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Thy spirit walks abroad, and turns our swords
In our own proper entrails.

Cato. Brave Titinius!

Look, whe'r he have not crown'd dead Cassius !

[Low alarums.

Bru. Are yet two Romans living such as these ?The last of all the Romans, fare thee well!

It is impossible that ever Rome

Should breed thy fellow.-Friends, I owe more tears
To this dead man, than thou shalt see me pay.-
I shall find time, Cassius, I shall find time.-
Come, therefore, and to Thassos send his body;
His funeral shall not be in our camp,
Lest it discomfort us.-Lucilius, come:-
And come, young Cato; let us to the field.-
Labeo, and Flavius, set our battles on:-
"Tis three o'clock; and, Romans, yet e'er night
We shall try fortune in a second fight.

[Exeunt.

SCENE IV-Another part of the Field.
Alarum. Enter, fighting, Soldiers of both Armies; then
BRUTUS, CATO, LUCILIUS, and others.

Bru. Yet, countrymen, O, yet hold up your heads!
Cato. What bastard doth not? Who will go with me?

I will proclaim my name about the field :

I am the son of Marcus Cato, ho!

A foe to tyrants, and my country's friend;
I am the son of Marcus Cato, ho!

[Charges the enemy.

Bru. And I am Brutus, Marcus Brutus, I;

Brutus, my country's friend; know me for Brutus.

[Exit, charging the enemy. CATO is overpowered, and falls. Luc. O young and noble Cato, art thou down?

Why, now thou diest as bravely as Titinius;

And may'st be honour'd being Cato's son.

1 Sold. Yield, or thou diest.

Luc. Only I yield to die:

There is so much that thou wilt kill me straight;

Kill Brutus, and be honour'd in his death.
1 Sold. We must not.-A noble prisoner!

[Offering money.

2 Sold. Room, ho! Tell Antony, Brutus is ta'en.
1 Sold. I'll tell the news.-Here comes the general:-
Enter ANTONY.

Brutus is ta'en, Brutus is ta'en, my lord.

Ant. Where is he?

Luc. Safe, Antony; Brutus is safe enough:
I dare assure thee, that no enemy

Shall ever take alive the noble Brutus:
The gods defend him from so great a shame!
When you do find him, or alive or dead,
He will be found like Brutus, like himself.

Ant. This is not Brutus, friend; but, I assure you,

A prize no less in worth: keep this man safe,

Give him all kindness: I had rather have
Such men my friends, than enemies. Go on,
And see whe'r* Brutus be alive, or dead:
And bring us word unto Octavius' tent,
How every thing is chanced.

SCENE V-Another part of the Field.

[Exeunt.

Enter BRUTUS, DARDANIUS, CLITUS, STRATO, and VOLUMNIUS.
Bru. Come, poor remains of friends, rest on this rock.
Cli. Statilius show'd the torch-light; but, my lord,
He came not back; he is or ta'en, or slain.

Bru. Sit thee down, Clitus: Slaying is the word;
It is a deed in fashion. Hark thee, Clitus.-

[Whispering.

Cli. What, I, my lord? No, not for all the world.
Bru. Peace then, no words.
Cli. I'll rather kill myself.
Bru. Hark thee, Dardanius!
Dar. I do such a deed?
Cli. O, Dardanius!

Dar. Ó, Clitus!

Cli. What ill request did Brutus make to thee?
Dar. To kill him, Clitus: Look, he meditates.
Cli. Now is that noble vessel full of grief,

That it runs over even at his eyes.

[Whispers him.

Bru. Come hither, good Volumnius; list a word.
Vol. What says my lord?

Bru. Why, this, Volumnius:

The ghost of Cæsar hath appear'd to me

Two several times by night: at Sardis, once;

And, this last night, here in Philippi' fields.
I know, my hour is come.

Vol. Not so, my lord.

Bru. Nay, I am sure it is, Volumnius.

Thou see'st the world, Volumnius, how it goes;

Our enemies have beat us to the pit:

It is more worthy to leap in ourselves,

Than tarry till they push us. Good Volumnius,

Thou know'st, that we two went to school together;

Even for that our love of old, I pray thee,

Hold thou my sword-hilts, whilst I run on it.

Vol. That's not an office for a friend, my lord. [Alarum still. Cli. Fly, fly, my lord; there is no tarrying here.

Bru. Farewell to you;-and you ;-and you, Volumnius.

Strato, thou hast been all this while asleep;

Farewell to thee too, Strato.-Countrymen,
My heart doth joy, that yet, in all my life,
I found no man, but he was true to me.
I shall have glory by this losing day,
More than Octavius, and Mark Antony,
By this vile conquest shall attain unto.
Whether,

So, fare you well at once: for Brutus' tongue
Hath almost ended his life's history:

Night hangs upon mine eyes; my bones would rest,
That have but labour'd to attain this hour.

Cli. Fly, my lord, fly.

[Alarum. Cry within; Fly, fly, fly.

Bru. Hence; I will follow thee.

[Exeunt CLITUS, DARDANIUS, and VOLUMNIUS.

I pr'ythee, Strato, stay thou by thy lord:

Thou art a fellow of a good respect;

Thy life hath had some smatch of honour in it:
Hold then my sword, and turn away thy face

While I do run upon it. Wilt thou, Strato?

Stra. Give me your hand first: Fare you well, my lord.
Bru. Farewell, good Strato.-Cæsar, now be still:

I kill'd not thee with half so good a will.

[He runs on his sword and dies.

Alarum.-Retreat. Enter OCTAVIUS, ANTONY, MESSALA, LUCILIUS, and their Army.

Oct. What man is that?

Mes. My master's man.-Strato, where is thy master ?.
Stra. Free from the bondage you are in, Messala;

The conquerors can but make a fire of him;

For Brutus only overcame himself,

And no man else hath honour by his death.

Luc. So Brutus should be found.-I thank thee, Brutus,

That thou hast proved Lucilius' saying true.

Oct. All that served Brutus, I will entertain them.*

Fellow, wilt thou bestow thy time with me?

Stra. Ay, if Messala will prefer me to you.

Oct. Do so, Messala.

Mes. How died my master, Strato?

Stra. I held the sword, and he did run on it. Mes. Octavius, then take him to follow thee, That did the latest service to my master.

Ant. This was the noblest Roman of them all:

All the conspirators, save only he,

Did that they did in envy of great Cæsar;

He, only, in a general honest thought,

And common good to all, made one of them.
His life was gentle; and the elements

So mix'd in him, that Nature might stand up,
And say to all the world, This was a man!

Oct. According to his virtue let us use him,
With all respect and rites of burial.
Within my tent his bones to-night shall lie,
Most like a soldier, order'd honourably.-
So, call the field to rest: and let's away,
To part the glories of this happy day.

* Receive into my service.

[Exeunt.

† Recommend.

[blocks in formation]

MENECRATES,

VARRIUS,

}

Friends of
Pompey.

TAURUS, Lieutenant-general to
Cæsar.

CANIDIUS, Lieutenant-general to
Antony.

SILIUS, an Officer in Ventidius'
Army.
EUPHRONIUS, an Ambassador
from Antony to Cæsar.

ALEXAS, MARDIAN, SELEUCUS,
and DIOMEDES, Attendants on
Cleopatra.

A SOOTHSAYER.-A CLOWN.

CLEOPATRA, Queen of Egypt. OCTAVIA, Sister to Cæsar, und Wife to Antony.

•}

CHARMIAN, 】 Attendants on Cleo-
IRAS,
patra.

OFFICERS, SOLDIERS, MESSENGERS, and other ATTENDANTS.

SCENE, dispersed; in several Parts of the Roman Empire.

ACT I.

SCENE I-Alexandria. A Room in CLEOPATRA's Palace. Enter DEMETRIUS and PHILO.

Phil. 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 glow'd like plaited 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 gypsy's lust. Look where they come !

Flourish. Enter ANTONY and CLEOPATRA, with their Trains; Eunuchs fanning her.

Take but good note, and you shall see in him

* Renounces.

The triple pillar of the world transform'd

Into a strumpet's fool: behold and see.

Cleo. If it be love indeed, tell me how much.

Ani. There's beggary in the love that can be reckon❜d.
Cleo. I'll set a bourn* how far to be beloved.

Ant. Then must thou needs find out new heaven, new earth.

Enter an ATTENDANT.

Att. News, my good lord, from Rome.
Ant. Gratest me:-The sum?
Cleo. Nay, hear them, Antony:

Fulvia, perchance is angry: Or, who knows
If the scarce-bearded Cæsar 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.

Ant. How, my love!

Cleo. Perchance,-nay, and most like,

You must not stay here longer, your dismission

Is come from Cæsar; therefore hear it, Antony.

Where's Fulvia's process!§ Cæsar's, I would say ?-Both ?—
Call in the messengers.-As I am Egypt's queen,
Thou blushest, Antony; and that blood of thine
Is Cæsar's homager; else so thy cheek pays shame,
When shrill-tongued Fulvia scolds.-The messengers.
Ant. Let Rome in Tyber 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, T
We stand up peerless.

Cleo. Excellent Falsehood!

Why did we marry Fulvia, and not love her ?-
I'll seem the fool I am not; Antony

Will be himself.

Ant. But stirr'd by Cleopatra.

Now, for the love of Love, and her soft hours,

[Embracing.

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 to-night?
Cleo. Hear the ambassadors.

Ant. Fie, wrangling queen!

Whom everything becomes, to chide, to laugh,

To weep; whose every passion fully strives

To make itself, in thee, fair and admired!

No messenger; but thine and all alone,

To-night, we'll wander through the streets, and note
The qualities of people. Come, my queen;

Last night you did desire it :-Speak not to us.

[Exeunt ANTONY and CLEOPATRA, with their train.

*Bound, limit. Summons.

+ Offends.

Wide spread.

To wit.

Subdue, conquer.
**Consume.

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