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ANT. Unarm, Eros; the long day's task is done,

And we must sleep!-That thou depart'st hence safe,

Does pay thy labour richly; go.-[Exit MARDIAN.]
Off, pluck off!-

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.
[Exit EROS.

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:

(*) First folio, Cæsars.

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Not Cæsar's valour hath o'erthrown Antony,
But Antony's hath triumph'd on itself.
CLEO. So it should be, that none but Antony
Should conquer Antony; but woe 't is so!

ANT. I am dying,-Egypt,-dying; only
I here impórtune death a while, until
Of many thousand kisses the poor last
I lay upon thy lips.-

CLEO.

I dare not, dear,
(Dear my lord, pardon,) I dare not,
Lest I be taken: not the imperious show
Of the full-fortun'd Cæsar ever shall

Be brooch'd 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.

ANT.

O, quick, or I am gone! CLEO. 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

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That the false housewife, Fortune," break her wheel,

Provok'd by my offence.

ANT.

One word, sweet queen: Of Cæsar seek your honour, with your safety.-O!

CLEO. They do not go together.
ANT.

Gentle, hear me ; None about Cæsar trust but Proculeius.

CLEO. My resolution and my hands I'll trust; None about Cæsar.

ANT. 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 liv'd, the greatest prince o' the world, The noblest; and do now not basely die, Not cowardly put off my helmet to My countryman,-a Roman by a Roman Valiantly vanquish'd.(3) Now, my spirit is going;I can no more.CLEO. Noblest of men, woo't die? Hast thou no care of me? shall I abide In this dull world, which in thy absence is No better than a sty?-O, see, my women, [ANTONY dies. The crown o' the earth doth melt!- My lord!O, wither'd 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.

CHAR.

[Faints.

O, quietness, lady!

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Empress!

CHAR. Peace, peace, Iras! [commanded CLEO. No more, but e'en a woman, and By such poor passion as the maid that milks, And does the meanest chares.-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 nought; 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? [Charmian! What, what! good cheer! Why, how now, My noble girls! Ah, women, women! look, Our lamp is spent, it's out!-Good sirs, take heart:[noble, We'll bury him; and then, what's brave, what's Let's do it after the high Roman fashion, And make Death proud to take us. Come,

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d

This case of that huge spirit now is cold.--
Ah, women, women!-come; we have no friend
But resolution, and the briefest end.

[Exeunt; those above bearing off ANTONY's body.

(*) First folio, in, corrected by Capell.

of addressing women was not unusual; and, consequently, that the modern stage direction here, "[To the Guard below." is improper. Thus, as quoted by Mr. Dyce from Beaumont and Fletcher's play of "The Coxcomb," Act IV. Sc. 3, the mother, speaking to Viola, Nan, and Madge, says,

"Sirs, to your tasks, and shew this little novice

How to bestir herself," &c.

Again, as quoted by Mr. Dyce from the same authors' "A King and No King," Act III. Sc. 1,

"Spa. I do beseech you, madam, send away
Your other women, and receive from me

A few sad words, which, set against your joys,
May make 'em shine the more.

Pan. Sirs, leave me all.

[Exeunt Wailing-women."

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DER.
I am call'd Dercetas ;
Mark Antony I serv'd, who best was worthy
Best to be serv'd: 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 Cæsar; if thou pleasest not,
I yield thee up my life.

CES.
What is't thou say'st?
DER. I say, O, Cæsar, Antony is dead!
CES. The breaking of so great a thing should
make

tell him, that he mocks us By-"

and Mr. Sidney Walker would adhere to the old text, but, as was not unusual with the poet's contemporaries, pronounce "frustrate" trisyllabically.

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