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Alexandria. Another Room.
(Enter Antony and Eros.)
Antony: Eros, thou yet behold'st me?
Eros: Ay, noble lord.
Antony: Sometime we see a cloud that's dragonish; /A vapour 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.
Antony: That which is now a horse, even with a thought /The rack dislimns; and makes it indistinct, /As water is in water.
Eros: It does, my lord.
Antony: My good knave Eros, now thy captain is /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, /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 Caesar, and false-play'd my glory /Unto an enemy's triumph. /Nay, weep not, gentle Eros; there is left us /Ourselves to end ourselves./(Enter Mardian.)/O, thy vile lady! /She has robb'd me of my sword.
Mardian: No, Antony; /My mistress lov'd thee, and her fortunes mingled /With thine entirely.
Antony: Hence, saucy eunuch; peace! /She hath betray'd me, and shall die the death.
Mardian: Death of one person can be paid but once, /And that she has discharg'd: what thou wouldst do /Is done unto thy hand: the last she spake /Was 'Antony! most noble Antony!' /Then in the midst a tearing groan did break /The name of Antony; it was divided /Between her heart and lips: she render'd life, /Thy name so buried in her.
Antony: Dead then?
Mardian: Dead.
Antony: Unarm, Eros; the long day's task is done, /And we must sleep. That thou depart'st hence safe /Does pay thy labour richly; go./(Exit Mardian.)/Off, pluck off; /The sevenfold shield of Ajax cannot keep /The battery from my heart. O, cleave, my sides! /Heart, once be stronger than thy continent, /Crack thy frail case! Apace, Eros, apace. /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 labour /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 Aeneas shall want troops, /And all the haunt be ours. Come, Eros, Eros!
(Re-enter Eros.)
Eros: What would my lord?
Antony: Since Cleopatra died, /I have liv'd in such dishonour that the gods /Detest my baseness. I, that with my sword /Quarter'd 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 Caesar 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 Caesar thou defeat'st. /Put colour in thy cheek.
Eros: The gods withhold me! /Shall I do that which all the Parthian darts, /Though enemy, lost aim and could not?
Antony: Eros, /Wouldst thou be window'd in great Rome and see /Thy master thus with pleach'd arms, bending down /His corrigible neck, his face subdu'd /To penetrative shame; whilst the wheel'd seat /Of fortunate Caesar, drawn before him, branded /His baseness that ensued?
Eros: I would not see't.
Antony: Come, then; for with a wound I must be cur'd. /Draw that thy honest sword, which thou hast worn /Most useful for thy country.
Eros: O, sir, pardon me!
Antony: 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 unpurpos'd. Draw, and come.
Eros: Turn from me then that noble countenance, /Wherein the worship of the whole world lies.
Antony: Lo thee!
(Turning from him.)
Eros: My sword is drawn.
Antony: Then let it do at once /The thing why thou hast drawn it.
Eros: My dear master, /My captain and my emperor, let me say, /Before I strike this bloody stroke, farewell.
Antony: 'Tis said, man; and farewell.
Eros: Farewell, great chief. Shall I strike now?
Antony: Now, Eros.
Eros: Why, there then (falls on his sword)!thus do I escape the /sorrow /Of Antony's death.
(Dies.)
Antony: Thrice nobler than myself! /Thou teachest me, O valiant Eros, what /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 learn'd of thee. How? not dead? not dead? /The guard, ho! O, despatch me!
(Enter Dercetas and a guard.)
First Guard: What's the noise?
Antony: I have done my work ill, friends: O, make an end /Of what I have begun.
Second Guard: The star is fallen.
First Guard: And time is at his period.
All: Alas, and woe!
Antony: Let him that loves me, strike me dead.
First Guard: Not I.
Second Guard: Nor I.
Third Guard: Nor any one.
(Exeunt guard.)
Dercetas: Thy death and fortunes bid thy followers fly. /This sword but shown to Caesar, with this tidings, /Shall enter me with him.
(Enter Diomedes.)
Diomedes: Where's Antony?
Dercetas: There, Diomed, there.
Diomedes: Lives he? /Wilt thou not answer, man?
(Exit Dercetas.)
Antony: Art thou there, Diomed? Draw thy sword and give me /Sufficing strokes for death.
Diomedes: Most absolute lord, /My mistress Cleopatra sent me to thee.
Antony: When did she send thee?
Diomedes: Now, my lord.
Antony: Where is she?
Diomedes: Lock'd 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 had dispos'd with Caesar, and that your rage /Would not be purg'd, 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.
Antony: Too late, good Diomed. Call my guard, I pr'ythee.
Diomedes: What, ho! the emperor's guard! The guard, what ho! /Come, your lord calls!
(Enter some of the Guard.)
Antony: Bear me, good friends, where Cleopatra bides; /'Tis the last service that I shall command you.
First Guard: Woe, woe are we, sir, you may not live to wear /All your true followers out.
All: Most heavy day!
Antony: 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.)
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