Antony and Cleopatra

244px|thumb|right|Eternity was in our lips and eyes. Antony and Cleopatra is a historical tragedy by William Shakespeare, originally printed in the First Folio of 1623. Most scholars believe it was written in 1606–07. Act I Nay, but this dotage of our general'sO'erflows the measure. Philo, scene i There's beggary in the love that can be reckon'd. Antony, scene i In nature's infinite book of secrecyA little I can read. Soothsayer, scene ii He was dispos'd to mirth; but on the suddenA Roman thought hath struck him. Cleopatra, scene ii This grief is crowned with consolation. Enobarbus, scene ii Eternity was in our lips and eyes. Cleopatra, scene iii From Alexandria This is the news: he fishes, drinks, and wastes The lamps of night in revel; is not more man-like Than Cleopatra; nor the queen of Ptolemy More womanly than he. Octavius Caesar, scene iv Antony, leave thy lascivious wassails. Octavius Caesar, scene iv Give me to drink mandragora. Cleopatra, scene v Where’s my serpent of old Nile?For so he calls me. Cleopatra, speaking of Antony, scene v I wasA morsel for a monarch. Cleopatra, scene v My salad days,When I was green in judgment, cold in blood,To say as I said then! Cleopatra, scene v Act II 244px|thumb|right|Age cannot wither her, nor custom staleHer infinite variety; other women cloyThe appetites they feed; but she makes hungryWhere most she satisfies... Epicurean cooksSharpen with cloyless sauce his appetite. Pompey, scene i Small to greater matters must give way. Lepidus, scene ii If I knewWhat hoop should hold us staunch, from edge to edgeO' the world I would pursue it. Octavius Caesar, scene ii 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, thatThe winds were love-sick with them; the oars were silver,Which to the tune of flutes kept stroke, and madeThe water which they beat to follow faster,As amorous of their strokes. For her own person,It beggar'd all description. Enobarbus, scene ii Age cannot wither her, nor custom staleHer infinite variety; other women cloyThe appetites they feed; but she makes hungryWhere most she satisfies: for vilest thingsBecome themselves in her, that the holy priestsBless her when she is riggish. Enobarbus, scene ii I have not kept my square; but that to comeShall all be done by the rule. Antony, scene iii 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 thickensWhen he shines by. Soothsayer, scene iii Give me some music. Music, moody foodOf us that trade in love. Cleopatra, scene v ’T was merry whenYou wager’d on your angling; when your diverDid hang a salt-fish on his hook, which heWith fervency drew up. Charmian, scene v I will praise any man that will praise me Enobarbus, scene vi Come, thou monarch of the vine,Plumpy Bacchus with pink eyne! Singer, scene vii It's monstrous labour, when I wash my brain,And it grows fouler. Octavius Caesar, scene vii Act III 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. Ventidius, scene i I have eyes upon him,And his affairs come to me on the wind. Octavius Caesar, scene vi You are abusedBeyond the mark of thought: and the high gods,To do you justice, make them ministersOf us and those that love you. Octavius Caesar, scene vi Celerity is never more admir'd than by the negligent. Cleopatra, scene vii Observe how Antony becomes his flaw Octavius Caesar, scene xii To the boy Caesar send this grizzled head,And he will fill thy wishes to the brimWith principalities. Antony, scene xiii Tell him, he wears the roseOf youth upon him. Antony, scene xiii Men’s judgments areA parcel of their fortunes; and things outwardDo draw the inward quality after them,To suffer all alike. Enobarbus, scene xiii Mine honesty and I begin to square. Enorbarbus, scene xiii Authority melts from me: of late, when I cried 'Ho!'Like boys unto a muss, kings would start forth,And cry 'Your will?' Have you no ears? I amAntony yet. Antony, scene xiii You were half blasted ere I knew you Antony, scene xiii You have been a boggler ever. Antony, scene xiii Get thee back to Caesar,Tell him thy entertainment: look, thou sayHe makes me angry with him; for he seemsProud and disdainful, harping on what I am,Not what he knew I was: he makes me angry. Antony, scene xiii Alack, our terrene moonIs now eclipsed; and it portends aloneThe fall of Antony! Antony, scene xiii Now I'll set my teeth,And send to darkness all that stop me. Antony,, scene xiii It is my birth-day:I had thought to have held it poor: but, since my lordIs Antony again, I will be Cleopatra. Cleopatra, scene xiii I'll make death love me; for I will contendEven with his pestilent scythe. Antony, scene xiii Act IV He calls me boy; and chides, as he had powerTo beat me out of Egypt; my messengerHe hath whipp'd with rods; dares me to personal combat,Caesar to Antony: let the old ruffian knowI have many other ways to die; meantimeLaugh at his challenge. Octavius Caesar, scene i To business that we love we rise betime,And go to ’t with delight. Antony, scene iv This morning, like the spirit of a youthThat means to be of note, begins betimes. Antony, scene iv The time of universal peace is near. Octavius Caesar, scene vi The shirt of Nessus is upon me. Antony, scene xii O sovereign mistress of true melancholy,The poisonous damp of night disponge upon me,That life, a very rebel to my will,May hang no longer on me. Enobarbus,, scene ix Let the world rank me in registerA master-leaver and a fugitive:O Antony! O Antony! Enobarbus, scene ix 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. Scene xiii 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 promontoryWith 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 thoughtThe rack dislimns, and makes it indistinct,As water is in water. Scene xiv The seven-fold shield of Ajax cannot keepThe battery from my heart. O, cleave, my sides! Antony, scene xiv Since Cleopatra died,I have liv’d in such dishonour, that the godsDetest my baseness. Antony, scene xiv I am dying, Egypt, dying; onlyI here impórtune death a while, untilOf many thousand kisses the poor lastI lay upon thy lips. Antony, scene xv O, wither’d is the garland of the war!The soldier’s pole is fall'n; young boys and girlsAre level now with men; the odds is gone,And there is nothing left remarkableBeneath the visiting moon. Cleopatra, 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:This case of that huge spirit now is cold. —Ah, women, women! — come; we have no friendBut resolution, and the briefest end. Cleopatra, scene xv Act V 244px|thumb|right|I have Immortal longings in me. The breaking of so great a thing should makeA greater crack Octavius Caesar, scene i The death of AntonyIs not a single doom; in the name layA moiety of the world. Octavius Caesar, scene i Let me lament,With tears as sovereign as the blood of hearts,That thou, my brother, my competitorIn top of all design, my mate in empire,Friend and companion in the front of war,The arm of mine own body, and the heartWhere mine his thoughts did kindle,—that our stars,Unreconciliable, should divideOur equalness to this. Octavius Caesar, scene i For his bounty,There was no winter in ’t; an autumn ’t was,That grew the more by reaping. Cleopatra, scene ii If there be, or ever were, one such,It’s past the size of dreaming. Cleopatra, scene ii Mechanic slavesWith greasy aprons, rules, and hammers, shallUplift us to the view; in their thick breath,Rank with gross diet, shall we be enclouded,And forc'd to drink their vapour. Cleopatra, scene ii Shall they hoist me upAnd show me to the shouting varletryOf censuring Rome? Rather a ditch in EgyptBe gentle grave unto me! rather on Nilus' mudLay me stark naked, and let the water-fliesBlow me into abhorring! Cleopatra, scene ii His delightsWere dolphin-like; they show'd his back aboveThe element they lived in. Cleopatra, scene ii Finish, good lady; the bright day is done,And we are for the dark. Iras, scene ii I wish you joy o' the worm. Clown, scene ii I haveImmortal longings in me. Cleopatra, scene ii Come, thou mortal wretch,With thy sharp teeth this knot intrinsicateOf life at once untie: poor venomous fool,Be angry, and dispatch. O, couldst thou speak,That I might hear thee call great Caesar AssUnpolicied! Cleopatra, scene ii I am fire and air; my other elementsI give to baser life. Cleopatra, scene ii Peace, peace!Dost thou not see my baby at my breast,That sucks the nurse asleep? Cleopatra, scene ii She looks like sleep,As she would catch another AntonyIn her strong toil of grace. Octavius Caesar, scene ii She shall be buried by her Antony:No grave upon the earth shall clip in itA pair so famous. Octavius Caesar, scene ii Quotes about Antony and Cleopatra More even thatn the rest of Shakespeare, the play has no genre, and the comic spirit has a large share in it. Harold Bloom, Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human'' (1998) External links Category:Shakespearean tragedies