The Tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra: Act 4, Scene 12 Translation

A side-by-side translation of Act 4, Scene 12 of The Tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra from the original Shakespeare into modern English.

Original Text	Translated Text
Source: Folger Shakespeare Library
Enter Antony and Scarus. ANTONY Yet they are not joined. Where yond pine does stand, I shall discover all. I’ll bring thee word Straight how ’tis like to go. He exits.	Antony watches the battle at sea with Scarus and frets that he can’t see Caesar’s troops yet. He leaves Scarus to go look from a different vantage point.
Alarum afar off, as at a sea fight. SCARUS Swallows have built In Cleopatra’s sails their nests. The augurs 5 Say they know not, they cannot tell, look grimly And dare not speak their knowledge. Antony Is valiant and dejected, and by starts His fretted fortunes give him hope and fear Of what he has and has not. 10	Scarus notes in an aside that the augurs (or prophets) were hesitant to state their predictions about this sea battle, which can’t be good.
Enter Antony. ANTONY All is lost! This foul Egyptian hath betrayèd me. My fleet hath yielded to the foe, and yonder They cast their caps up and carouse together Like friends long lost. Triple-turned whore! ’Tis thou 15 Hast sold me to this novice, and my heart Makes only wars on thee. Bid them all fly— For when I am revenged upon my charm, I have done all. Bid them all fly. Begone! Scarus exits. O sun, thy uprise shall I see no more. 20 Fortune and Antony part here; even here Do we shake hands. All come to this? The hearts That spanieled me at heels, to whom I gave Their wishes, do discandy, melt their sweets On blossoming Caesar, and this pine is barked 25 That overtopped them all. Betrayed I am. O, this false soul of Egypt! This grave charm, Whose eye becked forth my wars and called them home, Whose bosom was my crownet, my chief end, 30 Like a right gypsy hath at fast and loose Beguiled me to the very heart of loss.— What Eros, Eros! Enter Cleopatra. Ah, thou spell! Avaunt!	Antony returns to Scarus in a fury—Cleopatra’s fleet has deserted them again and Antony’s fleet has yielded to Caesar’s, greeting them like friends. He doesn’t care to take revenge on his troops, only on Cleopatra. Antony is sure she’s the one that led him to this course. Antony demands that all the remaining soldiers leave, as he doesn’t care about them anymore. Then he privately laments that Fortune has deserted him and now favors Caesar instead. He damns Cleopatra for luring him to Egypt and identifies her as the cause of his loss.
CLEOPATRA Why is my lord enraged against his love? 35 ANTONY Vanish, or I shall give thee thy deserving And blemish Caesar’s triumph. Let him take thee And hoist thee up to the shouting plebeians! Follow his chariot, like the greatest spot Of all thy sex; most monster-like be shown 40 For poor’st diminutives, for dolts, and let Patient Octavia plow thy visage up With her preparèd nails. Cleopatra exits. ’Tis well th’ art gone, If it be well to live. But better ’twere 45 Thou fell’st into my fury, for one death Might have prevented many.—Eros, ho!— The shirt of Nessus is upon me. Teach me, Alcides, thou mine ancestor, thy rage. Let me lodge Lichas on the horns o’ th’ moon, 50 And with those hands that grasped the heaviest club Subdue my worthiest self. The witch shall die. To the young Roman boy she hath sold me, and I fall 55 Under this plot. She dies for ’t.—Eros, ho! He exits.	Cleopatra enters and Antony rages at her, saying she should go be part of Caesar’s victory march. With any luck Octavia will see her and scratch up her face with her fingernails. Cleopatra can't get a word in, so she flees Antony’s fury, and he’s glad to see her go. He wishes he had killed her earlier, which would have saved many lives. He resolves that she’ll die for selling him out to Caesar, whom he calls "the young Roman boy."