ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA

ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA FIRST printed in the 1623 Folio, Antony and Cleopatra had been entered on the Stationers’ Register on 20 May 1608. Echoes of it in Barnabe Barnes’s tragedy The Devil’s Charter, acted by Shakespeare’s company in February 1607, suggest that Shakespeare wrote his play no later than 1606, and stylistic evidence supports that date. The Life of Marcus Antonius in Sir Thomas North’s translation of Plutarch’s Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans (1579) was one of the sources for Julius Caesar; it also provided Shakespeare with most of his material for Antony and Cleopatra, in which he draws upon its language to a remarkable extent even in some of the play’s most poetic passages. For example, Enobarbus’ famous description of Cleopatra in her barge (2.2.197-225) incorporates phrase after phrase of North’s prose. And the play’s action stays close to North’s account, though with significant adjustments, particularly compressions of the time-scheme. It opens in 40 BC, two years after the end of Julius Caesar, and portrays events that took place over a period of ten years. Mark Antony has become an older man, though Octavius is still ‘scarce-bearded’. Plutarch, who was a connoisseur of human behaviour, also afforded many hints for the characterization; but some characters, particularly Antony’s comrade Domitius Enobarbus and Cleopatra’s women, Charmian and Iras, are largely created by Shakespeare. In the earlier play, Mark Antony had formed a triumvirate with Octavius Caesar and Lepidus. In Antony and Cleopatra the triumvirate is in a state of disintegration, partly because Mark Antony—married at the play’s opening to Fulvia, who is rebelling against Octavius Caesar—is infatuated with Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt (and the former mistress of Julius Caesar). The play’s action swings between Rome and Alexandria as Antony is torn between the claims of Rome—strengthened for a while by his marriage, after Fulvia’s death, to Octavius Caesar’s sister Octavia—and the temptations of Egypt. Gradually opposition between Antony and Octavius increases, until they engage in a sea-fight near Actium (in Greece), in which Antony follows Cleopatra’s navy in ignominious retreat. The closing stages of the double tragedy portray Antony’s shame, humiliation, and suicide after Cleopatra falsely causes him to believe that she has killed herself; faced with the threat that Caesar will take her captive to Rome, Cleopatra too commits suicide. According to Plutarch, she was thirty-eight years old; as for Antony, ‘some say that he lived three-and-fifty years, and others say, six-and-fifty’. In Antony and Cleopatra the classical restraint of Julius Caesar gives way to a fine excess of language, of dramatic action, and of individual behaviour. The style is hyperbolical, overflowing the measure of the iambic pentameter. The action is amazingly fluid, shifting with an ease and rapidity that caused bewilderment to ages unfamiliar with the conventions of Shakespeare’s theatre. And the characterization is correspondingly extravagant, delighting in the quirks of individual behaviour, above all in the paradoxes and inconsistencies of the Egyptian queen who contains within herself the capacity for every extreme of human behaviour, from vanity, meanness, and frivolity to the sublime self-transcendence with which she faces and embraces death.

THE PERSONS OF THE PLAY

The Tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra

Atto 1, Scena 1

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Demetrius and Philo
PHILO	Nay, but this dotage of our General’s O‘erflows the measure. Those his goodly eyes, That o’er the files and musters of the war Have glowed like plated Mars, now bend, now turn The office and devotion of their view Upon a tawny front. His captain’s heart, Which in the scuffles of great fights hath burst The buckles on his breast, reneges all temper, And is become the bellows and the fan To cool a gipsy’s lust.
(didascalia)	Flourish. Enter Antony, Cleopatra, her ladies, the train, with eunuchs fanning her
PHILO	Look where they come. Take but good note, and you shall see in him The triple pillar of the world transformed Into a strumpet’s fool. Behold and see.
CLEOPATRA	(to Antony) If it be love indeed, tell me how much.
ANTONY	There’s beggary in the love that can be reckoned.
CLEOPATRA	I’ll set a bourn how far to be beloved.
ANTONY	Then must thou needs find out new heaven, new earth.
(didascalia)	Enter a Messenger
MESSENGER	News, my good lord, from Rome.
ANTONY	Grates me: the sum.
CLEOPATRA	Nay, hear them, Antony. Fulvia perchance is angry; or who knows If the scarce-bearded Caesar have not sent His powerful mandate to you: ‘Do this, or this, Take in that kingdom and enfranchise that. Perform’t, or else we damn thee.’
ANTONY	How, my love?
CLEOPATRA	Perchance? Nay, and most like. You must not stay here longer. Your dismission Is come from Caesar, therefore hear it, Antony. Where’s Fulvia’s process—Caesar’s, I would say— both? Call in the messengers. As I am Egypt’s queen, Thou blushest, Antony, and that blood of thine Is Caesar’s homager; else so thy cheek pays shame When shrill-tongued Fulvia scolds. The messengers!
ANTONY	Let Rome in Tiber melt, and the wide arch Of the ranged empire fall. Here is my space. Kingdoms are clay. Our dungy earth alike Feeds beast as man. The nobleness of life Is to do thus; when such a mutual pair And such a twain can do’t—in which I bind On pain of punishment the world to weet— We stand up peerless.
(didascalia)	CLEOPATRA aside Excellent falsehood!
ANTONY	Why did he marry Fulvia and not love her? I’ll seem the fool I am not. (To Antony) Antony Will be himself.
ANTONY	But stirred by Cleopatra. Now, for the love of Love and her soft hours Let’s not confound the time with conference harsh. There’s not a minute of our lives should stretch Without some pleasure now. What sport tonight?
CLEOPATRA	Hear the ambassadors.
ANTONY	Fie, wrangling queen, Whom everything becomes—to chide, to laugh, To weep; how every passion fully strives To make itself, in thee, fair and admired! No messenger but thine; and all alone Tonight we’ll wander through the streets and note The qualities of people. Come, my queen. Last night you did desire it. (To the Messenger) Speak not to us.
(didascalia)	Exeunt Antony and Cleopatra with the train, and by another door the Messenger
DEMETRIUS	Is Caesar with Antonius prized so slight?
PHILO	Sir, sometimes when he is not Antony He comes too short of that great property Which still should go with Antony.
DEMETRIUS	I am full sorry That he approves the common liar who Thus speaks of him at Rome; but I will hope Of better deeds tomorrow. Rest you happy.
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Atto 1, Scena 2

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Enobarbus, a Soothsayer, Charmian, Iras, Mardian the eunuch, Alexas, and attendants
CHARMIAN	Lord Alexas, sweet Alexas, most anything Alexas, almost most absolute Alexas, where’s the soothsayer that you praised so to th’ Queen? O that I knew this husband, which you say Must charge his horns with garlands!
ALEXAS	Soothsayer!
SOOTHSAYER	Your will?
CHARMIAN	Is this the man? Is’t you, sir, that know things?
SOOTHSAYER	In nature’s infinite book of secrecy A little I can read.
ALEXAS	(to Charmian) Show him your hand.
ENOBARBUS	(calling) Bring in the banquet quickly, Wine enough Cleopatra’s health to drink.
(didascalia)	Enter servants with food and wine, and exeunt
CHARMIAN	(to Soothsayer) Good sir, give me good fortune.
SOOTHSAYER	I make not, but foresee.
CHARMIAN	Pray then, foresee me one.
SOOTHSAYER	You shall be yet Far fairer than you are.
CHARMIAN	He means in flesh.
IRAS	No, you shall paint when you are old.
CHARMIAN	Wrinkles forbid!
ALEXAS	Vex not his prescience. Be attentive.
CHARMIAN	Hush!
SOOTHSAYER	You shall be more beloving than beloved.
CHARMIAN	I had rather heat my liver with drinking.
ALEXAS	Nay, hear him.
CHARMIAN	Good now, some excellent fortune! Let me be married to three kings in a forenoon and widow them all. Let me have a child at fifty to whom Herod of Jewry may do homage. Find me to marry me with Octavius Caesar, and companion me with my mistress.
SOOTHSAYER	You shall outlive the lady whom you serve.
CHARMIAN	O, excellent! I love long life better than figs.
SOOTHSAYER	You have seen and proved a fairer former fortune Than that which is to approach.
CHARMIAN	Then belike my children shall have no names. Prithee, how many boys and wenches must I have?
SOOTHSAYER	If every of your wishes had a womb, And fertile every wish, a million.
CHARMIAN	Out, fool—I forgive thee for a witch.
ALEXAS	You think none but your sheets are privy to your wishes.
CHARMIAN	(to the Soothsayer) Nay, come, tell Iras hers.
ALEXAS	We’ll know all our fortunes.
ENOBARBUS	Mine, and most of our fortunes, tonight shall be drunk to bed.
IRAS	(showing her hand to the Soothsayer) There’s a palm presages chastity, if nothing else.
CHARMIAN	E’s the o’erflowing Nilus presageth famine.
IRAS	Go, you wild bedfellow, you cannot soothsay.
CHARMIAN	Nay, if an oily palm be not a fruitful prognostication, I cannot scratch mine ear. (To the Soothsayer) Prithee, tell her but a workaday fortune.
SOOTHSAYER	Your fortunes are alike.
IRAS	But how, but how? Give me particulars.
SOOTHSAYER	I have said.
IRAS	Am I not an inch of fortune better than she?
CHARMIAN	Well, if you were but an inch of fortune better than I, where would you choose it?
IRAS	Not in my husband’s nose.
CHARMIAN	Our worser thoughts heavens mend! Alexas—come, his fortune, his fortune. O, let him marry a woman that cannot go, sweet Isis, I beseech thee, and let her die too, and give him a worse, and let worse follow worse till the worst of all follow him laughing to his grave, fiftyfold a cuckold. Good Isis, hear me this prayer, though thou deny me a matter of more weight; good Isis, I beseech thee.
IRAS	Amen, dear goddess, hear that prayer of the people. For as it is a heart-breaking to see a handsome man loose-wived, so it is a deadly sorrow to behold a foul knave uncuckolded. Therefore, dear Isis, keep decorum, and fortune him accordingly.
CHARMIAN	Amen.
ALEXAS	Lo now, if it lay in their hands to make me a cuckold, they would make themselves whores but they’d do’t.
(didascalia)	Enter Cleopatra
ENOBARBUS	Hush, here comes Antony.
CHARMIAN	Not he, the Queen.
CLEOPATRA	Saw you my lord?
ENOBARBUS	No, lady.
CLEOPATRA	Was he not here?
CHARMIAN	No, madam.
CLEOPATRA	He was disposed to mirth, but on the sudden A Roman thought hath struck him. Enobarbus!
ENOBARBUS	Madam?
CLEOPATRA	Seek him, and bring him hither. Where’s Alexas?
ALEXAS	Here at your service. My lord approaches.
(didascalia)	Enter Antony with a Messenger
CLEOPATRA	We will not look upon him. Go with us.
(didascalia)	Exeunt all but Antony and the Messenger
MESSENGER	Fulvia thy wife first came into the field.
ANTONY	Against my brother Lucius?
MESSENGER	Ay, but soon that war had end, and the time’s state Made friends of them, jointing their force ’gainst Caesar, Whose better issue in the war from Italy Upon the first encounter drave them.
ANTONY	Well, what worst?
MESSENGER	The nature of bad news infects the teller.
ANTONY	When it concerns the fool or coward. On. Things that are past are done. With me ’tis thus: Who tells me true, though in his tale lie death, I hear him as he flattered.
MESSENGER	Labienus— This is stiff news—hath with his Parthian force Extended Asia; from Euphrates His conquering banner shook, from Syria To Lydia and to Ionia, Whilst— ANTONYAntony, thou wouldst say—
MESSENGER	O, my lord!
ANTONY	Speak to me home. Mince not the general tongue. Name Cleopatra as she is called in Rome. Rail thou in Fulvia’s phrase, and taunt my faults With such full licence as both truth and malice Have power to utter. O, then we bring forth weeds When our quick winds lie still, and our ills told us Is as our earing. Fare thee well a while.
MESSENGER	At your noble pleasure.
(didascalia)	Exit Messenger
(didascalia)	Enter another Messenger
ANTONY	From Sicyon, ho, the news? Speak there.
(didascalia)	SECOND MESSENGER
ANTONY	The man from Sicyon—
(didascalia)	ANTONY Is there such a one?
(didascalia)	SECOND MESSENGER
ANTONY	He stays upon your will.
ANTONY	Let him appear.
(didascalia)	Exit Second Messenger
ANTONY	These strong Egyptian fetters I must break, Or lose myself in dotage.
(didascalia)	Enter another Messenger with a letter
ANTONY	What are you?
(didascalia)	THIRD MESSENGER
ANTONY	Fulvia thy wife is dead.
ANTONY	Where died she?
THIRD MESSENGER	In Sicyon. Her length of sickness, with what else more serious Importeth thee to know, this bears. He gives Antony the letter
ANTONY	Forbear me.
(didascalia)	Exit Third Messenger
ANTONY	There’s a great spirit gone. Thus did I desire it. What our contempts doth often hurl from us We wish it ours again. The present pleasure, By revolution low’ring, does become The opposite of itself. She’s good being gone; The hand could pluck her back that shoved her on. I must from this enchanting queen break off. Ten thousand harms more than the ills I know My idleness doth hatch. How now, Enobarbus!
(didascalia)	Enter Enobarbus
ENOBARBUS	What’s your pleasure, sir?
ANTONY	I must with haste from hence.
ENOBARBUS	Why, then we kill all our women. We see how mortal an unkindness is to them; if they suffer our departure, death’s the word.
ANTONY	I must be gone.
ENOBARBUS	Under a compelling occasion let women die. It were pity to cast them away for nothing, though between them and a great cause they should be esteemed nothing. Cleopatra catching but the least noise of this dies instantly. I have seen her die twenty times upon far poorer moment. I do think there is mettle in death, which commits some loving act upon her, she hath such a celerity in dying.
ANTONY	She is cunning past man’s thought.
ENOBARBUS	Alack, sir, no. Her passions are made of nothing but the finest part of pure love. We cannot call her winds and waters sighs and tears; they are greater storms and tempests than almanacs can report. This cannot be cunning in her; if it be, she makes a shower of rain as well as Jove.
ANTONY	Would I had never seen her!
ENOBARBUS	O, sir, you had then left unseen a wonderful piece of work, which not to have been blessed withal would have discredited your travel.
ANTONY	Fulvia is dead.
ENOBARBUS	Sir.
ANTONY	Fulvia is dead.
ENOBARBUS	Fulvia?
ANTONY	Dead.
ENOBARBUS	Why, sir, give the gods a thankful sacrifice. When it pleaseth their deities to take the wife of a man from him, it shows to man the tailors of the earth; comforting therein that when old robes are worn out there are members to make new. If there were no more women but Fulvia, then had you indeed a cut, and the case to be lamented. This grief is crowned with consolation; your old smock brings forth a new petticoat, and indeed the tears live in an onion that should water this sorrow.
ANTONY	The business she hath broached in the state Cannot endure my absence.
ENOBARBUS	And the business you have broached here cannot be without you, especially that of Cleopatra’s, which wholly depends on your abode.
ANTONY	No more light answers. Let our officers Have notice what we purpose. I shall break The cause of our expedience to the Queen, And get her leave to part; for not alone The death of Fulvia, with more urgent touches, Do strongly speak to us, but the letters too Of many our contriving friends in Rome Petition us at home. Sextus Pompeius Hath given the dare to Caesar and commands The empire of the sea. Our slippery people, Whose love is never linked to the deserver Till his deserts are past, begin to throw Pompey the Great and all his dignities Upon his son, who—high in name and power, Higher than both in blood and life—stands up For the main soldier; whose quality, going on, The sides o’th’ world may danger. Much is breeding Which, like the courser’s hair, hath yet but life, And not a serpent’s poison. Say our pleasure, To such whose place is under us, requires Our quick remove from hence.
ENOBARBUS	I shall do’t.
(didascalia)	Exeunt severally

Atto 1, Scena 3

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Cleopatra, Charmian, Alexas, and Iras
CLEOPATRA	Where is he?
CHARMIAN	I did not see him since.
(didascalia)	CLEOPATRA to Alexas
CHARMIAN	See where he is, who’s with him, what he does. I did not send you. If you find him sad, Say I am dancing; if in mirth, report That I am sudden sick. Quick, and return.
(didascalia)	Exit Alexas
CHARMIAN	Madam, methinks, if you did love him dearly, You do not hold the method to enforce The like from him.
CLEOPATRA	What should I do I do not?
CHARMIAN	In each thing give him way; cross him in nothing.
CLEOPATRA	Thou teachest like a fool, the way to lose him.
CHARMIAN	Tempt him not so too far. Iwis, forbear. In time we hate that which we often fear.
(didascalia)	Enter Antony
CHARMIAN	But here comes Antony.
CLEOPATRA	I am sick and sullen.
ANTONY	I am sorry to give breathing to my purpose.
CLEOPATRA	Help me away, dear Charmian, I shall fall. It cannot be thus long—the sides of nature Will not sustain it.
ANTONY	Now, my dearest queen.
CLEOPATRA	Pray you, stand farther from me.
ANTONY	What’s the matter?
CLEOPATRA	I know by that same eye there’s some good news. What says the married woman—you may go? Would she had never given you leave to come. Let her not say ’tis I that keep you here. I have no power upon you; hers you are.
ANTONY	The gods best know—
CLEOPATRA	O, never was there queen So mightily betrayed! Yet at the first I saw the treasons planted.
ANTONY	Cleopatra—
CLEOPATRA	Why should I think you can be mine and true— Though you in swearing shake the thronèd gods— Who have been false to Fulvia? Riotous madness, To be entangled with those mouth-made vows Which break themselves in swearing.
ANTONY	Most sweet queen—
CLEOPATRA	Nay, pray you, seek no colour for your going, But bid farewell and go. When you sued staying, Then was the time for words; no going then. Eternity was in our lips and eyes, Bliss in our brow’s bent; none our parts so poor But was a race of heaven. They are so still, Or thou, the greatest soldier of the world, Art turned the greatest liar.
ANTONY	How now, lady!
CLEOPATRA	I would I had thy inches. Thou shouldst know There were a heart in Egypt.
ANTONY	Hear me, Queen. The strong necessity of time commands Our services a while, but my full heart Remains in use with you. Our Italy Shines o’er with civil swords. Sextus Pompeius Makes his approaches to the port of Rome. Equality of two domestic powers Breed scrupulous faction. The hated, grown to strength, Are newly grown to love. The condemned Pompey, Rich in his father’s honour, creeps apace Into the hearts of such as have not thrived Upon the present state, whose numbers threaten; And quietness, grown sick of rest, would purge By any desperate change. My more particular, And that which most with you should safe my going, Is Fulvia’s death.
CLEOPATRA	Though age from folly could not give me freedom, It does from childishness. Can Fulvia die?
ANTONY	She’s dead, my queen. He offers letters Look here, and at thy sovereign leisure read The garboils she awaked. At the last, best, See when and where she died.
CLEOPATRA	O most false love! Where be the sacred vials thou shouldst fill With sorrowful water? Now I see, I see, In Fulvia’s death how mine received shall be.
ANTONY	Quarrel no more, but be prepared to know The purposes I bear, which are or cease As you shall give th’advice. By the fire That quickens Nilus’ slime, I go from hence Thy soldier-servant, making peace or war As thou affects.
CLEOPATRA	Cut my lace, Charmian, come. But let it be. I am quickly ill and well; So Antony loves.
ANTONY	My precious queen, forbear, And give true evidence to his love, which stands An honourable trial.
CLEOPATRA	So Fulvia told me. I prithee turn aside and weep for her, Then bid adieu to me, and say the tears Belong to Egypt. Good now, play one scene Of excellent dissembling, and let it look Like perfect honour.
ANTONY	You’ll heat my blood. No more.
CLEOPATRA	You can do better yet; but this is meetly.
ANTONY	Now by my sword—
CLEOPATRA	And target. Still he mends. But this is not the best. Look, prithee, Charmian, How this Herculean Roman does become The carriage of his chafe.
ANTONY	I’ll leave you, lady.
CLEOPATRA	Courteous lord, one word. Sir, you and I must part; but that’s not it. Sir, you and I have loved; but there’s not it; That you know well. Something it is I would— O, my oblivion is a very Antony, And I am all forgotten.
ANTONY	But that your royalty Holds idleness your subject, I should take you For idleness itself.
CLEOPATRA	’Tis sweating labour To bear such idleness so near the heart As Cleopatra this. But sir, forgive me, Since my becomings kill me when they do not Eye well to you. Your honour calls you hence, Therefore be deaf to my unpitied folly, And all the gods go with you. Upon your sword Sit laurel victory, and smooth success Be strewed before your feet.
ANTONY	Let us go. Come. Our separation so abides and flies That thou residing here goes yet with me, And I hence fleeting, here remain with thee. Away.
(didascalia)	Exeunt severally

Atto 1, Scena 4

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Octavius reading a letter, Lepidus, and their train
CAESAR	You may see, Lepidus, and henceforth know, It is not Caesar’s natural vice to hate Our great competitor. From Alexandria This is the news: he fishes, drinks, and wastes The lamps of night in revel; is not more manlike Than Cleopatra, nor the queen of Ptolemy More womanly than he; hardly gave audience Or vouchsafed to think he had partners. You shall find there A man who is the abstract of all faults That all men follow.
LEPIDUS	I must not think there are Evils enough to darken all his goodness. His faults in him seem as the spots of heaven, More fiery by night’s blackness; hereditary Rather than purchased; what he cannot change Than what he chooses.
CAESAR	You are too indulgent. Let’s grant it is not Amiss to tumble on the bed of Ptolemy, To give a kingdom for a mirth, to sit And keep the turn of tippling with a slave, To reel the streets at noon, and stand the buffet With knaves that smells of sweat. Say this becomes him— As his composure must be rare indeed Whom these things cannot blemish—yet must Antony No way excuse his foils when we do bear So great weight in his lightness. If he filled His vacancy with his voluptuousness, Full surfeits and the dryness of his bones Call on him for’t. But to confound such time That drums him from his sport, and speaks as loud As his own state and ours—’tis to be chid As we rate boys who, being mature in knowledge, Pawn their experience to their present pleasure, And so rebel to judgement.
(didascalia)	Enter a Messenger
LEPIDUS	Here’s more news.
MESSENGER	Thy biddings have been done, and every hour, Most noble Caesar, shalt thou have report How ’tis abroad. Pompey is strong at sea, And it appears he is beloved of those That only have feared Caesar. To the ports The discontents repair, and men’s reports Give him much wronged.
(didascalia)	Exit
CAESAR	I should have known no less. It hath been taught us from the primal state That he which is was wished until he were, And the ebbed man, ne‘er loved till ne’er worth love, Comes deared by being lacked. This common body, Like to a vagabond flag upon the stream, Goes to, and back, lackeying the varying tide, To rot itself with motion.
(didascalia)	Enter a second Messenger
SECOND MESSENGER	Caesar, I bring thee word Menecrates and Menas, famous pirates, Makes the sea serve them, which they ear and wound With keels of every kind. Many hot inroads They make in Italy. The borders maritime Lack blood to think on‘t, and flush youth revolt. No vessel can peep forth but ’tis as soon Taken as seen; for Pompey’s name strikes more Than could his war resisted.
(didascalia)	Exit
CAESAR	Antony, Leave thy lascivious wassails. When thou once Was beaten from Modena, where thou slew‘st Hirtius and Pansa, consuls, at thy heel Did famine follow, whom thou fought’st against— Though daintily brought up—with patience more Than savages could suffer. Thou didst drink The stale of horses, and the gilded puddle Which beasts would cough at. Thy palate then did deign The roughest berry on the rudest hedge. Yea, like the stag when snow the pasture sheets, The barks of trees thou browsed. On the Alps It is reported thou didst eat strange flesh, Which some did die to look on; and all this— It wounds thine honour that I speak it now— Was borne so like a soldier that thy cheek So much as lanked not.
LEPIDUS	’Tis pity of him.
CAESAR	Let his shames quickly Drive him to Rome. ‘Tis time we twain Did show ourselves i’th’ field; and to that end Assemble we immediate council. Pompey Thrives in our idleness.
LEPIDUS	Tomorrow, Caesar, I shall be furnished to inform you rightly Both what by sea and land I can be able To front this present time.
CAESAR	Till which encounter It is my business, too. Farewell.
LEPIDUS	Farewell, my lord. What you shall know meantime Of stirs abroad I shall beseech you, sir, To let me be partaker.
CAESAR	Doubt not, sir. I knew it for my bond.
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Atto 1, Scena 5

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter
(didascalia)	Cleopatra, Charmian, Iras, and Mardian
CLEOPATRA	Charmian!
CHARMIAN	Madam?
CLEOPATRA	(yawning) Ha, ha. Give me to drink mandragora.
CHARMIAN	Why, madam?
CLEOPATRA	That I might sleep out this great gap of time My Antony is away.
CHARMIAN	You think of him too much.
CLEOPATRA	O, ’tis treason!
CHARMIAN	Madam, I trust not so.
CLEOPATRA	Thou, eunuch Mardian!
MARDIAN	What’s your highness’ pleasure?
CLEOPATRA	Not now to hear thee sing. I take no pleasure In aught an eunuch has. ’is well for thee That, being unseminared, thy freer thoughts May not fly forth of Egypt. Hast thou affections?
MARDIAN	Yes, gracious madam.
CLEOPATRA	Indeed?
MARDIAN	Not in deed, madam, for I can do nothing But what indeed is honest to be done. Yet have I fierce affections, and think What Venus did with Mars.
CLEOPATRA	O, Charmian, Where think‘st thou he is now? Stands he or sits he? Or does he walk? Or is he on his horse? O happy horse, to bear the weight of Antony! Do bravely, horse, for wot’st thou whom thou mov’st?— The demi-Atlas of this earth, the arm And burgonet of men. He’s speaking now, Or murmuring ‘Where’s my serpent of old Nile?’— For so he calls me. Now I feed myself With most delicious poison. Think on me, That am with Phoebus’ amorous pinches black, And wrinkled deep in time. Broad-fronted Caesar, When thou wast here above the ground I was A morsel for a monarch, and great Pompey Would stand and make his eyes grow in my brow. There would he anchor his aspect, and die With looking on his life.
(didascalia)	Enter Alexas
ALEXAS	Sovereign of Egypt, hail!
CLEOPATRA	How much unlike art thou Mark Antony! Yet, coming from him, that great medicine hath With his tinct gilded thee. How goes it With my brave Mark Antony?
ALEXAS	Last thing he did, dear Queen, He kissed—the last of many doubled kisses— This orient pearl. His speech sticks in my heart.
CLEOPATRA	Mine ear must pluck it thence.
ALEXAS	‘Good friend,’ quoth he, ‘Say the firm Roman to great Egypt sends This treasure of an oyster; at whose foot, To mend the petty present, I will piece Her opulent throne with kingdoms. All the East, Say thou, shall call her mistress.’ So he nodded, And soberly did mount an arm-jaunced steed, Who neighed so high that what I would have spoke Was beastly dumbed by him.
CLEOPATRA	What, was he sad or merry?
ALEXAS	Like to the time o’th’ year between the extremes Of hot and cold, he was nor sad nor merry.
CLEOPATRA	O well divided disposition! Note him, Note him, good Charmian, ‘tis the man; but note him. He was not sad, for he would shine on those That make their looks by his; he was not merry, Which seemed to tell them his remembrance lay In Egypt with his joy; but between both. O heavenly mingle! Be’st thou sad or merry, The violence of either thee becomes; So does it no man else. Met’st thou my posts?
ALEXAS	Ay, madam, twenty several messengers. Why do you send so thick?
CLEOPATRA	Who’s born that day When I forget to send to Antony Shall die a beggar. Ink and paper, Charmian! I Welcome, my good Alexas. Did I, Charmian, Ever love Caesar so?
CHARMIAN	O, that brave Caesar!
CLEOPATRA	Be choked with such another emphasis! Say ‘the brave Antony’.
CHARMIAN	The valiant Caesar.
CLEOPATRA	By Isis, I will give thee bloody teeth If thou with Caesar paragon again My man of men.
CHARMIAN	By your most gracious pardon, I sing but after you.
CLEOPATRA	My salad days, When I was green in judgement, cold in blood, To say as I said then. But come, away, Get me ink and paper. He shall have every day a several greeting, Or I’ll unpeople Egypt.
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Atto 2, Scena 1

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Pompey, Menecrates, and Menas, in warlike manner
POMPEY	If the great gods be just, they shall assist The deeds of justest men.
(didascalia)	MENECRATES Know, worthy Pompey,
POMPEY	That what they do delay they not deny.
POMPEY	Whiles we are suitors to their throne, decays The thing we sue for.
(didascalia)	MENECRATES
POMPEY	We, ignorant of ourselves, Beg often our own harms, which the wise powers Deny us for our good; so find we profit By losing of our prayers.
POMPEY	I shall do well. The people love me, and the sea is mine. My powers are crescent, and my auguring hope Says it will come to th’ full. Mark Antony In Egypt sits at dinner, and will make No wars without doors. Caesar gets money where He loses hearts. Lepidus flatters both, Of both is flattered; but he neither loves, Nor either cares for him.
(didascalia)	MENAS
POMPEY	Caesar and Lepidus Are in the field; a mighty strength they carry.
POMPEY	Where have you this? ’Tis false.
(didascalia)	MENAS
POMPEY	From Silvius, sir.
POMPEY	He dreams. I know they are in Rome together, Looking for Antony. But all the charms of love, Salt Cleopatra, soften thy waned lip. Let witchcraft join with beauty, lust with both Tie up the libertine, in a field of feasts Keep his brain fuming; Epicurean cooks Sharpen with cloyless sauce his appetite, That sleep and feeding may prorogue his honour Even till a Lethe’d dullness—
(didascalia)	Enter Varrius
POMPEY	How now, Varrius?
VARRIUS	This is most certain that I shall deliver: Mark Antony is every hour in Rome Expected. Since he went from Egypt, ’tis A space for farther travel.
POMPEY	I could have given less matter A better ear. Menas, I did not think This amorous surfeiter would have donned his helm For such a petty war. His soldiership Is twice the other twain. But let us rear The higher our opinion, that our stirring Can from the lap of Egypt’s widow pluck The ne’er lust-wearied Antony.
MENAS	I cannot hope Caesar and Antony shall well greet together. His wife that’s dead did trespasses to Caesar, His brother warred upon him, although, I think, Not moved by Antony.
POMPEY	I know not, Menas, How lesser enmities may give way to greater. Were’t not that we stand up against them all, ’Twere pregnant they should square between themselves, For they have entertained cause enough To draw their swords. But how the fear of us May cement their divisions, and bind up The petty difference, we yet not know. Be’t as our gods will have’t; it only stands Our lives upon to use our strongest hands. Come, Menas.
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Atto 2, Scena 2

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Enobarbus and Lepidus
LEPIDUS	Good Enobarbus, ’tis a worthy deed, And shall become you well, to entreat your captain To soft and gentle speech.
ENOBARBUS	I shall entreat him To answer like himself. If Caesar move him, Let Antony look over Caesar’s head And speak as loud as Mars. By Jupiter, Were I the wearer of Antonio’s beard I would not shave’t today.
LEPIDUS	’Tis not a time For private stomaching.
ENOBARBUS	Every time Serves for the matter that is then born in’t.
LEPIDUS	But small to greater matters must give way.
ENOBARBUS	Not if the small come first.
LEPIDUS	Your speech is passion. But pray you, stir no embers up. Here comes The noble Antony.
(didascalia)	Enter at one door Antony and Ventidius
ENOBARBUS	And yonder Caesar.
(didascalia)	Enter at another door Caesar, Maecenas, and Agrippa
ANTONY	(to Ventidius) If we compose well here, to Parthia. Hark, Ventidius.
CAESAR	I do not know, Maecenas; ask Agrippa.
LEPIDUS	(to Caesar and Antony) Noble friends, That which combined us was most great; and let not A leaner action rend us. What’s amiss, May it be gently heard. When we debate Our trivial difference loud, we do commit Murder in healing wounds. Then, noble partners, The rather for I earnestly beseech, Touch you the sourest points with sweetest terms, Nor curstness grow to th’ matter.
ANTONY	’Tis spoken well. Were we before our armies, and to fight, I should do thus.
(didascalia)	Antony and Caesar embrace. Flourish
CAESAR	Welcome to Rome.
ANTONY	Thank you.
CAESAR	Sit.
ANTONY	Sit, sir.
CAESAR	Nay then. They sit
ANTONY	I learn you take things ill which are not so, Or being, concern you not.
CAESAR	I must be laughed at If or for nothing or a little I Should say myself offended, and with you Chiefly i’th’ world; more laughed at that I should Once name you derogately, when to sound your name It not concerned me.
ANTONY	My being in Egypt, Caesar, what was’t to you?
CAESAR	No more than my residing here at Rome Might be to you in Egypt. Yet if you there Did practise on my state, your being in Egypt Might be my question.
ANTONY	How intend you ‘practised’?
CAESAR	You may be pleased to catch at mine intent By what did here befall me. Your wife and brother Made wars upon me, and their contestation Was theme for you. You were the word of war.
ANTONY	You do mistake the business. My brother never Did urge me in his act. I did enquire it, And have my learning from some true reports That drew their swords with you. Did he not rather Discredit my authority with yours, And make the wars alike against my stomach, Having alike your cause? Of this, my letters Before did satisfy you. If you’ll patch a quarrel, As matter whole you have to make it with, It must not be with this.
CAESAR	You praise yourself By laying defects of judgement to me, but You patched up your excuses.
ANTONY	Not so, not so. I know you could not lack, I am certain on’t, Very necessity of this thought, that I, Your partner in the cause ’gainst which he fought, Could not with graceful eyes attend those wars Which fronted mine own peace. As for my wife, I would you had her spirit in such another. The third o’th’ world is yours, which with a snaffle You may pace easy, but not such a wife.
ENOBARBUS	Would we had all such wives, that the men might go to wars with the women.
ANTONY	So much uncurbable, her garboils, Caesar, Made out of her impatience—which not wanted Shrewdness of policy too—I grieving grant Did you too much disquiet, for that you must But say I could not help it.
CAESAR	I wrote to you When, rioting in Alexandria, you Did pocket up my letters, and with taunts Did gibe my missive out of audience.
ANTONY	Sir, he fell upon me ere admitted, then. Three kings I had newly feasted, and did want Of what I was i’th’ morning; but next day I told him of myself, which was as much As to have asked him pardon. Let this fellow Be nothing of our strife. If we contend, Out of our question wipe him.
CAESAR	You have broken The article of your oath, which you shall never Have tongue to charge me with.
LEPIDUS	Soft, Caesar.
ANTONY	No, Lepidus, let him speak. The honour is sacred which he talks on now, Supposing that I lacked it. But on, Caesar: The article of my oath—
CAESAR	To lend me arms and aid when I required them, The which you both denied.
ANTONY	Neglected, rather, And then when poisoned hours had bound me up From mine own knowledge. As nearly as I may I’ll play the penitent to you, but mine honesty Shall not make poor my greatness, nor my power Work without it. Truth is that Fulvia, To have me out of Egypt, made wars here, For which myself, the ignorant motive, do So far ask pardon as befits mine honour To stoop in such a case.
LEPIDUS	’Tis noble spoken.
MAECENAS	If it might please you to enforce no further The griefs between ye; to forget them quite Were to remember that the present need Speaks to atone you.
LEPIDUS	Worthily spoken, Maecenas.
ENOBARBUS	Or if you borrow one another’s love for the instant, you may, when you hear no more words of Pompey, return it again. You shall have time to wrangle in when you have nothing else to do.
ANTONY	Thou art a soldier only. Speak no more.
ENOBARBUS	That truth should be silent I had almost forgot.
ANTONY	You wrong this presence, therefore speak no more. ENOBARBUS Go to, then; your considerate stone.
CAESAR	I do not much dislike the matter, but The manner of his speech, for’t cannot be We shall remain in friendship, our conditions So diff‘ring in their acts. Yet if I knew What hoop should hold us staunch, from edge to edge O’th’ world I would pursue it.
AGRIPPA	Give me leave, Caesar.
CAESAR	Speak, Agrippa.
AGRIPPA	Thou hast a sister by the mother’s side, Admired Octavia. Great Mark Antony Is now a widower.
CAESAR	Say not so, Agrippa. If Cleopatra heard you, your reproof Were well deserved of rashness.
ANTONY	I am not married, Caesar. Let me hear Agrippa further speak.
AGRIPPA	To hold you in perpetual amity, To make you brothers, and to knit your hearts With an unslipping knot, take Antony Octavia to his wife; whose beauty claims No worse a husband than the best of men; Whose virtue and whose general graces speak That which none else can utter. By this marriage All little jealousies which now seem great, And all great fears which now import their dangers, Would then be nothing. Truths would be tales Where now half-tales be truths. Her love to both Would each to other and all loves to both Draw after her. Pardon what I have spoke, For ’tis a studied, not a present thought, By duty ruminated.
ANTONY	Will Caesar speak?
CAESAR	Not till he hears how Antony is touched With what is spoke already.
ANTONY	What power is in Agrippa, If I would say ‘Agrippa, be it so’, To make this good?
CAESAR	The power of Caesar, And his power unto Octavia.
ANTONY	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.
CAESAR	There’s my hand. Antony and Caesar clasp hands 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.
LEPIDUS	Happily, amen.
ANTONY	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, Lest my remembrance suffer ill report; At heel of that, defy him.
LEPIDUS	Time calls upon’s. Of us must Pompey presently be sought, Or else he seeks out us.
ANTONY	Where lies he?
CAESAR	About the Mount Misena.
ANTONY	What is his strength By land?
CAESAR	Great and increasing, but by sea He is an absolute master.
ANTONY	So is the fame. Would we had spoke together. Haste we for it; Yet ere we put ourselves in arms, dispatch we The business we have talked of.
CAESAR	With most gladness, And do invite you to my sister’s view, Whither straight I’ll lead you.
ANTONY	Let us, Lepidus, Not lack your company.
LEPIDUS	Noble Antony, Not sickness should detain me.
(didascalia)	Flourish. Exeunt all but Enobarbus, Agrippa, and Maecenas
MAECENAS	(to Enobarbus) Welcome from Egypt, sir.
ENOBARBUS	Half the heart of Caesar, worthy Maecenas! My honourable friend, Agrippa!
AGRIPPA	Good Enobarbus!
MAECENAS	We have cause to be glad that matters are so well digested. You stayed well by’t in Egypt.
ENOBARBUS	Ay, sir, we did sleep day out of countenance, and made the night light with drinking.
MAECENAS	Eight wild boars roasted whole at a breakfast and but twelve persons there—is this true?
ENOBARBUS	This was but as a fly by an eagle. We had much more monstrous matter of feast, which worthily deserved noting.
MAECENAS	She’s a most triumphant lady, if report be square to her.
ENOBARBUS	When she first met Mark Antony, she pursed up his heart upon the river of Cydnus. AGRiPPA There she appeared indeed, or my reporter devised well for her.
ENOBARBUS	I will tell you. The barge she sat in, like a burnished throne Burned 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 beggared 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 divers-coloured fans whose wind did seem To glow the delicate cheeks which they did cool, And what they undid did.
AGRIPPA	O, rare for Antony!
ENOBARBUS	Her gentlewomen, like the Nereides, So many mermaids, tended her i‘th’ 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, Enthroned i’th’ market-place, did sit alone, Whistling to th’air, which but for vacancy Had gone to gaze on Cleopatra too, And made a gap in nature.
AGRIPPA	Rare Egyptian!
ENOBARBUS	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 barbered ten times o’er, goes to the feast, And for his ordinary pays his heart For what his eyes eat only.
AGRIPPA	Royal wench! She made great Caesar lay his sword to bed. He ploughed her, and she cropped.
ENOBARBUS	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, pour breath forth.
MAECENAS	Now Antony Must leave her utterly.
ENOBARBUS	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.
MAECENAS	If beauty, wisdom, modesty can settle The heart of Antony, Octavia is A blessed lottery to him.
AGRIPPA	Let us go. Good Enobarbus, make yourself my guest Whilst you abide here.
ENOBARBUS	Humbly, sir, I thank you.
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Atto 2, Scena 3

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Antony and Caesar; Octavia between them
ANTONY	The world and my great office will sometimes Divide me from your bosom.
OCTAVIA	All which time, Before the gods my knee shall bow my prayers To them for you.
ANTONY	Good night, sir. My Octavia, Read not my blemishes in the world’s report. I have not kept my square, but that to come Shall all be done by th’ rule. Good night, dear lady. Good night, sir.
CAESAR	Good night.
(didascalia)	Exeunt Caesar and Octavia
(didascalia)	Enter Soothsayer
ANTONY	Now, sirrah. You do wish yourself in Egypt?
SOOTHSAYER	Would I had never come from thence, nor you Gone thither.
ANTONY	If you can, your reason?
SOOTHSAYER	I see it in my motion, have it not in my tongue. But yet hie you to Egypt again.
ANTONY	Say to me Whose fortunes shall rise higher: Caesar’s or mine?
SOOTHSAYER	Caesar’s. Therefore, O Antony, stay not by his side. Thy daemon, that thy spirit which keeps thee, is Noble, courageous, high, unmatchable, Where Caesar’s is not. But near him thy angel Becomes afeard, as being o’erpowered. Therefore Make space enough between you.
ANTONY	Speak this no more.
SOOTHSAYER	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 Is all afraid to govern thee near him; But he away, ’tis noble.
ANTONY	Get thee gone. Say to Ventidius I would speak with him.
(didascalia)	Exit Soothsayer
ANTONY	He shall to Parthia; be it art or hap, He hath spoken true. The very dice obey him, And in our sports my better cunning faints Under his chance. If we draw lots, he speeds. His cocks do win the battle still of mine When it is all to nought, and his quails ever Beat mine, inhooped, at odds. I will to Egypt; And though I make this marriage for my peace, I’th’ East my pleasure lies.
(didascalia)	Enter Ventidius
ANTONY	O, come, Ventidius. You must to Parthia, your commission’s ready. Follow me, and receive’t.
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Atto 2, Scena 4

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Lepidus, Maecenas, and Agrippa
LEPIDUS	Trouble yourselves no further. Pray you, hasten Your generals after.
AGRIPPA	Sir, Mark Antony Will e’en but kiss Octavia, and we’ll follow.
LEPIDUS	Till I shall see you in your soldier’s dress, Which will become you both, farewell.
MAECENAS	We shall, As I conceive the journey, be at the Mount Before you, Lepidus.
LEPIDUS	Your way is shorter. My purposes do draw me much about. You’ll win two days upon me.
MAECENAS	and
AGRIPPA	Sir, good success.
LEPIDUS	Farewell.
(didascalia)	Exeunt Maecenas and Agrippa at one door, Lepidus at another

Atto 2, Scena 5

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Cleopatra, Charmian, Iras, and Alexas
CLEOPATRA	Give me some music—music, moody food Of us that trade in love. CHARMIAN, IRAS, and ALEXAS The music, ho!
(didascalia)	Enter Mardian, the eunuch
CLEOPATRA	Let it alone. Let’s to billiards. Come, Charmian.
CHARMIAN	My arm is sore. Best play with Mardian.
CLEOPATRA	As well a woman with an eunuch played As with a woman. Come, you’ll play with me, sir?
MARDIAN	As well as I can, madam.
CLEOPATRA	And when good will is showed, though’t come too short The actor may plead pardon. I’ll none now. Give me mine angle. We’ll to th’ river. There, My music playing far off, I will betray Tawny-finned fishes. My bended hook shall pierce Their slimy jaws, and as I draw them up I’ll think them every one an Antony, And say ‘Ah ha, you’re caught!’
CHARMIAN	’Twas merry when You wagered on your angling, when your diver Did hang a salt fish on his hook, which he With fervency drew up.
CLEOPATRA	That time—O times!— I laughed him out of patience, and that night I laughed him into patience, and next morn, Ere the ninth hour, I drunk him to his bed, Then put my tires and mantles on him whilst I wore his sword Philippan.
(didascalia)	Enter a Messenger
CLEOPATRA	O, from Italy. Ram thou thy fruitful tidings in mine ears, That long time have been barren.
MESSENGER	Madam, madam!
CLEOPATRA	Antonio’s dead. If thou say so, villain, Thou kill’st thy mistress; but well and free, If thou so yield him, there is gold, and here My bluest veins to kiss—a hand that kings Have lipped, and trembled kissing.
MESSENGER	First, madam, he is well.
CLEOPATRA	Why, there’s more gold. But, sirrah, mark: we use To say the dead are well. Bring it to that, The gold I give thee will I melt and pour Down thy ill-uttering throat.
MESSENGER	Good madam, hear me.
CLEOPATRA	Well, go to, I will. But there’s no goodness in thy face. If Antony Be free and healthful, so tart a favour To trumpet such good tidings! If not well, Thou shouldst come like a Fury crowned with snakes, Not like a formal man.
MESSENGER	Will’t please you hear me?
CLEOPATRA	I have a mind to strike thee ere thou speak’st. Yet if thou say Antony lives, is well, Or friends with Caesar, or not captive to him, I’ll set thee in a shower of gold, and hail Rich pearls upon thee.
MESSENGER	Madam, he’s well.
CLEOPATRA	Well said.
MESSENGER	And friends with Caesar.
CLEOPATRA	Thou’rt an honest man.
MESSENGER	Caesar and he are greater friends than ever.
CLEOPATRA	Make thee a fortune from me.
MESSENGER	But yet, madam—
CLEOPATRA	I do not like ‘But yet’; it does allay The good precedence. Fie upon ‘But yet’. ‘But yet’ is as a jailer to bring forth Some monstrous malefactor. Prithee, friend, Pour out the pack of matter to mine ear, The good and bad together. He’s friends with Caesar, In state of health, thou sayst; and, thou sayst, free.
MESSENGER	Free, madam? No, I made no such report. He’s bound unto Octavia.
CLEOPATRA	For what good turn?
MESSENGER	For the best turn i’th’ bed.
CLEOPATRA	I am pale, Charmian.
MESSENGER	Madam, he’s married to Octavia.
CLEOPATRA	The most infectious pestilence upon thee! She strikes him down
MESSENGER	Good madam, patience!
CLEOPATRA	What say you? She strikes him Hence, horrible villain, or I’ll spurn thine eyes Like balls before me. I’ll unhair thy head, She hales him up and down Thou shalt be whipped with wire and stewed in brine, Smarting in ling’ring pickle.
MESSENGER	Gracious madam, I that do bring the news made not the match.
CLEOPATRA	Say ’tis not so, a province I will give thee, And make thy fortunes proud. The blow thou hadst Shall make thy peace for moving me to rage, And I will boot thee with what gift beside Thy modesty can beg.
MESSENGER	He’s married, madam.
CLEOPATRA	Rogue, thou hast lived too long. She draws a knife
MESSENGER	Nay then, I’ll run. What mean you, madam? I have made no fault. Exit
CHARMIAN	Good madam, keep yourself within yourself. The man is innocent.
CLEOPATRA	Some innocents ’scape not the thunderbolt. Melt Egypt into Nile, and kindly creatures Turn all to serpents! Call the slave again. Though I am mad I will not bite him. Call!
CHARMIAN	He is afeard to come.
CLEOPATRA	I will not hurt him.
(didascalia)	Exit Charmian
CLEOPATRA	These hands do lack nobility that they strike A meaner than myself, since I myself Have given myself the cause.
(didascalia)	Enter the Messenger again With Charmian Come hither, sir.
CLEOPATRA	Though it be honest, it is never good To bring bad news. Give to a gracious message An host of tongues, but let ill tidings tell Themselves when they be felt.
MESSENGER	I have done my duty.
CLEOPATRA	Is he married? I cannot hate thee worser than I do If thou again say ‘Yes’.
MESSENGER	He’s married, madam.
CLEOPATRA	The gods confound thee! Dost thou hold there still?
MESSENGER	Should I lie, madam?
CLEOPATRA	O, I would thou didst, So half my Egypt were submerged and made A cistern for scaled snakes. Go, get thee hence. Hadst thou Narcissus in thy face, to me Thou wouldst appear most ugly. He is married?
MESSENGER	I crave your highness’ pardon.
CLEOPATRA	He is married?
MESSENGER	Take no offence that I would not offend you. To punish me for what you make me do Seems much unequal. He’s married to Octavia.
CLEOPATRA	O that his fault should make a knave of thee, That act not what thou‘rt sure of! Get thee hence. The merchandise which thou hast brought from Rome Are all too dear for me. Lie they upon thy hand, And be undone by ’em.
(didascalia)	Exit Messenger
CHARMIAN	Good your highness, patience.
CLEOPATRA	In praising Antony I have dispraised Caesar.
CHARMIAN	Many times, madam.
CLEOPATRA	I am paid for’t now. Lead me from hence. I faint. O Iras, Charmian—’tis no matter. Go to the fellow, good Alexas, bid him Report the feature of Octavia: her years, Her inclination; let him not leave out The colour of her hair. Bring me word quickly.
(didascalia)	Exit Alexas
CLEOPATRA	Let him for ever go—let him not, Charmian; Though he be painted one way like a Gorgon,
(didascalia)	The other way’s a Mars. To Mardian Bid you Alexas
CLEOPATRA	Bring me word how tall she is. Pity me, Charmian, But do not speak to me. Lead me to my chamber.
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Atto 2, Scena 6

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Flourish. Enter Pompey and Menas at one door, with a drummer and a trumpeter; at another, Caesar, Lepidus, Antony, Enobarbus, Maecenas, Agrippa, with soldiers marching
POMPEY	Your hostages I have, so have you mine, And we shall talk before we fight.
CAESAR	Most meet That first we come to words, and therefore have we Our written purposes before us sent, Which if thou hast considered, let us know If ’twill tie up thy discontented sword And carry back to Sicily much tall youth That else must perish here.
POMPEY	To you all three, The senators alone of this great world, Chief factors for the gods: I do not know Wherefore my father should revengers want, Having a son and friends, since Julius Caesar, Who at Philippi the good Brutus ghosted, There saw you labouring for him. What was’t That moved pale Cassius to conspire? And what Made the all-honoured, honest Roman Brutus, With the armed rest, courtiers of beauteous freedom, To drench the Capitol but that they would Have one man but a man? And that is it Hath made me rig my navy, at whose burden The angered ocean foams; with which I meant To scourge th’ingratitude that despiteful Rome Cast on my noble father.
CAESAR	Take your time.
ANTONY	Thou canst not fear us, Pompey, with thy sails. We’ll speak with thee at sea. At land thou know’st How much we do o’ercount thee.
POMPEY	At land indeed Thou dost o’ercount me of my father’s house, But since the cuckoo builds not for himself, Remain in’t as thou mayst.
LEPIDUS	Be pleased to tell us— For this is from the present—how you take The offers we have sent you.
CAESAR	There’s the point.
ANTONY	Which do not be entreated to, but weigh What it is worth, embraced.
CAESAR	And what may follow, To try a larger fortune?
POMPEY	You have made me offer Of Sicily, Sardinia; and I must Rid all the sea of pirates; then to send Measures of wheat to Rome; this ’greed upon, To part with unhacked edges, and bear back Our targes undinted. CAESAR, ANTONY, and LEPIDUS That’s our offer.
POMPEY	Know, then, I came before you here a man prepared To take this offer. But Mark Antony Put me to some impatience. Though I lose The praise of it by telling, you must know, When Caesar and your brother were at blows, Your mother came to Sicily, and did find Her welcome friendly.
ANTONY	I have heard it, Pompey, And am well studied for a liberal thanks Which I do owe you.
POMPEY	Let me have your hand. Pompey and Antony shake hands I did not think, sir, to have met you here.
ANTONY	The beds i’th’ East are soft; and thanks to you, That called me timelier than my purpose hither; For I have gained by’t.
CAESAR	(to Pompey) Since I saw you last There is a change upon you.
POMPEY	Well, I know not What counts harsh fortune casts upon my face, But in my bosom shall she never come To make my heart her vassal.
LEPIDUS	Well met here.
POMPEY	I hope so, Lepidus. Thus we are agreed. I crave our composition may be written And sealed between us.
CAESAR	That’s the next to do.
POMPEY	We’ll feast each other ere we part, and let’s Draw lots who shall begin.
ANTONY	That will I, Pompey.
POMPEY	No, Antony, take the lot. But, first or last, your fine Egyptian cookery Shall have the fame. I have heard that Julius Caesar Grew fat with feasting there.
ANTONY	You have heard much.
POMPEY	I have fair meanings, sir.
ANTONY	And fair words to them.
POMPEY	Then so much have I heard, And I have heard Apollodorus carried—
ENOBARBUS	No more o’ that, he did so.
POMPEY	What, I pray you?
ENOBARBUS	A certain queen to Caesar in a mattress.
POMPEY	I know thee now. How far’st thou, soldier?
ENOBARBUS	Well, and well am like to do, for I perceive Four feasts are toward.
POMPEY	Let me shake thy hand. Pompey and Enobarbus shake hands I never hated thee. I have seen thee fight When I have envied thy behaviour.
ENOBARBUS	Sir, I never loved you much, but I ha’ praised ye When you have well deserved ten times as much As I have said you did.
POMPEY	Enjoy thy plainness. It nothing ill becomes thee. Aboard my galley I invite you all. Will you lead, lords? CAESAR, ANTONY, and LEPIDUS Show’s the way, sir.
POMPEY	Come.
(didascalia)	Exeunt all but Enobarbus and Menas
MENAS	(aside) Thy father, Pompey, would ne’er have made this treaty. (To Enobarbus) You and I have known, sir.
ENOBARBUS	At sea, I think.
MENAS	We have, sir.
ENOBARBUS	You have done well by water.
MENAS	And you by land.
ENOBARBUS	I will praise any man that will praise me, though it cannot be denied what I have done by land.
MENAS	Nor what I have done by water.
ENOBARBUS	Yes, something you can deny for your own safety. You have been a great thief by sea.
MENAS	And you by land.
ENOBARBUS	There I deny my land service; but give me your hand, Menas. If our eyes had authority, here they might take two thieves kissing. They shake hands
MENAS	All men’s faces are true, whatsome’er their hands are.
ENOBARBUS	But there is never a fair woman has a true face.
MENAS	No slander; they steal hearts.
ENOBARBUS	We came hither to fight with you.
MENAS	For my part, I am sorry it is turned to a drinking. Pompey doth this day laugh away his fortune.
ENOBARBUS	If he do, sure he cannot weep’t back again.
MENAS	You’ve said, sir. We looked not for Mark Antony here. Pray you, is he married to Cleopatra?
ENOBARBUS	Caesar’s sister is called Octavia.
MENAS	True, sir. She was the wife of Caius Marcellus.
ENOBARBUS	But she is now the wife of Marcus Antonius.
MENAS	Pray ye, sir?
ENOBARBUS	’Tis true.
MENAS	Then is Caesar and he for ever knit together.
ENOBARBUS	If I were bound to divine of this unity I would not prophesy so.
MENAS	I think the policy of that purpose made more in the marriage than the love of the parties.
ENOBARBUS	I think so, too. But you shall find the band that seems to tie their friendship together will be the very strangler of their amity. Octavia is of a holy, cold, and still conversation.
MENAS	Who would not have his wife so?
ENOBARBUS	Not he that himself is not so, which is Mark Antony. He will to his Egyptian dish again; then shall the sighs of Octavia blow the fire up in Caesar, and, as I said before, that which is the strength of their amity shall prove the immediate author of their variance. Antony will use his affection where it is. He married but his occasion here.
MENAS	And thus it may be. Come, sir, will you aboard? I have a health for you.
ENOBARBUS	I shall take it, sir. We have used our throats in Egypt.
MENAS	Come, let’s away.
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Atto 2, Scena 7

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Music plays. Enter two or three Servants with a banquet
FIRST SERVANT	Here they’ll be, man. Some o’ their plants are ill rooted already; the least wind i’th’ world will blow them down.
SECOND SERVANT	Lepidus is high-coloured.
FIRST SERVANT	They have made him drink alms-drink.
SECOND SERVANT	As they pinch one another by the disposition, he cries out ‘No more!’—reconciles them to his entreaty and himself to th’ drink.
FIRST SERVANT	But it raises the greater war between him and his discretion.
SECOND SERVANT	Why, this it is to have a name in great men’s fellowship. I had as lief have a reed that will do me no service as a partisan I could not heave.
FIRST SERVANT	To be called into a huge sphere and not to be seen to move in’t, are the holes where eyes should be which pitifully disaster the cheeks.
(didascalia)	A sennet sounded. Enter Caesar, Antony, Pompey, Lepidus, Agrippa, Maecenas,.Enobarbus, and Menas, with other captains and a boy
ANTONY	(to Caesar) Thus do they, sir: they take the flow o’th’ Nile By certain scales i’th’ pyramid. They know By th’ height, the lowness, or the mean, if dearth Or foison follow. The higher Nilus swells The more it promises; as it ebbs, the seedsman Upon the slime and ooze scatters his grain, And shortly comes to harvest.
LEPIDUS	You’ve strange serpents there?
ANTONY	Ay, Lepidus.
LEPIDUS	Your serpent of Egypt is bred now of your mud by the operation of your sun; so is your crocodile.
ANTONY	They are so.
POMPEY	Sit, and some wine. A health to Lepidus!
(didascalia)	Antony, Pompey, and Lepidus sit
LEPIDUS	I am not so well as I should be, but I’ll ne’er out.
ENOBARBUS	Not till you have slept—I fear me you’ll be in till then.
LEPIDUS	Nay, certainly, I have heard the Ptolemies’ pyramises are very goodly things: without contradiction I have heard that.
MENAS	(aside to Pompey) Pompey, a word.
POMPEY	(aside to Menas) Say in mine ear; what is’t?
MENAS	(aside to Pompey) Forsake thy seat, I do beseech thee, captain, And hear me speak a word.
POMPEY	(aside to Menas) Forbear me till anon. (Aloud) This wine for Lepidus! Menas whispers in Pompey’s ear
LEPIDUS	What manner o’ thing is your crocodile?
ANTONY	It is shaped, sir, like itself; and it is as broad as it hath breadth. It is just so high as it is, and moves with it own organs. It lives by that which nourisheth it, and the elements once out of it, it transmigrates.
LEPIDUS	What colour is it of?
ANTONY	Of it own colour, too.
LEPIDUS	’Tis a strange serpent.
ANTONY	’Tis so, and the tears of it are wet.
CAESAR	(to Antony) Will this description satisfy him?
ANTONY	With the health that Pompey gives him; else he is a very epicure.
POMPEY	(aside to Menas) Go hang, sir, hang! Tell me of that? Away, Do as I bid you. (Aloud) Where’s this cup I called for?
MENAS	(aside to Pompey) If for the sake of merit thou wilt hear me, Rise from thy stool.
(didascalia)	POMPEY rising I think thou’rt mad. The matter?
(didascalia)	Menas and Pompey stand apart
MENAS	I have ever held my cap off to thy fortunes.
POMPEY	Thou hast served me with much faith. What’s else to say? Be jolly, lords.
ANTONY	These quicksands, Lepidus, Keep off them, for you sink.
MENAS	Wilt thou be lord of all the world?
POMPEY	What sayst thou?
MENAS	Wilt thou be lord of the whole world? That’s twice.
POMPEY	How should that be?
MENAS	But entertain it And, though thou think me poor, I am the man Will give thee all the world.
POMPEY	Hast thou drunk well?
MENAS	No, Pompey, I have kept me from the cup. Thou art, if thou dar‘st be, the earthly Jove. Whate’er the ocean pales or sky inclips Is thine, if thou wilt ha’t.
POMPEY	Show me which way!
MENAS	These three world-sharers, these competitors, Are in thy vessel. Let me cut the cable; And when we are put off, fall to their throats. All there is thine.
POMPEY	Ah, this thou shouldst have done And not have spoke on’t. In me ‘tis villainy, In thee ’t had been good service. Thou must know ’Tis not my profit that does lead mine honour; Mine honour, it. Repent that e’er thy tongue Hath so betrayed thine act. Being done unknown, I should have found it afterwards well done, But must condemn it now. Desist, and drink. He returns to the others
MENAS	(aside) For this, I’ll never follow thy palled fortunes more. Who seeks and will not take when once ’tis offered, Shall never find it more.
POMPEY	This health to Lepidus!
ANTONY	Bear him ashore.—I’ll pledge it for him, Pompey.
ENOBARBUS	Here’s to thee, Menas!
MENAS	Enobarbus, welcome.
POMPEY	Fill till the cup be hid. One lifts Lepidus, drunk, and carries him off
ENOBARBUS	There’s a strong fellow, Menas.
MENAS	Why? 86
ENOBARBUS	A bears the third part of the world, man; seest not?
MENAS	The third part then is drunk. Would it were all, That it might go on wheels.
ENOBARBUS	Drink thou, increase the reels.
MENAS	Come.
POMPEY	This is not yet an Alexandrian feast.
ANTONY	It ripens towards it. Strike the vessels, ho! Here’s to Caesar!
CAESAR	I could well forbear’t. It’s monstrous labour when I wash my brain, An it grow fouler.
ANTONY	Be a child o’th’ time.
CAESAR	Possess it, I’ll make answer. But I had rather fast from all, four days, Than drink so much in one.
ENOBARBUS	(to Antony) Ha, my brave Emperor, Shall we dance now the Egyptian bacchanals, And celebrate our drink?
POMPEY	Let’s ha’t, good soldier.
ANTONY	Come, let’s all take hands Till that the conquering wine hath steeped our sense In soft and delicate Lethe.
ENOBARBUS	All take hands. Make battery to our ears with the loud music. The while I’ll place you, then the boy shall sing. The holding every man shall beat as loud As his strong sides can volley.
(didascalia)	Music plays. Enobarbus places them hand in hand
(didascalia)	Boy (sings)
ENOBARBUS	Come, thou monarch of the vine, Plumpy Bacchus, with pink eyne! In thy vats our cares be drowned, With thy grapes our hairs be crowned! Cup us till the world go round, Cup us till the world go round!
CAESAR	What would you more? Pompey, good night. (To Antony) Good-brother, Let me request you off. Our graver business Frowns at this levity. Gentle lords, let’s part. You see we have burnt our cheeks. Strong Enobarb Is weaker than the wine, and mine own tongue Splits what it speaks. The wild disguise hath almost Anticked us all. What needs more words? Good night. Good Antony, your hand.
POMPEY	I’ll try you on the shore.
ANTONY	And shall, sir. Give’s your hand.
POMPEY	O Antony, You have my father’s house. But what, we are friends! Come down into the boat.
(didascalia)	Exeunt all but Enobarbus and Menas
ENOBARBUS	Take heed you fall not, Menas.
MENAS	I’ll not on shore. No, to my cabin. These drums, these trumpets, flutes, what! Let Neptune hear we bid a loud farewell To these great fellows. Sound and be hanged, sound out!
(didascalia)	Sound a flourish, with drums
ENOBARBUS	(throwing his cap in the air) Hoo, says a! There’s my cap.
MENAS	Ho, noble captain, come!
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Atto 3, Scena 1

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Ventidius, with Silius and other Roman soldiers, as it were in triumph; the dead body of Pacorus borne before him
VENTIDIUS	Now, darting Parthia, art thou struck; and now Pleased fortune does of Marcus Crassus’ death Make me revenger. Bear the King’s son’s body Before our army. Thy Pacorus, Orodes, Pays this for Marcus Crassus.
SILIUS	Noble Ventidius, Whilst yet with Parthian blood thy sword is warm, The fugitive Parthians follow. Spur through Media, Mesopotamia, and the shelters whither The routed fly. So thy grand captain, Antony, Shall set thee on triumphant chariots and Put garlands on thy head.
VENTIDIUS	O Silius, Silius, I have done enough. A lower place, note well, May make too great an act. For learn this, Silius: Better to leave undone than by our deed Acquire too high a fame when him we serve’s away. Caesar and Antony have ever won More in their officer than person. Sossius, One of my place in Syria, his lieutenant, For quick accumulation of renown, Which he achieved by th’ minute, lost his favour. Who does 4’th’ wars more than his captain can Becomes his captain’s captain; and ambition, The soldier’s virtue, rather makes choice of loss Than gain which darkens him. I could do more to do Antonius good, But ’twould offend him, and in his offence Should my performance perish.
SILIUS	Thou hast, Ventidius, that Without the which a soldier and his sword Grants scarce distinction. Thou wilt write to Antony?
VENTIDIUS	I’ll humbly signify what in his name, That magical word of war, we have effected; How, with his banners and his well-paid ranks, The ne‘er-yet-beaten horse of Parthia We have jaded out o’th’ field.
SILIUS	Where is he now?
VENTIDIUS	He purposeth to Athens; whither, with what haste The weight we must convey with’s will permit, We shall appear before him.—On there; pass along.
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Atto 3, Scena 2

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Agrippa at one door, Enobarbus at another AGRIPPA What, are the brothers parted?
ENOBARBUS	They have dispatched with Pompey; he is gone. The other three are sealing. Octavia weeps To part from Rome, Caesar is sad, and Lepidus Since Pompey’s feast, as Menas says, is troubled With the green-sickness.
AGRIPPA	’Tis a noble Lepidus.
ENOBARBUS	A very fine one. O, how he loves Caesar!
AGRIPPA	Nay, but how dearly he adores Mark Antony!
ENOBARBUS	Caesar? Why, he’s the Jupiter of men.
AGRIPPA	What’s Antony—the god of Jupiter?
ENOBARBUS	Spake you of Caesar? How, the nonpareil?
AGRIPPA	O Antony, O thou Arabian bird!
ENOBARBUS	Would you praise Caesar, say ‘Caesar’; go no further.
AGRIPPA	Indeed, he plied them both with excellent praises.
ENOBARBUS	But he loves Caesar best; yet he loves Antony— Hoo! Hearts, tongues, figures, scribes, bards, poets, cannot Think, speak, cast, write, sing, number—hoo!— His love to Antony. But as for Caesar— Kneel down, kneel down, and wonder.
AGRIPPA	Both he loves.
ENOBARBUS	They are his shards, and he their beetle.
(didascalia)	Trumpet within
ENOBARBUS	So, This is to horse. Adieu, noble Agrippa.
AGRIPPA	Good fortune, worthy soldier, and farewell.
(didascalia)	Enter Caesar, Antony, Lepidus, and Octavia
ANTONY	(to Caesar) No further, sir.
CAESAR	You take from me a great part of myself. Use me well in’t. Sister, prove such a wife As my thoughts make thee, and as my farthest bond Shall pass on thy approof. Most noble Antony, Let not the piece of virtue which is set Betwixt us as the cement of our love To keep it builded, be the ram to batter The fortress of it; for better might we Have loved without this mean if on both parts This be not cherished.
ANTONY	Make me not offended In your distrust.
CAESAR	I have said.
ANTONY	You shall not find, Though you be therein curious, the least cause For what you seem to fear. So, the gods keep you, And make the hearts of Romans serve your ends. We will here part.
CAESAR	Farewell, my dearest sister, fare thee well. The elements be kind to thee, and make Thy spirits all of comfort. Fare thee well.
OCTAVIA	(weeping) My noble brother!
ANTONY	The April’s in her eyes; it is love’s spring, And these the showers to bring it on. Be cheerful.
OCTAVIA	Sir, look well to my husband’s house, and—
CAESAR	What, Octavia?
OCTAVIA	I’ll tell you in your ear. She whispers to Caesar
ANTONY	Her tongue will not obey her heart, nor can Her heart inform her tongue—the swan’-down feather, That stands upon the swell at full of tide, And neither way inclines.
ENOBARBUS	(aside to Agrippa) Will Caesar weep?
AGRIPPA	(aside to Enobarbus) He has a cloud in’s face.
ENOBARBUS	(aside to Agrippa) He were the worse for that were he a horse; So is he, being a man.
AGRIPPA	(aside to Enobarbus) Why, Enobarbus, When Antony found Julius Caesar dead He cried almost to roaring, and he wept When at Philippi he found Brutus slain.
ENOBARBUS	(aside to Agrippa) That year indeed he was troubled with a rheum. What willingly he did confound he wailed, Believe’, till I wept too.
CAESAR	No, sweet Octavia, You shall hear from me still. The time shall not Outgo my thinking on you.
ANTONY	Come, sir, come, I’ll wrestle with you in my strength of love. Look, here I have you (embracing Caesar); thus I let you go, And give you to the gods.
CAESAR	Adieu, be happy.
LEPIDUS	Let all the number of the stars give light To thy fair way.
CAESAR	Farewell, farewell. He kisses Octavia
ANTONY	Farewell.
(didascalia)	Trumpets sound. Exeunt Antony, Octavia, and Enobarbus at one door, Caesar, Lepidus, and Agrippa at another

Atto 3, Scena 3

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Cleopatra, Charmian, Iras, and Alexas
CLEOPATRA	Where is the fellow?
ALEXAS	Half afeard to come.
CLEOPATRA	Go to, go to.
(didascalia)	Enter the Messenger as before
CLEOPATRA	Come hither, sir.
ALEXAS	Good majesty, Herod of Jewry dare not look upon you But when you are well pleased.
CLEOPATRA	That Herod’s head I’ll have; but how, when Antony is gone, Through whom I might command it? (To the Messenger) Come thou near.
MESSENGER	Most gracious majesty!
CLEOPATRA	Didst thou behold Octavia?
MESSENGER	Ay, dread Queen.
CLEOPATRA	Where?
MESSENGER	Madam, in Rome. I looked her in the face, and saw her led Between her brother and Mark Antony.
CLEOPATRA	Is she as tall as me?
MESSENGER	She is not, madam.
CLEOPATRA	Didst hear her speak? Is she shrill-tongued or low?
MESSENGER	Madam, I heard her speak. She is low-voiced.
CLEOPATRA	That’s not so good. He cannot like her long.
CHARMIAN	Like her? O Isis, ’is impossible!
CLEOPATRA	I think so, Charmian. Dull of tongue, and dwarfish. What majesty is in her gait? Remember If e‘er thou looked’st on majesty.
MESSENGER	She creeps. Her motion and her station are as one. She shows a body rather than a life, A statue than a breather.
CLEOPATRA	Is this certain?
MESSENGER	Or I have no observance.
CHARMIAN	Three in Egypt Cannot make better note.
CLEOPATRA	He’s very knowing, I do perceive’t. There’s nothing in her yet. The fellow has good judgement.
CHARMIAN	Excellent.
CLEOPATRA	(to the Messenger) Guess at her years, I prithee.
MESSENGER	Madam, She was a widow—
CLEOPATRA	Widow? Charmian, hark.
MESSENGER	And I do think she’s thirty.
CLEOPATRA	Bear’st thou her face in mind? Is’t long or round?
MESSENGER	Round, even to faultiness.
CLEOPATRA	For the most part, too, they are foolish that are so. Her hair—what colour?
MESSENGER	Brown, madam; and her forehead As low as she would wish it.
CLEOPATRA	(giving money) There’s gold for thee. Thou must not take my former sharpness ill. I will employ thee back again. I find thee Most fit for business. Go, make thee ready. Our letters are prepared.
(didascalia)	Exit Messenger
CHARMIAN	A proper man.
CLEOPATRA	Indeed he is so. I repent me much That so I harried him. Why, methinks, by him, This creature’s no such thing.
CHARMIAN	Nothing, madam.
CLEOPATRA	The man hath seen some majesty, and should know.
CHARMIAN	Hath he seen majesty? Isis else defend, And serving you so long!
CLEOPATRA	I have one thing more to ask him yet, good Charmian. But ’tis no matter. Thou shalt bring him to me Where I will write. All may be well enough.
CHARMIAN	I warrant you, madam.
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Atto 3, Scena 4

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Antony and Octavia
ANTONY	Nay, nay, Octavia, not only that, That were excusable, that and thousands more Of semblable import; but he hath waged New wars ‘gainst Pompey, made his will and read it To public ear, spoke scantly of me; When perforce he could not But pay me terms of honour, cold and sickly He vented them, most narrow measure lent me. When the best hint was given him, he not took’t, Or did it from his teeth.
OCTAVIA	O my good lord, Believe not all, or if you must believe, Stomach not all. A more unhappy lady, If this division chance, ne’er stood between, Praying for both parts. The good gods will mock me presently, When I shall pray ‘O, bless my lord and husband!’, Undo that prayer by crying out as loud ‘O, bless my brother!’ Husband win, win brother Prays and destroys the prayer; no midway ’Twixt these extremes at all.
ANTONY	Gentle Octavia, Let your best love draw to that point which seeks Best to preserve it. If I lose mine honour, I lose myself. Better I were not yours Than yours so branchless. But, as you requested, Yourself shall go between’s. The meantime, lady, I’ll raise the preparation of a war Shall stain your brother. Make your soonest haste; So your desires are yours.
OCTAVIA	Thanks to my lord. The Jove of power make me most weak, most weak, Your reconciler! Wars ’twixt you twain would be As if the world should cleave, and that slain men Should solder up the rift.
ANTONY	When it appears to you where this begins, Turn your displeasure that way, for our faults Can never be so equal that your love Can equally move with them. Provide your going, Choose your own company, and command what cost Your heart has mind to.
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Atto 3, Scena 5

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Enobarbus and Eros, meeting
ENOBARBUS	How now, friend Eros?
EROS	There’s strange news come, sir.
ENOBARBUS	What, man?
EROS	Caesar and Lepidus have made wars upon Pompey. ENOBARBUS This is old. What is the success?
EROS	Caesar, having made use of him in the wars ’gainst Pompey, presently denied him rivality, would not let him partake in the glory of the action, and, not resting here, accuses him of letters he had formerly wrote to Pompey; upon his own appeal seizes him; so the poor third is up, till death enlarge his confine.
ENOBARBUS	Then, world, thou hast a pair of chops, no more, And throw between them all the food thou hast, They’ll grind the one the other. Where’s Antony?
EROS	He’s walking in the garden, thus, and spurns The rush that lies before him, cries ‘Fool Lepidus!’ And threats the throat of that his officer That murdered Pompey.
ENOBARBUS	Our great navy’s rigged.
EROS	For Italy and Caesar. More, Domitius: My lord desires you presently. My news I might have told hereafter.
ENOBARBUS	’Twill be naught. But let it be; bring me to Antony.
EROS	Come, sir. Exeunt

Atto 3, Scena 6

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Agrippa, Maecenas, and Caesar
CAESAR	Contemning Rome, he has done all this and more In Alexandria. Here’s the manner of’t: I’th’ market place on a tribunal silvered, Cleopatra and himself in chairs of gold Were publicly enthroned. At the feet sat Caesarion, whom they call my father’s son, And all the unlawful issue that their lust Since then hath made between them. Unto her He gave the stablishment of Egypt; made her Of lower Syria, Cyprus, Lydia, Absolute queen.
MAECENAS	This in the public eye?
CAESAR	I‘th’ common showplace, where they exercise. His sons he there proclaimed the kings of kings; Great Media, Parthia, and Armenia He gave to Alexander. To Ptolemy he assigned Syria, Cilicia, and Phoenicia. She In th’habiliments of the goddess Isis That day appeared, and oft before gave audience, As ’tis reported, so.
MAECENAS	Let Rome be thus informed.
AGRIPPA	Who, queasy with his insolence already, Will their good thoughts call from him.
CAESAR	The people knows it, And have now received his accusations.
AGRIPPA	Who does he accuse?
CAESAR	Caesar, and that having in Sicily Sextus Pompeius spoiled, we had not rated him His part o’th’ isle. Then does he say he lent me Some shipping, unrestored. Lastly, he frets That Lepidus of the triumvirate Should be deposed; and being, that we detain All his revenue.
AGRIPPA	Sir, this should be answered.
CAESAR	’Tis done already, and the messenger gone. I have told him Lepidus was grown too cruel, That he his high authority abused And did deserve his change. For what I have conquered, I grant him part; but then in his Armenia, And other of his conquered kingdoms, I demand the like.
MAECENAS	He’ll never yield to that.
CAESAR	Nor must not then be yielded to in this.
(didascalia)	Enter Octavia with her train
OCTAVIA	Hail, Caesar, and my lord; hail, most dear Caesar!
CAESAR	That ever I should call thee castaway!
OCTAVIA	You have not called me so, nor have you cause.
CAESAR	Why have you stol’n upon us thus? You come not Like Caesar’s sister. The wife of Antony Should have an army for an usher, and The neighs of horse to tell of her approach Long ere she did appear. The trees by th’ way Should have borne men, and expectation fainted, Longing for what it had not. Nay, the dust Should have ascended to the roof of heaven, Raised by your populous troops. But you are come A market maid to Rome, and have prevented The ostentation of our love; which, left unshown, Is often left unloved. We should have met you By sea and land, supplying every stage With an augmented greeting.
OCTAVIA	Good my lord, To come thus was I not constrained, but did it On my free will. My lord, Mark Antony, Hearing that you prepared for war, acquainted My grieved ear withal, whereon I begged His pardon for return.
CAESAR	Which soon he granted, Being an obstruct ’tween his lust and him.
OCTAVIA	Do not say so, my lord.
CAESAR	I have eyes upon him, And his affairs come to me on the wind. Where is he now?
OCTAVIA	My lord, in Athens.
CAESAR	No, my most wronged sister. Cleopatra Hath nodded him to her. He hath given his empire Up to a whore; who now are levying The kings o’th’ earth for war. He hath assembled Bocchus, the King of Libya; Archelaus Of Cappadocia; Philadelphos, King Of Paphlagonia; the Thracian King Adallas; King Malchus of Arabia; King of Pont; Herod of Jewry; Mithridates, King Of Comagene; Polemon and Amyntas, The Kings of Mede and Lycaonia; With a more larger list of sceptres.
OCTAVIA	Ay me most wretched, That have my heart parted betwixt two friends That does afflict each other!
CAESAR	Welcome hither. Your letters did withhold our breaking forth Till we perceived both how you were wrong led And we in negligent danger. Cheer your heart. Be you not troubled with the time, which drives O’er your content these strong necessities; But let determined things to destiny Hold unbewailed their way. Welcome to Rome; Nothing more dear to me. You are abused Beyond the mark of thought, and the high gods, To do you justice, makes their ministers Of us and those that love you. Best of comfort, And ever welcome to us.
AGRIPPA	Welcome, lady.
MAECENAS	Welcome, dear madam. Each heart in Rome does love and pity you. Only th’adulterous Antony, most large In his abominations, turns you off, And gives his potent regiment to a trull That noises it against us.
OCTAVIA	Is it so, sir?
CAESAR	Most certain. Sister, welcome. Pray you Be ever known to patience. My dear’st sister!
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Atto 3, Scena 7

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Cleopatra and Enobarbus
CLEOPATRA	I will be even with thee, doubt it not.
ENOBARBUS	But why, why, why?
CLEOPATRA	Thou hast forspoke my being in these wars, And sayst it is not fit.
ENOBARBUS	Well, is it, is it?
CLEOPATRA	Is’t not denounced against us? Why should not we Be there in person?
(didascalia)	ENOBARBUS aside Well, I could reply
CLEOPATRA	If we should serve with horse and mares together, The horse were merely lost; the mares would bear A soldier and his horse.
CLEOPATRA	What is’t you say?
ENOBARBUS	Your presence needs must puzzle Antony, Take from his heart, take from his brain, from’s time What should not then be spared. He is already Traduced for levity; and ’tis said in Rome That Photinus, an eunuch, and your maids Manage this war.
CLEOPATRA	Sink Rome, and their tongues rot That speak against us! A charge we bear i’th’ war, And as the president of my kingdom will Appear there for a man. Speak not against it. I will not stay behind.
(didascalia)	Enter Antony and Camidius
ENOBARBUS	Nay, I have done. Here comes the Emperor.
ANTONY	Is it not strange, Camidius, That from Tarentum and Brundisium He could so quickly cut the Ionian Sea And take in Toryne?—You have heard on’t, sweet?
CLEOPATRA	Celerity is never more admired Than by the negligent.
ANTONY	A good rebuke, Which might have well becomed the best of men To taunt at slackness. Camidius, we Will fight with him by sea.
CLEOPATRA	By sea—what else?
CAMIDIUS	Why will my lord do so?
ANTONY	For that he dares us to’t.
ENOBARBUS	So hath my lord dared him to single fight.
CAMIDIUS	Ay, and to wage this battle at Pharsalia, Where Caesar fought with Pompey. But these offers Which serve not for his vantage, he shakes off, And so should you.
ENOBARBUS	Your ships are not well manned, Your mariners are muleters, reapers, people 35 Engrossed by swift impress. In Caesar’s fleet Are those that often have ’gainst Pompey fought. Their ships are yare, yours heavy. No disgrace Shall fall you for refusing him at sea, Being prepared for land.
ANTONY	By sea, by sea.
ENOBARBUS	Most worthy sir, you therein throw away The absolute soldiership you have by land; Distract your army, which doth most consist Of war-marked footmen; leave unexecuted Your own renowned knowledge; quite forgo The way which promises assurance, and Give up yourself merely to chance and hazard From firm security.
ANTONY	I’ll fight at sea.
CLEOPATRA	I have sixty sails, Caesar none better.
ANTONY	Our overplus of shipping will we burn, And with the rest full-manned, from th‘head of Actium Beat th’approaching Caesar. But if we fail, We then can do’t at land.
(didascalia)	Enter a Messenger
ANTONY	Thy business?
MESSENGER	The news is true, my lord. He is descried. Caesar has taken Toryne.
ANTONY	Can he be there in person? ’Tis impossible; Strange that his power should be. Camidius, Our nineteen legions thou shalt hold by land, And our twelve thousand horse. We’ll to our ship. Away, my Thetis!
(didascalia)	Enter a Soldier
ANTONY	How now, worthy soldier?
SOLDIER	O noble Emperor, do not fight by sea. Trust not to rotten planks. Do you misdoubt This sword and these my wounds? Let th’Egyptians And the Phoenicians go a-ducking; we Have used to conquer standing on the earth, And fighting foot to foot.
ANTONY	Well, well; away!
(didascalia)	Exeunt Antony, Cleopatra, and Enobarbus
SOLDIER	By Hercules, I think I am i’th’ right.
CAMIDIUS	Soldier, thou art; but his whole action grows Not in the power on’t. So our leader’s led, And we are women’s men.
SOLDIER	You keep by land The legions and the horse whole, do you not?
CAMIDIUS	Marcus Octavius, Marcus Justeius, Publicola and Caelius are for sea, But we keep whole by land. This speed of Caesar’s Carries beyond belief.
SOLDIER	While he was yet in Rome His power went out in such distractions As beguiled all spies.
CAMIDIUS	Who’s his lieutenant, hear you?
SOLDIER	They say, one Taurus.
CAMIDIUS	Well I know the man.
(didascalia)	Enter a Messenger
MESSENGER	The Emperor calls Camidius.
CAMIDIUS	With news the time’s in labour, and throws forth Each minute some.
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Atto 3, Scena 8

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Caesar with his army, marching, and Taurus CAESAR Taurus!
TAURUS	My lord?
CAESAR	Strike not by land. Keep whole. Provoke not battle Till we have done at sea. (Giving a scroll) Do not exceed The prescript of this scroll. Our fortune lies Upon this jump.
(didascalia)	Exit Caesar and his army at one door, Taurus at another

Atto 3, Scena 9

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Antony and Enobarbus
ANTONY	Set we our squadrons on yon side o’th’ hill In eye of Caesar’s battle, from which place We may the number of the ships behold, And so proceed accordingly.
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Atto 3, Scena 10

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Camidius marcheth with his land army over the stage, and taurus, the lieutenant of caesar, with his
NOBARBUS	Naught, naught, all naught! I can behold no longer. Th’Antoniad, the Egyptian admiral, With all their sixty, fly and turn the rudder. To see’t mine eyes are blasted.
(didascalia)	Enter Scarus
SCARUS	Gods and goddesses— All the whole synod of them!
ENOBARBUS	What’s thy passion?
SCARUS	The greater cantle of the world is lost With very ignorance; we have kissed away Kingdoms and provinces.
ENOBARBUS	How appears the fight?
SCARUS	On our side like the tokened pestilence, Where death is sure. Yon riband-red nag of Egypt— Whom leprosy o‘ertake!-i’th’ midst o’th’ fight— When vantage like a pair of twins appeared, Both as the same, or rather ours the elder— The breese upon her, like a cow in June, Hoists sails and flies.
ENOBARBUS	That I beheld. Mine eyes did sicken at the sight, and could not Endure a further view.
SCARUS	She once being luffed, The noble ruin of her magic, Antony, Claps on his sea-wing and, like a doting mallard, Leaving the fight in height, flies after her. I never saw an action of such shame. Experience, manhood, honour, ne’er before Did violate so itself.
ENOBARBUS	Alack, alack!
(didascalia)	Enter Camidius
CAMIDIUS	Our fortune on the sea is out of breath, And sinks most lamentably. Had our general Been what he knew himself, it had gone well. O, he has given example for our flight Most grossly by his own.
ENOBARBUS	Ay, are you thereabouts? Why then, good night indeed!
CAMIDIUS	Toward Peloponnesus are they fled.
SCARUS	’Tis easy to’t, and there I will attend What further comes.
CAMIDIUS	To Caesar will I render My legions and my horse. Six kings already Show me the way of yielding.
ENOBARBUS	I’ll yet follow The wounded chance of Antony, though my reason Sits in the wind against me.
(didascalia)	Exeunt severally

Atto 3, Scena 11

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Antony with Attendants
ANTONY	Hark, the land bids me tread no more upon’t, It is ashamed to bear me. Friends, come hither. I am so lated in the world that I Have lost my way for ever. I have a ship Laden with gold. Take that; divide it, fly, And make your peace with Caesar.
ATTENDANTS	Fly? Not we.
ANTONY	I have fled myself, and have instructed cowards To run and show their shoulders. Friends, be gone. I have myself resolved upon a course Which has no need of you. Be gone. My treasure’s in the harbour. Take it. O, I followed that I blush to look upon. My very hairs do mutiny, for the white Reprove the brown for rashness, and they them For fear and doting. Friends, be gone. You shall Have letters from me to some friends that will Sweep your way for you. Pray you, look not sad, Nor make replies of loathness. Take the hint Which my despair proclaims. Let that be left Which leaves itself. To the seaside straightway! I will possess you of that ship and treasure. Leave me, I pray, a little. Pray you now, Nay, do so; for indeed I have lost command. Therefore I pray you; I’ll see you by and by.
(didascalia)	Exeunt attendants
ANTONY	He sits down.
(didascalia)	Enter Cleopatra led by Charmian, Iras, and Eros
EROS	Nay, gentle madam, to him. Comfort him.
IRAS	Do, most dear Queen.
CHARMIAN	Do. Why, what else?
CLEOPATRA	Let me sit down. O Juno! She sits down
ANTONY	No, no, no, no, no.
EROS	(to Antony) See you here, sir?
ANTONY	O fie, fie, fie!
CHARMIAN	Madam.
IRAS	Madam. O good Empress!
EROS	Sir, sir.
ANTONY	Yes, my lord, yes. He at Philippi kept His sword e’en like a dancer, while I struck The lean and wrinkled Cassius; and ’twas I That the mad Brutus ended. He alone Dealt on lieutenantry, and no practice had In the brave squares of war. Yet now—no matter.
(didascalia)	CLEOPATRA (rising, to Charmian and Iras) Ah, stand by.
EROS	The Queen, my lord, the Queen.
IRAS	Go to him, madam. Speak to him. He’s unqualitied With very shame.
CLEOPATRA	Well then, sustain me. O!
EROS	Most noble sir, arise. The Queen approaches. Her head’s declined, and death will seize her but Your comfort makes the rescue.
ANTONY	I have offended reputation; A most unnoble swerving.
EROS	Sir, the Queen.
(didascalia)	ANTONY rising
EROS	O, whither hast thou led me, Egypt? See How I convey my shame out of thine eyes By looking back what I have left behind ’Stroyed in dishonour.
CLEOPATRA	O, my lord, my lord, Forgive my fearful sails! I little thought You would have followed.
ANTONY	Egypt, thou knew’st too well My heart was to thy rudder tied by th’ strings, And thou shouldst tow me after. O’er my spirit Thy full supremacy thou knew’st, and that Thy beck might from the bidding of the gods Command me.
CLEOPATRA	O, my pardon!
ANTONY	Now I must To the young man send humble treaties, dodge And palter in the shifts of lowness, who With half the bulk o’th’ world played as I pleased, Making and marring fortunes. You did know How much you were my conqueror, and that My sword, made weak by my affection, would Obey it on all cause.
CLEOPATRA	Pardon, pardon!
ANTONY	Fall not a tear, I say. One of them rates All that is won and lost. Give me a kiss. He kisses her Even this repays me. (To an Attendant) We sent our schoolmaster; Is a come back? (To Cleopatra) Love, I am full of lead. (Calling) Some wine
(didascalia)	Within there, and our viands! Fortune knows
ANTONY	We scorn her most when most she offers blows.
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Atto 3, Scena 12

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Caesar, Agrippa, Thidias, and Dolabella, with others
CAESAR	Let him appear that’s come from Antony. Know you him?
DOLABELLA	Caesar, ’tis his schoolmaster; An argument that he is plucked, when hither He sends so poor a pinion of his wing, Which had superfluous kings for messengers Not many moons gone by.
(didascalia)	Enter Ambassador from Antony
CAESAR	Approach and speak.
AMBASSADOR	Such as I am, I come from Antony. I was of late as petty to his ends As is the morn-dew on the myrtle leaf To his grand sea.
CAESAR	Be’t so. Declare thine office.
AMBASSADOR	Lord of his fortunes he salutes thee, and Requires to live in Egypt; which not granted, He lessens his requests, and to thee sues To let him breathe between the heavens and earth, A private man in Athens. This for him. Next, Cleopatra does confess thy greatness, Submits her to thy might, and of thee craves The circle of the Ptolemies for her heirs, Now hazarded to thy grace.
CAESAR	For Antony, I have no ears to his request. The Queen Of audience nor desire shall fail, so she From Egypt drive her all-disgracèd friend, Or take his life there. This if she perform She shall not sue unheard. So to them both.
AMBASSADOR	Fortune pursue thee!
CAESAR	Bring him through the bands.
(didascalia)	Exit Ambassador, attended
CAESAR	(To Thidias) To try thy eloquence now ‘tis time. Dispatch. From Antony win Cleopatra. Promise, And in our name, what she requires. Add more As thine invention offers. Women are not In their best fortunes strong, but want will perjure The ne’er-touched vestal. Try thy cunning, Thidias. Make thine own edict for thy pains, which we Will answer as a law.
THIDIAS	Caesar, I go.
CAESAR	Observe how Antony becomes his flaw, And what thou think’st his very action speaks In every power that moves.
THIDIAS	Caesar, I shall.
(didascalia)	Exeunt Caesar and his train at one door, and Thidias at another

Atto 3, Scena 13

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Cleopatra, Enobarbus, Charmian, and Iras
CLEOPATRA	What shall we do, Enobarbus?
ENOBARBUS	Think, and die.
CLEOPATRA	Is Antony or we in fault for this?
ENOBARBUS	Antony only, that would make his will Lord of his reason. What though you fled From that great face of war, whose several ranges Frighted each other? Why should he follow? The itch of his affection should not then Have nicked his captainship, at such a point, When half to half the world opposed, he being The mooted question. ’Twas a shame no less Than was his loss, to course your flying flags And leave his navy gazing.
CLEOPATRA	Prithee, peace.
(didascalia)	Enter the Ambassador with Antony
ANTONY	Is that his answer?
AMBASSADOR	Ay, my lord.
ANTONY	The Queen shall then have courtesy, so she Will yield us up.
AMBASSADOR	He says so.
ANTONY	Let her know’t. (To Cleopatra) To the boy Caesar send this grizzled head, And he will fill thy wishes to the brim With principalities.
CLEOPATRA	That head, my lord?
ANTONY	(to the Ambassador) To him again. Tell him he wears the rose Of youth upon him, from which the world should note Something particular. His coin, ships, legions, May be a coward‘s, whose ministers would prevail Under the service of a child as soon As i’th’ command of Caesar. I dare him therefore To lay his gay caparisons apart And answer me declined, sword against sword, Ourselves alone. I’ll write it. Follow me.
(didascalia)	Exeunt Antony and Ambassador
ENOBARBUS	(aside) Yes, like enough, high-battled Caesar will Unstate his happiness and be staged to th’ show Against a sworder! I see men’s judgements are A parcel of their fortunes, and things outward Do draw the inward quality after them To suffer all alike. That he should dream, Knowing all measures, the full Caesar will Answer his emptiness! Caesar, thou hast subdued His judgement, too.
(didascalia)	Enter a Servant
SERVANT	A messenger from Caesar.
CLEOPATRA	What, no more ceremony? See, my women: Against the blown rose may they stop their nose, That kneeled unto the buds. Admit him, sir.
(didascalia)	Exit Servant
ENOBARBUS	(aside) Mine honesty and I begin to square. The loyalty well held to fools does make Our faith mere folly; yet he that can endure To follow with allegiance a fall’n lord Does conquer him that did his master conquer, And earns a place i’th’ story.
(didascalia)	Enter Thidias
CLEOPATRA	Caesar’s will?
THIDIAS	Hear it apart.
CLEOPATRA	None but friends; say boldly.
THIDIAS	So haply are they friends to Antony.
ENOBARBUS	He needs as many, sir, as Caesar has, Or needs not us. If Caesar please, our master Will leap to be his friend. For us, you know, Whose he is, we are: and that is Caesar’s.
THIDIAS	So. (To Cleopatra) Thus, then, thou most renowned: Caesar entreats Not to consider in what case thou stand’st Further than he is Caesar.
CLEOPATRA	Go on; right royal.
THIDIAS	He knows that you embraced not Antony As you did love, but as you feared him.
CLEOPATRA	0.
THIDIAS	The scars upon your honour therefore he Does pity as constrained blemishes, Not as deserved.
CLEOPATRA	He is a god, and knows What is most right. Mine honour was not yielded, But conquered merely.
ENOBARBUS	(aside) To be sure of that I will ask Antony. Sir, sir, thou art so leaky That we must leave thee to thy sinking, for Thy dearest quit thee.
(didascalia)	Exit
THIDIAS	Shall I say to Caesar What you require of him?—For he partly begs To be desired to give. It much would please him That of his fortunes you should make a staff To lean upon. But it would warm his spirits To hear from me you had left Antony, And put your self under his shroud, The universal landlord.
CLEOPATRA	What’s your name?
THIDIAS	My name is Thidias.
CLEOPATRA	Most kind messenger, Say to great Caesar this in deputation: I kiss his conqu’ring hand. Tell him I am prompt To lay my crown at’s feet, and there to kneel Till from his all-obeying breath I hear The doom of Egypt.
THIDIAS	’Tis your noblest course. Wisdom and fortune combating together, If that the former dare but what it can, No chance may shake it. Give me grace to lay My duty on your hand. He kisses Cleopatra’s hand
CLEOPATRA	Your Caesar’s father oft, When he hath mused of taking kingdoms in, Bestowed his lips on that unworthy place, As it rained kisses.
(didascalia)	Enter Antony and Enobarbus
ANTONY	Favours, by Jove that thunders! What art thou, fellow?
THIDIAS	One that but performs The bidding of the fullest man, and worthiest To have command obeyed.
ENOBARBUS	You will be whipped.
ANTONY	(calling) Approach, there!—Ah, you kite! Now, gods and devils, Authority melts from me of late. When I cried ‘Ho!’, Like boys unto a muss kings would start forth, And cry ‘Your will?’—Have you no ears? I am Antony yet.
(didascalia)	Enter servants
ANTONY	Take hence this jack, and whip him.
(didascalia)	ENOBARBUS aside to Thidias
ANTONY	’Tis better playing with a lion’s whelp Than with an old one dying.
ANTONY	Moon and stars! Whip him! Were’t twenty of the greatest tributaries That do acknowledge Caesar, should I find them So saucy with the hand of she here—what’s her name Since she was Cleopatra? Whip him, fellows, Till like a boy you see him cringe his face, And whine aloud for mercy. Take him hence.
THIDIAS	Mark Antony—
ANTONY	Tug him away. Being whipped, Bring him again. This jack of Caesar’s shall Bear us an errand to him.
(didascalia)	Exeunt servants with Thidias
ANTONY	You were half blasted ere I knew you. Ha, Have I my pillow left unpressed in Rome, Forborne the getting of a lawful race, And by a gem of women, to be abused By one that looks on feeders?
CLEOPATRA	Good my lord—
ANTONY	You have been a boggler ever. But when we in our viciousness grow hard— O misery on’t!—the wise gods seel our eyes, In our own filth drop our clear judgements, make us Adore our errors, laugh at’s while we strut To our confusion.
CLEOPATRA	O, is’t come to this?
ANTONY	I found you as a morsel cold upon Dead Caesar’s trencher; nay, you were a fragment Of Gnaeus Pompey’s, besides what hotter hours Unregistered in vulgar fame you have Luxuriously picked out. For I am sure, Though you can guess what temperance should be, You know not what it is.
CLEOPATRA	Wherefore is this?
ANTONY	To let a fellow that will take rewards And say ’God quit you’ be familiar with My playfellow your hand, this kingly seal And plighter of high hearts! O that I were Upon the hill of Basan to outroar The hornèd herd! For I have savage cause, And to proclaim it civilly were like A haltered neck which does the hangman thank For being yare about him.
(didascalia)	Enter a Servant with Thidias
ANTONY	Is he whipped?
SERVANT	Soundly, my lord.
ANTONY	Cried he, and begged a pardon?
SERVANT	He did ask favour.
ANTONY	(to Thidias) If that thy father live, let him repent Thou wast not made his daughter; and be thou sorry To follow Caesar in his triumph, since Thou hast been whipped for following him. Henceforth The white hand of a lady fever thee, Shake thou to look on’t. Get thee back to Caesar; Tell him thy entertainment. Look thou say He makes me angry with him, for he seems Proud and disdainful, harping on what I am, Not what he knew I was. He makes me angry, And at this time most easy ’tis to do’t, When my good stars that were my former guides Have empty left their orbs, and shot their fires Into th’abyss of hell. If he mislike My speech and what is done, tell him he has Hipparchus, my enfranchèd bondman, whom He may at pleasure whip, or hang, or torture, As he shall like, to quit me. Urge it thou. Hence, with thy stripes, be gone!
(didascalia)	Exit Servant with Thidias
CLEOPATRA	Have you done yet?
ANTONY	Alack, our terrene moon Is now eclipsed, and it portends alone The fall of Antony.
CLEOPATRA	(aside) I must stay his time.
ANTONY	To flatter Caesar would you mingle eyes With one that ties his points?
CLEOPATRA	Not know me yet?
ANTONY	Cold-hearted toward me?
CLEOPATRA	Ah, dear, if I be so, From my cold heart let heaven engender hail, And poison it in the source, and the first stone Drop in my neck: as it determines, so Dissolve my life! The next Caesarion smite, Till by degrees the memory of my womb, Together with my brave Egyptians all, By the discandying of this pelleted storm Lie graveless till the flies and gnats of Nile Have buried them for prey!
ANTONY	I am satisfied. Caesar sits down in Alexandria, where I will oppose his fate. Our force by land Hath nobly held; our severed navy too Have knit again, and fleet, threat’ning most sea-like. Where hast thou been, my heart? Dost thou hear, lady? If from the field I shall return once more To kiss these lips, I will appear in blood. I and my sword will earn our chronicle. There’s hope in’t yet.
CLEOPATRA	That’s my brave lord.
ANTONY	I will be treble-sinewed, hearted, breathed, And fight maliciously; for when mine hours Were nice and lucky, men did ransom lives Of me for jests; but now I’ll set my teeth, And send to darkness all that stop me. Come, Let’s have one other gaudy night. Call to me All my sad captains. Fill our bowls once more. Let’s mock the midnight bell.
CLEOPATRA	It is my birthday. I had thought to’ve held it poor, but since my lord Is Antony again, I will be Cleopatra.
ANTONY	We will yet do well.
CLEOPATRA	Call all his noble captains to my lord!
ANTONY	Do so. We’ll speak to them, and tonight I’ll force The wine peep through their scars. Come on, my queen, There’s sap in’t yet. The next time I do fight I’ll make death love me, for I will contend Even with his pestilent scythe.
(didascalia)	Exeunt all but Enobarbus
ENOBARBUS	Now he’ll outstare the lightning. To be furious Is to be frighted out of fear, and in that mood The dove will peck the estridge; and I see still A diminution in our captain’s brain Restores his heart. When valour preys on reason, It eats the sword it fights with. I will seek Some way to leave him.
(didascalia)	Exit

Atto 4, Scena 1

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Caesar, reading a letter, with Agrippa, Maecenas, and his army
CAESAR	He calls me boy, and chides as he had power To beat me out of Egypt. My messenger He hath whipped with rods, dares me to personal combat, Caesar to Antony. Let the old ruffian know I have many other ways to die; meantime, Laugh at his challenge.
MAECENAS	Caesar must think, When one so great begins to rage, he’s hunted Even to falling. Give him no breath, but now Make boot of his distraction. Never anger Made good guard for itself.
CAESAR	Let our best heads Know that tomorrow the last of many battles We mean to fight. Within our files there are, Of those that served Mark Antony but late, Enough to fetch him in. See it done, And feast the army. We have store to do’t, And they have earned the waste. Poor Antony!
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Atto 4, Scena 2

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Antony, Cleopatra, Enobarbus, Charmian, Iras, Alexas, with others
ANTONY	He will not fight with me, Domitius?
ENOBARBUS	No.
ANTONY	Why should he not?
ENOBARBUS	He thinks, being twenty times of better fortune, He is twenty men to one.
ANTONY	Tomorrow, soldier, By sea and land I’ll fight. Or I will live Or bathe my dying honour in the blood Shall make it live again. Woot thou fight well?
ENOBARBUS	I’ll strike, and cry ‘Take all!’
ANTONY	Well said. Come on! Call forth my household servants. Let’s tonight Be bounteous at our meal.
(didascalia)	Enter Servitors
ANTONY	Give me thy hand. Thou hast been rightly honest; so hast thou, Thou, and thou, and thou; you have served me well, And kings have been your fellows.
CLEOPATRA	(to Enobarbus) What means this?
ENOBARBUS	(to Cleopatra) ’Tis one of those odd tricks which sorrow shoots Out of the mind.
ANTONY	(to a Servitor) And thou art honest too. I wish I could be made so many men, And all of you clapped up together in An Antony, that I might do you service So good as you have done.
SERVITORS	The gods forbid!
ANTONY	Well, my good fellows, wait on me tonight. Scant not my cups, and make as much of me As when mine empire was your fellow too, And suffered my command.
CLEOPATRA	(aside to Enobarbus) What does he mean?
ENOBARBUS	(aside to Cleopatra) To make his followers weep.
ANTONY	Tend me tonight. Maybe it is the period of your duty. Haply you shall not see me more; or if, A mangled shadow. Perchance tomorrow You’ll serve another master. I look on you As one that takes his leave. Mine honest friends, I turn you not away, but, like a master Married to your good service, stay till death. Tend me tonight two hours. I ask no more; And the gods yield you for’t!
ENOBARBUS	What mean you, sir, To give them this discomfort? Look, they weep, And I, an ass, am onion-eyed. For shame, Transform us not to women.
ANTONY	Ho, ho, ho, Now the witch take me if I meant it thus! Grace grow where those drops fall. My hearty friends, You take me in too dolorous a sense; For I spake to you for your comfort, did desire you To burn this night with torches. Know, my hearts, I hope well of tomorrow, and will lead you Where rather I’ll expect victorious life Than death and honour. Let’s to supper, come, And drown consideration.
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Atto 4, Scena 3

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter
(didascalia)	a company of Soldiers
FIRST SOLDIER	Brother, good night. Tomorrow is the day.
SECOND SOLDIER	It will determine one way. Fare you well. Heard you of nothing strange about the streets?
FIRST SOLDIER	Nothing. What news?
SECOND SOLDIER	Belike ’tis but a rumour. Good night to you.
FIRST SOLDIER	Well, sir, good night.
(didascalia)	Enter other Soldiers, meeting them
SECOND SOLDIER	Soldiers, have careful watch.
THIRD SOLDIER	And you. Good night, good night. They place themselves in every corner of the stage
SECOND SOLDIER	Here we; an if tomorrow Our navy thrive, I have an absolute hope Our landmen will stand up.
FIRST SOLDIER	’Tis a brave army, And full of purpose.
(didascalia)	Music of the hautboys is under the stage
SECOND SOLDIER	Peace, what noise?
FIRST SOLDIER	List, list!
SECOND SOLDIER	Hark!
FIRST SOLDIER	Music i’th’ air.
THIRD SOLDIER	Under the earth.
FOURTH SOLDIER	It signs well, does it not?
THIRD SOLDIER	No.
FIRST SOLDIER	Peace, I say! What should this mean?
SECOND SOLDIER	’Tis the god Hercules, whom Antony loved, Now leaves him.
FIRST SOLDIER	Walk. Let’s see if other watchmen Do hear what we do.
SECOND SOLDIER	How now, masters?
ALL	(speaking together) How now? How now? Do you hear this?
FIRST SOLDIER	Ay. Is’t not strange?
THIRD SOLDIER	Do you hear, masters? Do you hear?
FIRST SOLDIER	Follow the noise so far as we have quarter. Let’s see how it will give off.
ALL	Content. ’Tis strange.
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Atto 4, Scena 4

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Antony and Cleopatra, with Charmian and others
ANTONY	(calling) Eros, mine armour, Eros!
CLEOPATRA	Sleep a little.
ANTONY	No, my chuck. Eros, come, mine armour, Eros!
(didascalia)	Enter Eros with armour
ANTONY	Come, good fellow, put thine iron on. If fortune be not ours today, it is Because we brave her. Come.
CLEOPATRA	Nay, I’ll help, too. What’s this for?
ANTONY	Ah, let be, let be! Thou art The armourer of my heart. False, false! This, this!
CLEOPATRA	Sooth, la, I’ll help. Thus it must be. She helps Antony to arm
ANTONY	Well, well, We shall thrive now. Seest thou, my good fellow? Go put on thy defences.
EROS	Briefly, sir.
CLEOPATRA	Is not this buckled well?
ANTONY	Rarely, rarely. He that unbuckles this, till we do please To doff’t for our repose, shall hear a storm. Thou fumblest, Eros, and my queen’s a squire More tight at this than thou. Dispatch. O love, That thou couldst see my wars today, and knew’st The royal occupation! Thou shouldst see A workman in’t.
(didascalia)	Enter an armed Soldier
ANTONY	Good morrow to thee. Welcome. Thou look’st like him that knows a warlike charge. To business that we love we rise betime, And go to’t with delight.
SOLDIER	A thousand, sir, Early though’t be, have on their riveted trim, And at the port expect you.
(didascalia)	Shout within. Trumpets flourish. Enter Captains and Soldiers
CAPTAIN	The morn is fair. Good morrow, General.
SOLDIERS	Good morrow, General.
ANTONY	’Tis well blown, lads. This morning, like the spirit of a youth That means to be of note, begins betimes. So, so. Come, give me that. This way. Well said. Fare thee well, dame. Whate’er becomes of me, This is a soldier’s kiss. He kisses Cleopatra Rebukable And worthy shameful check it were to stand On more mechanic compliment. I’ll leave thee Now like a man of steel. You that will fight, Follow me close. I’ll bring you to’t. Adieu.
(didascalia)	Exeunt all but Cleopatra and Charmian
CHARMIAN	Please you retire to your chamber?
CLEOPATRA	Lead me. He goes forth gallantly. That he and Caesar might Determine this great war in single fight! Then, Antony—but now! Well, on.
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Atto 4, Scena 5

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Trumpets sound. Enter Antony and Eros, meeting a Soldier
SOLDIER	The gods make this a happy day to Antony!
ANTONY	Would thou and those thy scars had once prevailed To make me fight at land!
SOLDIER	Hadst thou done so, The kings that have revolted, and the soldier That has this morning left thee, would have still Followed thy heels.
ANTONY	Who’s gone this morning?
SOLDIER	Who? One ever near thee. Call for Enobarbus, He shall not hear thee, or from Caesar’s camp Say ‘I am none of thine’.
ANTONY	What sayest thou?
SOLDIER	Sir, he is with Caesar.
EROS	(to Antony) Sir, his chests and treasure He has not with him.
ANTONY	Is he gone?
SOLDIER	Most certain.
ANTONY	Go, Eros, send his treasure after. Do it. Detain no jot, I charge thee. Write to him— I will subscribe—gentle adieus and greetings. Say that I wish he never find more cause 15 To change a master. O, my fortunes have Corrupted honest men! Dispatch. Enobarbus!
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Atto 4, Scena 6

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Flourish. Enter Agrippa, Caesar, witih Enobarbus and Dolabella
CAESAR	Go forth, Agrippa, and begin the fight. Our will is Antony be took alive. Make it so known.
AGRIPPA	Caesar, I shall.
(didascalia)	Exit
CAESAR	The time of universal peace is near. Prove this a prosp’rous day, the three-nooked world Shall bear the olive freely.
(didascalia)	Enter a Messenger
MESSENGER	Antony Is come into the field.
CAESAR	Go charge Agrippa Plant those that have revolted in the van, That Antony may seem to spend his fury Upon himself. 10
(didascalia)	Exeunt Messenger at one door, Caesar and Dolabella at another
ENOBARBUS	Alexas did revolt, and went to Jewry on Affairs of Antony; there did dissuade Great Herod to incline himself to Caesar And leave his master, Antony. For this pains, Caesar hath hanged him. Camidius and the rest 15 That fell away have entertainment but No honourable trust. I have done ill, Of which I do accuse myself so sorely That I will joy no more.
(didascalia)	Enter a Soldier of Caesar’s
SOLDIER	Enobarbus, Antony Hath after thee sent all thy treasure, with His bounty overplus. The messenger Came on my guard, and at thy tent is now Unloading of his mules.
ENOBARBUS	I give it you.
SOLDIER	Mock not, Enobarbus, I tell you true. Best you safed the bringer Out of the host. I must attend mine office, Or would have done’t myself. Your Emperor Continues still a Jove.
(didascalia)	Exit
ENOBARBUS	I am alone the villain of the earth, And feel I am so most. O Antony, Thou mine of bounty, how wouldst thou have paid My better service, when my turpitude Thou dost so crown with gold! This blows my heart. If swift thought break it not, a swifter mean Shall outstrike thought; but thought will do‘t, I feel. I fight against thee? No, I will go seek Some ditch wherein to die. The foul’st best fits My latter part of life.
(didascalia)	Exit

Atto 4, Scena 7

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Alarum. Enter Agrippa with drummers and trumpeters
AGRIPPA	Retire! We have engaged our selves too far. Caesar himself has work, and our oppression Exceeds what we expected.
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Atto 4, Scena 8

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Alarums. Enter Antony, and Scarus wounded
SCARUS	O my brave Emperor, this is fought indeed! Had we done so at first, we had droven them home With clouts about their heads.
ANTONY	Thou bleed’st apace.
SCARUS	I had a wound here that was like a T, But now ’tis made an H.
(didascalia)	Retreat sounded far off
ANTONY	They do retire.
SCARUS	We’ll beat ’em into bench-holes. I have yet Room for six scotches more.
(didascalia)	Enter Eros
EROS	They are beaten, sir, and our advantage serves For a fair victory.
SCARUS	Let us score their backs And snatch ‘em up as we take hares, behind. ’Tis sport to maul a runner.
ANTONY	(to Eros) I will reward thee Once for thy sprightly comfort, and tenfold For thy good valour. Come thee on.
SCARUS	I’ll halt after.
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Atto 4, Scena 9

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Alarum. Enter Antony again in a march; drummers and trumpeters; Scarus, with others
ANTONY	We have beat him to his camp. Run one before, And let the Queen know of our gests.
(didascalia)	Exit a soldier
ANTONY	Tomorrow, Before the sun shall see’s, we’ll spill the blood That has today escaped. I thank you all, For doughty-handed are you, and have fought Not as you served the cause, but as’t had been Each man’s like mine. You have shown all Hectors.
(didascalia)	Enter the city, clip your wives, your friends,
ANTONY	Tell them your feats whilst they with joyful tears Wash the congealment from your wounds, and kiss The honoured gashes whole.
(didascalia)	Enter Cleopatra
ANTONY	(To Scarus) Give me thy hand. To this great fairy I’ll commend thy acts, Make her thanks bless thee. (To Cleopatra, embracing her) O’thou day o’th’ world, Chain mine armed neck; leap thou, attire and all, Through proof of harness to my heart, and there Ride on the pants triumphing.
CLEOPATRA	Lord of lords! O infinite virtue, com’st thou smiling from The world’s great snare uncaught?
ANTONY	My nightingale, We have beat them to their beds. What, girl, though grey Do something mingle with our younger brown, yet ha’ we A brain that nourishes our nerves, and can Get goal for goal of youth. Behold this man. Commend unto his lips thy favouring hand; Kiss it, my warrior. Scarus kisses Cleopatra’s hand He hath fought today As if a god, in hate of mankind, had Destroyed in such a shape.
CLEOPATRA	I’ll give thee, friend, An armour all of gold. It was a king’s.
ANTONY	He has deserved it, were it carbuncled Like holy Phoebus’ car. Give me thy hand. Through Alexandria make a jolly march. Bear our hacked targets like the men that owe them. Had our great palace the capacity To camp this host, we all would sup together And drink carouses to the next day’s fate, Which promises royal peril. Trumpeters, With brazen din blast you the city’s ear; Make mingle with our rattling taborins, That heaven and earth may strike their sounds together, Applauding our approach.
(didascalia)	Trumpets sound. Exeunt

Atto 4, Scena 10

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter a Sentry and his company; Enobarbus follows
SENTRY	If we be not relieved within this hour We must return to th’ court of guard. The night Is shiny, and they say we shall embattle By th’ second hour i’th’ morn.
FIRST WATCH	This last day was A shrewd one to’s.
ENOBARBUS	O bear me witness, night—
SECOND WATCH	What man is this?
FIRST WATCH	Stand close, and list him.
ENOBARBUS	Be witness to me, O thou blessed moon, When men revolted shall upon record Bear hateful memory, poor Enobarbus did Before thy face repent.
SENTRY	Enobarbus?
SECOND WATCH	Peace; hark further.
ENOBARBUS	O sovereign mistress of true melancholy, The poisonous damp of night disponge upon me, That life, a very rebel to my will, May hang no longer on me. Throw my heart Against the flint and hardness of my fault, Which, being dried with grief, will break to powder, And finish all foul thoughts. O Antony, Nobler than my revolt is infamous, Forgive me in thine own particular, But let the world rank me in register A master-leaver and a fugitive. O Antony! O Antony! He dies
FIRST WATCH	Let’s speak to him.
SENTRY	Let’s hear him, for the things he speaks May concern Caesar.
SECOND WATCH	Let’s do so. But he sleeps.
SENTRY	Swoons, rather; for so bad a prayer as his Was never yet for sleep.
FIRST WATCH	Go we to him.
SECOND WATCH	Awake, sir, awake; speak to us.
FIRST WATCH	Hear you, sir?
SENTRY	The hand of death hath raught him.
(didascalia)	Drums afar off
SENTRY	Hark, the drums Demurely wake the sleepers. Let us bear him To th’ court of guard; he is of note. Our hour Is fully out.
SECOND WATCH	Come on, then. He may recover yet.
(didascalia)	Exeunt with the body

Atto 4, Scena 11

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Antony and Scarus with their army
ANTONY	Their preparation is today by sea; We please them not by land.
SCARUS	For both, my lord.
ANTONY	I would they’d fight i‘th’ fire or i’th’ air; We’d fight there too. But this it is: our foot Upon the hills adjoining to the city Shall stay with us. Order for sea is given. They have put forth the haven— Where their appointment we may best discover, And look on their endeavour.
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Atto 4, Scena 12

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Caesar and his army
CAESAR	But being charged, we will be still by land— Which, as I take’t, we shall, for his best force Is forth to man his galleys. To the vales, And hold our best advantage.
(didascalia)	Exeunt
(didascalia)	4.13 Alarum afar off, as at a sea fight. Enter Antony and Scarus
ANTONY	Yet they are not joined. Where yon pine does stand I shall discover all. I’ll bring thee word Straight how ’tis like to go.
(didascalia)	Exit
SCARUS	Swallows have built In Cleopatra’s sails their nests. The augurs Say they know not, they cannot tell, look grimly, And dare not speak their knowledge. Antony Is valiant, and dejected, and by starts His fretted fortunes give him hope and fear Of what he has and has not.
(didascalia)	Enter Antony
ANTONY	All is lost. This foul Egyptian hath betrayed me. My fleet hath yielded to the foe, and yonder They cast their caps up, and carouse together Like friends long lost. Triple-turned whore! ’Tis thou Hast sold me to this novice, and my heart Makes only wars on thee. Bid them all fly; For when I am revenged upon my charm, I have done all. Bid them all fly. Be gone.
(didascalia)	Exit Scarus
ANTONY	O sun, thy uprise shall I see no more. Fortune and Antony part here; even here Do we shake hands. All come to this? The hearts That spanieled me at heels, to whom I gave Their wishes, do discandy, melt their sweets On blossoming Caesar; and this pine is barked That overtopped them all. Betrayed I am. O this false soul of Egypt! This grave charm, Whose eye becked forth my wars and called them home, Whose bosom was my crownet, my chief end, Like a right gipsy hath at fast and loose Beguiled me to the very heart of loss. What, Eros, Eros!
(didascalia)	Enter Cleopatra
ANTONY	Ah, thou spell! Avaunt.
CLEOPATRA	Why is my lord enraged against his love?
ANTONY	Vanish, or I shall give thee thy deserving And blemish Caesar’s triumph. Let him take thee And hoist thee up to the shouting plebeians; Follow his chariot, like the greatest spot Of all thy sex; most monster-like be shown For poor’st diminutives, for dolts, and let Patient Octavia plough thy visage up With her prepared nails.
(didascalia)	Exit Cleopatra
ANTONY	’Tis well thou’rt gone, If it be well to live. But better ’twere Thou fell’st into my fury, for one death Might have prevented many. Eros, ho! The shirt of Nessus is upon me. Teach me, Alcides, thou mine ancestor, thy rage. Let me lodge Lichas on the horns o’th’ moon, And with those hands that grasped the heaviest club Subdue my worthiest self. The witch shall die. To the young Roman boy she hath sold me, and I fall Under this plot. She dies for’t. Eros, ho!
(didascalia)	Exit

Atto 4, Scena 14

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Cleopatra, Charmian, Iras, Mardian
CLEOPATRA	Help me, my women! O, he’s more mad Than Telamon for his shield; the boar of Thessaly Was never so embossed.
CHARMIAN	To th’ monument! There lock yourself, and send him word you are dead. The soul and body rive not more in parting Than greatness going off.
CLEOPATRA	To th’ monument! Mardian, go tell him I have slain myself. Say that the last I spoke was ‘Antony’, And word it, prithee, piteously. Hence, Mardian, And bring me how he takes my death. To th’ monument!
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Atto 4, Scena 15

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Antony and Eros
ANTONY	Eros, thou yet behold’st me?
EROS	Ay, noble lord.
ANTONY	Sometime we see a cloud that’s dragonish, A vapour sometime like a bear or lion, A towered citadel, a pendent rock, A forked mountain, or blue promontory With trees upon’t that nod unto the world And mock our eyes with air. Thou hast seen these signs; They are black vesper’s pageants.
EROS	Ay, my lord.
ANTONY	That which is now a horse even with a thought The rack distains, and makes it indistinct As water is in water.
EROS	It does, my lord.
ANTONY	My good knave Eros, now thy captain is Even such a body. Here I am Antony, Yet cannot hold this visible shape, my knave. I made these wars for Egypt, and the Queen— Whose heart I thought I had, for she had mine, Which whilst it was mine had annexed unto’t A million more, now lost—she, Eros, has Packed cards with Caesar, and false-played my glory Unto an enemy’s triumph. Nay, weep not, gentle Eros. There is left us Ourselves to end ourselves.
(didascalia)	Enter Mardian
ANTONY	O thy vile lady, She has robbed me of my sword!
MARDIAN	No, Antony, My mistress loved thee, and her fortunes mingled With thine entirely.
ANTONY	Hence, saucy eunuch, peace! She hath betrayed me, and shall die the death.
MARDIAN	Death of one person can be paid but once, And that she has discharged. What thou wouldst do Is done unto thy hand. The last she spake Was ‘Antony, most noble Antony!’ Then in the midst a tearing groan did break The name of Antony. It was divided Between her heart and lips. She rendered life, Thy name so buried in her.
ANTONY	Dead, then?
MARDIAN	Dead.
ANTONY	Unarm, Eros. The long day’s task is done, And we must sleep. (To Mardian) That thou depart’st hence safe Does pay thy labour richly. Go.
(didascalia)	Exit Mardian
ANTONY	Off, pluck off. Eros helps Antony to unarm The seven-fold shield of Ajax cannot keep The battery from my heart. O, cleave, my sides! Heart, once be stronger than thy continent; Crack thy frail case. Apace, Eros, apace. No more a soldier. Bruised pieces, go; You have been nobly borne.—From me a while.
(didascalia)	Exit Eros
ANTONY	I will o’ertake thee, Cleopatra, and Weep for my pardon. So it must be, for now All length is torture. Since the torch is out, Lie down, and stray no farther. Now all labour Mars what it does; yea, very force entangles Itself with strength. Seal, then, and all is done. Eros!-I come, my queen.-Eros!-Stay for me. Where souls do couch on flowers we’ll hand in hand, And with our sprightly port make the ghosts gaze. Dido and her Aeneas shall want troops, And all the haunt be ours. Come, Eros, Eros!
(didascalia)	Enter Eros
EROS	What would my lord?
ANTONY	Since Cleopatra died I have lived in such dishonour that the gods Detest my baseness. I, that with my sword Quartered the world, and o’er green Neptune’s back With ships made cities, condemn myself to lack The courage of a woman; less noble mind Than she which by her death our Caesar tells ‘I am conqueror of myself.’ Thou art sworn, Eros, That when the exigent should come, which now Is come indeed—when I should see behind me Th’inevitable prosecution of Disgrace and horror—that on my command Thou then wouldst kill me. Do’t. The time is come. Thou strik‘st not me; ’tis Caesar thou defeat’st. Put colour in thy cheek.
EROS	The gods withhold me! Shall I do that which all the Parthian darts, Though enemy, lost aim and could not?
ANTONY	Eros, Wouldst thou be windowed in great Rome and see Thy master thus with pleached arms, bending down His corrigible neck, his face subdued To penetrative shame, whilst the wheeled seat Of fortunate Caesar, drawn before him, branded His baseness that ensued?
EROS	I would not see’t.
ANTONY	Come then; for with a wound I must be cured. Draw that thy honest sword, which thou hast worn Most useful for thy country.
EROS	O sir, pardon me! 80
ANTONY	When I did make thee free, swor’st thou not then To do this when I bade thee? Do it at once, Or thy precedent services are all But accidents unpurposed. Draw, and come.
EROS	Turn from me then that noble countenance Wherein the worship of the whole world lies.
ANTONY	(turning away) Lo thee!
EROS	My sword is drawn.
ANTONY	Then let it do at once The thing why thou hast drawn it.
EROS	My dear master, My captain, and my Emperor: let me say, Before I strike this bloody stroke, farewell.
ANTONY	’Tis said, man; and farewell.
EROS	Farewell, great chief. Shall I strike now?
ANTONY	Now, Eros.
(didascalia)	Eros stabs himself
EROS	Why, there then, thus I do escape the sorrow Of Antony’s death. He dies
ANTONY	Thrice nobler than myself, Thou teachest me, O valiant Eros, what I should and thou couldst not. My queen and Eros Have by their brave instruction got upon me A nobleness in record. But I will be A bridegroom in my death, and run into’t As to a lover’s bed. Come then, and, Eros, Thy master dies thy scholar. To do thus I learned of thee. He stabs himself How, not dead? Not dead? The guard, ho! O, dispatch me!
(didascalia)	Enter a guard and Decretas
FIRST GUARD	What’s the noise?
ANTONY	I have done my work ill, friends. O, make an end Of what I have begun!
SECOND GUARD	The star is fall’n.
FIRST GUARD	And time is at his period.
ALL THE GUARDS	Alas And woe!
ANTONY	Let him that loves me strike me dead.
FIRST GUARD	Not I.
SECOND GUARD	Nor I.
THIRD GUARD	Nor anyone.
(didascalia)	Exeunt the guard
DECRETAS	Thy death and fortunes bid thy followers fly. He takes Antony’s sword This sword but shown to Caesar, with this tidings, Shall enter me with him.
(didascalia)	Enter Diomedes
DIOMEDES	Where’s Antony?
DECRETAS	There, Diomed, there.
DIOMEDES	Lives he? Wilt thou not answer, man?
(didascalia)	Exit Decretas
ANTONY	Art thou there, Diomed? Draw thy sword, and give me Sufficing strokes for death.
DIOMEDES	Most absolute lord, My mistress Cleopatra sent me to thee.
ANTONY	When did she send thee?
DIOMEDES	Now, my lord.
ANTONY	Where is she?
DIOMEDES	Locked in her monument. She had a prophesying fear Of what hath come to pass; for when she saw— Which never shall be found—you did suspect She had disposed with Caesar, and that your rage Would not be purged, she sent word she was dead; But fearing since how it might work, hath sent Me to proclaim the truth; and I am come, I dread, too late.
ANTONY	Too late, good Diomed. Call my guard, I prithee.
DIOMEDES	What ho, the Emperor’s guard! The guard, what hot Come, your lord calls.
(didascalia)	Enter four or five of the guard of Antony
ANTONY	Bear me, good friends, where Cleopatra bides. ’Tis the last service that I shall command you.
FIRST GUARD	Woe, woe are we, sir, you may not live to wear All your true followers out.
ALL THE GUARDS	Most heavy day!
ANTONY	Nay, good my fellows, do not please sharp fate To grace it with your sorrows. Bid that welcome Which 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.
(didascalia)	Exeunt bearing Antony and Eros

Atto 4, Scena 16

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Cleopatra and her maids aloft, with Charmian and Iras
CLEOPATRA	O Charmian, I will never go from hence.
CHARMIAN	Be comforted, dear madam.
CLEOPATRA	No, I will not. All strange and terrible events are welcome, But comforts we despise. Our size of sorrow, Proportioned to our cause, must be as great As that which makes it.
(didascalia)	Enter Diomedes below
CLEOPATRA	How now? Is he dead?
DIOMEDES	His death’s upon him, but not dead. Look out o’th’ other side your monument. His guard have brought him thither.
(didascalia)	Enter below Antony, borne by the guard
CLEOPATRA	O sun, Burn the great sphere thou mov‘st in; darkling stand The varying shore o’th’ world! O Antony, 11 Antony, Antony! Help, Charmian, Help, Iras, help, help, friends below! Let’s draw him hither.
ANTONY	Peace. Not Caesar’s valour Hath o’erthrown Antony, but Antony’s Hath triumphed on itself.
CLEOPATRA	So it should be, That none but Antony should conquer Antony. But woe ’tis so!
ANTONY	I am dying, Egypt, dying. Only I here importune death awhile until Of many thousand kisses the poor last I lay upon thy lips.
CLEOPATRA	I dare not, dear, Dear, my lord, pardon. I dare not, Lest I be taken. Nor th’imperious show Of the full-fortuned Caesar ever shall Be brooched with me, if knife, drugs, serpents, have 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.— Help me, my women.—We must draw thee up. Assist, good friends.
ANTONY	O quick, or I am gone!
CLEOPATRA	Here’s sport indeed. How heavy weighs my lord! Our strength is all gone into heaviness, That makes the weight. Had I great Juno’s power The strong-winged Mercury should fetch thee up And set thee by Jove’s side. Yet come a little. Wishers were ever fools. O come, come, come! They heave Antony aloft to Cleopatra And welcome, welcome! Die when thou hast lived, Quicken with kissing. Had my lips that power, Thus would I wear them out. They kiss
ALL THE LOOKERS-ON	A heavy sight.
ANTONY	I am dying, Egypt, dying. Give me some wine, and let me speak a little.
CLEOPATRA	No, let me speak, and let me rail so high That the false hussy Fortune break her wheel, Provoked by my offence.
ANTONY	One word, sweet queen. Of Caesar seek your honour, with your safety. O!
CLEOPATRA	They do not go together.
ANTONY	Gentle, hear me. None about Caesar trust but Proculeius.
CLEOPATRA	My resolution and my hands I’ll trust, None about Caesar.
ANTONY	The miserable change now at my end Lament nor sorrow at, but please your thoughts In feeding them with those my former fortunes, Wherein I lived the greatest prince o’th’ world, The noblest; and do now not basely die, Not cowardly put off my helmet to My countryman; a Roman by a Roman Valiantly vanquished. Now my spirit is going; I can no more.
CLEOPATRA	Noblest of men, woot die? Hast thou no care of me? Shall I abide In this dull world, which in thy absence is No better than a sty? Antony dies O see, my women, The crown o’th’ earth doth melt. My lord! O, withered is the garland of the war. The soldier’s pole is fall’n. Young boys and girls Are level now with men. The odds is gone, And there is nothing left remarkable Beneath the visiting moon. She falls
CHARMIAN	O, quietness, lady!
IRAS	She’s dead, too, our sovereign.
CHARMIAN	Lady!
IRAS	Madam!
CHARMIAN	O, madam, madam, madam!
IRAS	Royal Egypt, Empress!
CHARMIAN	Peace, peace, Iras!
CLEOPATRA	(recovering) No more but e’en a woman, and commanded By such poor passion as the maid that milks And does the meanest chores. It were for me To throw my sceptre at the injurious gods, To tell them that this world did equal theirs Till they had stol’n our jewel. All’s but naught. Patience is sottish, and impatience does Become a dog that’s mad. Then is it sin To rush into the secret house of death Ere death dare come to us? How do you, women? What, what, good cheer! Why, how now, Charmian? My noble girls! Ah, women, women! Look, Our lamp is spent, it’s out. Good sirs, take heart; We’ll bury him, and then what’s brave, what’s noble, Let’s do it after the high Roman fashion, And make death proud to take us. Come, away. This case of that huge spirit now is cold. Ah, women, women! Come. We have no friend But resolution, and the briefest end.
(didascalia)	Exeunt, those above bearing off Antony’s body

Atto 5, Scena 1

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Caesar with his council of war: Agrippa, Dolabella, Maecenas, Gallus, Proculeius
CAESAR	Go to him, Dolabella, bid him yield. Being so frustrate, tell him, he but mocks The pauses that he makes.
DOLABELLA	Caesar, I shall. Exit
(didascalia)	Enter Decretas with the sword of Antony
CAESAR	Wherefore is that? And what art thou that dar’st Appear thus to us?
DECRETAS	I am called Decretas. Mark Antony I served, who best was worthy Best to be served. Whilst he stood up and spoke He was my master, and I wore my life To spend upon his haters. If thou please To take me to thee, as I was to him I’ll be to Caesar; if thou pleasest not, I yield thee up my life.
CAESAR	What is’t thou sayst?
DECRETAS	I say, O Caesar, Antony is dead.
CAESAR	The breaking of so great a thing should make A greater crack. The rived world Should have shook lions into civil streets, And citizens to their dens. The death of Antony Is not a single doom; in that name lay A moiety of the world.
DECRETAS	He is dead, Caesar, Not by a public minister of justice, Nor by a hired knife; but that self hand Which writ his honour in the acts it did Hath, with the courage which the heart did lend it, Splitted the heart. This is his sword; I robbed his wound of it. Behold it stained With his most noble blood.
CAESAR	(weeping) Look you, sad friends, The gods rebuke me; but it is a tidings To wash the eyes of kings.
(didascalia)	AGRIPPA
CAESAR	And strange it is That nature must compel us to lament Our most persisted deeds.
MAECENAS	His taints and honours Waged equal with him.
(didascalia)	AGRIPPA
MAECENAS	A rarer spirit never Did steer humanity; but you gods will give us Some faults to make us men. Caesar is touched.
MAECENAS	When such a spacious mirror’s set before him He needs must see himself.
CAESAR	O Antony, I have followed thee to this. But we do lance Diseases in our bodies. I must perforce Have shown to thee such a declining day, Or look on thine. We could not stall together In the whole world. But yet let me lament, With tears as sovereign as the blood of hearts, That thou, my brother, my competitor In top of all design, my mate in empire, Friend and companion in the front of war, The arm of mine own body, and the heart Where mine his thoughts did kindle—that our stars, Unreconciliable, should divide Our equalness to this. Hear me, good friends—
(didascalia)	Enter an Egyptian
CAESAR	But I will tell you at some meeter season. The business of this man looks out of him; We’ll hear him what he says.—Whence are you?
EGYPTIAN	A poor Egyptian, yet the Queen my mistress, Confined in all she has, her monument, Of thy intents desires instruction, That she preparèdly may frame herself To th’ way she’s forced to.
CAESAR	Bid her have good heart. She soon shall know of us, by some of ours, How honourable and how kindly we Determine for her. For Caesar cannot live To be ungentle.
EGYPTIAN	So; the gods preserve thee! Exit
CAESAR	Come hither, Proculeius. Go, and say We purpose her no shame. Give her what comforts 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, And with your speediest bring us what she says And how you find of her.
PROCULEIUS	Caesar, I shall. Exit
CAESAR	Gallus, go you along.
(didascalia)	Exit Gallus
CAESAR	Where’s Dolabella, To second Proculeius?
ALL BUT CAESAR	Dolabella!
CAESAR	Let him alone; for I remember now How he’s employed. 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.
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Atto 5, Scena 2

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Cleopatra, Charmian, Iras, and Mardian
CLEOPATRA	My desolation does begin to make A better life. ’Tis paltry to be Caesar. 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 dung, The beggar’s nurse, and Caesar’s.
(didascalia)	Enter Proculeius
PROCULEIUS	Caesar sends greeting to the Queen of Egypt, And bids thee study on what fair demands Thou mean’st to have him grant thee.
CLEOPATRA	What’s thy name?
PROCULEIUS	My name is Proculeius.
CLEOPATRA	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 him That majesty, to keep decorum, must No less beg than a kingdom. If he please To give me conquered Egypt for my son, He gives me so much of mine own as I Will kneel to him with thanks.
PROCULEIUS	Be of good cheer. You’re fall’n 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 him Your sweet dependency, and you shall find A conqueror that will pray in aid for kindness, Where he for grace is kneeled to.
CLEOPATRA	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’th’ face.
PROCULEIUS	This I’ll report, dear lady; Have comfort, for I know your plight is pitied Of him that caused it.
(didascalia)	Enter Roman soldiers from behind
PROCULEIUS	(to the soldiers) You see how easily she may be surprised. Guard her till Caesar come.
IRAS	Royal Queen-
CHARMIAN	O Cleopatra, thou art taken, Queen!
CLEOPATRA	(drawing a dagger) Quick, quick, good hands!
PROCULEIUS	(disarming Cleopatra) Hold, worthy lady, hold! Do not yourself such wrong, who are in this Relieved but not betrayed.
CLEOPATRA	What, of death too, That rids our dogs of languish?
PROCULEIUS	Cleopatra, Do not abuse my master’s bounty by Th’undoing of yourself. Let the world see His nobleness well acted, which your death Will never let come forth.
CLEOPATRA	Where art thou, death? Come hither, come. Come, come, and take a queen Worth many babes and beggars.
PROCULEIUS	O temperance, lady!
CLEOPATRA	Sir, I will eat no meat. I’ll not drink, sir. If idle talk will once be necessary, I’ll not sleep, neither. This mortal house I’ll ruin, Do Caesar what he can. Know, sir, that I Will not wait pinioned 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 unto me; rather on Nilus’ mud Lay me stark naked, and let the waterflies Blow me into abhorring; rather make My country’s high pyramides my gibbet, And hang me up in chains.
PROCULEIUS	You do extend These thoughts of horror further than you shall Find cause in Caesar.
(didascalia)	Enter Dolabella
DOLABELLA	Proculeius, What thou hast done thy master Caesar knows, And he hath sent for thee. For the Queen, I’ll take her to my guard.
PROCULEIUS	So, Dolabella, It shall content me best. Be gentle to her. (To Cleopatra) To Caesar I will speak what you shall please, If you’ll employ me to him.
CLEOPATRA	Say I would die.
(didascalia)	Exit Proculeius
DOLABELLA	Most noble Empress, you have heard of me.
CLEOPATRA	I cannot tell.
DOLABELLA	Assuredly you know me.
CLEOPATRA	No matter, sir, what I have heard or known. You laugh when boys or women tell their dreams; Is’t not your trick?
DOLABELLA	I understand not, madam.
CLEOPATRA	I dreamt there was an Emperor Antony. O, such another sleep, that I might see But such another man!
DOLABELLA	If it might please ye—
CLEOPATRA	His face was as the heav‘ns, and therein stuck A sun and moon, which kept their course and lighted The little O o’th’ earth.
DOLABELLA	Most sovereign creature—
CLEOPATRA	His legs bestrid the ocean; his reared 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 showed his back above The element they lived in. In his livery Walked crowns and crownets. Realms and islands were As plates dropped from his pocket.
DOLABELLA	Cleopatra—
CLEOPATRA	Think you there was, or might be, such a man As this I dreamt of?
DOLABELLA	Gentle madam, no.
CLEOPATRA	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 t‘imagine An Antony were nature’s piece ’gainst fancy, Condemning shadows quite.
DOLABELLA	Hear me, good madam: Your loss is as yourself, great, and you bear it As answering to the weight. Would I might never O’ertake pursued success but I do feel, By the rebound of yours, a grief that smites My very heart at root.
CLEOPATRA	I thank you, sir. Know you what Caesar means to do with me?
DOLABELLA	I am loath to tell you what I would you knew.
CLEOPATRA	Nay, pray you, sir.
DOLABELLA	Though he be honourable—
CLEOPATRA	He’ll lead me then in triumph.
DOLABELLA	Madam, he will, I know’t.
(didascalia)	Flourish. Enter Caesar, with Proculeius, Gallus, Maecenas, and others of his train
ALL	Make way, there! Caesar!
CAESAR	Which is the Queen of Egypt?
DOLABELLA	(to Cleopatra) It is the Emperor, madam. Cleopatra kneels
CAESAR	Arise! You shall not kneel. I pray you rise, rise, Egypt.
CLEOPATRA	(rising) Sir, the gods Will have it thus. My master and my lord I must obey.
CAESAR	Take to you no hard thoughts. The record of what injuries you did us, Though written in our flesh, we shall remember As things but done by chance.
CLEOPATRA	Sole sir o’th’ 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.
CAESAR	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.
CLEOPATRA	And may through all the world! ’Tis yours, and we, Your scutcheons and your signs of conquest, shall Hang in what place you please. (Giving a paper) Here, my good lord.
CAESAR	You shall advise me in all for Cleopatra.
CLEOPATRA	This is the brief of money, plate, and jewels I am possessed of. ’Tis exactly valued, Not petty things admitted. Where’s Seleucus?
(didascalia)	Enter Seleucus
SELEUCUS	Here, madam.
CLEOPATRA	(to Caesar) This is my treasurer. Let him speak, my lord, Upon his peril, that I have reserved To myself nothing. Speak the truth, Seleucus.
SELEUCUS	Madam, I had rather seal my lips Than to my peril speak that which is not.
CLEOPATRA	What have I kept back?
SELEUCUS	Enough to purchase what you have made known.
CAESAR	Nay, blush not, Cleopatra. I approve Your wisdom in the deed.
CLEOPATRA	See, Caesar! O, behold How pomp is followed! 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 hired! What, goest thou back? Thou shalt Go back, I warrant thee; but I’ll catch thine eyes Though they had wings. Slave, soulless villain, dog! O rarely base!
CAESAR	Good Queen, let us entreat you.
CLEOPATRA	O Caesar, 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 Parcel the sum of my disgraces by Addition of his envy. Say, good Caesar, 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 Livia and Octavia, to induce Their mediation—must I be unfolded With one that I have bred? The gods! It smites me Beneath the fall I have. (To Seleucus) Prithee, go hence, Or I shall show the cinders of my spirits Through th’ashes of my chance. Wert thou a man Thou wouldst have mercy on me.
CAESAR	Forbear, Seleucus.
(didascalia)	Exit Seleucus
CLEOPATRA	Be it known that we, the greatest, are misthought For things that others do; and when we fall We answer others’ merits in our name, Are therefore to be pitied.
CAESAR	Cleopatra, Not what you have reserved nor what acknowledged Put we i’th’ roll of conquest. Still be’t yours. Bestow it at your pleasure, and believe Caesar’s no merchant, to make prize with you Of things that merchants sold. Therefore be cheered. Make not your thoughts your prisons. No, dear Queen; 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.
CLEOPATRA	My master and my lord!
CAESAR	Not so. Adieu.
(didascalia)	Flourish. Exeunt Caesar and his train
CLEOPATRA	He words me, girls, he words me, that I should not Be noble to myself. But hark thee, Charmian. She whispers to Charmian
IRAS	Finish, good lady. The bright day is done, And we are for the dark.
CLEOPATRA	(to Charmian) Hie thee again. I have spoke already, and it is provided. Go put it to the haste.
CHARMIAN	Madam, I will.
(didascalia)	Enter Dolabella
DOLABELLA	Where’s the Queen?
CHARMIAN	Behold, sir.
(didascalia)	Exit
CLEOPATRA	Dolabella!
DOLABELLA	Madam, as thereto sworn by your command— Which my love makes religion to obey— I tell you this: Caesar 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 performed Your pleasure, and my promise.
CLEOPATRA	Dolabella, I shall remain your debtor.
DOLABELLA	I your servant. Adieu, good Queen. I must attend on Caesar.
CLEOPATRA	Farewell, and thanks.
(didascalia)	Exit Dolabella
CLEOPATRA	Now, Iras, what think’st thou? Thou, an Egyptian puppet shall be shown In Rome, as well as I. Mechanic slaves With greasy aprons, rules, and hammers shall Uplift us to the view. In their thick breaths, Rank of gross diet, shall we be enclouded, And forced to drink their vapour.
IRAS	The gods forbid!
CLEOPATRA	Nay, ‘tis most certain, Iras. Saucy lictors Will catch at us like strumpets, and scald rhymers Ballad us out o’ tune. The quick comedians Extemporally will stage us, and present Our Alexandrian revels. Antony Shall be brought drunken forth, and I shall see Some squeaking Cleopatra boy my greatness I’th’ posture of a whore.
IRAS	O, the good gods!
CLEOPATRA	Nay, that’s certain.
IRAS	I’ll never see’t! For I am sure my nails Are stronger than mine eyes.
CLEOPATRA	Why, that’s the way To fool their preparation and to conquer Their most absurd intents.
(didascalia)	Enter Charmian
CLEOPATRA	Now, 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 dispatch indeed, And when thou hast done this chore I’ll give thee leave To play till doomsday.—Bring our crown and all.
(didascalia)	Exit Iras
(didascalia)	A noise within
CLEOPATRA	Wherefore’s this noise?
(didascalia)	Enter a Guardsman
GUARDSMAN	Here is a rural fellow That will not be denied your highness’ presence. He brings you figs.
CLEOPATRA	Let him come in.
(didascalia)	Exit Guardsman
CLEOPATRA	What poor an instrument 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.
(didascalia)	Enter Guardsman, and Clown with a basket
GUARDSMAN	This is the man.
CLEOPATRA	Avoid, and leave him.
(didascalia)	Exit Guardsman
CLEOPATRA	Hast thou the pretty worm 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.
CLEOPATRA	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 yesterday, 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 o’th’ worm; but he that will believe all that they say shall never be saved by half that they do; but this is most falliable: the worm’s an odd worm.
CLEOPATRA	Get thee hence, farewell.
CLOWN	I wish you all joy of the worm. CLEOPATRA Farewell.
CLOWN	You must think this, look you, that the worm will do his kind.
CLEOPATRA	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.
CLEOPATRA	Take thou no care; it shall be heeded.
CLOWN	Very good. Give it nothing, I pray you, for it is not worth the feeding.
CLEOPATRA	Will it eat me?
CLOWN	You must not think I am so simple but I know the devil himself will not eat a woman; I know that a woman is a dish for the gods, if the devil dress her not. But truly, these same whoreson devils do the gods great harm in their women; for in every ten that they make, the devils mar five.
CLEOPATRA	Well, get thee gone, farewell.
CLOWN	Yes, forsooth. I wish you joy o’th’ worm.
(didascalia)	Exit, leaving the basket
(didascalia)	Enter Iras with a robe, crown, and other jewels
CLEOPATRA	Give me my robe. Put on my crown. I have Immortal longings in me. Now no more The juice of Egypt’s grape shall moist this lip. Charmian and Iras help her to dress Yare, yare, good Iras, quick—methinks I hear Antony call. I see him rouse himself To praise my noble act. I hear him mock The luck of Caesar, which the gods give men To excuse their after wrath. Husband, I come. Now to that name my courage prove my title. I am fire and air; my other elements I give to baser life. So, have you done? Come then, and take the last warmth of my lips. She kisses them Farewell, kind Charmian. Iras, long farewell. Iras falls and dies Have I the aspic in my lips? Dost fall? If thou and nature can so gently part, The stroke of death is as a lover’s pinch, Which hurts and is desired. Dost thou lie still? If thus thou vanishest, thou tell’st the world It is not worth leave-taking.
CHARMIAN	Dissolve, thick cloud, and rain, that I may say The gods themselves do weep.
CLEOPATRA	This proves me base. If she first meet the curled Antony He’ll make demand of her, and spend that kiss Which is my heaven to have. She takes an aspic from the basket and puts it to her breast Come, thou mortal wretch, With thy sharp teeth this knot intrinsicate Of life at once untie. Poor venomous fool, Be angry, and dispatch. O, couldst thou speak, That I might hear thee call great Caesar ass Unpolicied!
CHARMIAN	O eastern star!
CLEOPATRA	Peace, peace. Dost thou not see my baby at my breast, That sucks the nurse asleep?
CHARMIAN	O, break! O, break!
CLEOPATRA	As sweet as balm, as soft as air, as gentle. O Antony! She puts another aspic to her arm Nay, I will take thee too. What should I stay— She dies
CHARMIAN	In this vile world? So, fare thee well. Now boast thee, death, in thy possession lies A lass unparalleled. Downy windows, close, And golden Phoebus never be beheld Of eyes again so royal. Your crown’s awry. I’ll mend it, and then play—
(didascalia)	Enter the Guard, rustling in
FIRST GUARD	Where’s the Queen?
CHARMIAN	Speak softly. Wake her not.
FIRST GUARD	Caesar hath sent—
CHARMIAN	Too slow a messenger. She applies an aspic O come apace, dispatch! I partly feel thee.
FIRST GUARD	Approach, ho! All’s not well. Caesar’s beguiled.
SECOND GUARD	There’s Dolabella sent from Caesar. Call him.
(didascalia)	Exit a Guardsman
FIRST GUARD	What work is here, Charmian? Is this well done?
CHARMIAN	It is well done, and fitting for a princess Descended of so many royal kings. Ah, soldier! She dies
(didascalia)	Enter
CHARMIAN	Dolabella
DOLABELLA	How goes it here?
SECOND GUARD	All dead.
DOLABELLA	Caesar, thy thoughts Touch their effects in this. Thyself art coming To see performed the dreaded act which thou So sought’st to hinder.
ALL	A way there, a way for Caesar!
(didascalia)	Enter Caesar and all his train, marching
DOLABELLA	(to Caesar) O sir, you are too sure an augurer. That you did fear is done.
CAESAR	Bravest at the last, She levelled at our purposes, and, being royal, Took her own way. The manner of their deaths? I do not see them bleed.
DOLABELLA	(to a Guardsman) Who was last with them?
FIRST GUARD	A simple countryman that brought her figs. This was his basket.
CAESAR	Poisoned, then.
FIRST GUARD	O Caesar, This Charmian lived but now; she stood and spake. I found her trimming up the diadem On her dead mistress; tremblingly she stood, And on the sudden dropped.
CAESAR	O, noble weakness! If they had swallowed poison, ’twould appear By external swelling; but she looks like sleep, As she would catch another Antony In her strong toil of grace.
DOLABELLA	Here on her breast There is a vent of blood, and something blown. The like is on her arm.
FIRST GUARD	This is an aspic’s trail, And these fig-leaves have slime upon them such As th’aspic leaves upon the caves of Nile.
CAESAR	Most probable That so she died; for her physician tells me She hath pursued conclusions infinite Of easy ways to die. Take up her bed, And bear her women from the monument. She shall be buried by her Antony. No grave upon the earth shall clip in it A pair so famous. High events as these Strike those that make them, and their story is No less in pity than his glory which Brought them to be lamented. Our army shall In solemn show attend this funeral, And then to Rome. Come, Dolabella, see High order in this great solemnity.
(didascalia)	Exeunt all, soldiers bearing Cleopatra on her bed, Charmian, and Iras
ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS	WELL All’s Well That Ends Well, first printed in the 1623 Folio, is often paired with Measure for Measure. Though we lack external evidence as to its date of composition, internal evidence suggests that it, too, is an early Jacobean play. Like Measure for Measure, it places its central characters in more painful situations than those in which the heroes and heroines of the earlier, more romantic comedies usually find themselves. The touching ardour with which Helen, ‘a poor physician’s daughter’, pursues the young Bertram, son of her guardian the Countess of Roussillon, creates embarrassments for both of them. When the King, whose illness she cures by her semi-magical skills, brings about their marriage as a reward, Bertram’s flight to the wars seems to destroy all her chances of happiness. She achieves consummation of the marriage only by the ruse (resembling Isabella’s ’bed-trick’ in Measure for Measure) of substituting herself for the Florentine maiden Diana whom Bertram believes himself to be seducing. The play’s conclusion, in which the deception is exposed and Bertram is shamed into acknowledging Helen as his wife, offers only a tentatively happy ending. Shakespeare based the story of Bertram and Helen on a tale from Boccaccio’s Decameron either in the original or in the version included in William Painter’s Palace of Pleasure (1566-7, revised 1575). But he created several important characters, including the Countess and the old Lord, Lafeu. He also invented the accompanying action exposing the roguery of Bertram’s flashy friend Paroles, a man of words (as his name indicates) descending from the braggart soldier of Roman comedy. Versions of the play performed in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, mostly emphasizing either the comedy of Paroles or the sentimental appeal of Helen, had little success; but fine productions from the middle of the twentieth century onwards have shown it in a more favourable light, demonstrating, for example, that the role of the Countess is (in Bernard Shaw’s words) ‘the most beautiful old woman’s part ever written’, that the discomfiture of Paroles provides comedy that is subtle as well as highly laughable, and that the relationship of Bertram and Helen is profoundly convincing in its emotional reality.
THE PERSONS OF THE	PLAY The Dowager COUNTESS of Roussillon BERTRAM, Count of Roussillon, her son HELEN, an orphan, attending on the Countess LAVATCH, a Clown, the Countess’s servant REYNALDO, the Countess’s steward PAROLES, Bertram’s companion The KING of France LAFEU, an old lord INTERPRETER, a French soldier An AUSTRINGER The DUKE of Florence
WIDOW	Capilet DIANA, her daughter MARIANA, a friend of the Widow Lords, attendants, soldiers, citizens

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Demetrius and Philo
PHILO	Nay, but this dotage of our General’s O‘erflows the measure. Those his goodly eyes, That o’er the files and musters of the war Have glowed like plated Mars, now bend, now turn The office and devotion of their view Upon a tawny front. His captain’s heart, Which in the scuffles of great fights hath burst The buckles on his breast, reneges all temper, And is become the bellows and the fan To cool a gipsy’s lust.
(didascalia)	Flourish. Enter Antony, Cleopatra, her ladies, the train, with eunuchs fanning her
PHILO	Look where they come. Take but good note, and you shall see in him The triple pillar of the world transformed Into a strumpet’s fool. Behold and see.
CLEOPATRA	(to Antony) If it be love indeed, tell me how much.
ANTONY	There’s beggary in the love that can be reckoned.
CLEOPATRA	I’ll set a bourn how far to be beloved.
ANTONY	Then must thou needs find out new heaven, new earth.
(didascalia)	Enter a Messenger
MESSENGER	News, my good lord, from Rome.
ANTONY	Grates me: the sum.
CLEOPATRA	Nay, hear them, Antony. Fulvia perchance is angry; or who knows If the scarce-bearded Caesar have not sent His powerful mandate to you: ‘Do this, or this, Take in that kingdom and enfranchise that. Perform’t, or else we damn thee.’
ANTONY	How, my love?
CLEOPATRA	Perchance? Nay, and most like. You must not stay here longer. Your dismission Is come from Caesar, therefore hear it, Antony. Where’s Fulvia’s process—Caesar’s, I would say— both? Call in the messengers. As I am Egypt’s queen, Thou blushest, Antony, and that blood of thine Is Caesar’s homager; else so thy cheek pays shame When shrill-tongued Fulvia scolds. The messengers!
ANTONY	Let Rome in Tiber melt, and the wide arch Of the ranged empire fall. Here is my space. Kingdoms are clay. Our dungy earth alike Feeds beast as man. The nobleness of life Is to do thus; when such a mutual pair And such a twain can do’t—in which I bind On pain of punishment the world to weet— We stand up peerless.
(didascalia)	CLEOPATRA aside Excellent falsehood!
ANTONY	Why did he marry Fulvia and not love her? I’ll seem the fool I am not. (To Antony) Antony Will be himself.
ANTONY	But stirred by Cleopatra. Now, for the love of Love and her soft hours Let’s not confound the time with conference harsh. There’s not a minute of our lives should stretch Without some pleasure now. What sport tonight?
CLEOPATRA	Hear the ambassadors.
ANTONY	Fie, wrangling queen, Whom everything becomes—to chide, to laugh, To weep; how every passion fully strives To make itself, in thee, fair and admired! No messenger but thine; and all alone Tonight we’ll wander through the streets and note The qualities of people. Come, my queen. Last night you did desire it. (To the Messenger) Speak not to us.
(didascalia)	Exeunt Antony and Cleopatra with the train, and by another door the Messenger
DEMETRIUS	Is Caesar with Antonius prized so slight?
PHILO	Sir, sometimes when he is not Antony He comes too short of that great property Which still should go with Antony.
DEMETRIUS	I am full sorry That he approves the common liar who Thus speaks of him at Rome; but I will hope Of better deeds tomorrow. Rest you happy.
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entrano Demetrio e Filone
FILONE	No, questa infatuazione del nostro Generale trabocca ogni misura. Quei suoi occhi splendidi, che sulle schiere e le rassegne della guerra ardevano come Marte corazzato, ora piegano, ora volgono l’ufficio e la devozione del loro sguardo su una fronte bruna. Il suo cuore di capitano, che nella mischia delle grandi battaglie ha fatto scoppiare le fibbie sul suo petto, rinnega ogni misura, ed è divenuto il mantice e il ventaglio per rinfrescare la libidine d’una zingara.
(didascalia)	Squilli di trombe. Entrano Antonio, Cleopatra, le sue dame, il seguito, con eunuchi che la sventolano
FILONE	Guarda dove vengono. Osserva bene, e vedrai in lui la triplice colonna del mondo mutata nel buffone d’una sgualdrina. Guarda e vedi.
CLEOPATRA	(ad Antonio) Se è amore davvero, dimmi quanto.
ANTONIO	È povero l’amore che si può contare.
CLEOPATRA	Voglio porre un confine a quanto essere amata.
ANTONIO	Allora dovrai scoprire un nuovo cielo, una nuova terra.
(didascalia)	Entra un Messaggero
MESSAGGERO	Notizie, mio buon signore, da Roma.
ANTONIO	Mi seccano: in breve.
CLEOPATRA	No, ascoltale, Antonio. Fulvia forse è in collera; o chi sa se il Cesare dalla barba appena spuntata non v’abbia inviato il suo potente mandato: «Fa’ questo, o quello, prendi quel regno e affranca quell’altro. Eseguisci, o ti condanniamo».
ANTONIO	Come, amore mio?
CLEOPATRA	Forse? Anzi, più che probabile. Non dovete restare qui più a lungo. Il vostro congedo è giunto da Cesare, perciò ascoltatelo, Antonio. Dov’è l’atto di Fulvia—di Cesare, volevo dire— d’entrambi? Fate entrare i messaggeri. Com’è vero che sono regina d’Egitto, tu arrossisci, Antonio, e quel tuo sangue è vassallo di Cesare; o la tua guancia paga vergogna quando Fulvia dalla lingua stridula sgrida. I messaggeri!
ANTONIO	Si sciolga Roma nel Tevere, e il vasto arco dell’impero disposto rovini. Qui è il mio spazio. I regni sono argilla. La nostra terra letamosa nutre ugualmente la bestia e l’uomo. La nobiltà della vita è fare così; quando una coppia così concorde e due tali possono farlo—e in ciò io obbligo a pena di castigo il mondo a riconoscere— noi restiamo senza pari.
(didascalia)	CLEOPATRA a parte Eccellente menzogna!
ANTONIO	Perché sposò Fulvia e non l’amò? Fingerò d’essere il folle che non sono. (Ad Antonio) Antonio sarà se stesso.
ANTONIO	Ma commosso da Cleopatra. Ora, per l’amore d’Amore e delle sue ore soavi, non guastiamo il tempo con aspri colloqui. Non c’è minuto della nostra vita che debba trascorrere senza qualche piacere adesso. Che svago stanotte?
CLEOPATRA	Ascolta gli ambasciatori.
ANTONIO	Suvvia, regina litigiosa, cui tutto s’addice—sgridare, ridere, piangere; come ogni passione pienamente si sforza di farsi, in te, bella e ammirata! Nessun messaggero se non il tuo; e tutti soli stanotte vagheremo per le strade e noteremo le qualità della gente. Vieni, mia regina. Ieri notte lo desideravi. (Al Messaggero) Non parlarci.
(didascalia)	Escono Antonio e Cleopatra col seguito, e per un’altra porta il Messaggero
DEMETRIO	Cesare è tenuto così a vile da Antonio?
FILONE	Signore, talvolta quando egli non è Antonio viene meno a quella grande qualità che sempre dovrebbe accompagnare Antonio.
DEMETRIO	Mi duole assai ch’egli confermi il volgare mentitore che così parla di lui a Roma; ma spererò in migliori imprese domani. Statevi felice.
(didascalia)	Escono

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Enobarbus, a Soothsayer, Charmian, Iras, Mardian the eunuch, Alexas, and attendants
CHARMIAN	Lord Alexas, sweet Alexas, most anything Alexas, almost most absolute Alexas, where’s the soothsayer that you praised so to th’ Queen? O that I knew this husband, which you say Must charge his horns with garlands!
ALEXAS	Soothsayer!
SOOTHSAYER	Your will?
CHARMIAN	Is this the man? Is’t you, sir, that know things?
SOOTHSAYER	In nature’s infinite book of secrecy A little I can read.
ALEXAS	(to Charmian) Show him your hand.
ENOBARBUS	(calling) Bring in the banquet quickly, Wine enough Cleopatra’s health to drink.
(didascalia)	Enter servants with food and wine, and exeunt
CHARMIAN	(to Soothsayer) Good sir, give me good fortune.
SOOTHSAYER	I make not, but foresee.
CHARMIAN	Pray then, foresee me one.
SOOTHSAYER	You shall be yet Far fairer than you are.
CHARMIAN	He means in flesh.
IRAS	No, you shall paint when you are old.
CHARMIAN	Wrinkles forbid!
ALEXAS	Vex not his prescience. Be attentive.
CHARMIAN	Hush!
SOOTHSAYER	You shall be more beloving than beloved.
CHARMIAN	I had rather heat my liver with drinking.
ALEXAS	Nay, hear him.
CHARMIAN	Good now, some excellent fortune! Let me be married to three kings in a forenoon and widow them all. Let me have a child at fifty to whom Herod of Jewry may do homage. Find me to marry me with Octavius Caesar, and companion me with my mistress.
SOOTHSAYER	You shall outlive the lady whom you serve.
CHARMIAN	O, excellent! I love long life better than figs.
SOOTHSAYER	You have seen and proved a fairer former fortune Than that which is to approach.
CHARMIAN	Then belike my children shall have no names. Prithee, how many boys and wenches must I have?
SOOTHSAYER	If every of your wishes had a womb, And fertile every wish, a million.
CHARMIAN	Out, fool—I forgive thee for a witch.
ALEXAS	You think none but your sheets are privy to your wishes.
CHARMIAN	(to the Soothsayer) Nay, come, tell Iras hers.
ALEXAS	We’ll know all our fortunes.
ENOBARBUS	Mine, and most of our fortunes, tonight shall be drunk to bed.
IRAS	(showing her hand to the Soothsayer) There’s a palm presages chastity, if nothing else.
CHARMIAN	E’s the o’erflowing Nilus presageth famine.
IRAS	Go, you wild bedfellow, you cannot soothsay.
CHARMIAN	Nay, if an oily palm be not a fruitful prognostication, I cannot scratch mine ear. (To the Soothsayer) Prithee, tell her but a workaday fortune.
SOOTHSAYER	Your fortunes are alike.
IRAS	But how, but how? Give me particulars.
SOOTHSAYER	I have said.
IRAS	Am I not an inch of fortune better than she?
CHARMIAN	Well, if you were but an inch of fortune better than I, where would you choose it?
IRAS	Not in my husband’s nose.
CHARMIAN	Our worser thoughts heavens mend! Alexas—come, his fortune, his fortune. O, let him marry a woman that cannot go, sweet Isis, I beseech thee, and let her die too, and give him a worse, and let worse follow worse till the worst of all follow him laughing to his grave, fiftyfold a cuckold. Good Isis, hear me this prayer, though thou deny me a matter of more weight; good Isis, I beseech thee.
IRAS	Amen, dear goddess, hear that prayer of the people. For as it is a heart-breaking to see a handsome man loose-wived, so it is a deadly sorrow to behold a foul knave uncuckolded. Therefore, dear Isis, keep decorum, and fortune him accordingly.
CHARMIAN	Amen.
ALEXAS	Lo now, if it lay in their hands to make me a cuckold, they would make themselves whores but they’d do’t.
(didascalia)	Enter Cleopatra
ENOBARBUS	Hush, here comes Antony.
CHARMIAN	Not he, the Queen.
CLEOPATRA	Saw you my lord?
ENOBARBUS	No, lady.
CLEOPATRA	Was he not here?
CHARMIAN	No, madam.
CLEOPATRA	He was disposed to mirth, but on the sudden A Roman thought hath struck him. Enobarbus!
ENOBARBUS	Madam?
CLEOPATRA	Seek him, and bring him hither. Where’s Alexas?
ALEXAS	Here at your service. My lord approaches.
(didascalia)	Enter Antony with a Messenger
CLEOPATRA	We will not look upon him. Go with us.
(didascalia)	Exeunt all but Antony and the Messenger
MESSENGER	Fulvia thy wife first came into the field.
ANTONY	Against my brother Lucius?
MESSENGER	Ay, but soon that war had end, and the time’s state Made friends of them, jointing their force ’gainst Caesar, Whose better issue in the war from Italy Upon the first encounter drave them.
ANTONY	Well, what worst?
MESSENGER	The nature of bad news infects the teller.
ANTONY	When it concerns the fool or coward. On. Things that are past are done. With me ’tis thus: Who tells me true, though in his tale lie death, I hear him as he flattered.
MESSENGER	Labienus— This is stiff news—hath with his Parthian force Extended Asia; from Euphrates His conquering banner shook, from Syria To Lydia and to Ionia, Whilst— ANTONYAntony, thou wouldst say—
MESSENGER	O, my lord!
ANTONY	Speak to me home. Mince not the general tongue. Name Cleopatra as she is called in Rome. Rail thou in Fulvia’s phrase, and taunt my faults With such full licence as both truth and malice Have power to utter. O, then we bring forth weeds When our quick winds lie still, and our ills told us Is as our earing. Fare thee well a while.
MESSENGER	At your noble pleasure.
(didascalia)	Exit Messenger
(didascalia)	Enter another Messenger
ANTONY	From Sicyon, ho, the news? Speak there.
(didascalia)	SECOND MESSENGER
ANTONY	The man from Sicyon—
(didascalia)	ANTONY Is there such a one?
(didascalia)	SECOND MESSENGER
ANTONY	He stays upon your will.
ANTONY	Let him appear.
(didascalia)	Exit Second Messenger
ANTONY	These strong Egyptian fetters I must break, Or lose myself in dotage.
(didascalia)	Enter another Messenger with a letter
ANTONY	What are you?
(didascalia)	THIRD MESSENGER
ANTONY	Fulvia thy wife is dead.
ANTONY	Where died she?
THIRD MESSENGER	In Sicyon. Her length of sickness, with what else more serious Importeth thee to know, this bears. He gives Antony the letter
ANTONY	Forbear me.
(didascalia)	Exit Third Messenger
ANTONY	There’s a great spirit gone. Thus did I desire it. What our contempts doth often hurl from us We wish it ours again. The present pleasure, By revolution low’ring, does become The opposite of itself. She’s good being gone; The hand could pluck her back that shoved her on. I must from this enchanting queen break off. Ten thousand harms more than the ills I know My idleness doth hatch. How now, Enobarbus!
(didascalia)	Enter Enobarbus
ENOBARBUS	What’s your pleasure, sir?
ANTONY	I must with haste from hence.
ENOBARBUS	Why, then we kill all our women. We see how mortal an unkindness is to them; if they suffer our departure, death’s the word.
ANTONY	I must be gone.
ENOBARBUS	Under a compelling occasion let women die. It were pity to cast them away for nothing, though between them and a great cause they should be esteemed nothing. Cleopatra catching but the least noise of this dies instantly. I have seen her die twenty times upon far poorer moment. I do think there is mettle in death, which commits some loving act upon her, she hath such a celerity in dying.
ANTONY	She is cunning past man’s thought.
ENOBARBUS	Alack, sir, no. Her passions are made of nothing but the finest part of pure love. We cannot call her winds and waters sighs and tears; they are greater storms and tempests than almanacs can report. This cannot be cunning in her; if it be, she makes a shower of rain as well as Jove.
ANTONY	Would I had never seen her!
ENOBARBUS	O, sir, you had then left unseen a wonderful piece of work, which not to have been blessed withal would have discredited your travel.
ANTONY	Fulvia is dead.
ENOBARBUS	Sir.
ANTONY	Fulvia is dead.
ENOBARBUS	Fulvia?
ANTONY	Dead.
ENOBARBUS	Why, sir, give the gods a thankful sacrifice. When it pleaseth their deities to take the wife of a man from him, it shows to man the tailors of the earth; comforting therein that when old robes are worn out there are members to make new. If there were no more women but Fulvia, then had you indeed a cut, and the case to be lamented. This grief is crowned with consolation; your old smock brings forth a new petticoat, and indeed the tears live in an onion that should water this sorrow.
ANTONY	The business she hath broached in the state Cannot endure my absence.
ENOBARBUS	And the business you have broached here cannot be without you, especially that of Cleopatra’s, which wholly depends on your abode.
ANTONY	No more light answers. Let our officers Have notice what we purpose. I shall break The cause of our expedience to the Queen, And get her leave to part; for not alone The death of Fulvia, with more urgent touches, Do strongly speak to us, but the letters too Of many our contriving friends in Rome Petition us at home. Sextus Pompeius Hath given the dare to Caesar and commands The empire of the sea. Our slippery people, Whose love is never linked to the deserver Till his deserts are past, begin to throw Pompey the Great and all his dignities Upon his son, who—high in name and power, Higher than both in blood and life—stands up For the main soldier; whose quality, going on, The sides o’th’ world may danger. Much is breeding Which, like the courser’s hair, hath yet but life, And not a serpent’s poison. Say our pleasure, To such whose place is under us, requires Our quick remove from hence.
ENOBARBUS	I shall do’t.
(didascalia)	Exeunt severally

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entrano Enobarbo, un Indovino, Carmiana, Iras, Mardiano l’eunuco, Alessa e servitori
CARMIANA	Signor Alessa, dolce Alessa, Alessa più d’ogni cosa, Alessa quasi assolutissimo, dov’è l’indovino che tanto lodavate alla Regina? Oh, se conoscessi quel marito che, voi dite, dovrà inghirlandarsi le corna!
ALESSA	Indovino!
INDOVINO	Che volete?
CARMIANA	È quest’uomo? Siete voi, signore, che sapete le cose?
INDOVINO	Nell’infinito libro dei segreti della natura un poco so leggere.
ALESSA	(a Carmiana) Mostragli la mano.
ENOBARBO	(chiamando) Portate presto il banchetto, vino a sufficienza per bere alla salute di Cleopatra.
(didascalia)	Entrano servi con cibo e vino, ed escono
CARMIANA	(all’Indovino) Buon signore, dammi buona ventura.
INDOVINO	Io non la faccio, la prevedo.
CARMIANA	Prevedimene una, dunque, ti prego.
INDOVINO	Sarai ancora assai più bella di quel che sei.
CARMIANA	Vuol dire di carne.
IRAS	No, ti dipingerai quando sarai vecchia.
CARMIANA	Le rughe non voglia!
ALESSA	Non turbare la sua preveggenza. Sta’ attenta.
CARMIANA	Zitto!
INDOVINO	Amerai più di quanto sarai amata.
CARMIANA	Preferirei scaldarmi il fegato col bere.
ALESSA	Su, ascoltalo.
CARMIANA	Orsù, qualche ventura eccellente! Ch’io sposi tre re in una mattinata e li lasci tutti vedovi. Ch’io abbia un figlio a cinquant’anni cui Erode di Giudea renda omaggio. Trovami il modo di sposarmi con Ottavio Cesare e di stare al pari della mia padrona.
INDOVINO	Sopravvivrai alla dama che servi.
CARMIANA	Oh, eccellente! Amo la lunga vita più dei fichi.
INDOVINO	Hai visto e provato una ventura passata più bella di quella che sta per venire.
CARMIANA	Allora è probabile che i miei figli non abbiano nome. Di grazia, quanti maschi e quante femmine dovrò avere?
INDOVINO	Se ogni tuo desiderio avesse un grembo, e ogni desiderio fosse fecondo, un milione.
CARMIANA	Va’ via, sciocco—ti perdono in quanto stregone.
ALESSA	Credi che solo le tue lenzuola siano al corrente dei tuoi desideri.
CARMIANA	(all’Indovino) Su, vieni, di’ a Iras la sua.
ALESSA	Sapremo tutte le nostre venture.
ENOBARBO	La mia, e la più parte delle nostre, stanotte sarà d’andare ubriachi a letto.
IRAS	(mostrando la mano all’Indovino) Ecco una palma che presagisce castità, se non altro.
CARMIANA	Come il Nilo che straripa presagisce carestia.
IRAS	Va’ là, compagna di letto sfrenata, non sai fare l’indovina.
CARMIANA	Suvvia, se una palma unta non è un pronostico di fecondità, non so grattarmi l’orecchio. (All’Indovino) Di grazia, dille solo una ventura da giorno feriale.
INDOVINO	Le vostre venture si somigliano.
IRAS	Ma come, ma come? Dammi i particolari.
INDOVINO	Ho detto.
IRAS	Non son forse un dito di fortuna meglio di lei?
CARMIANA	Bene, se tu fossi solo un dito di fortuna meglio di me, dove lo vorresti?
IRAS	Non nel naso di mio marito.
CARMIANA	Il cielo emendi i nostri pensieri peggiori! Alessa—vieni, la sua ventura, la sua ventura. Oh, ch’egli sposi una donna che non possa camminare, dolce Iside, te ne supplico, e ch’ella muoia pure, e dagliene una peggiore, e peggio segua peggio finché il peggiore di tutti lo segua ridendo alla sua tomba, cinquanta volte cornuto. Buona Iside, ascolta questa mia preghiera, anche se mi neghi cosa di maggior peso; buona Iside, te ne supplico.
IRAS	Amen, cara dea, ascolta quella preghiera del popolo. Perché come è uno strazio vedere un bell’uomo con moglie leggera, così è un dolore mortale contemplare un lurido furfante non cornuto. Perciò, cara Iside, mantieni il decoro, e dagli ventura conforme.
CARMIANA	Amen.
ALESSA	Guarda un po’: se stesse nelle loro mani farmi cornuto, si farebbero puttane pur di riuscirci.
(didascalia)	Entra Cleopatra
ENOBARBO	Zitti, ecco che viene Antonio.
CARMIANA	Non lui, la Regina.
CLEOPATRA	Avete visto il mio signore?
ENOBARBO	No, signora.
CLEOPATRA	Non era qui?
CARMIANA	No, madama.
CLEOPATRA	Era incline all’allegria, ma d’improvviso un pensiero romano l’ha colpito. Enobarbo!
ENOBARBO	Madama?
CLEOPATRA	Cercalo, e conducilo qui. Dov’è Alessa?
ALESSA	Qui al vostro servizio. Il mio signore si avvicina.
(didascalia)	Entra Antonio con un Messaggero
CLEOPATRA	Non lo guarderemo. Venite con noi.
(didascalia)	Escono tutti tranne Antonio e il Messaggero
MESSAGGERO	Fulvia tua moglie prima scese in campo.
ANTONIO	Contro mio fratello Lucio?
MESSAGGERO	Sì, ma presto quella guerra ebbe fine, e lo stato dei tempi li fece amici, unendo le loro forze contro Cesare, la cui miglior sorte in guerra dall’Italia al primo scontro li scacciò.
ANTONIO	Bene, e il peggio?
MESSAGGERO	La natura delle cattive nuove infetta chi le porta.
ANTONIO	Quando riguardano lo sciocco o il vile. Avanti. Ciò che è passato è fatto. Con me è così: chi mi dice il vero, anche se nel suo racconto sta la morte, l’ascolto come se lusingasse.
MESSAGGERO	Labieno— questa è dura nuova—con la sua forza partica ha dilagato per l’Asia; dall’Eufrate ha scosso il suo vessillo vittorioso, dalla Siria alla Lidia e alla Ionia, mentre— ANTONIOAntonio, vorresti dire—
MESSAGGERO	Oh, mio signore!
ANTONIO	Parlami a fondo. Non attenuare la lingua di tutti. Chiama Cleopatra come la chiamano a Roma. Inveisci con le parole di Fulvia, e rinfaccia le mie colpe con tutta la licenza che la verità e la malizia hanno potere di proferire. Oh, allora produciamo erbacce quando i nostri venti vivaci giacciono immobili, e sentirci dire i nostri mali è il nostro arare. Sta’ bene per un poco.
MESSAGGERO	A vostro nobile piacere.
(didascalia)	Esce il Messaggero
(didascalia)	Entra un altro Messaggero
ANTONIO	Da Sicione, olà, le notizie? Parla, tu.
(didascalia)	SECONDO MESSAGGERO
ANTONIO	L’uomo da Sicione—
(didascalia)	ANTONIO Ce n’è uno?
(didascalia)	SECONDO MESSAGGERO
ANTONIO	Attende il vostro volere.
ANTONIO	Che si presenti.
(didascalia)	Esce il Secondo Messaggero
ANTONIO	Queste forti catene egiziane devo spezzare, o perdermi nell’infatuazione.
(didascalia)	Entra un altro Messaggero con una lettera
ANTONIO	Chi siete?
(didascalia)	TERZO MESSAGGERO
ANTONIO	Fulvia tua moglie è morta.
ANTONIO	Dove morì?
TERZO MESSAGGERO	A Sicione. La durata della sua malattia, e quant’altro di più grave ti preme sapere, questa lo reca. Dà ad Antonio la lettera
ANTONIO	Lasciami.
(didascalia)	Esce il Terzo Messaggero
ANTONIO	Un grande spirito se n’è andato. Così io lo desideravo. Ciò che il nostro disprezzo spesso scaglia via da noi torniamo a desiderarlo nostro. Il piacere presente, abbassandosi col volgere del tempo, diviene l’opposto di se stesso. Ella è buona ora che se n’è andata; la mano che la spinse via potrebbe richiamarla indietro. Devo staccarmi da questa regina incantatrice. Diecimila danni più dei mali che conosco cova il mio ozio. Ebbene, Enobarbo!
(didascalia)	Entra Enobarbo
ENOBARBO	Che vi piace, signore?
ANTONIO	Devo partire di qui in fretta.
ENOBARBO	Ma allora uccidiamo tutte le nostre donne. Vediamo quanto una scortesia sia mortale per loro; se sopportano la nostra partenza, morte è la parola.
ANTONIO	Devo andarmene.
ENOBARBO	Se l’occasione lo impone, lasciamo che le donne muoiano. Sarebbe un peccato gettarle via per nulla, benché tra loro e una grande causa debbano essere stimate nulla. Cleopatra, al minimo sentore di questo, muore all’istante. L’ho vista morire venti volte per motivi assai più scarsi. Credo che ci sia del vigore nella morte, che compie su di lei qualche atto amoroso, tanta è la celerità con cui muore.
ANTONIO	È astuta oltre il pensiero umano.
ENOBARBO	Ahimè, signore, no. Le sue passioni son fatte di null’altro che della parte più fine del puro amore. Non possiamo chiamare i suoi venti e le sue acque sospiri e lacrime; sono burrasche e tempeste più grandi di quante gli almanacchi ne registrino. Questo non può essere astuzia in lei; se lo è, fa un acquazzone così bene come Giove.
ANTONIO	Non l’avessi mai vista!
ENOBARBO	Oh, signore, avreste allora lasciato non visto un mirabile capolavoro, e non esserne stato benedetto avrebbe screditato il vostro viaggio.
ANTONIO	Fulvia è morta.
ENOBARBO	Signore.
ANTONIO	Fulvia è morta.
ENOBARBO	Fulvia?
ANTONIO	Morta.
ENOBARBO	Ebbene, signore, offrite agli dèi un sacrificio di ringraziamento. Quando piace alle loro divinità togliere a un uomo la moglie, mostrano all’uomo i sarti della terra; consolandolo così, che quando le vecchie vesti sono logore ci sono membra per farne di nuove. Se non ci fossero altre donne che Fulvia, allora sì avreste una ferita, e il caso sarebbe da lamentare. Questo dolore è coronato di consolazione; la vostra vecchia camicia produce una sottana nuova, e in verità le lacrime che dovrebbero innaffiare questo dolore vivono in una cipolla.
ANTONIO	Le faccende ch’ella ha suscitato nello stato non possono sopportare la mia assenza.
ENOBARBO	E le faccende che voi avete suscitato qui non possono stare senza di voi, specialmente quelle di Cleopatra, che dipendono interamente dal vostro soggiorno.
ANTONIO	Basta risposte leggere. I nostri ufficiali siano avvertiti di ciò che intendiamo. Esporrò la causa della nostra urgenza alla Regina, e otterrò il suo permesso di partire; ché non soltanto la morte di Fulvia, con tocchi più urgenti, ci parla forte, ma anche le lettere di molti amici che tramano per noi in Roma ci reclamano in patria. Sesto Pompeo ha lanciato la sfida a Cesare e comanda l’impero del mare. Il nostro popolo volubile, il cui amore non si lega mai al meritevole finché i suoi meriti non son passati, comincia a riversare Pompeo il Grande e tutte le sue dignità sul figlio, il quale—alto di nome e di potere, più alto d’entrambi per sangue e per vigore—si erge a soldato principale; e la sua qualità, se procede, può mettere in pericolo i fianchi del mondo. Molto sta covando che, come il crine del cavallo, ha finora solo vita, e non ancora il veleno d’un serpente. Di’ che il nostro volere, a quanti stanno sotto di noi, esige la nostra rapida partenza di qui.
ENOBARBO	Lo farò.
(didascalia)	Escono separatamente

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Cleopatra, Charmian, Alexas, and Iras
CLEOPATRA	Where is he?
CHARMIAN	I did not see him since.
(didascalia)	CLEOPATRA to Alexas
CHARMIAN	See where he is, who’s with him, what he does. I did not send you. If you find him sad, Say I am dancing; if in mirth, report That I am sudden sick. Quick, and return.
(didascalia)	Exit Alexas
CHARMIAN	Madam, methinks, if you did love him dearly, You do not hold the method to enforce The like from him.
CLEOPATRA	What should I do I do not?
CHARMIAN	In each thing give him way; cross him in nothing.
CLEOPATRA	Thou teachest like a fool, the way to lose him.
CHARMIAN	Tempt him not so too far. Iwis, forbear. In time we hate that which we often fear.
(didascalia)	Enter Antony
CHARMIAN	But here comes Antony.
CLEOPATRA	I am sick and sullen.
ANTONY	I am sorry to give breathing to my purpose.
CLEOPATRA	Help me away, dear Charmian, I shall fall. It cannot be thus long—the sides of nature Will not sustain it.
ANTONY	Now, my dearest queen.
CLEOPATRA	Pray you, stand farther from me.
ANTONY	What’s the matter?
CLEOPATRA	I know by that same eye there’s some good news. What says the married woman—you may go? Would she had never given you leave to come. Let her not say ’tis I that keep you here. I have no power upon you; hers you are.
ANTONY	The gods best know—
CLEOPATRA	O, never was there queen So mightily betrayed! Yet at the first I saw the treasons planted.
ANTONY	Cleopatra—
CLEOPATRA	Why should I think you can be mine and true— Though you in swearing shake the thronèd gods— Who have been false to Fulvia? Riotous madness, To be entangled with those mouth-made vows Which break themselves in swearing.
ANTONY	Most sweet queen—
CLEOPATRA	Nay, pray you, seek no colour for your going, But bid farewell and go. When you sued staying, Then was the time for words; no going then. Eternity was in our lips and eyes, Bliss in our brow’s bent; none our parts so poor But was a race of heaven. They are so still, Or thou, the greatest soldier of the world, Art turned the greatest liar.
ANTONY	How now, lady!
CLEOPATRA	I would I had thy inches. Thou shouldst know There were a heart in Egypt.
ANTONY	Hear me, Queen. The strong necessity of time commands Our services a while, but my full heart Remains in use with you. Our Italy Shines o’er with civil swords. Sextus Pompeius Makes his approaches to the port of Rome. Equality of two domestic powers Breed scrupulous faction. The hated, grown to strength, Are newly grown to love. The condemned Pompey, Rich in his father’s honour, creeps apace Into the hearts of such as have not thrived Upon the present state, whose numbers threaten; And quietness, grown sick of rest, would purge By any desperate change. My more particular, And that which most with you should safe my going, Is Fulvia’s death.
CLEOPATRA	Though age from folly could not give me freedom, It does from childishness. Can Fulvia die?
ANTONY	She’s dead, my queen. He offers letters Look here, and at thy sovereign leisure read The garboils she awaked. At the last, best, See when and where she died.
CLEOPATRA	O most false love! Where be the sacred vials thou shouldst fill With sorrowful water? Now I see, I see, In Fulvia’s death how mine received shall be.
ANTONY	Quarrel no more, but be prepared to know The purposes I bear, which are or cease As you shall give th’advice. By the fire That quickens Nilus’ slime, I go from hence Thy soldier-servant, making peace or war As thou affects.
CLEOPATRA	Cut my lace, Charmian, come. But let it be. I am quickly ill and well; So Antony loves.
ANTONY	My precious queen, forbear, And give true evidence to his love, which stands An honourable trial.
CLEOPATRA	So Fulvia told me. I prithee turn aside and weep for her, Then bid adieu to me, and say the tears Belong to Egypt. Good now, play one scene Of excellent dissembling, and let it look Like perfect honour.
ANTONY	You’ll heat my blood. No more.
CLEOPATRA	You can do better yet; but this is meetly.
ANTONY	Now by my sword—
CLEOPATRA	And target. Still he mends. But this is not the best. Look, prithee, Charmian, How this Herculean Roman does become The carriage of his chafe.
ANTONY	I’ll leave you, lady.
CLEOPATRA	Courteous lord, one word. Sir, you and I must part; but that’s not it. Sir, you and I have loved; but there’s not it; That you know well. Something it is I would— O, my oblivion is a very Antony, And I am all forgotten.
ANTONY	But that your royalty Holds idleness your subject, I should take you For idleness itself.
CLEOPATRA	’Tis sweating labour To bear such idleness so near the heart As Cleopatra this. But sir, forgive me, Since my becomings kill me when they do not Eye well to you. Your honour calls you hence, Therefore be deaf to my unpitied folly, And all the gods go with you. Upon your sword Sit laurel victory, and smooth success Be strewed before your feet.
ANTONY	Let us go. Come. Our separation so abides and flies That thou residing here goes yet with me, And I hence fleeting, here remain with thee. Away.
(didascalia)	Exeunt severally

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entrano Cleopatra, Carmiana, Alessa e Iras
CLEOPATRA	Dov’è?
CARMIANA	Non l’ho più visto da allora.
(didascalia)	CLEOPATRA ad Alessa
CARMIANA	Vedi dov’è, chi sta con lui, che cosa fa. Non t’ho mandato io. Se lo trovi triste, di’ che sto danzando; se allegro, riferisci che d’improvviso mi son fatta inferma. Presto, e torna.
(didascalia)	Esce Alessa
CARMIANA	Madama, mi pare che, se lo amaste davvero, non tenete il metodo per costringerlo a fare altrettanto.
CLEOPATRA	Che dovrei fare che non faccio?
CARMIANA	In ogni cosa cedetegli; non contrariatelo in nulla.
CLEOPATRA	Insegni da sciocca il modo di perderlo.
CARMIANA	Non tentatelo troppo oltre. In verità, trattenetevi. Col tempo odiamo ciò che spesso temiamo.
(didascalia)	Entra Antonio
CARMIANA	Ma ecco che viene Antonio.
CLEOPATRA	Son malata e di malumore.
ANTONIO	Mi dispiace dar fiato al mio proposito.
CLEOPATRA	Aiutami a scostarmi, cara Carmiana, sto per cadere. Non può durare così—i fianchi della natura non lo sosterranno.
ANTONIO	Ebbene, mia carissima regina.
CLEOPATRA	Vi prego, statemi più lontano.
ANTONIO	Che c’è?
CLEOPATRA	Da quello stesso occhio capisco che ci son buone nuove. Che dice la donna maritata—potete andare? Non v’avesse mai dato licenza di venire. Non dica ch’io vi trattengo qui. Non ho potere su di voi; suo siete.
ANTONIO	Gli dèi sanno bene—
CLEOPATRA	Oh, mai vi fu regina così potentemente tradita! Eppure fin dall’inizio vidi piantati i tradimenti.
ANTONIO	Cleopatra—
CLEOPATRA	Perché dovrei credere che possiate esser mio e fedele— anche se giurando fate tremare gli dèi in trono— voi che siete stato falso a Fulvia? Sfrenata follia, lasciarsi irretire da quei voti fatti di bocca che si rompono da sé nel pronunciarli.
ANTONIO	Dolcissima regina—
CLEOPATRA	No, vi prego, non cercate pretesti per il vostro andare, ma dite addio e andate. Quando supplicavate di restare, quello era il tempo delle parole; nessun andare allora. L’eternità era nelle nostre labbra e nei nostri occhi, la beatitudine nell’arco delle nostre ciglia; nessuna nostra parte era così povera da non essere una stirpe del cielo. Lo sono ancora, oppure tu, il più grande soldato del mondo, sei divenuto il più grande bugiardo.
ANTONIO	Come, signora!
CLEOPATRA	Vorrei avere la tua statura. Sapresti che c’è un cuore in Egitto.
ANTONIO	Ascoltami, Regina. La forte necessità del tempo richiede per un poco i nostri servigi, ma il mio cuore intero resta in uso presso di te. La nostra Italia riluce dovunque di spade civili. Sesto Pompeo s’avvicina al porto di Roma. L’equilibrio di due poteri domestici genera fazioni cavillose. Gli odiati, cresciuti in forza, son cresciuti ora in amore. Il condannato Pompeo, ricco dell’onore paterno, s’insinua rapido nei cuori di quanti non han prosperato sotto lo stato presente, e il loro numero minaccia; e la quiete, stanca del riposo, vorrebbe purgarsi con qualunque mutamento disperato. Ciò che più mi tocca, e che presso di te dovrebbe più giustificare la mia partenza, è la morte di Fulvia.
CLEOPATRA	Se l’età non ha potuto darmi libertà dalla follia, me la dà dalla puerilità. Può Fulvia morire?
ANTONIO	È morta, mia regina. Le porge delle lettere Guarda qui, e al tuo sovrano comodo leggi i tumulti ch’ella suscitò. Da ultimo, e meglio, vedi quando e dove morì.
CLEOPATRA	Oh falsissimo amore! Dove sono le sacre ampolle che dovresti riempire di acqua di dolore? Ora vedo, vedo, nella morte di Fulvia come sarà accolta la mia.
ANTONIO	Non altercare più, ma preparati a conoscere i propositi che porto, i quali restano o cessano secondo il consiglio che darai. Per il fuoco che avviva il limo del Nilo, io parto di qui tuo soldato e servo, facendo pace o guerra come a te aggrada.
CLEOPATRA	Tagliami i lacci, Carmiana, vieni. Ma lascia stare. Presto sto male e bene; così ama Antonio.
ANTONIO	Mia preziosa regina, trattieniti, e rendi vera testimonianza al suo amore, che affronta una prova onorevole.
CLEOPATRA	Così mi disse Fulvia. Di grazia, voltati e piangi per lei, poi dimmi addio, e di’ che le lacrime appartengono all’Egitto. Suvvia, recita una scena d’eccellente finzione, e falla apparire come perfetto onore.
ANTONIO	Mi scalderai il sangue. Basta.
CLEOPATRA	Puoi far meglio ancora; ma questo è passabile.
ANTONIO	Ora per la mia spada—
CLEOPATRA	E lo scudo. Continua a migliorare. Ma questo non è il meglio. Guarda, ti prego, Carmiana, come a questo romano erculeo s’addice il portamento della sua stizza.
ANTONIO	Vi lascio, signora.
CLEOPATRA	Cortese signore, una parola. Signore, voi e io dobbiamo separarci; ma non è questo. Signore, voi e io ci siamo amati; ma non è nemmeno questo; questo lo sapete bene. C’è qualcosa che vorrei— oh, la mia dimenticanza è proprio un Antonio, e io son tutta dimenticata.
ANTONIO	Se la vostra regalità non tenesse l’ozio per suddito, vi prenderei per l’ozio stesso.
CLEOPATRA	È fatica sudata portare un tale ozio così vicino al cuore come Cleopatra porta questo. Ma signore, perdonatemi, poiché le mie grazie mi uccidono quando non appaiono bene ai vostri occhi. Il vostro onore vi chiama via, perciò siate sordo alla mia follia non compianta, e tutti gli dèi vadano con voi. Sulla vostra spada segga la vittoria d’alloro, e il facile successo sia sparso davanti ai vostri piedi.
ANTONIO	Andiamo. Vieni. La nostra separazione così resta e fugge che tu, restando qui, vieni pure con me, e io, fuggendo di qui, resto qui con te. Via.
(didascalia)	Escono separatamente

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Octavius reading a letter, Lepidus, and their train
CAESAR	You may see, Lepidus, and henceforth know, It is not Caesar’s natural vice to hate Our great competitor. From Alexandria This is the news: he fishes, drinks, and wastes The lamps of night in revel; is not more manlike Than Cleopatra, nor the queen of Ptolemy More womanly than he; hardly gave audience Or vouchsafed to think he had partners. You shall find there A man who is the abstract of all faults That all men follow.
LEPIDUS	I must not think there are Evils enough to darken all his goodness. His faults in him seem as the spots of heaven, More fiery by night’s blackness; hereditary Rather than purchased; what he cannot change Than what he chooses.
CAESAR	You are too indulgent. Let’s grant it is not Amiss to tumble on the bed of Ptolemy, To give a kingdom for a mirth, to sit And keep the turn of tippling with a slave, To reel the streets at noon, and stand the buffet With knaves that smells of sweat. Say this becomes him— As his composure must be rare indeed Whom these things cannot blemish—yet must Antony No way excuse his foils when we do bear So great weight in his lightness. If he filled His vacancy with his voluptuousness, Full surfeits and the dryness of his bones Call on him for’t. But to confound such time That drums him from his sport, and speaks as loud As his own state and ours—’tis to be chid As we rate boys who, being mature in knowledge, Pawn their experience to their present pleasure, And so rebel to judgement.
(didascalia)	Enter a Messenger
LEPIDUS	Here’s more news.
MESSENGER	Thy biddings have been done, and every hour, Most noble Caesar, shalt thou have report How ’tis abroad. Pompey is strong at sea, And it appears he is beloved of those That only have feared Caesar. To the ports The discontents repair, and men’s reports Give him much wronged.
(didascalia)	Exit
CAESAR	I should have known no less. It hath been taught us from the primal state That he which is was wished until he were, And the ebbed man, ne‘er loved till ne’er worth love, Comes deared by being lacked. This common body, Like to a vagabond flag upon the stream, Goes to, and back, lackeying the varying tide, To rot itself with motion.
(didascalia)	Enter a second Messenger
SECOND MESSENGER	Caesar, I bring thee word Menecrates and Menas, famous pirates, Makes the sea serve them, which they ear and wound With keels of every kind. Many hot inroads They make in Italy. The borders maritime Lack blood to think on‘t, and flush youth revolt. No vessel can peep forth but ’tis as soon Taken as seen; for Pompey’s name strikes more Than could his war resisted.
(didascalia)	Exit
CAESAR	Antony, Leave thy lascivious wassails. When thou once Was beaten from Modena, where thou slew‘st Hirtius and Pansa, consuls, at thy heel Did famine follow, whom thou fought’st against— Though daintily brought up—with patience more Than savages could suffer. Thou didst drink The stale of horses, and the gilded puddle Which beasts would cough at. Thy palate then did deign The roughest berry on the rudest hedge. Yea, like the stag when snow the pasture sheets, The barks of trees thou browsed. On the Alps It is reported thou didst eat strange flesh, Which some did die to look on; and all this— It wounds thine honour that I speak it now— Was borne so like a soldier that thy cheek So much as lanked not.
LEPIDUS	’Tis pity of him.
CAESAR	Let his shames quickly Drive him to Rome. ‘Tis time we twain Did show ourselves i’th’ field; and to that end Assemble we immediate council. Pompey Thrives in our idleness.
LEPIDUS	Tomorrow, Caesar, I shall be furnished to inform you rightly Both what by sea and land I can be able To front this present time.
CAESAR	Till which encounter It is my business, too. Farewell.
LEPIDUS	Farewell, my lord. What you shall know meantime Of stirs abroad I shall beseech you, sir, To let me be partaker.
CAESAR	Doubt not, sir. I knew it for my bond.
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entrano Ottavio leggendo una lettera, Lepido, e il loro seguito
CESARE	Puoi vedere, Lepido, e d’ora in poi sapere, che non è vizio naturale di Cesare odiare il nostro grande rivale. Da Alessandria questa è la nuova: pesca, beve e consuma in baldoria le lampade della notte; non è più virile di Cleopatra, né la regina di Tolomeo più femminea di lui; a stento diede udienza o si degnò di pensare che avesse dei soci. Là troverai un uomo che è il compendio di tutti i difetti che tutti gli uomini seguono.
LEPIDO	Non posso credere che vi siano mali abbastanza da oscurare tutta la sua bontà. I suoi difetti in lui paiono come le macchie del cielo, più fiammeggianti per il nero della notte; ereditari piuttosto che acquisiti; ciò che non può mutare più che ciò che sceglie.
CESARE	Sei troppo indulgente. Ammettiamo che non sia male ruzzolare sul letto di Tolomeo, dare un regno per uno scherzo, sedere e far a turno di trincare con uno schiavo, barcollare per le strade a mezzogiorno, e sostenere la zuffa con furfanti che puzzano di sudore. Diciamo che questo gli s’addice— ché ben rara dev’essere la tempra di chi queste cose non possono macchiare—eppure Antonio non può in alcun modo scusare le sue colpe quando noi portiamo un peso così grande della sua leggerezza. Se riempisse il suo tempo vuoto con la sua voluttà, le indigestioni e l’aridità delle ossa gliene chiederebbero conto. Ma sciupare un tempo tale che a tamburo lo strappa dal suo diletto, e parla forte quanto il suo stato e il nostro—questo va rimproverato come sgridiamo i ragazzi che, maturi di sapere, impegnano la loro esperienza al piacere presente, e così si ribellano al giudizio.
(didascalia)	Entra un Messaggero
LEPIDO	Ecco altre notizie.
MESSAGGERO	I tuoi ordini sono stati eseguiti, e ogni ora, nobilissimo Cesare, avrai rapporto di come vanno le cose fuori. Pompeo è forte sul mare, e pare che sia amato da quelli che hanno soltanto temuto Cesare. Ai porti accorrono i malcontenti, e le voci degli uomini lo dicono assai offeso.
(didascalia)	Esce
CESARE	Non avrei dovuto aspettarmi di meno. Ci è stato insegnato fin dalle origini che chi è al potere fu desiderato finché non lo fu, e l’uomo in declino, mai amato finché non fu più degno d’amore, torna caro per il fatto d’esser mancato. Questo comune corpo, simile a un giunco vagante sulla corrente, va avanti e indietro, servendo la marea che muta, fino a marcire nel proprio moto.
(didascalia)	Entra un secondo Messaggero
SECONDO MESSAGGERO	Cesare, ti reco notizia che Menecrate e Mena, famosi pirati, fanno servire a sé il mare, che arano e feriscono con chiglie d’ogni sorta. Molte ardenti incursioni compiono in Italia. Le popolazioni marittime impallidiscono di sangue al pensiero, e la gioventù ardente si rivolta. Nessun vascello può affacciarsi che non sia preso appena visto; poiché il nome di Pompeo colpisce più di quanto potrebbe la sua guerra se fosse contrastata.
(didascalia)	Esce
CESARE	Antonio, lascia i tuoi lascivi bagordi. Quando un tempo fosti battuto da Modena, dove uccidesti Irzio e Pansa, consoli, alle tue calcagna seguì la fame, contro la quale combattesti— benché delicatamente allevato—con più pazienza di quanta i selvaggi potrebbero sopportare. Bevesti l’orina dei cavalli, e la pozza dorata che avrebbe fatto tossire le bestie. Il tuo palato allora si degnò della bacca più aspra sulla siepe più rozza. Sì, come il cervo quando la neve copre il pascolo, brucasti la corteccia degli alberi. Sulle Alpi si racconta che mangiasti carni strane, che alcuni morirono solo a guardarle; e tutto questo— ferisce il tuo onore ch’io lo dica adesso— fu sopportato così da soldato che la tua guancia neppure si scavò.
LEPIDO	È un peccato per lui.
CESARE	Che le sue vergogne presto lo sospingano a Roma. È tempo che noi due ci mostriamo in campo; e a tal fine raduniamo subito consiglio. Pompeo prospera nel nostro ozio.
LEPIDO	Domani, Cesare, sarò in grado d’informarvi esattamente di quel che per mare e per terra potrò fare per fronteggiare questo tempo presente.
CESARE	Fino a quell’incontro è anche mio l’impegno. Addio.
LEPIDO	Addio, mio signore. Di quanto saprete nel frattempo dei moti là fuori vi supplicherò, signore, di rendermi partecipe.
CESARE	Non dubitate, signore. Lo sapevo mio obbligo.
(didascalia)	Escono

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter
(didascalia)	Cleopatra, Charmian, Iras, and Mardian
CLEOPATRA	Charmian!
CHARMIAN	Madam?
CLEOPATRA	(yawning) Ha, ha. Give me to drink mandragora.
CHARMIAN	Why, madam?
CLEOPATRA	That I might sleep out this great gap of time My Antony is away.
CHARMIAN	You think of him too much.
CLEOPATRA	O, ’tis treason!
CHARMIAN	Madam, I trust not so.
CLEOPATRA	Thou, eunuch Mardian!
MARDIAN	What’s your highness’ pleasure?
CLEOPATRA	Not now to hear thee sing. I take no pleasure In aught an eunuch has. ’is well for thee That, being unseminared, thy freer thoughts May not fly forth of Egypt. Hast thou affections?
MARDIAN	Yes, gracious madam.
CLEOPATRA	Indeed?
MARDIAN	Not in deed, madam, for I can do nothing But what indeed is honest to be done. Yet have I fierce affections, and think What Venus did with Mars.
CLEOPATRA	O, Charmian, Where think‘st thou he is now? Stands he or sits he? Or does he walk? Or is he on his horse? O happy horse, to bear the weight of Antony! Do bravely, horse, for wot’st thou whom thou mov’st?— The demi-Atlas of this earth, the arm And burgonet of men. He’s speaking now, Or murmuring ‘Where’s my serpent of old Nile?’— For so he calls me. Now I feed myself With most delicious poison. Think on me, That am with Phoebus’ amorous pinches black, And wrinkled deep in time. Broad-fronted Caesar, When thou wast here above the ground I was A morsel for a monarch, and great Pompey Would stand and make his eyes grow in my brow. There would he anchor his aspect, and die With looking on his life.
(didascalia)	Enter Alexas
ALEXAS	Sovereign of Egypt, hail!
CLEOPATRA	How much unlike art thou Mark Antony! Yet, coming from him, that great medicine hath With his tinct gilded thee. How goes it With my brave Mark Antony?
ALEXAS	Last thing he did, dear Queen, He kissed—the last of many doubled kisses— This orient pearl. His speech sticks in my heart.
CLEOPATRA	Mine ear must pluck it thence.
ALEXAS	‘Good friend,’ quoth he, ‘Say the firm Roman to great Egypt sends This treasure of an oyster; at whose foot, To mend the petty present, I will piece Her opulent throne with kingdoms. All the East, Say thou, shall call her mistress.’ So he nodded, And soberly did mount an arm-jaunced steed, Who neighed so high that what I would have spoke Was beastly dumbed by him.
CLEOPATRA	What, was he sad or merry?
ALEXAS	Like to the time o’th’ year between the extremes Of hot and cold, he was nor sad nor merry.
CLEOPATRA	O well divided disposition! Note him, Note him, good Charmian, ‘tis the man; but note him. He was not sad, for he would shine on those That make their looks by his; he was not merry, Which seemed to tell them his remembrance lay In Egypt with his joy; but between both. O heavenly mingle! Be’st thou sad or merry, The violence of either thee becomes; So does it no man else. Met’st thou my posts?
ALEXAS	Ay, madam, twenty several messengers. Why do you send so thick?
CLEOPATRA	Who’s born that day When I forget to send to Antony Shall die a beggar. Ink and paper, Charmian! I Welcome, my good Alexas. Did I, Charmian, Ever love Caesar so?
CHARMIAN	O, that brave Caesar!
CLEOPATRA	Be choked with such another emphasis! Say ‘the brave Antony’.
CHARMIAN	The valiant Caesar.
CLEOPATRA	By Isis, I will give thee bloody teeth If thou with Caesar paragon again My man of men.
CHARMIAN	By your most gracious pardon, I sing but after you.
CLEOPATRA	My salad days, When I was green in judgement, cold in blood, To say as I said then. But come, away, Get me ink and paper. He shall have every day a several greeting, Or I’ll unpeople Egypt.
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entrano
(didascalia)	Cleopatra, Carmiana, Iras e Mardiano
CLEOPATRA	Carmiana!
CARMIANA	Madama?
CLEOPATRA	(sbadigliando) Ah, ah. Datemi da bere mandragora.
CARMIANA	Perché, madama?
CLEOPATRA	Per poter dormire questo grande vuoto di tempo in cui il mio Antonio è lontano.
CARMIANA	Pensate troppo a lui.
CLEOPATRA	Oh, è tradimento!
CARMIANA	Madama, spero di no.
CLEOPATRA	Tu, eunuco Mardiano!
MARDIANO	Che piace a vostra altezza?
CLEOPATRA	Non ora d’udirti cantare. Non prendo piacere in nulla di ciò che ha un eunuco. È bene per te che, essendo privo di seme, i tuoi pensieri più liberi non possano volar fuori d’Egitto. Hai tu affetti?
MARDIANO	Sì, graziosa madama.
CLEOPATRA	Davvero?
MARDIANO	Non di fatto, madama, poiché nulla posso fare se non ciò che di fatto è onesto fare. Eppure ho affetti ardenti, e penso a ciò che Venere fece con Marte.
CLEOPATRA	Oh, Carmiana, dove credi ch’egli sia ora? Sta in piedi o siede? O cammina? O è sul suo cavallo? O felice cavallo, che porti il peso d’Antonio! Comportati bravamente, cavallo, ché sai tu chi muovi?— il semi-Atlante di questa terra, il braccio e l’elmo degli uomini. Ora sta parlando, o mormora: «Dov’è il mio serpente dell’antico Nilo?»— ché così mi chiama. Ora mi nutro del più delizioso veleno. Pensa a me, che sono nera per gli amorosi pizzicotti di Febo, e profondamente segnata dal tempo. Cesare dall’ampia fronte, quando tu eri qui sopra la terra io ero un boccone da monarca, e il grande Pompeo si fermava e faceva crescere i suoi occhi sulla mia fronte. Là ancorava il suo sguardo, e moriva guardando la sua vita.
(didascalia)	Entra Alessa
ALESSA	Sovrana d’Egitto, salve!
CLEOPATRA	Quanto sei diverso da Marco Antonio! Eppure, venendo da lui, quella grande medicina t’ha indorato col suo colore. Come va col mio prode Marco Antonio?
ALESSA	L’ultima cosa che fece, cara Regina, fu baciare—ultimo di molti baci raddoppiati— questa perla d’Oriente. Le sue parole mi restano fitte nel cuore.
CLEOPATRA	Il mio orecchio deve strapparle di là.
ALESSA	«Buon amico», disse, «di’ che il saldo Romano manda al grande Egitto questo tesoro d’un’ostrica; ai piedi del quale, per riparare al piccolo dono, aggiungerò al suo opulento trono dei regni. Tutto l’Oriente, di’ tu, la chiamerà signora». Poi annuì, e gravemente montò un destriero scalpitante, che nitrì così alto che ciò che avrei voluto dire fu bestialmente ammutolito da lui.
CLEOPATRA	Come, era triste o allegro?
ALESSA	Come la stagione dell’anno tra gli estremi del caldo e del freddo, non era né triste né allegro.
CLEOPATRA	Oh disposizione bene equilibrata! Nótalo, nótalo, buona Carmiana, è proprio l’uomo; ma nótalo. Non era triste, perché voleva risplendere su quelli che modellano il loro volto sul suo; non era allegro, il che sembrava dir loro che il suo ricordo stava in Egitto con la sua gioia; ma tra i due. Oh celeste mescolanza! Che tu sia triste o allegro, la violenza dell’uno e dell’altro ti s’addice; a nessun altro uomo così. Incontrasti i miei corrieri?
ALESSA	Sì, madama, venti messaggeri diversi. Perché ne mandate così fitto?
CLEOPATRA	Chi nasce il giorno in cui io dimentico di mandare ad Antonio morirà mendicante. Inchiostro e carta, Carmiana! Io benvenuto, mio buon Alessa. Ho io mai, Carmiana, amato Cesare così?
CARMIANA	Oh, quel prode Cesare!
CLEOPATRA	Che ti soffochi un altro enfasi simile! Di’ «il prode Antonio».
CARMIANA	Il valoroso Cesare.
CLEOPATRA	Per Iside, ti darò denti sanguinanti se ancora paragoni a Cesare il mio uomo tra gli uomini.
CARMIANA	Col vostro graziosissimo perdono, io canto solo dietro a voi.
CLEOPATRA	I miei giorni d’erba acerba, quando ero verde di giudizio, fredda di sangue, per dire come dicevo allora. Ma su, via, portami inchiostro e carta. Avrà ogni giorno un saluto diverso, o spopolerò l’Egitto.
(didascalia)	Escono

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Pompey, Menecrates, and Menas, in warlike manner
POMPEY	If the great gods be just, they shall assist The deeds of justest men.
(didascalia)	MENECRATES Know, worthy Pompey,
POMPEY	That what they do delay they not deny.
POMPEY	Whiles we are suitors to their throne, decays The thing we sue for.
(didascalia)	MENECRATES
POMPEY	We, ignorant of ourselves, Beg often our own harms, which the wise powers Deny us for our good; so find we profit By losing of our prayers.
POMPEY	I shall do well. The people love me, and the sea is mine. My powers are crescent, and my auguring hope Says it will come to th’ full. Mark Antony In Egypt sits at dinner, and will make No wars without doors. Caesar gets money where He loses hearts. Lepidus flatters both, Of both is flattered; but he neither loves, Nor either cares for him.
(didascalia)	MENAS
POMPEY	Caesar and Lepidus Are in the field; a mighty strength they carry.
POMPEY	Where have you this? ’Tis false.
(didascalia)	MENAS
POMPEY	From Silvius, sir.
POMPEY	He dreams. I know they are in Rome together, Looking for Antony. But all the charms of love, Salt Cleopatra, soften thy waned lip. Let witchcraft join with beauty, lust with both Tie up the libertine, in a field of feasts Keep his brain fuming; Epicurean cooks Sharpen with cloyless sauce his appetite, That sleep and feeding may prorogue his honour Even till a Lethe’d dullness—
(didascalia)	Enter Varrius
POMPEY	How now, Varrius?
VARRIUS	This is most certain that I shall deliver: Mark Antony is every hour in Rome Expected. Since he went from Egypt, ’tis A space for farther travel.
POMPEY	I could have given less matter A better ear. Menas, I did not think This amorous surfeiter would have donned his helm For such a petty war. His soldiership Is twice the other twain. But let us rear The higher our opinion, that our stirring Can from the lap of Egypt’s widow pluck The ne’er lust-wearied Antony.
MENAS	I cannot hope Caesar and Antony shall well greet together. His wife that’s dead did trespasses to Caesar, His brother warred upon him, although, I think, Not moved by Antony.
POMPEY	I know not, Menas, How lesser enmities may give way to greater. Were’t not that we stand up against them all, ’Twere pregnant they should square between themselves, For they have entertained cause enough To draw their swords. But how the fear of us May cement their divisions, and bind up The petty difference, we yet not know. Be’t as our gods will have’t; it only stands Our lives upon to use our strongest hands. Come, Menas.
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entrano Pompeo, Menecrate e Mena, in assetto di guerra
POMPEO	Se i grandi dèi sono giusti, assisteranno le imprese degli uomini più giusti.
(didascalia)	MENECRATE Sappi, degno Pompeo,
POMPEO	che ciò che ritardano non lo negano.
POMPEO	Mentre siamo supplici al loro trono, deperisce la cosa per cui supplichiamo.
(didascalia)	MENECRATE
POMPEO	Noi, ignari di noi stessi, chiediamo spesso il nostro danno, che le sagge potenze ci negano per il nostro bene; così troviamo profitto nel perdere le nostre preghiere.
POMPEO	Andrà bene per me. Il popolo mi ama, e il mare è mio. Le mie forze crescono, e la mia speranza presaga dice che verranno al plenilunio. Marco Antonio in Egitto siede a cena, e non farà guerre fuori di casa. Cesare guadagna denaro dove perde i cuori. Lepido lusinga entrambi, da entrambi è lusingato; ma egli non ama nessuno dei due, né l’uno né l’altro si cura di lui.
(didascalia)	MENA
POMPEO	Cesare e Lepido sono in campo; conducono una possente forza.
POMPEO	Da chi l’hai saputo? È falso.
(didascalia)	MENA
POMPEO	Da Silvio, signore.
POMPEO	Sogna. Io so che sono a Roma insieme, in attesa d’Antonio. Ma tutti gl’incanti d’amore, lasciva Cleopatra, ammorbidiscano il tuo labbro sfiorito. La stregoneria s’unisca alla bellezza, la libidine a entrambe leghi il libertino, in un campo di banchetti tengano il suo cervello in fumo; cuochi epicurei gli aguzzino con salse insaziabili l’appetito, sì che il sonno e il cibo differiscano il suo onore fino a un torpore di Lete—
(didascalia)	Entra Varrio
POMPEO	Ebbene, Varrio?
VARRIO	È certissimo ciò che riferirò: Marco Antonio è atteso a Roma d’ora in ora. Da quando lasciò l’Egitto, v’è tempo per un viaggio più lungo.
POMPEO	Avrei prestato miglior orecchio a notizia da meno. Mena, non pensavo che questo crapulone amoroso avrebbe cinto l’elmo per una guerra così meschina. La sua arte militare vale il doppio degli altri due. Ma innalziamo ancora più alta la nostra stima, se il nostro muoverci può strappare dal grembo della vedova d’Egitto l’Antonio mai sazio di libidine.
MENA	Non posso sperare che Cesare e Antonio si salutino bene tra loro. La sua defunta moglie fece torti a Cesare, suo fratello gli mosse guerra, benché, credo, non spinto da Antonio.
POMPEO	Non so, Mena, come inimicizie minori possano cedere alle maggiori. Se non fosse che noi ci ergiamo contro tutti loro, sarebbe certo che si azzufferebbero tra loro, ché hanno nutrito causa abbastanza per sguainare le spade. Ma come la paura di noi possa cementare le loro divisioni e ricucire la piccola differenza, ancora non sappiamo. Sia come vorranno i nostri dèi; sta soltanto alle nostre vite adoperare le mani più forti. Vieni, Mena.
(didascalia)	Escono

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Enobarbus and Lepidus
LEPIDUS	Good Enobarbus, ’tis a worthy deed, And shall become you well, to entreat your captain To soft and gentle speech.
ENOBARBUS	I shall entreat him To answer like himself. If Caesar move him, Let Antony look over Caesar’s head And speak as loud as Mars. By Jupiter, Were I the wearer of Antonio’s beard I would not shave’t today.
LEPIDUS	’Tis not a time For private stomaching.
ENOBARBUS	Every time Serves for the matter that is then born in’t.
LEPIDUS	But small to greater matters must give way.
ENOBARBUS	Not if the small come first.
LEPIDUS	Your speech is passion. But pray you, stir no embers up. Here comes The noble Antony.
(didascalia)	Enter at one door Antony and Ventidius
ENOBARBUS	And yonder Caesar.
(didascalia)	Enter at another door Caesar, Maecenas, and Agrippa
ANTONY	(to Ventidius) If we compose well here, to Parthia. Hark, Ventidius.
CAESAR	I do not know, Maecenas; ask Agrippa.
LEPIDUS	(to Caesar and Antony) Noble friends, That which combined us was most great; and let not A leaner action rend us. What’s amiss, May it be gently heard. When we debate Our trivial difference loud, we do commit Murder in healing wounds. Then, noble partners, The rather for I earnestly beseech, Touch you the sourest points with sweetest terms, Nor curstness grow to th’ matter.
ANTONY	’Tis spoken well. Were we before our armies, and to fight, I should do thus.
(didascalia)	Antony and Caesar embrace. Flourish
CAESAR	Welcome to Rome.
ANTONY	Thank you.
CAESAR	Sit.
ANTONY	Sit, sir.
CAESAR	Nay then. They sit
ANTONY	I learn you take things ill which are not so, Or being, concern you not.
CAESAR	I must be laughed at If or for nothing or a little I Should say myself offended, and with you Chiefly i’th’ world; more laughed at that I should Once name you derogately, when to sound your name It not concerned me.
ANTONY	My being in Egypt, Caesar, what was’t to you?
CAESAR	No more than my residing here at Rome Might be to you in Egypt. Yet if you there Did practise on my state, your being in Egypt Might be my question.
ANTONY	How intend you ‘practised’?
CAESAR	You may be pleased to catch at mine intent By what did here befall me. Your wife and brother Made wars upon me, and their contestation Was theme for you. You were the word of war.
ANTONY	You do mistake the business. My brother never Did urge me in his act. I did enquire it, And have my learning from some true reports That drew their swords with you. Did he not rather Discredit my authority with yours, And make the wars alike against my stomach, Having alike your cause? Of this, my letters Before did satisfy you. If you’ll patch a quarrel, As matter whole you have to make it with, It must not be with this.
CAESAR	You praise yourself By laying defects of judgement to me, but You patched up your excuses.
ANTONY	Not so, not so. I know you could not lack, I am certain on’t, Very necessity of this thought, that I, Your partner in the cause ’gainst which he fought, Could not with graceful eyes attend those wars Which fronted mine own peace. As for my wife, I would you had her spirit in such another. The third o’th’ world is yours, which with a snaffle You may pace easy, but not such a wife.
ENOBARBUS	Would we had all such wives, that the men might go to wars with the women.
ANTONY	So much uncurbable, her garboils, Caesar, Made out of her impatience—which not wanted Shrewdness of policy too—I grieving grant Did you too much disquiet, for that you must But say I could not help it.
CAESAR	I wrote to you When, rioting in Alexandria, you Did pocket up my letters, and with taunts Did gibe my missive out of audience.
ANTONY	Sir, he fell upon me ere admitted, then. Three kings I had newly feasted, and did want Of what I was i’th’ morning; but next day I told him of myself, which was as much As to have asked him pardon. Let this fellow Be nothing of our strife. If we contend, Out of our question wipe him.
CAESAR	You have broken The article of your oath, which you shall never Have tongue to charge me with.
LEPIDUS	Soft, Caesar.
ANTONY	No, Lepidus, let him speak. The honour is sacred which he talks on now, Supposing that I lacked it. But on, Caesar: The article of my oath—
CAESAR	To lend me arms and aid when I required them, The which you both denied.
ANTONY	Neglected, rather, And then when poisoned hours had bound me up From mine own knowledge. As nearly as I may I’ll play the penitent to you, but mine honesty Shall not make poor my greatness, nor my power Work without it. Truth is that Fulvia, To have me out of Egypt, made wars here, For which myself, the ignorant motive, do So far ask pardon as befits mine honour To stoop in such a case.
LEPIDUS	’Tis noble spoken.
MAECENAS	If it might please you to enforce no further The griefs between ye; to forget them quite Were to remember that the present need Speaks to atone you.
LEPIDUS	Worthily spoken, Maecenas.
ENOBARBUS	Or if you borrow one another’s love for the instant, you may, when you hear no more words of Pompey, return it again. You shall have time to wrangle in when you have nothing else to do.
ANTONY	Thou art a soldier only. Speak no more.
ENOBARBUS	That truth should be silent I had almost forgot.
ANTONY	You wrong this presence, therefore speak no more. ENOBARBUS Go to, then; your considerate stone.
CAESAR	I do not much dislike the matter, but The manner of his speech, for’t cannot be We shall remain in friendship, our conditions So diff‘ring in their acts. Yet if I knew What hoop should hold us staunch, from edge to edge O’th’ world I would pursue it.
AGRIPPA	Give me leave, Caesar.
CAESAR	Speak, Agrippa.
AGRIPPA	Thou hast a sister by the mother’s side, Admired Octavia. Great Mark Antony Is now a widower.
CAESAR	Say not so, Agrippa. If Cleopatra heard you, your reproof Were well deserved of rashness.
ANTONY	I am not married, Caesar. Let me hear Agrippa further speak.
AGRIPPA	To hold you in perpetual amity, To make you brothers, and to knit your hearts With an unslipping knot, take Antony Octavia to his wife; whose beauty claims No worse a husband than the best of men; Whose virtue and whose general graces speak That which none else can utter. By this marriage All little jealousies which now seem great, And all great fears which now import their dangers, Would then be nothing. Truths would be tales Where now half-tales be truths. Her love to both Would each to other and all loves to both Draw after her. Pardon what I have spoke, For ’tis a studied, not a present thought, By duty ruminated.
ANTONY	Will Caesar speak?
CAESAR	Not till he hears how Antony is touched With what is spoke already.
ANTONY	What power is in Agrippa, If I would say ‘Agrippa, be it so’, To make this good?
CAESAR	The power of Caesar, And his power unto Octavia.
ANTONY	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.
CAESAR	There’s my hand. Antony and Caesar clasp hands 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.
LEPIDUS	Happily, amen.
ANTONY	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, Lest my remembrance suffer ill report; At heel of that, defy him.
LEPIDUS	Time calls upon’s. Of us must Pompey presently be sought, Or else he seeks out us.
ANTONY	Where lies he?
CAESAR	About the Mount Misena.
ANTONY	What is his strength By land?
CAESAR	Great and increasing, but by sea He is an absolute master.
ANTONY	So is the fame. Would we had spoke together. Haste we for it; Yet ere we put ourselves in arms, dispatch we The business we have talked of.
CAESAR	With most gladness, And do invite you to my sister’s view, Whither straight I’ll lead you.
ANTONY	Let us, Lepidus, Not lack your company.
LEPIDUS	Noble Antony, Not sickness should detain me.
(didascalia)	Flourish. Exeunt all but Enobarbus, Agrippa, and Maecenas
MAECENAS	(to Enobarbus) Welcome from Egypt, sir.
ENOBARBUS	Half the heart of Caesar, worthy Maecenas! My honourable friend, Agrippa!
AGRIPPA	Good Enobarbus!
MAECENAS	We have cause to be glad that matters are so well digested. You stayed well by’t in Egypt.
ENOBARBUS	Ay, sir, we did sleep day out of countenance, and made the night light with drinking.
MAECENAS	Eight wild boars roasted whole at a breakfast and but twelve persons there—is this true?
ENOBARBUS	This was but as a fly by an eagle. We had much more monstrous matter of feast, which worthily deserved noting.
MAECENAS	She’s a most triumphant lady, if report be square to her.
ENOBARBUS	When she first met Mark Antony, she pursed up his heart upon the river of Cydnus. AGRiPPA There she appeared indeed, or my reporter devised well for her.
ENOBARBUS	I will tell you. The barge she sat in, like a burnished throne Burned 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 beggared 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 divers-coloured fans whose wind did seem To glow the delicate cheeks which they did cool, And what they undid did.
AGRIPPA	O, rare for Antony!
ENOBARBUS	Her gentlewomen, like the Nereides, So many mermaids, tended her i‘th’ 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, Enthroned i’th’ market-place, did sit alone, Whistling to th’air, which but for vacancy Had gone to gaze on Cleopatra too, And made a gap in nature.
AGRIPPA	Rare Egyptian!
ENOBARBUS	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 barbered ten times o’er, goes to the feast, And for his ordinary pays his heart For what his eyes eat only.
AGRIPPA	Royal wench! She made great Caesar lay his sword to bed. He ploughed her, and she cropped.
ENOBARBUS	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, pour breath forth.
MAECENAS	Now Antony Must leave her utterly.
ENOBARBUS	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.
MAECENAS	If beauty, wisdom, modesty can settle The heart of Antony, Octavia is A blessed lottery to him.
AGRIPPA	Let us go. Good Enobarbus, make yourself my guest Whilst you abide here.
ENOBARBUS	Humbly, sir, I thank you.
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entrano Enobarbo e Lepido
LEPIDO	Buon Enobarbo, è opera degna, e ti s’addirà bene, pregare il tuo capitano a discorso mite e gentile.
ENOBARBO	Lo pregherò di rispondere da par suo. Se Cesare lo provoca, Antonio guardi oltre la testa di Cesare e parli alto come Marte. Per Giove, fossi io a portare la barba d’Antonio non me la raderei oggi.
LEPIDO	Non è tempo di rancori privati.
ENOBARBO	Ogni tempo serve alla materia che allora vi nasce dentro.
LEPIDO	Ma il piccolo deve cedere il passo al più grande.
ENOBARBO	Non se il piccolo viene per primo.
LEPIDO	Il tuo parlare è passione. Ma ti prego, non attizzare braci. Ecco che viene il nobile Antonio.
(didascalia)	Entrano da una porta Antonio e Ventidio
ENOBARBO	E là Cesare.
(didascalia)	Entrano da un’altra porta Cesare, Mecenate e Agrippa
ANTONIO	(a Ventidio) Se qui componiamo bene, in Partia. Ascolta, Ventidio.
CESARE	Non so, Mecenate; chiedi ad Agrippa.
LEPIDO	(a Cesare e Antonio) Nobili amici, ciò che ci unì fu grandissimo; e non permettete che un motivo più magro ci laceri. Ciò che non va, sia ascoltato con dolcezza. Quando dibattiamo ad alta voce le nostre banali differenze, commettiamo un omicidio nel guarire ferite. Dunque, nobili soci, tanto più perché ve ne supplico caldamente, toccate i punti più aspri con i termini più dolci, né l’acredine s’aggiunga alla materia.
ANTONIO	È detto bene. Fossimo davanti ai nostri eserciti, e in procinto di batterci, farei così.
(didascalia)	Antonio e Cesare si abbracciano. Squilli di trombe
CESARE	Benvenuto a Roma.
ANTONIO	Vi ringrazio.
CESARE	Sedete.
ANTONIO	Sedete voi, signore.
CESARE	E allora sia. Siedono
ANTONIO	Apprendo che prendete a male cose che non lo sono, o che, essendolo, non vi riguardano.
CESARE	Meriterei d’esser deriso se per nulla o per poco mi dicessi offeso, e con voi più che con chiunque al mondo; e più deriso ancora se una volta vi nominassi con disprezzo, quando pronunciare il vostro nome non mi riguardava.
ANTONIO	Il mio stare in Egitto, Cesare, che v’importava?
CESARE	Non più di quanto il mio risiedere qui a Roma potesse importare a voi in Egitto. Eppure se là tramavate contro il mio stato, il vostro stare in Egitto poteva ben essere mia questione.
ANTONIO	Che intendete per «tramavate»?
CESARE	Potete facilmente cogliere il mio intento da ciò che qui mi accadde. Vostra moglie e vostro fratello mi mossero guerra, e la loro contesa aveva voi per tema. Voi eravate la parola d’ordine della guerra.
ANTONIO	Voi fraintendete la faccenda. Mio fratello mai m’invocò nel suo atto. Me ne informai, e ne ho notizia da alcune veraci testimonianze di chi sguainò la spada con voi. Non screditò egli piuttosto la mia autorità insieme alla vostra, e non mosse guerra ugualmente contro il mio volere, avendo ugualmente la vostra causa? Di ciò le mie lettere già prima vi diedero soddisfazione. Se volete rattoppare una lite, avendo materia intera con cui farla, non dev’essere con questa.
CESARE	Voi lodate voi stesso attribuendo a me difetti di giudizio, ma avete rattoppato le vostre scuse.
ANTONIO	Non è così, non è così. So che non potevate mancare, ne son certo, della necessità stessa di questo pensiero: che io, vostro socio nella causa contro cui egli combatteva, non potevo con occhio benevolo assistere a quelle guerre che si opponevano alla mia stessa pace. Quanto a mia moglie, vorrei che aveste il suo spirito in un’altra simile. Il terzo del mondo è vostro, e con un morso lo potete guidar facilmente, ma non una tal moglie.
ENOBARBO	Avessimo tutti simili mogli, così che gli uomini potessero andare in guerra con le donne.
ANTONIO	Tanto indomabile, i suoi tumulti, Cesare, nati dalla sua impazienza—cui non mancava anche accortezza politica—dolendomene ammetto vi diedero troppa inquietudine, e per questo dovete solo dire che non potevo evitarlo.
CESARE	Vi scrissi quando, gozzovigliando in Alessandria, voi v’intascaste le mie lettere, e con motteggi cacciaste dall’udienza il mio messo.
ANTONIO	Signore, egli mi piombò addosso prima d’essere ammesso. Avevo appena banchettato con tre re, e mi mancava quel che ero al mattino; ma il giorno dopo gliene parlai io stesso, il che valeva quanto avergli chiesto perdono. Costui non sia nulla nella nostra contesa. Se contendiamo, cancelliamolo dalla nostra questione.
CESARE	Avete violato l’articolo del vostro giuramento, cosa di cui voi mai avrete lingua per accusare me.
LEPIDO	Piano, Cesare.
ANTONIO	No, Lepido, lascialo parlare. Sacro è l’onore di cui ora ragiona, supponendo ch’io ne fossi privo. Ma avanti, Cesare: l’articolo del mio giuramento—
CESARE	Di prestarmi armi e aiuto quando li richiedessi, e voi negaste entrambi.
ANTONIO	Trascurai, piuttosto, e allora quando ore avvelenate m’avevano estraniato dalla mia stessa coscienza. Per quanto posso farò il penitente con voi, ma la mia onestà non impoverirà la mia grandezza, né il mio potere opererà senza di lei. La verità è che Fulvia, per trarmi fuori d’Egitto, fece qui la guerra, e di ciò io stesso, ignaro movente, chiedo perdono fin dove s’addice al mio onore di piegarsi in tal caso.
LEPIDO	Nobilmente detto.
MECENATE	Se vi piacesse non spingere oltre i rancori fra voi; dimenticarli del tutto sarebbe ricordare che il bisogno presente vi chiama a riconciliarvi.
LEPIDO	Degnamente detto, Mecenate.
ENOBARBO	Oppure se vi prestate l’un l’altro l’amore per il momento, potrete, quando non udrete più parlare di Pompeo, restituirlo. Avrete tempo per bisticciare quando non avrete altro da fare.
ANTONIO	Tu sei soltanto un soldato. Non parlare più.
ENOBARBO	Che la verità debba tacere l’avevo quasi dimenticato.
ANTONIO	Fate torto a questa assemblea, perciò non parlate più. ENOBARBO Suvvia, dunque; sono la vostra pietra pensosa.
CESARE	Non mi dispiace tanto la sostanza, quanto il modo del suo parlare, ché non è possibile che restiamo in amicizia, essendo i nostri caratteri così diversi nei loro atti. Eppure se sapessi quale cerchio potrebbe tenerci saldi, da un capo all’altro del mondo lo cercherei.
AGRIPPA	Permettete, Cesare.
CESARE	Parla, Agrippa.
AGRIPPA	Tu hai una sorella per parte di madre, l’ammirata Ottavia. Il grande Marco Antonio è ora vedovo.
CESARE	Non dir così, Agrippa. Se Cleopatra t’udisse, il tuo rimprovero sarebbe ben meritato per avventatezza.
ANTONIO	Non sono ammogliato, Cesare. Lasciate ch’io senta Agrippa parlare oltre.
AGRIPPA	Per tenervi in perpetua amicizia, per farvi fratelli, e per annodare i vostri cuori con nodo che non scorra, prenda Antonio Ottavia in moglie; la cui bellezza non reclama marito peggiore del migliore degli uomini; la cui virtù e le cui grazie tutte dicono ciò che nessun altro può proferire. Con questo matrimonio tutte le piccole gelosie che ora paiono grandi, e tutti i grandi timori che ora recano i loro pericoli, sarebbero allora nulla. Le verità sarebbero favole là dove ora le mezze favole son verità. Il suo amore per entrambi trarrebbe dietro di sé l’uno all’altro, e tutti gli amori verso entrambi. Perdonate ciò che ho detto, ché è pensiero meditato, non improvviso, ruminato dal dovere.
ANTONIO	Vuol parlare Cesare?
CESARE	Non prima d’udire come Antonio sia toccato da ciò che già s’è detto.
ANTONIO	Quale potere ha Agrippa, se io dicessi «Agrippa, sia così», di render valido questo?
CESARE	Il potere di Cesare, e il suo potere su Ottavia.
ANTONIO	Ch’io mai, di fronte a questo buon proposito, che così bello appare, sogni un impedimento! Dammi la tua mano. Promuovi quest’atto di grazia, e da quest’ora il cuore di fratelli governi nei nostri affetti e regga i nostri grandi disegni.
CESARE	Ecco la mia mano. Antonio e Cesare si stringono la mano Ti lascio una sorella che nessun fratello mai amò così teneramente. Ch’ella viva per unire i nostri regni e i nostri cuori; e mai più i nostri affetti si stacchino.
LEPIDO	Felicemente, amen.
ANTONIO	Non pensavo di sguainare la spada contro Pompeo, ché di recente m’ha usato cortesie strane e grandi. Devo solo ringraziarlo, perché la mia memoria non abbia cattiva fama; e subito dopo, sfidarlo.
LEPIDO	Il tempo ci incalza. Pompeo va cercato da noi subito, o sarà lui a cercare noi.
ANTONIO	Dove si trova?
CESARE	Presso il Monte Miseno.
ANTONIO	Qual è la sua forza per terra?
CESARE	Grande e crescente, ma per mare è padrone assoluto.
ANTONIO	Così dice la fama. Avessimo già parlato insieme. Affrettiamoci; ma prima di prender le armi, sbrighiamo la faccenda di cui abbiamo parlato.
CESARE	Con grandissima gioia, e v’invito a vedere mia sorella, dove subito vi condurrò.
ANTONIO	Che a noi, Lepido, non manchi la vostra compagnia.
LEPIDO	Nobile Antonio, neppure una malattia mi tratterrebbe.
(didascalia)	Squilli di trombe. Escono tutti tranne Enobarbo, Agrippa e Mecenate
MECENATE	(a Enobarbo) Bentornato dall’Egitto, signore.
ENOBARBO	Metà del cuore di Cesare, degno Mecenate! Mio onorevole amico, Agrippa!
AGRIPPA	Buon Enobarbo!
MECENATE	Abbiamo ragione d’essere lieti che le cose siano così bene digerite. Ve la siete cavata bene in Egitto.
ENOBARBO	Sì, signore, abbiamo dormito fino a far vergogna al giorno, e reso chiara la notte col bere.
MECENATE	Otto cinghiali arrostiti interi a una colazione e soltanto dodici persone presenti—è vero questo?
ENOBARBO	Questo fu appena come una mosca accanto a un’aquila. Avemmo materia di banchetto assai più mostruosa, che meritava degnamente d’esser notata.
MECENATE	È dama trionfantissima, se la fama le rende giustizia.
ENOBARBO	Quando incontrò per la prima volta Marco Antonio, gli chiuse il cuore in borsa sul fiume Cidno. AGRiPPA Là apparve davvero, o il mio informatore inventò bene per lei.
ENOBARBO	Ve lo dirò io. La barca su cui sedeva, come un trono brunito ardeva sull’acqua. La poppa era d’oro battuto; purpuree le vele, e così profumate che i venti ne erano malati d’amore. I remi erano d’argento, e al suono dei flauti battevano il tempo, e facevano l’acqua che percotevano seguirli più svelta, come innamorata dei loro colpi. Quanto alla sua persona, impoveriva ogni descrizione. Giaceva nel suo padiglione—drappo d’oro, di tessuto— sopravanzando quella Venere in cui vediamo la fantasia superare la natura. Ai suoi due lati stavano graziosi fanciulli con le fossette, come Cupidi sorridenti, con ventagli di vari colori il cui vento pareva accendere le delicate guance che rinfrescava, e disfaceva ciò che faceva.
AGRIPPA	Oh, cosa rara per Antonio!
ENOBARBO	Le sue damigelle, come le Nereidi, tante sirene, la servivano con lo sguardo, e facevano ornamento dei loro inchini. Al timone una che pareva sirena governa. Le sartie di seta si gonfiano al tocco di quelle mani molli come fiori che agilmente compiono l’ufficio. Dalla barca uno strano invisibile profumo colpisce i sensi delle banchine vicine. La città riversò la sua gente su di lei, e Antonio, in trono nella piazza del mercato, sedeva solo, fischiando all’aria, la quale, se non fosse per il vuoto, sarebbe andata anch’essa a contemplare Cleopatra, facendo uno squarcio nella natura.
AGRIPPA	Rara Egiziana!
ENOBARBO	Al suo sbarco Antonio mandò da lei, invitandola a cena. Ella rispose che sarebbe stato meglio ch’egli divenisse suo ospite, e ve lo pregò. Il nostro cortese Antonio, a cui nessuna donna udì mai dire la parola «No», rasato dieci volte di seguito, va al banchetto, e per il suo pasto paga con il cuore ciò che i suoi occhi soltanto mangiarono.
AGRIPPA	Regale femmina! Fece mettere a letto la spada del grande Cesare. Egli l’arò, ed ella diede frutto.
ENOBARBO	La vidi una volta saltellare quaranta passi per la pubblica via, e perduto il fiato, parlava ansimando, sì che faceva del difetto perfezione, e senza fiato, effondeva fiato.
MECENATE	Ora Antonio deve lasciarla del tutto.
ENOBARBO	Mai. Non lo farà. L’età non può appassirla, né l’abitudine render stantia la sua infinita varietà. Le altre donne saziano gli appetiti che nutrono, ma lei fa venir fame là dove più soddisfa. Ché le cose più vili si fanno decorose in lei, tanto che i sacri sacerdoti la benedicono quand’è lasciva.
MECENATE	Se bellezza, saggezza e modestia possono acquietare il cuore d’Antonio, Ottavia è per lui una fortuna benedetta.
AGRIPPA	Andiamo. Buon Enobarbo, siate mio ospite finché soggiornate qui.
ENOBARBO	Umilmente, signore, vi ringrazio.
(didascalia)	Escono

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Antony and Caesar; Octavia between them
ANTONY	The world and my great office will sometimes Divide me from your bosom.
OCTAVIA	All which time, Before the gods my knee shall bow my prayers To them for you.
ANTONY	Good night, sir. My Octavia, Read not my blemishes in the world’s report. I have not kept my square, but that to come Shall all be done by th’ rule. Good night, dear lady. Good night, sir.
CAESAR	Good night.
(didascalia)	Exeunt Caesar and Octavia
(didascalia)	Enter Soothsayer
ANTONY	Now, sirrah. You do wish yourself in Egypt?
SOOTHSAYER	Would I had never come from thence, nor you Gone thither.
ANTONY	If you can, your reason?
SOOTHSAYER	I see it in my motion, have it not in my tongue. But yet hie you to Egypt again.
ANTONY	Say to me Whose fortunes shall rise higher: Caesar’s or mine?
SOOTHSAYER	Caesar’s. Therefore, O Antony, stay not by his side. Thy daemon, that thy spirit which keeps thee, is Noble, courageous, high, unmatchable, Where Caesar’s is not. But near him thy angel Becomes afeard, as being o’erpowered. Therefore Make space enough between you.
ANTONY	Speak this no more.
SOOTHSAYER	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 Is all afraid to govern thee near him; But he away, ’tis noble.
ANTONY	Get thee gone. Say to Ventidius I would speak with him.
(didascalia)	Exit Soothsayer
ANTONY	He shall to Parthia; be it art or hap, He hath spoken true. The very dice obey him, And in our sports my better cunning faints Under his chance. If we draw lots, he speeds. His cocks do win the battle still of mine When it is all to nought, and his quails ever Beat mine, inhooped, at odds. I will to Egypt; And though I make this marriage for my peace, I’th’ East my pleasure lies.
(didascalia)	Enter Ventidius
ANTONY	O, come, Ventidius. You must to Parthia, your commission’s ready. Follow me, and receive’t.
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entrano Antonio e Cesare; Ottavia tra loro
ANTONIO	Il mondo e il mio grande ufficio talvolta mi divideranno dal vostro seno.
OTTAVIA	Per tutto quel tempo, davanti agli dèi il mio ginocchio piegherà le mie preghiere a loro per voi.
ANTONIO	Buona notte, signore. Mia Ottavia, non leggete le mie macchie nel racconto del mondo. Non ho tenuto la mia squadra, ma ciò che verrà sarà tutto fatto a regola. Buona notte, cara signora. Buona notte, signore.
CESARE	Buona notte.
(didascalia)	Escono Cesare e Ottavia
(didascalia)	Entra l’Indovino
ANTONIO	Allora, messere. Vorresti essere in Egitto?
INDOVINO	Non ne fossi mai venuto, né voi vi foste andato.
ANTONIO	Se puoi, la tua ragione?
INDOVINO	La vedo nel mio intuito, non l’ho sulla lingua. Ma pure, affrettatevi di nuovo in Egitto.
ANTONIO	Dimmi di chi la sorte salirà più alta: di Cesare o mia?
INDOVINO	Di Cesare. Perciò, o Antonio, non restare al suo fianco. Il tuo demone, quello spirito che ti custodisce, è nobile, coraggioso, alto, senza pari, là dove quello di Cesare non lo è. Ma vicino a lui il tuo angelo si fa timoroso, come sopraffatto. Perciò metti spazio abbastanza fra voi.
ANTONIO	Non dire più questo.
INDOVINO	A nessuno se non a te; e mai più se non a te. Se giochi con lui a qualsiasi gioco sei certo di perdere; e con quella sua fortuna naturale ti batte contro ogni probabilità. Il tuo splendore s’appanna quando egli brilla accanto. Lo ripeto: il tuo spirito ha tutta paura di governarti vicino a lui; ma lontano lui, è nobile.
ANTONIO	Vattene. Di’ a Ventidio che voglio parlargli.
(didascalia)	Esce l’Indovino
ANTONIO	Andrà in Partia; sia arte o sia caso, ha detto il vero. Perfino i dadi gli obbediscono, e nei nostri giochi la mia maggior destrezza langue sotto la sua sorte. Se tiriamo a sorte, egli vince. I suoi galli battono sempre i miei quando la posta è disperata, e le sue quaglie sempre battono le mie, nel cerchio, contro ogni previsione. Andrò in Egitto; e benché io faccia questo matrimonio per la mia pace, in Oriente sta il mio piacere.
(didascalia)	Entra Ventidio
ANTONIO	Oh, vieni, Ventidio. Devi andare in Partia, il tuo mandato è pronto. Seguimi, e ricevilo.
(didascalia)	Escono

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Lepidus, Maecenas, and Agrippa
LEPIDUS	Trouble yourselves no further. Pray you, hasten Your generals after.
AGRIPPA	Sir, Mark Antony Will e’en but kiss Octavia, and we’ll follow.
LEPIDUS	Till I shall see you in your soldier’s dress, Which will become you both, farewell.
MAECENAS	We shall, As I conceive the journey, be at the Mount Before you, Lepidus.
LEPIDUS	Your way is shorter. My purposes do draw me much about. You’ll win two days upon me.
MAECENAS	and
AGRIPPA	Sir, good success.
LEPIDUS	Farewell.
(didascalia)	Exeunt Maecenas and Agrippa at one door, Lepidus at another

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entrano Lepido, Mecenate e Agrippa
LEPIDO	Non incomodatevi oltre. Vi prego, affrettate i vostri generali a seguirci.
AGRIPPA	Signore, Marco Antonio darà appena un bacio a Ottavia, e noi seguiremo.
LEPIDO	Finché non vi rivedrò in abito di soldato, che a entrambi s’addirà, addio.
MECENATE	Saremo, per come intendo il viaggio, al Monte prima di voi, Lepido.
LEPIDO	La vostra via è più breve. I miei propositi mi portano assai in giro. Guadagnerete due giorni su di me.
MECENATE	e
AGRIPPA	Signore, buon successo.
LEPIDO	Addio.
(didascalia)	Escono Mecenate e Agrippa da una porta, Lepido da un’altra

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Cleopatra, Charmian, Iras, and Alexas
CLEOPATRA	Give me some music—music, moody food Of us that trade in love. CHARMIAN, IRAS, and ALEXAS The music, ho!
(didascalia)	Enter Mardian, the eunuch
CLEOPATRA	Let it alone. Let’s to billiards. Come, Charmian.
CHARMIAN	My arm is sore. Best play with Mardian.
CLEOPATRA	As well a woman with an eunuch played As with a woman. Come, you’ll play with me, sir?
MARDIAN	As well as I can, madam.
CLEOPATRA	And when good will is showed, though’t come too short The actor may plead pardon. I’ll none now. Give me mine angle. We’ll to th’ river. There, My music playing far off, I will betray Tawny-finned fishes. My bended hook shall pierce Their slimy jaws, and as I draw them up I’ll think them every one an Antony, And say ‘Ah ha, you’re caught!’
CHARMIAN	’Twas merry when You wagered on your angling, when your diver Did hang a salt fish on his hook, which he With fervency drew up.
CLEOPATRA	That time—O times!— I laughed him out of patience, and that night I laughed him into patience, and next morn, Ere the ninth hour, I drunk him to his bed, Then put my tires and mantles on him whilst I wore his sword Philippan.
(didascalia)	Enter a Messenger
CLEOPATRA	O, from Italy. Ram thou thy fruitful tidings in mine ears, That long time have been barren.
MESSENGER	Madam, madam!
CLEOPATRA	Antonio’s dead. If thou say so, villain, Thou kill’st thy mistress; but well and free, If thou so yield him, there is gold, and here My bluest veins to kiss—a hand that kings Have lipped, and trembled kissing.
MESSENGER	First, madam, he is well.
CLEOPATRA	Why, there’s more gold. But, sirrah, mark: we use To say the dead are well. Bring it to that, The gold I give thee will I melt and pour Down thy ill-uttering throat.
MESSENGER	Good madam, hear me.
CLEOPATRA	Well, go to, I will. But there’s no goodness in thy face. If Antony Be free and healthful, so tart a favour To trumpet such good tidings! If not well, Thou shouldst come like a Fury crowned with snakes, Not like a formal man.
MESSENGER	Will’t please you hear me?
CLEOPATRA	I have a mind to strike thee ere thou speak’st. Yet if thou say Antony lives, is well, Or friends with Caesar, or not captive to him, I’ll set thee in a shower of gold, and hail Rich pearls upon thee.
MESSENGER	Madam, he’s well.
CLEOPATRA	Well said.
MESSENGER	And friends with Caesar.
CLEOPATRA	Thou’rt an honest man.
MESSENGER	Caesar and he are greater friends than ever.
CLEOPATRA	Make thee a fortune from me.
MESSENGER	But yet, madam—
CLEOPATRA	I do not like ‘But yet’; it does allay The good precedence. Fie upon ‘But yet’. ‘But yet’ is as a jailer to bring forth Some monstrous malefactor. Prithee, friend, Pour out the pack of matter to mine ear, The good and bad together. He’s friends with Caesar, In state of health, thou sayst; and, thou sayst, free.
MESSENGER	Free, madam? No, I made no such report. He’s bound unto Octavia.
CLEOPATRA	For what good turn?
MESSENGER	For the best turn i’th’ bed.
CLEOPATRA	I am pale, Charmian.
MESSENGER	Madam, he’s married to Octavia.
CLEOPATRA	The most infectious pestilence upon thee! She strikes him down
MESSENGER	Good madam, patience!
CLEOPATRA	What say you? She strikes him Hence, horrible villain, or I’ll spurn thine eyes Like balls before me. I’ll unhair thy head, She hales him up and down Thou shalt be whipped with wire and stewed in brine, Smarting in ling’ring pickle.
MESSENGER	Gracious madam, I that do bring the news made not the match.
CLEOPATRA	Say ’tis not so, a province I will give thee, And make thy fortunes proud. The blow thou hadst Shall make thy peace for moving me to rage, And I will boot thee with what gift beside Thy modesty can beg.
MESSENGER	He’s married, madam.
CLEOPATRA	Rogue, thou hast lived too long. She draws a knife
MESSENGER	Nay then, I’ll run. What mean you, madam? I have made no fault. Exit
CHARMIAN	Good madam, keep yourself within yourself. The man is innocent.
CLEOPATRA	Some innocents ’scape not the thunderbolt. Melt Egypt into Nile, and kindly creatures Turn all to serpents! Call the slave again. Though I am mad I will not bite him. Call!
CHARMIAN	He is afeard to come.
CLEOPATRA	I will not hurt him.
(didascalia)	Exit Charmian
CLEOPATRA	These hands do lack nobility that they strike A meaner than myself, since I myself Have given myself the cause.
(didascalia)	Enter the Messenger again With Charmian Come hither, sir.
CLEOPATRA	Though it be honest, it is never good To bring bad news. Give to a gracious message An host of tongues, but let ill tidings tell Themselves when they be felt.
MESSENGER	I have done my duty.
CLEOPATRA	Is he married? I cannot hate thee worser than I do If thou again say ‘Yes’.
MESSENGER	He’s married, madam.
CLEOPATRA	The gods confound thee! Dost thou hold there still?
MESSENGER	Should I lie, madam?
CLEOPATRA	O, I would thou didst, So half my Egypt were submerged and made A cistern for scaled snakes. Go, get thee hence. Hadst thou Narcissus in thy face, to me Thou wouldst appear most ugly. He is married?
MESSENGER	I crave your highness’ pardon.
CLEOPATRA	He is married?
MESSENGER	Take no offence that I would not offend you. To punish me for what you make me do Seems much unequal. He’s married to Octavia.
CLEOPATRA	O that his fault should make a knave of thee, That act not what thou‘rt sure of! Get thee hence. The merchandise which thou hast brought from Rome Are all too dear for me. Lie they upon thy hand, And be undone by ’em.
(didascalia)	Exit Messenger
CHARMIAN	Good your highness, patience.
CLEOPATRA	In praising Antony I have dispraised Caesar.
CHARMIAN	Many times, madam.
CLEOPATRA	I am paid for’t now. Lead me from hence. I faint. O Iras, Charmian—’tis no matter. Go to the fellow, good Alexas, bid him Report the feature of Octavia: her years, Her inclination; let him not leave out The colour of her hair. Bring me word quickly.
(didascalia)	Exit Alexas
CLEOPATRA	Let him for ever go—let him not, Charmian; Though he be painted one way like a Gorgon,
(didascalia)	The other way’s a Mars. To Mardian Bid you Alexas
CLEOPATRA	Bring me word how tall she is. Pity me, Charmian, But do not speak to me. Lead me to my chamber.
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entrano Cleopatra, Carmiana, Iras e Alessa
CLEOPATRA	Datemi un po’ di musica—musica, cibo malinconico di noi che trafficiamo in amore. CARMIANA, IRAS e ALESSA La musica, olà!
(didascalia)	Entra Mardiano, l’eunuco
CLEOPATRA	Lasciate stare. Andiamo al biliardo. Vieni, Carmiana.
CARMIANA	Mi duole il braccio. Meglio giocare con Mardiano.
CLEOPATRA	Una donna gioca bene con un eunuco come con una donna. Su, volete giocare con me, signore?
MARDIANO	Come meglio posso, madama.
CLEOPATRA	E quando si mostra buona volontà, per quanto venga meno, l’attore può invocare perdono. Ora non voglio più. Datemi la mia lenza. Andremo al fiume. Là, con la mia musica che suona lontano, tradirò i pesci dalle pinne fulve. Il mio amo ricurvo trafiggerà le loro fauci viscide, e mentre li tiro su penserò che ognuno sia un Antonio, e dirò: «Ah ah, sei preso!»
CARMIANA	Fu allegro quando scommetteste sulla vostra pesca, e il vostro palombaro appese al suo amo un pesce salato, ch’egli con fervore tirò su.
CLEOPATRA	Quel tempo—oh tempi!— lo feci ridere fino a perder la pazienza, e quella notte lo feci ridere fino a ritrovarla, e il mattino dopo, prima della nona ora, lo feci bere fino al letto, poi gli misi addosso le mie vesti e i miei manti mentre io portavo la sua spada Filippana.
(didascalia)	Entra un Messaggero
CLEOPATRA	Oh, dall’Italia. Caccia le tue feconde notizie nei miei orecchi, che da lungo tempo sono stati sterili.
MESSAGGERO	Madama, madama!
CLEOPATRA	Antonio è morto. Se dici così, scellerato, uccidi la tua signora; ma se me lo dài sano e libero, ecco dell’oro, ed ecco le mie vene più azzurre da baciare—una mano che i re hanno sfiorato con le labbra, e tremato nel baciarla.
MESSAGGERO	Anzitutto, madama, egli sta bene.
CLEOPATRA	Ecco, c’è dell’altro oro. Ma, messere, bada: usiamo dire che i morti stanno bene. Se a ciò vuoi condurmi, l’oro che ti do lo fonderò e lo verserò giù per la tua gola di malaugurio.
MESSAGGERO	Buona madama, ascoltatemi.
CLEOPATRA	Bene, suvvia, ti ascolterò. Ma non c’è nulla di buono sul tuo volto. Se Antonio è libero e sano, che faccia così acida per trombettare così buone nuove! Se non sta bene, dovresti venire come una Furia incoronata di serpi, non come un uomo compìto.
MESSAGGERO	Vi piace ascoltarmi?
CLEOPATRA	Ho voglia di colpirti prima che tu parli. Eppure se dici che Antonio vive, sta bene, o è amico di Cesare, o non è suo prigioniero, ti porrò sotto una pioggia d’oro, e grandinerò ricche perle su di te.
MESSAGGERO	Madama, sta bene.
CLEOPATRA	Ben detto.
MESSAGGERO	Ed è amico di Cesare.
CLEOPATRA	Sei un uomo onesto.
MESSAGGERO	Cesare e lui sono amici più che mai.
CLEOPATRA	Fatti una fortuna con me.
MESSAGGERO	E però, madama—
CLEOPATRA	Non mi piace «e però»; smorza il buon principio. Vergogna su «e però». «E però» è come un carceriere che conduce fuori qualche mostruoso malfattore. Di grazia, amico, versami all’orecchio tutto il fardello della faccenda, il buono e il cattivo insieme. È amico di Cesare, in stato di salute, tu dici; e, tu dici, libero.
MESSAGGERO	Libero, madama? No, non ho fatto tal rapporto. È legato a Ottavia.
CLEOPATRA	Per quale buon servizio?
MESSAGGERO	Per il miglior servizio a letto.
CLEOPATRA	Impallidisco, Carmiana.
MESSAGGERO	Madama, è sposato a Ottavia.
CLEOPATRA	La più contagiosa pestilenza su di te! Lo abbatte
MESSAGGERO	Buona madama, pazienza!
CLEOPATRA	Che dici? Lo colpisce Via, orribile scellerato, o ti caccerò via gli occhi a calci come palle davanti a me. Ti spelerò il capo, Lo trascina qua e là sarai frustato con fili di ferro e cotto in salamoia, bruciando in lenta salsa.
MESSAGGERO	Graziosa madama, io che porto la notizia non ho combinato il matrimonio.
CLEOPATRA	Di’ che non è così, e ti darò una provincia, e farò superba la tua fortuna. Il colpo che hai ricevuto ti varrà pace per avermi mossa all’ira, e ti ricompenserò con qualunque altro dono la tua modestia sappia chiedere.
MESSAGGERO	È sposato, madama.
CLEOPATRA	Furfante, hai vissuto troppo a lungo. Sguaina un coltello
MESSAGGERO	E allora fuggo. Che intendete, madama? Non ho commesso colpa. Esce
CARMIANA	Buona madama, contenetevi in voi stessa. L’uomo è innocente.
CLEOPATRA	Alcuni innocenti non sfuggono al fulmine. Si sciolga l’Egitto nel Nilo, e le creature miti si mutino tutte in serpenti! Richiamate lo schiavo. Benché sia furiosa, non lo morderò. Chiamate!
CARMIANA	Ha paura di venire.
CLEOPATRA	Non gli farò male.
(didascalia)	Esce Carmiana
CLEOPATRA	Manca nobiltà a queste mani, che colpiscono uno più basso di me, poiché io stessa me ne sono data la causa.
(didascalia)	Rientra il Messaggero con Carmiana Vieni qua, signore.
CLEOPATRA	Benché sia onesto, non è mai buono portare cattive nuove. Dai a un messaggio grazioso un esercito di lingue, ma lascia che le male novelle si dicano da sé quando si fanno sentire.
MESSAGGERO	Ho fatto il mio dovere.
CLEOPATRA	È sposato? Non posso odiarti peggio di quanto già faccia se ripeti «Sì».
MESSAGGERO	È sposato, madama.
CLEOPATRA	Gli dèi ti confondano! Insisti ancora in questo?
MESSAGGERO	Dovrei mentire, madama?
CLEOPATRA	Oh, vorrei che mentissi, anche a costo che metà del mio Egitto fosse sommerso e fatto cisterna per serpi squamose. Va’, vattene di qui. Avessi tu in volto Narciso, a me apparirebbe bruttissimo. È sposato?
MESSAGGERO	Imploro il perdono di vostra altezza.
CLEOPATRA	È sposato?
MESSAGGERO	Non v’offendete ch’io non voglia offendervi. Punirmi per ciò che voi mi fate fare pare assai iniquo. È sposato a Ottavia.
CLEOPATRA	Oh, che la sua colpa debba fare di te un furfante, tu che non hai commesso ciò di cui sei certo! Vattene di qui. Le merci che hai portato da Roma sono tutte troppo care per me. Ti restino sulle mani, e ne sia tu rovinato.
(didascalia)	Esce il Messaggero
CARMIANA	Vostra altezza, pazienza.
CLEOPATRA	Lodando Antonio ho biasimato Cesare.
CARMIANA	Molte volte, madama.
CLEOPATRA	Ora ne son ripagata. Portatemi via di qui. Vengo meno. O Iras, Carmiana—non importa. Va’ da quell’uomo, buon Alessa, digli di riferire i tratti di Ottavia: la sua età, la sua indole; non tralasci il colore dei suoi capelli. Portami presto risposta.
(didascalia)	Esce Alessa
CLEOPATRA	Che se ne vada per sempre—no, non se ne vada, Carmiana; benché da un lato sia dipinto come una Gorgone,
(didascalia)	dall’altro lato è un Marte. A Mardiano Di’ ad Alessa
CLEOPATRA	di portarmi notizia di quanto sia alta. Compatiscimi, Carmiana, ma non parlarmi. Conducimi alla mia camera.
(didascalia)	Escono

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Flourish. Enter Pompey and Menas at one door, with a drummer and a trumpeter; at another, Caesar, Lepidus, Antony, Enobarbus, Maecenas, Agrippa, with soldiers marching
POMPEY	Your hostages I have, so have you mine, And we shall talk before we fight.
CAESAR	Most meet That first we come to words, and therefore have we Our written purposes before us sent, Which if thou hast considered, let us know If ’twill tie up thy discontented sword And carry back to Sicily much tall youth That else must perish here.
POMPEY	To you all three, The senators alone of this great world, Chief factors for the gods: I do not know Wherefore my father should revengers want, Having a son and friends, since Julius Caesar, Who at Philippi the good Brutus ghosted, There saw you labouring for him. What was’t That moved pale Cassius to conspire? And what Made the all-honoured, honest Roman Brutus, With the armed rest, courtiers of beauteous freedom, To drench the Capitol but that they would Have one man but a man? And that is it Hath made me rig my navy, at whose burden The angered ocean foams; with which I meant To scourge th’ingratitude that despiteful Rome Cast on my noble father.
CAESAR	Take your time.
ANTONY	Thou canst not fear us, Pompey, with thy sails. We’ll speak with thee at sea. At land thou know’st How much we do o’ercount thee.
POMPEY	At land indeed Thou dost o’ercount me of my father’s house, But since the cuckoo builds not for himself, Remain in’t as thou mayst.
LEPIDUS	Be pleased to tell us— For this is from the present—how you take The offers we have sent you.
CAESAR	There’s the point.
ANTONY	Which do not be entreated to, but weigh What it is worth, embraced.
CAESAR	And what may follow, To try a larger fortune?
POMPEY	You have made me offer Of Sicily, Sardinia; and I must Rid all the sea of pirates; then to send Measures of wheat to Rome; this ’greed upon, To part with unhacked edges, and bear back Our targes undinted. CAESAR, ANTONY, and LEPIDUS That’s our offer.
POMPEY	Know, then, I came before you here a man prepared To take this offer. But Mark Antony Put me to some impatience. Though I lose The praise of it by telling, you must know, When Caesar and your brother were at blows, Your mother came to Sicily, and did find Her welcome friendly.
ANTONY	I have heard it, Pompey, And am well studied for a liberal thanks Which I do owe you.
POMPEY	Let me have your hand. Pompey and Antony shake hands I did not think, sir, to have met you here.
ANTONY	The beds i’th’ East are soft; and thanks to you, That called me timelier than my purpose hither; For I have gained by’t.
CAESAR	(to Pompey) Since I saw you last There is a change upon you.
POMPEY	Well, I know not What counts harsh fortune casts upon my face, But in my bosom shall she never come To make my heart her vassal.
LEPIDUS	Well met here.
POMPEY	I hope so, Lepidus. Thus we are agreed. I crave our composition may be written And sealed between us.
CAESAR	That’s the next to do.
POMPEY	We’ll feast each other ere we part, and let’s Draw lots who shall begin.
ANTONY	That will I, Pompey.
POMPEY	No, Antony, take the lot. But, first or last, your fine Egyptian cookery Shall have the fame. I have heard that Julius Caesar Grew fat with feasting there.
ANTONY	You have heard much.
POMPEY	I have fair meanings, sir.
ANTONY	And fair words to them.
POMPEY	Then so much have I heard, And I have heard Apollodorus carried—
ENOBARBUS	No more o’ that, he did so.
POMPEY	What, I pray you?
ENOBARBUS	A certain queen to Caesar in a mattress.
POMPEY	I know thee now. How far’st thou, soldier?
ENOBARBUS	Well, and well am like to do, for I perceive Four feasts are toward.
POMPEY	Let me shake thy hand. Pompey and Enobarbus shake hands I never hated thee. I have seen thee fight When I have envied thy behaviour.
ENOBARBUS	Sir, I never loved you much, but I ha’ praised ye When you have well deserved ten times as much As I have said you did.
POMPEY	Enjoy thy plainness. It nothing ill becomes thee. Aboard my galley I invite you all. Will you lead, lords? CAESAR, ANTONY, and LEPIDUS Show’s the way, sir.
POMPEY	Come.
(didascalia)	Exeunt all but Enobarbus and Menas
MENAS	(aside) Thy father, Pompey, would ne’er have made this treaty. (To Enobarbus) You and I have known, sir.
ENOBARBUS	At sea, I think.
MENAS	We have, sir.
ENOBARBUS	You have done well by water.
MENAS	And you by land.
ENOBARBUS	I will praise any man that will praise me, though it cannot be denied what I have done by land.
MENAS	Nor what I have done by water.
ENOBARBUS	Yes, something you can deny for your own safety. You have been a great thief by sea.
MENAS	And you by land.
ENOBARBUS	There I deny my land service; but give me your hand, Menas. If our eyes had authority, here they might take two thieves kissing. They shake hands
MENAS	All men’s faces are true, whatsome’er their hands are.
ENOBARBUS	But there is never a fair woman has a true face.
MENAS	No slander; they steal hearts.
ENOBARBUS	We came hither to fight with you.
MENAS	For my part, I am sorry it is turned to a drinking. Pompey doth this day laugh away his fortune.
ENOBARBUS	If he do, sure he cannot weep’t back again.
MENAS	You’ve said, sir. We looked not for Mark Antony here. Pray you, is he married to Cleopatra?
ENOBARBUS	Caesar’s sister is called Octavia.
MENAS	True, sir. She was the wife of Caius Marcellus.
ENOBARBUS	But she is now the wife of Marcus Antonius.
MENAS	Pray ye, sir?
ENOBARBUS	’Tis true.
MENAS	Then is Caesar and he for ever knit together.
ENOBARBUS	If I were bound to divine of this unity I would not prophesy so.
MENAS	I think the policy of that purpose made more in the marriage than the love of the parties.
ENOBARBUS	I think so, too. But you shall find the band that seems to tie their friendship together will be the very strangler of their amity. Octavia is of a holy, cold, and still conversation.
MENAS	Who would not have his wife so?
ENOBARBUS	Not he that himself is not so, which is Mark Antony. He will to his Egyptian dish again; then shall the sighs of Octavia blow the fire up in Caesar, and, as I said before, that which is the strength of their amity shall prove the immediate author of their variance. Antony will use his affection where it is. He married but his occasion here.
MENAS	And thus it may be. Come, sir, will you aboard? I have a health for you.
ENOBARBUS	I shall take it, sir. We have used our throats in Egypt.
MENAS	Come, let’s away.
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Squilli di trombe. Entrano Pompeo e Mena da una porta, con un tamburino e un trombettiere; dall’altra, Cesare, Lepido, Antonio, Enobarbo, Mecenate, Agrippa, con soldati in marcia
POMPEO	Ho i vostri ostaggi, voi i miei, e parleremo prima di batterci.
CESARE	È assai conveniente che prima si venga a parole, e perciò abbiamo mandato innanzi i nostri propositi per iscritto, e se li hai considerati, facci sapere se legheranno la tua spada scontenta e riporteranno in Sicilia molta prestante gioventù che altrimenti dovrà perire qui.
POMPEO	A voi tre, unici senatori di questo gran mondo, principali agenti per gli dèi: non so perché a mio padre debbano mancare vendicatori, avendo un figlio e amici, poiché Giulio Cesare, che a Filippi apparve in fantasma al buon Bruto, là vide voi affaticarvi per lui. Che cosa fu che mosse il pallido Cassio a congiurare? E che cosa indusse l’onoratissimo, onesto romano Bruto, con gli altri in armi, cortigiani della bella libertà, a irrorare di sangue il Campidoglio, se non il volere che un uomo solo fosse soltanto un uomo? E questo m’ha fatto armare la mia flotta, sotto il cui peso l’oceano adirato spumeggia; con la quale intendevo flagellare l’ingratitudine che l’astiosa Roma gettò sul mio nobile padre.
CESARE	Prenditi il tuo tempo.
ANTONIO	Non puoi farci paura, Pompeo, con le tue vele. Ti parleremo per mare. In terra tu sai di quanto ti superiamo.
POMPEO	In terra invero tu mi superi possedendo la casa di mio padre, ma poiché il cuculo non costruisce per sé, restaci finché puoi.
LEPIDO	Compiacetevi di dirci— ché questo esula dal presente—come accogliete le offerte che vi abbiamo mandate.
CESARE	Questo è il punto.
ANTONIO	E non fartene pregare, ma pesa quanto valga, se accolto.
CESARE	E che cosa può seguire, se tenti fortuna più larga.
POMPEO	Mi avete offerto la Sicilia e la Sardegna; e io devo liberare tutto il mare dai pirati; poi mandare misure di frumento a Roma; e su questo convenuto, separarci con i fili non intaccati, e riportare indietro i nostri scudi senza ammaccature. CESARE, ANTONIO e LEPIDO Questa è la nostra offerta.
POMPEO	Sappiate, dunque, che venni qui davanti a voi uomo disposto ad accettare quest’offerta. Ma Marco Antonio mi ha messo a qualche impazienza. Benché ne perda il merito col dirlo, dovete sapere che quando Cesare e vostro fratello erano alle mani, vostra madre venne in Sicilia, e vi trovò amichevole accoglienza.
ANTONIO	L’ho udito, Pompeo, e mi sono bene preparato a un largo ringraziamento che vi devo.
POMPEO	Datemi la vostra mano. Pompeo e Antonio si stringono la mano Non pensavo, signore, d’incontrarvi qui.
ANTONIO	I letti d’Oriente son morbidi; e grazie a voi, che mi avete chiamato qui prima del mio proposito; ché ci ho guadagnato.
CESARE	(a Pompeo) Da quando vi vidi l’ultima volta siete cambiato.
POMPEO	Bene, non so quali conti la dura fortuna scriva sul mio volto, ma nel mio petto ella non entrerà mai a fare del mio cuore un suo vassallo.
LEPIDO	Ben incontrato qui.
POMPEO	Lo spero, Lepido. Così siamo d’accordo. Chiedo che il nostro patto sia messo per iscritto e sigillato fra noi.
CESARE	È la prossima cosa da fare.
POMPEO	Ci banchetteremo a vicenda prima di separarci, e tiriamo a sorte chi comincerà.
ANTONIO	Comincerò io, Pompeo.
POMPEO	No, Antonio, tira a sorte. Ma, primo o ultimo, la vostra fine cucina egiziana avrà la fama. Ho sentito che Giulio Cesare ingrassò banchettando laggiù.
ANTONIO	Avete sentito molto.
POMPEO	Le mie intenzioni sono oneste, signore.
ANTONIO	E oneste le parole con esse.
POMPEO	Allora ho sentito anche questo, e ho sentito che Apollodoro portò—
ENOBARBO	Basta con questo: sì che lo fece.
POMPEO	Che cosa, di grazia?
ENOBARBO	Una certa regina a Cesare dentro un materasso.
POMPEO	Ora ti riconosco. Come stai, soldato?
ENOBARBO	Bene, e bene son destinato a stare, ché prevedo quattro banchetti in arrivo.
POMPEO	Lascia ch’io ti stringa la mano. Pompeo ed Enobarbo si stringono la mano Non ti ho mai odiato. Ti ho visto combattere quando ho invidiato il tuo contegno.
ENOBARBO	Signore, non vi ho mai amato molto, ma vi ho lodato quando avevate ben meritato dieci volte tanto di quel che ho detto che faceste.
POMPEO	Goditi la tua schiettezza. Non ti sta affatto male. Vi invito tutti a bordo della mia galea. Volete guidare, signori? CESARE, ANTONIO e LEPIDO Mostrateci la via, signore.
POMPEO	Venite.
(didascalia)	Escono tutti tranne Enobarbo e Mena
MENA	(a parte) Tuo padre, Pompeo, non avrebbe mai fatto questo trattato. (A Enobarbo) Voi e io ci siamo conosciuti, signore.
ENOBARBO	In mare, credo.
MENA	Sì, signore.
ENOBARBO	Ve la siete cavata bene per acqua.
MENA	E voi per terra.
ENOBARBO	Loderò chiunque loderà me, benché non si possa negare ciò che ho fatto per terra.
MENA	Né ciò che io ho fatto per acqua.
ENOBARBO	Sì, qualcosa potete negare per la vostra stessa sicurezza. Siete stato un gran ladro per mare.
MENA	E voi per terra.
ENOBARBO	Là nego il mio servizio di terra; ma datemi la mano, Mena. Se i nostri occhi avessero autorità, qui potrebbero arrestare due ladri che si baciano. Si stringono la mano
MENA	I volti di tutti gli uomini sono veri, comunque siano le loro mani.
ENOBARBO	Ma non c’è mai bella donna che abbia volto vero.
MENA	Non è calunnia; esse rubano i cuori.
ENOBARBO	Venimmo qui per battervi.
MENA	Per parte mia, mi dispiace che si sia mutato in una bevuta. Pompeo oggi si ride via la sua fortuna.
ENOBARBO	Se lo fa, certo non potrà ripiangersela indietro.
MENA	L’avete detto, signore. Non ci aspettavamo qui Marco Antonio. Di grazia, è sposato a Cleopatra?
ENOBARBO	La sorella di Cesare si chiama Ottavia.
MENA	Vero, signore. Era la moglie di Caio Marcello.
ENOBARBO	Ma ora è la moglie di Marco Antonio.
MENA	Dite davvero, signore?
ENOBARBO	È vero.
MENA	Allora Cesare e lui sono per sempre annodati insieme.
ENOBARBO	Se dovessi profetare su questa unione non profetizzerei così.
MENA	Credo che il calcolo politico abbia contato più in quel matrimonio che l’amore delle parti.
ENOBARBO	Lo credo anch’io. Ma vedrete che il legame che pare stringere insieme la loro amicizia sarà proprio lo strangolatore del loro affetto. Ottavia è di conversazione santa, fredda e quieta.
MENA	Chi non vorrebbe la moglie così?
ENOBARBO	Non chi tale non è lui stesso, cioè Marco Antonio. Tornerà al suo piatto egiziano; e allora i sospiri di Ottavia soffieranno ad attizzare il fuoco in Cesare, e, come ho detto prima, ciò che è la forza del loro affetto si rivelerà l’immediato autore della loro discordia. Antonio riporrà il suo affetto dov’esso è. Qui ha sposato solo la propria convenienza.
MENA	E così potrebbe essere. Venite, signore, salite a bordo? Ho un brindisi per voi.
ENOBARBO	L’accetterò, signore. Abbiamo esercitato le nostre gole in Egitto.
MENA	Venite, andiamo.
(didascalia)	Escono

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Music plays. Enter two or three Servants with a banquet
FIRST SERVANT	Here they’ll be, man. Some o’ their plants are ill rooted already; the least wind i’th’ world will blow them down.
SECOND SERVANT	Lepidus is high-coloured.
FIRST SERVANT	They have made him drink alms-drink.
SECOND SERVANT	As they pinch one another by the disposition, he cries out ‘No more!’—reconciles them to his entreaty and himself to th’ drink.
FIRST SERVANT	But it raises the greater war between him and his discretion.
SECOND SERVANT	Why, this it is to have a name in great men’s fellowship. I had as lief have a reed that will do me no service as a partisan I could not heave.
FIRST SERVANT	To be called into a huge sphere and not to be seen to move in’t, are the holes where eyes should be which pitifully disaster the cheeks.
(didascalia)	A sennet sounded. Enter Caesar, Antony, Pompey, Lepidus, Agrippa, Maecenas,.Enobarbus, and Menas, with other captains and a boy
ANTONY	(to Caesar) Thus do they, sir: they take the flow o’th’ Nile By certain scales i’th’ pyramid. They know By th’ height, the lowness, or the mean, if dearth Or foison follow. The higher Nilus swells The more it promises; as it ebbs, the seedsman Upon the slime and ooze scatters his grain, And shortly comes to harvest.
LEPIDUS	You’ve strange serpents there?
ANTONY	Ay, Lepidus.
LEPIDUS	Your serpent of Egypt is bred now of your mud by the operation of your sun; so is your crocodile.
ANTONY	They are so.
POMPEY	Sit, and some wine. A health to Lepidus!
(didascalia)	Antony, Pompey, and Lepidus sit
LEPIDUS	I am not so well as I should be, but I’ll ne’er out.
ENOBARBUS	Not till you have slept—I fear me you’ll be in till then.
LEPIDUS	Nay, certainly, I have heard the Ptolemies’ pyramises are very goodly things: without contradiction I have heard that.
MENAS	(aside to Pompey) Pompey, a word.
POMPEY	(aside to Menas) Say in mine ear; what is’t?
MENAS	(aside to Pompey) Forsake thy seat, I do beseech thee, captain, And hear me speak a word.
POMPEY	(aside to Menas) Forbear me till anon. (Aloud) This wine for Lepidus! Menas whispers in Pompey’s ear
LEPIDUS	What manner o’ thing is your crocodile?
ANTONY	It is shaped, sir, like itself; and it is as broad as it hath breadth. It is just so high as it is, and moves with it own organs. It lives by that which nourisheth it, and the elements once out of it, it transmigrates.
LEPIDUS	What colour is it of?
ANTONY	Of it own colour, too.
LEPIDUS	’Tis a strange serpent.
ANTONY	’Tis so, and the tears of it are wet.
CAESAR	(to Antony) Will this description satisfy him?
ANTONY	With the health that Pompey gives him; else he is a very epicure.
POMPEY	(aside to Menas) Go hang, sir, hang! Tell me of that? Away, Do as I bid you. (Aloud) Where’s this cup I called for?
MENAS	(aside to Pompey) If for the sake of merit thou wilt hear me, Rise from thy stool.
(didascalia)	POMPEY rising I think thou’rt mad. The matter?
(didascalia)	Menas and Pompey stand apart
MENAS	I have ever held my cap off to thy fortunes.
POMPEY	Thou hast served me with much faith. What’s else to say? Be jolly, lords.
ANTONY	These quicksands, Lepidus, Keep off them, for you sink.
MENAS	Wilt thou be lord of all the world?
POMPEY	What sayst thou?
MENAS	Wilt thou be lord of the whole world? That’s twice.
POMPEY	How should that be?
MENAS	But entertain it And, though thou think me poor, I am the man Will give thee all the world.
POMPEY	Hast thou drunk well?
MENAS	No, Pompey, I have kept me from the cup. Thou art, if thou dar‘st be, the earthly Jove. Whate’er the ocean pales or sky inclips Is thine, if thou wilt ha’t.
POMPEY	Show me which way!
MENAS	These three world-sharers, these competitors, Are in thy vessel. Let me cut the cable; And when we are put off, fall to their throats. All there is thine.
POMPEY	Ah, this thou shouldst have done And not have spoke on’t. In me ‘tis villainy, In thee ’t had been good service. Thou must know ’Tis not my profit that does lead mine honour; Mine honour, it. Repent that e’er thy tongue Hath so betrayed thine act. Being done unknown, I should have found it afterwards well done, But must condemn it now. Desist, and drink. He returns to the others
MENAS	(aside) For this, I’ll never follow thy palled fortunes more. Who seeks and will not take when once ’tis offered, Shall never find it more.
POMPEY	This health to Lepidus!
ANTONY	Bear him ashore.—I’ll pledge it for him, Pompey.
ENOBARBUS	Here’s to thee, Menas!
MENAS	Enobarbus, welcome.
POMPEY	Fill till the cup be hid. One lifts Lepidus, drunk, and carries him off
ENOBARBUS	There’s a strong fellow, Menas.
MENAS	Why? 86
ENOBARBUS	A bears the third part of the world, man; seest not?
MENAS	The third part then is drunk. Would it were all, That it might go on wheels.
ENOBARBUS	Drink thou, increase the reels.
MENAS	Come.
POMPEY	This is not yet an Alexandrian feast.
ANTONY	It ripens towards it. Strike the vessels, ho! Here’s to Caesar!
CAESAR	I could well forbear’t. It’s monstrous labour when I wash my brain, An it grow fouler.
ANTONY	Be a child o’th’ time.
CAESAR	Possess it, I’ll make answer. But I had rather fast from all, four days, Than drink so much in one.
ENOBARBUS	(to Antony) Ha, my brave Emperor, Shall we dance now the Egyptian bacchanals, And celebrate our drink?
POMPEY	Let’s ha’t, good soldier.
ANTONY	Come, let’s all take hands Till that the conquering wine hath steeped our sense In soft and delicate Lethe.
ENOBARBUS	All take hands. Make battery to our ears with the loud music. The while I’ll place you, then the boy shall sing. The holding every man shall beat as loud As his strong sides can volley.
(didascalia)	Music plays. Enobarbus places them hand in hand
(didascalia)	Boy (sings)
ENOBARBUS	Come, thou monarch of the vine, Plumpy Bacchus, with pink eyne! In thy vats our cares be drowned, With thy grapes our hairs be crowned! Cup us till the world go round, Cup us till the world go round!
CAESAR	What would you more? Pompey, good night. (To Antony) Good-brother, Let me request you off. Our graver business Frowns at this levity. Gentle lords, let’s part. You see we have burnt our cheeks. Strong Enobarb Is weaker than the wine, and mine own tongue Splits what it speaks. The wild disguise hath almost Anticked us all. What needs more words? Good night. Good Antony, your hand.
POMPEY	I’ll try you on the shore.
ANTONY	And shall, sir. Give’s your hand.
POMPEY	O Antony, You have my father’s house. But what, we are friends! Come down into the boat.
(didascalia)	Exeunt all but Enobarbus and Menas
ENOBARBUS	Take heed you fall not, Menas.
MENAS	I’ll not on shore. No, to my cabin. These drums, these trumpets, flutes, what! Let Neptune hear we bid a loud farewell To these great fellows. Sound and be hanged, sound out!
(didascalia)	Sound a flourish, with drums
ENOBARBUS	(throwing his cap in the air) Hoo, says a! There’s my cap.
MENAS	Ho, noble captain, come!
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Suona musica. Entrano due o tre Servi con un banchetto
PRIMO SERVO	Eccoli che arrivano, amico. Alcune delle loro piante hanno già radici malferme; il minimo vento del mondo le abbatterà.
SECONDO SERVO	Lepido è tutto rosso in volto.
PRIMO SERVO	Gli hanno fatto bere il bicchiere di carità.
SECONDO SERVO	Appena si pungono l’un l’altro nell’umore, lui grida «Basta!»—li riconcilia con la sua preghiera e riconcilia se stesso col bere.
PRIMO SERVO	Ma questo suscita guerra maggiore fra lui e la sua discrezione.
SECONDO SERVO	Ecco cosa vuol dire avere un nome nella compagnia dei grandi. Preferirei avere una canna che non mi serve a nulla piuttosto che una picca che non riesco a sollevare.
PRIMO SERVO	Essere chiamato in una sfera immensa e non essere visto muoversi in essa: sono i buchi dove dovrebbero esserci gli occhi, che miseramente sfigurano le guance.
(didascalia)	Suona una marcia. Entrano Cesare, Antonio, Pompeo, Lepido, Agrippa, Mecenate,.Enobarbo e Mena, con altri capitani e un ragazzo
ANTONIO	(a Cesare) Fanno così, signore: misurano la piena del Nilo con certe scale sulla piramide. Sanno dall’altezza, dalla bassezza o dalla media, se seguirà carestia o abbondanza. Quanto più il Nilo si gonfia tanto più promette; e quando cala, il seminatore sul limo e sulla melma sparge il suo grano, e in breve giunge al raccolto.
LEPIDO	Avete strani serpenti laggiù?
ANTONIO	Sì, Lepido.
LEPIDO	Il vostro serpente d’Egitto nasce ora dal vostro fango per opera del vostro sole; e così il vostro coccodrillo.
ANTONIO	È così.
POMPEO	Sedete, e un po’ di vino. Un brindisi a Lepido!
(didascalia)	Antonio, Pompeo e Lepido siedono
LEPIDO	Non sto così bene come dovrei, ma non mi tirerò mai indietro.
ENOBARBO	Non finché non avrete dormito—temo che fino allora ci resterete dentro.
LEPIDO	Anzi, certamente, ho sentito che le piramidi dei Tolomei son cose assai belle: senza contraddizione ho sentito questo.
MENA	(in disparte a Pompeo) Pompeo, una parola.
POMPEO	(in disparte a Mena) Dimmelo all’orecchio; che c’è?
MENA	(in disparte a Pompeo) Lascia il tuo seggio, te ne supplico, capitano, e ascoltami dire una parola.
POMPEO	(in disparte a Mena) Lasciami stare fino a più tardi. (Ad alta voce) Questo vino per Lepido! Mena bisbiglia all’orecchio di Pompeo
LEPIDO	Che sorta di cosa è il vostro coccodrillo?
ANTONIO	Ha forma, signore, di se stesso; ed è largo quanta è la sua larghezza. È alto giusto quanto è, e si muove con i propri organi. Vive di ciò che lo nutre, e una volta usciti da esso gli elementi, trasmigra.
LEPIDO	Di che colore è?
ANTONIO	Anche del proprio colore.
LEPIDO	È uno strano serpente.
ANTONIO	È così, e le sue lacrime sono bagnate.
CESARE	(ad Antonio) Questa descrizione lo soddisferà?
ANTONIO	Col brindisi che Pompeo gli offre; altrimenti è proprio un epicureo.
POMPEO	(in disparte a Mena) Va’ a farti impiccare, signore, impiccare! Parlarmi di questo? Via, fa’ come ti dico. (Ad alta voce) Dov’è questa coppa che ho chiesto?
MENA	(in disparte a Pompeo) Se per amore del merito vuoi ascoltarmi, alzati dallo sgabello.
(didascalia)	POMPEO alzandosi Credo che tu sia pazzo. Di che si tratta?
(didascalia)	Mena e Pompeo si tengono in disparte
MENA	Mi sono sempre scoperto il capo davanti alla tua fortuna.
POMPEO	Mi hai servito con molta fede. Che altro c’è da dire? Siate allegri, signori.
ANTONIO	Queste sabbie mobili, Lepido, statene lontano, ché affondate.
MENA	Vuoi essere signore di tutto il mondo?
POMPEO	Che dici?
MENA	Vuoi essere signore del mondo intero? Sono due volte.
POMPEO	Come sarebbe possibile?
MENA	Accoglilo soltanto, e, per quanto mi creda povero, io sono l’uomo che ti darà tutto il mondo.
POMPEO	Hai bevuto bene?
MENA	No, Pompeo, mi son tenuto lontano dalla coppa. Tu sei, se osi esserlo, il Giove terreno. Tutto ciò che l’oceano recinge o il cielo abbraccia è tuo, se lo vuoi.
POMPEO	Mostrami in che modo!
MENA	Questi tre spartitori del mondo, questi rivali, sono sul tuo vascello. Lasciami tagliare la gomena; e quando saremo al largo, gettarci alle loro gole. Tutto quel che c’è è tuo.
POMPEO	Ah, questo avresti dovuto farlo e non parlarne. In me è scelleratezza, in te sarebbe stato buon servizio. Devi sapere che non è il mio profitto a guidare il mio onore; ma il mio onore a guidare quello. Pentiti che la tua lingua abbia così tradito il tuo atto. Compiuto a mia insaputa, l’avrei poi trovato ben fatto, ma ora devo condannarlo. Desisti, e bevi. Torna dagli altri
MENA	(a parte) Per questo, non seguirò mai più la tua fortuna sbiadita. Chi cerca e non prende quando una volta gli è offerto, non lo troverà mai più.
POMPEO	Questo brindisi a Lepido!
ANTONIO	Portatelo a riva.—Brinderò io per lui, Pompeo.
ENOBARBO	Alla tua, Mena!
MENA	Enobarbo, benvenuto.
POMPEO	Riempi finché la coppa sparisca. Uno solleva Lepido, ubriaco, e lo porta via
ENOBARBO	Ecco un tipo robusto, Mena.
MENA	Perché? 86
ENOBARBO	Porta la terza parte del mondo, amico; non vedi?
MENA	La terza parte allora è ubriaca. Fosse tutto, così andrebbe sulle ruote.
ENOBARBO	Bevi tu, accresci i capogiri.
MENA	Vieni.
POMPEO	Questo non è ancora un banchetto alessandrino.
ANTONIO	Ci sta maturando. Battete i vasi, olà! Alla salute di Cesare!
CESARE	Potrei ben farne a meno. È fatica mostruosa quando mi lavo il cervello e diventa più torbido.
ANTONIO	Sii figlio del tempo.
CESARE	Possiedilo, rispondo io. Ma preferirei digiunare da tutto per quattro giorni che bere tanto in uno.
ENOBARBO	(ad Antonio) Ehi, mio prode Imperatore, danzeremo ora i baccanali egiziani, e celebreremo il nostro bere?
POMPEO	Facciamolo, buon soldato.
ANTONIO	Su, prendiamoci tutti per mano finché il vino conquistatore non abbia immerso i nostri sensi in un Lete molle e delicato.
ENOBARBO	Tutti per mano. Fate batteria ai nostri orecchi con la musica sonora. Intanto vi disporrò, poi il ragazzo canterà. Il ritornello ognuno lo batta forte quanto i suoi fianchi robusti sanno tuonare.
(didascalia)	Suona musica. Enobarbo li dispone mano nella mano
(didascalia)	Il ragazzo (canta)
ENOBARBO	Vieni, tu monarca della vite, Bacco paffuto, dagli occhi rosati! Nei tuoi tini s’anneghino i nostri affanni, coi tuoi grappoli s’incoronino i nostri capelli! Versaci finché il mondo giri, versaci finché il mondo giri!
CESARE	Che volete di più? Pompeo, buona notte. (Ad Antonio) Buon cognato, lasciate ch’io vi chieda di andarcene. I nostri affari più gravi si accigliano a questa leggerezza. Gentili signori, separiamoci. Vedete che ci siamo arse le guance. Il forte Enobarbo è più debole del vino, e la mia stessa lingua spezza ciò che dice. Questa mascherata sfrenata ci ha quasi fatti tutti buffoni. Che occorrono altre parole? Buona notte. Buon Antonio, la vostra mano.
POMPEO	Vi metterò alla prova a riva.
ANTONIO	E lo farete, signore. Dateci la vostra mano.
POMPEO	O Antonio, voi avete la casa di mio padre. Ma che importa, siamo amici! Scendete nella barca.
(didascalia)	Escono tutti tranne Enobarbo e Mena
ENOBARBO	Badate di non cadere, Mena.
MENA	Non andrò a riva. No, alla mia cabina. Questi tamburi, queste trombe, flauti, ehi! Che Nettuno oda che diamo un sonoro addio a questi grandi personaggi. Suonate e siate impiccati, suonate forte!
(didascalia)	Suona una fanfara, con tamburi
ENOBARBO	(gettando il berretto in aria) Uhè, dice lui! Ecco il mio berretto.
MENA	Ehi, nobile capitano, venite!
(didascalia)	Escono

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Ventidius, with Silius and other Roman soldiers, as it were in triumph; the dead body of Pacorus borne before him
VENTIDIUS	Now, darting Parthia, art thou struck; and now Pleased fortune does of Marcus Crassus’ death Make me revenger. Bear the King’s son’s body Before our army. Thy Pacorus, Orodes, Pays this for Marcus Crassus.
SILIUS	Noble Ventidius, Whilst yet with Parthian blood thy sword is warm, The fugitive Parthians follow. Spur through Media, Mesopotamia, and the shelters whither The routed fly. So thy grand captain, Antony, Shall set thee on triumphant chariots and Put garlands on thy head.
VENTIDIUS	O Silius, Silius, I have done enough. A lower place, note well, May make too great an act. For learn this, Silius: Better to leave undone than by our deed Acquire too high a fame when him we serve’s away. Caesar and Antony have ever won More in their officer than person. Sossius, One of my place in Syria, his lieutenant, For quick accumulation of renown, Which he achieved by th’ minute, lost his favour. Who does 4’th’ wars more than his captain can Becomes his captain’s captain; and ambition, The soldier’s virtue, rather makes choice of loss Than gain which darkens him. I could do more to do Antonius good, But ’twould offend him, and in his offence Should my performance perish.
SILIUS	Thou hast, Ventidius, that Without the which a soldier and his sword Grants scarce distinction. Thou wilt write to Antony?
VENTIDIUS	I’ll humbly signify what in his name, That magical word of war, we have effected; How, with his banners and his well-paid ranks, The ne‘er-yet-beaten horse of Parthia We have jaded out o’th’ field.
SILIUS	Where is he now?
VENTIDIUS	He purposeth to Athens; whither, with what haste The weight we must convey with’s will permit, We shall appear before him.—On there; pass along.
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entra Ventidio, con Silio e altri soldati romani, come in trionfo; il corpo morto di Pacoro portato davanti a lui
VENTIDIO	Ora, Partia saettante, sei colpita; e ora la fortuna compiacente della morte di Marco Crasso mi fa vendicatore. Portate il corpo del figlio del Re davanti al nostro esercito. Il tuo Pacoro, Orode, paga questo per Marco Crasso.
SILIO	Nobile Ventidio, mentre ancora del sangue partico è calda la tua spada, insegui i Parti in fuga. Sprona attraverso la Media, la Mesopotamia, e i rifugi dove volano gli sbandati. Così il tuo gran capitano, Antonio, ti porrà su carri trionfali e ti cingerà il capo di ghirlande.
VENTIDIO	O Silio, Silio, ho fatto abbastanza. Un posto inferiore, nota bene, può compiere un’azione troppo grande. Impara questo, Silio: meglio lasciare non fatto che con la nostra impresa acquistare fama troppo alta quando chi serviamo è lontano. Cesare e Antonio hanno sempre vinto più coi loro ufficiali che di persona. Sossio, uno del mio grado in Siria, suo luogotenente, per la rapida accumulazione di rinomanza, che conquistava di minuto in minuto, perse il suo favore. Chi in guerra fa più di quanto sappia il suo capitano diventa capitano del suo capitano; e l’ambizione, virtù del soldato, preferisce scegliere la perdita piuttosto che un guadagno che l’oscuri. Potrei fare di più per il bene di Antonio, ma l’offenderebbe, e nella sua offesa perirebbe la mia impresa.
SILIO	Tu hai, Ventidio, ciò senza cui un soldato e la sua spada non concedono quasi distinzione. Scriverai ad Antonio?
VENTIDIO	Gli farò umilmente sapere che cosa nel suo nome, quella magica parola di guerra, abbiamo compiuto; come, con le sue insegne e le sue schiere ben pagate, la cavalleria partica mai fino ad ora battuta abbiamo spossato e cacciato dal campo.
SILIO	Dov’è egli ora?
VENTIDIO	Si propone d’andare ad Atene; e là, con quanta fretta il carico che dobbiamo trasportare permetterà, compariremo davanti a lui.—Avanti là; passate oltre.
(didascalia)	Escono

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Agrippa at one door, Enobarbus at another AGRIPPA What, are the brothers parted?
ENOBARBUS	They have dispatched with Pompey; he is gone. The other three are sealing. Octavia weeps To part from Rome, Caesar is sad, and Lepidus Since Pompey’s feast, as Menas says, is troubled With the green-sickness.
AGRIPPA	’Tis a noble Lepidus.
ENOBARBUS	A very fine one. O, how he loves Caesar!
AGRIPPA	Nay, but how dearly he adores Mark Antony!
ENOBARBUS	Caesar? Why, he’s the Jupiter of men.
AGRIPPA	What’s Antony—the god of Jupiter?
ENOBARBUS	Spake you of Caesar? How, the nonpareil?
AGRIPPA	O Antony, O thou Arabian bird!
ENOBARBUS	Would you praise Caesar, say ‘Caesar’; go no further.
AGRIPPA	Indeed, he plied them both with excellent praises.
ENOBARBUS	But he loves Caesar best; yet he loves Antony— Hoo! Hearts, tongues, figures, scribes, bards, poets, cannot Think, speak, cast, write, sing, number—hoo!— His love to Antony. But as for Caesar— Kneel down, kneel down, and wonder.
AGRIPPA	Both he loves.
ENOBARBUS	They are his shards, and he their beetle.
(didascalia)	Trumpet within
ENOBARBUS	So, This is to horse. Adieu, noble Agrippa.
AGRIPPA	Good fortune, worthy soldier, and farewell.
(didascalia)	Enter Caesar, Antony, Lepidus, and Octavia
ANTONY	(to Caesar) No further, sir.
CAESAR	You take from me a great part of myself. Use me well in’t. Sister, prove such a wife As my thoughts make thee, and as my farthest bond Shall pass on thy approof. Most noble Antony, Let not the piece of virtue which is set Betwixt us as the cement of our love To keep it builded, be the ram to batter The fortress of it; for better might we Have loved without this mean if on both parts This be not cherished.
ANTONY	Make me not offended In your distrust.
CAESAR	I have said.
ANTONY	You shall not find, Though you be therein curious, the least cause For what you seem to fear. So, the gods keep you, And make the hearts of Romans serve your ends. We will here part.
CAESAR	Farewell, my dearest sister, fare thee well. The elements be kind to thee, and make Thy spirits all of comfort. Fare thee well.
OCTAVIA	(weeping) My noble brother!
ANTONY	The April’s in her eyes; it is love’s spring, And these the showers to bring it on. Be cheerful.
OCTAVIA	Sir, look well to my husband’s house, and—
CAESAR	What, Octavia?
OCTAVIA	I’ll tell you in your ear. She whispers to Caesar
ANTONY	Her tongue will not obey her heart, nor can Her heart inform her tongue—the swan’-down feather, That stands upon the swell at full of tide, And neither way inclines.
ENOBARBUS	(aside to Agrippa) Will Caesar weep?
AGRIPPA	(aside to Enobarbus) He has a cloud in’s face.
ENOBARBUS	(aside to Agrippa) He were the worse for that were he a horse; So is he, being a man.
AGRIPPA	(aside to Enobarbus) Why, Enobarbus, When Antony found Julius Caesar dead He cried almost to roaring, and he wept When at Philippi he found Brutus slain.
ENOBARBUS	(aside to Agrippa) That year indeed he was troubled with a rheum. What willingly he did confound he wailed, Believe’, till I wept too.
CAESAR	No, sweet Octavia, You shall hear from me still. The time shall not Outgo my thinking on you.
ANTONY	Come, sir, come, I’ll wrestle with you in my strength of love. Look, here I have you (embracing Caesar); thus I let you go, And give you to the gods.
CAESAR	Adieu, be happy.
LEPIDUS	Let all the number of the stars give light To thy fair way.
CAESAR	Farewell, farewell. He kisses Octavia
ANTONY	Farewell.
(didascalia)	Trumpets sound. Exeunt Antony, Octavia, and Enobarbus at one door, Caesar, Lepidus, and Agrippa at another

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entrano Agrippa da una porta, Enobarbo da un’altra AGRIPPA Ebbene, i fratelli si sono separati?
ENOBARBO	Hanno concluso con Pompeo; egli è partito. Gli altri tre stanno sigillando. Ottavia piange nel lasciare Roma, Cesare è triste, e Lepido dal banchetto di Pompeo, come dice Mena, è afflitto dal mal verde.
AGRIPPA	È un nobile Lepido.
ENOBARBO	Nobilissimo. Oh, come ama Cesare!
AGRIPPA	Sì, ma quanto teneramente adora Marco Antonio!
ENOBARBO	Cesare? Ma è il Giove degli uomini.
AGRIPPA	E Antonio—il dio di Giove?
ENOBARBO	Parlavate di Cesare? Come, il senza pari?
AGRIPPA	O Antonio, o tu uccello d’Arabia!
ENOBARBO	Se volete lodare Cesare, dite «Cesare»; non andate oltre.
AGRIPPA	Davvero, li ha colmati entrambi d’eccellenti lodi.
ENOBARBO	Ma ama di più Cesare; eppure ama Antonio— Uh! Cuori, lingue, cifre, scribi, bardi, poeti, non possono pensare, dire, calcolare, scrivere, cantare, numerare—uh!— il suo amore per Antonio. Ma quanto a Cesare— inginocchiatevi, inginocchiatevi, e stupite.
AGRIPPA	Ama entrambi.
ENOBARBO	Sono le sue elitre, ed egli il loro scarabeo.
(didascalia)	Tromba all’interno
ENOBARBO	Ecco, questo è il segnale di montare a cavallo. Addio, nobile Agrippa.
AGRIPPA	Buona fortuna, degno soldato, e addio.
(didascalia)	Entrano Cesare, Antonio, Lepido e Ottavia
ANTONIO	(a Cesare) Non oltre, signore.
CESARE	Mi togliete gran parte di me stesso. Trattatemi bene in ciò. Sorella, mostrati tal moglie quale i miei pensieri ti fanno, e come il mio più esteso impegno si farà garante nella tua prova. Nobilissimo Antonio, non permettete che questo pezzo di virtù, posto fra noi come cemento del nostro amore perché resti edificato, divenga l’ariete che abbatte la fortezza di esso; ché meglio avremmo potuto amarci senza questo mezzo, se da entrambe le parti non sarà tenuto caro.
ANTONIO	Non offendetemi con la vostra diffidenza.
CESARE	Ho detto.
ANTONIO	Non troverete, per quanto minuziosi siate, la minima causa di ciò che sembrate temere. E dunque, gli dèi vi custodiscano, e facciano che i cuori dei Romani servano ai vostri fini. Qui ci separeremo.
CESARE	Addio, mia carissima sorella, sta’ bene. Gli elementi ti siano benigni, e rendano i tuoi spiriti tutti di conforto. Sta’ bene.
OTTAVIA	(piangendo) Mio nobile fratello!
ANTONIO	L’aprile è nei suoi occhi; è la primavera d’amore, e queste le piogge che la fanno venire. Sii allegra.
OTTAVIA	Signore, badate bene alla casa di mio marito, e—
CESARE	Che c’è, Ottavia?
OTTAVIA	Ve lo dirò all’orecchio. Bisbiglia a Cesare
ANTONIO	La sua lingua non vuole obbedire al cuore, né può il suo cuore informare la lingua—la piuma di cigno che sta sull’onda al colmo della marea, e non pende da nessuna parte.
ENOBARBO	(in disparte ad Agrippa) Piangerà Cesare?
AGRIPPA	(in disparte a Enobarbo) Ha una nube in volto.
ENOBARBO	(in disparte ad Agrippa) Sarebbe peggio per lui se fosse un cavallo; e lo è, essendo un uomo.
AGRIPPA	(in disparte a Enobarbo) Suvvia, Enobarbo, quando Antonio trovò morto Giulio Cesare gridò quasi ruggendo, e pianse quando a Filippi trovò Bruto ucciso.
ENOBARBO	(in disparte ad Agrippa) Quell’anno, davvero, era afflitto da un catarro. Ciò che di sua volontà distrusse, lo lamentò, credetemi, tanto che piansi anch’io.
CESARE	No, dolce Ottavia, avrai sempre mie notizie. Il tempo non supererà il mio pensare a te.
ANTONIO	Venite, signore, venite, lotterò con voi nella forza del mio amore. Ecco, qui vi tengo (abbracciando Cesare); così vi lascio andare, e vi consegno agli dèi.
CESARE	Addio, siate felice.
LEPIDO	Tutto il numero delle stelle dia luce al tuo bel cammino.
CESARE	Addio, addio. Bacia Ottavia
ANTONIO	Addio.
(didascalia)	Suonano le trombe. Escono Antonio, Ottavia ed Enobarbo da una porta, Cesare, Lepido e Agrippa da un’altra

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Cleopatra, Charmian, Iras, and Alexas
CLEOPATRA	Where is the fellow?
ALEXAS	Half afeard to come.
CLEOPATRA	Go to, go to.
(didascalia)	Enter the Messenger as before
CLEOPATRA	Come hither, sir.
ALEXAS	Good majesty, Herod of Jewry dare not look upon you But when you are well pleased.
CLEOPATRA	That Herod’s head I’ll have; but how, when Antony is gone, Through whom I might command it? (To the Messenger) Come thou near.
MESSENGER	Most gracious majesty!
CLEOPATRA	Didst thou behold Octavia?
MESSENGER	Ay, dread Queen.
CLEOPATRA	Where?
MESSENGER	Madam, in Rome. I looked her in the face, and saw her led Between her brother and Mark Antony.
CLEOPATRA	Is she as tall as me?
MESSENGER	She is not, madam.
CLEOPATRA	Didst hear her speak? Is she shrill-tongued or low?
MESSENGER	Madam, I heard her speak. She is low-voiced.
CLEOPATRA	That’s not so good. He cannot like her long.
CHARMIAN	Like her? O Isis, ’is impossible!
CLEOPATRA	I think so, Charmian. Dull of tongue, and dwarfish. What majesty is in her gait? Remember If e‘er thou looked’st on majesty.
MESSENGER	She creeps. Her motion and her station are as one. She shows a body rather than a life, A statue than a breather.
CLEOPATRA	Is this certain?
MESSENGER	Or I have no observance.
CHARMIAN	Three in Egypt Cannot make better note.
CLEOPATRA	He’s very knowing, I do perceive’t. There’s nothing in her yet. The fellow has good judgement.
CHARMIAN	Excellent.
CLEOPATRA	(to the Messenger) Guess at her years, I prithee.
MESSENGER	Madam, She was a widow—
CLEOPATRA	Widow? Charmian, hark.
MESSENGER	And I do think she’s thirty.
CLEOPATRA	Bear’st thou her face in mind? Is’t long or round?
MESSENGER	Round, even to faultiness.
CLEOPATRA	For the most part, too, they are foolish that are so. Her hair—what colour?
MESSENGER	Brown, madam; and her forehead As low as she would wish it.
CLEOPATRA	(giving money) There’s gold for thee. Thou must not take my former sharpness ill. I will employ thee back again. I find thee Most fit for business. Go, make thee ready. Our letters are prepared.
(didascalia)	Exit Messenger
CHARMIAN	A proper man.
CLEOPATRA	Indeed he is so. I repent me much That so I harried him. Why, methinks, by him, This creature’s no such thing.
CHARMIAN	Nothing, madam.
CLEOPATRA	The man hath seen some majesty, and should know.
CHARMIAN	Hath he seen majesty? Isis else defend, And serving you so long!
CLEOPATRA	I have one thing more to ask him yet, good Charmian. But ’tis no matter. Thou shalt bring him to me Where I will write. All may be well enough.
CHARMIAN	I warrant you, madam.
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entrano Cleopatra, Carmiana, Iras e Alessa
CLEOPATRA	Dov’è quell’uomo?
ALESSA	Mezzo impaurito di venire.
CLEOPATRA	Suvvia, suvvia.
(didascalia)	Entra il Messaggero come prima
CLEOPATRA	Vieni qua, signore.
ALESSA	Buona maestà, Erode di Giudea non osa guardarvi se non quando siete ben disposta.
CLEOPATRA	Quella testa d’Erode l’avrò; ma come, ora che Antonio è partito, per mezzo del quale potrei ordinarlo? (Al Messaggero) Avvicinati.
MESSAGGERO	Graziosissima maestà!
CLEOPATRA	Hai visto Ottavia?
MESSAGGERO	Sì, temuta Regina.
CLEOPATRA	Dove?
MESSAGGERO	Madama, a Roma. La guardai in volto, e la vidi condotta fra suo fratello e Marco Antonio.
CLEOPATRA	È alta quanto me?
MESSAGGERO	Non lo è, madama.
CLEOPATRA	L’hai udita parlare? Ha voce stridula o bassa?
MESSAGGERO	Madama, l’ho udita parlare. Ha voce bassa.
CLEOPATRA	Non è tanto bene. Non potrà piacergli a lungo.
CARMIANA	Piacergli? O Iside, è impossibile!
CLEOPATRA	Lo credo anch’io, Carmiana. Ottusa di lingua, e nana. Che maestà c’è nel suo incedere? Ricorda, se mai hai guardato la maestà.
MESSAGGERO	Striscia. Il suo moto e il suo star ferma sono tutt’uno. Mostra un corpo piuttosto che una vita, una statua più che un essere che respira.
CLEOPATRA	È certo questo?
MESSAGGERO	O io non so osservare.
CARMIANA	Tre in Egitto non saprebbero osservar meglio.
CLEOPATRA	È molto avveduto, lo capisco. Non c’è ancora nulla in lei. Quell’uomo ha buon giudizio.
CARMIANA	Eccellente.
CLEOPATRA	(al Messaggero) Indovina la sua età, ti prego.
MESSAGGERO	Madama, era vedova—
CLEOPATRA	Vedova? Carmiana, senti.
MESSAGGERO	E credo che abbia trent’anni.
CLEOPATRA	Ricordi il suo volto? È lungo o tondo?
MESSAGGERO	Tondo, fino a esserne difettoso.
CLEOPATRA	Per lo più, poi, sono sciocche quelle così fatte. I suoi capelli—di che colore?
MESSAGGERO	Bruni, madama; e la sua fronte bassa quanto potrebbe desiderarla.
CLEOPATRA	(dandogli del denaro) Ecco dell’oro per te. Non devi prendere a male la mia asprezza di prima. Ti rimanderò indietro. Ti trovo assai adatto alla bisogna. Va’, preparati. Le nostre lettere sono pronte.
(didascalia)	Esce il Messaggero
CARMIANA	Un uomo per bene.
CLEOPATRA	Davvero lo è. Molto mi pento d’averlo così tormentato. Ebbene, mi pare, a sentir lui, che quella creatura non sia gran cosa.
CARMIANA	Nulla, madama.
CLEOPATRA	Quell’uomo ha visto qualche maestà, e deve saperne.
CARMIANA	Se ha visto maestà? Iside non voglia altrimenti, dopo avervi servita così a lungo!
CLEOPATRA	Ho ancora un’altra cosa da chiedergli, buona Carmiana. Ma non importa. Me lo condurrai dove scriverò. Tutto potrà andare abbastanza bene.
CARMIANA	Ve l’assicuro, madama.
(didascalia)	Escono

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Antony and Octavia
ANTONY	Nay, nay, Octavia, not only that, That were excusable, that and thousands more Of semblable import; but he hath waged New wars ‘gainst Pompey, made his will and read it To public ear, spoke scantly of me; When perforce he could not But pay me terms of honour, cold and sickly He vented them, most narrow measure lent me. When the best hint was given him, he not took’t, Or did it from his teeth.
OCTAVIA	O my good lord, Believe not all, or if you must believe, Stomach not all. A more unhappy lady, If this division chance, ne’er stood between, Praying for both parts. The good gods will mock me presently, When I shall pray ‘O, bless my lord and husband!’, Undo that prayer by crying out as loud ‘O, bless my brother!’ Husband win, win brother Prays and destroys the prayer; no midway ’Twixt these extremes at all.
ANTONY	Gentle Octavia, Let your best love draw to that point which seeks Best to preserve it. If I lose mine honour, I lose myself. Better I were not yours Than yours so branchless. But, as you requested, Yourself shall go between’s. The meantime, lady, I’ll raise the preparation of a war Shall stain your brother. Make your soonest haste; So your desires are yours.
OCTAVIA	Thanks to my lord. The Jove of power make me most weak, most weak, Your reconciler! Wars ’twixt you twain would be As if the world should cleave, and that slain men Should solder up the rift.
ANTONY	When it appears to you where this begins, Turn your displeasure that way, for our faults Can never be so equal that your love Can equally move with them. Provide your going, Choose your own company, and command what cost Your heart has mind to.
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entrano Antonio e Ottavia
ANTONIO	No, no, Ottavia, non solo quello, quello sarebbe scusabile, quello e mille altre cose di simile portata; ma egli ha mosso nuove guerre contro Pompeo, ha fatto testamento e l’ha letto all’orecchio pubblico, ha parlato di me con parsimonia; e quando per forza non poteva che rendermi termini d’onore, freddo e svogliato li ha proferiti, concedendomi misura strettissima. Quando gli si offriva l’occasione migliore, non l’ha colta, o l’ha fatto a denti stretti.
OTTAVIA	O mio buon signore, non credete a tutto, o se dovete credere, non prendetevela per tutto. Una dama più infelice, se questa divisione avviene, non stette mai in mezzo, pregando per entrambe le parti. I buoni dèi si faranno beffe di me tra poco, quando pregherò «Oh, benedite il mio signore e sposo!», e disferò quella preghiera gridando altrettanto forte «Oh, benedite mio fratello!» Vinca lo sposo, vinca il fratello: l’una prece annulla l’altra preghiera; nessuna via di mezzo fra questi estremi.
ANTONIO	Gentile Ottavia, il vostro miglior amore si volga a quel punto che cerca meglio di preservarlo. Se perdo il mio onore, perdo me stesso. Meglio non essere vostro che essere vostro così senza rami. Ma, come avete chiesto, voi stessa farete da intermediaria. Nel frattempo, signora, allestirò il preparativo d’una guerra che oscurerà vostro fratello. Fate la vostra più rapida fretta; così i vostri desideri sono vostri.
OTTAVIA	Grazie al mio signore. Il Giove della potenza faccia di me, debolissima, debolissima, la vostra riconciliatrice! Guerre fra voi due sarebbero come se il mondo si spaccasse, e gli uccisi dovessero saldare la fenditura.
ANTONIO	Quando vi apparirà chiaro dove ciò comincia, volgete di là il vostro sdegno, ché le nostre colpe non potranno mai essere così uguali che il vostro amore possa muoversi ugualmente con esse. Preparate la partenza, scegliete la vostra compagnia, e disponete di quanta spesa il vostro cuore desideri.
(didascalia)	Escono

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Enobarbus and Eros, meeting
ENOBARBUS	How now, friend Eros?
EROS	There’s strange news come, sir.
ENOBARBUS	What, man?
EROS	Caesar and Lepidus have made wars upon Pompey. ENOBARBUS This is old. What is the success?
EROS	Caesar, having made use of him in the wars ’gainst Pompey, presently denied him rivality, would not let him partake in the glory of the action, and, not resting here, accuses him of letters he had formerly wrote to Pompey; upon his own appeal seizes him; so the poor third is up, till death enlarge his confine.
ENOBARBUS	Then, world, thou hast a pair of chops, no more, And throw between them all the food thou hast, They’ll grind the one the other. Where’s Antony?
EROS	He’s walking in the garden, thus, and spurns The rush that lies before him, cries ‘Fool Lepidus!’ And threats the throat of that his officer That murdered Pompey.
ENOBARBUS	Our great navy’s rigged.
EROS	For Italy and Caesar. More, Domitius: My lord desires you presently. My news I might have told hereafter.
ENOBARBUS	’Twill be naught. But let it be; bring me to Antony.
EROS	Come, sir. Exeunt

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entrano Enobarbo ed Eros, incontrandosi
ENOBARBO	Ebbene, amico Eros?
EROS	Sono giunte strane notizie, signore.
ENOBARBO	Quali, amico?
EROS	Cesare e Lepido hanno mosso guerra a Pompeo. ENOBARBO Questa è vecchia. Qual è l’esito?
EROS	Cesare, essendosi servito di lui nelle guerre contro Pompeo, gli ha subito negato la parità, non gli ha lasciato prender parte alla gloria dell’impresa, e, non fermandosi qui, l’accusa di lettere che aveva prima scritto a Pompeo; per sua propria denuncia lo fa arrestare; così il povero terzo è rinchiuso, finché la morte non allarghi i suoi confini.
ENOBARBO	E allora, mondo, tu hai un paio di mascelle, non più, e getta fra esse tutto il cibo che hai, l’una macinerà l’altra. Dov’è Antonio?
EROS	Passeggia nel giardino, così, e scalcia il giunco che gli sta davanti, grida: «Sciocco Lepido!» e minaccia la gola di quel suo ufficiale che assassinò Pompeo.
ENOBARBO	La nostra grande flotta è armata.
EROS	Per l’Italia e contro Cesare. Di più, Domizio: il mio signore vi vuole subito. Le mie notizie avrei potuto dirle dopo.
ENOBARBO	Non sarà nulla di buono. Ma sia; conducimi da Antonio.
EROS	Venite, signore. Escono

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Agrippa, Maecenas, and Caesar
CAESAR	Contemning Rome, he has done all this and more In Alexandria. Here’s the manner of’t: I’th’ market place on a tribunal silvered, Cleopatra and himself in chairs of gold Were publicly enthroned. At the feet sat Caesarion, whom they call my father’s son, And all the unlawful issue that their lust Since then hath made between them. Unto her He gave the stablishment of Egypt; made her Of lower Syria, Cyprus, Lydia, Absolute queen.
MAECENAS	This in the public eye?
CAESAR	I‘th’ common showplace, where they exercise. His sons he there proclaimed the kings of kings; Great Media, Parthia, and Armenia He gave to Alexander. To Ptolemy he assigned Syria, Cilicia, and Phoenicia. She In th’habiliments of the goddess Isis That day appeared, and oft before gave audience, As ’tis reported, so.
MAECENAS	Let Rome be thus informed.
AGRIPPA	Who, queasy with his insolence already, Will their good thoughts call from him.
CAESAR	The people knows it, And have now received his accusations.
AGRIPPA	Who does he accuse?
CAESAR	Caesar, and that having in Sicily Sextus Pompeius spoiled, we had not rated him His part o’th’ isle. Then does he say he lent me Some shipping, unrestored. Lastly, he frets That Lepidus of the triumvirate Should be deposed; and being, that we detain All his revenue.
AGRIPPA	Sir, this should be answered.
CAESAR	’Tis done already, and the messenger gone. I have told him Lepidus was grown too cruel, That he his high authority abused And did deserve his change. For what I have conquered, I grant him part; but then in his Armenia, And other of his conquered kingdoms, I demand the like.
MAECENAS	He’ll never yield to that.
CAESAR	Nor must not then be yielded to in this.
(didascalia)	Enter Octavia with her train
OCTAVIA	Hail, Caesar, and my lord; hail, most dear Caesar!
CAESAR	That ever I should call thee castaway!
OCTAVIA	You have not called me so, nor have you cause.
CAESAR	Why have you stol’n upon us thus? You come not Like Caesar’s sister. The wife of Antony Should have an army for an usher, and The neighs of horse to tell of her approach Long ere she did appear. The trees by th’ way Should have borne men, and expectation fainted, Longing for what it had not. Nay, the dust Should have ascended to the roof of heaven, Raised by your populous troops. But you are come A market maid to Rome, and have prevented The ostentation of our love; which, left unshown, Is often left unloved. We should have met you By sea and land, supplying every stage With an augmented greeting.
OCTAVIA	Good my lord, To come thus was I not constrained, but did it On my free will. My lord, Mark Antony, Hearing that you prepared for war, acquainted My grieved ear withal, whereon I begged His pardon for return.
CAESAR	Which soon he granted, Being an obstruct ’tween his lust and him.
OCTAVIA	Do not say so, my lord.
CAESAR	I have eyes upon him, And his affairs come to me on the wind. Where is he now?
OCTAVIA	My lord, in Athens.
CAESAR	No, my most wronged sister. Cleopatra Hath nodded him to her. He hath given his empire Up to a whore; who now are levying The kings o’th’ earth for war. He hath assembled Bocchus, the King of Libya; Archelaus Of Cappadocia; Philadelphos, King Of Paphlagonia; the Thracian King Adallas; King Malchus of Arabia; King of Pont; Herod of Jewry; Mithridates, King Of Comagene; Polemon and Amyntas, The Kings of Mede and Lycaonia; With a more larger list of sceptres.
OCTAVIA	Ay me most wretched, That have my heart parted betwixt two friends That does afflict each other!
CAESAR	Welcome hither. Your letters did withhold our breaking forth Till we perceived both how you were wrong led And we in negligent danger. Cheer your heart. Be you not troubled with the time, which drives O’er your content these strong necessities; But let determined things to destiny Hold unbewailed their way. Welcome to Rome; Nothing more dear to me. You are abused Beyond the mark of thought, and the high gods, To do you justice, makes their ministers Of us and those that love you. Best of comfort, And ever welcome to us.
AGRIPPA	Welcome, lady.
MAECENAS	Welcome, dear madam. Each heart in Rome does love and pity you. Only th’adulterous Antony, most large In his abominations, turns you off, And gives his potent regiment to a trull That noises it against us.
OCTAVIA	Is it so, sir?
CAESAR	Most certain. Sister, welcome. Pray you Be ever known to patience. My dear’st sister!
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entrano Agrippa, Mecenate e Cesare
CESARE	Sprezzando Roma, ha fatto tutto questo e di più in Alessandria. Ecco in che modo: nella piazza del mercato, su una tribuna argentata, Cleopatra e lui stesso, in seggi d’oro, furono pubblicamente intronizzati. Ai loro piedi sedeva Cesarione, che chiamano figlio di mio padre, e tutta l’illegittima prole che la loro libidine da allora ha generato fra loro. A lei diede il possesso dell’Egitto; la fece regina assoluta della Siria inferiore, di Cipro e della Lidia.
MECENATE	Questo sotto gli occhi di tutti?
CESARE	Nel pubblico ginnasio, dove fanno gli esercizi. I suoi figli là proclamò re dei re; la grande Media, la Partia e l’Armenia diede ad Alessandro. A Tolomeo assegnò la Siria, la Cilicia e la Fenicia. Ella negli abiti della dea Iside quel giorno apparve, e spesso prima diede udienza, a quanto si riferisce, così.
MECENATE	Che Roma ne sia informata.
AGRIPPA	E Roma, già nauseata della sua insolenza, ritirerà da lui il suo buon animo.
CESARE	Il popolo lo sa, e ha ora ricevuto le sue accuse.
AGRIPPA	Chi accusa egli?
CESARE	Cesare, e dice che avendo in Sicilia spogliato Sesto Pompeo, non gli abbiamo assegnato la sua parte dell’isola. Poi dice che mi prestò certe navi, non restituite. Infine, si adira che Lepido sia stato deposto dal triumvirato; e che, essendolo, noi tratteniamo tutte le sue rendite.
AGRIPPA	Signore, a questo bisognerebbe rispondere.
CESARE	È già fatto, e il messaggero è partito. Gli ho detto che Lepido era divenuto troppo crudele, che aveva abusato della sua alta autorità e meritava la sua sorte mutata. Di ciò che io ho conquistato, gli concedo una parte; ma allora nella sua Armenia, e negli altri regni da lui conquistati, chiedo altrettanto.
MECENATE	Non cederà mai a questo.
CESARE	Né allora si deve cedere a lui in quello.
(didascalia)	Entra Ottavia col suo seguito
OTTAVIA	Salve, Cesare, e mio signore; salve, carissimo Cesare!
CESARE	Che io debba mai chiamarti ripudiata!
OTTAVIA	Non mi avete chiamata così, né ne avete motivo.
CESARE	Perché siete giunta di soppiatto fra noi? Non venite come sorella di Cesare. La moglie d’Antonio dovrebbe avere un esercito per battistrada, e i nitriti dei cavalli annunciare il suo arrivo assai prima ch’ella apparisse. Gli alberi lungo la via avrebbero dovuto portare uomini, e l’attesa venir meno, bramando ciò che non aveva. Anzi, la polvere sarebbe dovuta salire fino al tetto del cielo, sollevata dalle vostre popolose truppe. Ma siete venuta a Roma come una fanciulla del mercato, e avete impedito l’ostentazione del nostro amore; il quale, non mostrato, è spesso creduto non esistere. Avremmo dovuto venirvi incontro per mare e per terra, colmando ogni tappa d’un saluto accresciuto.
OTTAVIA	Mio buon signore, a venir così non fui costretta, ma lo feci di mia libera volontà. Il mio signore, Marco Antonio, udendo che vi preparavate alla guerra, ne informò il mio orecchio afflitto, e allora io implorai il suo permesso di tornare.
CESARE	Che egli presto concesse, essendo voi un ostacolo fra lui e la sua libidine.
OTTAVIA	Non dite così, mio signore.
CESARE	Ho occhi su di lui, e le sue faccende mi giungono sul vento. Dov’è ora?
OTTAVIA	Mio signore, ad Atene.
CESARE	No, mia sorella tanto offesa. Cleopatra l’ha richiamato a sé con un cenno. Egli ha ceduto il suo impero a una sgualdrina; e ora vanno arruolando i re della terra per la guerra. Ha radunato Bocco, Re di Libia; Archelao di Cappadocia; Filadelfo, Re di Paflagonia; il Re tracio Adalla; Re Malco d’Arabia; il Re del Ponto; Erode di Giudea; Mitridate, Re di Commagene; Polemone e Aminta, i Re di Media e di Licaonia; e una lista ancor più larga di scettri.
OTTAVIA	Ahimè, me infelicissima, che ho il cuore diviso fra due cari che si affliggono l’un l’altro!
CESARE	Benvenuta qui. Le vostre lettere trattennero il nostro erompere finché non ci accorgemmo insieme di come foste ingannata e noi in negligente pericolo. Fatevi animo. Non vi turbi il tempo, che sospinge sopra la vostra pace queste dure necessità; ma le cose già decise seguano al destino la loro via, non compiante. Benvenuta a Roma; nulla m’è più caro. Siete offesa oltre il segno d’ogni pensiero, e gli alti dèi, per farvi giustizia, fanno loro ministri noi e quanti vi amano. Il miglior conforto, e sempre benvenuta fra noi.
AGRIPPA	Benvenuta, signora.
MECENATE	Benvenuta, cara madama. Ogni cuore in Roma vi ama e vi compiange. Solo l’adultero Antonio, sfrenatissimo nelle sue abominazioni, vi ripudia, e dà il suo potente comando a una baldracca che schiamazza contro di noi.
OTTAVIA	È così, signore?
CESARE	Certissimo. Sorella, benvenuta. Vi prego, siate sempre nota per la pazienza. Mia carissima sorella!
(didascalia)	Escono

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Cleopatra and Enobarbus
CLEOPATRA	I will be even with thee, doubt it not.
ENOBARBUS	But why, why, why?
CLEOPATRA	Thou hast forspoke my being in these wars, And sayst it is not fit.
ENOBARBUS	Well, is it, is it?
CLEOPATRA	Is’t not denounced against us? Why should not we Be there in person?
(didascalia)	ENOBARBUS aside Well, I could reply
CLEOPATRA	If we should serve with horse and mares together, The horse were merely lost; the mares would bear A soldier and his horse.
CLEOPATRA	What is’t you say?
ENOBARBUS	Your presence needs must puzzle Antony, Take from his heart, take from his brain, from’s time What should not then be spared. He is already Traduced for levity; and ’tis said in Rome That Photinus, an eunuch, and your maids Manage this war.
CLEOPATRA	Sink Rome, and their tongues rot That speak against us! A charge we bear i’th’ war, And as the president of my kingdom will Appear there for a man. Speak not against it. I will not stay behind.
(didascalia)	Enter Antony and Camidius
ENOBARBUS	Nay, I have done. Here comes the Emperor.
ANTONY	Is it not strange, Camidius, That from Tarentum and Brundisium He could so quickly cut the Ionian Sea And take in Toryne?—You have heard on’t, sweet?
CLEOPATRA	Celerity is never more admired Than by the negligent.
ANTONY	A good rebuke, Which might have well becomed the best of men To taunt at slackness. Camidius, we Will fight with him by sea.
CLEOPATRA	By sea—what else?
CAMIDIUS	Why will my lord do so?
ANTONY	For that he dares us to’t.
ENOBARBUS	So hath my lord dared him to single fight.
CAMIDIUS	Ay, and to wage this battle at Pharsalia, Where Caesar fought with Pompey. But these offers Which serve not for his vantage, he shakes off, And so should you.
ENOBARBUS	Your ships are not well manned, Your mariners are muleters, reapers, people 35 Engrossed by swift impress. In Caesar’s fleet Are those that often have ’gainst Pompey fought. Their ships are yare, yours heavy. No disgrace Shall fall you for refusing him at sea, Being prepared for land.
ANTONY	By sea, by sea.
ENOBARBUS	Most worthy sir, you therein throw away The absolute soldiership you have by land; Distract your army, which doth most consist Of war-marked footmen; leave unexecuted Your own renowned knowledge; quite forgo The way which promises assurance, and Give up yourself merely to chance and hazard From firm security.
ANTONY	I’ll fight at sea.
CLEOPATRA	I have sixty sails, Caesar none better.
ANTONY	Our overplus of shipping will we burn, And with the rest full-manned, from th‘head of Actium Beat th’approaching Caesar. But if we fail, We then can do’t at land.
(didascalia)	Enter a Messenger
ANTONY	Thy business?
MESSENGER	The news is true, my lord. He is descried. Caesar has taken Toryne.
ANTONY	Can he be there in person? ’Tis impossible; Strange that his power should be. Camidius, Our nineteen legions thou shalt hold by land, And our twelve thousand horse. We’ll to our ship. Away, my Thetis!
(didascalia)	Enter a Soldier
ANTONY	How now, worthy soldier?
SOLDIER	O noble Emperor, do not fight by sea. Trust not to rotten planks. Do you misdoubt This sword and these my wounds? Let th’Egyptians And the Phoenicians go a-ducking; we Have used to conquer standing on the earth, And fighting foot to foot.
ANTONY	Well, well; away!
(didascalia)	Exeunt Antony, Cleopatra, and Enobarbus
SOLDIER	By Hercules, I think I am i’th’ right.
CAMIDIUS	Soldier, thou art; but his whole action grows Not in the power on’t. So our leader’s led, And we are women’s men.
SOLDIER	You keep by land The legions and the horse whole, do you not?
CAMIDIUS	Marcus Octavius, Marcus Justeius, Publicola and Caelius are for sea, But we keep whole by land. This speed of Caesar’s Carries beyond belief.
SOLDIER	While he was yet in Rome His power went out in such distractions As beguiled all spies.
CAMIDIUS	Who’s his lieutenant, hear you?
SOLDIER	They say, one Taurus.
CAMIDIUS	Well I know the man.
(didascalia)	Enter a Messenger
MESSENGER	The Emperor calls Camidius.
CAMIDIUS	With news the time’s in labour, and throws forth Each minute some.
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entrano Cleopatra ed Enobarbo
CLEOPATRA	Te la farò pagare, non ne dubitare.
ENOBARBO	Ma perché, perché, perché?
CLEOPATRA	Hai parlato contro la mia presenza in queste guerre, e dici che non conviene.
ENOBARBO	Ebbene, conviene, conviene?
CLEOPATRA	Non è la guerra dichiarata contro di noi? Perché non dovremmo esserci di persona?
(didascalia)	ENOBARBO a parte Ebbene, potrei rispondere
CLEOPATRA	Se servissimo con cavalli e giumente insieme, i cavalli sarebbero semplicemente perduti; le giumente porterebbero un soldato e il suo cavallo.
CLEOPATRA	Che cosa dite?
ENOBARBO	La vostra presenza non può che sconcertare Antonio, togliere al suo cuore, togliere al suo cervello, al suo tempo ciò che allora non si dovrebbe risparmiare. È già diffamato per leggerezza; e si dice a Roma che Fotino, un eunuco, e le vostre ancelle conducono questa guerra.
CLEOPATRA	Sprofondi Roma, e marciscano le lingue che parlano contro di noi! Sosteniamo una carica nella guerra, e come sovrana del mio regno vi apparirò da uomo. Non dire nulla contro. Non resterò indietro.
(didascalia)	Entrano Antonio e Camidio
ENOBARBO	No, ho finito. Ecco che viene l’Imperatore.
ANTONIO	Non è strano, Camidio, che da Taranto e Brindisi abbia potuto tagliare così presto il mare Ionio e prendere Torine?—Ne avete udito, dolcezza?
CLEOPATRA	La celerità non è mai tanto ammirata quanto dai negligenti.
ANTONIO	Un buon rimprovero, che avrebbe ben convenuto al migliore degli uomini per scherno alla lentezza. Camidio, noi combatteremo con lui per mare.
CLEOPATRA	Per mare—e come altrimenti?
CAMIDIO	Perché vorrà così il mio signore?
ANTONIO	Perché a ciò ci sfida.
ENOBARBO	Così il mio signore ha sfidato lui a singolar tenzone.
CAMIDIO	Sì, e a ingaggiare questa battaglia a Farsalo, dove Cesare combatté con Pompeo. Ma queste offerte, che non servono al suo vantaggio, egli le scrolla via; e così dovreste fare voi.
ENOBARBO	Le vostre navi non hanno buoni equipaggi, i vostri marinai sono mulattieri, mietitori, gente 35 arruolata in fretta per leva. Nella flotta di Cesare vi sono quelli che spesso hanno combattuto contro Pompeo. Le loro navi sono agili, le vostre pesanti. Nessun disonore vi cadrà addosso per aver rifiutato di affrontarlo per mare, essendo pronti per terra.
ANTONIO	Per mare, per mare.
ENOBARBO	Degnissimo signore, così gettate via l’assoluta perizia di soldato che avete per terra; disgregate il vostro esercito, che consta per lo più di fanti segnati dalla guerra; lasciate ineseguita la vostra rinomata scienza; abbandonate del tutto la via che promette sicurezza, e vi consegnate al puro caso e all’azzardo da salda sicurezza.
ANTONIO	Combatterò per mare.
CLEOPATRA	Ho sessanta vele, Cesare non ne ha di migliori.
ANTONIO	Bruceremo il soprappiù del naviglio, e col resto pienamente armato, dal capo di Azio batteremo Cesare che s’avvicina. Ma se falliamo, potremo poi farlo per terra.
(didascalia)	Entra un Messaggero
ANTONIO	Che affare porti?
MESSAGGERO	La notizia è vera, mio signore. È stato avvistato. Cesare ha preso Torine.
ANTONIO	Può esserci di persona? È impossibile; strano che vi sia il suo esercito. Camidio, terrai per terra le nostre diciannove legioni e i nostri dodicimila cavalli. Noi alla nostra nave. Via, mia Teti!
(didascalia)	Entra un Soldato
ANTONIO	Ebbene, degno soldato?
SOLDATO	O nobile Imperatore, non combattete per mare. Non vi fidate di tavole marce. Diffidate forse di questa spada e di queste mie ferite? Lasciate che gli Egizi e i Fenici vadano a sguazzare; noi siamo usi a vincere stando sulla terra, e combattendo piede contro piede.
ANTONIO	Bene, bene; via!
(didascalia)	Escono Antonio, Cleopatra ed Enobarbo
SOLDATO	Per Ercole, credo di avere ragione.
CAMIDIO	Soldato, l’hai; ma tutta la sua azione non nasce dalla forza che ne dispone. Così il nostro capo è condotto, e noi siamo uomini di donne.
SOLDATO	Voi tenete per terra le legioni e i cavalli intatti, non è vero?
CAMIDIO	Marco Ottavio, Marco Giusteio, Publicola e Celio sono per il mare, ma noi restiamo interi per terra. Questa rapidità di Cesare va oltre ogni credere.
SOLDATO	Mentre era ancora a Roma le sue forze uscirono in tali dispersioni da ingannare tutte le spie.
CAMIDIO	Chi è il suo luogotenente, si sa?
SOLDATO	Dicono, un certo Tauro.
CAMIDIO	Bene conosco l’uomo.
(didascalia)	Entra un Messaggero
MESSAGGERO	L’Imperatore chiama Camidio.
CAMIDIO	Di notizie il tempo è in doglie, e ne getta fuori ogni minuto qualcuna.
(didascalia)	Escono

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Caesar with his army, marching, and Taurus CAESAR Taurus!
TAURUS	My lord?
CAESAR	Strike not by land. Keep whole. Provoke not battle Till we have done at sea. (Giving a scroll) Do not exceed The prescript of this scroll. Our fortune lies Upon this jump.
(didascalia)	Exit Caesar and his army at one door, Taurus at another

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entrano Cesare col suo esercito, in marcia, e Tauro CESARE Tauro!
TAURO	Mio signore?
CESARE	Non attaccare per terra. Resta compatto. Non provocare battaglia finché non abbiamo finito per mare. (Dandogli un rotolo) Non oltrepassare la prescrizione di questo rotolo. La nostra fortuna sta su questo lancio.
(didascalia)	Escono Cesare e il suo esercito da una porta, Tauro da un’altra

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Antony and Enobarbus
ANTONY	Set we our squadrons on yon side o’th’ hill In eye of Caesar’s battle, from which place We may the number of the ships behold, And so proceed accordingly.
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entrano Antonio ed Enobarbo
ANTONIO	Disponiamo le nostre squadre su quel lato della collina in vista dello schieramento di Cesare, donde potremo osservare il numero delle navi, e procedere di conseguenza.
(didascalia)	Escono

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Camidius marcheth with his land army over the stage, and taurus, the lieutenant of caesar, with his
NOBARBUS	Naught, naught, all naught! I can behold no longer. Th’Antoniad, the Egyptian admiral, With all their sixty, fly and turn the rudder. To see’t mine eyes are blasted.
(didascalia)	Enter Scarus
SCARUS	Gods and goddesses— All the whole synod of them!
ENOBARBUS	What’s thy passion?
SCARUS	The greater cantle of the world is lost With very ignorance; we have kissed away Kingdoms and provinces.
ENOBARBUS	How appears the fight?
SCARUS	On our side like the tokened pestilence, Where death is sure. Yon riband-red nag of Egypt— Whom leprosy o‘ertake!-i’th’ midst o’th’ fight— When vantage like a pair of twins appeared, Both as the same, or rather ours the elder— The breese upon her, like a cow in June, Hoists sails and flies.
ENOBARBUS	That I beheld. Mine eyes did sicken at the sight, and could not Endure a further view.
SCARUS	She once being luffed, The noble ruin of her magic, Antony, Claps on his sea-wing and, like a doting mallard, Leaving the fight in height, flies after her. I never saw an action of such shame. Experience, manhood, honour, ne’er before Did violate so itself.
ENOBARBUS	Alack, alack!
(didascalia)	Enter Camidius
CAMIDIUS	Our fortune on the sea is out of breath, And sinks most lamentably. Had our general Been what he knew himself, it had gone well. O, he has given example for our flight Most grossly by his own.
ENOBARBUS	Ay, are you thereabouts? Why then, good night indeed!
CAMIDIUS	Toward Peloponnesus are they fled.
SCARUS	’Tis easy to’t, and there I will attend What further comes.
CAMIDIUS	To Caesar will I render My legions and my horse. Six kings already Show me the way of yielding.
ENOBARBUS	I’ll yet follow The wounded chance of Antony, though my reason Sits in the wind against me.
(didascalia)	Exeunt severally

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Camidio marcia col suo esercito di terra attraverso la scena, e tauro, il luogotenente di cesare, col suo
NOBARBO	Nulla, nulla, tutto nulla! Non posso più guardare. L’Antoniade, l’ammiraglia egiziana, con tutte le loro sessanta, fugge e volge il timone. A vederlo i miei occhi sono folgorati.
(didascalia)	Entra Scaro
SCARO	Dèi e dee— tutto il loro intero sinodo!
ENOBARBO	Qual è la tua passione?
SCARO	La maggior fetta del mondo è perduta per pura ignoranza; abbiamo baciato via regni e province.
ENOBARBO	Come appare la battaglia?
SCARO	Dalla nostra parte come la pestilenza segnata, dove la morte è certa. Quella cavalla d’Egitto dai nastri rossi— che la lebbra la colga!—nel mezzo della battaglia— quando il vantaggio appariva come un paio di gemelli, entrambi uguali, anzi il nostro il maggiore— col tafano addosso, come una vacca a giugno, issa le vele e fugge.
ENOBARBO	Questo l’ho visto. I miei occhi si fecero malati a quella vista, e non poterono sopportare oltre lo sguardo.
SCARO	Ed essa appena orzata, la nobile rovina della sua magia, Antonio, batte la sua ala marina e, come un germano invaghito, lasciando la battaglia al colmo, le vola dietro. Non vidi mai azione di simile vergogna. Esperienza, virilità, onore, mai prima violarono così se stessi.
ENOBARBO	Ahimè, ahimè!
(didascalia)	Entra Camidio
CAMIDIO	La nostra fortuna sul mare è senza fiato, e affonda miseramente. Se il nostro generale fosse stato quello che sapeva d’essere, sarebbe andata bene. Oh, ci ha dato esempio di fuga grossolanamente col suo.
ENOBARBO	Ah, siamo a questo punto? Allora, buona notte davvero!
CAMIDIO	Verso il Peloponneso sono fuggiti.
SCARO	È facile arrivarci, e là attenderò ciò che ancora verrà.
CAMIDIO	A Cesare renderò le mie legioni e i miei cavalli. Sei re già mi mostrano la via della resa.
ENOBARBO	Io seguirò ancora la ferita sorte d’Antonio, benché la mia ragione stia nel vento contro di me.
(didascalia)	Escono separatamente

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Antony with Attendants
ANTONY	Hark, the land bids me tread no more upon’t, It is ashamed to bear me. Friends, come hither. I am so lated in the world that I Have lost my way for ever. I have a ship Laden with gold. Take that; divide it, fly, And make your peace with Caesar.
ATTENDANTS	Fly? Not we.
ANTONY	I have fled myself, and have instructed cowards To run and show their shoulders. Friends, be gone. I have myself resolved upon a course Which has no need of you. Be gone. My treasure’s in the harbour. Take it. O, I followed that I blush to look upon. My very hairs do mutiny, for the white Reprove the brown for rashness, and they them For fear and doting. Friends, be gone. You shall Have letters from me to some friends that will Sweep your way for you. Pray you, look not sad, Nor make replies of loathness. Take the hint Which my despair proclaims. Let that be left Which leaves itself. To the seaside straightway! I will possess you of that ship and treasure. Leave me, I pray, a little. Pray you now, Nay, do so; for indeed I have lost command. Therefore I pray you; I’ll see you by and by.
(didascalia)	Exeunt attendants
ANTONY	He sits down.
(didascalia)	Enter Cleopatra led by Charmian, Iras, and Eros
EROS	Nay, gentle madam, to him. Comfort him.
IRAS	Do, most dear Queen.
CHARMIAN	Do. Why, what else?
CLEOPATRA	Let me sit down. O Juno! She sits down
ANTONY	No, no, no, no, no.
EROS	(to Antony) See you here, sir?
ANTONY	O fie, fie, fie!
CHARMIAN	Madam.
IRAS	Madam. O good Empress!
EROS	Sir, sir.
ANTONY	Yes, my lord, yes. He at Philippi kept His sword e’en like a dancer, while I struck The lean and wrinkled Cassius; and ’twas I That the mad Brutus ended. He alone Dealt on lieutenantry, and no practice had In the brave squares of war. Yet now—no matter.
(didascalia)	CLEOPATRA (rising, to Charmian and Iras) Ah, stand by.
EROS	The Queen, my lord, the Queen.
IRAS	Go to him, madam. Speak to him. He’s unqualitied With very shame.
CLEOPATRA	Well then, sustain me. O!
EROS	Most noble sir, arise. The Queen approaches. Her head’s declined, and death will seize her but Your comfort makes the rescue.
ANTONY	I have offended reputation; A most unnoble swerving.
EROS	Sir, the Queen.
(didascalia)	ANTONY rising
EROS	O, whither hast thou led me, Egypt? See How I convey my shame out of thine eyes By looking back what I have left behind ’Stroyed in dishonour.
CLEOPATRA	O, my lord, my lord, Forgive my fearful sails! I little thought You would have followed.
ANTONY	Egypt, thou knew’st too well My heart was to thy rudder tied by th’ strings, And thou shouldst tow me after. O’er my spirit Thy full supremacy thou knew’st, and that Thy beck might from the bidding of the gods Command me.
CLEOPATRA	O, my pardon!
ANTONY	Now I must To the young man send humble treaties, dodge And palter in the shifts of lowness, who With half the bulk o’th’ world played as I pleased, Making and marring fortunes. You did know How much you were my conqueror, and that My sword, made weak by my affection, would Obey it on all cause.
CLEOPATRA	Pardon, pardon!
ANTONY	Fall not a tear, I say. One of them rates All that is won and lost. Give me a kiss. He kisses her Even this repays me. (To an Attendant) We sent our schoolmaster; Is a come back? (To Cleopatra) Love, I am full of lead. (Calling) Some wine
(didascalia)	Within there, and our viands! Fortune knows
ANTONY	We scorn her most when most she offers blows.
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entra Antonio con Servitori
ANTONIO	Udite, la terra mi comanda di non calpestarla più, si vergogna di portarmi. Amici, venite qua. Sono così attardato nel mondo che ho perduto la via per sempre. Ho una nave carica d’oro. Prendetela; dividetela, fuggite, e fate la vostra pace con Cesare.
SERVITORI	Fuggire? Non noi.
ANTONIO	Io stesso sono fuggito, e ho insegnato ai codardi a correre e mostrare le spalle. Amici, andate. Ho deciso da me una via che non ha bisogno di voi. Andate. Il mio tesoro è nel porto. Prendetelo. Oh, ho seguito ciò che arrossisco a guardare. I miei stessi capelli si ammutinano, ché i bianchi rimproverano ai bruni l’avventatezza, e questi a quelli paura e rimbambimento. Amici, andate. Avrete lettere da me per certi amici che vi spianeranno la strada. Vi prego, non siate tristi, né rispondete con riluttanza. Cogliete il cenno che la mia disperazione proclama. Sia lasciato ciò che lascia se stesso. Alla riva, subito! Vi metterò in possesso di quella nave e del tesoro. Lasciatemi, vi prego, un poco. Vi prego, ora, sì, fatelo; ché in verità ho perduto il comando. Perciò vi prego; vi vedrò fra poco.
(didascalia)	Escono i servitori
ANTONIO	Si siede.
(didascalia)	Entra Cleopatra condotta da Carmiana, Iras ed Eros
EROS	Su, gentile madama, andate da lui. Confortatelo.
IRAS	Fatelo, carissima Regina.
CARMIANA	Fatelo. Che altro, se no?
CLEOPATRA	Lasciatemi sedere. O Giunone! Si siede
ANTONIO	No, no, no, no, no.
EROS	(ad Antonio) Vedete qui, signore?
ANTONIO	Oh vergogna, vergogna, vergogna!
CARMIANA	Madama.
IRAS	Madama. O buona Imperatrice!
EROS	Signore, signore.
ANTONIO	Sì, mio signore, sì. A Filippi egli tenne la sua spada proprio come un danzatore, mentre io colpivo il magro e rugoso Cassio; e fui io che posi fine al folle Bruto. Egli soltanto agiva per luogotenenti, e nessuna pratica aveva nei bravi quadrati della guerra. Eppure ora—non importa.
(didascalia)	CLEOPATRA (alzandosi, a Carmiana e Iras) Ah, state accanto.
EROS	La Regina, mio signore, la Regina.
IRAS	Andate da lui, madama. Parlategli. È fuori di sé per la pura vergogna.
CLEOPATRA	Ebbene, allora sostenetemi. Oh!
EROS	Nobilissimo signore, alzatevi. La Regina si avvicina. Ha il capo chino, e la morte la coglierà se non il vostro conforto la salva.
ANTONIO	Ho offeso la reputazione; una deviazione ignobilissima.
EROS	Signore, la Regina.
(didascalia)	ANTONIO alzandosi
EROS	Oh, dove m’hai condotto, Egitto? Vedi come sottraggo la mia vergogna ai tuoi occhi guardando indietro a ciò che ho lasciato distrutto nel disonore.
CLEOPATRA	Oh, mio signore, mio signore, perdonate le mie vele paurose! Poco pensavo che mi avreste seguita.
ANTONIO	Egitto, sapevi troppo bene che il mio cuore era legato al tuo timone per le corde, e che tu m’avresti rimorchiato dietro. Sul mio spirito conoscevi la tua piena supremazia, e che il tuo cenno poteva, contro il comando degli dèi, comandarmi.
CLEOPATRA	Oh, il mio perdono!
ANTONIO	Ora devo mandare al giovane umili trattative, schivare e barcamenarmi negli espedienti della bassezza, io che con metà della mole del mondo giocai a mio piacere, facendo e disfacendo fortune. Ben sapevate quanto foste mia conquistatrice, e che la mia spada, resa debole dal mio affetto, avrebbe obbedito a esso in ogni causa.
CLEOPATRA	Perdono, perdono!
ANTONIO	Non versare una lacrima, dico. Una sola di esse vale tutto ciò che è vinto e perduto. Dammi un bacio. La bacia Anche solo questo mi ripaga. (A un Servitore) Mandammo il nostro maestro; è tornato? (A Cleopatra) Amore, sono pieno di piombo. (Chiamando) Del vino
(didascalia)	Là dentro, e le nostre vivande! La Fortuna sa
ANTONIO	che la sprezziamo di più quando più ci offre colpi.
(didascalia)	Escono

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Caesar, Agrippa, Thidias, and Dolabella, with others
CAESAR	Let him appear that’s come from Antony. Know you him?
DOLABELLA	Caesar, ’tis his schoolmaster; An argument that he is plucked, when hither He sends so poor a pinion of his wing, Which had superfluous kings for messengers Not many moons gone by.
(didascalia)	Enter Ambassador from Antony
CAESAR	Approach and speak.
AMBASSADOR	Such as I am, I come from Antony. I was of late as petty to his ends As is the morn-dew on the myrtle leaf To his grand sea.
CAESAR	Be’t so. Declare thine office.
AMBASSADOR	Lord of his fortunes he salutes thee, and Requires to live in Egypt; which not granted, He lessens his requests, and to thee sues To let him breathe between the heavens and earth, A private man in Athens. This for him. Next, Cleopatra does confess thy greatness, Submits her to thy might, and of thee craves The circle of the Ptolemies for her heirs, Now hazarded to thy grace.
CAESAR	For Antony, I have no ears to his request. The Queen Of audience nor desire shall fail, so she From Egypt drive her all-disgracèd friend, Or take his life there. This if she perform She shall not sue unheard. So to them both.
AMBASSADOR	Fortune pursue thee!
CAESAR	Bring him through the bands.
(didascalia)	Exit Ambassador, attended
CAESAR	(To Thidias) To try thy eloquence now ‘tis time. Dispatch. From Antony win Cleopatra. Promise, And in our name, what she requires. Add more As thine invention offers. Women are not In their best fortunes strong, but want will perjure The ne’er-touched vestal. Try thy cunning, Thidias. Make thine own edict for thy pains, which we Will answer as a law.
THIDIAS	Caesar, I go.
CAESAR	Observe how Antony becomes his flaw, And what thou think’st his very action speaks In every power that moves.
THIDIAS	Caesar, I shall.
(didascalia)	Exeunt Caesar and his train at one door, and Thidias at another

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entrano Cesare, Agrippa, Tidia e Dolabella, con altri
CESARE	Si faccia avanti colui che viene da Antonio. Lo conoscete?
DOLABELLA	Cesare, è il suo maestro di scuola; un argomento ch’egli è spennato, se qui manda una così povera penna della sua ala, lui che aveva re in soprannumero per messaggeri non molte lune fa.
(didascalia)	Entra l’Ambasciatore da parte d’Antonio
CESARE	Avvicinati e parla.
AMBASCIATORE	Tale quale sono, vengo da Antonio. Ero fino a poco fa tanto piccolo per i suoi fini quanto la rugiada mattutina sulla foglia di mirto al suo gran mare.
CESARE	Sia pure. Dichiara il tuo incarico.
AMBASCIATORE	Signore delle sue fortune ti saluta, e chiede di vivere in Egitto; e ciò non concesso, riduce le sue richieste, e ti supplica di lasciarlo respirare fra il cielo e la terra, uomo privato in Atene. Questo per lui. Poi, Cleopatra confessa la tua grandezza, si sottomette alla tua potenza, e da te implora il diadema dei Tolomei per i suoi eredi, ora rimesso alla tua grazia.
CESARE	Quanto ad Antonio, non ho orecchi per la sua richiesta. Alla Regina non mancheranno udienza né desiderio esaudito, purché ella cacci dall’Egitto il suo amico tutto disonorato, o là gli tolga la vita. Se questo compie, non supplicherà inascoltata. Così a entrambi.
AMBASCIATORE	La fortuna ti segua!
CESARE	Portatelo attraverso le schiere.
(didascalia)	Esce l’Ambasciatore, accompagnato
CESARE	(A Tidia) Per provare la tua eloquenza ora è tempo. Spicciati. Ad Antonio strappa Cleopatra. Promettile, e in nome nostro, quanto chiede. Aggiungi altro quanto la tua inventiva suggerisce. Le donne non sono forti nelle loro migliori fortune, ma la privazione farà spergiurare la vestale mai toccata. Prova la tua astuzia, Tidia. Fissa tu stesso l’editto per le tue pene, che noi rispetteremo come legge.
TIDIA	Cesare, vado.
CESARE	Osserva come Antonio porta la sua caduta, e ciò che, secondo te, il suo stesso agire dichiara in ogni potenza che si muove.
TIDIA	Cesare, lo farò.
(didascalia)	Escono Cesare e il suo seguito da una porta, e Tidia da un’altra

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Cleopatra, Enobarbus, Charmian, and Iras
CLEOPATRA	What shall we do, Enobarbus?
ENOBARBUS	Think, and die.
CLEOPATRA	Is Antony or we in fault for this?
ENOBARBUS	Antony only, that would make his will Lord of his reason. What though you fled From that great face of war, whose several ranges Frighted each other? Why should he follow? The itch of his affection should not then Have nicked his captainship, at such a point, When half to half the world opposed, he being The mooted question. ’Twas a shame no less Than was his loss, to course your flying flags And leave his navy gazing.
CLEOPATRA	Prithee, peace.
(didascalia)	Enter the Ambassador with Antony
ANTONY	Is that his answer?
AMBASSADOR	Ay, my lord.
ANTONY	The Queen shall then have courtesy, so she Will yield us up.
AMBASSADOR	He says so.
ANTONY	Let her know’t. (To Cleopatra) To the boy Caesar send this grizzled head, And he will fill thy wishes to the brim With principalities.
CLEOPATRA	That head, my lord?
ANTONY	(to the Ambassador) To him again. Tell him he wears the rose Of youth upon him, from which the world should note Something particular. His coin, ships, legions, May be a coward‘s, whose ministers would prevail Under the service of a child as soon As i’th’ command of Caesar. I dare him therefore To lay his gay caparisons apart And answer me declined, sword against sword, Ourselves alone. I’ll write it. Follow me.
(didascalia)	Exeunt Antony and Ambassador
ENOBARBUS	(aside) Yes, like enough, high-battled Caesar will Unstate his happiness and be staged to th’ show Against a sworder! I see men’s judgements are A parcel of their fortunes, and things outward Do draw the inward quality after them To suffer all alike. That he should dream, Knowing all measures, the full Caesar will Answer his emptiness! Caesar, thou hast subdued His judgement, too.
(didascalia)	Enter a Servant
SERVANT	A messenger from Caesar.
CLEOPATRA	What, no more ceremony? See, my women: Against the blown rose may they stop their nose, That kneeled unto the buds. Admit him, sir.
(didascalia)	Exit Servant
ENOBARBUS	(aside) Mine honesty and I begin to square. The loyalty well held to fools does make Our faith mere folly; yet he that can endure To follow with allegiance a fall’n lord Does conquer him that did his master conquer, And earns a place i’th’ story.
(didascalia)	Enter Thidias
CLEOPATRA	Caesar’s will?
THIDIAS	Hear it apart.
CLEOPATRA	None but friends; say boldly.
THIDIAS	So haply are they friends to Antony.
ENOBARBUS	He needs as many, sir, as Caesar has, Or needs not us. If Caesar please, our master Will leap to be his friend. For us, you know, Whose he is, we are: and that is Caesar’s.
THIDIAS	So. (To Cleopatra) Thus, then, thou most renowned: Caesar entreats Not to consider in what case thou stand’st Further than he is Caesar.
CLEOPATRA	Go on; right royal.
THIDIAS	He knows that you embraced not Antony As you did love, but as you feared him.
CLEOPATRA	0.
THIDIAS	The scars upon your honour therefore he Does pity as constrained blemishes, Not as deserved.
CLEOPATRA	He is a god, and knows What is most right. Mine honour was not yielded, But conquered merely.
ENOBARBUS	(aside) To be sure of that I will ask Antony. Sir, sir, thou art so leaky That we must leave thee to thy sinking, for Thy dearest quit thee.
(didascalia)	Exit
THIDIAS	Shall I say to Caesar What you require of him?—For he partly begs To be desired to give. It much would please him That of his fortunes you should make a staff To lean upon. But it would warm his spirits To hear from me you had left Antony, And put your self under his shroud, The universal landlord.
CLEOPATRA	What’s your name?
THIDIAS	My name is Thidias.
CLEOPATRA	Most kind messenger, Say to great Caesar this in deputation: I kiss his conqu’ring hand. Tell him I am prompt To lay my crown at’s feet, and there to kneel Till from his all-obeying breath I hear The doom of Egypt.
THIDIAS	’Tis your noblest course. Wisdom and fortune combating together, If that the former dare but what it can, No chance may shake it. Give me grace to lay My duty on your hand. He kisses Cleopatra’s hand
CLEOPATRA	Your Caesar’s father oft, When he hath mused of taking kingdoms in, Bestowed his lips on that unworthy place, As it rained kisses.
(didascalia)	Enter Antony and Enobarbus
ANTONY	Favours, by Jove that thunders! What art thou, fellow?
THIDIAS	One that but performs The bidding of the fullest man, and worthiest To have command obeyed.
ENOBARBUS	You will be whipped.
ANTONY	(calling) Approach, there!—Ah, you kite! Now, gods and devils, Authority melts from me of late. When I cried ‘Ho!’, Like boys unto a muss kings would start forth, And cry ‘Your will?’—Have you no ears? I am Antony yet.
(didascalia)	Enter servants
ANTONY	Take hence this jack, and whip him.
(didascalia)	ENOBARBUS aside to Thidias
ANTONY	’Tis better playing with a lion’s whelp Than with an old one dying.
ANTONY	Moon and stars! Whip him! Were’t twenty of the greatest tributaries That do acknowledge Caesar, should I find them So saucy with the hand of she here—what’s her name Since she was Cleopatra? Whip him, fellows, Till like a boy you see him cringe his face, And whine aloud for mercy. Take him hence.
THIDIAS	Mark Antony—
ANTONY	Tug him away. Being whipped, Bring him again. This jack of Caesar’s shall Bear us an errand to him.
(didascalia)	Exeunt servants with Thidias
ANTONY	You were half blasted ere I knew you. Ha, Have I my pillow left unpressed in Rome, Forborne the getting of a lawful race, And by a gem of women, to be abused By one that looks on feeders?
CLEOPATRA	Good my lord—
ANTONY	You have been a boggler ever. But when we in our viciousness grow hard— O misery on’t!—the wise gods seel our eyes, In our own filth drop our clear judgements, make us Adore our errors, laugh at’s while we strut To our confusion.
CLEOPATRA	O, is’t come to this?
ANTONY	I found you as a morsel cold upon Dead Caesar’s trencher; nay, you were a fragment Of Gnaeus Pompey’s, besides what hotter hours Unregistered in vulgar fame you have Luxuriously picked out. For I am sure, Though you can guess what temperance should be, You know not what it is.
CLEOPATRA	Wherefore is this?
ANTONY	To let a fellow that will take rewards And say ’God quit you’ be familiar with My playfellow your hand, this kingly seal And plighter of high hearts! O that I were Upon the hill of Basan to outroar The hornèd herd! For I have savage cause, And to proclaim it civilly were like A haltered neck which does the hangman thank For being yare about him.
(didascalia)	Enter a Servant with Thidias
ANTONY	Is he whipped?
SERVANT	Soundly, my lord.
ANTONY	Cried he, and begged a pardon?
SERVANT	He did ask favour.
ANTONY	(to Thidias) If that thy father live, let him repent Thou wast not made his daughter; and be thou sorry To follow Caesar in his triumph, since Thou hast been whipped for following him. Henceforth The white hand of a lady fever thee, Shake thou to look on’t. Get thee back to Caesar; Tell him thy entertainment. Look thou say He makes me angry with him, for he seems Proud and disdainful, harping on what I am, Not what he knew I was. He makes me angry, And at this time most easy ’tis to do’t, When my good stars that were my former guides Have empty left their orbs, and shot their fires Into th’abyss of hell. If he mislike My speech and what is done, tell him he has Hipparchus, my enfranchèd bondman, whom He may at pleasure whip, or hang, or torture, As he shall like, to quit me. Urge it thou. Hence, with thy stripes, be gone!
(didascalia)	Exit Servant with Thidias
CLEOPATRA	Have you done yet?
ANTONY	Alack, our terrene moon Is now eclipsed, and it portends alone The fall of Antony.
CLEOPATRA	(aside) I must stay his time.
ANTONY	To flatter Caesar would you mingle eyes With one that ties his points?
CLEOPATRA	Not know me yet?
ANTONY	Cold-hearted toward me?
CLEOPATRA	Ah, dear, if I be so, From my cold heart let heaven engender hail, And poison it in the source, and the first stone Drop in my neck: as it determines, so Dissolve my life! The next Caesarion smite, Till by degrees the memory of my womb, Together with my brave Egyptians all, By the discandying of this pelleted storm Lie graveless till the flies and gnats of Nile Have buried them for prey!
ANTONY	I am satisfied. Caesar sits down in Alexandria, where I will oppose his fate. Our force by land Hath nobly held; our severed navy too Have knit again, and fleet, threat’ning most sea-like. Where hast thou been, my heart? Dost thou hear, lady? If from the field I shall return once more To kiss these lips, I will appear in blood. I and my sword will earn our chronicle. There’s hope in’t yet.
CLEOPATRA	That’s my brave lord.
ANTONY	I will be treble-sinewed, hearted, breathed, And fight maliciously; for when mine hours Were nice and lucky, men did ransom lives Of me for jests; but now I’ll set my teeth, And send to darkness all that stop me. Come, Let’s have one other gaudy night. Call to me All my sad captains. Fill our bowls once more. Let’s mock the midnight bell.
CLEOPATRA	It is my birthday. I had thought to’ve held it poor, but since my lord Is Antony again, I will be Cleopatra.
ANTONY	We will yet do well.
CLEOPATRA	Call all his noble captains to my lord!
ANTONY	Do so. We’ll speak to them, and tonight I’ll force The wine peep through their scars. Come on, my queen, There’s sap in’t yet. The next time I do fight I’ll make death love me, for I will contend Even with his pestilent scythe.
(didascalia)	Exeunt all but Enobarbus
ENOBARBUS	Now he’ll outstare the lightning. To be furious Is to be frighted out of fear, and in that mood The dove will peck the estridge; and I see still A diminution in our captain’s brain Restores his heart. When valour preys on reason, It eats the sword it fights with. I will seek Some way to leave him.
(didascalia)	Exit

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entrano Cleopatra, Enobarbo, Carmiana e Iras
CLEOPATRA	Che faremo, Enobarbo?
ENOBARBO	Pensare, e morire.
CLEOPATRA	È colpa d’Antonio o nostra?
ENOBARBO	D’Antonio soltanto, che volle fare della sua voglia signora della sua ragione. Che importa se voi fuggiste da quel gran volto della guerra, le cui opposte schiere si spaventavano l’una l’altra? Perché doveva seguirvi? Il prurito del suo affetto non doveva allora intaccare il suo comando, in un punto simile, quando metà del mondo s’opponeva a metà, essendo lui la questione in gioco. Fu vergogna non minore della sua perdita inseguire le vostre bandiere in fuga e lasciare la sua flotta a bocca aperta.
CLEOPATRA	Ti prego, taci.
(didascalia)	Entra l’Ambasciatore con Antonio
ANTONIO	È questa la sua risposta?
AMBASCIATORE	Sì, mio signore.
ANTONIO	La Regina avrà dunque cortesia, purché ci consegni.
AMBASCIATORE	Così dice.
ANTONIO	Faglielo sapere. (A Cleopatra) Al ragazzo Cesare manda questa testa brizzolata, ed egli colmerà i tuoi desideri fino all’orlo di principati.
CLEOPATRA	Quella testa, mio signore?
ANTONIO	(all’Ambasciatore) Torna da lui. Digli che porta la rosa della giovinezza addosso, dalla quale il mondo dovrebbe attendersi qualcosa di singolare. Le sue monete, navi, legioni possono essere d’un codardo, i cui ministri prevarrebbero al servizio d’un fanciullo altrettanto bene che al comando di Cesare. Lo sfido dunque a deporre le sue gaie gualdrappe e a rispondermi, io decaduto, spada contro spada, noi due soli. Lo scriverò. Seguimi.
(didascalia)	Escono Antonio e l’Ambasciatore
ENOBARBO	(a parte) Sì, molto probabile, Cesare dai grandi eserciti vorrà spogliare la sua felicità ed esporsi in spettacolo contro uno spadaccino! Vedo che i giudizi degli uomini sono una porzione delle loro fortune, e che le cose esteriori trascinano dietro di sé la qualità interiore a patire allo stesso modo. Che egli possa sognare, conoscendo tutte le misure, che il pieno Cesare risponderà al suo vuoto! Cesare, hai soggiogato anche il suo giudizio.
(didascalia)	Entra un Servo
SERVO	Un messaggero da parte di Cesare.
CLEOPATRA	Come, non più cerimonia? Vedete, mie donne: davanti alla rosa sfiorita si tappano il naso quelli che s’inginocchiavano ai boccioli. Fatelo entrare, signore.
(didascalia)	Esce il Servo
ENOBARBO	(a parte) La mia onestà e io cominciamo a litigare. La lealtà ben tenuta agli sciocchi rende la nostra fede pura follia; eppure chi sa sopportare di seguire con fedeltà un signore caduto vince colui che vinse il suo padrone, e si guadagna un posto nella storia.
(didascalia)	Entra Tidia
CLEOPATRA	La volontà di Cesare?
TIDIA	Uditela in disparte.
CLEOPATRA	Qui non ci sono che amici; parla francamente.
TIDIA	Forse sono anche amici d’Antonio.
ENOBARBO	Gliene occorrono tanti, signore, quanti ne ha Cesare, o non ha bisogno di noi. Se a Cesare piace, il nostro padrone salterà a essergli amico. Quanto a noi, sapete, siamo di chi è lui: e cioè di Cesare.
TIDIA	Bene. (A Cleopatra) Così dunque, o rinomatissima: Cesare ti prega di non considerare in quale stato ti trovi oltre il fatto ch’egli è Cesare.
CLEOPATRA	Prosegui; davvero regale.
TIDIA	Egli sa che voi abbracciaste Antonio non perché lo amaste, ma perché lo temevate.
CLEOPATRA	0.
TIDIA	Le cicatrici sul vostro onore egli dunque compiange come macchie costrette, non come meritate.
CLEOPATRA	È un dio, e sa ciò che è più giusto. Il mio onore non fu ceduto, ma semplicemente conquistato.
ENOBARBO	(a parte) Per esserne certo lo chiederò ad Antonio. Signore, signore, fai tanta acqua che dobbiamo lasciarti al tuo affondare, ché i tuoi più cari ti abbandonano.
(didascalia)	Esce
TIDIA	Dirò a Cesare ciò che chiedete da lui?—Ché in parte egli implora d’esser pregato di dare. Molto gli piacerebbe che delle sue fortune vi faceste un bastone cui appoggiarvi. Ma gli scalderebbe gli spiriti udire da me che avete lasciato Antonio e messo il vostro essere sotto la sua protezione, il signore universale.
CLEOPATRA	Qual è il vostro nome?
TIDIA	Il mio nome è Tidia.
CLEOPATRA	Gentilissimo messaggero, di’ questo al gran Cesare per mia delegazione: bacio la sua mano conquistatrice. Digli che sono pronta a deporre la mia corona ai suoi piedi, e là inginocchiarmi finché dal suo fiato a cui tutto obbedisce io oda la sentenza sull’Egitto.
TIDIA	È la vostra via più nobile. Quando saggezza e fortuna combattono insieme, se la prima osa soltanto ciò che può, nessun caso potrà scuoterla. Concedetemi la grazia di posare il mio omaggio sulla vostra mano. Bacia la mano di Cleopatra
CLEOPATRA	Il padre del vostro Cesare spesso, quando meditava di conquistare regni, posò le sue labbra su quell’indegno luogo, come piovesse baci.
(didascalia)	Entrano Antonio ed Enobarbo
ANTONIO	Favori, per Giove che tuona! Chi sei tu, individuo?
TIDIA	Uno che non fa che eseguire il comando dell’uomo più pieno, e più degno d’avere il comando obbedito.
ENOBARBO	Sarete frustato.
ANTONIO	(chiamando) Avvicinatevi, là!—Ah, nibbio! Ora, dèi e diavoli, l’autorità mi si scioglie di dosso da qualche tempo. Quando gridavo «Ehi!», come fanciulli a una zuffa i re balzavano avanti gridando «Che volete?»—Non avete orecchi? Sono Antonio ancora.
(didascalia)	Entrano i servi
ANTONIO	Portate via questo furfante, e frustatelo.
(didascalia)	ENOBARBO a parte a Tidia
ANTONIO	È meglio giocare col cucciolo d’un leone che con un vecchio leone morente.
ANTONIO	Luna e stelle! Frustatelo! Fossero venti dei più grandi tributari che riconoscono Cesare, se li trovassi così sfacciati con la mano di costei qui—come si chiama da quando fu Cleopatra? Frustatelo, uomini, finché non lo vediate storcere il viso come un ragazzo e piagnucolare forte per pietà. Portatelo via.
TIDIA	Marco Antonio—
ANTONIO	Trascinatelo via. Quando sarà frustato, riportatelo. Questo furfante di Cesare ci porterà un’ambasciata per lui.
(didascalia)	Escono i servi con Tidia
ANTONIO	Eravate mezza appassita prima ch’io vi conoscessi. Ah, ho lasciato il mio guanciale non premuto a Roma, rinunciato a generare una stirpe legittima, e da una gemma di donna, per essere oltraggiato da una che guarda i servi di mensa?
CLEOPATRA	Mio buon signore—
ANTONIO	Siete sempre stata una che tentenna. Ma quando nella nostra viziosità ci induriamo— oh, che miseria!—i saggi dèi ci cuciono gli occhi, lasciano cadere nella nostra sozzura i nostri limpidi giudizi, ci fanno adorare i nostri errori, e ridono di noi mentre incediamo verso la nostra rovina.
CLEOPATRA	Oh, si è giunti a questo?
ANTONIO	Vi trovai come un boccone freddo sul tagliere del morto Cesare; anzi, eravate un avanzo di Gneo Pompeo, oltre a quelle ore più calde non registrate dalla fama volgare che avete lussuriosamente colto. Ché sono certo, benché sappiate indovinare che cosa sia la temperanza, non sapete che cosa essa sia.
CLEOPATRA	Perché questo?
ANTONIO	Lasciare che un tale che accetta mance e dice «Dio vi renda merito» prenda confidenza con la mia compagna di giochi, la vostra mano, questo sigillo regale e suggellatore d’alti cuori! Oh, fossi io sul colle di Basan per superare col ruggito la mandria cornuta! Ché ho causa selvaggia, e proclamarla civilmente sarebbe come un collo nel cappio che ringrazia il boia d’essere lesto con lui.
(didascalia)	Entra un Servo con Tidia
ANTONIO	È stato frustato?
SERVO	Sonoramente, mio signore.
ANTONIO	Ha gridato, e chiesto perdono?
SERVO	Ha chiesto grazia.
ANTONIO	(a Tidia) Se tuo padre è vivo, si penta che tu non sia stato fatto sua figlia; e tu rammaricati di seguire Cesare nel suo trionfo, poiché sei stato frustato per averlo seguito. D’ora innanzi la bianca mano d’una dama ti dia la febbre, e tu tremi a guardarla. Tornatene da Cesare; raccontagli il tuo trattamento. Bada di dire ch’egli mi fa adirare con lui, ché mi pare superbo e sdegnoso, insistendo su ciò che sono, non su ciò che sapeva ch’io fui. Mi fa adirare, e in questo tempo è facilissimo farlo, ora che le mie buone stelle, che furono le mie guide d’un tempo, hanno lasciato vuote le loro orbite e scagliato i loro fuochi nell’abisso dell’inferno. Se gli dispiacciono il mio discorso e quanto è stato fatto, digli che ha Ipparco, mio liberto, che egli può a piacere frustare, o impiccare, o torturare, come gli piacerà, per pareggiare il conto. Insistici tu. Via, con le tue sferzate, vattene!
(didascalia)	Esce il Servo con Tidia
CLEOPATRA	Avete finito?
ANTONIO	Ahimè, la nostra luna terrena è ora eclissata, e ciò presagisce soltanto la caduta d’Antonio.
CLEOPATRA	(a parte) Devo aspettare il suo momento.
ANTONIO	Per adulare Cesare vorreste incrociare gli occhi con uno che gli allaccia i lacci?
CLEOPATRA	Non mi conoscete ancora?
ANTONIO	Fredda di cuore verso di me?
CLEOPATRA	Ah, caro, se lo sono, dal mio cuore freddo il cielo generi grandine e la avveleni alla fonte, e la prima pietra cada sul mio collo: come essa si scioglie, così si dissolva la mia vita! La seconda colpisca Cesarione, finché a gradi la memoria del mio grembo, insieme a tutti i miei bravi Egizi, per lo sciogliersi di questa tempesta di chicchi giaccia insepolta finché le mosche e i moscerini del Nilo li abbiano sepolti come preda!
ANTONIO	Sono soddisfatto. Cesare pone campo ad Alessandria, dove io mi opporrò al suo destino. Le nostre forze di terra hanno nobilmente tenuto; anche la nostra flotta dispersa si è riunita, e naviga, minacciosa come si conviene al mare. Dove sei stato, cuore mio? Mi ascolti, signora? Se dal campo tornerò ancora una volta a baciare queste labbra, apparirò coperto di sangue. Io e la mia spada ci guadagneremo la nostra cronaca. C’è ancora speranza.
CLEOPATRA	Questo è il mio prode signore.
ANTONIO	Sarò triplicato di nervi, di cuore, di fiato, e combatterò con malizia; ché quando le mie ore erano leggiadre e fortunate, gli uomini riscattavano da me le loro vite per uno scherzo; ma ora stringerò i denti e manderò alle tenebre tutti quelli che mi fermano. Vieni, facciamo un’altra notte sfarzosa. Chiamatemi tutti i miei mesti capitani. Riempite ancora una volta le nostre coppe. Beffiamoci della campana di mezzanotte.
CLEOPATRA	È il mio compleanno. Avevo pensato di celebrarlo poveramente, ma poiché il mio signore è Antonio di nuovo, io sarò Cleopatra.
ANTONIO	Andrà ancora bene.
CLEOPATRA	Chiamate tutti i suoi nobili capitani dal mio signore!
ANTONIO	Fatelo. Parleremo loro, e stanotte farò far capolino al vino attraverso le loro cicatrici. Vieni, mia regina, c’è ancora linfa. La prossima volta che combatterò farò che la morte mi ami, ché contenderò perfino con la sua falce pestilenziale.
(didascalia)	Escono tutti tranne Enobarbo
ENOBARBO	Ora sfiderà con lo sguardo il fulmine. Essere furiosi è essere spaventati fuori dalla paura, e in quell’umore la colomba beccherà lo struzzo; e vedo pur sempre che una diminuzione nel cervello del nostro capitano gli ristora il cuore. Quando il valore fa preda della ragione, divora la spada con cui combatte. Cercherò qualche modo di lasciarlo.
(didascalia)	Esce

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Caesar, reading a letter, with Agrippa, Maecenas, and his army
CAESAR	He calls me boy, and chides as he had power To beat me out of Egypt. My messenger He hath whipped with rods, dares me to personal combat, Caesar to Antony. Let the old ruffian know I have many other ways to die; meantime, Laugh at his challenge.
MAECENAS	Caesar must think, When one so great begins to rage, he’s hunted Even to falling. Give him no breath, but now Make boot of his distraction. Never anger Made good guard for itself.
CAESAR	Let our best heads Know that tomorrow the last of many battles We mean to fight. Within our files there are, Of those that served Mark Antony but late, Enough to fetch him in. See it done, And feast the army. We have store to do’t, And they have earned the waste. Poor Antony!
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entra Cesare, leggendo una lettera, con Agrippa, Mecenate e il suo esercito
CESARE	Mi chiama ragazzo, e mi rimprovera come se avesse il potere di cacciarmi a bastonate dall’Egitto. Il mio messaggero l’ha fatto frustare con le verghe, mi sfida a combattimento personale, Cesare contro Antonio. Sappia il vecchio ribaldo che ho molte altre vie per morire; intanto, rido della sua sfida.
MECENATE	Cesare deve pensare che quando uno così grande comincia a infuriare, è braccato fino alla caduta. Non gli lasciate respiro, ma ora fate bottino del suo smarrimento. Mai la collera fece buona guardia a se stessa.
CESARE	Sappiano le nostre teste migliori che domani intendiamo combattere l’ultima di molte battaglie. Nelle nostre file ci sono, di quelli che fino a poco fa servirono Marco Antonio, abbastanza per catturarlo. Vedete che sia fatto, e banchetti l’esercito. Ne abbiamo di che, e si sono guadagnati lo sperpero. Povero Antonio!
(didascalia)	Escono

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Antony, Cleopatra, Enobarbus, Charmian, Iras, Alexas, with others
ANTONY	He will not fight with me, Domitius?
ENOBARBUS	No.
ANTONY	Why should he not?
ENOBARBUS	He thinks, being twenty times of better fortune, He is twenty men to one.
ANTONY	Tomorrow, soldier, By sea and land I’ll fight. Or I will live Or bathe my dying honour in the blood Shall make it live again. Woot thou fight well?
ENOBARBUS	I’ll strike, and cry ‘Take all!’
ANTONY	Well said. Come on! Call forth my household servants. Let’s tonight Be bounteous at our meal.
(didascalia)	Enter Servitors
ANTONY	Give me thy hand. Thou hast been rightly honest; so hast thou, Thou, and thou, and thou; you have served me well, And kings have been your fellows.
CLEOPATRA	(to Enobarbus) What means this?
ENOBARBUS	(to Cleopatra) ’Tis one of those odd tricks which sorrow shoots Out of the mind.
ANTONY	(to a Servitor) And thou art honest too. I wish I could be made so many men, And all of you clapped up together in An Antony, that I might do you service So good as you have done.
SERVITORS	The gods forbid!
ANTONY	Well, my good fellows, wait on me tonight. Scant not my cups, and make as much of me As when mine empire was your fellow too, And suffered my command.
CLEOPATRA	(aside to Enobarbus) What does he mean?
ENOBARBUS	(aside to Cleopatra) To make his followers weep.
ANTONY	Tend me tonight. Maybe it is the period of your duty. Haply you shall not see me more; or if, A mangled shadow. Perchance tomorrow You’ll serve another master. I look on you As one that takes his leave. Mine honest friends, I turn you not away, but, like a master Married to your good service, stay till death. Tend me tonight two hours. I ask no more; And the gods yield you for’t!
ENOBARBUS	What mean you, sir, To give them this discomfort? Look, they weep, And I, an ass, am onion-eyed. For shame, Transform us not to women.
ANTONY	Ho, ho, ho, Now the witch take me if I meant it thus! Grace grow where those drops fall. My hearty friends, You take me in too dolorous a sense; For I spake to you for your comfort, did desire you To burn this night with torches. Know, my hearts, I hope well of tomorrow, and will lead you Where rather I’ll expect victorious life Than death and honour. Let’s to supper, come, And drown consideration.
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entrano Antonio, Cleopatra, Enobarbo, Carmiana, Iras, Alessa, con altri
ANTONIO	Non vuole combattere con me, Domizio?
ENOBARBO	No.
ANTONIO	E perché no?
ENOBARBO	Pensa che, essendo venti volte più fortunato, egli sia venti uomini contro uno.
ANTONIO	Domani, soldato, per mare e per terra combatterò. O vivrò, o bagnerò il mio morente onore in quel sangue che lo farà rivivere. Combatterai bene?
ENOBARBO	Colpirò, e griderò «Prendi tutto!»
ANTONIO	Ben detto. Andiamo! Chiamate i miei servitori di casa. Stanotte siamo generosi alla nostra mensa.
(didascalia)	Entrano i Servitori
ANTONIO	Dammi la tua mano. Sei stato davvero onesto; e anche tu, tu, e tu, e tu; mi avete servito bene, e dei re sono stati vostri compagni.
CLEOPATRA	(a Enobarbo) Che vuol dire questo?
ENOBARBO	(a Cleopatra) È uno di quegli strani scherzi che il dolore scaglia fuori dalla mente.
ANTONIO	(a un Servitore) E anche tu sei onesto. Vorrei poter essere fatto di tanti uomini, e tutti voi rinchiusi insieme in un Antonio, per potervi rendere servizio buono quanto quello che m’avete reso.
SERVITORI	Gli dèi non voglia!
ANTONIO	Bene, miei buoni amici, servitemi stanotte. Non lesinate le mie coppe, e fate di me altrettanto conto di quando anche il mio impero vi era compagno e obbediva al mio comando.
CLEOPATRA	(a parte a Enobarbo) Che intende dire?
ENOBARBO	(a parte a Cleopatra) Far piangere i suoi seguaci.
ANTONIO	Assistetemi stanotte. Forse è il termine del vostro servizio. Può darsi che non mi vediate più; o se mi vedrete, un’ombra mutilata. Forse domani servirete un altro padrone. Vi guardo come chi prende commiato. Miei onesti amici, non vi congedo, ma, come un padrone sposato al vostro buon servizio, resto fino alla morte. Assistetemi stanotte due ore. Non chiedo di più; e gli dèi ve ne ricompensino!
ENOBARBO	Che intendete, signore, col dar loro questo sconforto? Guardate, piangono, e io, asino, ho gli occhi di cipolla. Vergogna, non trasformateci in donne.
ANTONIO	Oh, oh, oh, che la strega mi prenda se l’intendevo così! Grazia cresca dove cadono quelle gocce. Miei cordiali amici, mi prendete in senso troppo doloroso; ché vi parlai per vostro conforto, volevo che bruciaste questa notte con le torce. Sappiate, cuori miei, che spero bene del domani, e vi condurrò dove attendo piuttosto vita vittoriosa che morte e onore. Andiamo a cena, venite, e anneghiamo ogni pensiero.
(didascalia)	Escono

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter
(didascalia)	a company of Soldiers
FIRST SOLDIER	Brother, good night. Tomorrow is the day.
SECOND SOLDIER	It will determine one way. Fare you well. Heard you of nothing strange about the streets?
FIRST SOLDIER	Nothing. What news?
SECOND SOLDIER	Belike ’tis but a rumour. Good night to you.
FIRST SOLDIER	Well, sir, good night.
(didascalia)	Enter other Soldiers, meeting them
SECOND SOLDIER	Soldiers, have careful watch.
THIRD SOLDIER	And you. Good night, good night. They place themselves in every corner of the stage
SECOND SOLDIER	Here we; an if tomorrow Our navy thrive, I have an absolute hope Our landmen will stand up.
FIRST SOLDIER	’Tis a brave army, And full of purpose.
(didascalia)	Music of the hautboys is under the stage
SECOND SOLDIER	Peace, what noise?
FIRST SOLDIER	List, list!
SECOND SOLDIER	Hark!
FIRST SOLDIER	Music i’th’ air.
THIRD SOLDIER	Under the earth.
FOURTH SOLDIER	It signs well, does it not?
THIRD SOLDIER	No.
FIRST SOLDIER	Peace, I say! What should this mean?
SECOND SOLDIER	’Tis the god Hercules, whom Antony loved, Now leaves him.
FIRST SOLDIER	Walk. Let’s see if other watchmen Do hear what we do.
SECOND SOLDIER	How now, masters?
ALL	(speaking together) How now? How now? Do you hear this?
FIRST SOLDIER	Ay. Is’t not strange?
THIRD SOLDIER	Do you hear, masters? Do you hear?
FIRST SOLDIER	Follow the noise so far as we have quarter. Let’s see how it will give off.
ALL	Content. ’Tis strange.
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entra
(didascalia)	una compagnia di Soldati
PRIMO SOLDATO	Fratello, buona notte. Domani è il giorno.
SECONDO SOLDATO	Deciderà in un senso o nell’altro. State bene. Non avete udito nulla di strano per le strade?
PRIMO SOLDATO	Nulla. Che notizie?
SECONDO SOLDATO	Sarà forse solo una voce. Buona notte a voi.
PRIMO SOLDATO	Bene, signore, buona notte.
(didascalia)	Entrano altri Soldati, incontrandoli
SECONDO SOLDATO	Soldati, fate attenta guardia.
TERZO SOLDATO	E voi. Buona notte, buona notte. Si dispongono in ogni angolo della scena
SECONDO SOLDATO	Noi qui; e se domani la nostra flotta prospera, ho assoluta speranza che i nostri uomini di terra terranno saldo.
PRIMO SOLDATO	È un bravo esercito, e pieno di risolutezza.
(didascalia)	Musica di oboi sotto la scena
SECONDO SOLDATO	Silenzio, che rumore?
PRIMO SOLDATO	Ascolta, ascolta!
SECONDO SOLDATO	Udite!
PRIMO SOLDATO	Musica nell’aria.
TERZO SOLDATO	Sotto la terra.
QUARTO SOLDATO	Segna bene, non è vero?
TERZO SOLDATO	No.
PRIMO SOLDATO	Silenzio, dico! Che vorrà dire questo?
SECONDO SOLDATO	È il dio Ercole, che Antonio amava, che ora lo lascia.
PRIMO SOLDATO	Camminiamo. Vediamo se altre sentinelle odono quel che udiamo noi.
SECONDO SOLDATO	Ebbene, compagni?
TUTTI	(parlando insieme) Ebbene? Ebbene? Udite questo?
PRIMO SOLDATO	Sì. Non è strano?
TERZO SOLDATO	Udite, compagni? Udite?
PRIMO SOLDATO	Seguiamo il suono fin dove arriva il nostro posto. Vediamo come si spegnerà.
TUTTI	D’accordo. È strano.
(didascalia)	Escono

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Antony and Cleopatra, with Charmian and others
ANTONY	(calling) Eros, mine armour, Eros!
CLEOPATRA	Sleep a little.
ANTONY	No, my chuck. Eros, come, mine armour, Eros!
(didascalia)	Enter Eros with armour
ANTONY	Come, good fellow, put thine iron on. If fortune be not ours today, it is Because we brave her. Come.
CLEOPATRA	Nay, I’ll help, too. What’s this for?
ANTONY	Ah, let be, let be! Thou art The armourer of my heart. False, false! This, this!
CLEOPATRA	Sooth, la, I’ll help. Thus it must be. She helps Antony to arm
ANTONY	Well, well, We shall thrive now. Seest thou, my good fellow? Go put on thy defences.
EROS	Briefly, sir.
CLEOPATRA	Is not this buckled well?
ANTONY	Rarely, rarely. He that unbuckles this, till we do please To doff’t for our repose, shall hear a storm. Thou fumblest, Eros, and my queen’s a squire More tight at this than thou. Dispatch. O love, That thou couldst see my wars today, and knew’st The royal occupation! Thou shouldst see A workman in’t.
(didascalia)	Enter an armed Soldier
ANTONY	Good morrow to thee. Welcome. Thou look’st like him that knows a warlike charge. To business that we love we rise betime, And go to’t with delight.
SOLDIER	A thousand, sir, Early though’t be, have on their riveted trim, And at the port expect you.
(didascalia)	Shout within. Trumpets flourish. Enter Captains and Soldiers
CAPTAIN	The morn is fair. Good morrow, General.
SOLDIERS	Good morrow, General.
ANTONY	’Tis well blown, lads. This morning, like the spirit of a youth That means to be of note, begins betimes. So, so. Come, give me that. This way. Well said. Fare thee well, dame. Whate’er becomes of me, This is a soldier’s kiss. He kisses Cleopatra Rebukable And worthy shameful check it were to stand On more mechanic compliment. I’ll leave thee Now like a man of steel. You that will fight, Follow me close. I’ll bring you to’t. Adieu.
(didascalia)	Exeunt all but Cleopatra and Charmian
CHARMIAN	Please you retire to your chamber?
CLEOPATRA	Lead me. He goes forth gallantly. That he and Caesar might Determine this great war in single fight! Then, Antony—but now! Well, on.
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entrano Antonio e Cleopatra, con Carmiana e altri
ANTONIO	(chiamando) Eros, la mia armatura, Eros!
CLEOPATRA	Dormi un poco.
ANTONIO	No, pulcina mia. Eros, vieni, la mia armatura, Eros!
(didascalia)	Entra Eros con l’armatura
ANTONIO	Vieni, buon amico, mettimi addosso il tuo ferro. Se oggi la fortuna non è nostra, è perché la sfidiamo. Vieni.
CLEOPATRA	No, aiuterò anch’io. A che serve questo?
ANTONIO	Ah, lascia stare, lascia stare! Tu sei l’armaiola del mio cuore. Sbagliato, sbagliato! Questo, questo!
CLEOPATRA	Davvero, su, aiuterò. Così dev’essere. Aiuta Antonio ad armarsi
ANTONIO	Bene, bene, ora prospereremo. Vedi, mio buon amico? Va’ a indossare le tue difese.
EROS	Subito, signore.
CLEOPATRA	Non è affibbiato bene questo?
ANTONIO	Egregiamente, egregiamente. Chi slaccerà questo, prima che ci piaccia toglierlo per il nostro riposo, udirà una tempesta. Tu armeggi, Eros, e la mia regina è uno scudiero più pronto di te a questo. Spicciati. O amore, potessi tu vedere le mie guerre oggi, e conoscessi l’occupazione regale! Vedresti in essa un maestro d’arte.
(didascalia)	Entra un Soldato armato
ANTONIO	Buon giorno a te. Benvenuto. Hai l’aria di chi conosce un incarico di guerra. Per l’impresa che amiamo ci alziamo per tempo, e vi andiamo con diletto.
SOLDATO	Un migliaio, signore, per quanto sia presto, hanno indosso il loro assetto ribadito, e alla porta vi attendono.
(didascalia)	Grida all’interno. Squilli di trombe. Entrano Capitani e Soldati
CAPITANO	Il mattino è bello. Buon giorno, Generale.
SOLDATI	Buon giorno, Generale.
ANTONIO	Si suona bene, ragazzi. Questo mattino, come lo spirito d’un giovane che vuol farsi notare, comincia per tempo. Così, così. Vieni, dammi quello. Di qua. Ben detto. Sta’ bene, signora. Qualunque cosa avvenga di me, questo è un bacio da soldato. Bacia Cleopatra Riprovevole e degno di vergognoso rimprovero sarebbe indugiare in complimenti più minuziosi. Ti lascio ora come un uomo d’acciaio. Voi che volete combattere, seguitemi da presso. Vi ci condurrò. Addio.
(didascalia)	Escono tutti tranne Cleopatra e Carmiana
CARMIANA	Vi piace ritirarvi nella vostra camera?
CLEOPATRA	Conducimi. Va avanti gagliardamente. Potessero lui e Cesare decidere questa gran guerra in singolar tenzone! Allora, Antonio—ma ora! Bene, andiamo.
(didascalia)	Escono

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Trumpets sound. Enter Antony and Eros, meeting a Soldier
SOLDIER	The gods make this a happy day to Antony!
ANTONY	Would thou and those thy scars had once prevailed To make me fight at land!
SOLDIER	Hadst thou done so, The kings that have revolted, and the soldier That has this morning left thee, would have still Followed thy heels.
ANTONY	Who’s gone this morning?
SOLDIER	Who? One ever near thee. Call for Enobarbus, He shall not hear thee, or from Caesar’s camp Say ‘I am none of thine’.
ANTONY	What sayest thou?
SOLDIER	Sir, he is with Caesar.
EROS	(to Antony) Sir, his chests and treasure He has not with him.
ANTONY	Is he gone?
SOLDIER	Most certain.
ANTONY	Go, Eros, send his treasure after. Do it. Detain no jot, I charge thee. Write to him— I will subscribe—gentle adieus and greetings. Say that I wish he never find more cause 15 To change a master. O, my fortunes have Corrupted honest men! Dispatch. Enobarbus!
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Suonano le trombe. Entrano Antonio ed Eros, incontrando un Soldato
SOLDATO	Gli dèi facciano di questo un giorno felice per Antonio!
ANTONIO	Avessero tu e quelle tue cicatrici una volta prevalso a farmi combattere per terra!
SOLDATO	L’avessi fatto, i re che si sono ribellati, e il soldato che stamane ti ha lasciato, seguirebbero ancora i tuoi passi.
ANTONIO	Chi se n’è andato stamane?
SOLDATO	Chi? Uno sempre vicino a te. Chiama Enobarbo, non ti udirà, o dal campo di Cesare dirà «Non sono dei tuoi».
ANTONIO	Che dici?
SOLDATO	Signore, è con Cesare.
EROS	(ad Antonio) Signore, le sue casse e il suo tesoro non li ha con sé.
ANTONIO	È andato via?
SOLDATO	Certissimo.
ANTONIO	Va’, Eros, mandagli dietro il suo tesoro. Fallo. Non trattenerne un briciolo, te l’ordino. Scrivigli— io firmerò—gentili addii e saluti. Digli che gli auguro di non trovare mai più motivo 15 di cambiare padrone. Oh, le mie fortune hanno corrotto uomini onesti! Spicciati. Enobarbo!
(didascalia)	Escono

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Flourish. Enter Agrippa, Caesar, witih Enobarbus and Dolabella
CAESAR	Go forth, Agrippa, and begin the fight. Our will is Antony be took alive. Make it so known.
AGRIPPA	Caesar, I shall.
(didascalia)	Exit
CAESAR	The time of universal peace is near. Prove this a prosp’rous day, the three-nooked world Shall bear the olive freely.
(didascalia)	Enter a Messenger
MESSENGER	Antony Is come into the field.
CAESAR	Go charge Agrippa Plant those that have revolted in the van, That Antony may seem to spend his fury Upon himself. 10
(didascalia)	Exeunt Messenger at one door, Caesar and Dolabella at another
ENOBARBUS	Alexas did revolt, and went to Jewry on Affairs of Antony; there did dissuade Great Herod to incline himself to Caesar And leave his master, Antony. For this pains, Caesar hath hanged him. Camidius and the rest 15 That fell away have entertainment but No honourable trust. I have done ill, Of which I do accuse myself so sorely That I will joy no more.
(didascalia)	Enter a Soldier of Caesar’s
SOLDIER	Enobarbus, Antony Hath after thee sent all thy treasure, with His bounty overplus. The messenger Came on my guard, and at thy tent is now Unloading of his mules.
ENOBARBUS	I give it you.
SOLDIER	Mock not, Enobarbus, I tell you true. Best you safed the bringer Out of the host. I must attend mine office, Or would have done’t myself. Your Emperor Continues still a Jove.
(didascalia)	Exit
ENOBARBUS	I am alone the villain of the earth, And feel I am so most. O Antony, Thou mine of bounty, how wouldst thou have paid My better service, when my turpitude Thou dost so crown with gold! This blows my heart. If swift thought break it not, a swifter mean Shall outstrike thought; but thought will do‘t, I feel. I fight against thee? No, I will go seek Some ditch wherein to die. The foul’st best fits My latter part of life.
(didascalia)	Exit

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Squilli di trombe. Entrano Agrippa, Cesare, con Enobarbo e Dolabella
CESARE	Va’ avanti, Agrippa, e comincia la battaglia. La nostra volontà è che Antonio sia preso vivo. Fallo sapere.
AGRIPPA	Cesare, lo farò.
(didascalia)	Esce
CESARE	Il tempo della pace universale è vicino. Se questo si dimostra un giorno propizio, il mondo dai tre angoli porterà l’ulivo liberamente.
(didascalia)	Entra un Messaggero
MESSAGGERO	Antonio è sceso in campo.
CESARE	Va’ a ordinare ad Agrippa di collocare in prima fila quelli che si sono ribellati, così che Antonio sembri sfogare il suo furore su se stesso. 10
(didascalia)	Escono il Messaggero da una porta, Cesare e Dolabella da un’altra
ENOBARBO	Alessa disertò, e andò in Giudea per affari d’Antonio; là dissuase il grande Erode dall’inclinare verso Cesare e lasciare il suo padrone, Antonio. Per questa fatica Cesare l’ha impiccato. Camidio e gli altri 15 che sono passati dall’altra parte hanno accoglienza ma nessun onorevole incarico. Ho agito male, e di ciò mi accuso così duramente che non gioirò mai più.
(didascalia)	Entra un Soldato di Cesare
SOLDATO	Enobarbo, Antonio ti ha mandato dietro tutto il tuo tesoro, con il di più della sua generosità. Il messaggero è giunto sotto la mia guardia, e alla tua tenda ora sta scaricando i suoi muli.
ENOBARBO	Lo dono a voi.
SOLDATO	Non scherzare, Enobarbo, ti dico il vero. Faresti bene a scortare il latore fuori dall’accampamento. Devo attendere al mio incarico, o l’avrei fatto io stesso. Il vostro Imperatore continua a essere un Giove.
(didascalia)	Esce
ENOBARBO	Io solo sono il scellerato della terra, e più d’ogni altro lo sento. O Antonio, tu miniera di generosità, come avresti pagato il mio miglior servizio, se la mia turpitudine tu così incoroni d’oro! Questo mi gonfia il cuore. Se un rapido pensiero non lo spezza, un mezzo più rapido anticiperà il pensiero; ma il pensiero lo farà, lo sento. Io combattere contro di te? No, andrò a cercare qualche fossa in cui morire. La più sozza si addice meglio all’ultima parte della mia vita.
(didascalia)	Esce

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Alarum. Enter Agrippa with drummers and trumpeters
AGRIPPA	Retire! We have engaged our selves too far. Caesar himself has work, and our oppression Exceeds what we expected.
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Allarme. Entra Agrippa con tamburini e trombettieri
AGRIPPA	Ritirata! Ci siamo spinti troppo avanti. Cesare stesso ha da fare, e la pressione su di noi supera quel che ci aspettavamo.
(didascalia)	Escono

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Alarums. Enter Antony, and Scarus wounded
SCARUS	O my brave Emperor, this is fought indeed! Had we done so at first, we had droven them home With clouts about their heads.
ANTONY	Thou bleed’st apace.
SCARUS	I had a wound here that was like a T, But now ’tis made an H.
(didascalia)	Retreat sounded far off
ANTONY	They do retire.
SCARUS	We’ll beat ’em into bench-holes. I have yet Room for six scotches more.
(didascalia)	Enter Eros
EROS	They are beaten, sir, and our advantage serves For a fair victory.
SCARUS	Let us score their backs And snatch ‘em up as we take hares, behind. ’Tis sport to maul a runner.
ANTONY	(to Eros) I will reward thee Once for thy sprightly comfort, and tenfold For thy good valour. Come thee on.
SCARUS	I’ll halt after.
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Allarmi. Entrano Antonio, e Scaro ferito
SCARO	O mio prode Imperatore, questo sì che è combattere! Se avessimo fatto così da principio, li avremmo ricacciati a casa con le bende alla testa.
ANTONIO	Sanguini in abbondanza.
SCARO	Avevo qui una ferita a forma di T, ma ora è diventata una H.
(didascalia)	Ritirata suonata in lontananza
ANTONIO	Si ritirano.
SCARO	Li cacceremo dentro le latrine. Ho ancora spazio per altri sei tagli.
(didascalia)	Entra Eros
EROS	Sono battuti, signore, e il nostro vantaggio basta per una bella vittoria.
SCARO	Segniamo loro le schiene e acchiappiamoli da dietro come si prendono le lepri. È uno spasso malmenare chi scappa.
ANTONIO	(a Eros) Ti ricompenserò una volta per il tuo vivace conforto, e dieci volte per il tuo buon valore. Vieni avanti.
SCARO	Verrò zoppicando dietro.
(didascalia)	Escono

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Alarum. Enter Antony again in a march; drummers and trumpeters; Scarus, with others
ANTONY	We have beat him to his camp. Run one before, And let the Queen know of our gests.
(didascalia)	Exit a soldier
ANTONY	Tomorrow, Before the sun shall see’s, we’ll spill the blood That has today escaped. I thank you all, For doughty-handed are you, and have fought Not as you served the cause, but as’t had been Each man’s like mine. You have shown all Hectors.
(didascalia)	Enter the city, clip your wives, your friends,
ANTONY	Tell them your feats whilst they with joyful tears Wash the congealment from your wounds, and kiss The honoured gashes whole.
(didascalia)	Enter Cleopatra
ANTONY	(To Scarus) Give me thy hand. To this great fairy I’ll commend thy acts, Make her thanks bless thee. (To Cleopatra, embracing her) O’thou day o’th’ world, Chain mine armed neck; leap thou, attire and all, Through proof of harness to my heart, and there Ride on the pants triumphing.
CLEOPATRA	Lord of lords! O infinite virtue, com’st thou smiling from The world’s great snare uncaught?
ANTONY	My nightingale, We have beat them to their beds. What, girl, though grey Do something mingle with our younger brown, yet ha’ we A brain that nourishes our nerves, and can Get goal for goal of youth. Behold this man. Commend unto his lips thy favouring hand; Kiss it, my warrior. Scarus kisses Cleopatra’s hand He hath fought today As if a god, in hate of mankind, had Destroyed in such a shape.
CLEOPATRA	I’ll give thee, friend, An armour all of gold. It was a king’s.
ANTONY	He has deserved it, were it carbuncled Like holy Phoebus’ car. Give me thy hand. Through Alexandria make a jolly march. Bear our hacked targets like the men that owe them. Had our great palace the capacity To camp this host, we all would sup together And drink carouses to the next day’s fate, Which promises royal peril. Trumpeters, With brazen din blast you the city’s ear; Make mingle with our rattling taborins, That heaven and earth may strike their sounds together, Applauding our approach.
(didascalia)	Trumpets sound. Exeunt

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Allarme. Entra di nuovo Antonio in marcia; tamburini e trombettieri; Scaro, con altri
ANTONIO	L’abbiamo ricacciato nel suo campo. Corra qualcuno avanti, e faccia sapere alla Regina le nostre imprese.
(didascalia)	Esce un soldato
ANTONIO	Domani, prima che il sole ci veda, verseremo il sangue che oggi è scampato. Vi ringrazio tutti, ché avete mano gagliarda, e avete combattuto non come chi serve la causa, ma come se essa fosse per ciascuno la propria, come per me. Vi siete mostrati tutti Ettori.
(didascalia)	Entrate nella città, stringete le vostre mogli, i vostri amici,
ANTONIO	narrate loro le vostre gesta, mentre esse con lacrime di gioia lavano il grumo dalle vostre ferite, e baciano sanandoli quegli onorati squarci.
(didascalia)	Entra Cleopatra
ANTONIO	(A Scaro) Dammi la tua mano. A questa gran fata raccomanderò le tue imprese, farò che i suoi ringraziamenti ti benedicano. (A Cleopatra, abbracciandola) O tu, giorno del mondo, incatena il mio collo armato; balza tu, con vesti e tutto, attraverso la corazza a prova, fino al mio cuore, e là cavalca trionfando sui suoi palpiti.
CLEOPATRA	Signore dei signori! O infinito valore, torni sorridendo dal gran laccio del mondo senza esservi preso?
ANTONIO	Mio usignolo, li abbiamo ricacciati nei loro letti. Come, ragazza, benché il grigio si mescoli un poco al nostro bruno più giovane, pure abbiamo un cervello che nutre i nostri nervi, e sa segnare punto su punto contro la giovinezza. Guarda quest’uomo. Affida alle sue labbra la tua mano benevola; bacia la, mio guerriero. Scaro bacia la mano di Cleopatra Egli ha combattuto oggi come se un dio, in odio al genere umano, avesse distrutto sotto tale forma.
CLEOPATRA	Ti darò, amico, un’armatura tutta d’oro. Era d’un re.
ANTONIO	L’ha meritata, fosse pure ingemmata di carbonchi come il carro del sacro Febo. Dammi la tua mano. Per Alessandria facciamo una marcia allegra. Portiamo i nostri scudi intaccati come gli uomini cui appartengono. Se il nostro gran palazzo avesse la capienza di accampare quest’esercito, ceneremmo tutti insieme e berremmo brindisi alla sorte del giorno che viene, che promette regale pericolo. Trombettieri, con bronzeo fragore fate scoppiare l’orecchio della città; mescolatevi ai nostri tamburelli crepitanti, perché cielo e terra facciano insieme risuonare i loro suoni, applaudendo il nostro arrivo.
(didascalia)	Suonano le trombe. Escono

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter a Sentry and his company; Enobarbus follows
SENTRY	If we be not relieved within this hour We must return to th’ court of guard. The night Is shiny, and they say we shall embattle By th’ second hour i’th’ morn.
FIRST WATCH	This last day was A shrewd one to’s.
ENOBARBUS	O bear me witness, night—
SECOND WATCH	What man is this?
FIRST WATCH	Stand close, and list him.
ENOBARBUS	Be witness to me, O thou blessed moon, When men revolted shall upon record Bear hateful memory, poor Enobarbus did Before thy face repent.
SENTRY	Enobarbus?
SECOND WATCH	Peace; hark further.
ENOBARBUS	O sovereign mistress of true melancholy, The poisonous damp of night disponge upon me, That life, a very rebel to my will, May hang no longer on me. Throw my heart Against the flint and hardness of my fault, Which, being dried with grief, will break to powder, And finish all foul thoughts. O Antony, Nobler than my revolt is infamous, Forgive me in thine own particular, But let the world rank me in register A master-leaver and a fugitive. O Antony! O Antony! He dies
FIRST WATCH	Let’s speak to him.
SENTRY	Let’s hear him, for the things he speaks May concern Caesar.
SECOND WATCH	Let’s do so. But he sleeps.
SENTRY	Swoons, rather; for so bad a prayer as his Was never yet for sleep.
FIRST WATCH	Go we to him.
SECOND WATCH	Awake, sir, awake; speak to us.
FIRST WATCH	Hear you, sir?
SENTRY	The hand of death hath raught him.
(didascalia)	Drums afar off
SENTRY	Hark, the drums Demurely wake the sleepers. Let us bear him To th’ court of guard; he is of note. Our hour Is fully out.
SECOND WATCH	Come on, then. He may recover yet.
(didascalia)	Exeunt with the body

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entrano una Sentinella e la sua squadra; Enobarbo segue
SENTINELLA	Se non siamo dati il cambio entro quest’ora dovremo tornare al corpo di guardia. La notte è lucente, e dicono che ci schiereremo alla seconda ora del mattino.
PRIMA GUARDIA	Quest’ultimo giorno è stato duro per noi.
ENOBARBO	Oh, siimi testimone, notte—
SECONDA GUARDIA	Chi è quest’uomo?
PRIMA GUARDIA	State vicini, e ascoltatelo.
ENOBARBO	Siimi testimone, o tu benedetta luna, quando gli uomini ribelli negli annali porteranno odiosa memoria, il povero Enobarbo si pentì davanti al tuo volto.
SENTINELLA	Enobarbo?
SECONDA GUARDIA	Silenzio; ascoltiamo ancora.
ENOBARBO	O sovrana signora della vera malinconia, l’umido velenoso della notte si spanda su di me, affinché la vita, vera ribelle alla mia volontà, non penda più su di me. Getta il mio cuore contro la selce e la durezza della mia colpa, che, essiccato dal dolore, si sbriciolerà in polvere e porrà fine a ogni sozzo pensiero. O Antonio, più nobile di quanto la mia diserzione sia infame, perdonami tu, in particolare, ma il mondo mi iscriva nel registro come traditore del padrone e fuggiasco. O Antonio! O Antonio! Muore
PRIMA GUARDIA	Parliamogli.
SENTINELLA	Ascoltiamolo, ché le cose che dice possono riguardare Cesare.
SECONDA GUARDIA	Facciamo così. Ma dorme.
SENTINELLA	Sviene, piuttosto; ché una preghiera così cattiva come la sua non fu mai fatta per il sonno.
PRIMA GUARDIA	Andiamo da lui.
SECONDA GUARDIA	Svegliatevi, signore, svegliatevi; parlateci.
PRIMA GUARDIA	Ci udite, signore?
SENTINELLA	La mano della morte l’ha ghermito.
(didascalia)	Tamburi in lontananza
SENTINELLA	Udite, i tamburi svegliano sommessamente i dormienti. Portiamolo al corpo di guardia; è uomo di rilievo. La nostra ora è del tutto compiuta.
SECONDA GUARDIA	Andiamo, allora. Potrebbe ancora riprendersi.
(didascalia)	Escono col corpo

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Antony and Scarus with their army
ANTONY	Their preparation is today by sea; We please them not by land.
SCARUS	For both, my lord.
ANTONY	I would they’d fight i‘th’ fire or i’th’ air; We’d fight there too. But this it is: our foot Upon the hills adjoining to the city Shall stay with us. Order for sea is given. They have put forth the haven— Where their appointment we may best discover, And look on their endeavour.
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entrano Antonio e Scaro col loro esercito
ANTONIO	Il loro apprestamento oggi è per mare; non li accontentiamo per terra.
SCARO	Per entrambi, mio signore.
ANTONIO	Vorrei che combattessero nel fuoco o nell’aria; combatteremmo anche là. Ma è così: la nostra fanteria sui colli adiacenti alla città resterà con noi. L’ordine per il mare è dato. Sono usciti dal porto— dove potremo meglio scoprire il loro schieramento e osservare i loro sforzi.
(didascalia)	Escono

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Caesar and his army
CAESAR	But being charged, we will be still by land— Which, as I take’t, we shall, for his best force Is forth to man his galleys. To the vales, And hold our best advantage.
(didascalia)	Exeunt
(didascalia)	4.13 Alarum afar off, as at a sea fight. Enter Antony and Scarus
ANTONY	Yet they are not joined. Where yon pine does stand I shall discover all. I’ll bring thee word Straight how ’tis like to go.
(didascalia)	Exit
SCARUS	Swallows have built In Cleopatra’s sails their nests. The augurs Say they know not, they cannot tell, look grimly, And dare not speak their knowledge. Antony Is valiant, and dejected, and by starts His fretted fortunes give him hope and fear Of what he has and has not.
(didascalia)	Enter Antony
ANTONY	All is lost. This foul Egyptian hath betrayed me. My fleet hath yielded to the foe, and yonder They cast their caps up, and carouse together Like friends long lost. Triple-turned whore! ’Tis thou Hast sold me to this novice, and my heart Makes only wars on thee. Bid them all fly; For when I am revenged upon my charm, I have done all. Bid them all fly. Be gone.
(didascalia)	Exit Scarus
ANTONY	O sun, thy uprise shall I see no more. Fortune and Antony part here; even here Do we shake hands. All come to this? The hearts That spanieled me at heels, to whom I gave Their wishes, do discandy, melt their sweets On blossoming Caesar; and this pine is barked That overtopped them all. Betrayed I am. O this false soul of Egypt! This grave charm, Whose eye becked forth my wars and called them home, Whose bosom was my crownet, my chief end, Like a right gipsy hath at fast and loose Beguiled me to the very heart of loss. What, Eros, Eros!
(didascalia)	Enter Cleopatra
ANTONY	Ah, thou spell! Avaunt.
CLEOPATRA	Why is my lord enraged against his love?
ANTONY	Vanish, or I shall give thee thy deserving And blemish Caesar’s triumph. Let him take thee And hoist thee up to the shouting plebeians; Follow his chariot, like the greatest spot Of all thy sex; most monster-like be shown For poor’st diminutives, for dolts, and let Patient Octavia plough thy visage up With her prepared nails.
(didascalia)	Exit Cleopatra
ANTONY	’Tis well thou’rt gone, If it be well to live. But better ’twere Thou fell’st into my fury, for one death Might have prevented many. Eros, ho! The shirt of Nessus is upon me. Teach me, Alcides, thou mine ancestor, thy rage. Let me lodge Lichas on the horns o’th’ moon, And with those hands that grasped the heaviest club Subdue my worthiest self. The witch shall die. To the young Roman boy she hath sold me, and I fall Under this plot. She dies for’t. Eros, ho!
(didascalia)	Exit

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entrano Cesare e il suo esercito
CESARE	Se non siamo attaccati, resteremo fermi per terra— e così sarà, a quanto credo, ché la sua forza migliore è uscita a guarnire le galere. Alle valli, e teniamo il nostro miglior vantaggio.
(didascalia)	Escono

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Alarum afar off, as at a sea fight. Enter Antony and Scarus
ANTONY	Yet they are not joined. Where yon pine does stand I shall discover all. I’ll bring thee word Straight how ’tis like to go.
(didascalia)	Exit
SCARUS	Swallows have built In Cleopatra’s sails their nests. The augurs Say they know not, they cannot tell, look grimly, And dare not speak their knowledge. Antony Is valiant, and dejected, and by starts His fretted fortunes give him hope and fear Of what he has and has not.
(didascalia)	Enter Antony
ANTONY	All is lost. This foul Egyptian hath betrayed me. My fleet hath yielded to the foe, and yonder They cast their caps up, and carouse together Like friends long lost. Triple-turned whore! ’Tis thou Hast sold me to this novice, and my heart Makes only wars on thee. Bid them all fly; For when I am revenged upon my charm, I have done all. Bid them all fly. Be gone.
(didascalia)	Exit Scarus
ANTONY	O sun, thy uprise shall I see no more. Fortune and Antony part here; even here Do we shake hands. All come to this? The hearts That spanieled me at heels, to whom I gave Their wishes, do discandy, melt their sweets On blossoming Caesar; and this pine is barked That overtopped them all. Betrayed I am. O this false soul of Egypt! This grave charm, Whose eye becked forth my wars and called them home, Whose bosom was my crownet, my chief end, Like a right gipsy hath at fast and loose Beguiled me to the very heart of loss. What, Eros, Eros!
(didascalia)	Enter Cleopatra
ANTONY	Ah, thou spell! Avaunt.
CLEOPATRA	Why is my lord enraged against his love?
ANTONY	Vanish, or I shall give thee thy deserving And blemish Caesar’s triumph. Let him take thee And hoist thee up to the shouting plebeians; Follow his chariot, like the greatest spot Of all thy sex; most monster-like be shown For poor’st diminutives, for dolts, and let Patient Octavia plough thy visage up With her prepared nails.
(didascalia)	Exit Cleopatra
ANTONY	’Tis well thou’rt gone, If it be well to live. But better ’twere Thou fell’st into my fury, for one death Might have prevented many. Eros, ho! The shirt of Nessus is upon me. Teach me, Alcides, thou mine ancestor, thy rage. Let me lodge Lichas on the horns o’th’ moon, And with those hands that grasped the heaviest club Subdue my worthiest self. The witch shall die. To the young Roman boy she hath sold me, and I fall Under this plot. She dies for’t. Eros, ho!
(didascalia)	Exit

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Allarme in lontananza, come di battaglia navale. Entrano Antonio e Scaro
ANTONIO	Non si sono ancora affrontati. Là dove sta quel pino scoprirò tutto. Ti porterò notizia subito di come pare che vada.
(didascalia)	Esce
SCARO	Le rondini hanno fatto i loro nidi nelle vele di Cleopatra. Gli auguri dicono di non sapere, non sanno dire, guardano cupi, e non osano parlare di ciò che sanno. Antonio è valoroso, e abbattuto, e a scatti le sue fortune logore gli danno speranza e paura di ciò che ha e non ha.
(didascalia)	Entra Antonio
ANTONIO	Tutto è perduto. Questa sozza Egiziana mi ha tradito. La mia flotta si è arresa al nemico, e laggiù gettano in aria i berretti e brindano insieme come amici perduti da tempo. Sgualdrina tre volte voltafaccia! Sei tu che mi hai venduto a questo novizio, e il mio cuore fa guerra soltanto a te. Di’ loro di fuggire tutti; ché quando mi sarò vendicato del mio incanto, avrò fatto tutto. Di’ loro di fuggire tutti. Vattene.
(didascalia)	Esce Scaro
ANTONIO	O sole, il tuo sorgere non lo vedrò più. Qui la Fortuna e Antonio si separano; proprio qui ci stringiamo la mano. Tutto arriva a questo? I cuori che mi scodinzolavano ai calcagni, ai quali concessi i loro desideri, si struggono e versano le loro dolcezze su Cesare in fiore; e questo pino è scortecciato, lui che li sovrastava tutti. Sono tradito. Oh, quest’anima falsa d’Egitto! Questo funesto incanto, il cui occhio chiamava fuori le mie guerre e le richiamava a casa, il cui seno era il mio diadema, il mio fine supremo, come una vera zingara con un gioco di prestigio mi ha ingannato fino al cuore stesso della perdizione. Ehi, Eros, Eros!
(didascalia)	Entra Cleopatra
ANTONIO	Ah, tu incantesimo! Via di qua.
CLEOPATRA	Perché il mio signore è furente contro il suo amore?
ANTONIO	Sparisci, o ti darò ciò che meriti e macchierò il trionfo di Cesare. Che ti prenda e ti innalzi davanti alla plebe urlante; segui il suo carro, come la più grande macchia di tutto il tuo sesso; da vero mostro sii mostrata ai più miseri gnomi, agli sciocchi, e lascia che la paziente Ottavia ti ari il viso con le sue unghie preparate.
(didascalia)	Esce Cleopatra
ANTONIO	È bene che tu sia andata, se è bene vivere. Ma meglio sarebbe che tu cadessi sotto la mia furia, ché una sola morte avrebbe potuto prevenirne molte. Eros, ehi! La camicia di Nesso è su di me. Insegnami, Alcide, tu mio antenato, la tua rabbia. Lascia ch’io scagli Lica sulle corna della luna, e con quelle mani che strinsero la clava più pesante soggioghi il mio io più degno. La strega morirà. Al giovane ragazzo romano mi ha venduto, e io cado sotto questa trama. Ne morrà. Eros, ehi!
(didascalia)	Esce

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Cleopatra, Charmian, Iras, Mardian
CLEOPATRA	Help me, my women! O, he’s more mad Than Telamon for his shield; the boar of Thessaly Was never so embossed.
CHARMIAN	To th’ monument! There lock yourself, and send him word you are dead. The soul and body rive not more in parting Than greatness going off.
CLEOPATRA	To th’ monument! Mardian, go tell him I have slain myself. Say that the last I spoke was ‘Antony’, And word it, prithee, piteously. Hence, Mardian, And bring me how he takes my death. To th’ monument!
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entrano Cleopatra, Carmiana, Iras, Mardiano
CLEOPATRA	Aiutatemi, donne mie! Oh, è più folle di Telamone per il suo scudo; il cinghiale di Tessaglia non fu mai così schiumante.
CARMIANA	Al monumento! Là rinchiudetevi, e mandategli a dire che siete morta. L’anima e il corpo non si lacerano più nel separarsi di quanto faccia la grandezza nell’andarsene.
CLEOPATRA	Al monumento! Mardiano, va’ a dirgli che mi sono uccisa. Di’ che l’ultima parola che dissi fu «Antonio», e dilla, ti prego, in modo che faccia pietà. Va’, Mardiano, e riportami come prende la mia morte. Al monumento!
(didascalia)	Escono

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Antony and Eros
ANTONY	Eros, thou yet behold’st me?
EROS	Ay, noble lord.
ANTONY	Sometime we see a cloud that’s dragonish, A vapour sometime like a bear or lion, A towered citadel, a pendent rock, A forked mountain, or blue promontory With trees upon’t that nod unto the world And mock our eyes with air. Thou hast seen these signs; They are black vesper’s pageants.
EROS	Ay, my lord.
ANTONY	That which is now a horse even with a thought The rack distains, and makes it indistinct As water is in water.
EROS	It does, my lord.
ANTONY	My good knave Eros, now thy captain is Even such a body. Here I am Antony, Yet cannot hold this visible shape, my knave. I made these wars for Egypt, and the Queen— Whose heart I thought I had, for she had mine, Which whilst it was mine had annexed unto’t A million more, now lost—she, Eros, has Packed cards with Caesar, and false-played my glory Unto an enemy’s triumph. Nay, weep not, gentle Eros. There is left us Ourselves to end ourselves.
(didascalia)	Enter Mardian
ANTONY	O thy vile lady, She has robbed me of my sword!
MARDIAN	No, Antony, My mistress loved thee, and her fortunes mingled With thine entirely.
ANTONY	Hence, saucy eunuch, peace! She hath betrayed me, and shall die the death.
MARDIAN	Death of one person can be paid but once, And that she has discharged. What thou wouldst do Is done unto thy hand. The last she spake Was ‘Antony, most noble Antony!’ Then in the midst a tearing groan did break The name of Antony. It was divided Between her heart and lips. She rendered life, Thy name so buried in her.
ANTONY	Dead, then?
MARDIAN	Dead.
ANTONY	Unarm, Eros. The long day’s task is done, And we must sleep. (To Mardian) That thou depart’st hence safe Does pay thy labour richly. Go.
(didascalia)	Exit Mardian
ANTONY	Off, pluck off. Eros helps Antony to unarm The seven-fold shield of Ajax cannot keep The battery from my heart. O, cleave, my sides! Heart, once be stronger than thy continent; Crack thy frail case. Apace, Eros, apace. No more a soldier. Bruised pieces, go; You have been nobly borne.—From me a while.
(didascalia)	Exit Eros
ANTONY	I will o’ertake thee, Cleopatra, and Weep for my pardon. So it must be, for now All length is torture. Since the torch is out, Lie down, and stray no farther. Now all labour Mars what it does; yea, very force entangles Itself with strength. Seal, then, and all is done. Eros!-I come, my queen.-Eros!-Stay for me. Where souls do couch on flowers we’ll hand in hand, And with our sprightly port make the ghosts gaze. Dido and her Aeneas shall want troops, And all the haunt be ours. Come, Eros, Eros!
(didascalia)	Enter Eros
EROS	What would my lord?
ANTONY	Since Cleopatra died I have lived in such dishonour that the gods Detest my baseness. I, that with my sword Quartered the world, and o’er green Neptune’s back With ships made cities, condemn myself to lack The courage of a woman; less noble mind Than she which by her death our Caesar tells ‘I am conqueror of myself.’ Thou art sworn, Eros, That when the exigent should come, which now Is come indeed—when I should see behind me Th’inevitable prosecution of Disgrace and horror—that on my command Thou then wouldst kill me. Do’t. The time is come. Thou strik‘st not me; ’tis Caesar thou defeat’st. Put colour in thy cheek.
EROS	The gods withhold me! Shall I do that which all the Parthian darts, Though enemy, lost aim and could not?
ANTONY	Eros, Wouldst thou be windowed in great Rome and see Thy master thus with pleached arms, bending down His corrigible neck, his face subdued To penetrative shame, whilst the wheeled seat Of fortunate Caesar, drawn before him, branded His baseness that ensued?
EROS	I would not see’t.
ANTONY	Come then; for with a wound I must be cured. Draw that thy honest sword, which thou hast worn Most useful for thy country.
EROS	O sir, pardon me! 80
ANTONY	When I did make thee free, swor’st thou not then To do this when I bade thee? Do it at once, Or thy precedent services are all But accidents unpurposed. Draw, and come.
EROS	Turn from me then that noble countenance Wherein the worship of the whole world lies.
ANTONY	(turning away) Lo thee!
EROS	My sword is drawn.
ANTONY	Then let it do at once The thing why thou hast drawn it.
EROS	My dear master, My captain, and my Emperor: let me say, Before I strike this bloody stroke, farewell.
ANTONY	’Tis said, man; and farewell.
EROS	Farewell, great chief. Shall I strike now?
ANTONY	Now, Eros.
(didascalia)	Eros stabs himself
EROS	Why, there then, thus I do escape the sorrow Of Antony’s death. He dies
ANTONY	Thrice nobler than myself, Thou teachest me, O valiant Eros, what I should and thou couldst not. My queen and Eros Have by their brave instruction got upon me A nobleness in record. But I will be A bridegroom in my death, and run into’t As to a lover’s bed. Come then, and, Eros, Thy master dies thy scholar. To do thus I learned of thee. He stabs himself How, not dead? Not dead? The guard, ho! O, dispatch me!
(didascalia)	Enter a guard and Decretas
FIRST GUARD	What’s the noise?
ANTONY	I have done my work ill, friends. O, make an end Of what I have begun!
SECOND GUARD	The star is fall’n.
FIRST GUARD	And time is at his period.
ALL THE GUARDS	Alas And woe!
ANTONY	Let him that loves me strike me dead.
FIRST GUARD	Not I.
SECOND GUARD	Nor I.
THIRD GUARD	Nor anyone.
(didascalia)	Exeunt the guard
DECRETAS	Thy death and fortunes bid thy followers fly. He takes Antony’s sword This sword but shown to Caesar, with this tidings, Shall enter me with him.
(didascalia)	Enter Diomedes
DIOMEDES	Where’s Antony?
DECRETAS	There, Diomed, there.
DIOMEDES	Lives he? Wilt thou not answer, man?
(didascalia)	Exit Decretas
ANTONY	Art thou there, Diomed? Draw thy sword, and give me Sufficing strokes for death.
DIOMEDES	Most absolute lord, My mistress Cleopatra sent me to thee.
ANTONY	When did she send thee?
DIOMEDES	Now, my lord.
ANTONY	Where is she?
DIOMEDES	Locked in her monument. She had a prophesying fear Of what hath come to pass; for when she saw— Which never shall be found—you did suspect She had disposed with Caesar, and that your rage Would not be purged, she sent word she was dead; But fearing since how it might work, hath sent Me to proclaim the truth; and I am come, I dread, too late.
ANTONY	Too late, good Diomed. Call my guard, I prithee.
DIOMEDES	What ho, the Emperor’s guard! The guard, what hot Come, your lord calls.
(didascalia)	Enter four or five of the guard of Antony
ANTONY	Bear me, good friends, where Cleopatra bides. ’Tis the last service that I shall command you.
FIRST GUARD	Woe, woe are we, sir, you may not live to wear All your true followers out.
ALL THE GUARDS	Most heavy day!
ANTONY	Nay, good my fellows, do not please sharp fate To grace it with your sorrows. Bid that welcome Which 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.
(didascalia)	Exeunt bearing Antony and Eros

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entrano Antonio ed Eros
ANTONIO	Eros, mi vedi ancora?
EROS	Sì, nobile signore.
ANTONIO	Talvolta vediamo una nube che pare un drago, un vapore talvolta simile a un orso o a un leone, una cittadella turrita, una rupe sospesa, un monte biforcuto, o un azzurro promontorio con alberi sopra che accennano al mondo e ingannano i nostri occhi con l’aria. Hai visto questi segni; sono le mascherate del nero vespro.
EROS	Sì, mio signore.
ANTONIO	Ciò che ora è un cavallo, in un batter di pensiero le nubi lo scancellano, e lo rendono indistinto come l’acqua nell’acqua.
EROS	È così, mio signore.
ANTONIO	Mio buon ragazzo Eros, ora il tuo capitano è proprio un tale corpo. Qui io sono Antonio, eppure non posso serbare questa forma visibile, ragazzo mio. Feci queste guerre per l’Egitto, e la Regina— di cui credevo d’avere il cuore, ché ella aveva il mio, il quale, finché fu mio, aveva annessi a sé un milione d’altri, ora perduti—ella, Eros, ha truccato le carte con Cesare, e ha giocato falsamente la mia gloria a vantaggio del trionfo d’un nemico. No, non piangere, gentile Eros. Ci resta noi stessi per porre fine a noi stessi.
(didascalia)	Entra Mardiano
ANTONIO	Oh, la tua vile signora, mi ha derubato della mia spada!
MARDIANO	No, Antonio, la mia padrona ti amava, e le sue sorti si mescolarono alle tue interamente.
ANTONIO	Va’ via, eunuco insolente, taci! Mi ha tradito, e morrà di morte.
MARDIANO	La morte d’una persona può pagarsi una volta sola, e quella ella l’ha già saldata. Ciò che vorresti fare è già fatto per te. L’ultima cosa che disse fu «Antonio, nobilissimo Antonio!» Poi nel mezzo un gemito lacerante spezzò il nome di Antonio. Rimase diviso fra il suo cuore e le sue labbra. Rese la vita, col tuo nome così sepolto in lei.
ANTONIO	Morta, dunque?
MARDIANO	Morta.
ANTONIO	Disarmami, Eros. Il compito del lungo giorno è finito, e dobbiamo dormire. (A Mardiano) Che tu te ne vada di qui salvo paga riccamente la tua fatica. Va’.
(didascalia)	Esce Mardiano
ANTONIO	Via, strappalo via. Eros aiuta Antonio a disarmarsi Il settemplice scudo d’Aiace non può tenere lontano l’assalto dal mio cuore. Oh, spaccatevi, miei fianchi! Cuore, per una volta sii più forte del tuo involucro; spezza il tuo fragile astuccio. Presto, Eros, presto. Non più soldato. Pezzi ammaccati, andate; siete stati nobilmente portati.—Lasciami un poco.
(didascalia)	Esce Eros
ANTONIO	Ti raggiungerò, Cleopatra, e piangerò per il mio perdono. Così dev’essere, ché ora ogni durata è tortura. Poiché la torcia è spenta, sdraiati, e non errare oltre. Ora ogni fatica guasta ciò che compie; sì, la forza stessa s’impiglia nel proprio vigore. Suggella, dunque, e tutto è fatto. Eros!—Vengo, mia regina.—Eros!—Aspettami. Dove le anime giacciono sui fiori andremo mano nella mano, e col nostro portamento gagliardo faremo stupire i fantasmi. Didone e il suo Enea resteranno senza séguito, e tutta la schiera sarà nostra. Vieni, Eros, Eros!
(didascalia)	Entra Eros
EROS	Che vuole il mio signore?
ANTONIO	Da quando Cleopatra è morta ho vissuto in tale disonore che gli dèi detestano la mia bassezza. Io, che con la mia spada squartai il mondo, e sul verde dorso di Nettuno feci città di navi, mi condanno a mancare del coraggio d’una donna; animo meno nobile di colei che con la sua morte dice al nostro Cesare «Sono conquistatrice di me stessa». Hai giurato, Eros, che quando fosse giunta l’estrema necessità, la quale ora è giunta davvero—quando io vedessi dietro di me l’inevitabile inseguirsi di disgrazia e orrore—che al mio comando tu allora m’avresti ucciso. Fallo. Il momento è venuto. Non colpisci me; è Cesare che sconfiggi. Metti colore nella tua guancia.
EROS	Gli dèi me ne trattengano! Farò io quel che tutti i dardi dei Parti, benché nemici, sbagliando il bersaglio non poterono?
ANTONIO	Eros, vorresti stare a una finestra nella grande Roma e vedere il tuo padrone così con le braccia legate, piegando il suo collo domato, il volto sottomesso a penetrante vergogna, mentre il seggio su ruote del fortunato Cesare, tratto davanti a lui, marchiava la bassezza che ne seguiva?
EROS	Non vorrei vederlo.
ANTONIO	Vieni, dunque; ché con una ferita devo essere guarito. Sguaina quella tua onesta spada, che hai portato utilissima per il tuo paese.
EROS	Oh signore, perdonatemi! 80
ANTONIO	Quando ti feci libero, non giurasti allora di fare questo quando te lo ordinassi? Fallo subito, o i tuoi servizi precedenti non sono altro che casi senza scopo. Sguaina, e vieni.
EROS	Volgete via da me allora quel nobile volto in cui riposa l’adorazione del mondo intero.
ANTONIO	(voltandosi) Ecco fatto!
EROS	La mia spada è sguainata.
ANTONIO	Allora faccia subito ciò per cui l’hai sguainata.
EROS	Mio caro padrone, mio capitano, e mio Imperatore: lasciate ch’io dica, prima di dare questo colpo sanguinoso, addio.
ANTONIO	È detto, uomo; e addio.
EROS	Addio, gran capo. Colpisco ora?
ANTONIO	Ora, Eros.
(didascalia)	Eros si trafigge
EROS	Ecco, dunque, così io sfuggo al dolore della morte d’Antonio. Muore
ANTONIO	Tre volte più nobile di me, tu m’insegni, o valoroso Eros, ciò che io dovrei e tu non potesti. La mia regina ed Eros col loro prode esempio hanno guadagnato su di me una nobiltà negli annali. Ma io sarò uno sposo nella mia morte, e vi correrò dentro come al letto d’un’amante. Vieni dunque, ed Eros, il tuo padrone muore tuo scolaro. A far così ho imparato da te. Si trafigge Come, non morto? Non morto? La guardia, ehi! Oh, finitemi!
(didascalia)	Entrano una guardia e Decreta
PRIMA GUARDIA	Che rumore è questo?
ANTONIO	Ho fatto male il mio lavoro, amici. Oh, portate a termine ciò che ho cominciato!
SECONDA GUARDIA	La stella è caduta.
PRIMA GUARDIA	E il tempo è al suo termine.
TUTTE LE GUARDIE	Ahimè e sventura!
ANTONIO	Chi mi ama mi colpisca a morte.
PRIMA GUARDIA	Non io.
SECONDA GUARDIA	Né io.
TERZA GUARDIA	Né alcuno.
(didascalia)	Escono le guardie
DECRETA	La tua morte e le tue sorti dicono ai tuoi seguaci di fuggire. Prende la spada d’Antonio Questa spada, solo mostrata a Cesare, con questa notizia, mi farà entrare nelle sue grazie.
(didascalia)	Entra Diomede
DIOMEDE	Dov’è Antonio?
DECRETA	Là, Diomede, là.
DIOMEDE	Vive? Non vuoi rispondere, uomo?
(didascalia)	Esce Decreta
ANTONIO	Sei tu là, Diomede? Sguaina la tua spada, e dammi colpi sufficienti per la morte.
DIOMEDE	Assolutissimo signore, la mia padrona Cleopatra mi ha mandato da te.
ANTONIO	Quando ti ha mandato?
DIOMEDE	Ora, mio signore.
ANTONIO	Dov’è?
DIOMEDE	Chiusa nel suo monumento. Ebbe un profetico timore di ciò che è avvenuto; ché quando vide— cosa che non si troverà mai vera—che sospettavate ch’ella avesse pattuito con Cesare, e che la vostra ira non si sarebbe placata, mandò a dire ch’era morta; ma temendo poi come ciò potesse operare, ha mandato me a proclamare la verità; e sono venuto, lo temo, troppo tardi.
ANTONIO	Troppo tardi, buon Diomede. Chiama la mia guardia, ti prego.
DIOMEDE	Ehi, la guardia dell’Imperatore! La guardia, ehi Venite, il vostro signore chiama.
(didascalia)	Entrano quattro o cinque della guardia d’Antonio
ANTONIO	Portatemi, buoni amici, dove dimora Cleopatra. È l’ultimo servizio che vi comanderò.
PRIMA GUARDIA	Sventura, sventura su di noi, signore, non vivrete abbastanza da logorare tutti i vostri fedeli seguaci.
TUTTE LE GUARDIE	Giorno gravissimo!
ANTONIO	No, miei buoni compagni, non compiacete l’aspro destino onorandolo coi vostri dolori. Date il benvenuto a ciò che viene a punirci, e noi lo puniamo sembrando portarlo con leggerezza. Sollevatemi. Vi ho guidato spesso; portatemi ora, buoni amici, e abbiate il mio grazie per tutto.
(didascalia)	Escono portando Antonio ed Eros

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Cleopatra and her maids aloft, with Charmian and Iras
CLEOPATRA	O Charmian, I will never go from hence.
CHARMIAN	Be comforted, dear madam.
CLEOPATRA	No, I will not. All strange and terrible events are welcome, But comforts we despise. Our size of sorrow, Proportioned to our cause, must be as great As that which makes it.
(didascalia)	Enter Diomedes below
CLEOPATRA	How now? Is he dead?
DIOMEDES	His death’s upon him, but not dead. Look out o’th’ other side your monument. His guard have brought him thither.
(didascalia)	Enter below Antony, borne by the guard
CLEOPATRA	O sun, Burn the great sphere thou mov‘st in; darkling stand The varying shore o’th’ world! O Antony, 11 Antony, Antony! Help, Charmian, Help, Iras, help, help, friends below! Let’s draw him hither.
ANTONY	Peace. Not Caesar’s valour Hath o’erthrown Antony, but Antony’s Hath triumphed on itself.
CLEOPATRA	So it should be, That none but Antony should conquer Antony. But woe ’tis so!
ANTONY	I am dying, Egypt, dying. Only I here importune death awhile until Of many thousand kisses the poor last I lay upon thy lips.
CLEOPATRA	I dare not, dear, Dear, my lord, pardon. I dare not, Lest I be taken. Nor th’imperious show Of the full-fortuned Caesar ever shall Be brooched with me, if knife, drugs, serpents, have 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.— Help me, my women.—We must draw thee up. Assist, good friends.
ANTONY	O quick, or I am gone!
CLEOPATRA	Here’s sport indeed. How heavy weighs my lord! Our strength is all gone into heaviness, That makes the weight. Had I great Juno’s power The strong-winged Mercury should fetch thee up And set thee by Jove’s side. Yet come a little. Wishers were ever fools. O come, come, come! They heave Antony aloft to Cleopatra And welcome, welcome! Die when thou hast lived, Quicken with kissing. Had my lips that power, Thus would I wear them out. They kiss
ALL THE LOOKERS-ON	A heavy sight.
ANTONY	I am dying, Egypt, dying. Give me some wine, and let me speak a little.
CLEOPATRA	No, let me speak, and let me rail so high That the false hussy Fortune break her wheel, Provoked by my offence.
ANTONY	One word, sweet queen. Of Caesar seek your honour, with your safety. O!
CLEOPATRA	They do not go together.
ANTONY	Gentle, hear me. None about Caesar trust but Proculeius.
CLEOPATRA	My resolution and my hands I’ll trust, None about Caesar.
ANTONY	The miserable change now at my end Lament nor sorrow at, but please your thoughts In feeding them with those my former fortunes, Wherein I lived the greatest prince o’th’ world, The noblest; and do now not basely die, Not cowardly put off my helmet to My countryman; a Roman by a Roman Valiantly vanquished. Now my spirit is going; I can no more.
CLEOPATRA	Noblest of men, woot die? Hast thou no care of me? Shall I abide In this dull world, which in thy absence is No better than a sty? Antony dies O see, my women, The crown o’th’ earth doth melt. My lord! O, withered is the garland of the war. The soldier’s pole is fall’n. Young boys and girls Are level now with men. The odds is gone, And there is nothing left remarkable Beneath the visiting moon. She falls
CHARMIAN	O, quietness, lady!
IRAS	She’s dead, too, our sovereign.
CHARMIAN	Lady!
IRAS	Madam!
CHARMIAN	O, madam, madam, madam!
IRAS	Royal Egypt, Empress!
CHARMIAN	Peace, peace, Iras!
CLEOPATRA	(recovering) No more but e’en a woman, and commanded By such poor passion as the maid that milks And does the meanest chores. It were for me To throw my sceptre at the injurious gods, To tell them that this world did equal theirs Till they had stol’n our jewel. All’s but naught. Patience is sottish, and impatience does Become a dog that’s mad. Then is it sin To rush into the secret house of death Ere death dare come to us? How do you, women? What, what, good cheer! Why, how now, Charmian? My noble girls! Ah, women, women! Look, Our lamp is spent, it’s out. Good sirs, take heart; We’ll bury him, and then what’s brave, what’s noble, Let’s do it after the high Roman fashion, And make death proud to take us. Come, away. This case of that huge spirit now is cold. Ah, women, women! Come. We have no friend But resolution, and the briefest end.
(didascalia)	Exeunt, those above bearing off Antony’s body

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entrano Cleopatra e le sue ancelle in alto, con Carmiana e Iras
CLEOPATRA	O Carmiana, non me ne andrò mai di qui.
CARMIANA	Confortatevi, cara madama.
CLEOPATRA	No, non voglio. Ogni evento strano e terribile è benvenuto, ma i conforti li disprezziamo. La misura del nostro dolore, proporzionata alla sua causa, dev’essere grande quanto ciò che lo produce.
(didascalia)	Entra Diomede in basso
CLEOPATRA	Ebbene? È morto?
DIOMEDE	La sua morte è su di lui, ma non è morto. Guardate dall’altro lato del vostro monumento. La sua guardia ve l’ha portato.
(didascalia)	Entra in basso Antonio, portato dalla guardia
CLEOPATRA	O sole, brucia la grande sfera in cui ti muovi; resti al buio la riva mutevole del mondo! O Antonio, 11 Antonio, Antonio! Aiuto, Carmiana, aiuto, Iras, aiuto, aiuto, amici là sotto! Tiriamolo quassù.
ANTONIO	Calma. Non il valore di Cesare ha abbattuto Antonio, ma quello di Antonio ha trionfato su se stesso.
CLEOPATRA	Così doveva essere, che nessuno tranne Antonio vincesse Antonio. Ma che sventura che sia così!
ANTONIO	Sto morendo, Egitto, morendo. Soltanto importuno qui la morte un poco, finché di molte migliaia di baci il povero ultimo non deponga sulle tue labbra.
CLEOPATRA	Non oso, caro, caro mio signore, perdonate. Non oso, per non essere presa. Né la mostra imperiosa del pienamente fortunato Cesare sarà mai ornata di me, se coltello, droghe, serpenti hanno filo, morso o effetto. Sono al sicuro. Vostra moglie, Ottavia, coi suoi occhi modesti e la sua quieta sentenza, non acquisterà onore abbassando lo sguardo su di me. Ma venite, venite, Antonio.— Aiutatemi, mie donne.—Dobbiamo tirarti su. Aiutate, buoni amici.
ANTONIO	Oh presto, o me ne vado!
CLEOPATRA	Ecco davvero un bel gioco. Come pesa il mio signore! Tutta la nostra forza si è mutata in pesantezza, ed è questa a fare il peso. Avessi la potenza della grande Giunone, Mercurio dalle ali forti ti solleverebbe e ti porrebbe al fianco di Giove. Su, vieni ancora un poco. Chi desidera fu sempre sciocco. Oh vieni, vieni, vieni! Issano Antonio in alto fino a Cleopatra E benvenuto, benvenuto! Muori quando avrai vissuto, ravvivati col bacio. Se le mie labbra avessero quel potere, così le consumerei. Si baciano
TUTTI GLI ASTANTI	Vista dolorosa.
ANTONIO	Sto morendo, Egitto, morendo. Datemi un po’ di vino, e lasciatemi parlare un poco.
CLEOPATRA	No, lasciate parlare me, e lasciatemi inveire così forte che la falsa sgualdrina Fortuna spezzi la sua ruota, provocata dal mio oltraggio.
ANTONIO	Una parola, dolce regina. Da Cesare cercate il vostro onore, insieme alla salvezza. Oh!
CLEOPATRA	Non vanno insieme.
ANTONIO	Gentile, ascoltatemi. Fra quelli attorno a Cesare non fidatevi che di Proculeio.
CLEOPATRA	Alla mia risolutezza e alle mie mani mi fiderò, a nessuno attorno a Cesare.
ANTONIO	Il misero mutamento ora alla mia fine non compiangetelo né ve ne dolete, ma compiacete i vostri pensieri nutrendoli con quelle mie fortune d’un tempo, in cui vissi il più grande principe del mondo, il più nobile; e ora non muoio bassamente, non da codardo mi tolgo l’elmo davanti al mio compatriota; un Romano da un Romano valorosamente vinto. Ora il mio spirito se ne va; non posso più.
CLEOPATRA	Nobilissimo fra gli uomini, vuoi morire? Non hai cura di me? Devo restare in questo mondo scipito, che in tua assenza non è meglio d’un porcile? Antonio muore Oh guardate, mie donne, la corona della terra si scioglie. Mio signore! Oh, appassita è la ghirlanda della guerra. Il vessillo del soldato è caduto. Ragazzi e ragazze sono ora alla pari con gli uomini. La differenza è finita, e non resta più nulla di notevole sotto la luna che ci visita. Sviene
CARMIANA	Oh, calma, signora!
IRAS	È morta anche lei, la nostra sovrana.
CARMIANA	Signora!
IRAS	Madama!
CARMIANA	Oh, madama, madama, madama!
IRAS	Regale Egitto, Imperatrice!
CARMIANA	Silenzio, silenzio, Iras!
CLEOPATRA	(riprendendosi) Nulla più che una donna, e comandata da povere passioni come la fanciulla che munge e sbriga le più umili faccende. Toccherebbe a me scagliare il mio scettro contro gli dèi ingiuriosi, dir loro che questo mondo eguagliava il loro finché non ci rubarono il nostro gioiello. Tutto è nulla. La pazienza è stolta, e l’impazienza si addice a un cane rabbioso. È dunque peccato precipitarsi nella segreta casa della morte prima che la morte osi venire a noi? Come state, donne? Su, su, coraggio! Ebbene, che c’è, Carmiana? Mie nobili ragazze! Ah, donne, donne! Guardate, la nostra lampada è spenta, si è estinta. Buona gente, fatevi animo; lo seppelliremo, e poi ciò che è prode, ciò che è nobile, facciamolo all’alta maniera romana, e rendiamo la morte superba di prenderci. Venite, andiamo. Questo involucro di quel grande spirito è ora freddo. Ah, donne, donne! Venite. Non abbiamo altro amico che la risolutezza, e la fine più breve.
(didascalia)	Escono, quelli in alto portando via il corpo d’Antonio

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Caesar with his council of war: Agrippa, Dolabella, Maecenas, Gallus, Proculeius
CAESAR	Go to him, Dolabella, bid him yield. Being so frustrate, tell him, he but mocks The pauses that he makes.
DOLABELLA	Caesar, I shall. Exit
(didascalia)	Enter Decretas with the sword of Antony
CAESAR	Wherefore is that? And what art thou that dar’st Appear thus to us?
DECRETAS	I am called Decretas. Mark Antony I served, who best was worthy Best to be served. Whilst he stood up and spoke He was my master, and I wore my life To spend upon his haters. If thou please To take me to thee, as I was to him I’ll be to Caesar; if thou pleasest not, I yield thee up my life.
CAESAR	What is’t thou sayst?
DECRETAS	I say, O Caesar, Antony is dead.
CAESAR	The breaking of so great a thing should make A greater crack. The rived world Should have shook lions into civil streets, And citizens to their dens. The death of Antony Is not a single doom; in that name lay A moiety of the world.
DECRETAS	He is dead, Caesar, Not by a public minister of justice, Nor by a hired knife; but that self hand Which writ his honour in the acts it did Hath, with the courage which the heart did lend it, Splitted the heart. This is his sword; I robbed his wound of it. Behold it stained With his most noble blood.
CAESAR	(weeping) Look you, sad friends, The gods rebuke me; but it is a tidings To wash the eyes of kings.
(didascalia)	AGRIPPA
CAESAR	And strange it is That nature must compel us to lament Our most persisted deeds.
MAECENAS	His taints and honours Waged equal with him.
(didascalia)	AGRIPPA
MAECENAS	A rarer spirit never Did steer humanity; but you gods will give us Some faults to make us men. Caesar is touched.
MAECENAS	When such a spacious mirror’s set before him He needs must see himself.
CAESAR	O Antony, I have followed thee to this. But we do lance Diseases in our bodies. I must perforce Have shown to thee such a declining day, Or look on thine. We could not stall together In the whole world. But yet let me lament, With tears as sovereign as the blood of hearts, That thou, my brother, my competitor In top of all design, my mate in empire, Friend and companion in the front of war, The arm of mine own body, and the heart Where mine his thoughts did kindle—that our stars, Unreconciliable, should divide Our equalness to this. Hear me, good friends—
(didascalia)	Enter an Egyptian
CAESAR	But I will tell you at some meeter season. The business of this man looks out of him; We’ll hear him what he says.—Whence are you?
EGYPTIAN	A poor Egyptian, yet the Queen my mistress, Confined in all she has, her monument, Of thy intents desires instruction, That she preparèdly may frame herself To th’ way she’s forced to.
CAESAR	Bid her have good heart. She soon shall know of us, by some of ours, How honourable and how kindly we Determine for her. For Caesar cannot live To be ungentle.
EGYPTIAN	So; the gods preserve thee! Exit
CAESAR	Come hither, Proculeius. Go, and say We purpose her no shame. Give her what comforts 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, And with your speediest bring us what she says And how you find of her.
PROCULEIUS	Caesar, I shall. Exit
CAESAR	Gallus, go you along.
(didascalia)	Exit Gallus
CAESAR	Where’s Dolabella, To second Proculeius?
ALL BUT CAESAR	Dolabella!
CAESAR	Let him alone; for I remember now How he’s employed. 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.
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entra Cesare col suo consiglio di guerra: Agrippa, Dolabella, Mecenate, Gallo, Proculeio
CESARE	Va’ da lui, Dolabella, digli di arrendersi. Essendo così ridotto allo stremo, digli, non fa che rendere ridicole le pause che si concede.
DOLABELLA	Cesare, lo farò. Esce
(didascalia)	Entra Decreta con la spada d’Antonio
CESARE	Perché quella? E chi sei tu che osi presentarti così a noi?
DECRETA	Mi chiamo Decreta. Marco Antonio ho servito, che meglio d’ogni altro era degno d’essere meglio servito. Finché stette in piedi e parlò fu il mio padrone, e portavo la mia vita per spenderla contro chi l’odiava. Se ti piace prendermi con te, quel che fui per lui sarò per Cesare; se non ti piace, ti consegno la mia vita.
CESARE	Che cos’è che dici?
DECRETA	Dico, o Cesare, che Antonio è morto.
CESARE	Lo spezzarsi d’una cosa così grande dovrebbe fare uno schianto maggiore. Il mondo squarciato avrebbe dovuto scuotere i leoni nelle strade cittadine e i cittadini nelle tane. La morte di Antonio non è una sorte d’un solo uomo; in quel nome giaceva una metà del mondo.
DECRETA	È morto, Cesare, non per un pubblico ministro di giustizia, né per un coltello prezzolato; ma quella stessa mano che scrisse il suo onore negli atti che compì ha, col coraggio che il cuore le prestò, spaccato quel cuore. Questa è la sua spada; l’ho sottratta alla sua ferita. Guardatela macchiata del suo nobilissimo sangue.
CESARE	(piangendo) Guardate, mesti amici, gli dèi mi rimproverino; ma è una notizia da lavare gli occhi dei re.
(didascalia)	AGRIPPA
CESARE	Ed è strano che la natura debba costringerci a piangere le imprese che più ostinatamente perseguimmo.
MECENATE	Le sue macchie e i suoi onori pesavano in lui alla pari.
(didascalia)	AGRIPPA
MECENATE	Mai spirito più raro guidò l’umanità; ma voi dèi ci date qualche difetto per farci uomini. Cesare è commosso.
MECENATE	Quando un così ampio specchio gli è posto davanti non può che vedere se stesso.
CESARE	O Antonio, ti ho inseguito fino a questo. Ma noi incidiamo le malattie nei nostri corpi. Dovevo per forza mostrarti un tal giorno di declino, o guardare il mio. Non potevamo stare nella stessa stalla in tutto il mondo. Ma pure lasciate ch’io lamenti, con lacrime sovrane quanto il sangue dei cuori, che tu, mio fratello, mio competitore al vertice d’ogni disegno, mio socio nell’impero, amico e compagno in prima fila nella guerra, il braccio del mio stesso corpo, e il cuore dove il mio accendeva i suoi pensieri—che le nostre stelle, inconciliabili, dovessero dividere fino a questo la nostra parità. Ascoltatemi, buoni amici—
(didascalia)	Entra un Egiziano
CESARE	Ma ve lo dirò in stagione più opportuna. L’affare di quest’uomo gli traspare dal volto; udiamo che cosa dice.—Da dove venite?
EGIZIANO	Un povero Egiziano; ma la Regina, mia padrona, confinata in tutto ciò che possiede, il suo monumento, desidera istruzione sulle tue intenzioni, per potersi preparata conformare alla via cui è costretta.
CESARE	Dille di farsi coraggio. Presto saprà da noi, per mezzo di qualcuno dei nostri, quanto onorevolmente e quanto benignamente decidiamo per lei. Ché Cesare non può vivere per essere scortese.
EGIZIANO	Sia così; gli dèi ti conservino! Esce
CESARE	Vieni qua, Proculeio. Va’, e dille che non le destiniamo alcuna vergogna. Dàlle quei conforti che la qualità della sua passione richiederà, perché nella sua grandezza, con qualche colpo mortale, ella non ci sconfigga; ché la sua vita in Roma sarebbe eterna nel nostro trionfo. Va’, e con la massima celerità portaci ciò che dice e come la trovi.
PROCULEIO	Cesare, lo farò. Esce
CESARE	Gallo, va’ con lui.
(didascalia)	Esce Gallo
CESARE	Dov’è Dolabella, per assecondare Proculeio?
TUTTI TRANNE CESARE	Dolabella!
CESARE	Lasciatelo stare; ché ora ricordo di che è occupato. Sarà pronto a suo tempo. Venite con me alla mia tenda, dove vedrete con quanta riluttanza fui trascinato in questa guerra, quanto calmo e gentile procedetti sempre in tutti i miei scritti. Venite con me, e vedete ciò che posso mostrare in questo.
(didascalia)	Escono

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Cleopatra, Charmian, Iras, and Mardian
CLEOPATRA	My desolation does begin to make A better life. ’Tis paltry to be Caesar. 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 dung, The beggar’s nurse, and Caesar’s.
(didascalia)	Enter Proculeius
PROCULEIUS	Caesar sends greeting to the Queen of Egypt, And bids thee study on what fair demands Thou mean’st to have him grant thee.
CLEOPATRA	What’s thy name?
PROCULEIUS	My name is Proculeius.
CLEOPATRA	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 him That majesty, to keep decorum, must No less beg than a kingdom. If he please To give me conquered Egypt for my son, He gives me so much of mine own as I Will kneel to him with thanks.
PROCULEIUS	Be of good cheer. You’re fall’n 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 him Your sweet dependency, and you shall find A conqueror that will pray in aid for kindness, Where he for grace is kneeled to.
CLEOPATRA	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’th’ face.
PROCULEIUS	This I’ll report, dear lady; Have comfort, for I know your plight is pitied Of him that caused it.
(didascalia)	Enter Roman soldiers from behind
PROCULEIUS	(to the soldiers) You see how easily she may be surprised. Guard her till Caesar come.
IRAS	Royal Queen-
CHARMIAN	O Cleopatra, thou art taken, Queen!
CLEOPATRA	(drawing a dagger) Quick, quick, good hands!
PROCULEIUS	(disarming Cleopatra) Hold, worthy lady, hold! Do not yourself such wrong, who are in this Relieved but not betrayed.
CLEOPATRA	What, of death too, That rids our dogs of languish?
PROCULEIUS	Cleopatra, Do not abuse my master’s bounty by Th’undoing of yourself. Let the world see His nobleness well acted, which your death Will never let come forth.
CLEOPATRA	Where art thou, death? Come hither, come. Come, come, and take a queen Worth many babes and beggars.
PROCULEIUS	O temperance, lady!
CLEOPATRA	Sir, I will eat no meat. I’ll not drink, sir. If idle talk will once be necessary, I’ll not sleep, neither. This mortal house I’ll ruin, Do Caesar what he can. Know, sir, that I Will not wait pinioned 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 unto me; rather on Nilus’ mud Lay me stark naked, and let the waterflies Blow me into abhorring; rather make My country’s high pyramides my gibbet, And hang me up in chains.
PROCULEIUS	You do extend These thoughts of horror further than you shall Find cause in Caesar.
(didascalia)	Enter Dolabella
DOLABELLA	Proculeius, What thou hast done thy master Caesar knows, And he hath sent for thee. For the Queen, I’ll take her to my guard.
PROCULEIUS	So, Dolabella, It shall content me best. Be gentle to her. (To Cleopatra) To Caesar I will speak what you shall please, If you’ll employ me to him.
CLEOPATRA	Say I would die.
(didascalia)	Exit Proculeius
DOLABELLA	Most noble Empress, you have heard of me.
CLEOPATRA	I cannot tell.
DOLABELLA	Assuredly you know me.
CLEOPATRA	No matter, sir, what I have heard or known. You laugh when boys or women tell their dreams; Is’t not your trick?
DOLABELLA	I understand not, madam.
CLEOPATRA	I dreamt there was an Emperor Antony. O, such another sleep, that I might see But such another man!
DOLABELLA	If it might please ye—
CLEOPATRA	His face was as the heav‘ns, and therein stuck A sun and moon, which kept their course and lighted The little O o’th’ earth.
DOLABELLA	Most sovereign creature—
CLEOPATRA	His legs bestrid the ocean; his reared 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 showed his back above The element they lived in. In his livery Walked crowns and crownets. Realms and islands were As plates dropped from his pocket.
DOLABELLA	Cleopatra—
CLEOPATRA	Think you there was, or might be, such a man As this I dreamt of?
DOLABELLA	Gentle madam, no.
CLEOPATRA	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 t‘imagine An Antony were nature’s piece ’gainst fancy, Condemning shadows quite.
DOLABELLA	Hear me, good madam: Your loss is as yourself, great, and you bear it As answering to the weight. Would I might never O’ertake pursued success but I do feel, By the rebound of yours, a grief that smites My very heart at root.
CLEOPATRA	I thank you, sir. Know you what Caesar means to do with me?
DOLABELLA	I am loath to tell you what I would you knew.
CLEOPATRA	Nay, pray you, sir.
DOLABELLA	Though he be honourable—
CLEOPATRA	He’ll lead me then in triumph.
DOLABELLA	Madam, he will, I know’t.
(didascalia)	Flourish. Enter Caesar, with Proculeius, Gallus, Maecenas, and others of his train
ALL	Make way, there! Caesar!
CAESAR	Which is the Queen of Egypt?
DOLABELLA	(to Cleopatra) It is the Emperor, madam. Cleopatra kneels
CAESAR	Arise! You shall not kneel. I pray you rise, rise, Egypt.
CLEOPATRA	(rising) Sir, the gods Will have it thus. My master and my lord I must obey.
CAESAR	Take to you no hard thoughts. The record of what injuries you did us, Though written in our flesh, we shall remember As things but done by chance.
CLEOPATRA	Sole sir o’th’ 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.
CAESAR	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.
CLEOPATRA	And may through all the world! ’Tis yours, and we, Your scutcheons and your signs of conquest, shall Hang in what place you please. (Giving a paper) Here, my good lord.
CAESAR	You shall advise me in all for Cleopatra.
CLEOPATRA	This is the brief of money, plate, and jewels I am possessed of. ’Tis exactly valued, Not petty things admitted. Where’s Seleucus?
(didascalia)	Enter Seleucus
SELEUCUS	Here, madam.
CLEOPATRA	(to Caesar) This is my treasurer. Let him speak, my lord, Upon his peril, that I have reserved To myself nothing. Speak the truth, Seleucus.
SELEUCUS	Madam, I had rather seal my lips Than to my peril speak that which is not.
CLEOPATRA	What have I kept back?
SELEUCUS	Enough to purchase what you have made known.
CAESAR	Nay, blush not, Cleopatra. I approve Your wisdom in the deed.
CLEOPATRA	See, Caesar! O, behold How pomp is followed! 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 hired! What, goest thou back? Thou shalt Go back, I warrant thee; but I’ll catch thine eyes Though they had wings. Slave, soulless villain, dog! O rarely base!
CAESAR	Good Queen, let us entreat you.
CLEOPATRA	O Caesar, 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 Parcel the sum of my disgraces by Addition of his envy. Say, good Caesar, 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 Livia and Octavia, to induce Their mediation—must I be unfolded With one that I have bred? The gods! It smites me Beneath the fall I have. (To Seleucus) Prithee, go hence, Or I shall show the cinders of my spirits Through th’ashes of my chance. Wert thou a man Thou wouldst have mercy on me.
CAESAR	Forbear, Seleucus.
(didascalia)	Exit Seleucus
CLEOPATRA	Be it known that we, the greatest, are misthought For things that others do; and when we fall We answer others’ merits in our name, Are therefore to be pitied.
CAESAR	Cleopatra, Not what you have reserved nor what acknowledged Put we i’th’ roll of conquest. Still be’t yours. Bestow it at your pleasure, and believe Caesar’s no merchant, to make prize with you Of things that merchants sold. Therefore be cheered. Make not your thoughts your prisons. No, dear Queen; 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.
CLEOPATRA	My master and my lord!
CAESAR	Not so. Adieu.
(didascalia)	Flourish. Exeunt Caesar and his train
CLEOPATRA	He words me, girls, he words me, that I should not Be noble to myself. But hark thee, Charmian. She whispers to Charmian
IRAS	Finish, good lady. The bright day is done, And we are for the dark.
CLEOPATRA	(to Charmian) Hie thee again. I have spoke already, and it is provided. Go put it to the haste.
CHARMIAN	Madam, I will.
(didascalia)	Enter Dolabella
DOLABELLA	Where’s the Queen?
CHARMIAN	Behold, sir.
(didascalia)	Exit
CLEOPATRA	Dolabella!
DOLABELLA	Madam, as thereto sworn by your command— Which my love makes religion to obey— I tell you this: Caesar 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 performed Your pleasure, and my promise.
CLEOPATRA	Dolabella, I shall remain your debtor.
DOLABELLA	I your servant. Adieu, good Queen. I must attend on Caesar.
CLEOPATRA	Farewell, and thanks.
(didascalia)	Exit Dolabella
CLEOPATRA	Now, Iras, what think’st thou? Thou, an Egyptian puppet shall be shown In Rome, as well as I. Mechanic slaves With greasy aprons, rules, and hammers shall Uplift us to the view. In their thick breaths, Rank of gross diet, shall we be enclouded, And forced to drink their vapour.
IRAS	The gods forbid!
CLEOPATRA	Nay, ‘tis most certain, Iras. Saucy lictors Will catch at us like strumpets, and scald rhymers Ballad us out o’ tune. The quick comedians Extemporally will stage us, and present Our Alexandrian revels. Antony Shall be brought drunken forth, and I shall see Some squeaking Cleopatra boy my greatness I’th’ posture of a whore.
IRAS	O, the good gods!
CLEOPATRA	Nay, that’s certain.
IRAS	I’ll never see’t! For I am sure my nails Are stronger than mine eyes.
CLEOPATRA	Why, that’s the way To fool their preparation and to conquer Their most absurd intents.
(didascalia)	Enter Charmian
CLEOPATRA	Now, 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 dispatch indeed, And when thou hast done this chore I’ll give thee leave To play till doomsday.—Bring our crown and all.
(didascalia)	Exit Iras
(didascalia)	A noise within
CLEOPATRA	Wherefore’s this noise?
(didascalia)	Enter a Guardsman
GUARDSMAN	Here is a rural fellow That will not be denied your highness’ presence. He brings you figs.
CLEOPATRA	Let him come in.
(didascalia)	Exit Guardsman
CLEOPATRA	What poor an instrument 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.
(didascalia)	Enter Guardsman, and Clown with a basket
GUARDSMAN	This is the man.
CLEOPATRA	Avoid, and leave him.
(didascalia)	Exit Guardsman
CLEOPATRA	Hast thou the pretty worm 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.
CLEOPATRA	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 yesterday, 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 o’th’ worm; but he that will believe all that they say shall never be saved by half that they do; but this is most falliable: the worm’s an odd worm.
CLEOPATRA	Get thee hence, farewell.
CLOWN	I wish you all joy of the worm. CLEOPATRA Farewell.
CLOWN	You must think this, look you, that the worm will do his kind.
CLEOPATRA	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.
CLEOPATRA	Take thou no care; it shall be heeded.
CLOWN	Very good. Give it nothing, I pray you, for it is not worth the feeding.
CLEOPATRA	Will it eat me?
CLOWN	You must not think I am so simple but I know the devil himself will not eat a woman; I know that a woman is a dish for the gods, if the devil dress her not. But truly, these same whoreson devils do the gods great harm in their women; for in every ten that they make, the devils mar five.
CLEOPATRA	Well, get thee gone, farewell.
CLOWN	Yes, forsooth. I wish you joy o’th’ worm.
(didascalia)	Exit, leaving the basket
(didascalia)	Enter Iras with a robe, crown, and other jewels
CLEOPATRA	Give me my robe. Put on my crown. I have Immortal longings in me. Now no more The juice of Egypt’s grape shall moist this lip. Charmian and Iras help her to dress Yare, yare, good Iras, quick—methinks I hear Antony call. I see him rouse himself To praise my noble act. I hear him mock The luck of Caesar, which the gods give men To excuse their after wrath. Husband, I come. Now to that name my courage prove my title. I am fire and air; my other elements I give to baser life. So, have you done? Come then, and take the last warmth of my lips. She kisses them Farewell, kind Charmian. Iras, long farewell. Iras falls and dies Have I the aspic in my lips? Dost fall? If thou and nature can so gently part, The stroke of death is as a lover’s pinch, Which hurts and is desired. Dost thou lie still? If thus thou vanishest, thou tell’st the world It is not worth leave-taking.
CHARMIAN	Dissolve, thick cloud, and rain, that I may say The gods themselves do weep.
CLEOPATRA	This proves me base. If she first meet the curled Antony He’ll make demand of her, and spend that kiss Which is my heaven to have. She takes an aspic from the basket and puts it to her breast Come, thou mortal wretch, With thy sharp teeth this knot intrinsicate Of life at once untie. Poor venomous fool, Be angry, and dispatch. O, couldst thou speak, That I might hear thee call great Caesar ass Unpolicied!
CHARMIAN	O eastern star!
CLEOPATRA	Peace, peace. Dost thou not see my baby at my breast, That sucks the nurse asleep?
CHARMIAN	O, break! O, break!
CLEOPATRA	As sweet as balm, as soft as air, as gentle. O Antony! She puts another aspic to her arm Nay, I will take thee too. What should I stay— She dies
CHARMIAN	In this vile world? So, fare thee well. Now boast thee, death, in thy possession lies A lass unparalleled. Downy windows, close, And golden Phoebus never be beheld Of eyes again so royal. Your crown’s awry. I’ll mend it, and then play—
(didascalia)	Enter the Guard, rustling in
FIRST GUARD	Where’s the Queen?
CHARMIAN	Speak softly. Wake her not.
FIRST GUARD	Caesar hath sent—
CHARMIAN	Too slow a messenger. She applies an aspic O come apace, dispatch! I partly feel thee.
FIRST GUARD	Approach, ho! All’s not well. Caesar’s beguiled.
SECOND GUARD	There’s Dolabella sent from Caesar. Call him.
(didascalia)	Exit a Guardsman
FIRST GUARD	What work is here, Charmian? Is this well done?
CHARMIAN	It is well done, and fitting for a princess Descended of so many royal kings. Ah, soldier! She dies
(didascalia)	Enter
CHARMIAN	Dolabella
DOLABELLA	How goes it here?
SECOND GUARD	All dead.
DOLABELLA	Caesar, thy thoughts Touch their effects in this. Thyself art coming To see performed the dreaded act which thou So sought’st to hinder.
ALL	A way there, a way for Caesar!
(didascalia)	Enter Caesar and all his train, marching
DOLABELLA	(to Caesar) O sir, you are too sure an augurer. That you did fear is done.
CAESAR	Bravest at the last, She levelled at our purposes, and, being royal, Took her own way. The manner of their deaths? I do not see them bleed.
DOLABELLA	(to a Guardsman) Who was last with them?
FIRST GUARD	A simple countryman that brought her figs. This was his basket.
CAESAR	Poisoned, then.
FIRST GUARD	O Caesar, This Charmian lived but now; she stood and spake. I found her trimming up the diadem On her dead mistress; tremblingly she stood, And on the sudden dropped.
CAESAR	O, noble weakness! If they had swallowed poison, ’twould appear By external swelling; but she looks like sleep, As she would catch another Antony In her strong toil of grace.
DOLABELLA	Here on her breast There is a vent of blood, and something blown. The like is on her arm.
FIRST GUARD	This is an aspic’s trail, And these fig-leaves have slime upon them such As th’aspic leaves upon the caves of Nile.
CAESAR	Most probable That so she died; for her physician tells me She hath pursued conclusions infinite Of easy ways to die. Take up her bed, And bear her women from the monument. She shall be buried by her Antony. No grave upon the earth shall clip in it A pair so famous. High events as these Strike those that make them, and their story is No less in pity than his glory which Brought them to be lamented. Our army shall In solemn show attend this funeral, And then to Rome. Come, Dolabella, see High order in this great solemnity.
(didascalia)	Exeunt all, soldiers bearing Cleopatra on her bed, Charmian, and Iras
ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS	WELL All’s Well That Ends Well, first printed in the 1623 Folio, is often paired with Measure for Measure. Though we lack external evidence as to its date of composition, internal evidence suggests that it, too, is an early Jacobean play. Like Measure for Measure, it places its central characters in more painful situations than those in which the heroes and heroines of the earlier, more romantic comedies usually find themselves. The touching ardour with which Helen, ‘a poor physician’s daughter’, pursues the young Bertram, son of her guardian the Countess of Roussillon, creates embarrassments for both of them. When the King, whose illness she cures by her semi-magical skills, brings about their marriage as a reward, Bertram’s flight to the wars seems to destroy all her chances of happiness. She achieves consummation of the marriage only by the ruse (resembling Isabella’s ’bed-trick’ in Measure for Measure) of substituting herself for the Florentine maiden Diana whom Bertram believes himself to be seducing. The play’s conclusion, in which the deception is exposed and Bertram is shamed into acknowledging Helen as his wife, offers only a tentatively happy ending. Shakespeare based the story of Bertram and Helen on a tale from Boccaccio’s Decameron either in the original or in the version included in William Painter’s Palace of Pleasure (1566-7, revised 1575). But he created several important characters, including the Countess and the old Lord, Lafeu. He also invented the accompanying action exposing the roguery of Bertram’s flashy friend Paroles, a man of words (as his name indicates) descending from the braggart soldier of Roman comedy. Versions of the play performed in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, mostly emphasizing either the comedy of Paroles or the sentimental appeal of Helen, had little success; but fine productions from the middle of the twentieth century onwards have shown it in a more favourable light, demonstrating, for example, that the role of the Countess is (in Bernard Shaw’s words) ‘the most beautiful old woman’s part ever written’, that the discomfiture of Paroles provides comedy that is subtle as well as highly laughable, and that the relationship of Bertram and Helen is profoundly convincing in its emotional reality.
THE PERSONS OF THE	PLAY The Dowager COUNTESS of Roussillon BERTRAM, Count of Roussillon, her son HELEN, an orphan, attending on the Countess LAVATCH, a Clown, the Countess’s servant REYNALDO, the Countess’s steward PAROLES, Bertram’s companion The KING of France LAFEU, an old lord INTERPRETER, a French soldier An AUSTRINGER The DUKE of Florence
WIDOW	Capilet DIANA, her daughter MARIANA, a friend of the Widow Lords, attendants, soldiers, citizens

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entrano Cleopatra, Carmiana, Iras e Mardiano
CLEOPATRA	La mia desolazione comincia a foggiare una vita migliore. È meschino essere Cesare. Non essendo la Fortuna, non è che il servo della Fortuna, un ministro della sua volontà. Ed è grande compiere quell’atto che pone fine a ogni altro atto, che incatena i casi e sbarra il mutamento, che dorme e non gusta mai più lo sterco, nutrice del mendicante e di Cesare.
(didascalia)	Entra Proculeio
PROCULEIO	Cesare manda i suoi saluti alla Regina d’Egitto, e ti invita a meditare quali giuste richieste intendi fargli concedere.
CLEOPATRA	Qual è il tuo nome?
PROCULEIO	Il mio nome è Proculeio.
CLEOPATRA	Antonio mi parlò di voi, mi disse di fidarmi di voi; ma non m’importa gran che d’essere ingannata, io che non ho più uso della fiducia. Se il vostro padrone vuole avere una regina per mendicante, dovete dirgli che la maestà, per serbare il decoro, non può mendicare meno d’un regno. Se gli piace darmi l’Egitto conquistato per mio figlio, mi dà tanto del mio che io m’inginocchierò a lui per ringraziarlo.
PROCULEIO	Fatevi coraggio. Siete caduta in mano principesca; non temete nulla. Rimettetevi liberamente e per intero al mio signore, che è così pieno di grazia da traboccarne su tutti i bisognosi. Lasciate ch’io gli riferisca la vostra dolce sottomissione, e troverete un conquistatore che chiederà aiuto per essere benevolo, là dove lo si supplica in ginocchio di grazia.
CLEOPATRA	Vi prego, ditegli che sono vassalla della sua fortuna, e che gli mando la grandezza che ha conquistato. D’ora in ora imparo una dottrina d’obbedienza, e volentieri lo guarderei in volto.
PROCULEIO	Questo riferirò, cara signora; confortatevi, ché so che la vostra sorte è compianta da colui che l’ha causata.
(didascalia)	Entrano soldati romani da dietro
PROCULEIO	(ai soldati) Vedete come facilmente può essere sorpresa. Sorvegliatela finché venga Cesare.
IRAS	Regale Regina—
CARMIANA	O Cleopatra, sei presa, Regina!
CLEOPATRA	(sguainando un pugnale) Presto, presto, buone mani!
PROCULEIO	(disarmando Cleopatra) Fermatevi, degna signora, fermatevi! Non fatevi tale torto, voi che in questo siete soccorsa e non tradita.
CLEOPATRA	Come, anche della morte, che libera i nostri cani dal languore?
PROCULEIO	Cleopatra, non offendete la generosità del mio padrone rovinando voi stessa. Lasciate che il mondo veda la sua nobiltà ben recitata, che la vostra morte non lascerebbe mai venire alla luce.
CLEOPATRA	Dove sei, morte? Vieni qua, vieni. Vieni, vieni, e prendi una regina che vale molti bimbi e mendicanti.
PROCULEIO	Oh, temperanza, signora!
CLEOPATRA	Signore, non mangerò cibo. Non berrò, signore. Se le chiacchiere oziose saranno una volta necessarie, non dormirò neppure. Questa mortale casa la manderò in rovina, faccia Cesare quel che può. Sappiate, signore, che io non aspetterò in ceppi alla corte del vostro padrone, né sarò castigata una sola volta dall’occhio sobrio della scipita Ottavia. Mi isseranno e mi mostreranno alla marmaglia urlante della censoria Roma? Piuttosto una fossa in Egitto mi sia mite tomba; piuttosto sul fango del Nilo deponetemi tutta nuda, e che le mosche d’acqua mi gonfino fino a farmi ripugnante; piuttosto fate delle alte piramidi del mio paese il mio patibolo, e appendetemi in catene.
PROCULEIO	Voi spingete questi pensieri d’orrore più oltre di quanto troverete causa in Cesare.
(didascalia)	Entra Dolabella
DOLABELLA	Proculeio, ciò che hai fatto il tuo padrone Cesare lo sa, e ti ha mandato a chiamare. Quanto alla Regina, la prenderò sotto la mia guardia.
PROCULEIO	Sia così, Dolabella, mi va benissimo. Sii gentile con lei. (A Cleopatra) A Cesare dirò ciò che vi piacerà, se vorrete servirvi di me presso di lui.
CLEOPATRA	Dite che voglio morire.
(didascalia)	Esce Proculeio
DOLABELLA	Nobilissima Imperatrice, avete sentito parlare di me.
CLEOPATRA	Non saprei dire.
DOLABELLA	Certamente mi conoscete.
CLEOPATRA	Non importa, signore, quel che ho udito o saputo. Voi ridete quando ragazzi o donne raccontano i loro sogni; non è questo il vostro vezzo?
DOLABELLA	Non capisco, madama.
CLEOPATRA	Ho sognato che c’era un Imperatore Antonio. Oh, un altro sonno simile, per poter vedere un altro uomo simile!
DOLABELLA	Se vi piacesse—
CLEOPATRA	Il suo volto era come i cieli, e vi stavano fissi un sole e una luna, che tenevano il loro corso e illuminavano il piccolo O della terra.
DOLABELLA	Sovranissima creatura—
CLEOPATRA	Le sue gambe cavalcavano l’oceano; il suo braccio levato era il cimiero del mondo. La sua voce aveva la qualità di tutte le sfere accordate, e ciò per gli amici; ma quando voleva far tremare e scuotere il globo, era come tuono fragoroso. Quanto alla sua generosità, non c’era inverno in essa; era un autunno che cresceva tanto più quanto più lo si mieteva. I suoi diletti erano simili a delfini; mostravano il dorso al di sopra dell’elemento in cui vivevano. Nella sua livrea camminavano corone e coroncine. Regni e isole erano come monete cadute dalla sua tasca.
DOLABELLA	Cleopatra—
CLEOPATRA	Credete che ci fosse, o potesse esserci, un uomo tale quale io sognai?
DOLABELLA	Gentile madama, no.
CLEOPATRA	Mentite, fin dove odono gli dèi. Ma se ce n’è, o mai ce ne fu uno tale, supera la misura del sogno. Alla Natura manca materia per gareggiare in forme strane con la fantasia; eppure immaginare un Antonio sarebbe il capolavoro della natura contro la fantasia, condannando del tutto le ombre.
DOLABELLA	Ascoltatemi, buona madama: la vostra perdita è, come voi, grande, e voi la portate corrispondendo al suo peso. Possa io non raggiungere mai il successo che inseguo, se non sento, per il rimbalzo del vostro, un dolore che mi colpisce il cuore fin nella radice.
CLEOPATRA	Vi ringrazio, signore. Sapete che cosa Cesare intende fare di me?
DOLABELLA	Mi ripugna dirvi ciò che vorrei sapeste.
CLEOPATRA	Su, vi prego, signore.
DOLABELLA	Benché egli sia onorevole—
CLEOPATRA	Mi condurrà dunque in trionfo.
DOLABELLA	Madama, lo farà, lo so.
(didascalia)	Squilli di trombe. Entrano Cesare, con Proculeio, Gallo, Mecenate e altri del suo seguito
TUTTI	Fate largo, là! Cesare!
CESARE	Qual è la Regina d’Egitto?
DOLABELLA	(a Cleopatra) È l’Imperatore, madama. Cleopatra s’inginocchia
CESARE	Alzatevi! Non dovete inginocchiarvi. Vi prego, alzatevi, alzatevi, Egitto.
CLEOPATRA	(alzandosi) Signore, gli dèi vogliono che sia così. Il mio padrone e signore devo obbedire.
CESARE	Non nutrite pensieri duri. Il registro delle offese che ci faceste, benché scritto nella nostra carne, lo ricorderemo come cose accadute solo per caso.
CLEOPATRA	Unico signore del mondo, non so esporre la mia causa così bene da renderla chiara; ma confesso d’essere stata carica di quelle fragilità che prima hanno spesso svergognato il nostro sesso.
CESARE	Cleopatra, sappiate che noi attenueremo piuttosto che aggravare. Se vi conformerete alle nostre intenzioni, che verso di voi sono benignissime, troverete un vantaggio in questo mutamento; ma se cercate di addossarmi una crudeltà prendendo la via d’Antonio, vi priverete dei miei buoni propositi e getterete i vostri figli in quella distruzione da cui li proteggerò, se su ciò vi affidate a me. Prendo commiato.
CLEOPATRA	E possiate farlo per tutto il mondo! È vostro, e noi, vostri scudi e insegne di conquista, penderemo in qualunque luogo vi piaccia. (Dandogli un foglio) Ecco, mio buon signore.
CESARE	Sarete voi a consigliarmi in tutto ciò che riguarda Cleopatra.
CLEOPATRA	Questo è l’elenco del denaro, del vasellame e dei gioielli di cui sono in possesso. È valutato esattamente, escluse le cose di poco conto. Dov’è Seleuco?
(didascalia)	Entra Seleuco
SELEUCO	Qui, madama.
CLEOPATRA	(a Cesare) Questo è il mio tesoriere. Che parli, mio signore, a suo rischio, e dica che non ho riservato nulla per me. Di’ la verità, Seleuco.
SELEUCO	Madama, preferirei sigillarmi le labbra piuttosto che dire a mio rischio ciò che non è.
CLEOPATRA	Che cosa ho trattenuto?
SELEUCO	Abbastanza da comprare quanto avete dichiarato.
CESARE	Su, non arrossite, Cleopatra. Approvo la vostra saggezza in questo.
CLEOPATRA	Vedete, Cesare! Oh, guardate come si segue la pompa! I miei ora saranno vostri, e se scambiassimo condizione, i vostri sarebbero miei. L’ingratitudine di questo Seleuco mi fa proprio infuriare.—O schiavo, di non più fede d’un amore prezzolato! Come, indietreggi? Tu indietreggerai, te l’assicuro; ma acchiapperò i tuoi occhi anche se avessero le ali. Schiavo, scellerato senz’anima, cane! Oh, di rara bassezza!
CESARE	Buona Regina, lasciate che vi preghiamo.
CLEOPATRA	O Cesare, che vergogna ferisce in questo, che tu, degnandoti qui di visitarmi, facendo l’onore della tua signoria a una così mite—che il mio stesso servo debba accrescere la somma delle mie disgrazie con l’aggiunta della sua invidia. Poniamo, buon Cesare, ch’io abbia riservato qualche inezia femminile, ninnoli senza peso, cose di quella dignità con cui salutiamo gli amici d’oggi; e poniamo ch’io abbia messo da parte qualche dono più nobile per Livia e Ottavia, per indurne la mediazione—devo essere smascherata da uno che ho allevato? O dèi! Mi abbatte ancora più giù della caduta che ho subito. (A Seleuco) Ti prego, vattene, o mostrerò le braci dei miei spiriti attraverso le ceneri della mia sorte. Se tu fossi un uomo avresti pietà di me.
CESARE	Ritirati, Seleuco.
(didascalia)	Esce Seleuco
CLEOPATRA	Si sappia che noi, i più grandi, siamo giudicati male per cose che fanno altri; e quando cadiamo rispondiamo in nome nostro dei meriti altrui, e perciò siamo da compiangere.
CESARE	Cleopatra, né ciò che avete riservato né ciò che avete dichiarato mettiamo nel registro della conquista. Resti pur vostro. Disponetene a vostro piacere, e credete che Cesare non è un mercante, per contrattare con voi cose che i mercanti vendono. Perciò rallegratevi. Non fate dei vostri pensieri le vostre prigioni. No, cara Regina; ché intendiamo disporre di voi come voi stessa ci consiglierete. Nutritevi e dormite. La nostra cura e la nostra pietà sono tanto rivolte a voi che restiamo vostro amico; e così addio.
CLEOPATRA	Mio padrone e mio signore!
CESARE	Non è così. Addio.
(didascalia)	Squilli di trombe. Escono Cesare e il suo seguito
CLEOPATRA	Mi imbroglia con le parole, ragazze, mi imbroglia, perché io non sia nobile verso me stessa. Ma ascolta, Carmiana. Bisbiglia a Carmiana
IRAS	Finite, buona signora. Il giorno luminoso è finito, e noi siamo per il buio.
CLEOPATRA	(a Carmiana) Affrettati di nuovo. Ho già parlato, ed è tutto predisposto. Va’ e fa’ presto.
CARMIANA	Madama, lo farò.
(didascalia)	Entra Dolabella
DOLABELLA	Dov’è la Regina?
CARMIANA	Eccola, signore.
(didascalia)	Esce
CLEOPATRA	Dolabella!
DOLABELLA	Madama, essendovi vincolato dal vostro comando— al quale il mio amore fa religione d’obbedire— vi dico questo: Cesare intende il suo viaggio attraverso la Siria, e entro tre giorni manderà avanti voi e i vostri figli. Fatene il miglior uso. Ho eseguito il vostro desiderio e la mia promessa.
CLEOPATRA	Dolabella, resterò vostra debitrice.
DOLABELLA	E io vostro servo. Addio, buona Regina. Devo attendere a Cesare.
CLEOPATRA	Addio, e grazie.
(didascalia)	Esce Dolabella
CLEOPATRA	Ora, Iras, che ne pensi? Tu, marionetta egiziana, sarai mostrata a Roma proprio come me. Schiavi meccanici con grembiuli unti, righelli e martelli ci solleveranno alla vista. Nel loro fiato denso, rancido di cibo grossolano, saremo avvolte come in una nube, e costrette a bere il loro vapore.
IRAS	Gli dèi non voglia!
CLEOPATRA	No, è certissimo, Iras. Littori insolenti ci agguanteranno come sgualdrine, e rimatori scabbiosi ci canteranno in ballate stonate. I pronti commedianti ci metteranno in scena all’improvviso, e rappresenteranno le nostre orge alessandrine. Antonio sarà portato in scena ubriaco, e io vedrò qualche Cleopatra stridula da ragazzo fare la mia grandezza nella posa d’una puttana.
IRAS	Oh, buoni dèi!
CLEOPATRA	No, questo è certo.
IRAS	Non lo vedrò mai! Ché sono sicura che le mie unghie sono più forti dei miei occhi.
CLEOPATRA	Ebbene, questa è la via per beffare i loro preparativi e vincere i loro assurdissimi disegni.
(didascalia)	Entra Carmiana
CLEOPATRA	Ora, Carmiana! Vestitemi, mie donne, da regina. Andate a prendere le mie vesti migliori. Vado di nuovo al Cidno a incontrare Marco Antonio. Ehi, Iras, va’. Ora, nobile Carmiana, sbrigheremo davvero, e quando avrai fatto questa faccenda ti darò licenza di giocare fino al giorno del giudizio.—Portate la nostra corona e tutto.
(didascalia)	Esce Iras
(didascalia)	Rumore all’interno
CLEOPATRA	Che rumore è questo?
(didascalia)	Entra una Guardia
GUARDIA	C’è qui un tale di campagna che non accetta di non essere ammesso alla presenza di vostra altezza. Vi porta dei fichi.
CLEOPATRA	Fallo entrare.
(didascalia)	Esce la Guardia
CLEOPATRA	Che povero strumento può compiere una nobile impresa! Egli mi porta la libertà. La mia risoluzione è fissa, e non ho più nulla di donna in me. Ora dal capo ai piedi sono costante come il marmo. Ora la luna fuggevole non è più un pianeta mio.
(didascalia)	Entrano la Guardia e un Villano con un cesto
GUARDIA	Questo è l’uomo.
CLEOPATRA	Allontanati, e lascialo qui.
(didascalia)	Esce la Guardia
CLEOPATRA	Hai lì il grazioso vermiciattolo del Nilo, che uccide e non fa soffrire?
VILLANO	Davvero, ce l’ho; ma non vorrei essere io a invitarvi a toccarlo, ché il suo morso è immortale; quelli che ne muoiono di rado o mai si riprendono.
CLEOPATRA	Ricordi qualcuno che ne sia morto?
VILLANO	Moltissimi, uomini, e anche donne. Di una di loro ho sentito non più tardi di ieri, una donna assai onesta, ma un po’ incline a mentire, come una donna non dovrebbe fare se non per via d’onestà, di come morì del suo morso, e che dolore provò. Davvero, ne fa un ottimo resoconto, del vermiciattolo; ma chi crederà tutto quello che dicono non sarà salvato dalla metà di quel che fanno; però questo è fallibilissimo: il vermiciattolo è un verme strano.
CLEOPATRA	Vattene, addio.
VILLANO	Vi auguro ogni gioia dal vermiciattolo. CLEOPATRA Addio.
VILLANO	Dovete pensare, vedete, che il vermiciattolo farà secondo la sua natura.
CLEOPATRA	Sì, sì; addio.
VILLANO	Vedete, del vermiciattolo non ci si può fidare se non in custodia di gente saggia; ché in verità non c’è alcuna bontà nel vermiciattolo.
CLEOPATRA	Non darti pensiero; ci si baderà.
VILLANO	Benissimo. Non dategli nulla, ve ne prego, ché non vale la spesa di nutrirlo.
CLEOPATRA	Mi mangerà?
VILLANO	Non dovete credermi così sciocco da non sapere che il diavolo stesso non mangerebbe una donna; so che una donna è un piatto per gli dèi, se il diavolo non la cucina. Ma in verità, questi stessi diavoli bastardi fanno gran danno agli dèi nelle loro donne; ché di ogni dieci che essi fanno, i diavoli ne guastano cinque.
CLEOPATRA	Bene, vattene, addio.
VILLANO	Sì, in fede mia. Vi auguro gioia dal vermiciattolo.
(didascalia)	Esce, lasciando il cesto
(didascalia)	Entra Iras con una veste, la corona e altri gioielli
CLEOPATRA	Datemi la mia veste. Mettetemi la corona. Ho in me brame immortali. Ora mai più il succo dell’uva d’Egitto bagnerà questo labbro. Carmiana e Iras l’aiutano a vestirsi Presto, presto, buona Iras, svelta—mi pare d’udire Antonio che chiama. Lo vedo levarsi a lodare il mio nobile atto. Lo odo schernire la fortuna di Cesare, che gli dèi danno agli uomini per giustificare la loro ira futura. Sposo, vengo. Ora il mio coraggio provi il mio diritto a quel nome. Sono fuoco e aria; gli altri miei elementi li do a più bassa vita. Dunque, avete finito? Venite allora, e prendete l’ultimo tepore delle mie labbra. Le bacia Addio, buona Carmiana. Iras, lungo addio. Iras cade e muore Ho l’aspide nelle labbra? Cadi? Se tu e la natura potete separarvi così dolcemente, il colpo della morte è come il pizzicotto d’un amante, che fa male ed è desiderato. Giaci immobile? Se così svanisci, dici al mondo che non merita commiato.
CARMIANA	Sciogliti, densa nube, e piovi, perch’io possa dire che gli dèi stessi piangono.
CLEOPATRA	Questo mi dimostra vile. Se ella incontra per prima l’Antonio dai riccioli egli le farà domande, e spenderà quel bacio che è il mio cielo avere. Prende un aspide dal cesto e se lo pone al seno Vieni, tu mortale miserabile, coi tuoi denti aguzzi sciogli d’un colpo questo intricato nodo di vita. Povero sciocco velenoso, adirati, e sbrigati. Oh, potessi tu parlare, perch’io t’udissi chiamare il gran Cesare asino senza accortezza!
CARMIANA	O stella d’oriente!
CLEOPATRA	Taci, taci. Non vedi il mio bimbo al mio seno, che succhiando addormenta la nutrice?
CARMIANA	Oh, spezzati! Oh, spezzati!
CLEOPATRA	Dolce come balsamo, soffice come aria, così mite. O Antonio! Si pone un altro aspide sul braccio Sì, prenderò anche te. Perché dovrei restare— Muore
CARMIANA	in questo vile mondo? Dunque, sta’ bene. Ora vàntati, morte, nel tuo possesso giace una fanciulla senza pari. Finestre piumate, chiudetevi, e il dorato Febo non sia mai più contemplato da occhi così regali. La vostra corona è storta. La raddrizzerò, e poi giocherò—
(didascalia)	Entra la Guardia, irrompendo
PRIMA GUARDIA	Dov’è la Regina?
CARMIANA	Parla piano. Non svegliarla.
PRIMA GUARDIA	Cesare ha mandato—
CARMIANA	Un messaggero troppo lento. Si applica un aspide Oh vieni presto, sbrigati! In parte ti sento.
PRIMA GUARDIA	Avvicinatevi, ehi! Non va tutto bene. Cesare è stato beffato.
SECONDA GUARDIA	C’è Dolabella mandato da Cesare. Chiamatelo.
(didascalia)	Esce una Guardia
PRIMA GUARDIA	Che lavoro è questo, Carmiana? È ben fatto?
CARMIANA	È ben fatto, e si conviene a una principessa discesa da tanti re regali. Ah, soldato! Muore
(didascalia)	Entra
CARMIANA	Dolabella
DOLABELLA	Come va qui?
SECONDA GUARDIA	Tutte morte.
DOLABELLA	Cesare, i tuoi pensieri toccano in questo i loro effetti. Tu stesso stai venendo a vedere compiuto l’atto temuto che tanto cercasti d’impedire.
TUTTI	Largo là, largo per Cesare!
(didascalia)	Entrano Cesare e tutto il suo seguito, in marcia
DOLABELLA	(a Cesare) O signore, siete un augure troppo sicuro. Ciò che temevate è avvenuto.
CESARE	Bravissima all’ultimo, ella intuì i nostri disegni e, essendo regale, prese la sua via. In che modo sono morte? Non le vedo sanguinare.
DOLABELLA	(a una Guardia) Chi fu l’ultimo con loro?
PRIMA GUARDIA	Un semplice campagnolo che le portò dei fichi. Questo era il suo cesto.
CESARE	Avvelenate, dunque.
PRIMA GUARDIA	O Cesare, questa Carmiana era viva or ora; stava in piedi e parlava. La trovai che raddrizzava il diadema sulla sua morta padrona; tremando stava in piedi, e all’improvviso cadde.
CESARE	Oh, nobile debolezza! Se avessero inghiottito veleno, apparirebbe da un gonfiore esterno; ma ella pare in sonno, come se volesse prendere un altro Antonio nella sua forte rete di grazia.
DOLABELLA	Qui sul suo seno c’è uno sbocco di sangue, e qualcosa di gonfio. Lo stesso è sul suo braccio.
PRIMA GUARDIA	Questa è la traccia d’un aspide, e queste foglie di fico hanno sopra una bava simile a quella che l’aspide lascia sulle grotte del Nilo.
CESARE	Probabilissimo che così sia morta; ché il suo medico mi dice ch’ella ha tentato prove infinite di vie facili per morire. Sollevate il suo letto, e portate le sue donne fuori dal monumento. Sarà sepolta accanto al suo Antonio. Nessuna tomba sulla terra racchiuderà in sé una coppia così famosa. Alti eventi come questi colpiscono coloro che li compiono, e la loro storia non è meno degna di pietà di quanto sia gloriosa quella di chi li ha resi degni di lamento. Il nostro esercito assisterà in solenne parata a questo funerale, e poi a Roma. Vieni, Dolabella, provvedi ad alto ordine in questa grande solennità.
(didascalia)	Escono tutti, i soldati portando Cleopatra sul suo letto, Carmiana e Iras