drain the heart of a drop of blood 23 thine own particular personally
24 rank ... register publicly record me to be
25 fugitive deserter
31 Swoons faints
bad desperate
36 raught seized
37 demurely quietly
39 of note an important man
hour ... out time on duty is over
3 both i.e. sea and land
4 i'th'fire or i'th'air the remaining two of the four elements (air, earth
, fire, water) 5 foot infantry
8 put ... haven left the harbor
9 appointment purpose/equipment
1 But being charged unless we're attacked
still inactive
2 we shall we will be able to do
3 vales flat lands between hills
4 hold ... advantage stay in the most advantageous position 1 Yet ... joined battle has still not begun
5 augurers Roman religious officials who predicted the future by interpreting, among other things, the behavior of birds 8 by starts in turn
9 fretted worn, decayed/checkered
15 Triple-turned whore! i.e. Cleopatra, whose affections shifted three times: she had affairs with Julius Caesar, Gneius Pompey, and Antony 18 charm enchantress
20 uprise rising
23 spanieled followed like fawning spaniels
24 discandy dissolve
melt their sweets the image is of dogs slobbering from the treats which have dissolved in their mouths 25 this pine i.e. Antony himself
barked stripped of its bark
27 grave serious/deadly, dangerous
28 becked gestured
29 Whose ... end i.e. whose love was the aim and achievement of my life crownet coronet
30 gipsy believed to come from Egypt, proverbially deceitful fast and loose cheating game much practiced by Gypsies in which the victim bets on the apparent security of (or bets that he can secure) a cunningly coiled belt that is then readily unrolled; plays on the sense of "sexual cheating"
31 Beguiled deceived
32 spell enchantment
Avaunt! Be gone!
35 blemish Caesar's triumph spoil Caesar's triumphal procession (in which he intends to display you as a captive) 36 plebeians commoners
37 spot stain, blemish
38 monster-like, be shown be exhibited like a freak at a fair 39 For for the benefit of, to (an audience of)
poor'st diminutives undergrown weaklings/dwarves
dolts idiots
40 Patient long-suffering
41 prepared ready and waiting
43 fell'st into had fallen victim to
45 shirt of Nessus the poisoned shirt that Hercules' wife Deianira unwittingly gave him; it was soaked with the blood of the centaur Nessus, whom Hercules had shot with a poisoned arrow after the attempted rape of Deianira, and who had revenged himself by telling Deianira that his blood could be used as a love charm 46 Alcides Hercules
47 Lichas the servant who brought Hercules the poisoned shirt and who was thrown into the sea by his enraged and pain-crazed master 48 club famous emblem of Hercules' strength
49 worthiest most heroic, noblest/most deserving of death 2 Telamon ... shield Telamonian Ajax went mad and killed himself when the shield and armor of the dead Achilles were awarded to Ulysses rather than himself boar of Thessaly sent by Diana to ravage the kingdom of Calydon in Thessaly, central Greece 3 embossed driven to extremity, foaming at the mouth (used of a hunted animal) 4 th'monument the tomb, burial chamber
6 rive split
7 going off departing, being lost
1 thou ... me can you still see me (Antony feels himself to have become insubstantial) 3 dragonish dragon-shaped
5 pendent jutting, overhanging
6 promontory headland
8 mock deceive
signs images/omens/pretenses
9 vespers's evening
pageants theatrical shows/empty illusions/tricks
11 with a thought as quick as thought
12 rack cloud (plays on the sense of "torture instrument that dislocates the limbs") dislimns paints out, obliterates (puns on "dislimbs," i.e. removes the limbs from their sockets) 15 knave boy, lad
18 Egypt the Queen of Egypt
22 Packed stacked, shuffled
false-played falsely played away
23 triumph victory/trump card
26 robbed ... sword destroyed my soldiership/emasculated me 28 mingled ... entirely were completely bound up with yours 30 saucy impudent
33 discharged paid in full
34 unto thy hand for you
37 divided ... lips she spoke half of your name before she died, the rest was still in her heart 38 rendered surrendered, gave up
43 That ... richly you may consider yourself amply rewarded by the fact that I haven't harmed you 43 That ... richly you may consider yourself amply rewarded by the fact that I haven't harmed you 46 seven-fold ... Ajax Ajax's bronze shield was backed by seven layers of oxhide 47 battery assault with heavy blows, bombardment
cleave split
48 continent container
49 Apace quickly
50 bruised pieces dented armor
51 From leave
54 length delay
torch i.e. the life of Cleopatra (aural play on torture) 56 very ... strength as an animal caught in a net is entangled by its efforts to escape 57 Seal conclude
58 Stay wait
59 souls ... flowers i.e. the paradisiacal Elysian Fields, where, in Greek mythology, the blessed went after death couch lie
60 sprightly port lively bearing
61 Dido ... Aeneas emblematic tragic lovers in Virgil's Aeneid; the Trojan hero, Aeneas, survived the sack of Troy, landed at Carthage in north Africa, and became the lover of Queen Dido, whom he eventually abandoned to found Rome; she committed suicide in despair want troops lack followers
62 all ... ours all will follow us (haunt plays on its ghostly sense) 63 would wishes
67 green Neptune's back the sea, of which Neptune was the Roman god 68 With ... cities commanded fleets of ships so large that they were like cities to lack for lacking
72 exigent emergency/urgent legal summons
74 prosecution pursuit/persecution/carrying out of legal proceedings 79 withhold restrain/preserve
80 Parthian darts arrows of the Parthians, famous for shooting backward on horseback 81 enemy hostile
83 windowed placed at a window
84 pleached folded/crossed and bound
85 corrigible submissive
86 penetrative intense, penetrating
wheeled seat chariot
87 branded ... ensued marked, as a brand does a criminal, the humiliating lowliness of him who followed 91 honest faithful, honorable
worn Most useful put to such good use
93 pardon me release me from this duty
96 precedent previous
97 unpurposed of no use
99 worship worth, honor
100 Lo thee! See!
114 I ... not I ought to do and you couldn't do for me 115 instruction teaching by example
got upon me gained before I have/got as an advantage over me 116 nobleness in record noble reputation in history
117 bridegroom ... bed playing on the idea of death as orgasm 121 dispatch me finish me off
126 his period its end
134 enter ... him gain me admittance to his service/allow me to ingratiate myself 139 Sufficing ... death sufficient blows to kill me
140 absolute complete, perfect
147 found proved true
148 disposed come to terms
150 how ... work the effect it might have
156 bides waits/dwells
158 live ... out outlive your faithful men
160 heavy sorrowful
161 sharp harsh, merciless
162 grace honor
Bid ... Which welcome what
aloft on the gallery above the main stage
12 sphere planets and stars were thought to orbit within transparent concentric spheres that ringed the earth Darkling in darkness
13 The ... o'th'world the world is imaged as a coastline against which darkness and light ebb and flow; there is also suggestion of the world itself being a changeable place 22 importune urge, entreat (death to delay)
27 th'imperious show the imperial spectacle, i.e. triumphal procession 29 brooched adorned by my presence like a brooch
30 operation power, efficacy
32 still conclus
ion silent judgment
33 Demuring looking demurely/gazing at length
38 heaviness sorrow/weight
39 Juno supreme Roman goddess, Jove's wife
40 Mercury messenger of the Roman gods, traditionally depicted wearing winged sandals 42 Wishers ... fools proverbial
43 Die ... lived do not die until you have really lived ("die" has orgasmic connotations) 44 Quicken come to life
46 heavy grievous, pitiful
49 rail so high curse so loudly
50 false housewife treacherous whore
wheel the Roman goddess Fortuna was conventionally depicted turning a wheel, which raised men up before casting them down (may pick up on the domestic sense of housewife to play on the sense of "spinning wheel") 51 offence abusive language
54 They ... together i.e. honor and safety
56 None ... Proculeius trust none of Caesar's officers except Proculeius 64 Not ... countryman I have not submitted like a coward to Caesar 65 by a Roman i.e. by himself; Roman signifies the virtues of honor and courage 68 woo't wilt, i.e. will you
71 sty pigsty/place inhabited by whores and lustful people 73 garland wreath crowning a victorious war hero
74 pole battle standard, pole bearing a military flag/Pole Star (phallic connotations are also present) 75 odds is gone distinction between great and small
76 remarkable wonderful, extraordinary
77 visiting i.e. which comes and goes as it waxes and wanes 85 e'en only
86 passion overpowering emotion/grief/a faint
87 chares chores
88 sceptre ornamental rod, symbol of royal authority
injurious harmful/unjust
91 sottish foolish
97 Our lamp i.e. Antony
sirs valid, if less frequently used, address form for women
98 brave splendid/valiant
103 briefest end swiftest death
bearing of carrying
2 frustrate defeated
mocks makes himself ridiculous in
3 pauses delays
6 thus i.e. with drawn sword in the presence of a ruler; in Shakespeare's time this was a treasonous offense 10 wore ... haters spent my life fighting his enemies
17 breaking destruction (of Antony)/disclosure (of the news) 18 crack loud noise/fracture
19 civil city/orderly
20 their dens their own homes/lions' dens
21 single doom the fate of one individual alone
22 moiety half
25 self same
36 persisted persistently sought
37 waged equal with battled equally within
39 steer humanity guide a man/govern mankind
44 launch lance
46 shown i.e. through my own downfall
47 stall dwell
49 sovereign ... hearts potent as heart's blood
50 competitor partner
51 top ... design the loftiest of undertakings
52 front battlefront/forehead
53 heart ... kindle my heart took courage from his
54 stars, Unreconciliable unreconcilable fortunes
55 divide ... this separate us, who were so equally matched in everything, to this degree 57 meeter season fitter time
58 looks ... him appears to be urgent judging by his expression 60 yet i.e. still not a Roman subject