Act IVScene XIV
Alexandria. Another Room
Enter Antony and Eros.
Antony
Eros, thou yet behold’st me?
Eros
Ay, noble lord.
Antony
Sometime we see a cloud that’s dragonish,A vapour sometime like a bear or lion,A towered citadel, a pendant rock,A forked mountain, or blue promontoryWith trees upon’t, that nod unto the worldAnd mock our eyes with air. Thou hast seen these signs.They are black vesper’s pageants.
Eros
Ay, my lord.
Antony
That which is now a horse, even with a thoughtThe rack dislimns and makes it indistinctAs water is in water.
Eros
It does, my lord.
Antony
My good knave Eros, now thy captain isEven such a body. Here I am Antony,Yet cannot hold this visible shape, my knave.I made these wars for Egypt, and the Queen,Whose heart I thought I had, for she had mine,Which, whilst it was mine, had annexed unto’tA million more, now lost—she, Eros, hasPacked cards with Caesar, and false-played my gloryUnto an enemy’s triumph.Nay, weep not, gentle Eros. There is left usOurselves to end ourselves.
Enter Mardian.
O, thy vile lady!She has robbed me of my sword.
Mardian
No, Antony,My mistress loved thee and her fortunes mingledWith thine entirely.
Antony
Hence, saucy eunuch! Peace!She hath betrayed me and shall die the death.
Mardian
Death of one person can be paid but once,And that she has discharged. What thou wouldst doIs done unto thy hand. The last she spakeWas “Antony! Most noble Antony!”Then in the midst a tearing groan did breakThe name of Antony; it was dividedBetween her heart and lips. She rendered life,Thy name so buried in her.
Antony
Dead, then?
Mardian
Dead.
Antony
Unarm, Eros. The long day’s task is done,And we must sleep.—That thou depart’st hence safeDoes pay thy labour richly. Go.
Exit Mardian.
Off, pluck off!The sevenfold shield of Ajax cannot keepThe 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 awhile.
Exit Eros.
I will o’ertake thee, Cleopatra, andWeep for my pardon. So it must be, for nowAll length is torture. Since the torch is out,Lie down, and stray no farther. Now all labourMars what it does; yea, very force entanglesItself 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.Dido and her Aeneas shall want troops,And all the haunt be ours.—Come, Eros, Eros!
Enter Eros.
Eros
What would my lord?
Antony
Since Cleopatra died,I have lived in such dishonour that the godsDetest my baseness. I, that with my swordQuartered the world, and o’er green Neptune’s backWith ships made cities, condemn myself to lackThe courage of a woman; less noble mindThan she which, by her death, our Caesar tells“I am conqueror of myself.” Thou art sworn, Eros,That when the exigent should come, which nowIs come indeed, when I should see behind meTh’ inevitable prosecution ofDisgrace and horror, that on my commandThou then wouldst kill me. Do’t. The time is come.Thou strik’st not me; ’tis Caesar thou defeat’st.Put colour in thy cheek.
Eros
The gods withhold me!Shall I do that which all the Parthian darts,Though enemy, lost aim and could not?
Antony
Eros,Wouldst thou be windowed in great Rome and seeThy master thus with pleached arms, bending downHis corrigible neck, his face subduedTo penetrative shame, whilst the wheeled seatOf fortunate Caesar, drawn before him, brandedHis baseness that ensued?
Eros
I would not see’t.
Antony
Come, then, for with a wound I must be cured.Draw that thy honest sword, which thou hast wornMost useful for thy country.
Eros
O, sir, pardon me!
Antony
When I did make thee free, swor’st thou not thenTo do this when I bade thee? Do it at once,Or thy precedent services are allBut accidents unpurposed. Draw, and come.
Eros
Turn from me then that noble countenanceWherein the worship of the whole world lies.
Antony
Lo thee!
Turning from him.
Eros
My sword is drawn.
Antony
Then let it do at onceThe thing why thou hast drawn it.
Eros
My dear master,My captain and my emperor, let me say,Before I strike this bloody stroke, farewell.
Antony
’Tis said, man, and farewell.
Eros
Farewell, great chief. Shall I strike now?
Antony
Now, Eros.
Eros
Why, there then!
Kills himself
Thus do I escape the sorrowOf Antony’s death.
Dies.
Antony
Thrice nobler than myself!Thou teachest me, O valiant Eros, whatI should and thou couldst not. My queen and ErosHave by their brave instruction got upon meA nobleness in record. But I will beA bridegroom in my death and run into’tAs to a lover’s bed. Come then, and, Eros,Thy master dies thy scholar. To do thus
Falling on his sword.
I learned of thee. How? Not dead? Not dead?The guard, ho! O, dispatch me!
Enter a company of the Guard, one of them Dercetus.
First Guard
What’s the noise?
Antony
I have done my work ill, friends. O, make an endOf what I have begun.
Second Guard
The star is fallen.
First Guard
And time is at his period.
All
Alas, and woe!
Antony
Let him that loves me strike me dead.
First Guard
Not I.
Second Guard
Nor I.
Third Guard
Nor anyone.
Exeunt guard.
Dercetus
Thy death and fortunes bid thy followers fly.This sword but shown to Caesar with this tidings,Shall enter me with him.
Enter Diomedes.
Diomedes
Where’s Antony?
Dercetus
There, Diomed, there.
Diomedes
Lives he? Wilt thou not answer, man?
Exit Dercetus.
Antony
Art thou there, Diomed? Draw thy sword and give meSufficing strokes for death.
Diomedes
Most absolute lord,My mistress Cleopatra sent me to thee.
Antony
When did she send thee?
Diomedes
Now, my lord.
Antony
Where is she?
Diomedes
Locked in her monument. She had a prophesying fearOf what hath come to pass. For when she saw—Which never shall be found—you did suspectShe had disposed with Caesar, and that your rageWould not be purged, she sent you word she was dead;But fearing since how it might work, hath sentMe to proclaim the truth, and I am come,I dread, too late.
Antony
Too late, good Diomed. Call my guard, I prithee.
Diomedes
What, ho! The emperor’s guard! The guard, what ho!Come, your lord calls!
Enter four or five of the Guard of Antony.
Antony
Bear me, good friends, where Cleopatra bides.’Tis the last service that I shall command you.
First Guard
Woe, woe are we, sir, you may not live to wearAll your true followers out.
All
Most heavy day!
Antony
Nay, good my fellows, do not please sharp fateTo grace it with your sorrows. Bid that welcomeWhich comes to punish us, and we punish it,Seeming to bear it lightly. Take me up.I have led you oft; carry me now, good friends,And have my thanks for all.
Exeunt, bearing Antony.