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 hand.

A sister I bequeath you, whom no brother

Did ever love so dearly: let her live

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 Pom

pey;

For he hath laid strange courtesies, and great,

Of late upon me: I must thank him only,
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;
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'll 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 Mecenas !— my honourable friend, Agrippa!

Agr. Good Enobarbus!

Mec. We have cause to be glad, that matters are so well digested. You stay'd 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 to her.

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

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

Eno. I will tell you.

The barge she sat in, like a burnish'd throne,

Burn'd on the water: the poop was beaten gold;

Purple the sails, and so perfumed, that

The winds were love-sick 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 out-work 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 10 which they did cool,

10 TO GLOW the delicate cheeks] All the folios read, "To glove," &c.

And what they undid, did.

Agr.

O, rare for Antony!
Eno. Her gentlewomen, like the Nereides,
So many mermaids, tended her i' the eyes,
And made their bends adornings': at the helm
A seeming mermaid steers; the silken tackle
Swell with the touches of those flower-soft hands,
That yarely frame the office'. From the barge
A strange invisible perfume hits the sense
Of the adjacent wharfs. The city cast
Her people out upon her; and Antony,
Enthron'd i' 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!

She made great Cæsar lay his sword to bed;

1

tended her i' the eyes,

And made their bends adornings :]

Few passages in Shakespeare have excited more controversy than this, the effort of the commentators apparently being, to render what was plain obscure, and to adopt almost any sense but that which is presented by the words of the poet : "tended her i' the eyes "" seems to mean nothing else but tended in her sight: Mr. Barron Field truly remarks, that in "Midsummer-Night's Dream" we have the expression "gambol in his eyes," for gambol in his sight: "made their bends adornings" is probably to be understood, that they bowed with so much grace as to add to their beauty. Warburton would read adorings for "adornings;" but it is needless to detail any of the other conjectural emendations, which, through several pages, only display misapplied ingenuity.

2 That YARELY frame the office.] i. e. Readily and dexterously perform the task they undertake. See Vol. ii. p. 72, Vol. iii. p. 391. The adjective "yare" occurs several times in this play.

He plough'd her, and she cropp'd.

Eno.

I saw her once

Hop forty paces through the public 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: other women cloy

The 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.

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

A blessed lottery to him.

Agr.

Let us go.

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

Eno.

Humbly, sir, I thank you.

[Exeunt.

SCENE III.

The Same. A Room in CESAR'S House.

Enter CESAR, ANTONY, OCTAVIA between them; Attend

ants.

Ant. The world, and my great office, will sometimes Divide me from your bosom.

Read not my blemishes in the world's report:
I have not kept my square3, but that to come

Shall all be done by the rule. Good night, dear lady.—

Good night, sir1.

Cæs. Good night.

[Exeunt CESAR and OCTAVIA.

Enter a Soothsayer.

Ant. Now, sirrah: you do wish yourself in Egypt? Sooth. Would I had never come from thence, nor you thither!

Ant. If you can, your reason?

Sooth. I see it in my motion, have it not in my tongue: but yet hie you to Egypt again.

Ant. Say to me, whose fortunes shall rise higher, Cæsar's, or mine?

Sooth. Cæsar's.

Therefore, O Antony! stay not by his side:

Thy dæmon, that thy spirit which keeps thee, is
Noble, courageous, high, unmatchable,

Where Cæsar's is not; but near him thy angel
Becomes a fear, as being o'erpower'd: therefore,
Make space enough between you.

Ant.

Speak this no more.

Sooth. To none but thee; no more, but when to

thee.

If thou dost play with him at any game,

Thou art sure to lose; and, of that natural luck,
He beats thee 'gainst the odds: thy lustre thickens,
When he shines by. I say again, thy spirit

3 I have not kept my SQUARE ;] The last part of the sentence explains the first, if explanation be needed. Respecting" square," or squire, see Vol. ii. p. 368; Vol. iii. p. 505; and Vol. iv. p. 252.

• Good night, sir.] In the folio, 1632, these words are assigned to Octavia ; but as they may very well have been a repetition by Antony, we adhere to the distribution of the folio, 1623.

5 Enter a Soothsayer.] Every old copy makes the Soothsayer enter here: every modern copy introduces him, without any propriety, with Cæsar, Antony, and Octavia, at the opening of the scene.