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Enter ENOBARBUS and LEPIDUS
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Enter ENOBARBUS and LEPIDUS
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LEPIDUS Good Enobarbus, ’tis a worthy deed,
And shall become you well, to entreat your captain
To soft and gentle speech.
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LEPIDUS Good Enobarbus, ’tis a worthy deed,
And shall become you well, to entreat your captain
To soft and gentle speech.
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ENOBARBUS I shall entreat him
To answer like himself. If Caesar move him,
5 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.
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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.
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LEPIDUS ’Tis not a time for private stomaching.
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LEPIDUS ’Tis not a time for private stomaching.
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ENOBARBUS |
ENOBARBUS |
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LEPIDUS But small to greater matters must give way.
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LEPIDUS But small to greater matters must give way.
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ENOBARBUS Not if the small come first.
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ENOBARBUS Not if the small come first.
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LEPIDUS Your speech is passion. But pray you stir
No embers up. Here comes the noble Antony.
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LEPIDUS Your speech is passion. But pray you stir
No embers up. Here comes the noble Antony.
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Enter ANTONY and VENTIDIUS
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Enter ANTONY and VENTIDIUS
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ENOBARBUS 15 And yonder, Caesar.
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ENOBARBUS And yonder, Caesar.
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Enter OCTAVIUS CAESAR , MECAENAS , and AGRIPPA
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Enter OCTAVIUS CAESAR , MECAENAS , and AGRIPPA
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ANTONY (to VENTIDIUS) If we compose well here, to Parthia.
Hark, Ventidius.
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ANTONY (to VENTIDIUS) If we compose well here, to Parthia.
Hark, Ventidius.
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They talk aside
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They talk aside
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CAESAR (to MECAENAS) I do not know, Maecenas. Ask Agrippa.
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CAESAR (to MECAENAS) I do not know, Maecenas. Ask Agrippa.
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LEPIDUS (to CAESAR and ANTONY)
Noble friends, 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,
25 The rather for I earnestly beseech,
Touch you the sourest points with sweetest terms,
Nor curstness grow to th’ matter.
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LEPIDUS (to CAESAR and ANTONY)
Noble friends, 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.
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ANTONY ’Tis spoken well.
Were we before our armies, and to fight,
I should do thus.
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ANTONY ’Tis spoken well.
Were we before our armies, and to fight,
I should do thus.
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Flourish
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Flourish
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CAESAR 30 Welcome to Rome.
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CAESAR Welcome to Rome.
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ANTONY Thank you.
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ANTONY Thank you.
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CAESAR Sit.
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CAESAR Sit.
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ANTONY Sit, sir.
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ANTONY Sit, sir.
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CAESAR Nay, then.
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CAESAR Nay, then.
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They sit
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They sit
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ANTONY 35 I learn, you take things ill which are not so,
Or being, concern you not.
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ANTONY I learn, you take things ill which are not so,
Or being, concern you not.
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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
It not concerned me.
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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
It not concerned me.
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ANTONY My being in Egypt, Caesar, what was ’t to you?
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ANTONY My being in Egypt, Caesar, what was ’t to you?
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CAESAR No more than my residing here at Rome
Might be to you in Egypt. Yet if you there
45 Did practice on my state, your being in Egypt
Might be my question.
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CAESAR No more than my residing here at Rome
Might be to you in Egypt. Yet if you there
Did practice on my state, your being in Egypt
Might be my question.
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ANTONY How intend you, “practiced”?
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ANTONY How intend you, “practiced”?
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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
50 Was theme for you. You were the word of war.
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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.
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ANTONY You do mistake your business. My brother never
Did urge me in his act. I did inquire it,
And have my learning from some true reports
That drew their swords with you. Did he not rather
55 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,
60 It must not be with this.
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ANTONY You do mistake your business. My brother never
Did urge me in his act. I did inquire 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.
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CAESAR You praise yourself
By laying defects of judgment to me, but
You patched up your excuses.
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CAESAR You praise yourself
By laying defects of judgment to me, but
You patched up your excuses.
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ANTONY Not so, not so.
I know you could not lack, I am certain on ’t,
Very necessity of this thought, that I,
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
70 You may pace easy, but not such a wife.
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ANTONY Not so, not so.
I know you could not lack, I am certain on ’t,
Very necessity of this thought, that I,
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.
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ENOBARBUS Would we had all such wives, that the men might go to wars with the women!
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ENOBARBUS Would we had all such wives, that the men might go to wars with the women!
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ANTONY So much uncurbable, her garboils, Caesar,
Made out of her impatience—which not wanted
75 Shrewdness of policy too—I grieving grant
Did you too much disquiet. For that you must
But say I could not help it.
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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.
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CAESAR I wrote to you
When rioting in Alexandria. You
Did pocket up my letters and with taunts
80 Did gibe my missive out of audience.
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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.
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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
85 As to have asked him pardon. Let this fellow
Be nothing of our strife. If we contend,
Out of our question wipe him.
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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.
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CAESAR You have broken
The article of your oath, which you shall never
Have tongue to charge me with.
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CAESAR You have broken
The article of your oath, which you shall never
Have tongue to charge me with.
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LEPIDUS 90 Soft, Caesar.
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LEPIDUS Soft, Caesar.
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ANTONY No, Lepidus, let him speak.
The honor is sacred which he talks on now,
Supposing that I lacked it.—But, on, Caesar.
The article of my oath?
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ANTONY No, Lepidus, let him speak.
The honor is sacred which he talks on now,
Supposing that I lacked it.—But, on, Caesar.
The article of my oath?
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CAESAR 95 To lend me arms and aid when I required them,
The which you both denied.
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CAESAR To lend me arms and aid when I required them,
The which you both denied.
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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
100 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 honor
105 To stoop in such a case.
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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 honor
To stoop in such a case.
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LEPIDUS ’Tis noble spoken.
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LEPIDUS ’Tis noble spoken.
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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.
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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.
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LEPIDUS Worthily spoken, Maecenas.
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LEPIDUS Worthily spoken, Maecenas.
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ENOBARBUS |
ENOBARBUS |
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ANTONY Thou art a soldier only. Speak no more.
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ANTONY Thou art a soldier only. Speak no more.
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ENOBARBUS |
ENOBARBUS |
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ANTONY You wrong this presence. Therefore speak no more.
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ANTONY You wrong this presence. Therefore speak no more.
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ENOBARBUS Go to, then. Your considerate stone.
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ENOBARBUS Go to, then. Your considerate stone.
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CAESAR I do not much dislike the matter, but
The manner of his speech, for ’t cannot be
120 We shall remain in friendship, our conditions
So diff’ring in their acts. Yet if I knew
What hoop should hold us stanch, from edge to edge
O’ th’ world I would pursue it.
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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 stanch, from edge to edge
O’ th’ world I would pursue it.
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AGRIPPA Give me leave, Caesar.
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AGRIPPA Give me leave, Caesar.
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CAESAR 125 Speak, Agrippa.
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CAESAR Speak, Agrippa.
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AGRIPPA Thou hast a sister by the mother’s side,
Admired Octavia. Great Mark Antony
Is now a widower.
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AGRIPPA Thou hast a sister by the mother’s side,
Admired Octavia. Great Mark Antony
Is now a widower.
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CAESAR Say not so, Agrippa.
If Cleopatra heard you, your reproof
130 Were well deserved of rashness.
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CAESAR Say not so, Agrippa.
If Cleopatra heard you, your reproof
Were well deserved of rashness.
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ANTONY I am not married, Caesar. Let me hear
Agrippa further speak.
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ANTONY I am not married, Caesar. Let me hear
Agrippa further speak.
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AGRIPPA To hold you in perpetual amity,
To make you brothers, and to knit your hearts
135 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,
140 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
145 Draw after her. Pardon what I have spoke,
For ’tis a studied, not a present thought,
By duty ruminated.
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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.
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ANTONY Will Caesar speak?
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ANTONY Will Caesar speak?
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CAESAR Not till he hears how Antony is touched
With what is spoke already.
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CAESAR Not till he hears how Antony is touched
With what is spoke already.
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ANTONY 150 What power is in Agrippa
If I would say, “Agrippa, be it so,”
To make this good?
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ANTONY What power is in Agrippa
If I would say, “Agrippa, be it so,”
To make this good?
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CAESAR The power of Caesar, and
His power unto Octavia.
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CAESAR The power of Caesar, and
His power unto Octavia.
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ANTONY May I never
To this good purpose, that so fairly shows,
155 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!
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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!
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CAESAR There’s my hand.
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CAESAR There’s my hand.
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They clasp hands
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They clasp hands
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A sister I bequeath you whom no brother
160 Did ever love so dearly. Let her live
To join our kingdoms and our hearts, and never
Fly off our loves again!
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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!
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LEPIDUS Happily, amen!
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LEPIDUS Happily, amen!
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ANTONY I did not think to draw my sword ’gainst Pompey,
For he hath laid strange courtesies and great
165 Of late upon me. I must thank him only,
Lest my remembrance suffer ill report;
At heel of that, defy him.
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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.
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LEPIDUS Time calls upon ’s.
Of us must Pompey presently be sought,
Or else he seeks out us.
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LEPIDUS Time calls upon ’s.
Of us must Pompey presently be sought,
Or else he seeks out us.
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ANTONY 170 Where lies he?
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ANTONY Where lies he?
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CAESAR About the Mount Misena.
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CAESAR About the Mount Misena.
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ANTONY What is his strength by land?
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ANTONY What is his strength by land?
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CAESAR Great and increasing.
But by sea he is an absolute master.
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CAESAR Great and increasing.
But by sea he is an absolute master.
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ANTONY 175 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.
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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.
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CAESAR With most gladness,
And do invite you to my sister’s view,
180 Whither straight I’ll lead you.
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CAESAR With most gladness,
And do invite you to my sister’s view,
Whither straight I’ll lead you.
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ANTONY Let us, Lepidus, not lack your company.
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ANTONY Let us, Lepidus, not lack your company.
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LEPIDUS Noble Antony, not sickness should detain me.
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LEPIDUS Noble Antony, not sickness should detain me.
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Flourish. Exeunt all but ENOBARBUS , AGRIPPA , and MAECENAS
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Flourish. Exeunt all but ENOBARBUS , AGRIPPA , and MAECENAS
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MAECENAS (to ENOBARBUS) Welcome from Egypt, sir.
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MAECENAS (to ENOBARBUS) Welcome from Egypt, sir.
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ENOBARBUS Half the heart of Caesar, worthy Maecenas! My honorable friend, Agrippa.
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ENOBARBUS Half the heart of Caesar, worthy Maecenas! My honorable friend, Agrippa.
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AGRIPPA Good Enobarbus!
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AGRIPPA Good Enobarbus!
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MAECENAS We have cause to be glad that matters are so well digested.
You stayed well by ’t in Egypt.
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MAECENAS We have cause to be glad that matters are so well digested.
You stayed well by ’t in Egypt.
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ENOBARBUS Ay, sir, we did sleep day out of countenance and made the night light with drinking.
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ENOBARBUS Ay, sir, we did sleep day out of countenance and made the night light with drinking.
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MAECENAS Eight wild boars roasted whole at a breakfast—and but twelve persons there! Is this true?
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MAECENAS Eight wild boars roasted whole at a breakfast—and but twelve persons there! Is this true?
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ENOBARBUS This was but as a fly by an eagle. We had much more monstrous matter of feast, which worthily deserved noting.
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ENOBARBUS This was but as a fly by an eagle. We had much more monstrous matter of feast, which worthily deserved noting.
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MAECENAS She’s a most triumphant lady, if report be square to her.
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MAECENAS She’s a most triumphant lady, if report be square to her.
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ENOBARBUS When she first met Mark Antony, she pursed up his heart upon the river of Cydnus.
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ENOBARBUS When she first met Mark Antony, she pursed up his heart upon the river of Cydnus.
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AGRIPPA There she appeared indeed, or my reporter devised well for her.
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AGRIPPA There she appeared indeed, or my reporter devised well for her.
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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 perfumèd that
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
210 In her pavilion—cloth-of-gold, of tissue—
O’erpicturing that Venus where we see
The fancy outwork nature. On each side her
Stood pretty dimpled boys, like smiling Cupids,
With divers-colored fans, whose wind did seem
And what they undid did.
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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 perfumèd that
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’erpicturing that Venus where we see
The fancy outwork nature. On each side her
Stood pretty dimpled boys, like smiling Cupids,
With divers-colored fans, whose wind did seem
And what they undid did.
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AGRIPPA Oh, rare for Antony!
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AGRIPPA Oh, rare for Antony!
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ENOBARBUS Her gentlewomen, like the Nereides,
So many mermaids, tended her i’ th’ eyes,
And made their bends adornings. At the helm
220 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
225 Her people out upon her, and Antony,
Enthroned i’ th’ marketplace, did sit alone,
Whistling to th’ air, which, but for vacancy,
Had gone to gaze on Cleopatra too
And made a gap in nature.
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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’ marketplace, did sit alone,
Whistling to th’ air, which, but for vacancy,
Had gone to gaze on Cleopatra too
And made a gap in nature.
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AGRIPPA Rare Egyptian!
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AGRIPPA Rare Egyptian!
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ENOBARBUS 230 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,
And for his ordinary pays his heart
For what his eyes eat only.
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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,
And for his ordinary pays his heart
For what his eyes eat only.
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AGRIPPA Royal wench!
She made great Caesar lay his sword to bed.
He plowed her, and she cropped.
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AGRIPPA Royal wench!
She made great Caesar lay his sword to bed.
He plowed her, and she cropped.
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ENOBARBUS I saw her once
240 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 breathe forth.
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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 breathe forth.
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MAECENAS Now Antony must leave her utterly.
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MAECENAS Now Antony must leave her utterly.
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ENOBARBUS 245 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
Bless her when she is riggish.
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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
Bless her when she is riggish.
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MAECENAS If beauty, wisdom, modesty, can settle
The heart of Antony, Octavia is
A blessèd lottery to him.
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MAECENAS If beauty, wisdom, modesty, can settle
The heart of Antony, Octavia is
A blessèd lottery to him.
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AGRIPPA Let us go.
255 Good Enobarbus, make yourself my guest
Whilst you abide here.
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AGRIPPA Let us go.
Good Enobarbus, make yourself my guest
Whilst you abide here.
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ENOBARBUS Humbly, sir, I thank you.
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ENOBARBUS Humbly, sir, I thank you.
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| Exeunt | Exeunt |
Original Text |
Modern Text |
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Enter ENOBARBUS and LEPIDUS
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Enter ENOBARBUS and LEPIDUS
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LEPIDUS Good Enobarbus, ’tis a worthy deed,
And shall become you well, to entreat your captain
To soft and gentle speech.
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LEPIDUS Good Enobarbus, ’tis a worthy deed,
And shall become you well, to entreat your captain
To soft and gentle speech.
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ENOBARBUS I shall entreat him
To answer like himself. If Caesar move him,
5 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.
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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.
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LEPIDUS ’Tis not a time for private stomaching.
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LEPIDUS ’Tis not a time for private stomaching.
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ENOBARBUS |
ENOBARBUS |
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LEPIDUS But small to greater matters must give way.
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LEPIDUS But small to greater matters must give way.
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ENOBARBUS Not if the small come first.
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ENOBARBUS Not if the small come first.
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LEPIDUS Your speech is passion. But pray you stir
No embers up. Here comes the noble Antony.
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LEPIDUS Your speech is passion. But pray you stir
No embers up. Here comes the noble Antony.
|
|
Enter ANTONY and VENTIDIUS
|
Enter ANTONY and VENTIDIUS
|
|
ENOBARBUS 15 And yonder, Caesar.
|
ENOBARBUS And yonder, Caesar.
|
|
Enter OCTAVIUS CAESAR , MECAENAS , and AGRIPPA
|
Enter OCTAVIUS CAESAR , MECAENAS , and AGRIPPA
|
|
ANTONY (to VENTIDIUS) If we compose well here, to Parthia.
Hark, Ventidius.
|
ANTONY (to VENTIDIUS) If we compose well here, to Parthia.
Hark, Ventidius.
|
|
They talk aside
|
They talk aside
|
|
CAESAR (to MECAENAS) I do not know, Maecenas. Ask Agrippa.
|
CAESAR (to MECAENAS) I do not know, Maecenas. Ask Agrippa.
|
|
LEPIDUS (to CAESAR and ANTONY)
Noble friends, 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,
25 The rather for I earnestly beseech,
Touch you the sourest points with sweetest terms,
Nor curstness grow to th’ matter.
|
LEPIDUS (to CAESAR and ANTONY)
Noble friends, 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.
|
ANTONY ’Tis spoken well.
Were we before our armies, and to fight,
I should do thus.
|
|
Flourish
|
Flourish
|
|
CAESAR 30 Welcome to Rome.
|
CAESAR Welcome to Rome.
|
|
ANTONY Thank you.
|
ANTONY Thank you.
|
|
CAESAR Sit.
|
CAESAR Sit.
|
|
ANTONY Sit, sir.
|
ANTONY Sit, sir.
|
|
CAESAR Nay, then.
|
CAESAR Nay, then.
|
|
They sit
|
They sit
|
|
ANTONY 35 I learn, you take things ill which are not so,
Or being, concern you not.
|
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
It not concerned me.
|
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
It not concerned me.
|
|
ANTONY My being in Egypt, Caesar, what was ’t to you?
|
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
45 Did practice on my state, your being in Egypt
Might be my question.
|
CAESAR No more than my residing here at Rome
Might be to you in Egypt. Yet if you there
Did practice on my state, your being in Egypt
Might be my question.
|
|
ANTONY How intend you, “practiced”?
|
ANTONY How intend you, “practiced”?
|
|
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
50 Was theme for you. You were the word of war.
|
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 your business. My brother never
Did urge me in his act. I did inquire it,
And have my learning from some true reports
That drew their swords with you. Did he not rather
55 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,
60 It must not be with this.
|
ANTONY You do mistake your business. My brother never
Did urge me in his act. I did inquire 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 judgment to me, but
You patched up your excuses.
|
CAESAR You praise yourself
By laying defects of judgment 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,
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
70 You may pace easy, but not such a wife.
|
ANTONY Not so, not so.
I know you could not lack, I am certain on ’t,
Very necessity of this thought, that I,
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!
|
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
75 Shrewdness of policy too—I grieving grant
Did you too much disquiet. For that you must
But say I could not help it.
|
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
80 Did gibe my missive out of audience.
|
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
85 As to have asked him pardon. Let this fellow
Be nothing of our strife. If we contend,
Out of our question wipe him.
|
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.
|
CAESAR You have broken
The article of your oath, which you shall never
Have tongue to charge me with.
|
|
LEPIDUS 90 Soft, Caesar.
|
LEPIDUS Soft, Caesar.
|
|
ANTONY No, Lepidus, let him speak.
The honor is sacred which he talks on now,
Supposing that I lacked it.—But, on, Caesar.
The article of my oath?
|
ANTONY No, Lepidus, let him speak.
The honor is sacred which he talks on now,
Supposing that I lacked it.—But, on, Caesar.
The article of my oath?
|
|
CAESAR 95 To lend me arms and aid when I required them,
The which you both denied.
|
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
100 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 honor
105 To stoop in such a case.
|
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 honor
To stoop in such a case.
|
|
LEPIDUS ’Tis noble spoken.
|
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.
|
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.
|
LEPIDUS Worthily spoken, Maecenas.
|
|
ENOBARBUS |
ENOBARBUS |
|
ANTONY Thou art a soldier only. Speak no more.
|
ANTONY Thou art a soldier only. Speak no more.
|
|
ENOBARBUS |
ENOBARBUS |
|
ANTONY You wrong this presence. Therefore speak no more.
|
ANTONY You wrong this presence. Therefore speak no more.
|
|
ENOBARBUS Go to, then. Your considerate stone.
|
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
120 We shall remain in friendship, our conditions
So diff’ring in their acts. Yet if I knew
What hoop should hold us stanch, from edge to edge
O’ th’ world I would pursue it.
|
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 stanch, from edge to edge
O’ th’ world I would pursue it.
|
|
AGRIPPA Give me leave, Caesar.
|
AGRIPPA Give me leave, Caesar.
|
|
CAESAR 125 Speak, Agrippa.
|
CAESAR Speak, Agrippa.
|
|
AGRIPPA Thou hast a sister by the mother’s side,
Admired Octavia. Great Mark Antony
Is now a widower.
|
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
130 Were well deserved of rashness.
|
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.
|
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
135 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,
140 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
145 Draw after her. Pardon what I have spoke,
For ’tis a studied, not a present thought,
By duty ruminated.
|
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?
|
ANTONY Will Caesar speak?
|
|
CAESAR Not till he hears how Antony is touched
With what is spoke already.
|
CAESAR Not till he hears how Antony is touched
With what is spoke already.
|
|
ANTONY 150 What power is in Agrippa
If I would say, “Agrippa, be it so,”
To make this good?
|
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.
|
CAESAR The power of Caesar, and
His power unto Octavia.
|
|
ANTONY May I never
To this good purpose, that so fairly shows,
155 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!
|
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.
|
CAESAR There’s my hand.
|
|
They clasp hands
|
They clasp hands
|
|
A sister I bequeath you whom no brother
160 Did ever love so dearly. Let her live
To join our kingdoms and our hearts, and never
Fly off our loves again!
|
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!
|
LEPIDUS Happily, amen!
|
|
ANTONY I did not think to draw my sword ’gainst Pompey,
For he hath laid strange courtesies and great
165 Of late upon me. I must thank him only,
Lest my remembrance suffer ill report;
At heel of that, defy him.
|
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.
|
LEPIDUS Time calls upon ’s.
Of us must Pompey presently be sought,
Or else he seeks out us.
|
|
ANTONY 170 Where lies he?
|
ANTONY Where lies he?
|
|
CAESAR About the Mount Misena.
|
CAESAR About the Mount Misena.
|
|
ANTONY What is his strength by land?
|
ANTONY What is his strength by land?
|
|
CAESAR Great and increasing.
But by sea he is an absolute master.
|
CAESAR Great and increasing.
But by sea he is an absolute master.
|
|
ANTONY 175 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.
|
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,
180 Whither straight I’ll lead you.
|
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.
|
ANTONY Let us, Lepidus, not lack your company.
|
|
LEPIDUS Noble Antony, not sickness should detain me.
|
LEPIDUS Noble Antony, not sickness should detain me.
|
|
Flourish. Exeunt all but ENOBARBUS , AGRIPPA , and MAECENAS
|
Flourish. Exeunt all but ENOBARBUS , AGRIPPA , and MAECENAS
|
|
MAECENAS (to ENOBARBUS) Welcome from Egypt, sir.
|
MAECENAS (to ENOBARBUS) Welcome from Egypt, sir.
|
|
ENOBARBUS Half the heart of Caesar, worthy Maecenas! My honorable friend, Agrippa.
|
ENOBARBUS Half the heart of Caesar, worthy Maecenas! My honorable friend, Agrippa.
|
|
AGRIPPA Good Enobarbus!
|
AGRIPPA Good Enobarbus!
|
|
MAECENAS We have cause to be glad that matters are so well digested.
You stayed well by ’t in Egypt.
|
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.
|
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?
|
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.
|
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.
|
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.
|
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.
|
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 perfumèd that
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
210 In her pavilion—cloth-of-gold, of tissue—
O’erpicturing that Venus where we see
The fancy outwork nature. On each side her
Stood pretty dimpled boys, like smiling Cupids,
With divers-colored fans, whose wind did seem
And what they undid did.
|
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 perfumèd that
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’erpicturing that Venus where we see
The fancy outwork nature. On each side her
Stood pretty dimpled boys, like smiling Cupids,
With divers-colored fans, whose wind did seem
And what they undid did.
|
|
AGRIPPA Oh, rare for Antony!
|
AGRIPPA Oh, 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
220 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
225 Her people out upon her, and Antony,
Enthroned i’ th’ marketplace, did sit alone,
Whistling to th’ air, which, but for vacancy,
Had gone to gaze on Cleopatra too
And made a gap in nature.
|
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’ marketplace, 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!
|
AGRIPPA Rare Egyptian!
|
|
ENOBARBUS 230 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,
And for his ordinary pays his heart
For what his eyes eat only.
|
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,
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 plowed her, and she cropped.
|
AGRIPPA Royal wench!
She made great Caesar lay his sword to bed.
He plowed her, and she cropped.
|
|
ENOBARBUS I saw her once
240 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 breathe forth.
|
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 breathe forth.
|
|
MAECENAS Now Antony must leave her utterly.
|
MAECENAS Now Antony must leave her utterly.
|
|
ENOBARBUS 245 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
Bless her when she is riggish.
|
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
Bless her when she is riggish.
|
|
MAECENAS If beauty, wisdom, modesty, can settle
The heart of Antony, Octavia is
A blessèd lottery to him.
|
MAECENAS If beauty, wisdom, modesty, can settle
The heart of Antony, Octavia is
A blessèd lottery to him.
|
|
AGRIPPA Let us go.
255 Good Enobarbus, make yourself my guest
Whilst you abide here.
|
AGRIPPA Let us go.
Good Enobarbus, make yourself my guest
Whilst you abide here.
|
|
ENOBARBUS Humbly, sir, I thank you.
|
ENOBARBUS Humbly, sir, I thank you.
|
| Exeunt | Exeunt |
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