We shall thrive now.-Seest thou, my good fellow ? Eros. Cleo. Is not this buckled well? Ant. Briefly, sir. Rarely, rarely: He that unbuckles this, till we do please To doff't, for our repose, shall bear a storm.- Enter an armed Soldier. A workman in't.-Good morrow to thee; welcome : And go to't with delight. Sold. A thousand, sir, Early though't be, have on their riveted trim, And at the port expect you. [Shout. Trumpets flourish. Enter Captains, and Soldiers. Capt. The morn is fair.-Good morrow, general'. All. Good morrow, general. Ant. 'Tis well blown, lads. This morning, like the spirit of a youth [Kisses her. [Exeunt ANTONY, EROS, Officers, and Soldiers. Char. Please you, retire to your chamber. Cleo. Lead me. observing merely, "The old copy here again misprints hear for bear.'" Until the publication of our "Notes and Emendations" (p. 498), the universal text has been, "must hear a storm." The morn is fair.-Good morrow, general.] This speech, in the old copy, is erroneously given to Alexas. Malone converted the "armed soldier," who enters above, into "an officer," and gave this speech to "2 Off." He goes forth gallantly. That he and Cæsar might Then, Antony,-but now,-well, on. [Exeunt. SCENE V. ANTONY'S Camp near Alexandria. Trumpets sound. Enter ANTONY and EROS; a Soldier meeting them. Sold. The gods make this a happy day to Antony'! Sold. Ant. Sold. Who's gone this morning? One ever near thee: call for Enobarbus, He shall not hear thee; or from Cæsar's camp Say, "I am none of thine." Ant. Sold. Who? What say'st thou ? Sir, Ant. Go, Eros, send his treasure after; do it: [Exeunt. 1 The gods make this a happy day to Antony !] This and some subsequent speeches are in the folios assigned to Eros; but, as Thirlby suggested, and as Theobald printed, there is no doubt that they belong to the same soldier who, before the battle of Actium, had advised Antony not to fight by sea. 2 dispatch.-Enobarbus!] So the folio, 1623, but the folio, 1632, alters it to "Eros, dispatch." The latter certainly better suits the ten-syllable metre, for which Steevens contended; but it is not at all unnatural that Antony, after giving SCENE VI. CESAR'S Camp before Alexandria. Flourish. Enter CESAR, with AGRIPPA, ENOBARBUS, and others. Cas. Go forth, Agrippa, and begin the fight. Our will is, Antony be took alive; Make it so known. Agr. Cæsar, I shall. Cæs. The time of universal peace is near: [Exit AGRIPPA. Prove this a prosperous day, the three-nook'd world Plant those that have revolted in the van, That Antony may seem to spend his fury Upon himself. [Exeunt CESAR and his train. Manet ENOBarbus. Eno. Alexas did revolt, and went to Jewry On affairs of Antony; there did persuade 3 And leave his master Antony: for this pains, That fell away have entertainment, but No honourable trust. I have done ill, That I will joy no more. his orders to Eros, should exclaim "Enobarbus!" calling to mind his ancient services and present desertion. 3 there did PERSUADE] It is dissuade in all the old impressions, and Johnson was inclined to think it right; but there are two sufficient reasons for thinking it wrong: one is the change of dissuade to "persuade" in the corr. fo. 1632; and the other the language of Plutarch in North's translation, 1579, when speaking of Alexas-" For where he should have kept Herodes from revolting from him [Antony], he perswaded him to turne to Cæsar," p. 1004. In reference to this passage, the Rev. Mr. Dyce (" Remarks,” p. 248), misspells the words, perhaps owing to his having copied them at second-hand. Sold. Enter a Soldier of CESAR's. Enobarbus, Antony Hath after thee sent all thy treasure, with 4 I tell you true: best you saf'd the bringer [Exit Soldier. Eno. I am alone the villain of the earth, Thou dost so crown with gold! This blows my heart': Shall outstrike thought; but thought will do't, I feel. [Exit. SCENE VII. Field of Battle between the Camps. Alarum. Drums and trumpets. Enter AGRIPPA, and others. Agr. Retire; we have engag'd ourselves too far. Cæsar himself has work, and our oppression Exceeds what we expected. Alarum. Enter ANTONY and SCARUS, wounded. [Exeunt. Scar. Oh my brave emperor! this is fought indeed: best you SAF'D the bringer] Steevens pointed out an instance of a similar use of the verb "saf'd," in book iv. of Chapman's translation of the Odyssey; and see this play, p. 144, where "safe" is again used as a verb. 5 This BLOWS my heart:] i. e. Swells it almost to bursting. In the provinces "blown" is still a common word for swollen with wind. By "thought," in the next line, Enobarbus clearly means reflection on his own turpitude. Had we done so at first, we had driven them home Ant. Thou bleed'st apace. Scar. I had a wound here that was like a T, But now 'tis made an H. Scar. We'll beat 'em into bench-holes. I have yet Room for six scotches more. Enter EROS. Eros. They are beaten, sir; and our advantage serves For a fair victory. Scar. Let us score their backs, And snatch 'em up, as we take hares, behind: 'Tis sport to maul a runner. I will reward thee Ant. Scar. I'll halt after. [Exeunt. SCENE VIII. Under the walls of Alexandria. Alarum. Enter ANTONY, marching; SCARUS, and Forces. Ant. We have beat him to his camp. Run one before, For doughty-handed are you; and have fought 6 And let the queen know of our GESTS.] The word "gests," as it stands in the corr. fo. 1632, having always been misprinted guests, nobody seems to have suspected that it did not mean a company of officers, whom Antony had invited to sup with Cleopatra. In our Vol. of "Notes and Emendations," p. 499, it has been shown that the hero could only mean "gests" in the sense of deeds, of which instant information was to be conveyed to the heroine. This is a very small but a very valuable emendation; and we may take this opportunity of stating that the same blunder has been committed and always continued in the text of Spenser's Fairy Queen," B. iv. C. ix. st. 17, where it is said that Prince Arthur "Resolved to pursue his former guest," Todd's Spenser, Vol. iii. p. 377. Mr. Singer seems to have some modern MS. authority for "gests," of which we never heard until long after the discovery of our corr. fo. 1632. |