Ant.

What power is in Agrippa,

If I would say, Agrippa, be it so,

To make this good?

Cæs.

The power of Cæsar, and

His power unto Octavia.

Ant.

May I never

To this good purpose, that so fairly shows,
Dream of impediment!-Let me have thy hand:
Further this act of grace; and, from this hour,
The heart of brothers govern in our loves,
And sway our great designs!

Cæs.
There is my
A sister I bequeath you, whom no brother
Did ever love so dearly: Let her live

hand.

To join our kingdoms, and our hearts; and never Fly off our loves again!

Lep.

Happily, amen!

Ant. I did not think to draw my sword 'gainst Pompey;

For he hath laid strange courtesies, and great,

Of late upon me: I must thank him only 20,
Lest my remembrance suffer ill report;

At heel of that, defy him.

Lep.

Time calls upon us:

Of us must Pompey presently be sought,

Or else he seeks out us.

Cæs.

Great, and increasing: but by sea

He is an absolute master.

Ant.

So is the fame.

'Would, we had spoke together! Haste we for it:

20 Lest I be thought too willing to forget benefits, I must barely return him thanks, and then I will defy him.'

Yet, ere we put ourselves in arms, despatch we
The business we have talk'd of.

Cæs.

And do invite you to my sister's view,

Whither straight I will lead you.

With most gladness;

Let us, Lepidus,

Noble Antony,

Not sickness should detain me.

[Flourish. Exeunt CESAR, ANTONY, and LEPIDUS.

Mec. Welcome from Egypt, sir.

Eno. Half the heart of Cæsar, worthy Mecænas! -my honourable friend, Agrippa!

Agr. Good Enobarbus!

Mec. We have cause to be glad, that matters are so well digested. You stayed well by it in Egypt. Eno. Ay, sir; we did sleep day out of countenance, and made the night light with drinking.

Mec. Eight wild boars roasted whole at a breakfast, and but twelve persons there; Is this true?

Eno. This was but as a fly by an eagle: we had much more monstrous matter of feast, which worthily deserved noting.

Mec. She's a most triumphant lady, if report be square 21 to her.

Eno. When she first met Mark Antony, she pursed up his heart upon the river of Cydnus 22.

Agr. There she appeared indeed; or my reporter devised well for her.

21 i. e. if report quadrates, or suits with her merits.

22 Enobarbus is made to say that Cleopatra gained Antony's heart on the river Cydnus; but it appears from the conclusion of his own description, that Antony had never seen her there; that whilst she was on the river, Antony was sitting alone, enthroned in the market-place, whistling to the air, all the people having left him to gaze upon her: and that when she landed he sent to her to invite her to supper.

The barge she sat in, like a burnish'd throne 23, Burn'd on the water: the poop was beaten gold; Purple the sails, and so perfumed, that

The winds were lovesick with them: the oars were silver;

Which to the tune of flutes kept stroke, and made
The water, which they beat, to follow faster,
As amorous of their strokes. For her own person,
It beggar'd all description: she did lie

In her pavilion (cloth of gold, of tissue),
O'er-picturing that Venus, where we see,
The fancy outwork nature: on each side her,
Stood pretty dimpled boys, like smiling Cupids,
With diverse-colour'd fans, whose wind did seem
To glow the delicate cheeks which they did cool,
And what they undid, did.

Agr.

O, rare for Antony! Eno. Her gentlewomen, like the Nereides,

23 The reader will be pleased to have it in his power to compare Dryden's description with that of Shakspeare:

'Her galley down the silver Cydnus row'd,

The tackling, silk, the streamers wav'd with gold,
The gentle winds were lodg'd in purple sails :

Her nymphs, like Nereids, round her couch were plac'd,
Where she, another seaborn Venus, lay.-

She lay, and leant her cheek upon her hand,
And cast a look so languishingly sweet,

As if secure of all beholders' hearts,

Neglecting she could take 'em: Boys, like Cupids,
Stood fanning with their painted wings the winds
That play'd about her face: But if she smil'd,
A darting glory seem'd to blaze abroad

That man's desiring eyes were never wearied,

But hung upon the object: To soft flutes

The silver oars kept time; and while they play'd,

The hearing gave new pleasure to the sight,

And both to thought. "Twas heaven, or somewhat more;
For she so charm'd all hearts, that gazing crowds
Stood panting on the shore, and wanted breath
To give their welcome voice.'

24

So many mermaids, tended her i'the eyes 2
And made their bends adornings 25: at the helm
A seeming mermaid steers; the silken tackle
Swell with the touches of those flower-soft hands,
That yarely frame 26 the office. From the barge
A strange invisible pérfume hits the sense
Of the adjacent wharfs. The city cast
Her people out upon her; and Antony,
Enthron'd in the market-place, did sit alone,
Whistling to the air; which, but for vacancy,
Had gone to gaze on Cleopatra too,

And made a gap in nature.

Agr.

Rare Egyptian!

Eno. Upon her landing, Antony sent to her,
Invited her to supper: she replied,

It should be better, he became her guest;
Which she entreated: Our courteous Antony,
Whom ne'er the word of No woman heard speak,
Being barber'd ten times o'er, goes to the feast;
And, for his ordinary, pays his heart,

For what his eyes eat only.

Agr.

Royal wench!

24 i. e. waited upon her looks, discovered her will by her looks. So Spenser, Faerie Queene, b. i. c. iii.:—

'From her fayre eyes he tooke commandement,

And by her looks conceited her intent.'

25 Made their bends adornings.' On this passage there are several pages of notes in the variorum Shakspeare, which, as Steevens remarks, supply a powerful instance of the uncertainty of verbal criticism; for the same phrase is there explained with reference to four different images-bows, groups, eyes, and tails. Until some more fortunate conjecture shall be offered, I adopt Steevens's opinion, that the plain sense of the passage seems to be, these ladies rendered that homage which their assumed characters obliged them to pay their queen, a circumstance ornamental to themselves. Each inclined her person so gracefully, that the very act of humiliation was an improvement of her own beauty.'

26 Yarely frame,' i. e. readily perform.

She made great Cæsar lay his sword to bed;
He plough'd her, and she cropp'd.

Eno.

I saw her once

Hop forty paces through the publick street:

And having lost her breath, she spoke, and panted, That she did make defect, perfection,

And, breathless, power breathe forth.

Mec. Now Antony must leave her utterly.
Eno. Never; he will not;

Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale

Her infinite variety 27: Other women

Cloy th' appetites they feed; but she makes hungry Where most she satisfies. For vilest things Become themselves in her; that the holy priests Bless her, when she is riggish 28.

Mec. If beauty, wisdom, modesty, can settle The heart of Antony, Octavia is

A blessed lottery 29 to him.

Let us go.

Agr.
Good Enobarbus, make yourself my guest,
Whilst you abide here.

Eno.

Humbly, sir, I thank you. [Exeunt.

27 Cleopatra, as appears from the tetradrachms of Antony, was no Venus; and indeed the majority of ladies who most successfully enslaved the hearts of princes, are known to have been less remarkable for personal than mental attractions. The reign of insipid beauty is seldom lasting; but permanent must be the rule of a woman who can diversify the sameness of life by an inexhausted variety of accomplishments.

28 Riggish is wanton, immodest. Dryden has emulated Shakspeare in this, as well as the passage before cited; it should be remembered, however, that Shakspeare furnished him with his most striking images.

29 Lottery, for allotment.