ACT V SCENE II

Antony and Cleopatra

ACT V SCENE II	Alexandria. A room in the monument.
[Enter CLEOPATRA, CHARMIAN, and IRAS]
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;	5
	Which shackles accidents and bolts up change;
	Which sleeps, and never palates more the dug,
	The beggar’s nurse and Caesar’s.
[ Enter, to the gates of the monument, PROCULEIUS, GALLUS and Soldiers ]
PROCULEIUS	Caesar sends greeting to the Queen of Egypt;
	And bids thee study on what fair demands	10
	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	15
	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	20
	To give me conquer’d 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:	25
	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,	30
	Where he for grace is kneel’d 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	35
	Look him i’ the face.
PROCULEIUS	This I’ll report, dear lady.
	Have comfort, for I know your plight is pitied
	Of him that caused it.
GALLUS	You see how easily she may be surprised:	40
[ Here PROCULEIUS and two of the Guard ascend the monument by a ladder placed against a window, and, having descended, come behind CLEOPATRA. Some of the Guard unbar and open the gates ]
[To PROCULEIUS and the Guard]
	Guard her till Caesar come.
[Exit]
IRAS	Royal queen!
CHARMIAN	O Cleopatra! thou art taken, queen:
CLEOPATRA	Quick, quick, good hands.
[Drawing a dagger]
PROCULEIUS	Hold, worthy lady, hold:	45
[Seizes and disarms her]
	Do not yourself such wrong, who are in this
	Relieved, but not betray’d.
CLEOPATRA	What, of death too,
	That rids our dogs of languish?
PROCULEIUS	Cleopatra,	50
	Do not abuse my master’s bounty by
	The undoing of yourself: let the world see
	His nobleness well acted, which your death
	Will never let come forth.
CLEOPATRA	Where art thou, death?	55
	Come hither, come! come, come, and take a queen
	Worthy 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,	60
	I’ll not sleep neither: this mortal house I’ll ruin,
	Do Caesar what he can. Know, sir, that I
	Will not wait pinion’d at your master’s court;
	Nor once be chastised with the sober eye
	Of dull Octavia. Shall they hoist me up	65
	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 water-flies
	Blow me into abhorring! rather make	70
	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.	75
[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,	80
	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.
[Exeunt PROCULEIUS and Soldiers]
DOLABELLA	Most noble empress, you have heard of me?	85
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?	90
DOLABELLA	I understand not, madam.
CLEOPATRA	I dream’d there was an Emperor Antony:
	O, such another sleep, that I might see
	But such another man!
DOLABELLA	If it might please ye,–	95
CLEOPATRA	His face was as the heavens; and therein stuck
	A sun and moon, which kept their course,
	and lighted
	The little O, the earth.
DOLABELLA	Most sovereign creature,–	100
CLEOPATRA	His legs bestrid the ocean: his rear’d 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,	105
	There was no winter in’t; an autumn ’twas
	That grew the more by reaping: his delights
	Were dolphin-like; they show’d his back above
	The element they lived in: in his livery
	Walk’d crowns and crownets; realms and islands were	110
	As plates dropp’d from his pocket.
DOLABELLA	Cleopatra!
CLEOPATRA	Think you there was, or might be, such a man
	As this I dream’d of?
DOLABELLA	Gentle madam, no.	115
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, to imagine
	And Antony, were nature’s piece ‘gainst fancy,	120
	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,	125
	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.	130
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.
[ Flourish, and shout within, ‘Make way there: Octavius Caesar!’ ]
[ Enter OCTAVIUS CAESAR, GALLUS, PROCULEIUS, MECAENAS, SELEUCUS, and others of his Train ]
OCTAVIUS CAESAR	Which is the Queen of Egypt?	135
DOLABELLA	It is the emperor, madam.
[CLEOPATRA kneels]
OCTAVIUS CAESAR	Arise, you shall not kneel:
	I pray you, rise; rise, Egypt.
CLEOPATRA	Sir, the gods
	Will have it thus; my master and my lord	140
	I must obey.
OCTAVIUS 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.	145
CLEOPATRA	Sole sir o’ the 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.	150
OCTAVIUS 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	155
	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.	160
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. Here, my good lord.
OCTAVIUS CAESAR	You shall advise me in all for Cleopatra.
CLEOPATRA	This is the brief of money, plate, and jewels,	165
	I am possess’d of: ’tis exactly valued;
	Not petty things admitted. Where’s Seleucus?
SELEUCUS	Here, madam.
CLEOPATRA	This is my treasurer: let him speak, my lord,
	Upon his peril, that I have reserved	170
	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?	175
SELEUCUS	Enough to purchase what you have made known.
OCTAVIUS CAESAR	Nay, blush not, Cleopatra; I approve
	Your wisdom in the deed.
CLEOPATRA	See, Caesar! O, behold,
	How pomp is follow’d! mine will now be yours;	180
	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,	185
	Though they had wings: slave, soulless villain, dog!
	O rarely base!
OCTAVIUS CAESAR	Good queen, let us entreat you.
CLEOPATRA	O Caesar, what a wounding shame is this,
	That thou, vouchsafing here to visit me,	190
	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,	195
	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	200
	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 the ashes of my chance: wert thou a man,	205
	Thou wouldst have mercy on me.
OCTAVIUS CAESAR	Forbear, Seleucus.
[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,	210
	Are therefore to be pitied.
OCTAVIUS CAESAR	Cleopatra,
	Not what you have reserved, nor what acknowledged,
	Put we i’ the roll of conquest: still be’t yours,
	Bestow it at your pleasure; and believe,	215
	Caesar’s no merchant, to make prize with you
	Of things that merchants sold. Therefore be cheer’d;
	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:	220
	Our care and pity is so much upon you,
	That we remain your friend; and so, adieu.
CLEOPATRA	My master, and my lord!
OCTAVIUS CAESAR	Not so. Adieu.
[Flourish. Exeunt OCTAVIUS CAESAR and his train]
CLEOPATRA	He words me, girls, he words me, that I should not	225
	Be noble to myself: but, hark thee, Charmian.
[Whispers CHARMIAN]
IRAS	Finish, good lady; the bright day is done,
	And we are for the dark.
CLEOPATRA	Hie thee again:
	I have spoke already, and it is provided;	230
	Go put it to the haste.
CHARMIAN	Madam, I will.
[Re-enter DOLABELLA]
DOLABELLA	Where is the queen?
CHARMIAN	Behold, sir.
[Exit]
CLEOPATRA	Dolabella!	235
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:	240
	Make your best use of this: I have perform’d
	Your pleasure and my promise.
CLEOPATRA	Dolabella,
	I shall remain your debtor.
DOLABELLA	I your servant,	245
	Adieu, good queen; I must attend on Caesar.
CLEOPATRA	Farewell, and thanks.
[Exit DOLABELLA]
	Now, Iras, what think’st thou?
	Thou, an Egyptian puppet, shalt be shown
	In Rome, as well as I mechanic slaves	250
	With greasy aprons, rules, and hammers, shall
	Uplift us to the view; in their thick breaths,
	Rank of gross diet, shall be enclouded,
	And forced to drink their vapour.
IRAS	The gods forbid!	255
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	260
	Shall be brought drunken forth, and I shall see
	Some squeaking Cleopatra boy my greatness
	I’ the posture of a whore.
IRAS	O the good gods!
CLEOPATRA	Nay, that’s certain.	265
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.	270
[Re-enter CHARMIAN]
	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;	275
	And, when thou hast done this chare, I’ll give thee leave
	To play till doomsday. Bring our crown and all.
	Wherefore’s this noise?
[Exit IRAS. A noise within]
[Enter a Guardsman]
Guard	Here is a rural fellow
	That will not be denied your highness presence:	280
	He brings you figs.
CLEOPATRA	Let him come in.
[Exit Guardsman]
	What poor an instrument
	May do a noble deed! he brings me liberty.
	My resolution’s placed, and I have nothing	285
	Of woman in me: now from head to foot
	I am marble-constant; now the fleeting moon
	No planet is of mine.
[Re-enter Guardsman, with Clown bringing in a basket]
Guard	This is the man.
CLEOPATRA	Avoid, and leave him.	290
[Exit Guardsman]
	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	295
	never recover.
CLEOPATRA	Rememberest 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	300
	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’ the worm; but he that will
	believe all that they say, shall never be saved by
	half that they do: but this is most fallible, the	305
	worm’s an odd worm.
CLEOPATRA	Get thee hence; farewell.
Clown	I wish you all joy of the worm.
[Setting down his basket]
CLEOPATRA	Farewell.
Clown	You must think this, look you, that the worm will	310
	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 worm.	315
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	320
	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.	325
CLEOPATRA	Well, get thee gone; farewell.
Clown	Yes, forsooth: I wish you joy o’ the worm.
[Exit]
[Re-enter IRAS with a robe, crown, &c]
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:	330
	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:	335
	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.
	Farewell, kind Charmian; Iras, long farewell.	340
[Kisses them. 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	345
	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,	350
	He’ll make demand of her, and spend that kiss
	Which is my heaven to have. Come, thou
	mortal wretch,
[To an asp, which she applies to her breast]
	With thy sharp teeth this knot intrinsicate
	Of life at once untie: poor venomous fool	355
	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!	360
	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!–Nay, I will take thee too.	365
[Applying another asp to her arm]
	What should I stay–
[Dies]
CHARMIAN	In this vile world? So, fare thee well.
	Now boast thee, death, in thy possession lies
	A lass unparallel’d. Downy windows, close;
	And golden Phoebus never be beheld	370
	Of eyes again so royal! Your crown’s awry;
	I’ll mend it, and then play.
[Enter the Guard, rushing in]
First Guard	Where is the queen?
CHARMIAN	Speak softly, wake her not.
First Guard	Caesar hath sent–	375
CHARMIAN	Too slow a messenger.
[Applies an asp]
	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.
First Guard	What work is here! Charmian, is this well done?	380
CHARMIAN	It is well done, and fitting for a princess
	Descended of so many royal kings.
	Ah, soldier!
[Dies]
[Re-enter DOLABELLA]
DOLABELLA	How goes it here?
Second Guard	All dead.	385
DOLABELLA	Caesar, thy thoughts
	Touch their effects in this: thyself art coming
	To see perform’d the dreaded act which thou
	So sought’st to hinder.
[Within ‘A way there, a way for Caesar!’]
[Re-enter OCTAVIUS CAESAR and all his train marching]
DOLABELLA	O sir, you are too sure an augurer;	390
	That you did fear is done.
OCTAVIUS CAESAR	Bravest at the last,
	She levell’d at our purposes, and, being royal,
	Took her own way. The manner of their deaths?
	I do not see them bleed.	395
DOLABELLA	Who was last with them?
First Guard	A simple countryman, that brought her figs:
	This was his basket.
OCTAVIUS CAESAR	Poison’d, then.
First Guard	O Caesar,	400
	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 dropp’d.
OCTAVIUS CAESAR	O noble weakness!	405
	If they had swallow’d 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,	410
	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 the aspic leaves
	Upon the caves of Nile.	415
OCTAVIUS 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:	420
	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	425
	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.
[Exeunt]

Antony and Cleopatra, Scenes
___________

Explanatory Notes for Act 5, Scene 2
From Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra. Ed. M. Eaton. Boston: Educational Publishing Company.
(Line numbers have been altered.)
__________

3. Knave. Servant.

5. That thing. That is, commit suicide.

6. Shackles. Prevents accidents and changes of fortune from touching us.

7. Which sleeps. Which causes sleep.

7. Palates. Makes it unnecessary to taste.

8. Beggar’s nurse. That is, life, the nourisher of rich and poor alike.

10. Study. Carefully consider.

19. Decorum. To do what is becoming for it.

22. As I, etc. For which I will kneel to him with thanks.

29. Dependency. That you acknowledge yourself dependent on him.

30. Pray in aid. That is, will be glad to add kindness to clemency. Pray in aid is a law term signifying a petition made in court for calling in help from another who has an interest in the case.

33. Vassal. Slave.

33. Send him. That is, send him the submission he has conquered.

35. Doctrine. Lesson.

49. Languish. Disease, suffering.

53. Acted. Displayed.

57. Worthy, etc. That is, who is worth more than the babes and beggars you are so ready to take.

58. Temperance. Control yourself.

60. If idle talk. The meaning is not quite clear. Perhaps it is “Even if idle talk be necessary to keep me awake, I’ll not sleep neither.”

66. Varletry. Rabble.

69. Nak’d. Pronounced as one syllable.

71. Pyramides. The Latin form of the plural is sometimes used, as here, for the sake of the metre.

79. To my guard. I will take charge of her.

83. Employ. Use me as your messenger.

99. O. A common term for a sphere.

102. Crested. Made a crest for the world. A raised arm was often used as a family crest or coat-of-arms.

102. Propertied. Endowed with the qualities, etc.

103. Tuned. According to the philosopher, Pythagoras, the spheres made music as they moved through space.

104. Quail. That is, causes the world to quail.

107. Grew. Yielded more the more it was reaped.

108. Dolphin-like. That is, in his delights he was like the dolphin, that leap out of the water in their gambols.

110. Crownets. Coronets, the insignia of noblemen. That is, he had kings and nobles for his servants.

111. Plates. Silver coins, so called because they were flat.

116. Hearing. That is, your lie is so great it reaches the ears of the gods.

119. Vie. Rival. That is, nature cannot produce forms so strange as those of fancy.

120. Piece. Masterpiece. Yet, were nature to conceive an Antony, it would be a masterpiece with which imagination could not vie.

124. Weight. With a fortitude as great as is the burden.

125. Pursued. Coveted.

125. But I do feel. If I do not feel.

146. Sole sir. Sole master.

147. Project. Shape my case, plead it.

148. To make. As to make.

149. Like, etc. Like followed by “which” is equivalent to our “such” followed by “as.”

152. Enforce. Lay stress upon, exaggerate.

153. Apply. Adapt yourself to our purposes.

162. Scutcheons. Symbols of conquest. Literally, a shield on which was painted the coat-of-arms of a family.

165. Brief. Brief account, list.

167. Not petty things, etc. That is, a few trifling things excepted.

183. Wild. Mad.

184. Goest thou back. This phrase is used in a double sense to signify that Seleucus retreats before her as she is about to strike him, and also that he has deserted her.

191. Lordliness. Honoring by their lordly presence.

192. Meek. Humbled by misfortune.

193. Parcel. Item. That is, add the item of his malice (envy) to the sum of my disgraces.

196. Immoment. Of no moment, unimportant.

197. Modern. Ordinary.

199. Livia. Caesar’s wife.

200. Unfolded. Exposed by.

204. Cinders. The smouldering embers.

205. Chance. Fortune.

208. Misthought. Misjudged.

210. Merits. That is, we pay the penalties which are the deserts of others.

218. Make not your thoughts. That is, do not make yourself a prisoner in imagination when really you are free.

219. Dispose you. Dispose of you.

225. Words me. Cajoles or flatters me with words.

227. Finish. Make haste to die.

231. Put it to the haste. Make utmost haste.

237. Makes religion. Makes as binding as a religious obligation.

250. Mechanic slave. Artisans.

251. Rank of. Rank with.

254. Vapor. Breath.

256. Lictors. Officers, something like police who attended on magistrates, to clear the road, inflict punishment on criminals, etc.

257. Scald. Literally, scurvy, afflicted with an eruption of the skin.

258. Ballad. Sing ballads in mockery of us.

258. Quick. Quick-witted.

259. Extemporally. Extemporaneously.

259. Present. Represent.

262. Boy. The female parts in a play were taken by boys in the time of Shakespeare.

269. Conquer. Upset, bring to nothing.

272. Show. Attire me like a queen.

273. Cydnus. I will imagine that I am again going to set sail for Cydnus.

274. Sirrah. See former note on this form of address.

275. Despatch. Make haste.

276. Chare. Task.

283. What poor an instrument. The article in Shakespeare is not infrequently placed after instead of before the adjective.

285. Placed. Fixed, determined.

287. Marble-constant. That is, as firm and hard as marble.

290. Avoid. Depart.

291. Worm. Shakespeare often uses this word for “snake.”

295. Immortal. Causes death.

305. Fallible. Infallible, sure.

311. Do his kind. That is, act as nature impels it.

329. Immortal. Longings for death.

331. Yare. Quick.

337. Fire and air. The old belief was that man was composed of the four elements, fire and air, earth and water, the latter being the baser.

241. Aspic. The poison of the asp. Iras has already secretly applied the snake to herself.

342. Nature. Life.

350. Curled. That is, nobly attired.

351. Make demand. Inquire concerning me.

353. Mortal. Deadly, giving death.

354. Intrinsicate. Intricate, hard to loose.

358. Unpolicied. Without policy, stupid.

367. Vile. The folios have “wild,” which many editors retain.

369. Lass. Used as a term of endearment for a young girl, generally.

369. Windows. Eyelids soft as down.

371. Of. By.

372. Mend. Set it right.

372. Play. Compare Cleopatra’s words above, “I’ll give thee leave to play till doomsday.”

378. Beguiled. Deceived.

387. Touch their effects. Your thoughts, or anticipations, are realized.

390. Augurer. You foresee too truly.

393. Levell’d. Guessed.

408. As she. As if she.

409. Toil. In the fascinations of her graces.

411. Vent. A slight flow.

411. Blown. Somewhat swollen.

413. Aspic’s trail. The mark left by an asp.

415. Caves. Some editors think this word should be “canes” or “reeds.”

418. Conclusions. Experiments without number.

422. Clip. Hold, enclose.

423. High events. Such high events have their effect on those who bring them to pass.

429. High order. Fitting ceremony.

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How to cite the explanatory notes:Shakespeare, William. Antony and Cleopatra. Ed. M. Eaton. Boston: Educational Publishing Company, 1908. Shakespeare Online. 20 Feb. 2010. (date when you accessed the information) < http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/antony_5_2.html >.

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