Econlib

The Library

Other Sites

Front Page arrow Titles (by Subject) arrow Scene X.—: Between the two Camps. - Anthony and Cleopatra

Return to Title Page for Anthony and Cleopatra

Search this Title:

Also in the Library:

Subject Area: Literature

Scene X.—: Between the two Camps. - William Shakespeare, Anthony and Cleopatra [1623]

Edition used:

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (The Oxford Shakespeare), ed. with a glossary by W.J. Craig M.A. (Oxford University Press, 1916).

Part of: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (The Oxford Shakespeare)

About Liberty Fund:

Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals.


Scene X.—

Between the two Camps.

EnterAntonyandScarus,with Forces, marching.

Ant.

Their preparation is to-day by sea;

We please them not by land.

Scar.

For both, my lord.

Ant.

I would they’d fight i’ the fire or i’ the air;

We’d fight there too. But this it is; our foot

Upon the hills adjoining to the city

Shall stay with us; order for sea is given,

They have put forth the haven,

Where their appointment we may best discover

And look on their endeavour.

[Exeunt.

EnterCæsar,and his Forces, marching.

Cæs.

But being charg’d, we will be still by land,

Which, as I take ’t, we shall; for his best force

Is forth to man his galleys. To the vales,

And hold our best advantage!

[Exeunt.

Re-enterAntonyandScarus.

Ant.

Yet they are not join’d. Where yond pine does stand

I shall discover all; I’ll bring thee word

Straight how ’tis like to go.

[Exit.

Scar.

Swallows have built

In Cleopatra’s sails their nests; the augurers

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.

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

Re-enterAntony.

Ant.

All is lost!

This foul Egyptian hath betrayed me;

My fleet hath yielded to the foe, and yonder

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;

For when I am reveng’d upon my charm,

I have done all. Bid them all fly; be gone.

[ExitScarus.

O sun! thy uprise shall I see no more;

Fortune and Antony part here; even here

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 Cæsar; and this pine is bark’d,

That overtopp’d them all. Betray’d I am.

O this false soul of Egypt! this grave charm,

Whose eyes 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,

Beguil’d me to the very heart of loss.

What, Eros! Eros!

EnterCleopatra.

Ah! thou spell. Avaunt!

Cleo.

Why is my lord enrag’d against his love?

Ant.

Vanish, or I shall give thee thy deserving,

And blemish Cæsar’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

Patient Octavia plough thy visage up

With her prepared nails.

[ExitCleopatra.

’Tis well thou’rt gone,

If it be well to live; but better ’twere

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;

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.