The Complete Works of William Shakespeare

Chapter 34

ACT_2|SC_7

SCENE VII.

On board POMPEY'S galley, off Misenum

Music plays. Enter two or three SERVANTS with a banquet

FIRST SERVANT. Here they'll be, man. Some o' their plants are

ill-rooted already; the least wind i' th' world will blow them

down.

SECOND SERVANT. Lepidus is high-colour'd.

FIRST SERVANT. They have made him drink alms-drink.

SECOND SERVANT. As they pinch one another by the disposition, he

cries out 'No more!'; reconciles them to his entreaty and himself

to th' drink.

FIRST SERVANT. But it raises the greater war between him and his

discretion.

SECOND SERVANT. Why, this it is to have a name in great men's

fellowship. I had as lief have a reed that will do me no service

as a partizan I could not heave.

FIRST SERVANT. To be call'd into a huge sphere, and not to be seen

to move in't, are the holes where eyes should be, which pitifully

disaster the cheeks.

A sennet sounded. Enter CAESAR, ANTONY, LEPIDUS,

POMPEY, AGRIPPA, MAECENAS, ENOBARBUS, MENAS,

with other CAPTAINS

ANTONY. [To CAESAR] Thus do they, sir: they take the flow o' th'

Nile

By certain scales i' th' pyramid; they know

By th' height, the lowness, or the mean, if dearth

Or foison follow. The higher Nilus swells

The more it promises; as it ebbs, the seedsman

Upon the slime and ooze scatters his grain,

And shortly comes to harvest.

LEPIDUS. Y'have strange serpents there.

ANTONY. Ay, Lepidus.

LEPIDUS. Your serpent of Egypt is bred now of your mud by the

operation of your sun; so is your crocodile.

ANTONY. They are so.

POMPEY. Sit- and some wine! A health to Lepidus!

LEPIDUS. I am not so well as I should be, but I'll ne'er out.

ENOBARBUS. Not till you have slept. I fear me you'll be in till

then.

LEPIDUS. Nay, certainly, I have heard the Ptolemies' pyramises are

very goodly things. Without contradiction I have heard that.

MENAS. [Aside to POMPEY] Pompey, a word.

POMPEY. [Aside to MENAS] Say in mine ear; what is't?

MENAS. [Aside to POMPEY] Forsake thy seat, I do beseech thee,

Captain,

And hear me speak a word.

POMPEY. [ Whispers in's ear ] Forbear me till anon-

This wine for Lepidus!

LEPIDUS. What manner o' thing is your crocodile?

ANTONY. It is shap'd, sir, like itself, and it is as broad as it

hath breadth; it is just so high as it is, and moves with it own

organs. It lives by that which nourisheth it, and the elements

once out of it, it transmigrates.

LEPIDUS. What colour is it of?

ANTONY. Of it own colour too.

LEPIDUS. 'Tis a strange serpent.

ANTONY. 'Tis so. And the tears of it are wet.

CAESAR. Will this description satisfy him?

ANTONY. With the health that Pompey gives him, else he is a very

epicure.

POMPEY. [Aside to MENAS] Go, hang, sir, hang! Tell me of that!

Away!

Do as I bid you.- Where's this cup I call'd for?

MENAS. [Aside to POMPEY] If for the sake of merit thou wilt hear

me,

Rise from thy stool.

POMPEY. [Aside to MENAS] I think th'art mad. [Rises and walks

aside] The matter?

MENAS. I have ever held my cap off to thy fortunes.

POMPEY. Thou hast serv'd me with much faith. What's else to say?-

Be jolly, lords.

ANTONY. These quicksands, Lepidus,

Keep off them, for you sink.

MENAS. Wilt thou be lord of all the world?

POMPEY. What say'st thou?

MENAS. Wilt thou be lord of the whole world? That's twice.

POMPEY. How should that be?

MENAS. But entertain it,

And though you think me poor, I am the man

Will give thee all the world.

POMPEY. Hast thou drunk well?

MENAS. No, Pompey, I have kept me from the cup.

Thou art, if thou dar'st be, the earthly Jove;

Whate'er the ocean pales or sky inclips

Is thine, if thou wilt ha't.

POMPEY. Show me which way.

MENAS. These three world-sharers, these competitors,

Are in thy vessel. Let me cut the cable;

And when we are put off, fall to their throats.

All there is thine.

POMPEY. Ah, this thou shouldst have done,

And not have spoke on't. In me 'tis villainy:

In thee't had been good service. Thou must know

'Tis not my profit that does lead mine honour:

Mine honour, it. Repent that e'er thy tongue

Hath so betray'd thine act. Being done unknown,

I should have found it afterwards well done,

But must condemn it now. Desist, and drink.

MENAS. [Aside] For this,

I'll never follow thy pall'd fortunes more.

Who seeks, and will not take when once 'tis offer'd,

Shall never find it more.

POMPEY. This health to Lepidus!

ANTONY. Bear him ashore. I'll pledge it for him, Pompey.

ENOBARBUS. Here's to thee, Menas!

MENAS. Enobarbus, welcome!

POMPEY. Fill till the cup be hid.

ENOBARBUS. There's a strong fellow, Menas.

[Pointing to the servant who carries off LEPIDUS]

MENAS. Why?

ENOBARBUS. 'A bears the third part of the world, man; see'st not?

MENAS. The third part, then, is drunk. Would it were all,

That it might go on wheels!

ENOBARBUS. Drink thou; increase the reels.

MENAS. Come.

POMPEY. This is not yet an Alexandrian feast.

ANTONY. It ripens towards it. Strike the vessels, ho!

Here's to Caesar!

CAESAR. I could well forbear't.

It's monstrous labour when I wash my brain

And it grows fouler.

ANTONY. Be a child o' th' time.

CAESAR. Possess it, I'll make answer.

But I had rather fast from all four days

Than drink so much in one.

ENOBARBUS. [To ANTONY] Ha, my brave emperor!

Shall we dance now the Egyptian Bacchanals

And celebrate our drink?

POMPEY. Let's ha't, good soldier.

ANTONY. Come, let's all take hands,

Till that the conquering wine hath steep'd our sense

In soft and delicate Lethe.

ENOBARBUS. All take hands.

Make battery to our ears with the loud music,

The while I'll place you; then the boy shall sing;

The holding every man shall bear as loud

As his strong sides can volley.

[Music plays. ENOBARBUS places them hand in hand]

THE SONG

Come, thou monarch of the vine,

Plumpy Bacchus with pink eyne!

In thy fats our cares be drown'd,

With thy grapes our hairs be crown'd.

Cup us till the world go round,

Cup us till the world go round!

CAESAR. What would you more? Pompey, good night. Good brother,

Let me request you off; our graver business

Frowns at this levity. Gentle lords, let's part;

You see we have burnt our cheeks. Strong Enobarb

Is weaker than the wine, and mine own tongue

Splits what it speaks. The wild disguise hath almost

Antick'd us all. What needs more words? Good night.

Good Antony, your hand.

POMPEY. I'll try you on the shore.

ANTONY. And shall, sir. Give's your hand.

POMPEY. O Antony,

You have my father's house- but what? We are friends.

Come, down into the boat.

ENOBARBUS. Take heed you fall not.

Exeunt all but ENOBARBUS and MENAS

Menas, I'll not on shore.

MENAS. No, to my cabin.

These drums! these trumpets, flutes! what!

Let Neptune hear we bid a loud farewell

To these great fellows. Sound and be hang'd, sound out!

[Sound a flourish, with drums]

ENOBARBUS. Hoo! says 'a. There's my cap.

MENAS. Hoo! Noble Captain, come. Exeunt

ACT_3|SC_1

ACT III. SCENE I.

A plain in Syria

Enter VENTIDIUS, as it were in triumph, with SILIUS

and other Romans, OFFICERS and soldiers; the dead body

of PACORUS borne before him

VENTIDIUS. Now, darting Parthia, art thou struck, and now

Pleas'd fortune does of Marcus Crassus' death

Make me revenger. Bear the King's son's body

Before our army. Thy Pacorus, Orodes,

Pays this for Marcus Crassus.

SILIUS. Noble Ventidius,

Whilst yet with Parthian blood thy sword is warm

The fugitive Parthians follow; spur through Media,

Mesopotamia, and the shelters whither

The routed fly. So thy grand captain, Antony,

Shall set thee on triumphant chariots and

Put garlands on thy head.

VENTIDIUS. O Silius, Silius,

I have done enough. A lower place, note well,

May make too great an act; for learn this, Silius:

Better to leave undone than by our deed

Acquire too high a fame when him we serve's away.

Caesar and Antony have ever won

More in their officer, than person. Sossius,

One of my place in Syria, his lieutenant,

For quick accumulation of renown,

Which he achiev'd by th' minute, lost his favour.

Who does i' th' wars more than his captain can

Becomes his captain's captain; and ambition,

The soldier's virtue, rather makes choice of loss

Than gain which darkens him.

I could do more to do Antonius good,

But 'twould offend him; and in his offence

Should my performance perish.

SILIUS. Thou hast, Ventidius, that

Without the which a soldier and his sword

Grants scarce distinction. Thou wilt write to Antony?

VENTIDIUS. I'll humbly signify what in his name,

That magical word of war, we have effected;

How, with his banners, and his well-paid ranks,

The ne'er-yet-beaten horse of Parthia

We have jaded out o' th' field.

SILIUS. Where is he now?

VENTIDIUS. He purposeth to Athens; whither, with what haste

The weight we must convey with's will permit,

We shall appear before him.- On, there; pass along.

Exeunt

ACT_3|SC_2

SCENE II. Rome. CAESAR'S house

Enter AGRIPPA at one door, ENOBARBUS at another

AGRIPPA. What, are the brothers parted?

ENOBARBUS. They have dispatch'd with Pompey; he is gone;

The other three are sealing. Octavia weeps

To part from Rome; Caesar is sad; and Lepidus,

Since Pompey's feast, as Menas says, is troubled

With the green sickness.

AGRIPPA. 'Tis a noble Lepidus.

ENOBARBUS. A very fine one. O, how he loves Caesar!

AGRIPPA. Nay, but how dearly he adores Mark Antony!

ENOBARBUS. Caesar? Why he's the Jupiter of men.

AGRIPPA. What's Antony? The god of Jupiter.

ENOBARBUS. Spake you of Caesar? How! the nonpareil!

AGRIPPA. O, Antony! O thou Arabian bird!

ENOBARBUS. Would you praise Caesar, say 'Caesar'- go no further.

AGRIPPA. Indeed, he plied them both with excellent praises.

ENOBARBUS. But he loves Caesar best. Yet he loves Antony.

Hoo! hearts, tongues, figures, scribes, bards, poets, cannot

Think, speak, cast, write, sing, number- hoo!-

His love to Antony. But as for Caesar,

Kneel down, kneel down, and wonder.

AGRIPPA. Both he loves.

ENOBARBUS. They are his shards, and he their beetle. [Trumpets

within] So-

This is to horse. Adieu, noble Agrippa.

AGRIPPA. Good fortune, worthy soldier, and farewell.

Enter CAESAR, ANTONY, LEPIDUS, and OCTAVIA

ANTONY. No further, sir.

CAESAR. You take from me a great part of myself;

Use me well in't. Sister, prove such a wife

As my thoughts make thee, and as my farthest band

Shall pass on thy approof. Most noble Antony,

Let not the piece of virtue which is set

Betwixt us as the cement of our love

To keep it builded be the ram to batter

The fortress of it; for better might we

Have lov'd without this mean, if on both parts

This be not cherish'd.

ANTONY. Make me not offended

In your distrust.

CAESAR. I have said.

ANTONY. You shall not find,

Though you be therein curious, the least cause

For what you seem to fear. So the gods keep you,

And make the hearts of Romans serve your ends!

We will here part.

CAESAR. Farewell, my dearest sister, fare thee well.

The elements be kind to thee and make

Thy spirits all of comfort! Fare thee well.

OCTAVIA. My noble brother!

ANTONY. The April's in her eyes. It is love's spring,

And these the showers to bring it on. Be cheerful.

OCTAVIA. Sir, look well to my husband's house; and-

CAESAR. What, Octavia?

OCTAVIA. I'll tell you in your ear.

ANTONY. Her tongue will not obey her heart, nor can

Her heart inform her tongue- the swan's down feather,

That stands upon the swell at the full of tide,

And neither way inclines.

ENOBARBUS. [Aside to AGRIPPA] Will Caesar weep?

AGRIPPA. [Aside to ENOBARBUS] He has a cloud in's face.

ENOBARBUS. [Aside to AGRIPPA] He were the worse for that, were he a

horse;

So is he, being a man.

AGRIPPA. [Aside to ENOBARBUS] Why, Enobarbus,

When Antony found Julius Caesar dead,

He cried almost to roaring; and he wept

When at Philippi he found Brutus slain.

ENOBARBUS. [Aside to AGRIPPA] That year, indeed, he was troubled

with a rheum;

What willingly he did confound he wail'd,

Believe't- till I weep too.

CAESAR. No, sweet Octavia,

You shall hear from me still; the time shall not

Out-go my thinking on you.

ANTONY. Come, sir, come;

I'll wrestle with you in my strength of love.

Look, here I have you; thus I let you go,

And give you to the gods.

CAESAR. Adieu; be happy!

LEPIDUS. Let all the number of the stars give light

To thy fair way!

CAESAR. Farewell, farewell! [Kisses OCTAVIA]

ANTONY. Farewell! Trumpets sound. Exeunt