Works    |    Last play                 ÆSOP SHAKESPEARE           Next play     |    Glossary
Created and designed by




Roman plays

Antony and Cleopatra
  • Last scene
  • Next scene
  • Complete play
  • ACT IV SCENE XII

    
     Dramatis Personae 
     Act I   Scene I 
     Act I   Scene II 
     Act I   Scene III 
     Act I   Scene IV 
     Act I   Scene V 
     Act II  Scene I 
     Act II  Scene II 
     Act II  Scene III 
     Act II  Scene IV 
     Act II  Scene V 
     Act II  Scene VI
     Act II  Scene VII  
     Act III Scene I 
     Act III Scene II 
     Act III Scene III 
     Act III Scene IV 
     Act III Scene V 
     Act III Scene VI 
     Act III Scene VII 
     Act III Scene VIII
     Act III Scene IX 
    
    
     Act III Scene X 
     Act III Scene XI 
     Act III Scene XII 
     Act III Scene XIII 
     Act IV  Scene I  
     Act IV  Scene II 
     Act IV  Scene III 
     Act IV  Scene IV 
     Act IV  Scene V
     Act IV  Scene VI
     Act IV  Scene VII
     Act IV  Scene VIII
     Act IV  Scene IX
     Act IV  Scene X
     Act IV  Scene XI
     Act IV  Scene XII
     Act IV  Scene XIII
     Act IV  Scene XIV
     Act IV  Scene XV
     Act V   Scene I 
     Act V   Scene II 
     Complete play


     Act IV 

    
    ACT IV: SCENE XII 	Another part of the same.
    

    
    		Enter MARK ANTONY and SCARUS
    
    MARK ANTONY	Yet they are not join'd: where yond pine
    	does stand,
    	I shall discover all: I'll bring thee word
    	Straight, how 'tis like to go.
    
    	Exit
    
    SCARUS	Swallows have built
    	In Cleopatra's sails their nests: the augurers
    	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.
    
    	Alarum afar off, as at a sea-fight
    
    	Re-enter MARK ANTONY
    
    MARK ANTONY	All is lost;
    	This foul Egyptian hath betrayed me:
    	My fleet hath yielded to the foe; and yonder
    	They cast their caps up and carouse together
    	Like friends long lost. Triple-turn'd whore!
    	'tis thou
    	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.
    
    	Exit SCARUS
    
    	O sun, thy uprise shall I see no more:
    	Fortune and Antony part here; even here
    	Do we shake hands. All come to this? The hearts
    	That spaniel'd me at heels, to whom I gave
    	Their wishes, do discandy, melt their sweets
    	On blossoming Caesar; and this pine is bark'd,
    	That overtopp'd them all. Betray'd I am:
    	O this false soul of Egypt! this grave charm,--
    	Whose eye beck'd forth my wars, and call'd them home;
    	Whose bosom was my crownet, my chief end,--
    	Like a right gipsy, hath, at fast and loose,
    	Beguiled me to the very heart of loss.
    	What, Eros, Eros!
    
    	Enter CLEOPATRA
    
    	Ah, thou spell! Avaunt!
    
    CLEOPATRA	Why is my lord enraged against his love?
    
    MARK 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
    	For poor'st diminutives, for doits; and let
    	Patient Octavia plough thy visage up
    	With her prepared nails.
    
    	Exit CLEOPATRA
    
    		'Tis well thou'rt gone,
    	If it be well to live; but better 'twere
    	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' the moon;
    	And with those hands, that grasp'd the heaviest club,
    	Subdue my worthiest self. The witch shall die:
    	To the young Roman boy she hath sold me, and I fall
    	Under this plot; she dies for't. Eros, ho!
    
    	Exit
    
    
    

    Last scene | This scene | All scenes in this play | Dramatis Personæ | Shakespeare's works | Next scene