No more a soldier.- Bruised pieces, go;

You have been nobly borne.-From me awhile.

[Exit EROS.

I will o'ertake thee, Cleopatra, and
Weep for my pardon. So it must be, for now
All length is torture.
Since the torch is out,
Lie down, and stray no further. Now all labor
Mars what it does; yea, very force entangles
Itself with strength. Seal, then, and all is done.-
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 Æneas shall want troops,

And all the haunt be ours.- Come, Eros, Eros!
Re-enter EROS.

Eros. What would my lord?

Ant.

Since Cleopatra died,

I lived in such dishonor, that the gods

Detest my baseness. I, that with my sword

Quartered the world, and o'er green Neptune's back
With ships made cities, condemn myself to lack
The courage of a woman; less noble mind
Than she, which, by her death, our Cæsar tells,
I am conqueror of myself. Thou art sworn, Eros,
That, when the exigent should come, (which now
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 strik'st not me; 'tis Cæsar thou defeat'st.

Put color in thy cheek.

Eros.

The gods withhold me!

Shall I do that, which all the Parthian darts,
Though enemy, lost aim, and could not?

Eros,

Ant.
Wouldst thou be windowed in great Rome, and see
Thy master thus with pleached arms, bending down
His corrigible neck, his face subdued

To penetrative shame; whilst the wheeled seat
Of fortunate Cæsar, drawn before him, branded
His baseness that ensued?

I would not see't.

Eros. Ant. Come, then; for with a wound I must be cured. Draw that thy honest sword, which thou hast worn Most useful for thy country.

Eros.

O sir, pardon me.

Ant. When I did make thee free, swor'st 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.

Eros. Turn from me then that noble countenance, Wherein the worship of the whole world lies.

Ant. Lo, thee.

Eros. My sword is drawn.

Ant.

[Turning from him.

Then let it do at once

My dear master,

The thing why thou hast drawn it.
Eros.
My captain and my emperor! let me say,
Before I strike this bloody stroke, farewell.
Ant. 'Tis said, man;-and farewell.

Eros. Farewell, great chief. Shall I strike now?
Ant.
Now, Eros.
Eros. Why, there, then.-[Falls on his sword.] Thus
do I escape the sorrow

Of Antony's death.

Ant.

Thrice nobler than myself! Thou teachest me, O valiant Eros, what

[Dies.

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
As to a lover's bed. Come, then; and, Eros,
Thy master dies thy scholar; to do thus

[Falling on his sword. I learned of thee. How! not dead? not dead?. The guard!-ho!-O, despatch me.

1 Guard.

Enter DERCETAS and Guard.

What's the noise?

Ant. I have done my work ill, friends; O, make an end

Of what I have begun.

2 Guard.

1 Guard. And time is at his period.

All.

The star is fallen.

Alas, and wo!

Not I.

[Exeunt Guard.

Ant. Let him that loves me, strike me dead.

1 Guard.

2 Guard. Nor I.

3 Guard. Nor any one.

Der. Thy death and fortunes bid thy followers fly. This sword but shown to Cæsar, with this tidings, Shall enter me with him.

Ant. Art thou there, Diomed? Draw thy sword, and

My mistress Cleopatra sent me to thee.
Ant. When did she send thee?

Dio.

Ant.

Most absolute lord,

Now, my lord.

Where is she?

Dio. Locked in her monument. She had a prophesying fear Of what hath come to pass; for when she saw (Which never shall be found) you did suspect

She hath disposed with Cæsar, 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,

I dread, too late.

Ant. Too late, good Diomed.-Call my guard, I pr'ythee. Dio. What, ho! the emperor's guard! The guard, what, ho! Come, your lord calls.

Enter some of the Guard.

Ant. Bear me, good friends, where Cleopatra 'bides; 'Tis the last service that I shall command you.

1 Guard. Woe, woe are we, sir, you may not live to wear All your true followers out.

All.

Most heavy day!

Ant. Nay, good my fellows, do not please sharp fate
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. [Exeunt, bearing ANTONY.

SCENE XIII. The same. A Monument.

Enter above, CLEOPATRA, CHARMIAN, and IRAS.
Cleo. O Charmian, I will never go from hence.
Char. Be comforted, dear madam.
Cleo. No, I will not.

All strange and terrible events are welcome,
But comforts we despise; our size of sorrow,
Proportioned to our cause, must be as great

Enter DIOMedes.

As that which makes it.- How now? is he dead?
Dio. His death's upon him, but not dead.
Look out o' the other side your monument;
His guard have brought him thither.

Cleo.

Enter ANTONY, borne by the Guard.

O, thou sun,

Burn the great sphere thou mov'st in! - Darkling stand
The varying shore o'the world. O Antony, Antony, Antony!
Help, Charmian; help, Iras, help; help, friends
Below, let's draw him hither.

Peace.

Ant.
Not Cæsar's valor hath o'erthrown Antony,
But Antony's hath triumphed on itself.

Cleo. So it should be, that none but Antony
Should conquer Antony; but woe 'tis so!
Ant. I am dying, Egypt, dying; only
I here impórtune death a while, until
Of many thousand kisses, the poor last
I lay upon thy lips.

Cleo.
I dare not, dear,
(Dear my lord, pardon,) I dare not,

Lest I be taken; not the imperious show

Of the full-fortuned Cæsar ever shall

Be brooched with me; if knife, drugs, serpents, have
Edge, sting, or operation, I am safe.

Your wife Octavia, with her modest eyes,

And still conclusion, shall acquire no honor

Demuring upon me.-But come, come, Antony,-
Help me, my women,- we must draw thee up ;-
Assist, good friends.

Ant.

O quick, or I am gone.

Cleo. Here's sport, indeed!-How heavy weighs my lord! Our strength is all gone into heaviness,

That makes the weight. Had I great Juno's power,
The strong-winged Mercury should fetch thee up,
And set thee by Jove's side. Yet, come a little,-
Wishers were ever fools;-0, come, come, come;

[They draw ANTONY up.

And welcome, welcome! die, where thou hast lived.

Quicken with kissing; had my lips that power,
Thus would I wear them out.

All.

A heavy sight! Ant. I am dying, Egypt, dying.

Give me some wine, and let me speak a little.

Cleo. No, let me speak; and let me rail so high, That the false housewife Fortune break her wheel, Provoked by my offence.

One word, sweet queen.

Ant.
Of Cæsar seek your honor with your safety.-O!
Cleo. They do not go together.

Ant.

Gentle, hear me.

None about Cæsar trust, but Proculeius.

Cleo. My resolution, and my hands, I'll trust;
None about Cæsar.

Ant. The miserable change now at my end,
Lament nor sorrow at; but please your thoughts,
In feeding them with those my former fortunes
Wherein I lived, the greatest prince o' the world,
The noblest; and do now not basely die,
Nor cowardly; put off my helmet to

My countryman, a Roman, by a Roman
Valiantly vanquished. Now, my spirit is going;
I can no more.

Cleo.

Noblest of men, woo't die?
Hast thou no care of me? shall I abide
In this dull world, which in thy absence is
No better than a sty?-O, see, my women,
The crown o' the earth doth melt.-My lord!-
O, withered is the garland of the war,

The soldier's pole is fallen; young boys and girls
Are level now with men; the odds is gone,

And there is nothing left remarkable
Beneath the visiting moon.

Char.

Iras. She is dead, too, our sovereign.

Char.

Iras.

[Dies.

[She faints.

O, quietness, lady!

Lady,

Madam,

Royal Egypt!

Cleo. No more, but e'en a woman; and commanded

By such poor passion as the maid that milks,

And does the meanest chares.-It were for me

To throw my sceptre at the injurious gods;