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Eno. Ha, my brave emperor!

[To ANTONY.

Let's ha't, good soldier.

Shall we dance now the Egyptian Bacchanals,

And celebrate our drink?

Pom.

Ant. Come, let us all take hands;

Till that the conquering wine hath steep'd our sense

In soft and delicate Lethe.

Eno.

All take hands.

Make battery to our ears with the loud musick :-
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.

5

[Musick plays. ENOBARBUS places them hand

in hand.

SONG.

.6

Come, thou monarch of the vine,
Plumpy Bacchus, with pink eyne
In thy cats our cares be drown'd;
With thy grapes our hairs be crown'd;
Cup us, till the world go round;
go round!

Cup us, till the world

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

Let me request you off: our graver business
Frowns at his levity.-Gentle lords, let's part;
You see, we have burnt our cheeks: strong Eno-
barbe

Is weaker than the wine; and mine own tongue
Splits what it speaks: the wild disguise hath almost

The holding every man shall bear,] To bear the burden, or, as it is here called, the holding of a song, is the phrase at this day. with pink eyne:] Dr. Johnson, in his Dictionary, says a pink eye is a small eye, and quotes this passage for his authority. Pink eyne, however, may be red eyes: eyes inflamed with drinking, are very well appropriated to Bacchus.

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

night.

Good Antony, your hand.

Pom.

I'll try you o'the shore.

O, Antony,

Ant. And shall, sir: give's your hand.

Pom.

You have my father's house,-But what? we are

friends:

Come, down into the boat.

Eno.

[Exeunt POMPEY, CÆSAR, ANT. and Attendants. Menas, I'll not on shore.

Men.

Take heed you fall not.→

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.

[A Flourish of Trumpets, with Drums.

Eno. Ho, says 'a!-There's my cap.

Men.

Ho!-noble captain!

Come.

[Exeunt.

ACT III.

SCENE I. A Plain in Syria.

Enter VENTIDIUS, as after Conquest, with SILIUS, and other Romans, Officers, and Soldiers; the dead Body of PACORUS borne before him.

Ven. 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.

Sil.

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.

O Silius, Silius,

Ven.
I have done enough: A lower place, note well,
May make too great an act: For learn this, Silius;
Better leave undone, than by our deed acquire
Too high a fame, when him we serve's away.
Cæsar, 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 the minute, lost his favour.
Who does i' the 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 todo Antonius good,

But 'twould offe、, dhim; and in his offence
Should my performance perish.

Sil.

Thou hast, Ventidius,

Thou wilt write to

That without which a soldier, and his sword,
Grants scarce distinction.8

Antony?

Thy Pacorus, Orodes,] Pacorus was the son of Orodes, King of Parthia.

• That without which a soldier, and his sword,

Grants scarce distinction.] Grant, for afford. It is badly and obscurely expressed; but the sense is this: Thou hast that, Ventidius, which if thou didst want, there would be no distinction between thee and thy sword. You would be both equally cutting and senseless.

Ven. 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'the field.

Sil.

Where is he now?

Ven. He purposeth to Athens: whither with what

haste

The weight we must convey with us will permit, We shall appear before him.-On, there; pass along. [Exeunt.

SCENE II.

Rome. An Ante Chamber in Cæsar's House.

Enter AGRIPPA, and ENOBARBUS, meeting.

Agr. What, are the brothers parted?

Eno. They have despatch'd with Pompey, he is

gone;

The other three are sealing. Octavia weeps
To part from Rome: Cæsar is sad; and Lepidus,
Since Pompey's feast, as Menas says, is troubled
With the green sickness.

Agr.
"Tis a noble Lepidus.
Eno. A very fine one: O, how he loves Cæsar!
Agr. Nay, but how dearly he adores Mark Antony!
Eno. Cæsar? Why, he's the Jupiter of men.
Agr. What's Antony? The god of Jupiter.
Eno. Spake you of Cæsar? How? the nonpareil!
Agr. O Antony! O thou Arabian bird !9
Eno. Would you praise Cæsar, say,-Cæsar;-
go no further.

Agr. Indeed, he ply'd them both with excellent praises.

9 Arabian bird!] The phoenix.

3

Eno. But he loves Cæsar best;-Yet he loves

Antony:

Ho! hearts, tongues, figures, scribes, bards, poets,

cannot

Think, speak, cast, write, sing, number, ho, his love To Antony. But as for Cæsar,

Kneel down, kneel down, and wonder.

Agr.

Both he loves.

Eno. They are his shards, and he their beetle.'

So,

[Trumpets.

This is to horse-Adieu, noble Agrippa.
Agr. Good fortune, worthy soldier; and farewell.

Enter CESAR, ANTONY, LEPIDUS, and OCTAVIA.
Ant. No further, sir.

Cas. You take from me a great part of myself;
Use me well in it.-Sister, prove such a wife
As my thoughts make thee, and as my furthest band2
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 loved without this mean, if on both parts
This be not cherish'd.

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You shall not find,

Though you be therein curious, the least cause For what you seem to fear: So, the gods keep you,

They are his shards, and he their beetle.] i. e. They are the wings that raise this heavy lumpish insect from the ground.

as my furthe t band-] As I will venture the greatest pledge of security, on the trial of thy conduct. Band and bond in our author's time, were synonymous.

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therein curious,] i. e. scrupulous.

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