Antony and Cleopatra

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.

Scene XIII

Alexandria. Cleopatra’s palace.

	Enter Cleopatra, Charmian, Iras, and Mardian.
Cleopatra	Help me, my women! O, he is more mad Than Telamon for his shield; the boar of Thessaly Was never so emboss’d.
Charmian	To the monument! There lock yourself, and send him word you are dead. The soul and body rive not more in parting Than greatness going off.
Cleopatra	To the monument! Mardian, go tell him I have slain myself; Say, that the last I spoke was “Antony,” And word it, prithee, piteously: hence, Mardian, And bring me how he takes my death. To the monument! Exeunt.

Scene XIV

The same. Another room.

	Enter Antony and Eros.
Antony	Eros, thou yet behold’st me?
Eros	Ay, noble lord.
Antony	Sometimes we see a cloud that’s dragonish; A vapour sometime like a bear or lion, A tower’d citadel, a pendent rock, A forked mountain, or blue promontory With trees upon’t, that nod unto the world, And mock our eyes with air: thou hast seen these signs; They are black vesper’s pageants.
Eros	Ay, my lord,
Antony	That which is now a horse, even with a thought The rack dislimns, and makes it indistinct, As water is in water.
Eros	It does, my lord.
Antony	My good knave Eros, now thy captain is Even such a body: here I am Antony; Yet cannot hold this visible shape, my knave. I made these wars for Egypt: and the queen⁠— Whose heart I thought I had, for she had mine; Which whilst it was mine had annex’d unto’t A million more, now lost⁠—she, Eros, has Pack’d cards with Caesar, and false-play’d my glory Unto an enemy’s triumph. Nay, weep not, gentle Eros; there is left us Ourselves to end ourselves.
	Enter Mardian.
	O! thy vile lady! She has robb’d me of my sword.
Mardian	No, Antony; My mistress loved thee, and her fortunes mingled With thine entirely.
Antony	Hence, saucy eunuch; peace She hath betray’d me and shall die the death.
Mardian	Death of one person can be paid but once, And that she has discharged: what thou wouldst do Is done unto thy hand: the last she spake Was “Antony! most noble Antony!” Then in the midst a tearing groan did break The name of Antony; it was divided Between her heart and lips: she render’d life, Thy name so buried in her.
Antony	Dead, then?
Mardian	Dead.
Antony	Unarm, Eros; the long day’s task is done, And we must sleep. To Mardian. That thou depart’st hence safe, Does pay thy labour richly; go. Exit Mardian. Off, pluck off: The seven-fold shield of Ajax cannot keep The battery from my heart. O, cleave, my sides! Heart, once be stronger than thy continent, Crack thy frail case! Apace, Eros, apace. No more a soldier: bruised pieces, go; You have been nobly borne. From me awhile. Exit Eros. I will o’ertake thee, Cleopatra, and Weep for my pardon. So it must be, for now All length is torture: since the torch is out, Lie down, and stray no farther: now all labour Mars what it does; yea, very force entangles Itself with strength: seal then, and all is done. Eros!⁠—I come, my queen:⁠—Eros!⁠—Stay for me: Where souls do couch on flowers, we’ll hand in hand, And with our sprightly port make the ghosts gaze: Dido and her Aeneas shall want troops, And all the haunt be ours. Come, Eros, Eros!
	Re-enter Eros.
Eros	What would my lord?
Antony	Since Cleopatra died, I have lived in such dishonour, that the gods Detest my baseness. I, that with my sword Quarter’d the world, and o’er green Neptune’s back With ships made cities, condemn myself to lack The courage of a woman; less noble mind Than she which by her death our Caesar tells “I am conqueror of myself.” Thou art sworn, Eros, That, when the exigent should come, which now Is come indeed, when I should see behind me The inevitable prosecution of Disgrace and horror, that, on my command, Thou then wouldst kill me: do’t; the time is come: Thou strikest not me, ’tis Caesar thou defeat’st. Put colour in thy cheek.
Eros	The gods withhold me! Shall I do that which all the Parthian darts, Though enemy, lost aim, and could not?
Antony	Eros, Wouldst thou be window’d in great Rome and see Thy master thus with pleach’d arms, bending down His corrigible neck, his face subdued To penetrative shame, whilst the wheel’d seat Of fortunate Caesar, drawn before him, branded His baseness that ensued?
Eros	I would not see’t.
Antony	Come, then; for with a wound I must be cured. Draw that thy honest sword, which thou hast worn Most useful for thy country.
Eros	O, sir, pardon me!
Antony	When I did make thee free, sworest thou not then To do this when I bade thee? Do it at once; Or thy precedent services are all But accidents unpurposed. Draw, and come.
Eros	Turn from me, then, that noble countenance, Wherein the worship of the whole world lies.
Antony	Lo thee! Turning from him.
Eros	My sword is drawn.
Antony	Then let it do at once The thing why thou hast drawn it.
Eros	My dear master, My captain, and my emperor, let me say, Before I strike this bloody stroke, farewell.
Antony	’Tis said, man; and farewell.
Eros	Farewell, great chief. Shall I strike now?
Antony	Now, Eros.
Eros	Why, there then: thus I do escape the sorrow Of Antony’s death. Kills himself.
Antony	Thrice-nobler than myself! Thou teachest me, O valiant Eros, what I should, and thou couldst not. My queen and Eros Have by their brave instruction got upon me A nobleness in record: but I will be A bridegroom in my death, and run into’t As to a lover’s bed. Come, then; and, Eros, Thy master dies thy scholar: to do thus Falling on his sword. I learn’d of thee. How! not dead? not dead? The guard, ho! O, dispatch me!
	Enter Dercetas and Guard.
First Guard	What’s the noise?
Antony	I have done my work ill, friends: O, make an end Of what