TPTT The Tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra: ACT IV
Introduction
ACT I
ACT II
ACT III
ACT IV
SCENE I. Before Alexandria. OCTAVIUS CAESAR's camp.
SCENE II. Alexandria. CLEOPATRA's palace.
SCENE III. The same. Before the palace.
SCENE IV. The same. A room in the palace.
SCENE V. Alexandria. MARK ANTONY's camp.
SCENE VI. Alexandria. OCTAVIUS CAESAR's camp.
SCENE VII. Field of battle between the camps.
SCENE VIII. Under the walls of Alexandria.
SCENE IX. OCTAVIUS CAESAR's camp.
SCENE X. Between the two camps.
SCENE XI. Another part of the same.
SCENE XII. Another part of the same.
SCENE XIII. Alexandria. Cleopatra's palace.
SCENE XIV. The same. Another room.
SCENE XV. The same. A monument.
ACT V
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SCENE XV. The same. A monument.
Enter CLEOPATRA and her maids aloft, with CHARMIAN and IRAS
CLEOPATRA
      O Charmian, I will never go from hence.
CHARMIAN
      Be comforted, dear madam.
CLEOPATRA
      No, I will not:
      All strange and terrible events are welcome,
5     But comforts we despise; our size of sorrow,
      Proportion'd to our cause, must be as great
      As that which makes it.

Enter, below, DIOMEDES

      How now! is he dead?
DIOMEDES
      His death's upon him, but not dead.
10    Look out o' the other side your monument;
      His guard have brought him thither.
Enter, below, MARK ANTONY, borne by the Guard
CLEOPATRA
      O sun,
      Burn the great sphere thou movest in!
      darkling stand
15    The varying shore o' the world. O Antony,
      Antony, Antony! Help, Charmian, help, Iras, help;
      Help, friends below; let's draw him hither.
MARK ANTONY
      Peace!
      Not Caesar's valour hath o'erthrown Antony,
20    But Antony's hath triumph'd on itself.
CLEOPATRA
      So it should be, that none but Antony
      Should conquer Antony; but woe 'tis so!
MARK ANTONY
      I am dying, Egypt, dying; only
      I here importune death awhile, until
25    Of many thousand kisses the poor last
      I lay up thy lips.
CLEOPATRA
      I dare not, dear,--
      Dear my lord, pardon,--I dare not,
      Lest I be taken: not the imperious show
30    Of the full-fortuned Caesar ever shall
      Be brooch'd with me; if knife, drugs,
      serpents, have
      Edge, sting, or operation, I am safe:
      Your wife Octavia, with her modest eyes
35    And still conclusion, shall acquire no honour
      Demuring upon me. But come, come, Antony,--
      Help me, my women,--we must draw thee up:
      Assist, good friends.
MARK ANTONY
      O, quick, or I am gone.
CLEOPATRA
40    Here's sport indeed! How heavy weighs my lord!
      Our strength is all gone into heaviness,
      That makes the weight: had I great Juno's power,
      The strong-wing'd Mercury should fetch thee up,
      And set thee by Jove's side. Yet come a little,--
45    Wishes were ever fools,--O, come, come, come;

They heave MARK ANTONY aloft to CLEOPATRA

      And welcome, welcome! die where thou hast lived:
      Quicken with kissing: had my lips that power,
      Thus would I wear them out.
All
      A heavy sight!
MARK ANTONY
50    I am dying, Egypt, dying:
      Give me some wine, and let me speak a little.
CLEOPATRA
      No, let me speak; and let me rail so high,
      That the false housewife Fortune break her wheel,
      Provoked by my offence.
MARK ANTONY
55    One word, sweet queen:
      Of Caesar seek your honour, with your safety. O!
CLEOPATRA
      They do not go together.
MARK ANTONY
      Gentle, hear me:
      None about Caesar trust but Proculeius.
CLEOPATRA
60    My resolution and my hands I'll trust;
      None about Caesar.
MARK ANTONY
      The miserable change now at my end
      Lament nor sorrow at; but please your thoughts
      In feeding them with those my former fortunes
65    Wherein I lived, the greatest prince o' the world,
      The noblest; and do now not basely die,
      Not cowardly put off my helmet to
      My countryman,--a Roman by a Roman
      Valiantly vanquish'd. Now my spirit is going;
70    I can no more.
CLEOPATRA
      Noblest of men, woo't die?
      Hast thou no care of me? shall I abide
      In this dull world, which in thy absence is
      No better than a sty? O, see, my women,

MARK ANTONY dies

75    The crown o' the earth doth melt. My lord!
      O, wither'd is the garland of the war,
      The soldier's pole is fall'n: young boys and girls
      Are level now with men; the odds is gone,
      And there is nothing left remarkable
80    Beneath the visiting moon.
Faints
CHARMIAN
      O, quietness, lady!
IRAS
      She is dead too, our sovereign.
CHARMIAN
      Lady!
IRAS
      Madam!
CHARMIAN
85    O madam, madam, madam!
IRAS
      Royal Egypt, Empress!
CHARMIAN
      Peace, peace, Iras!
CLEOPATRA
      No more, but e'en a woman, and commanded
      By such poor passion as the maid that milks
90    And does the meanest chares. It were for me
      To throw my sceptre at the injurious gods;
      To tell them that this world did equal theirs
      Till they had stol'n our jewel. All's but naught;
      Patience is scottish, and impatience does
95    Become a dog that's mad: then is it sin
      To rush into the secret house of death,
      Ere death dare come to us? How do you, women?
      What, what! good cheer! Why, how now, Charmian!
      My noble girls! Ah, women, women, look,
100   Our lamp is spent, it's out! Good sirs, take heart:
      We'll bury him; and then, what's brave,
      what's noble,
      Let's do it after the high Roman fashion,
      And make death proud to take us. Come, away:
105   This case of that huge spirit now is cold:
      Ah, women, women! come; we have no friend
      But resolution, and the briefest end.
Exeunt; those above bearing off MARK ANTONY's body
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