2 Guard. Nor I.

Enter DIOMEDES.

Dio. Where's Antony?

Der. Dio.

There, Diomed, there. Lives he? Wilt thou not answer man? [Exit DERCETAS. Ant. Art thou there, Diomed? Draw thy Sufficing strokes for death. [sword, and give me Dio. Most absolute lord, My mistress Cleopatra sent me to thee. Ant. Wheu did she send thee?

Now, my lord,

Dio.
Ant.
Where is she?
Dio. Lock'd in her monument. She had a
prophesying fear

rage

Of what hath come to pass: for when she saw
(Which never shall be found,) you did suspect
She had disposed with Cæsar, and that your
[was dead;
Would not be purged, she sent you word she
But, fearing since how it might work, hath sent
Me to proclaim the truth; and I am come,
I dread, too late.
[guard, I pr'ythee.
Ant. Too late, good Diomed:-Call my
Dio. What, ho! the emperor's guard! The
Come, your lord calls. [guard, what, ho!
Enter some of the Guard.

Ant. Bear me, good friends, where Cleo-
patra bides;

Tis the last service that I shall command you. 1 Guard. Woe are we, sir, you may not live All your true followers out. [to wear All. Most heavy day! Ant. Nay, good my fellows, do not please sharp fate [come To grace it with your sorrows: bid that welWhich 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. SCENE XIII. The same. A Monument. Enter above, CLEOPATRA, CHARMIAN, and IRAS.

Cleo. O, Charmian, I will never go from Char. Be comforted, dear madam. [hence. Cleo. No, I will not: All strange and terrible events are welcome, But comforts we despise; our size of sorrow, Proportion'd to our cause, must be as great Enter DIOMEDES.

As that which makes it.-How now? is he dead? Dio. His death's upon him, but not dead.

Look out o'the other side your monument
His guard have brought him thither.
Enter ANTONY, borne by the Guard.
Cleo.
O thou sun,

Burn the great sphere thou movest in!-darkling + stand

The varying shore o'the world!-0 Antony! Antony! Antony!-Charmian, help; help,Iras; Help, friends below; let's draw him hither. Ant. Peace:

Not Cæsar's valour hath o'erthrown Antony, But Antony's hath triumphed on itself.

Cleo. So it should be, that none but Antony Should conquer Antony; but woe 'tis s^! Ant. I am dying, Egypt, dying; only I here impórtune death a while, until Of many thousand kisses the poor last I lay upon thy lips.Cleo. 1 dare not, dear (Dear my lord, pardon,) I dare not, Lest I be taken: not the imperious show Of the full-fortuned Cæsar ever shall [have Be brooch'd with me; if knife, drugs, serpents, Edge, sting, or operation, I am safe: Your wife Octavia, with her modest eyes, And still conclusion, shall acquire no honour Demuring upon me.-But come, come, Antony,

[up;Help me, my women,—we must draw thee Assist, good friends. O, quick, or I am gone. Cleo. Here's sport, indeed!-How heavy weighs my lord!

Ant.

Our strength is all gone into heaviness, That makes the weight: Had I great Juno's power,

[up, The strong-wing'd Mercury should fetch thee And set thee by Jove's side. Yet come a little,Wishers were ever fools;-0, come, come,

come; [They draw ANTONY up. And welcome, welcome! die, where thou hast lived; [power, Quicken with kissing; had my lips that Thus would I wear them out. All. A heavy sight! Ant. I am dying, Egypt, dying:

Give me some wine, and let me speak a little. Cleo. No, let me speak; and let me rail so high, [wheel, That the false housewife Fortune break her Provoked by my offence. Ant.

One word, sweet queen: Of Cæsar seek your honour with your safety. Cleo. They do not go together. [-Ó! Ant. Gentle, hear me None about Cæsar trust but Proculeius. Cleo. My resolution, and my hands, I'll None about Cæsar.

[trust;

Ant. The miserable change now at my end, Lament nor sorrow at: but please your thoughts In feeding them with those my former fortune® Wherein I lived the greatest prince o' th world,

The noblest and do now not basely die,
Nor cowardly; put off my helmet, to
My countryman, a Roman, by a Roman

§ Sedate determination.

Revive.

Cas. Come hither, Proculeius; Go, and say, We purpose her no shame: give her what com forts

The quality of her passion shall require;
Lest, in her greatness, by some mortal stroke
She do defeat us: for her life in Rome
Would be eternal in our triumph: Go, [says,
And, with your speediest, bring us what she
And how you find of her.

Pro. Cæsar, I shall. [Exit PROCULEIUS. Cas. Gallus, go you along.-Where's Dolabella,

To second Proculeius?
Agr. Mec.

[Exit GALLUS.

Dolabella!

Cas. Let him alone, for I remember now How he's employ'd ; he shall in time be ready. Go with me to my tent; where you shall see How hardly I was drawn into this war; How calm and gentle I proceeded still In all my writings: Go with me, and see What I can show in this.

[Exeunt. SCENE II. Alexandria. A Room in the

Monument.

Enter CLEOPATRA, CHARMIAN, and IRAS.
Cleo. My desolation does begin to make
A better life: 'Tis paltry to be Cæsar;
Not being fortune, he's but fortune's knave,
A minister of her will; And it is great
To do that thing that ends all other deeds;
Which shackles accidents, and bolts up change;
Which sleeps, and never palates more the
The beggar's nurse and Cæsar's. [dung,
Enter, to the Gates of the Monument, PRO-
CULEIUS, GALLUS, and Soldiers.
Pro. Cæsar sends greeting to the queen of
Egypt;

And bids thee study on what fair demands
Thou mean'st to have him grant thee.

Cleo. [Within.]

What's thy name?

Pro. My name is Proculeius. Cleo. [Within.]

Antony

Did tell me of you, bade me trust you; but
I do not greatly care to be deceived,
That have no use for trusting. If your master
Would have a queen his beggar, you must tell
That majesty, to keep decorum, must [him,
No less beg than a kingdom: if he please
To give me conquer'd Egypt for my son,
He gives me so much of mine own, as I
Will kneel to him with thanks.
Pro.
Be of good cheer;
You are fallen into a princely hand, fear
nothing:

Make your full reference freely to my lord,
Who is so full of grace, that it flows over
On all that need: Let me report to hin.
Your sweet dependancy: and you shall find
A conqueror, that will pray in aid for kindness,
Where he for grace is kneel'd to.
Cleo. [Within.]

Pray you, tell him
I am his fortune's vassal, and I send him
The greatness he has got. I hourly learn
A doctrine of obedience; and would gladly
Look him i' the face.

Have comfort; for I know, your plight is pitied Of him that caused it. [prised; Gal. You see how easily she may be sur [Here PROCULEIUS, and two of the Guard, ascend the Monument by a Ladder placed against a Window, and having descended, come behind CLEOPATRA. Some of the Guard unbar and open the Gates.

Guard her till Cæsar come.

[TO PROCULEIUS and the Guard. [Exit GALLUS. Iras. Royal queen! Char. O Cleopatra! thou art taken, queen!— Cleo. Quick, quick, good hands.

Pro.

[Drawing a Dagger. Hold, worthy lady, hold: [Seizes and disarms her. Do not yourself such wrong, who are in this Relieved, but not betray'd.

Cleo.

What, of death too

That rids our dogs of languish?

Pro.

Cleopatra, Do not abuse my master's bounty, by The undoing of yourself: let the world see His nobleness well acted, which your death Will never let come forth.

Cleo. Where art thon, death? Come hither, come! come, come, and take a Worth many babes and beggars! [queen

O, temperance, lady!

Pro.
Clev. Sir, I will eat uo meat, I'll not drink,
If idle talk will once be necessary, [sir;
I'll not sleep neither: This mortal house I'll
ruin,

Do Cæsar what he can. Know, sir, that I
Will not wait pinion'd† at your master's court;
Nor once be chastised with the sober eye
Of dull Octavia. Shall they hoist me up,
And show me to the shouting varletry‡
Of censuring Rome? Rather a ditch in Egypt
Be gentle grave to me! rather on Nilus' mud
Lay me stark naked, and let the water-flies
Blow me into abhorring! rather make
My country's high pyramids my gibbet,
And hang me up in chains!
Pro.

You do extend
These thoughts of horror further than you shall
Find cause in Cæsar.

Dol.

Enter DOLABELLA. Procnleins,

{of me? Assuredly, you know me. Cleo. No matter, sir, what I have heard, o

known.

Cleo. Think you, there was, or might be, As this I dream'd of? [such a man Dol. Gentle madam, no. Cleo. You lie, up to the hearing of the gods; But, if there be, or ever were one such, It's past the size of dreaming: Nature wants

stuff

[gine To vie strange forms with fancy; yet, to imaAn Antony, were nature's piece 'gainst fancy, Condemnning shadows quite.

Dol. Hear me, good madam: Your loss is as yourself, great; and you bear it As answering to the weight: 'Would I might O'ertake pursued success, but I do feel, [never By the rebound of yours, a grief that shoots My very heart at root.

Cleo. I thank you, sir. Know you, what Cæsar means to do with me; Dol. I am loath to tell you what I would Cleo. Nay, pray you, sir,- [you knew. Dol. Though he be honourable,Cleo. He'll lead me then in triumph? Dol. Madam, he will;

I know it.

Cleo.

Though written in our flesh, we shall remem
As things but done by chance.
[ber
Sole sir of the world,
I cannot project‡ mine own cause so well
To make it clear; but do confess, I have
Been laden with like frailties, which before
Have often shamed our sex.

Cæs.

Cleopatra, know, We will extenuate rather than enforce : If you apply yourself to our intents, (Which towards you are most gentle,) you shall find

A benefit in this change; but if you seek
To lay on me a cruelty, by taking
Antony's course, you shall bereave yourself
Of my good purposes, and put your children
To that destruction 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

[shall Your 'scutcheons, and your signs of conquest, Hang in what place you please. Here, my good lord. [patra.

Cæs. You shall advise me in all for CleoCleo. This is the brief of money, plate, and jewels,

I am possess'd of: 'tis exactly valued;
Not petty things admitted.-Where's Seleucus?
Sel. Here, madam.
[my lord,
Cleo. This is my treasurer; let him speak,
Upon his peril, that I have reserved

To myself nothing. Speak the truth, Seleucus.
Sel. Madam,

I had rather seelf my lips, than, to my peril,
Speak that which is not.
Cleo.

What have I kept back? Sel. Enough to purchase what you have inade known.

Cas, Nay, blush not, Cleopatra; I approve Your wisdom in the deed. Cleo. See, Caesar ! O, behold, How pomp is follow'd! mine will now be yours; [miue. And, should we shift estates, yours would be The ingratitude of this Seleucus does [trust Even make me wild:-( slave, of no more Than love that's hired!-What, goest thou back? thou shalt [eyes, Go back, I warrant thee; but I'll catch thine Though they had wings: Slave, soul-less vil 0 rarely || base ! [lain. dog ! Good queen, let us entreat you. Cleo. O Cæsar, what a wounding shame is That thou, vouchsafing here to visit me, [this; Doing the honour of thy lordliness To one so meek, that mine own servant should Parcel the sum of my disgraces by Addition of his envy! Say, good Cæsar, That I some lady trifles have reserved, Immoment toys, things of such dignity As we greet modern friends ** withal; and say, Some nobler token I have kept apart For Livin tt, and Octavia ti, to invince Their mediation; must I be unfolded With one that I have bred? The gods! It

Cas.

+ Silver money. Add to.

smites me

++ Casar's wife.

Sew up.

Uncommonly

t His sister.

For things that others do; and, when we fall,
We answer others' merits + in our name,
Are therefore to be pitied.

Cleopatra,

Cas. Not what you have reserved, nor what acknowledged, [yours, Put we i'the roll of conquest: still be it Bestow it at your pleasure; and believe, Cæsar's no merchant, to make prize with you Of things that merchants sold. Therefore be cheer'd; [queen; Make not your thoughts your prisons; no, dear For we intend so to dispose you, as Yourself shall give us counsel. Feed, and sleep: Our care and pity is so much upon you, That we remain your friend; And so adieu. Cleo. My master, and my lord! Cas.

Not so: Adieu. [Exeunt CESAR, and his Train. Cleo. He words me, girls, he words me, that I should not

Be noble to myself: but hark thee, Charmian.
[Whispers CHARMIAN.
Iras. Finish, good lady; the bright day is
And we are for the dark.
[done,
Cleo.
Hie thee again:
I have spoke already, and it is provided;
Go, put it to the haste.
Char.

Madam, I will.
Re-enter DOLABELLA.
Dol. Where is the queen?
Char. Behold, sir. [Exit CHARMIAN.
Cleo.
Dolabella?

Dol. Madam, as thereto sworn by your com-
Which my love makes religion to obey, [mand,
I tell you this: Cæsar through Syria
Intends his journey; and, within three days,
You with your children will he send before:
Make your best use of this: I have perform'd
Your pleasure, and my promise.
Cleo.

Dolabella,

O the good gods! Cleo. Nay, that is certain. Iras. I'll never see it; for, I am sure, my Are stronger than mine eyes.

[nails
Cleo.
Why, that's the way
To fool their preparation, and to conquer
Their most absurd intents.-Now, Charmian?
Enter CHARMIAN.

Show me, my women, like a queen ;-Go fetch
My best attires;-I am again for Cydnus,
To meet Mark Antony :-Sirrah, Iras, go.-
Now, noble Charmian, we'll despatch indeed:
And, when thou hast done this chare¶, I'll give
thee leave

[all. To play till dooms-day.-Bring our crown and Wherefore's this noise?

[Exit IRAS. A Noise within. Enter one of the Guard.

Guard. Here's a rural fellow, That will not be denied your highness' preHe brings you figs. [sence;

strument

Cleo. Let him come in. How poor an in[Exit Guard. May do a noble deed! he brings me liberty. My resolution's placed, and I have nothing Of woman in me: Now from head to foot I am marble-constant: now the fleeting** moon No planet is of mine.

Re-enter Guard, with a Clown bringing a basket.

Guard. This is the man. Cleo. Avoid, and leave him. [Exit Guard. Hast thou the pretty worm tt of Nilus there, That kills and pains not?

Clown. Truly I have him but I would not be the party that should desire you to touch him, for his biting is immortal; those, that do die of it, do seldom or never recover.

Cleo. Remember'st thou any that have died on't?

Clown. Very many, men and women too. I heard of one of them no longer than yester. day: a very honest woman, but something given to lie; as a woman should not do, but in the way of honesty: how she died of the biting of it, what pain she felt.-Truly, she makes a very good report of the worm: But he that will believe all that they say, shall never be saved by half that they do: But this is most fallible, the worm's an odd

worm.

Cleo. Get thee hence; farewell.
Clown. I wish you all joy of the worm.
Cleo. Farewell.

[Clown sets down the Basket. Clown. You must think this, look you, that the worm will do his kind ‡‡.

Cleo. Ay, ay; farewell.

Clown. Look you, the worm is not to be trusted, but in the keeping of wise people; for indeed, there is no goodness in the worm.

§ Lively. ||Female characters were played t Serpent. Act according to his nature.