Antony and Cleopatra (1606 – 1623)
Antony and Cleopatra is a historical tragedy by William Shakespeare, originally printed in the First Folio of 1623.
Mechanic slaves
With greasy aprons, rules, and hammers, shall
Uplift us to the view; in their thick breath,
Rank with gross diet, shall we be enclouded,
And forc'd to drink their vapour.
He was dispos'd to mirth; but on the sudden
A Roman thought hath struck him.
Let me lament,
With tears as sovereign as the blood of hearts,
That thou, my brother, my competitor
In top of all design, my mate in empire,
Friend and companion in the front of war,
The arm of mine own body, and the heart
Where mine his thoughts did kindle,—that our stars,
Unreconciliable, should divide
Our equalness to this.
Charmain: Be comforted, dear madam.
Cleopatra: No, I will not.
All strange and terrible events are welcome,
But comforts we despise; our size of sorrow,
Proportion'd to our cause, must be as great.
The barge she sat in, like a burnish'd throne,
Burnt 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,
It beggar'd all description.
I have
Immortal longings in me.
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.
His delights
Were dolphin-like; they show'd his back above
The element they lived in.
Peace, peace!
Dost thou not see my baby at my breast,
That sucks the nurse asleep?
I wish you joy o' the worm.
Antony: Sometime 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.
Enorbarbus: 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.
I have eyes upon him,
And his affairs come to me on the wind.
Eternity was in our lips and eyes.
There's beggary in the love that can be reckon'd.
The shirt of Nessus is upon me.
It is my birth-day:
I had thought to have held it poor: but, since my lord
Is Antony again, I will be Cleopatra.
Small to greater matters must give way.
Epicurean cooks
Sharpen with cloyless sauce his appetite.
You are abused
Beyond the mark of thought: and the high gods,
To do you justice, make them ministers
Of us and those that love you.
Since Cleopatra died,
I have liv’d in such dishonour, that the gods
Detest my baseness.