Are in thy vessel let me cut the cable;
And, when we are put off, fall to their throats:
All there is thine.

Pom. Ah, this thou shouldst have done,

And not have spoke on't! In me, 'tis villainy;
In thee, it had been good service. Thou must know,
'Tis not my profit that does lead mine honour;
Mine honour, it. Repent, that e'er thy tongue
Hath so betray'd thine act: being done unknown,
I should have found it afterwards well done;
But must condemn it now. Desist, and drink.
Men. For this,

[Aside.
I'll never follow thy pall'd fortunes more.-
Who seeks, and will not take, when once 'tis offer'd,
Shall never find it more.

Pom. This health to Lepidus.

Ant. Bear him ashore.-I'll pledge it for him, Pompey.

Eno. Here's to thee, Menas.

Men. Enobarbus, welcome.

Pom. Fill, till the cup be hid.

Eno. There's a strong fellow, Menas.

[Pointing to the Attendant who carries off Lepidus.

Men. Why?

Eno. He bears

The third part of the world, man; see'st not? Men. The third part then is drunk: 'would it were all,

That it might go on wheels!

Eno. Drink thou; increase the reels.

Men. Come.

Pom. This is not yet an Alexandrian feast;

Ant. It ripens towards it.-Strike the vesselst, ho!

Here is to Cæsar.

Cas. I could well forbear it.

It's monstrous labour, when I wash my brain,
And it grows fouler.

Ant. Be a child o' the time.

Cas. Possess t it, I'll make answer: but I had ra

ther fast

From all, four days, than drink so much in one. Eno. Ha, my brave emperor!

[To Antony. Shall we dance now the Egyptian Bacchanals, And celebrate our drink?

Pom. Let's ha't, good soldier..

Cloyed.

+ Kettle-drums.

Understand.

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 music:-
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.

[Music plays.-Enobarbus places them hand
in hand.

SONG.

Come, thou monarch of the vine,
Plumpy Bacchus, with pink eyne1:
In thy rats our cares be drown'd;
With thy grapes our hairs be crown'd;
Cup us, till the world go round;
Cup us, till the world go round!

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

Let me request you off: our graver business
Frowns at this 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
Antick'd us all. What needs more words? Good
night.-

Good Antony, your hand.

Pom. I'll try you o' the shore.

Ant. And shall, Sir: give's your hand.
Pom. O, Antony,

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

Come, down into the boat.

Eno. Take heed you fall not.

[Exeunt Pompey, Casar, Antony, and Attendants.

Menas, I'll not on shore.

Men. 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 [A Flourish of Trumpets, with Drums.

out.

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

Men. Ho!-noble captain!

Come.

Burden, chorus.

[Exeunt.

+ Red eyes.

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

Pleased 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.

Ven. O Silius, Silins,

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 achieved 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 to do Antonius good,
But 'twould offend him; and in his offence
Should my performance perish.

Sil. Thou hast, Ventidius,

That without which a soldier, and his sword,

Grants scarce distinction. Thou wilt write to Antony? 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

•Pacorus was the son of Orodes, king of Parthia.

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 Casar's

House.

Enter AGRIPPA and ENOBARBUS, meeting. Agr. What, are the brothers parted?

Eno. They have despach'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 Menus says, is troubled
With the green-sickness.

Agr. 'Tis a noble Lepidus.

Eno. A very fine one: 0, 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 thon Arabian bird *!

Eno. Would you praise Cæsar, say,-Cæsar ;-go no further.

Agr. Indeed, he plied them both with excellent praises.

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.-Adicu, noble Agrippa.
Agr. Good fortune, worthy soldier; and farewell.
Enter CÆSAR, 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

band

The phoenix.
VOL. V.

+ Wings.
G

Bond.

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.

Ant. Make me not offended

In your distrust.

Cas. I have said.

Ant. You shall not find,

Though you be therein curious t, the least cause For what you seem to fear: so, the gods keep you, And make the hearts of Romans serve your ends! We will here part.

Cas. Farewell, my dearest sister, fare thee well; The elements be kind to thee, and make Thy spirits all of comfort! Fare thee well. Oct. My noble brother!

Ant. The April's in her eyes: it is love's spring, And these the showers to bring it on.-Be cheerful. Octa. Sir, look well to my husband's house; and

Cas. What,

Octavia ?

Oct. I'll tell you in your ear.

Ant. Her tongue will not obey her heart, nor can Her heart inform her tongue: the swan's-down

feather,

That stands upon the swell at full of tide,

And neither way inclines.

Eno. Will Cæsar weep?

Agr. He has a cloud in's face.

[Aside to Agrippa.

Eno. He were the worse for that, were he a

horse;

So is he, being a man.

Agr. Why, Enobarbus?

When Antony found Julius Cæsar dead,

He cried almost to roaring: and he wept,

When at Philippi he found Brutus slain.

Eno. That year, indeed, he was troubled with a rheum;

What willingly he did confound §, he wail'd;
Believe it, till I weep too.

Cas. No, sweet Octavia,

You shall hear from me still; the time shall not Out-go my thinking on you.

* Octavia.

Of air and water.

+ Scrupulous.

Destroy.