You laugh, when boys, or women, tell their dreams; Is't not your trick? Dol. I understand not, madam. Cleo. I dream'd, there was an emperor Antony;O, such another sleep, that I might see But such another man! Dol. If it might please you,— Cleo. His face was as the heavens; and therein stuck A sun, and moon; which kept their course, and lighted The little O, the earth. Dol. Most sovereign creature,— Cleo. His legs bestrid the ocean: his rear'd arm Crested the world: his voice was propertied As all the tuned spheres, and that to friends; But when he meant to quail and shake the orb, He was as rattling thunder. For his bounty, There was no winter in't; an autumn 'twas, That grew the more by reaping: His delights Were dolphin-like; they show'd his back above The element they liv'd in: In his livery Walk'd crowns, and crownets; realms and islands were As plates' dropp'd from his pocket. I Dol. Cleopatra,Cleo. Think you, there was, or might be, such a man his rear'd arm Crested the world :] Alluding to some of the old crests in heraldry, where a raised arm on a wreath was mounted on the helmet. As plates-] Mr. Steevens justly interprets plates to mean silver money. It is a term in heraldry. The balls or roundels iu an escutcheon of arms, according to their different colours, have different names. If gules, or red, they are called torteauxes; if or, or yellow, bezants; if argent, or white, plates, which are buttons of silver without any impression, but only prepared for the stamp. VOL. VII. К к Gentle madam, no. As this I dream'd of? Dol. 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 To vie strange forms' with fancy; yet, to imagine An Antony, were nature's piece 'gainst fancy, Condemning shadows quite.* Dol. Hear me, good madam: By the rebound of yours, a grief that shoots Cleo. I thank you, sir. Know you, what Cæsar means to do with me? Dol. Though he be honourable,— Cleo. He'll lead me then in triumph? Dol. I know it. Madam, he will; Within. Make way there,-Cæsar. Enter CESAR, GALLUS, PROCULEIUS, MECÆNAS, SELEUCUS, and Attendants. Cas. Which is the queen Of Egypt? "Tis the emperor, madam. [CLEOPATRA kneels. 3 To vie strange forms-] To vie was a term at cards. yet, to imagine An Antony, were nature's piece 'gainst fancy, Condemning shadows quite.] The word piece, is a term appropriated to works of art. Here nature and fancy produce each their piece, and the piece done by nature had the preference. Antony was in reality past the size of dreaming; he was more by Nature than Fancy could present in sleep. Cas. You shall not kneel: I pray you, rise; rise, Egypt. Cleo. Arise, Sir, the gods Will have it thus; my master and my lord I must obey. Cæs. Take to you no hard thoughts: The record of what injuries you did us, Though written in our flesh, we shall remember Sole sir o'the world, Cleo. 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 Cleo. And may, through all the world: 'tis yours; and we Not petty things admitted.-Where's Seleucus? Cleo. This is my treasurer; let him speak, my lord. 3 I cannot project-] i. e. I cannot shape or form my cause, &c. Upon his peril, that I have reserv'd To myself nothing. Speak the truth, Seleucus. I had rather seel my lips, than, to my peril, Cleo. What have I kept back? Sel. Enough to purchase what you have made known. Cas. Nay, blush not, Cleopatra; I Your wisdom in the deed. approve Cleo. See, Cæsar! O, behold, How pomp is follow'd! mine will now be yours; And, should we shift estates, yours would be mine. The ingratitude of this Seleucus does Even make me wild: O slave, of no more trust Than love that's hir'd!-What, goest thou back? thou shalt Go back, I warrant thee; but I'll catch thine eyes, Though they had wings: Slave, soul-less villain, dog! O rarely base!? Cæs. Good queen, let us entreat you. Cleo. O Cæsar, what a wounding shame is this; That thou, vouchsafing here to visit me, Doing the honour of thy lordliness To one so meek, that mine own servant should 6 seel my lips,] It means, close up my lips as effectually as the eyes of a hawk are closed. To seel hawks was the technical term. 7 O rarely base!] i. e. base in an uncommon degree. Parcel the sum of my disgraces by-] The meaning either is, "that this fellow should add one more parcel or item to the sum of my disgraces, namely, his own malice;" or, "that this fellow should tot up the sum of my disgraces, and add his own malice to the account." As we greet modern friends withal; and say, Their mediation; must I be unfolded With one' that I have bred? The gods! It smites me Beneath the fall I have. Pr'ythee, go hence; [To SELEUCUS. Or I shall show the cinders of my spirits Through the ashes of my chance :-Wert thou a man, Thou would'st have mercy on me. Cæs. Forbear, Seleucus. [Exit SELEUCUS. Cleo. Be it known, that we, the greatest, are misthought For things that others do; and, when we fall, Are therefore to be pitied. Cæs. Cleopatra, Not what you have reserv'd, nor what acknowledg'd, Cæsar's no merchant, to make prize with you Yourself shall give us counsel. Feed, and sleep: 9-modern friends--] Modern means here, as it generally does in these plays, common or ordinary. With one] With, in the present instance, has the power of by. 2 Through the ashes of my chance:] Or fortune. The meaning is, Begone, or I shall exert that royal spirit which I had in my prosperity, in spite of the imbecility of my present weak condition. 3 We answer others' merits-] As demerits was often used, in Shakspeare's time, as synonymous to merit, so merit might have been used in the sense which we now affix to demerit; or the meaning may be only, we are called to account, and to answer in our own names for acts, with which others, rather than we, deserve to be charged. |
