Eno. Your presence needs must puzzle Antony;

Take from his heart, take from his brain, from his time, What should not then be spar'd. He is already

Traduc'd for levity; and 'tis said in Rome,

That Photinus an eunuch, and your maids,
Manage this war.

Cleo. Sink Rome; and their tongues rot,

That speak against us! A charge we bear i'the war,
And, as the president of my kingdom, will

Appear there for a man.

I will not stay behind.

Eno. Nay, I have done :

Here comes the emperor.

Speak not against it;

Enter ANTONY and CANIDIUS.

Ant. Is't not strange, Canidius,

That from Tarentum, and Brundusium,

He could so quickly cut the Ionian sea,

And take in Toryne ?-You have heard on't, sweet?
Cleo. Celerity is never more admir'd,

Than by the negligent.

Ant. A good rebuke,

Which might have well become the best of men,

To taunt at slackness.-Canidius, we

Will fight with him by sea.

Cleo. By sea! what else?

Can. Why will my lord do so?

Ant. For he dares us to't.

Eno. So hath my lord dar'd him to single fight. Can. Ay, and to wage this battle at Pharsalia, Where Cæsar fought with Pompey: But these offers, Which serve not for his vantage, he shakes off; And so should you.

Eno. Your ships are not well-mann'd :

Your mariners are muleteers, reapers, people
Ingross'd by swift impress: In Cæsar's fleet

Are those, that often have 'gainst Pompey fought:
Their ships are yare ;9 yours, heavy. No disgrace
Shall fall you for refusing him at sea,

Being prepar'd for land.

Ant. By sea, by sea.

Eno. Most worthy sir, you therein throw away The absolute soldiership you have by land; Distract your army, which doth most consist

[9] Yare-generally signifies dextrous, manageable.

STEEVENS.

Of war-mark'd footmen; leave unexecuted
Your own renowned knowledge; quite forego
The way which promises assurance; and
Give up yourself merely to chance and hazard,
From firm security.

Ant. I'll fight at sea.

Cleo. I have sixty sails, Cæsar none better.

Ant. Our overplus of shipping will we burn; And, with the rest full-mann'd, from the head of Actium Beat the approaching Cæsar. But if we fail, Enter a Messenger.

We then can do't at land.-Thy business?

Mes. The news is true, my lord; he is descried ;
Cæsar has taken Toryne.

Ant. Can he be there in person? 'tis impossible ;
Strange, that his power should be.-Canidius,
Our nineteen legions thou shalt hold by land,
And our twelve thousand horse :-We'll to our ship;
Enter a Soldier.

Away, my Thetis !-How now, worthy soldier?
Sold. Ŏ noble emperor, do not fight by sea;
Trust not to rotten planks : Do you misdoubt

This sword, and these my wounds? Let the Egyptians,
And the Phoenicians, go a ducking; we

Have used to conquer, standing on the earth,

And fighting foot to foot.

Ant. Well, well, away. [Exe. ANT. CLEO. and ENO. Sold. By Hercules, I think, I am i'the right.

Can. Soldier, thou art: but his whole action grows Not in the power on't: So our leader's led,

And we are women's men.

Sold. You keep by land

The legions and the horse whole, do you not?
Can. Marcus Octavius, Marcus Justeius,

Publicola, and Cælius, are for sea:

But we keep whole by land. This speed of Cæsar's
Carries beyond belief.*

Sold. While he was yet in Rome,

His power went out in such distractions, as

[1] That is, his whole conduct becomes ungoverned by the right or by reason JOHNSON. Canidius means to say, His whole conduct in the war is not founded upon that which is his greatest strength, (namely, his land force.) but on the caprice of a woman, who wishes that he should fight by sea. MALONE. [2] Perhaps this phrase is from archery. STEEVENS. [S] Distractions--detachments, separate bodies, JOHNSON.

Beguil'd all spies.

Can. Who's his lieutenant, hear you?
Sold. They say, one Taurus.

Can. Well I know the man.

Enter a Messenger.

Mes. The emperor calls for Canidius.

Can. With news the time's with labour, and throes forth, Each minute, some.

SCENE VIII.

[Exeunt.

A Plain near Actium. Enter CESAR, TAURUS, Officers, and

Cas. Taurus,

Taur. My lord.

others.

Caes. Strike not by land; keep whole : Provoke not battle, till we have done at sea. Do not exceed the prescript of this scroll: Our fortune lies upon this jump.*

Enter ANTONY and ENOBArbus.

[Exeunt.

Ant. Set we our squadrons on yon' side o'the hill,
In eye of Cæsar's battle; from which place
We may the number of the ships behold,
And so proceed accordingly.

[Exeunt.

Enter CANIDIUS, marching with his land army one way over the stage and TAURUS, the lieutenant of CESAR, the other way. After their going in, is heard the noise of a seafight. Alarum. Re-enter ENOBARBUS.

Eno. Naught, naught, all naught! I can behold no longer:

The Antoniad, the Egyptian admiral,"

With all their sixty, fly, and turn the rudder ;

To see't, mine eyes are blasted.

Enter SCARUS.

Scar. Gods, and goddesses, All the whole synod of them! Eno. What's thy passion?

[4] Jump---hazard. So, in Macbeth:

"We'd jump the life to come."

STEEVENS.

[5] The Antoniad--which Plutarch says, was the name of Cleopatra's ship.

PÓPE.

Scar. The greater cantle of the world is lost With very ignorance; we have kiss'd away Kingdoms and provinces.

Eno. How appears the fight?

Scar. On our side like the token'd pestilence,7
Where death is sure, Yon' ribald-rid nag of Egypt,
Whom leprosy o'ertake! i'the midst of the fight,-
When vantage like a pair of twins appear'd,
Both as the same, or rather ours the elder,
The brize upon her,' like a cow in June,
Hoists sails, and flies.

Eno. That I beheld: mine eyes

Did sicken at the sight on't, and could not
Endure a further view.

Scar. She once being loof'd,'

The noble ruin of her magic, Antony,

Claps on his sea-wing, and like a doating mallard,
Leaving the fight in height, flies after her:
I never saw an action of such shame ;
Experience, manhood, honour, ne'er before
Did violate so itself.

Eno. Alack, alack!

Enter CANIDIUS.

Can. Our fortune on the sea is out of breath, And sinks most lamentably. Had our general Been what he knew himself, it had gone well : Q, he has given example for our flight,

Most grossly, by his own,

Eno. Ay, are you thereabouts? Why then, good night Indeed.

Can. Towards Peloponnesus are they fled.

Scar. 'Tis easy to it; and there I will attend

What further comes.

Can. To Cæsar will I render

[Aside.

[6] Cantle--a piece or lump. POPE. Cantle is rather a corner, Cæsar, in this play, mentions the three-nook'd world. Of this triangular world every triumvir had JOHNSON.

a corner.

[7] Token'd, spotted.

JOHNSON.

The death of those visited by the plague was certain, when particular eruptions appeared on the skin; and these were called God's tokens. STEEVENS.

[8] A Ribald--is a lewd fellow. Yon ribald-rid nag, means "yon strumpet who is common to every wanton fellow." STEEVENS.

[9] Leprosyan epidemical distemper of the Egyptians; to which Horáce probably alludes in the controverted line.

Contaminato cum grege turpium
JOHNSON.

Morbo virorum.

The brize or destrum, the fly that stings cattle.

[2] To loof is to bring a ship close to the wind.

JOHNSON.

STEEVENS.

My legions, and my horse; six kings already
Show me the way of yielding.

Eno. I'll yet follow

The wounded chance of Antony, though my reason

Sits in the wind against me.

SCENE IX.

[Exeunt.

Alexandria. A room in the Palace. Enter ANTONY and

Attendants.

Ant. Hark, the land bids me tread no more upon't, It is asham'd to bear me !-Friends, come hither,

4

I am so lated in the world, that I

Have lost my way for ever :-I have a ship
Laden with gold; take that, divide it; fly,
And make your peace with Cæsar.

Att. Fly! not we.

Ant. I have fled myself; and have instructed cowards
To run, and show their shoulders.-Friends, be gone;
I have myself resolv'd upon a course,

Which has no need of you; be gone :
My treasure's in the harbour, take it.-0,
I follow'd that I blush to look upon;
My very hairs do mutiny; for the white
Reprove the brown for rashness, and they them
For fear and doating.-Friends, be gone; you shall
Have letters from me to some friends, that will
Sweep your way for you. Pray you, look not sad,
Nor make replies of loathness: take the hint
Which my despair proclaims; let that be left
Which leaves itself: To the sea-side straightway :
I will possess you of that ship and treasure.
Leave me, I pray, a little 'pray you now :—
Nay, do so; for, indeed, I have lost command,
Therefore I pray you I'll see you by and by.

[Sits down.

Enter EROS, and CLEOPATRA led by CHARMIAN and IRAS. Eros. Nay, gentle madam, to him :-Comfort him.

[8] I know not whether the author, who loves to draw his images from the sports of the field, might not have written,

The wounded chase of Antony,--------

The allusion is to a deer wounded and chased, whom all other deer avoid. "I will, says Enobarbus, follow Antony, tho' chased and wounded." JOHNSON.

14] Alluding to a benighted traveller.

JOHNSON.

[5] I am not master of my own emotions, JOHNSON.