A strange invisible perfume hits the sense Of the adjacent wharfs. The city cast Her people out upon her; and Antony, Enthron'd i' th' market-place, did sit alone, Whistling to th' air; which, but for vacancy, Had gone to gaze on Cleopatra too, And made a gap in nature.
The unsettled Humor of Lovers. Enter Cleopatra, Charmian, Iras, and Alexas. Cleo. Give me some music; music, moody! Of us that trade in love. Omnes. The music, ho!
Enter Mardian the Eunuch.
Cleo. Let it alone: let's to billiards: come, Charmian.
Char. My arm is sore, best play with Mar- dian.
In their best fortunes strong; but want will The ne'er-touch'd vestal
Fortune forms our Judgment.
I see man's judgments are
A parcel of their fortunes; and things outward To draw the inward quality after them, To suffer all alike.
Wisdom superior to Fortune. Wisdom and fortune combating together, If that the former dare but what it can, No chance may shake it.
A Master taking Leave of his Servants. Tend me to-night;
Cleo. As well a woman with an eunuch May be, it is the period of your duty: [me, Sir. Haply, you shall not see me more; or if,- A mangled shadow. Perchance to-morrow You'll serve another master. I look on you As one that takes his leave. Mine honest friends,
As with a woman; come-you'll play with Mar. As well as I can, Madam.
Cleo. And when good will is show'd, tho'
The actor may plead pardon. I'll none now:- Give me mine angle-we'll to the river: there, My music playing far off, I will betray Tawny-finn'd fishes; my bended hook shall pierce
Their slimy jaws; and, as I draw them up, I'll think them every one an Antony, And say, Ah, ha! you are caught.
Char. 'Twas merry, when
You wager'd on your angling; when your diver
Did hang a salt-fish on his hook, which he With fervency drew up,
Cleo. That time!-O times!
I laugh'd him out of patience; and that night I laugh'd him into patience and next morn, Ere the ninth hour, I drunk him to his
turn you not away; but, like a master, Married to your good service, stay till death: Tend me to-night two hours, I ask no more, And the gods yield you for it.
Early Rising the Way to Eminence. This morning, like the spirit of a youth That means to be of note, begins betimes. Antony's Despondency.
Oh sun, thy uprise shall I see no more: Fortune and Antony part here; even here Do we shake hands. All come to this! The
Their wishes, do discandy, melt their sweets That spaniel'd me at heels, to whom I gave On blossoming Cæsar; and this pine is bark'd, That over-topp'd them all.
The soul and body rive not more in parting Than greatness going off.
Antony on his faded Glory. Ant. Sometime, we see a cloud that 's dragonish;
A vapor, sometime, like a bear, or lion, A tower'd citadel, a pendant rock, 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. Eros. Ay, my lord. [a thought Ant That which is now a horse, even with The rack dislimns, and makes it indistinct As water is in water.
Eros. It does, my lord.
Ant. My good knave, Eros, now thy cap- 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,
Yare, yare, good Iras; quick-methinks, I Antony call; I see him rouse himself To praise my noble act; I hear him mock The luck of Cæsar, which the gods give men [glory T excuse their after wrath. Husband, I come left us Now to that name, my courage, prove my title! I am fire, and air; my other elements
Whose heart I thought I had, for she had mine; Which, whilst it was mine, had annex'd unto 't A million more, now lost; she, Eros, has Pack'd cards with Cæsar, and false play'd my Unto an enemy's triumph. Nay, weep not, gentle Eros; there is Ourselves to end ourselves.
Cleopatra on the Death of Antony.
Cleo. I dream'd, there was an emperor Antony;
O, such another sleep, that I might see But such another man!
Dol. If it might please you
I give to baser life. So,-have you done? Come then, and take the last warmth of my lips:
Farewell, kind Charmian; Iras, long farewell. [Kisses them. Iras falls and dies. Have I the aspic in my lips? Dost fall? If thou and nature can so gently part, The stroke of death is as a lover's pinch, Which hurts, and is desired. Dost thou lie still?
If thus thou vanishest, thou tell'st the world It is not worth leave-taking.
Char. Dissolve, thick cloud, and rain; that The gods themselves do weep. [I may say,
Cleo. This proves me base- If she first meet the curled Antony, He'll make demand of her; and spend that kiss Which is my heaven to have. Come, thou mortal wretch,
[To the Asp, which she applies to her breast.] With thy sharp teeth this knot intrinsicate Of life at once untie : poor venomous fool, Be angry and despatch. O couldst thou speak, That I might hear thee call great Cæsar ass, Unpolicy'd!
Char. O, eastern star.
Cleo. Peace, peace!
Dost thou not see my baby at my breast, That sucks the nurse asleep?
Char. O, break, O, break! Cleo. As sweet as balm, as soft as air, as O Antony! Nay, I will take thee too :- [Applying another Asp.
Char. In this wide world? so, fare thee well. [lies
Now, boast, thee, death! in thy possession A lass unparallel'd.
Cleo. His face was as the heavens; and therein stuck [and lighted A sun and moon; which kept their course, The little O, the earth. Dol. Most sovereign creature- [arm What should I stay- Cleo. His legs bestrid the ocean: his rear'd Crested the world his voice was propertied As all the tuned spheres, and that to friends; But when he meant to quail and shake the orb, He was as rattling thunder. For his bounty, There was no winter in 't; an autumn 'twas That grew the more by reaping; his delights Were dolphin-like; they show'd his back The element they liv'd in; in his livery [above] Walk'd crowns and crownets; realms and As plates dropt from his pocket. [islands were
How poor an instrument May do a noble deed! he brings me liberty. My resolution 's plac'd, and I have nothing Of woman in me: now from head to foot I am marble constant: now the fleeting moon No planet is of mine.
Cleopatra's Speech on applying the Asp. Give me my robe, put on my crown; I have Immortal longings in me. Now no more [lip: The juice of Egypt's grape shall moist this
WHAT Would you have, you curs! That like nor peace nor war? The one affrights you, [you, The other makes you proud. He that trusts to Where he should find you lions, finds you
Where foxes, geese; you are no surcr, no, Than is the coal of fire upon the ice, Or hailstone in the sun. Your virtue is, To make him worthy, whose offence subdues him, [greatness, And curse that justice did it. Who deserves Deserves your hate: and your affections are A sick man's appetite, who desires most that Which would increase his evil. He that de-
Upon your favors, swims with fins of lead,
And hews down oaks with rushes. Hang ye, trust ye?
With every minute you do change a mind; And call him noble, that was now your hate, Him vile that was your garland.
Doing our Duty merits not Praise.
Pray now, no more: my mother, Who has a charter to extol her blood, When she does praise me, grieves me: I have done, [duc'd As you have done; that's what I can! in- As you have been; that 's for my country: He that has but effected his good will, Hath overta'en mine act.
I cannot speak him home: he stopp'd the flyers;
And, by his rare example, made the coward Turn terror into sport: As waves before A vessel under sail, so men obey'd, [stamp) And fell below his stem: his sword (death's Where it did mark, it took; from face to foot He was a thing of blood, whose every motion Was tim'd with dying cries; alone he enter'd The mortal gate o' the city, which he painted With shunless destiny; aidless came off, And with a sudden reinforcement struck Corioli, like a planet. Now all 's his : When by and by the din of war 'gan pierce His ready sense, then straight his doubled Requicken'd what in flesh was fatigate, [spirit And to the battle came he; where he did Run reeking o'er the lives of men, as if
All tongues speak of him; and the bleared 'Twere a perpetual spoil and till we call'd
Are spectacled to see him.
[nurse Both field and city ours, he never stood Your prattling To ease his breast with panting.
Into a rapture lets her baby cry, While she chats him; the kitchen malkin Her richest lockram 'bout her reechy neck, Clamb'ring the walls to eye him: stalls, bulks, windows,
Are smother'd up, leads fill'd, and ridges hors'd With variable complexions; all agreeing In earnestness to see him seld-shown flamens Do press among the popular throngs, and puff To win a vulgar station; our veil'd dames Commit the war of white and damask, in Their nicely-gawded cheeks, to the wanton spoil
Of Phoebus' burning kisses; such a pother, As if that whatsoever god, who leads him, Were slily crept into his human powers, And gave him graceful posture.
Cominius' Speech in the Senate.
I shall lack voice: the deeds of Coriolanus Should not be utter'd feebly. It is held That valor is the chiefest virtue, and Most dignifies the haver: if it be, The man I speak of cannot in the world Be singly counterpois'd. At sixteen years, When Tarquin made a head for Rome, he fought
What his breast forges, that his tongue must And, being angry, does forget that ever He heard the name of death.
Coriolanus: his Abhorrence of Flattery. Well, I must do 't: Away, my disposition, and possess me [turn'd, Some harlot's spirit! my throat of war be Which quir'd with my drum, into a pipe, Small as an eunuch, or the virgin voice That babies lulls asleep! the smiles of knaves Tent in my cheeks; and school-boy's tears take up
The glasses of my sight! a beggar's tongue Make motion through my lips; and my arm'd knees,
Who bow'd but in my stirrup, bend like his That hath receiv'd an alms !-I will not do't- Lest I surcease to honor mine own truth, And, by my body's action, teach my mind A most inherent baseness.
Beyond the mark of others; our then dictator, Whom with all praise I point at, saw him His Mother's Resolution on his stubborn
When with his Amazonian chin he drove The bristled lips before him: he bestrid An o'er-prest Roman, and i' the consul's view Slew three opposers: Tarquin's self he met, And struck him on his knee; in that day's feats,
When he might act the woman in the scene, He prov'd best man i' the field, and for his meed
His Detestation of the Vulgar. You common cry of curs. whose breath I hate,
Was brow-bound with the oak. His pupil-age Man-entered thus, he waxed like a sea; And in the brunt of seventeen battles since, He lurch'd all swords o' the garland. For this As reek o' the rotten fens; whose loves I prize Before, and in Corioli, let me say, [last, As the dead carcasses of unburied men,
That do corrupt my air: I banish you; And here remain with your uncertainty! Let every feeble rumor shake your hearts! Your enemies with nodding of their plumes Fan you into despair! have the power still To banish your defenders: till at length Your ignorance (which finds not, till it feels, Making not reservation of yourselves, Still your own foes), deliver you, as most Abated captives, to some nation That won you without blows.
Precepts against Ill-fortune.
You were us'd
To say, extremities were the triers of spirits; That common chances common men could bear;
That, when the sea was calm, all boats alike Show'd mastership in floating. Fortune's blows, [ed, crave When most struck home, being gentle wound- A noble cunning. You were used to load me With precepts that would make invincible The heart that conn'd them.
On Common Friendships.
Oh, world, thy slippery turns! Friends now fast sworn,
Whose double bosoms seem to wear one heart, Whose hours, whose bed, whose meal, and exercise,
Are still together, who twin, 'twere, in love, Unseparable, shall within this hour, On a dissension of a doit, break out To bitterest enmity. So fellest foes, Whose passions and whose plots have broke their sleep
To take the one the other, by some chance, Some trick not worth an egg, shall grow dear And interjoin their issues. [friends,
Martial Friendship.
Let me twine
Mine arms about that body, where against My grained ash an hundred times hath broke, And scarr'd the moon with splinters! here I The anvil of my sword; and do contest [clip As hotly and as nobly with thy love, As ever in ambitious strength I did Contend against thy valor. Know thou first, I lov'd the maid I married; never man Sigh'd truer breath; but that I see thee here, Thou noble thing! more dances my rapt heart, Than when I first my wedded mistress saw Bestride my threshold. Why, thou Mars! I tell thee
We have a power on foot; and I had purpose Once more to hew thy target from thy brawn, Or lose my arm for 't: thou hast beat me out Twelve several times; and I have nightly
Dreamt of encounters 'twixt thyself and me; We have been down together in my sleep, Unbuckling helms, fisting each other's throat, And wak'd half-dead with nothing.
The Season of Solicitation."
He was not taken well; he had not din'd: The veins unfill'd, our blood is cold, and then We pout upon the morning, are unapt To give or to forgive; but when we have stuff'd These pipes and these conveyances of our blood,
With wine and feeding, we have suppler souls Than in our priest-like fasts: therefore I'll Till he be dieted to my request. [watch him
Obstinate Resolution.
My wife comes foremost; then the honor'd mould
Wherein this trunk was fram'd, and in her hand [fection! The grand-child to her blood-But, out, af- All bond and privilege of nature, break! Let it be virtuous to be obstinate :- [eyes, What is that curt'sy worth? or those dove's Which can make gods forsworn! I melt, and [bows Of stronger earth than others!-my mother As if Olympus to a mole-hill should In supplication nod; and my young boy Hath an aspect of intercession, which Great nature cries, deny not.-Let the Volsces Plough Rome, and harrow Italy; I'll never Be such a gosling to obey instinct; but stand As if a man were author of himself, And knew no other kin.
Like a dull actor now, I have forgot my part, and I am out, Even to a full disgrace. Best of my flesh, Forgive my tyranny; but do not say, For that, forgive our Romans.-O, a kiss, Long as my exile, sweet as my revenge! Now, by the jealous queen of heaven, that kiss I carried from thee, dear; and my true lip Hath virgin'd it e'er since. You gods! I prate And the most noble mother of the world Leave unsaluted sink, my knee, i' th' earth, Of thy deep duty more impression show Than that of common sons.
The noble sister of Publicola, The moon of Rome; chaste as the icicle, That's curded by the frost from purest snow, And hangs on Dian's temple.
Coriolanus's Prayer for his Son. The god of soldiers, With the consent of supreme Jove, inform Thy thoughts with nobleness, that thou mayst prove
To shame invulnerable, and stick i' the wars Like a great sea-mark, standing every flaw, And saving those that eye thee!
Coriolanus's Mother's pathetic Speech to him. Think with thyself, How more unfortunate than all living women
Are we come hither: since that thy sight,| Imogen's Bed-chamber: in one part of it a
An evident calamity, though we had Our wish, which side should win for either Must, as a foreign recreant, be led With manacles along our streets; or else Triumphantly tread on thy country's ruin ; And bear the palm, for having bravely shed Thy wife and children's blood. For myself, son,
I purpose not to wait on fortune, till These wars determine: if I cannot persuade thee,
Rather to show a noble grace to both parts, Than seek the end of one, thou shalt no sooner March to assault thy country, than to tread (Trust to 't thou shalt not) on thy mother's womb,
That brought thee to this world.
§ 17. CYMBELINE.
Imo. Thou shouldst have made him As little as a crow, or less, ere left To after-eye him.
Pis. Madam, so I did.
Imo. I would have broke my eye-strings; crack'd 'em, but
To look upon him : till the diminution Of space had pointed him as sharp as my needle :
Nay, follow'd him, till he had melted from The smallness of a gnat to air; and then Have turn'd mine eye and wept. But, good Pisanio,
When shall we hear from him?
Pis. Be assur'd, madam, With his next vantage.
Imo. I did not take my leave of him, but Most pretty things to say: ere I could tell him, How I would think of him, at certain hours, Such thoughts, and such; or I would make
large Trunk. Imogen is discovered reading.. Mine eyes are weak: Fold down the leaf where I have left: To bed: Take not away the taper, leave it burning; And if thou canst awake by four o' th' clock, I pr'ythee call me-Sleep hath seiz'd me wholly. [Exit Lady. To your protection I commend me, gods! From fairies, and the tempters of the night, Guard me, beseech ye!
[Sleeps. Iachimo rises from the Trunk. Iach. The crickets sing, and man's o'erlabor'd sense
Ah, but some natural notes about her body, Above ten thousand meaner moveables, Would testify t' enrich mine inventory: O sleep, thou ape of death, lie dull upon her And be her sense but as a monument, Thus in a chapel lying! Come off, come off; [Taking off her bracelet As slippery, as the Gordian knot was hard! 'Tis mine: and this will witness outwardly, As strongly as the conscience does within, To the madding of her lord. On her left breast
A mole cinque spotted, like the crimson drops I' bottom of a cowslip: Here's a voucher, Stronger than ever law could make this secret Will force him think I have pick'd the lock and ta'en [what end?
The treasure of her honor. No more.-To Why should I write this down, that's riveted, Screw'd to my memory? She had been reading late [down, The tale of Tereus; here the leaf 's turn'd Where Philomel gave up ;-I have enough: To the truck again, and shut the spring of it. Swift, swift, you dragons of the night! that dawning
May bear the raven's eye: 1 lodge in fear; Though this a heavenly angel, hell is here. [He goes into the Trunk; the Scene closes
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