Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra 4.14 - Antony falls on his sword

Antony and Cleopatra

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

ACT IV SCENE XIV	The same. Another room.
[Enter MARK ANTONY and EROS]
MARK ANTONY	Eros, thou yet behold'st me?
EROS	Ay, noble lord.
MARK ANTONY	Sometimes we see a cloud that's dragonish;
	A vapour sometime like a bear or lion,
	A tower'd citadel, a pendent rock,	5
	A forked mountain, or blue promontory
	With trees upon't, that nod unto the world,
	And mock our eyes with air: thou hast seen
	these signs;
	They are black vesper's pageants.	10
EROS	Ay, my lord,
MARK ANTONY	That which is now a horse, even with a thought
	The rack dislimns, and makes it indistinct,
	As water is in water.
EROS	It does, my lord.	15
MARK ANTONY	My good knave Eros, now thy captain is
	Even 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;	20
	Which whilst it was mine had annex'd unto't
	A million more, now lost,--she, Eros, has
	Pack'd cards with Caesar, and false-play'd my glory
	Unto an enemy's triumph.
	Nay, weep not, gentle Eros; there is left us	25
	Ourselves to end ourselves.
[Enter MARDIAN]
	O! thy vile lady!
	She has robb'd me of my sword.
MARDIAN	No, Antony;
	My mistress loved thee, and her fortunes mingled	30
	With thine entirely.
MARK ANTONY	Hence, saucy eunuch; peace!
	She hath betray'd me and shall die the death.
MARDIAN	Death of one person can be paid but once,
	And that she has discharged: what thou wouldst do	35
	Is done unto thy hand: the last she spake
	Was 'Antony! most noble Antony!'
	Then in the midst a tearing groan did break
	The name of Antony; it was divided
	Between her heart and lips: she render'd life,	40
	Thy name so buried in her.
MARK ANTONY	Dead, then?
MARDIAN	Dead.
MARK ANTONY	Unarm, Eros; the long day's task is done,
	And we must sleep.	45
[To MARDIAN]
	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!	50
	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, and	55
	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.	60
	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!	65
[Re-enter EROS]
EROS	What would my lord?
MARK ANTONY	Since Cleopatra died,
	I have lived in such dishonour, that the gods
	Detest my baseness. I, that with my sword
	Quarter'd the world, and o'er green Neptune's back	70
	With ships made cities, condemn myself to lack
	The courage of a woman; less noble mind
	Than she which by her death our Caesar tells
	'I am conqueror of myself.' Thou art sworn, Eros,
	That, when the exigent should come, which now	75
	Is come indeed, when I should see behind me
	The inevitable prosecution of
	Disgrace and horror, that, on my command,
	Thou then wouldst kill me: do't; the time is come:
	Thou strikest not me, 'tis Caesar thou defeat'st.	80
	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?
MARK ANTONY	Eros,	85
	Wouldst thou be window'd in great Rome and see
	Thy master thus with pleach'd arms, bending down
	His corrigible neck, his face subdued
	To penetrative shame, whilst the wheel'd seat
	Of fortunate Caesar, drawn before him, branded	90
	His baseness that ensued?
EROS	I would not see't.
MARK ANTONY	Come, then; for with a wound I must be cured.
	Draw that thy honest sword, which thou hast worn
	Most useful for thy country.	95
EROS	O, sir, pardon me!
MARK ANTONY	When I did make thee free, sworest thou not then
	To do this when I bade thee? Do it at once;
	Or thy precedent services are all
	But accidents unpurposed. Draw, and come.	100
EROS	Turn from me, then, that noble countenance,
	Wherein the worship of the whole world lies.
MARK ANTONY	Lo thee!
[Turning from him]
EROS	My sword is drawn.
MARK ANTONY	Then let it do at once	105
	The 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.
MARK ANTONY	'Tis said, man; and farewell.	110
EROS	Farewell, great chief. Shall I strike now?
MARK ANTONY	Now, Eros.
EROS	Why, there then: thus I do escape the sorrow
	Of Antony's death.
[Kills himself]
MARK ANTONY	Thrice-nobler than myself!	115
	Thou teachest me, O valiant Eros, what
	I should, and thou couldst not. My queen and Eros
	Have by their brave instruction got upon me
	A nobleness in record: but I will be
	A bridegroom in my death, and run into't	120
	As to a lover's bed. Come, then; and, Eros,
	Thy master dies thy scholar: to do thus
[Falling on his sword]
	I learn'd of thee. How! not dead? not dead?
	The guard, ho! O, dispatch me!
[Enter DERCETAS and Guard]
First Guard	What's the noise?	125
MARK ANTONY	I have done my work in, friends: O, make an end
	Of what I have begun.
Second Guard	The star is fall'n.
First Guard	And time is at his period.
All	Alas, and woe!	130
MARK ANTONY	Let him that loves me strike me dead.
First Guard	Not I.
Second Guard	Nor I.
Third Guard	Nor any one.
[Exeunt Guard]
DERCETAS	Thy death and fortunes bid thy followers fly.	135
	This sword but shown to Caesar, with this tidings,
	Shall enter me with him.
[Enter DIOMEDES]
DIOMEDES	Where's Antony?
DERCETAS	There, Diomed there.
DIOMEDES	Lives he?	140
	Wilt thou not answer, man?
[Exit DERCETAS]
MARK ANTONY	Art thou there, Diomed? Draw thy sword, and give me
	Sufficing strokes for death.
DIOMEDES	Most absolute lord,
	My mistress Cleopatra sent me to thee.	145
MARK ANTONY	When did she send thee?
DIOMEDES	Now, my lord.
MARK ANTONY	Where is she?
DIOMEDES	Lock'd in her monument. She had a prophesying fear
	Of what hath come to pass: for when she saw--	150
	Which never shall be found--you did suspect
	She had disposed with Caesar, and that your rage
	Would not be purged, she sent you word she was dead;
	But, fearing since how it might work, hath sent
	Me to proclaim the truth; and I am come,	155
	I dread, too late.
MARK 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 MARK ANTONY]
MARK ANTONY	Bear me, good friends, where Cleopatra bides;	160
	'Tis the last service that I shall command you.
First Guard	Woe, woe are we, sir, you may not live to wear
	All your true followers out.
All	Most heavy day!
MARK ANTONY	Nay, good my fellows, do not please sharp fate	165
	To grace it with your sorrows: bid that welcome
	Which 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.	170
[Exeunt, bearing MARK ANTONY]

Antony and Cleopatra, Act 4, Scene 15
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Explanatory Notes for Act 4, Scene 14
From Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra. Ed. M. Eaton. Boston: Educational Publishing Company.
(Line numbers have been altered.)
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2. Dragonish. That is, shaped like a dragon.

10. Vesper's. Evening's.

10. Pageants. Spectacles common at public festivals in which events were represented by animals and other scenery of wood.

13. Rack dislimns. The vapor dissolves and floats away.

16. Knave. Boy, fellow; not necessarily in a bad sense.

23. Pack'd cards. To pack cards is to shuffle them unfairly so that the best cards come to the dealer or to his partner.

33. Die the death. That is, the death deserved by traitors. The same expression is used in the New Testament.

40. Render'd. Rendered up, offered up.

50. Battery from my heart. The sevenfold shield of Ajax cannot confine the beatings of my heart.

51. Continent. What contains thee.

57. Length. That is, all lengthening of life.

60. Seal. Complete the work. Sealing a legal document was the final act that completed it.

63. Port. Demeanor.

64. Dido. The Queen of Carthage, who fell in love with Aeneas, a fugitive from Troy, when he landed in her kingdom, and who put an end to her life when he took his departure. Virgil represents her as avoiding Aeneas in Hades.

64. Troops. That is, troops of attendants.

70. Neptune. God of the sea.

72. Less noble mind. That is, I, possessing a less noble mind, etc.

75. Exigent. The moment for immediate action.

67. Prosecution. Used in its literal meaning of "pursuit."

80. Defeat'st. Disappointed of his prey.

86. Window'd. Stand at a window.

87. Pleach'd. Folded.

88. Corrigible. Submissive.

89. Penetrative. To pain which had pentrated deeply.

91. Ensued. Branded more deeply with disgrace the one who followed.

95. Useful. Here, an adverb.

99. Precedent. Former.

106. Why. For which.

118. Got upon me. Literally, got ahead of me in making a noble record, forestalled me in making a noble ending.

129. Period. End.

137. Enter me. Recommend me to his favor.

143. Sufficing. That is, strokes sufficient to cause death.

151. Found. That is, found to be true.

152. Disposed. Made terms with.

166. To grace. By gracing it.

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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_4_14.html >.

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