5

Without the which a soldier, and his sword,
Grants scarce distinction".

Antony ?

Thou wilt write to

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

The weight we must convey with us will permit, We shall appear before him.-On, there; pass [Exeunt.

along.

SCENE II.

Rome. An Ante-Chamber in CÆSAR's House.

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

ENO. They have despatch'd with Pompey, he is gone;

5 That without which] Here again, regardless of metre, the old copies read:

"That without the which-." STEEVENS.

In the old copy this speech is printed as prose. By the arrangement in the text, which is the same that I had adopted in my former edition, the supposed fault of the metre is done away with. MALONE.

6 That without which a soldier, and his sword,

GRANTS Scarce distinction.] Grant, for afford. It is badly and obscurely expressed; but the sense is this: "Thou hast that, Ventidius, which if thou didst want, there would be no distinction between thee and thy sword. You would be both equally cutting and senseless." This was wisdom or knowledge of the world. Ventidius had told him the reasons why he did not pursue his advantages; and his friend, by this compliment, acknowledges them to be of weight. WARBURTON.

We have somewhat of the same idea in Coriolanus:

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Who, sensible, outdares his senseless sword."

STEEVENS.

The other three are sealing. Octavia weeps
To part from Rome: Cæsar is sad; and Lepidus,
Since Pompey's feast, as Menas says, is troubled
With the green sickness.

AGR.
"Tis a noble Lepidus.
ENO. A very fine one: O, 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 nonpa-
reil !

AGR. O Antony! O thou Arabian bird 7!

ENO. Would you praise Cæsar, say,-Cæsar ;go no further 8.

AGR. Indeed, he ply'd them both with excellent praises.

ENO. But he loves Cæsar best ;-Yet he loves Antony :

Ho! hearts, tongues, figures, scribes, bards, poets",

cannot

Spake you of Cæsar? How? the nonpareil!

Agr. O Antony!" &c. We should read

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Of Antony? O, thou Arabian bird!"

Speak you of Cæsar, he is the nonpareil; speak you of Antony, he is the Arabian bird. M. MASON.

7

Arabian bird!] The phoenix. JOHNSON. So, again, in Cymbeline :

8

"She is alone the Arabian bird, and I
"Have lost my wager." STEEvens.

Cæsar ;-Go no further.] I suspect that this line was designed to be metrical, and that (omitting the impertinent go) we should read:

"Would you praise Cæsar, say-Cæsar ;-no further."

STEEVENS.

9-bards, poets,] Not only the tautology of bards and poets, but the want of a correspondent action for the poet, whose business in the next line is only to number, makes me suspect some fault in this passage, which I know not how to mend. JOHNSON.

I suspect no fault. The ancient bard sung his compositions to

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 2.

So,

[Trumpets.

This is to horse.-Adieu, noble Agrippa.

AGR. Good fortune, worthy soldier; and farewell. Enter CESAR, ANTONY, LEPIDUS, and OCTAVIA. ANT. No further, sir.

the harp; the poet only commits them to paper. Verses are often called numbers, and to number, a verb (in this sense) of Shakspeare's coining, is to make verses.

This puerile arrangement of words was much studied in the age of Shakspeare, even by the first writers.

So, in An Excellent Sonnet of a Nimph, by Sir P. Sidney; printed in England's Helicon, 1600:

"Vertue, beauty, and speach, did strike, wound, charme,

My hart, eyes, eares, with wonder, loue, delight:

'First, second, last, did binde, enforce, and arme,

"His works, showes, sutes, with wit, grace, and vowes-might:
"Thus honour, liking, trust, much, farre, and deepe,
"Held, pearst, possest, my judgement, sence, and will;
"Till wrongs, contempt, deceite, did grow, steale, creepe,
"Bands, fauour, faith, to breake, defile, and kill.
"Then greefe, unkindnes, proofe, tooke, kindled, taught,
"Well grounded, noble, due, spite, rage, disdaine :
"But ah, alas (in vaine) my minde, sight, thought,
"Dooth him, his face, his words, leaue, shunne, refraine.
"For nothing, time, nor place, can loose, quench, ease,
Mine owne, embraced, sought, knot, fire, disease."
STEEVENS.

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Again, in Daniel's 11th Sonnet, 1594:

"Yet I will weep, vow, pray to cruell shee;
Flint, frost, disdaine, weares, melts, and yields, we see.”
MALONE.

2 They are his SHARDS, and he their BEETLE.] i. e. They are the wings that raise this heavy lumpish insect from the ground. So, in Macbeth :

the shard-borne beetle."
STEEVENS

See vol. xi. p. 155, n. 8.

CES. You take from me a great part of myself"; Use me well in't.-Sister, prove such a wife

As my thoughts make thee, and as my furthest

band *

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.

Though you be therein curious, 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.

CES. Farewell, my dearest sister, fare thee well;

3 You take from me a great part of myself;] So, in The Tempest:

"I have given you here a third of my own life. STEEVENS. Again, in Troilus and Cressida :

"I have a kind of self resides in you." MALOne.

as my furthest BAND-] As I will venture the greatest JOHNSON.

pledge of security, on the trial of thy conduct.

Band and bond, in our author's time, were synonymous.

See Comedy of Errors, vol. iv. p. 228. MALONE. -the PIECE OF VIRTUE,] So, in The Tempest: "Thy mother was a piece of virtue —."

Again, in Pericles:

6

"Thou art a piece of virtue," &c. STEEVENS.
the cement of our LOVE,

To keep it BUILDED,] So, in our author's 119th Sonnet :
"And ruin'd love, when it is built anew,

therein CURIOUS,] i. e. scrupulous. So, in The Taming

of the Shrew:

"For curious I cannot be with you."

See vol. v. p. 493, n. 8. STEEVENS,

The elements be kind to thee, and make
Thy spirits all of comfort! fare thee well.

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8 The ELEMENTS be kind, &c.] This is obscure. It seems to mean, May the different elements of the body, or principles of life, maintain such proportion and harmony as may keep you cheerful." JOHNSON.

"The elements be kind," &c. I believe means only, May the four elements of which this world is composed, unite their influences to make thee cheerful.'

There is, however, a thought, which seems to favour Dr. Johnson's explanation, in The Two Noble Kinsmen, by Fletcher and Shakspeare:

My precious maid,

"Those best affections that the heavens infuse
"In their best temper'd pieces, keep enthron'd
"In your dear heart!"

Again, in Twelfth-Night: "Does not our life consist of the four elements?-Faith, so they say."

And another, which may serve in support of mine:

66

the elements,

"That know not what or why, yet do effect,

"Rare issues by their operance."

These parting words of Cæsar to his sister, may indeed mean no more than the common compliment which the occasion of her voyage very naturally required. He wishes" that serene weather and prosperous winds may keep her spirits free from every apprehension that might disturb or alarm them." STEEVENS.

"The elements be kind to thee," (i. e. the elements of air and water.) Surely this expression means no more than, "I wish you a good voyage;❞ Octavia was going to sail with Antony from Rome to Athens. HOLT WHITE.

Dr. Johnson's explanation of this passage is too profound to be just. Octavia was about to make a long journey both by land and by water. Her brother wishes that both these elements may prove kind to her; and this is all.

So, Cassio says, in Othello:

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-Ó, let the heavens

"Give him defence against the elements,
"For I have lost him on a dangerous sea."

M. MASON.

In the passage just quoted, the elements must mean, not earth and water, (which Mr. M. Mason supposes to be the meaning here,) but air and water; and such, I think, (as an anonymous commentator has also suggested,) is the meaning here. The following lines in Troilus and Cressida likewise favour this interpretation :