Original Text |
Translated Text |
| Source: Folger Shakespeare Library |
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Enter Antony and Eros. ANTONY
Eros, thou yet behold’st me? EROS Ay, noble lord. ANTONY
Sometime we see a cloud that’s dragonish,
A vapor sometime like a bear or lion,
A towered citadel, a pendent rock, 5
A forkèd 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. 10 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. 15 | Eros comes upon Antony, who’s philosophizing on nature—exactly what you might expect from a suicidal guy who’s just lost a great battle and is convinced that the woman he sacrificed everything for has betrayed him to his enemy. |
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— 20
Which whilst it was mine had annexed unto ’t
A million more, now lost—she, Eros, has
Packed cards with Caesar and false-played my glory
Unto an enemy’s triumph.
Nay, weep not, gentle Eros. There is left us 25
Ourselves to end ourselves. Enter Mardian. O, thy vile lady!
She has robbed me of my sword. | Eros weeps, and Antony comforts him with the thought that at least his master can kill himself. This is maybe not so comforting. |
MARDIAN No, Antony,
My mistress loved thee and her fortunes mingled 30
With thine entirely. ANTONY Hence, saucy eunuch! Peace!
She hath betrayed 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 35
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 rendered life 40
Thy name so buried in her. | Mardian then enters. Antony rages at him, too, telling him he’ll kill Cleopatra for her betrayal. Mardian announces Cleopatra has already taken care of it, that she died with his name on her lips. |
ANTONY Dead, then? MARDIAN Dead. ANTONY
Unarm, Eros. The long day’s task is done,
And we must sleep.—That thou depart’st hence safe 45
Does pay thy labor richly. Go. Mardian exits. Off, pluck off!
Eros begins to remove Antony’s armor.
The sevenfold shield of Ajax cannot keep
The battery from my heart. O, cleave, my sides!
Heart, once be stronger than thy continent; 50
Crack thy frail case. Apace, Eros, apace!
No more a soldier. Bruisèd pieces, go.
You have been nobly borne.—From me awhile. Eros exits. I will o’ertake thee, Cleopatra, and
Weep for my pardon. So it must be, for now 55
All length is torture. Since the torch is out,
Lie down and stray no farther. Now all labor
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. 60
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! | Antony doesn’t exactly fall on the ground, but announces that Eros should go to bed, as all their work for the day is now done. He tells Mardian to be grateful that he’s allowed to go safely, as in: "I could have you killed, but I'm not going to." Even though Antony was just raging against her, we see that the news of Cleopatra’s death is tearing him apart on the inside. He begs his heart to be stronger than his body, or, if not, at least burst open his body as it fills with grief. Antony says he will catch up with Cleopatra (in the afterlife, presumably) and weep for her forgiveness. Then he calls for Eros to return. |
Enter Eros. EROS
What would my lord? 65 ANTONY Since Cleopatra died
I have lived in such dishonor that the gods
Detest my baseness. I, that with my sword
Quartered the world and o’er green Neptune’s back
With ships made cities, condemn myself to lack 70
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 75
Th’ inevitable prosecution of
Disgrace and horror, that on my command
Thou then wouldst kill me. Do ’t. The time is come.
Thou strik’st not me; ’tis Caesar thou defeat’st.
Put color in thy cheek. 80 | Antony tells Eros that Cleopatra has made herself noble by taking her own life. She is, at the end, the sole conqueror of herself. Thus he tells Eros to kill him. |
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 windowed in great Rome and see 85
Thy master thus with pleached arms, bending down
His corrigible neck, his face subdued
To penetrative shame, whilst the wheeled seat
Of fortunate Caesar, drawn before him, branded
His baseness that ensued? 90 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! 95 ANTONY
When I did make thee free, swor’st 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 refuses, but Antony reminds him that when he freed Eros (presumably from being a prisoner of war), Eros promised to do anything Antony wished. |
EROS
Turn from me then that noble countenance 100
Wherein the worship of the whole world lies. ANTONY Lo thee! He turns away. EROS
My sword is drawn. ANTONY Then let it do at once
The thing why thou hast drawn it. 105 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? 110 ANTONY Now, Eros. | Eros readies to kill Antony, but demands that Antony turn away his face before Eros strikes the blow. Antony agrees, and tells Eros to do it now. |
EROS
Why, there, then. Stabs himself.
Thus I do escape the sorrow
Of Antony’s death. Dies. | With his face turned away, Antony misses that Eros has actually plunged his sword into himself, choosing to take his own life rather than his friend’s. |
ANTONY Thrice nobler than myself, 115
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 120
As to a lover’s bed. Come then, and, Eros,
Thy master dies thy scholar. To do thus
I learned of thee. He stabs himself. How, not dead?
Not dead?
The guard, ho! O, dispatch me! 125 | Antony is so moved by the nobility of suicide that Eros and Cleopatra showed that he resolves to kill himself. Antony stabs himself, but finding he has not died immediately, he calls on the guards to finish him off. |
Enter a company of the Guard, one of them named
Dercetus. FIRST GUARD What’s the noise? ANTONY
I have done my work ill, friends. O, make an end
Of what I have begun! SECOND GUARD The star is fall’n. FIRST GUARD
And time is at his period. 130 ALL Alas, and woe! ANTONY Let him that loves me strike me dead. FIRST GUARD Not I. SECOND GUARD Nor I. THIRD GUARD Nor anyone. 135 All but Antony and Dercetus exit. DERCETUS
Thy death and fortunes bid thy followers fly. He takes Antony’s sword. This sword but shown to Caesar with this tidings
Shall enter me with him. | The guards refuse which means Antony going to die slowly and painfully. All the guards exit except one. |
Enter Diomedes. DIOMEDES Where’s Antony? DERCETUS There, Diomed, there. 140 DIOMEDES Lives he? Wilt thou not answer, man? Dercetus exits. ANTONY
Art thou there, Diomed? Draw thy sword, and give me
Sufficing strokes for death. DIOMEDES Most absolute lord,
My mistress Cleopatra sent me to thee. 145 ANTONY
When did she send thee? DIOMEDES Now, my lord. ANTONY Where is she? DIOMEDES
Locked in her monument. She had a prophesying
fear 150
Of what hath come to pass. For when she saw—
Which never shall be found—you did suspect
She had disposed with Caesar, and that your rage
Would not be purged, she sent you word she was
dead; 155
But fearing since how it might work, hath sent
Me to proclaim the truth, and I am come,
I dread, too late. | Diomedes enters with the news that Cleopatra’s actually not dead. Oops. She was just playing a little trick because she was afraid that Antony believed she betrayed him to Caesar, which she definitely didn’t do. Then she had a premonition that something awful might happen, so she sent Diomedes to check on Antony. |
ANTONY
Too late, good Diomed. Call my guard, I prithee. DIOMEDES
What ho! The Emperor’s guard! The guard, what ho! 160
Come, your lord calls. Enter four or five of the Guard of Antony. ANTONY
Bear me, good friends, where Cleopatra bides.
’Tis the last service that I shall command you. FIRST GUARD
Woe, woe are we, sir, you may not live to wear
All your true followers out. 165 ALL Most heavy day! ANTONY
Nay, good my fellows, do not please sharp fate
To grace it with your sorrows. Bid that welcome
Which comes to punish us, and we punish it,
Seeming to bear it lightly. Take me up. 170
I have led you oft; carry me now, good friends,
And have my thanks for all. They exit bearing Antony and the body of Eros. | Antony doesn’t flip out, but instead asks that his guards lead him to Cleopatra’s side. |