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Antony and Cleopatra

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Act IV, Scene 12

Another part of the same.

       
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[Enter MARK ANTONY and SCARUS]

  • Antony. Yet they are not join'd: where yond pine
    does stand, 2900
    I shall discover all: I'll bring thee word
    Straight, how 'tis like to go.

[Exit]

  • Scarus. Swallows have built
    In Cleopatra's sails their nests: the augurers 2905
    Say they know not, they cannot tell; look grimly,
    And dare not speak their knowledge. Antony
    Is valiant, and dejected; and, by starts,
    His fretted fortunes give him hope, and fear,
    Of what he has, and has not. 2910

[Alarum afar off, as at a sea-fight]

[Re-enter MARK ANTONY]

  • Antony. All is lost;
    This foul Egyptian hath betrayed me:
    My fleet hath yielded to the foe; and yonder 2915
    They cast their caps up and carouse together
    Like friends long lost. Triple-turn'd whore!
    'tis thou
    Hast sold me to this novice; and my heart
    Makes only wars on thee. Bid them all fly; 2920
    For when I am revenged upon my charm,
    I have done all. Bid them all fly; begone.
    [Exit SCARUS]
    O sun, thy uprise shall I see no more:
    Fortune and Antony part here; even here 2925
    Do we shake hands. All come to this? The hearts
    That spaniel'd me at heels, to whom I gave
    Their wishes, do discandy, melt their sweets
    On blossoming Caesar; and this pine is bark'd,
    That overtopp'd them all. Betray'd I am: 2930
    O this false soul of Egypt! this grave charm,—
    Whose eye beck'd forth my wars, and call'd them home;
    Whose bosom was my crownet, my chief end,—
    Like a right gipsy, hath, at fast and loose,
    Beguiled me to the very heart of loss. 2935
    What, Eros, Eros!
    [Enter CLEOPATRA]
    Ah, thou spell! Avaunt!
  • Cleopatra. Why is my lord enraged against his love?
  • Antony. Vanish, or I shall give thee thy deserving, 2940
    And blemish Caesar's triumph. Let him take thee,
    And hoist thee up to the shouting plebeians:
    Follow his chariot, like the greatest spot
    Of all thy sex; most monster-like, be shown
    For poor'st diminutives, for doits; and let 2945
    Patient Octavia plough thy visage up
    With her prepared nails.
    [Exit CLEOPATRA]
    'Tis well thou'rt gone,
    If it be well to live; but better 'twere 2950
    Thou fell'st into my fury, for one death
    Might have prevented many. Eros, ho!
    The shirt of Nessus is upon me: teach me,
    Alcides, thou mine ancestor, thy rage:
    Let me lodge Lichas on the horns o' the moon; 2955
    And with those hands, that grasp'd the heaviest club,
    Subdue my worthiest self. The witch shall die:
    To the young Roman boy she hath sold me, and I fall
    Under this plot; she dies for't. Eros, ho!

[Exit]