And the ebb'd man ne'er lov'd, till ne'er worth love, Goes to, and back, lackeying the varying tide1, To rot itself with motion. Mess. Cæsar, I bring thee word, Menecrates and Menas, famous pirates, Make the sea serve them; which they ear' and wound They make in Italy; the borders maritime Taken as seen; for Pompey's name strikes more, Cæs. Antony, Leave thy lascivious wassails. When thou once Did famine follow; whom thou fought'st against, Which beasts would cough at thy palate then did deign 3 Comes FEAR'D by being lack'd.] So all the old copies; but since Theobald's time the reading has been dear'd for "fear'd." The alteration is plausible, but does not seem necessary. Cæsar may mean, that Pompey, by being so much backed by the people, has become powerful, and is therefore "fear'd." • Goes to, and back, LACKEYING the varying tide,] "Lackeying" is Theobald's change, for lacking of the old copies, and not for lashing, as he erroneously asserts: no folio has lashing. The corruption of lacking for "lackeying" was very easy. Southern, in his folio, 1685, altered lacking to backing; but we much prefer Theobald's emendation. 5 - which they EAR-] i. e. plough. See p. 11. • Leave thy lascivious WASSAILS.] The question here is, whether cassailes, as the word is printed in the folios, 1623 and 1632, be meant for "wassails," or merely for cassals. Either reading may be right; but rassal was not usually, though sometimes, spelt cassaile, and nothing is more likely than that the old compositor should use for w. Cæsar has previously accused Antony of "tippling with a slave," and "reeling the streets at noon," which countenances "wassails" as an old drinking term. It is curious to see modern editors disputing how the word is spelt in the folio, 1623, and all giving it wrongly. The roughest berry on the rudest hedge; Lep. 'Tis pity of him. Cæs. Let his shames quickly Drive him to Rome. "Tis time we twain Did show ourselves i' the field; and, to that end, Thrives in our idleness. Lep. To-morrow, Cæsar, I shall be furnish'd to inform you rightly Cæs. Till which encounter, It is my business too. Farewell. Lep. Farewell, my lord. What you shall know mean time Of stirs abroad, I shall beseech you, sir, To let me be partaker. Cæs. Doubt not, sir; I knew it for my bond. [Exeunt. SCENE V. Alexandria. A Room in the Palace. Enter CLEOPATRA, CHARMIAN, IRAS, and MARDIAN. Cleo. Charmian,— Char. Madam. we;' 7 Assemble we immediate council :] The first folio misprints me for " an error corrected by the second folio. Lepidus was the equal of Cæsar, and the latter would hardly address to him the mandate, " Assemble me immediate council." Cleo. Ha, ha! Give me to drink mandragora. Char. Why, madam? Cleo. That I might sleep out this great gap of time, Mar. What's your highness' pleasure? Cleo. Not now to hear thee sing: I take no plea sure In aught an eunuch has. 'Tis well for thee, That, being unseminar'd, thy freer thoughts Cleo. Indeed? Mar. Not in deed, madam; for I can do nothing, Yet have I fierce affections, and think Cleo. O, Charmian! Where think'st thou he is now? Stands he, or sits he? Or does he walk? or is he on his horse? O happy horse to bear the weight of Antony! Do bravely, horse, for wot'st thou whom thou mov'st? The demi-Atlas of this earth, the arm And burgonet of men'.-He's speaking now, Or murmuring, "Where's my serpent of old Nile?" With most delicious poison:-think on me, * Give me to drink MANDRAGORA.] A strong opiate. See "Othello," Vol. vii. p. 571. 9 And BURGONET of men.] A "burgonet was a kind of helmet: by "arm" in the preceding line is probably to be understood weapon. On the next page we meet with the epithet "arm-gaunt," as applied to a horse, which had perhaps become gaunt by bearing arms. However, this is doubtful, and Sir T. Hanmer would substitute arm-girt, and Monck Mason, termagant. And wrinkled deep in time? Broad-fronted Cæsar, brow: Alex. Enter ALEXAS. Sovereign of Egypt, hail! Cleo. How much unlike art thou Mark Antony; How goes it with my brave Mark Antony? Alex. Her opulent throne with kingdoms: all the east," Who neigh'd so high, that what I would have spoke Cleo. What! was he sad, or merry? Alex. Like to the time o' the year between the ex tremes Of hot and cold: he was nor sad, nor merry. Cleo. O well-divided disposition!-Note him, Note him, good Charmian, 'tis the man; but note him: O heavenly mingle!-Be'st thou sad, or merry, So does it no man else1.-Met'st thou my posts? Cleo. Who's born that day When I forget to send to Antony, Shall die a beggar.-Ink and paper, Charmian.— Char. O, that brave Cæsar! Cleo. Be chok'd with such another emphasis ! Say, the brave Antony. Char. The valiant Cæsar! Cleo. By Isis, I will give thee bloody teeth, If thou with Cæsar paragon again When I was green in judgment :-cold in blood', To say as I said then!-But come, away; Get me ink and paper: He shall have every day a several greeting, [Exeunt. 10 So does it no man else.] The folio, 1623, "no man's else:" corrected in the folio, 1632. "So" is here used as in a previous passage (p. 17) for as—“ So Antony loves." 1 - cold in blood,] Boswell would make these words apply to Cleopatra, as if she had been “cold in blood” when she was young, and hot in blood now she had grown older: "cold in blood" is clearly addressed to Charmian, by way of reproof, and so Warburton considered, varying judiciously from the old punctuation, which affords, not only a tame and spiritless, but an inconsistent, meaning. |