And do invite you to my sister's view,
Whither straight I will lead you.

Ant.

Not lack your company.

Lep.

Let us, Lepidus,

Noble Antony,

Not sickness should detain me.

[Flourish. Exeunt CESAR, ANT. and LEPIDUS. Mec. Welcome from Egypt, sir.

Eno. Half the heart of Cæsar, worthy Mecænas! -my honourable friend, Agrippa!

Agr. Good Enobarbus!

Mec. We have cause to be glad, that matters are so well digested. You staied well by it in Egypt. Eno. Ay, sir; we did sleep day out of countenance, and made the night light with drinking.

Mec. Eight wild boars roasted whole at a breakfast, and but twelve persons there; Is this true?

Eno. This was but as a fly by an eagle: we had much more monstrous matter of feast, which worthily deserved noting.

Mec. She's a most triumphant lady, if report be square to her.4

Eno. When she first met Mark Antony, she pursed up his heart, upon the river of Cydnus.

Agr. There she appeared indeed; or my reporter devised well for her.

Eno. I will tell

you:

The barge she sat in, like a burnish'd throne,
Burn'd on the water: the poop was beaten gold;
Purple the sails, and so perfumed, that

The winds were love-sick with them: the oars were silver;

Which to the tune of flutes kept stroke, and made
The water, which they beat, to follow faster,
As amorous of their strokes. For her own person,

be square to her.] i. e. if report quadrates with her, or suits with her merits.

It beggar'd all description: she did lie
In her pavilion, (cloth of gold, of tissue,)
O'er-picturing that Venus, where we see,
The fancy out-work nature: on each side her,
Stood pretty dimpled boys, like smiling Cupids,
With diverse-colour'd fans, whose wind did seem
To glow the delicate cheeks which they did cool,
And what they undid, did."

Agr.
O, rare for Antony!
Eno. Her gentlewomen, like the Nereides,
So many mermaids, tended her i' the eyes,"
And made their bends adornings:' at the helm
A seeming Mermaid steers; the silken tackle
Swell with the touches of those flower-soft hands,
That yarely frame the office. From the barge
A strange invisible pérfume hits the sense
Of the adjacent wharfs. The city cast
Her people out upon her; and Antony,
Enthron'd in the market-place, did sit alone,
Whistling to the air; which, but for vacancy,
Had gone to gaze on Cleopatra too,
And made a gap in nature.

5 And what they undid, did.] The wind of the fans seemed to give a new colour to Cleopatra's cheeks, which they were employed to cool; and what they undid; i. e. that warmth which they were intended to diminish or allay, they did, i. e. they seemed to produce.

-tended her i' the eyes,] Perhaps this expression may signify that the attendants on Cleopatra looked observantly into her eyes, to catch her meaning, without giving her the trouble of verbal explanation; or only means, they performed their duty in the sight of their mistress.

7 And made their bends adornings:] The plain sense, says Mr. Steevens, of this contested passage seems to be-that these Ladies rendered that homage which their assumed characters obliged them to pay to their Queen, a circumstance ornamental to themselves. Each inclined her person so gracefully, that the very act of humiliation was an improvement of her own beauty.

8

That yarely frame the office.] i. e. readily and dexterously perform the task they undertake.

Agr.

Rare Egyptian!
Eno. Upon her landing, Antony sent to her,
Invited her to supper: she replied,

It should be better, he became her guest;
Which she entreated: Our courteous Antony,
Whom ne'er the word of No woman heard speak,
Being barber'd ten times o'er, goes to the feast;
And, for his ordinary, pays his heart,

For what his eyes eat only.

Agr.

Royal wench!

She made great Cæsar lay his sword to bed;
He plough'd her, and she cropp'd.

Eno.

I saw her once

Hop forty paces through the publick street:

And having lost her breath, she spoke, and panted, That she did make defect, perfection,

And, breathless, power breathe forth.

Mec. Now Antony must leave her utterly.

Eno. Never; he will not;

Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale

Her infinite variety: Other women

Cloy th' appetites they feed; but she makes hungry,

Where most she satisfies. For vilest things

Become themselves in her; that the holy priests

Bless her, when she is riggish."

Mec. If beauty, wisdom, modesty, can settle The heart of Antony, Octavia is

A blessed lottery' to him.

The same.

SCENE III.

A Room in Cæsar's House.

Enter CESAR, ANTONY, OCTAVIA between them; Attendants and a Soothsayer.

Ant. The world, and my great office, will some

times

Divide me from your bosom.

All which time

Octa.
Before the gods my knee shall bow my prayers
To them for you.

Ant.

Good night, sir.-My Octavia, Read not my blemishes in the world's report: I have not kept my square; but that to come Shall all be done by the rule. Good night, dear

lady.

Octa. Good night, sir.

Cas. Good night.

[Exeunt CESAR and OCTAVIA. Ant. Now, sirrah! you do wish yourself in Egypt? Sooth. 'Would I had never come from thence,

Thither!

nor you

Ant. If you can, your reason?
Sooth.

I see't in

My motion, have it not in my tongue: But yet

Hie you again to Egypt.

Ant.

Say to me,

Whose fortunes shall rise higher, Cæsar's, or mine? Sooth. Cæsar's.

2 I see't in

My motion,-] i. e. the divinitory agitation; but Mr. Theobald reads, with some probability, I see it in my notion.

Therefore, O Antony, stay not by his side:
Thy dæmon, that's thy spirit which keeps thee, is
Noble, courageous, high, unmatchable,

Where Cæsar's is not; but, near him, thy angel
Becomes a Fear, as being o'erpower'd; therefore
Make space enough between you.

Ant.

Speak this no more.

Sooth. To none but thee; no more, but when to

thee.

If thou dost play with him at any game,

Thou art sure to lose; and, of that natural luck, He beats thee 'gainst the odds; thy lustre thickens, When he shines by: I say again, thy spirit

Is all afraid to govern thee near him;

But, he away, 'tis noble.

Get thee gone:

Ant.
Say to Ventidius, I would speak with him:-

[Exit Soothsayer.
He shall to Parthia.-Be it art, or hap,
He hath spoken true: The very dice obey him;
And, in our sports, my better cunning faints
Under his chance: if we draw lots, he speeds:
His cocks do win the battle still of mine,
When it is all to nought; and his quails3 ever
Beat mine, inhoop'd, at odds. I will to Egypt:
And though I make this marriage for my peace,

Enter VENTIDIUS.

I' the east my pleasure lies:-O, come, Ventidius, You must to Parthia; your commission's ready: Follow me, and receive it.

[Exeunt.

his quails-] The ancients used to match quails as we match cocks.

+inhoop'd, at odds.] Inhoop'd is inclosed, confined, that they may fight.