Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra - Antony sends a message to Octavius

Antony and Cleopatra

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

ACT III SCENE XIII	Alexandria. Cleopatra's palace.
[Enter CLEOPATRA, DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS, CHARMIAN, and IRAS]
CLEOPATRA	What shall we do, Enobarbus?
DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS	Think, and die.
CLEOPATRA	Is Antony or we in fault for this?
DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS	Antony only, that would make his will
	Lord of his reason. What though you fled	5
	From that great face of war, whose several ranges
	Frighted each other? why should he follow?
	The itch of his affection should not then
	Have nick'd his captainship; at such a point,
	When half to half the world opposed, he being	10
	The meered question: 'twas a shame no less
	Than was his loss, to course your flying flags,
	And leave his navy gazing.
CLEOPATRA	Prithee, peace.
[Enter MARK ANTONY with EUPHRONIUS, the Ambassador]
MARK ANTONY	Is that his answer?	15
EUPHRONIUS	Ay, my lord.
MARK ANTONY	The queen shall then have courtesy, so she
	Will yield us up.
EUPHRONIUS	He says so.
MARK ANTONY	Let her know't.	20
	To the boy Caesar send this grizzled head,
	And he will fill thy wishes to the brim
	With principalities.
CLEOPATRA	That head, my lord?
MARK ANTONY	To him again: tell him he wears the rose	25
	Of youth upon him; from which the world should note
	Something particular: his coin, ships, legions,
	May be a coward's; whose ministers would prevail
	Under the service of a child as soon
	As i' the command of Caesar: I dare him therefore	30
	To lay his gay comparisons apart,
	And answer me declined, sword against sword,
	Ourselves alone. I'll write it: follow me.
[Exeunt MARK ANTONY and EUPHRONIUS]
DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS	[Aside] Yes, like enough, high-battled Caesar will
	Unstate his happiness, and be staged to the show,	35
	Against a sworder! I see men's judgments are
	A parcel of their fortunes; and things outward
	Do draw the inward quality after them,
	To suffer all alike. That he should dream,
	Knowing all measures, the full Caesar will	40
	Answer his emptiness! Caesar, thou hast subdued
	His judgment too.
[Enter an Attendant]
Attendant	A messenger from CAESAR.
CLEOPATRA	What, no more ceremony? See, my women!
	Against the blown rose may they stop their nose	45
	That kneel'd unto the buds. Admit him, sir.
[Exit Attendant]
DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS	[Aside] Mine honesty and I begin to square.
	The loyalty well held to fools does make
	Our faith mere folly: yet he that can endure
	To follow with allegiance a fall'n lord	50
	Does conquer him that did his master conquer
	And earns a place i' the story.
[Enter THYREUS]
CLEOPATRA	Caesar's will?
THYREUS	Hear it apart.
CLEOPATRA	None but friends: say boldly.	55
THYREUS	So, haply, are they friends to Antony.
DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS	He needs as many, sir, as Caesar has;
	Or needs not us. If Caesar please, our master
	Will leap to be his friend: for us, you know,
	Whose he is we are, and that is, Caesar's.	60
THYREUS	So.
	Thus then, thou most renown'd: Caesar entreats,
	Not to consider in what case thou stand'st,
	Further than he is Caesar.
CLEOPATRA	Go on: right royal.	65
THYREUS	He knows that you embrace not Antony
	As you did love, but as you fear'd him.
CLEOPATRA	O!
THYREUS	The scars upon your honour, therefore, he
	Does pity, as constrained blemishes,	70
	Not as deserved.
CLEOPATRA	He is a god, and knows
	What is most right: mine honour was not yielded,
	But conquer'd merely.
DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS	[Aside] To be sure of that,	75
	I will ask Antony. Sir, sir, thou art so leaky,
	That we must leave thee to thy sinking, for
	Thy dearest quit thee.
[Exit]
THYREUS	Shall I say to Caesar
	What you require of him? for he partly begs	80
	To be desired to give. It much would please him,
	That of his fortunes you should make a staff
	To lean upon: but it would warm his spirits,
	To hear from me you had left Antony,
	And put yourself under his shrowd,	85
	The universal landlord.
CLEOPATRA	What's your name?
THYREUS	My name is Thyreus.
CLEOPATRA	Most kind messenger,
	Say to great Caesar this: in deputation	90
	I kiss his conquering hand: tell him, I am prompt
	To lay my crown at 's feet, and there to kneel:
	Tell him from his all-obeying breath I hear
	The doom of Egypt.
THYREUS	'Tis your noblest course.	95
	Wisdom and fortune combating together,
	If that the former dare but what it can,
	No chance may shake it. Give me grace to lay
	My duty on your hand.
CLEOPATRA	Your Caesar's father oft,	100
	When he hath mused of taking kingdoms in,
	Bestow'd his lips on that unworthy place,
	As it rain'd kisses.
[Re-enter MARK ANTONY and DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS]
MARK ANTONY	Favours, by Jove that thunders!
	What art thou, fellow?	105
THYREUS	One that but performs
	The bidding of the fullest man, and worthiest
	To have command obey'd.
DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS	[Aside] You will be whipp'd.
MARK ANTONY	Approach, there! Ah, you kite! Now, gods	110
	and devils!
	Authority melts from me: of late, when I cried 'Ho!'
	Like boys unto a muss, kings would start forth,
	And cry 'Your will?' Have you no ears? I am
	Antony yet.	115
[Enter Attendants]
	Take hence this Jack, and whip him.
DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS	[Aside] 'Tis better playing with a lion's whelp
	Than with an old one dying.
MARK ANTONY	Moon and stars!
	Whip him. Were't twenty of the greatest tributaries	120
	That do acknowledge Caesar, should I find them
	So saucy with the hand of she here,--what's her name,
	Since she was Cleopatra? Whip him, fellows,
	Till, like a boy, you see him cringe his face,
	And whine aloud for mercy: take him hence.	125
THYREUS	Mark Antony!
MARK ANTONY	Tug him away: being whipp'd,
	Bring him again: this Jack of Caesar's shall
	Bear us an errand to him.
[Exeunt Attendants with THYREUS]
	You were half blasted ere I knew you: ha!	130
	Have I my pillow left unpress'd in Rome,
	Forborne the getting of a lawful race,
	And by a gem of women, to be abused
	By one that looks on feeders?
CLEOPATRA	Good my lord,--	135
MARK ANTONY	You have been a boggler ever:
	But when we in our viciousness grow hard--
	O misery on't!--the wise gods seel our eyes;
	In our own filth drop our clear judgments; make us
	Adore our errors; laugh at's, while we strut	140
	To our confusion.
CLEOPATRA	O, is't come to this?
MARK ANTONY	I found you as a morsel cold upon
	Dead Caesar's trencher; nay, you were a fragment
	Of Cneius Pompey's; besides what hotter hours,	145
	Unregister'd in vulgar fame, you have
	Luxuriously pick'd out: for, I am sure,
	Though you can guess what temperance should be,
	You know not what it is.
CLEOPATRA	Wherefore is this?	150
MARK ANTONY	To let a fellow that will take rewards
	And say 'God quit you!' be familiar with
	My playfellow, your hand; this kingly seal
	And plighter of high hearts! O, that I were
	Upon the hill of Basan, to outroar	155
	The horned herd! for I have savage cause;
	And to proclaim it civilly, were like
	A halter'd neck which does the hangman thank
	For being yare about him.
[Re-enter Attendants with THYREUS]
	Is he whipp'd?	160
First Attendant	Soundly, my lord.
MARK ANTONY	Cried he? and begg'd a' pardon?
First Attendant	He did ask favour.
MARK ANTONY	If that thy father live, let him repent
	Thou wast not made his daughter; and be thou sorry	165
	To follow Caesar in his triumph, since
	Thou hast been whipp'd for following him: henceforth
	The white hand of a lady fever thee,
	Shake thou to look on 't. Get thee back to Caesar,
	Tell him thy entertainment: look, thou say	170
	He makes me angry with him; for he seems
	Proud and disdainful, harping on what I am,
	Not what he knew I was: he makes me angry;
	And at this time most easy 'tis to do't,
	When my good stars, that were my former guides,	175
	Have empty left their orbs, and shot their fires
	Into the abysm of hell. If he mislike
	My speech and what is done, tell him he has
	Hipparchus, my enfranched bondman, whom
	He may at pleasure whip, or hang, or torture,	180
	As he shall like, to quit me: urge it thou:
	Hence with thy stripes, begone!
[Exit THYREUS]
CLEOPATRA	Have you done yet?
MARK ANTONY	Alack, our terrene moon
	Is now eclipsed; and it portends alone	185
	The fall of Antony!
CLEOPATRA	I must stay his time.
MARK ANTONY	To flatter Caesar, would you mingle eyes
	With one that ties his points?
CLEOPATRA	Not know me yet?	190
MARK ANTONY	Cold-hearted toward me?
CLEOPATRA	Ah, dear, if I be so,
	From my cold heart let heaven engender hail,
	And poison it in the source; and the first stone
	Drop in my neck: as it determines, so	195
	Dissolve my life! The next Caesarion smite!
	Till by degrees the memory of my womb,
	Together with my brave Egyptians all,
	By the discandying of this pelleted storm,
	Lie graveless, till the flies and gnats of Nile	200
	Have buried them for prey!
MARK ANTONY	I am satisfied.
	Caesar sits down in Alexandria; where
	I will oppose his fate. Our force by land
	Hath nobly held; our sever'd navy too	205
	Have knit again, and fleet, threatening most sea-like.
	Where hast thou been, my heart? Dost thou hear, lady?
	If from the field I shall return once more
	To kiss these lips, I will appear in blood;
	I and my sword will earn our chronicle:	210
	There's hope in't yet.
CLEOPATRA	That's my brave lord!
MARK ANTONY	I will be treble-sinew'd, hearted, breathed,
	And fight maliciously: for when mine hours
	Were nice and lucky, men did ransom lives	215
	Of me for jests; but now I'll set my teeth,
	And send to darkness all that stop me. Come,
	Let's have one other gaudy night: call to me
	All my sad captains; fill our bowls once more;
	Let's mock the midnight bell.	220
CLEOPATRA	It is my birth-day:
	I had thought to have held it poor: but, since my lord
	Is Antony again, I will be Cleopatra.
MARK ANTONY	We will yet do well.
CLEOPATRA	Call all his noble captains to my lord.	225
MARK ANTONY	Do so, we'll speak to them; and to-night I'll force
	The wine peep through their scars. Come on, my queen;
	There's sap in't yet. The next time I do fight,
	I'll make death love me; for I will contend
	Even with his pestilent scythe.	230
[Exeunt all but DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS]
DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS	Now he'll outstare the lightning. To be furious,
	Is to be frighted out of fear; and in that mood
	The dove will peck the estridge; and I see still,
	A diminution in our captain's brain
	Restores his heart: when valour preys on reason,	235
	It eats the sword it fights with. I will seek
	Some way to leave him.
[Exit]

Antony and Cleopatra, Act 4, Scene 1
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Explanatory Notes for Act 3, Scene 13
From Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra. Ed. M. Eaton. Boston: Educational Publishing Company.
(Line numbers have been altered.)
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2. Think, and die. Take thought, despair and die.

6. Ranges. Ranks.

9. Nick'd. Disfigure, mark with folly.

11. Meered. The whole question, the only cause of dispute. The etymology of this word is somewhat doubtful.

12. Course. Follow as a hunter courses after game.

13. Gazing. That is, gazing after him in consternation.

23. Principalities. Kingdoms.

31. Comparisons. Some editors think this means his advantages as compared with mine; others take it as a misprint for "caparisons."

32. Declined. Fallen in estate.

34. High-battled. The commander of proud and victorious armies.

35. Unstate. Divest himself of his advantages.

35. Staged. Exhibit himself on a stage.

36. Sworder. A gladiator, a slave who fought in the arena at public shows.

37. Parcel. Of a piece with, correspond with.

39. Suffer. To suffer the same ruin.

40. Measures. So well able to guage men's measures or capacities.

45. Blown. Full blown.

47. Square. Quarrel.

48. Loyalty. Loyalty to a fool becomes mere folly.

52. I' the story. Wins renown when the story is told.

56. Haply. Perhaps.

59. Leap. Is eager to be friends.

60. He is. We acknowledge Antony's master, that is, Caesar.

60. Right royal. Gracious sir.

70. Constrained. Faults forced upon you.

76. Leaky. So like a leaky ship.

85. Shrowd. Protection. The word originally meam any kind of garment or covering.

90. Deputation. By deputy or proxy.

93. All-obeying. Whose commands are obeyed by all men.

98. Grace. Allow men the favor of kissing your hand.

100. Caesar's father. The great general, Julius Caesar, who had adopted Octavius, his grandnephew.

101. Kingdoms in. Conquering kingdoms.

103. As. As if.

107. Fullest. Most complete or perfect, fullest of good qualities.

113. Muss. A scramble after some object that had been thrown down.

116. Jack. Impudent fellow.

122. She here. Used contemptuously. Of this woman here who was once Cleopatra.

124. Cringe. Distort his face in pain or fear.

134. Feeders. Parasites, those who live on the bounty of others. Some think it means merely servants.

136. Boggler. Bungler, blunderer.

138. Seel. Blind.

144. Trencher. A large plate.

145. Cneius Pompey. The present Pompey's father, a great Roman general.

147. Luxuriously. Wantonly.

148. Temperance. Here, chastity.

152. Quit. Requite. A common phrase of beggars.

155. Basan. We find in the Psalms, "As the hill of Basan, so is God's hill; even an high hill, as the hill of Basan." And again, "Many oxen have come about me: fat bulls of Basan close me in on every side."

159. Yare. Prompt and skillful.

162. A'. Our.

168. Fever. Give you a fever.

176. Orbs. Spheres.

177. Abysm. Abyss.

177. Mislike. Dislike, is angry at.

179. Enfranched. Enfranchised; a slave who has been set free.

181. Quit. Requhe, get even with me.

183. Stripes. Lashings.

184. Terrene. Earthly moon; that is, Cleopatra.

185. Portends. Foretells, indicates.

189. Ties his points. One who does the duty of a servant; literally, fastens the tagged lacings of his garments, or his points, as they were called.

195. Determines. As the stone dissolves.

196. Caesarion. Her son by Julius Caesar.

199. Discandying. Melting.

199. Pelleted. Storm of pellets or hail stones.

206. Fleet, Float, in sea trim.

210. Chronicle, Will perform acts that deserve to be chronicled.

213. Breathed. Endowed with treble breath.

214. Maliciously. Without mercy.

215. Nice. Dainty, luxurious.

218. Gaudy. Joyous, festive.

228. Sap. Life.

233. Estridge. Ostrich.

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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_3_13.html >.

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