Original Text |
Translated Text |
| Source: Folger Shakespeare Library |
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Enter Cleopatra, Enobarbus, Charmian, and Iras. CLEOPATRA
What shall we do, Enobarbus? ENOBARBUS Think, and die. CLEOPATRA
Is Antony or we in fault for this? ENOBARBUS
Antony only, that would make his will
Lord of his reason. What though you fled 5
From that great face of war, whose several ranges
Frighted each other? Why should he follow?
The itch of his affection should not then
Have nicked his captainship, at such a point,
When half to half the world opposed, he being 10
The merèd question. ’Twas a shame no less
Than was his loss, to course your flying flags
And leave his navy gazing. CLEOPATRA Prithee, peace. | At Cleopatra’s palace in Alexandria, Enobarbus half-heartedly consoles Cleopatra. He claims Cleopatra has no fault in the defeat—Antony chose to let his affection for her overpower his reason, so Antony bears both the shame and the loss. This is cold comfort to Cleopatra. |
Enter the Ambassador with Antony. ANTONY Is that his answer? 15 AMBASSADOR Ay, my lord. ANTONY
The Queen shall then have courtesy, so she
Will yield us up? AMBASSADOR He says so. ANTONY Let her know ’t.— 20
To the boy Caesar send this grizzled head,
And he will fill thy wishes to the brim
With principalities. CLEOPATRA That head, my lord? | Antony enters talking with his messenger, from whom he discovers that if Cleopatra turns Antony over to Caesar—or kills him—Caesar will give her all sorts of honors and lands. |
ANTONY, to Ambassador
To him again. Tell him he wears the rose 25
Of youth upon him, from which the world should
note
Something particular: his coin, ships, legions
May be a coward’s, whose ministers would prevail
Under the service of a child as soon 30
As i’ th’ command of Caesar. I dare him therefore
To lay his gay caparisons apart
And answer me declined, sword against sword,
Ourselves alone. I’ll write it. Follow me. Antony and Ambassador exit. | Antony is, of course, furious, and says Caesar’s victories are only the luck of his youth—his armies would do as well if they were led by a child. He resolves to challenge Caesar man-to-man, sword-against-sword, and exits to write the letter of challenge. |
ENOBARBUS, aside
Yes, like enough, high-battled Caesar will 35
Unstate his happiness and be staged to th’ show
Against a sworder! I see men’s judgments are
A parcel of their fortunes, and things outward
Do draw the inward quality after them
To suffer all alike. That he should dream, 40
Knowing all measures, the full Caesar will
Answer his emptiness! Caesar, thou hast subdued
His judgment too. Enter a Servant. SERVANT A messenger from Caesar. CLEOPATRA
What, no more ceremony? See, my women, 45
Against the blown rose may they stop their nose
That kneeled unto the buds.—Admit him, sir. Servant exits. ENOBARBUS, aside
Mine honesty and I begin to square.
The loyalty well held to fools does make
Our faith mere folly. Yet he that can endure 50
To follow with allegiance a fall’n lord
Does conquer him that did his master conquer,
And earns a place i’ th’ story. | In a couple of snarky asides, Enobarbus laments just how far Antony has fallen and considers abandoning him. If he remains loyal, though, he may yet earn some glory for himself. If Caesar destroys Antony, Enobarbus could attack Caesar and gain power. |
Enter Thidias. CLEOPATRA Caesar’s will? THIDIAS
Hear it apart. 55 CLEOPATRA None but friends. Say boldly. THIDIAS
So haply are they friends to Antony. ENOBARBUS
He needs as many, sir, as Caesar has,
Or needs not us. If Caesar please, our master
Will leap to be his friend. For us, you know 60
Whose he is we are, and that is Caesar’s. THIDIAS So.—
Thus then, thou most renowned: Caesar entreats
Not to consider in what case thou stand’st
Further than he is Caesar. 65 CLEOPATRA Go on; right royal. THIDIAS
He knows that you embrace not Antony
As you did love, but as you feared him. CLEOPATRA O! THIDIAS
The scars upon your honor therefore he 70
Does pity as constrainèd blemishes,
Not as deserved. CLEOPATRA He is a god and knows
What is most right. Mine honor was not yielded,
But conquered merely. 75 | Thidias, Caesar’s man, arrives. He suggests to Cleopatra that she only gave into Antony out of fear, not love, so she doesn’t deserve her dishonor, but instead deserves pity. Cleopatra says Caesar is indeed a god, and she agrees that Thidias speaks rightly, as she didn’t yield to Antony, but was conquered against her will. |
ENOBARBUS, aside To be sure of that,
I will ask Antony. Sir, sir, thou art so leaky
That we must leave thee to thy sinking, for
Thy dearest quit thee. Enobarbus exits. | Enobarbus hears all of this and exits, remarking that Antony is definitely like a leaky vessel that is sinking. Even Cleopatra, his dearest love, is abandoning him. |
THIDIAS Shall I say to Caesar 80
What you require of him? For he partly begs
To be desired to give. It much would please him
That of his fortunes you should make a staff
To lean upon. But it would warm his spirits
To hear from me you had left Antony 85
And put yourself under his shroud,
The universal landlord. CLEOPATRA What’s your name? THIDIAS
My name is Thidias. | Thidias goes on, promising that Caesar would be glad to warmly offer protection (and who knows what else, warmly) to Cleopatra. |
CLEOPATRA Most kind messenger, 90
Say to great Caesar this in deputation:
I kiss his conqu’ring hand. Tell him I am prompt
To lay my crown at ’s feet, and there to kneel.
Tell him, from his all-obeying breath I hear
The doom of Egypt. 95 | Cleopatra then does the despicable, telling the messenger to pass on to Caesar that she would kneel at his feet, give over her crown, and let him pronounce doom upon Egypt (Egypt being herself). |
THIDIAS ’Tis your noblest course.
Wisdom and fortune combating together,
If that the former dare but what it can,
No chance may shake it. Give me grace to lay
My duty on your hand. 100 She gives him her hand to kiss. CLEOPATRA Your Caesar’s father oft,
When he hath mused of taking kingdoms in,
Bestowed his lips on that unworthy place
As it rained kisses. | Thidias reaches to kiss her hand, and Cleopatra remembers out loud how this Caesar’s father, Julius Caesar, used to kiss her hand when he thought about conquering kingdoms, too. |
Enter Antony and Enobarbus. ANTONY Favors? By Jove that thunders! 105
What art thou, fellow? THIDIAS One that but performs
The bidding of the fullest man and worthiest
To have command obeyed. ENOBARBUS You will be whipped. 110 ANTONY, calling for Servants
Approach there!—Ah, you kite!—Now, gods and
devils,
Authority melts from me. Of late when I cried “Ho!”
Like boys unto a muss kings would start forth
And cry “Your will?” Have you no ears? I am 115
Antony yet. Enter Servants. Take hence this jack and whip him. ENOBARBUS, aside
’Tis better playing with a lion’s whelp
Than with an old one dying. ANTONY Moon and stars! 120
Whip him! Were ’t twenty of the greatest tributaries
That do acknowledge Caesar, should I find them
So saucy with the hand of she here—what’s her
name
Since she was Cleopatra? Whip him, fellows, 125
Till like a boy you see him cringe his face
And whine aloud for mercy. Take him hence. THIDIAS
Mark Antony— | Just then Antony returns with Enobarbus, and flies into a rage seeing Thidias getting cozy on Caesar’s behalf with Cleopatra. Thidias is in for a whooping. |
ANTONY Tug him away. Being whipped,
Bring him again. This jack of Caesar’s shall 130
Bear us an errand to him.
Servants exit with Thidias.
To Cleopatra. You were half blasted ere I knew you.
Ha!
Have I my pillow left unpressed in Rome,
Forborne the getting of a lawful race, 135
And by a gem of women, to be abused
By one that looks on feeders? CLEOPATRA Good my lord— ANTONY You have been a boggler ever.
But when we in our viciousness grow hard— 140
O, misery on ’t!—the wise gods seel our eyes,
In our own filth drop our clear judgments, make us
Adore our errors, laugh at ’s while we strut
To our confusion. CLEOPATRA O, is ’t come to this? 145 ANTONY
I found you as a morsel cold upon
Dead Caesar’s trencher; nay, you were a fragment
Of Gneius Pompey’s, besides what hotter hours,
Unregistered in vulgar fame, you have
Luxuriously picked out. For I am sure, 150
Though you can guess what temperance should be,
You know not what it is. CLEOPATRA Wherefore is this? | Antony has his servants take Thidias away for a sound beating, and instructs them to bring him back when they’re done, so the lousy son of a Roman can bring a message to Caesar from Antony. Then he lights into Cleopatra, and he's pretty harsh. He claims he sacrificed a proper marriage to a proper Roman gal just to get involved with a woman who messes around with servants. He says Cleopatra was in sad shape when he met her, having been used up by Caesar and then Pompey, and then he tells her she's about to learn what temperance is. As in, abstaining from something tempting, like he's going to abstain from her. |
ANTONY
To let a fellow that will take rewards
And say “God quit you!” be familiar with 155
My playfellow, your hand, this kingly seal
And plighter of high hearts! O, that I were
Upon the hill of Basan, to outroar
The hornèd herd! For I have savage cause,
And to proclaim it civilly were like 160
A haltered neck which does the hangman thank
For being yare about him. Enter a Servant with Thidias. Is he whipped? SERVANT Soundly, my lord. ANTONY Cried he? And begged he pardon? 165 SERVANT He did ask favor. | Antony adds one last grievance to his rant: that Cleopatra let the lowly servant kiss her hand—the very same hand that has signed treaties and pledged love to Antony. He can't believe her nerve and he wants to shout about it because to talk calmly would be like thanking a hangman who's getting ready to kill you for being quick with the noose. Absurd! |
ANTONY, to Thidias
If that thy father live, let him repent
Thou wast not made his daughter; and be thou sorry
To follow Caesar in his triumph, since
Thou hast been whipped for following him. 170
Henceforth
The white hand of a lady fever thee;
Shake thou to look on ’t. Get thee back to Caesar.
Tell him thy entertainment. Look thou say
He makes me angry with him; for he seems 175
Proud and disdainful, harping on what I am,
Not what he knew I was. He makes me angry,
And at this time most easy ’tis to do ’t,
When my good stars that were my former guides
Have empty left their orbs and shot their fires 180
Into th’ abysm of hell. If he mislike
My speech and what is done, tell him he has
Hipparchus, my enfranchèd bondman, whom
He may at pleasure whip, or hang, or torture,
As he shall like to quit me. Urge it thou. 185
Hence with thy stripes, begone! Thidias exits. | After Thidias returns from his beating, Antony tells him to go back to Caesar and let him know the following: Antony may not have the honor and fortune he once possessed, but he still has his fury. If Caesar dislikes the way Thidias was treated, then he can punish Antony’s man Hipparchus, whom Caesar has captured. |
CLEOPATRA Have you done yet? ANTONY
Alack, our terrene moon is now eclipsed,
And it portends alone the fall of Antony. CLEOPATRA I must stay his time. 190 ANTONY
To flatter Caesar, would you mingle eyes
With one that ties his points? | Cleopatra asks Antony if he's done with his temper tantrum, and apparently he's not. He asks her if she’d flatter Caesar by flirting with a man that ties his pant laces. |
CLEOPATRA Not know me yet? ANTONY
Coldhearted toward me? CLEOPATRA Ah, dear, if I be so, 195
From my cold heart let heaven engender hail
And poison it in the source, and the first stone
Drop in my neck; as it determines, so
Dissolve my life! The next Caesarion smite,
Till by degrees the memory of my womb, 200
Together with my brave Egyptians all,
By the discandying of this pelleted storm
Lie graveless till the flies and gnats of Nile
Have buried them for prey! | Cleopatra says, "Come on, you know me better than that." She then says that if she is not still loyal to and in love with Antony, then poisonous hail should rain down on her and lodge in her throat, killing her. Then more hail should hit every last one of her children and they should die, too. Along with everyone else in Egypt. |
ANTONY I am satisfied. 205
Caesar sits down in Alexandria, where
I will oppose his fate. Our force by land
Hath nobly held; our severed navy too
Have knit again, and fleet, threatening most sealike.
Where hast thou been, my heart? Dost thou hear, 210
lady?
If from the field I shall return once more
To kiss these lips, I will appear in blood.
I and my sword will earn our chronicle.
There’s hope in ’t yet. 215 CLEOPATRA That’s my brave lord! | Antony is totally satisfied with this—maybe because he’s crazy, but more likely because he and Cleopatra are a couple of co-dependent psychopaths. He tells Cleopatra he’s gotten his forces back together to fight Caesar on land and sea the next day, and promises he’ll fight with malice, regardless of the outcome. She cheers. |
ANTONY
I will be treble-sinewed, -hearted, -breathed,
And fight maliciously; for when mine hours
Were nice and lucky, men did ransom lives
Of me for jests. But now I’ll set my teeth 220
And send to darkness all that stop me. Come,
Let’s have one other gaudy night. Call to me
All my sad captains. Fill our bowls once more.
Let’s mock the midnight bell. CLEOPATRA It is my birthday. 225
I had thought t’ have held it poor. But since my lord
Is Antony again, I will be Cleopatra. ANTONY We will yet do well. CLEOPATRA
Call all his noble captains to my lord. ANTONY
Do so; we’ll speak to them, and tonight I’ll force 230
The wine peep through their scars.—Come on, my
queen,
There’s sap in ’t yet. The next time I do fight
I’ll make Death love me, for I will contend
Even with his pestilent scythe. 235 | He calls for wine and demands one more "gaudy night." It’s Cleopatra’s birthday, so she’s probably up for some gaudiness too. Cleopatra is glad to see Antony is back in his former spirits, even if he’s been driven there by utter madness. |
All but Enobarbus exit. ENOBARBUS
Now he’ll outstare the lightning. To be furious
Is to be frighted out of fear, and in that mood
The dove will peck the estridge; and I see still
A diminution in our captain’s brain
Restores his heart. When valor preys on reason, 240
It eats the sword it fights with. I will seek
Some way to leave him. He exits. | Alone, Enobarbus notes the insanity of the situation—his master is so furious that he’s no longer even afraid. Antony's brain and reason have given up, and his heart has taken over for some last glory in this doomed venture. Enobarbus resolves that he must leave Antony before this sinking ship goes down. |