Act 4, Scene 12

SCENE XII. Another part of the Ground.

[Enter ANTONY and SCARUS.]

ANTONY.
Yet they are not join'd: where yond pine does stand
I shall discover all: I'll bring thee word
Straight how 'tis like to go.

[Exit.]

SCARUS.
Swallows have built
In Cleopatra's sails their nests: the augurers
Say they know not,--they cannot tell;--look grimly,
And dare not speak their knowledge. Antony
Is valiant and dejected; and, by starts,
His fretted fortunes give him hope and fear
Of what he has and has not.

[Alarum afar off, as at a sea-fight.]

[Re-enter ANTONY.]

ANTONY.
All is lost;
This foul Egyptian hath betrayed me:
My fleet hath yielded to the foe; and yonder
They cast their caps up, and carouse together
Like friends long lost.--Triple-turn'd whore! 'tis thou
Hast sold me to this novice; and my heart
Makes only wars on thee.--Bid them all fly;
For when I am reveng'd upon my charm,
I have done all.--Bid them all fly; begone.

[Exit SCARUS.]

O sun, thy uprise shall I see no more:
Fortune and Antony part here; even here
Do we shake hands.--All come to this!--The hearts
That spaniel'd me at heels, to whom I gave
Their wishes, do discandy, melt their sweets
On blossoming Caesar; and this pine is bark'd
That overtopp'd them all. Betray'd I am:
O this false soul of Egypt! this grave charm,
Whose eye beck'd forth my wars and call'd them home;
Whose bosom was my crownet, my chief end,--
Like a right gypsy, hath, at fast and loose,
Beguil'd me to the very heart of loss.--
What, Eros, Eros!

[Enter CLEOPATRA.]

Ah, thou spell! Avaunt!

CLEOPATRA.
Why is my lord enrag'd against his love?

ANTONY.
Vanish, or I shall give thee thy deserving,
And blemish Caesar's triumph. Let him take thee
And hoist thee up to the shouting plebeians:
Follow his chariot, like the greatest spot
Of all thy sex; most monster-like, be shown
For poor'st diminutives, for doits; and let
Patient Octavia plough thy visage up
With her prepared nails.

[Exit CLEOPATRA.]

'Tis well thou'rt gone,
If it be well to live; but 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.]