Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra - Pompey agress to a truce with Mark Antony

Antony and Cleopatra

Please see the bottom of this page for explanatory notes and resources.

ACT II SCENE VI	Near Misenum.
[ Flourish. Enter POMPEY and MENAS at one door, with drum and trumpet: at another, OCTAVIUS CAESAR, MARK ANTONY, LEPIDUS, DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS, MECAENAS, with Soldiers marching ]
POMPEY	Your hostages I have, so have you mine;
	And we shall talk before we fight.
OCTAVIUS CAESAR	Most meet
	That first we come to words; and therefore have we
	Our written purposes before us sent;	5
	Which, if thou hast consider'd, let us know
	If 'twill tie up thy discontented sword,
	And carry back to Sicily much tall youth
	That else must perish here.
POMPEY	To you all three,	10
	The senators alone of this great world,
	Chief factors for the gods, I do not know
	Wherefore my father should revengers want,
	Having a son and friends; since Julius Caesar,
	Who at Philippi the good Brutus ghosted,	15
	There saw you labouring for him. What was't
	That moved pale Cassius to conspire; and what
	Made the all-honour'd, honest Roman, Brutus,
	With the arm'd rest, courtiers and beauteous freedom,
	To drench the Capitol; but that they would	20
	Have one man but a man? And that is it
	Hath made me rig my navy; at whose burthen
	The anger'd ocean foams; with which I meant
	To scourge the ingratitude that despiteful Rome
	Cast on my noble father.	25
OCTAVIUS CAESAR	Take your time.
MARK ANTONY	Thou canst not fear us, Pompey, with thy sails;
	We'll speak with thee at sea: at land, thou know'st
	How much we do o'er-count thee.
POMPEY	At land, indeed,	30
	Thou dost o'er-count me of my father's house:
	But, since the cuckoo builds not for himself,
	Remain in't as thou mayst.
LEPIDUS	Be pleased to tell us--
	For this is from the present--how you take	35
	The offers we have sent you.
OCTAVIUS CAESAR	There's the point.
MARK ANTONY	Which do not be entreated to, but weigh
	What it is worth embraced.
OCTAVIUS CAESAR	And what may follow,	40
	To try a larger fortune.
POMPEY	You have made me offer
	Of Sicily, Sardinia; and I must
	Rid all the sea of pirates; then, to send
	Measures of wheat to Rome; this 'greed upon	45
	To part with unhack'd edges, and bear back
	Our targes undinted.
LEPIDUS	That's our offer.
POMPEY	Know, then,
	I came before you here a man prepared	50
	To take this offer: but Mark Antony
	Put me to some impatience: though I lose
	The praise of it by telling, you must know,
	When Caesar and your brother were at blows,
	Your mother came to Sicily and did find	55
	Her welcome friendly.
MARK ANTONY	I have heard it, Pompey;
	And am well studied for a liberal thanks
	Which I do owe you.
POMPEY	Let me have your hand:	60
	I did not think, sir, to have met you here.
MARK ANTONY	The beds i' the east are soft; and thanks to you,
	That call'd me timelier than my purpose hither;
	For I have gain'd by 't.
OCTAVIUS CAESAR	Since I saw you last,	65
	There is a change upon you.
POMPEY	Well, I know not
	What counts harsh fortune casts upon my face;
	But in my bosom shall she never come,
	To make my heart her vassal.	70
LEPIDUS	Well met here.
POMPEY	I hope so, Lepidus. Thus we are agreed:
	I crave our composition may be written,
	And seal'd between us.
OCTAVIUS CAESAR	That's the next to do.	75
POMPEY	We'll feast each other ere we part; and let's
	Draw lots who shall begin.
MARK ANTONY	That will I, Pompey.
POMPEY	No, Antony, take the lot: but, first
	Or last, your fine Egyptian cookery	80
	Shall have the fame. I have heard that Julius Caesar
	Grew fat with feasting there.
MARK ANTONY	You have heard much.
POMPEY	I have fair meanings, sir.
MARK ANTONY	And fair words to them.	85
POMPEY	Then so much have I heard:
	And I have heard, Apollodorus carried--
DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS	No more of that: he did so.
POMPEY	What, I pray you?
DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS	A certain queen to Caesar in a mattress.	90
POMPEY	I know thee now: how farest thou, soldier?
DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS	Well;
	And well am like to do; for, I perceive,
	Four feasts are toward.
POMPEY	Let me shake thy hand;	95
	I never hated thee: I have seen thee fight,
	When I have envied thy behavior.
DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS	Sir,
	I never loved you much; but I ha' praised ye,
	When you have well deserved ten times as much	100
	As I have said you did.
POMPEY	Enjoy thy plainness,
	It nothing ill becomes thee.
	Aboard my galley I invite you all:
	Will you lead, lords?	105
LEPIDUS	Show us the way, sir.
POMPEY	Come.
[Exeunt all but MENAS and ENOBARBUS]
MENAS	[Aside] Thy father, Pompey, would ne'er have
	made this treaty.--You and I have known, sir.
DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS	At sea, I think.	110
MENAS	We have, sir.
DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS	You have done well by water.
MENAS	And you by land.
DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS	I will praise any man that will praise me; though it
	cannot be denied what I have done by land.	115
MENAS	Nor what I have done by water.
DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS	Yes, something you can deny for your own
	safety: you have been a great thief by sea.
MENAS	And you by land.
DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS	There I deny my land service. But give me your	120
	hand, Menas: if our eyes had authority, here they
	might take two thieves kissing.
MENAS	All men's faces are true, whatsome'er their hands are.
DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS	But there is never a fair woman has a true face.
MENAS	No slander; they steal hearts.	125
DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS	We came hither to fight with you.
MENAS	For my part, I am sorry it is turned to a drinking.
	Pompey doth this day laugh away his fortune.
DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS	If he do, sure, he cannot weep't back again.
MENAS	You've said, sir. We looked not for Mark Antony	130
	here: pray you, is he married to Cleopatra?
DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS	Caesar's sister is called Octavia.
MENAS	True, sir; she was the wife of Caius Marcellus.
DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS	But she is now the wife of Marcus Antonius.
MENAS	Pray ye, sir?	135
DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS	'Tis true.
MENAS	Then is Caesar and he for ever knit together.
DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS	If I were bound to divine of this unity, I would
	not prophesy so.
MENAS	I think the policy of that purpose made more in the	140
	marriage than the love of the parties.
DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS	I think so too. But you shall find, the band that
	seems to tie their friendship together will be the
	very strangler of their amity: Octavia is of a
	holy, cold, and still conversation.	145
MENAS	Who would not have his wife so?
DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS	Not he that himself is not so; which is Mark Antony.
	He will to his Egyptian dish again: then shall the
	sighs of Octavia blow the fire up in Caesar; and, as
	I said before, that which is the strength of their	150
	amity shall prove the immediate author of their
	variance. Antony will use his affection where it is:
	he married but his occasion here.
MENAS	And thus it may be. Come, sir, will you aboard?
	I have a health for you.	155
DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS	I shall take it, sir: we have used our throats in Egypt.
MENAS	Come, let's away.
[Exeunt]

Antony and Cleopatra, Act 2, Scene 7
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Explanatory Notes for Act 2, Scene 6
From Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra. Ed. M. Eaton. Boston: Educational Publishing Company.
(Line numbers have been altered.)
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5. Purposes. What terms we are ready to make.

8. Tall. Sturdy, courageous.

9. Senators. You whose wisdom rules the world*

11. Factors. Agents;

15. Ghosted. Haunted.

16. For him. That is, to avenge him.

17. Cassius. One of the chief conspirators against Caesar.

19. Rest. That is, with the rest who took up arms.

19. Courtiers. That is, lured on by their love of freedom.

21. But a man. Except that they would have Caesar but an ordinary citizen, not a despot.

23. Burthen. Burden.

24. Despiteful. Ungrateful.

27. Fear. Frighten.

31. O'er count me of. Pompey evidently means that Antony not only outnumbers him, but has over-reached him in business. Plutarch tells us that Antony bought the elder Pompey's house when it was put up for public sale, but when he was asked for the money "he made it very strange, and was offended with them."

32. Cuckoo. The cuckoo builds no nest for itself, but takes possession of that built by some other bird. The meaning is, since, like the cuckoo, you have invaded the house of another, remain in it while you can.

35. Present. This has nothing to do with the matter on which we are at present engaged.

41. Larger fortune. By trying to gain more in opposition to us.

45. Measures. Supplies.

45. Greed. Agreed.

46. Unhack'd edges. That is, without hacking the edges of our shields; without fighting.

47. Targes. Shields.

52. Impatience. Has somewhat irritated me.

58. Studied. Am prepared, earnestly desire.

63. Timelier. Sooner than I intended coming.

68. Counts. Marks, lines, as one ''casts accounts."

70. Vassal. Servant.

73. Composition. Agreement, treaty.

75. Next. Next thing.

81. Fame. Praise.

93. Do. That is, fare well.

94. Toward. In preparation.

104. Galley. A boat propelled by rowers sitting in tiers.

109. Known. That is, we have known each other.

124. True. Honest.

124. Whatsome'er. Whatsoever.

131. Pray, etc. Pray, is that true?

137. Is. Shakespeare sometimes uses a singular verb when it precedes two singular subjects.

138. Divine. Predict concerning.

140. Purpose. That is, the purpose to make Caesar and Antony friends.

145. Conversation. Temperament, behavior.

153. Occasion. Necessity, good policy.

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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_2_6.html >.

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