Antony and Cleopatra. Act IV. Scene X. William Shakespeare. 1914. The Oxford Shakespeare

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William Shakespeare (1564–1616). The Oxford Shakespeare. 1914.

Antony and Cleopatra

Act IV. Scene X.


Between the two Camps.

Enter ANTONY and SCARUS, with Forces, marching.
Ant. Their preparation is to-day by sea;
We please them not by land.
Scar. For both, my lord.	5
Ant. I would they’d fight i’ the fire or i’ the 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,	10
Where their appointment we may best discover
And look on their endeavour. [Exeunt.

Enter CÆSAR, and his Forces, marching.
Cæs. But being charg’d, we will be still by land,
Which, as I take ’t, we shall; for his best force	15
Is forth to man his galleys. To the vales,
And hold our best advantage! [Exeunt.

Re-enter ANTONY and SCARUS.
Ant. Yet they are not join’d. Where yond pine does stand
I shall discover all; I’ll bring thee word	20
Straight how ’tis like to go. [Exit.
Scar. Swallows have built
In Cleopatra’s sails their nests; the augurers
Say they know not, they cannot tell; look grimly,
And dare not speak their knowledge. Antony	25
Is valiant, and dejected; and, by starts,
His fretted fortunes give him hope and fear
Of what he has and has not. [Alarum afar off, as at a sea-fight.

Re-enter ANTONY.
Ant. All is lost!	30
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-turn’d whore! ’tis thou
Hast sold me to this novice, and my heart	35
Makes only wars on thee. Bid them all fly;
For when I am reveng’d upon my charm,
I have done all. Bid them all fly; be gone. [Exit SCARUS.
O sun! thy uprise shall I see no more;
Fortune and Antony part here; even here	40
Do we shake hands. All come to this? The hearts
That spaniel’d me at heels, to whom I gave
Their wishes, do discandy, melt their sweets
On blossoming Cæsar; and this pine is bark’d,
That overtopp’d them all. Betray’d I am.	45
O this false soul of Egypt! this grave charm,
Whose eyes beck’d forth my wars, and call’d them home,
Whose bosom was my crownet, my chief end,
Like a right gipsy, hath, at fast and loose,
Beguil’d me to the very heart of loss.	50
What, Eros! Eros!

Enter CLEOPATRA.
Ah! thou spell. Avaunt!
Cleo. Why is my lord enrag’d against his love?
Ant. Vanish, or I shall give thee thy deserving,	55
And blemish Cæsar’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 doits; and let	60
Patient Octavia plough thy visage up
With her prepared nails. [Exit CLEOPATRA.
’Tis well thou’rt gone,
If it be well to live; but better ’twere
Thou fell’st into my fury, for one death	65
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’ the moon;
And with those hands, that grasp’d the heaviest club,	70
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! [Exit.

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