ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA.
Act I.
Sc. 1.
"To weep; whose every passion fully strives."
The 1st folio reads 'who'; the correction was made in the 2nd.
Sc. 2.
"Must change his horns with garlands."
Both Southern and Warburton read charge.
"And, fertile every wish, a million."
Warburton's correction of 'foretel' of the folio.
"Saw you my lord?—No, lady."
So 2nd folio; the 1st has Save.
"Extended Asia from Euphrates, and
His conquering banners shook from Syria."
"Antony thou would'st say.—Oh, no, my lord."
"Oh! then we bring forth weeds
When our quick minds lie still, and our ills told us
Is as our earing."
'Minds' is Warburton's correction of 'winds.' This confusion of m and w is not unusual. In King John (v. 7) we have, "And the siege is now against the wind;" and in Cymb. (ii. 4) "Now wingled with their courages."
"And get her love to part."
The usual correction, leave, is right. Two Gent. i. 1.
Sc. 3.
"Tempt him not so too far. I wish forbear."
'Wish' here signifies recommend, advise. I think we should read 'wish you,' as it is always followed by its object when used in this sense.
Sc. 4.
"One great competitor."
The proper word is Our. See on Cor. iii. 1.
"Full surfeits and the dryness of his bones
Call on him for it."
Collier's folio reads Fall. I agree with it.
"As we rate boys; who being mature in knowledge."
I read 'immature,' for the negative is required.
"And the ebb'd man, ne'er lov'd till ne'er worth love,
Comes fear'd by being lack'd."
Warburton, who has been generally followed, made the correction dear'd. But there is no such verb. I read dear. "I shall be lov'd when I am lack'd" (Cor. iv. 1). Come for became occurs also in "so came I a widow" (2 Hen. IV. ii. 3).
"Goes to and back lacking the varying tide."
Theobald read justly lackeying. I read fro for 'back.'
"Both what by sea and land I shall be able
To 'front the present time."
I read 'With what both.'
"To let me be partaker of."
Sc. 5.
"For so he calls me—Now I feed myself
With most delicious poison—thinks on me," etc.
It is thus I would give force to the passage. The appeal to those present is feeble.
"And soberly did mount an arm-gaunt steed."
There can be no doubt that 'arm-gaunt' is a printer's blunder. The best correction seems to be that of Boaden and myself, arrogant; we might also read ardent, as we have "a hot and fiery steed" (Rich. II. v. 2); or angry, as in F. Q. i. 1, 1. I had, like M. Mason, conjectured termagant; but that term is never applied to an animal. In favour of arrogant, Singer quoted from the Arauco Domado of Lope de Vega
"Y el cavallo arrogante, en que subido
El hombre parecia
Monstruosa fiera que seis pies tenia."
In Spanish, I may observe, caballo arrogante is simply a gallant, spirited horse. See Calderon, La Niña de Gomez Arias. II. There is not, as far as I know, any instance of the use of arrogant in this sense in English; and it would be a curious circumstance if Shakespeare had learned the Spanish sense of it.
Act II.
Sc. 1.
"Salt Cleopatra, soften thy wand lip."
I see no sense in in 'wand.' Some editors read wan'd, taking perhaps the image from the moon. I have read wanton, in the sense of soft, yielding like "the wanton rushes" (1 H. IV. iii. 1), "the wanton air" (L. L. L. iv. 3), which would also suit the metre better. I, however, strongly suspect that the poet's word may have been tann'd, spelt of course tand, so that a printer's error was very obvious. She is more than once called gypsy; she has "a tawny front" (i. 1); and she says of herself (i. 5.) that she is "with Phœbus' amorous kisses black." In Son. cxv. we have "tan sacred beauty;" and in Son. lxii.,
"But when my glass shows me myself indeed,
Beated and chopp'd with tann'd antiquity."
'Salt' is wanton, lascivious; perhaps from salax.
Sc. 2.
"I should do thus.—Welcome to Rome.—I thank you."
"Your wife and brother
Made wars upon me, and their contestation
Was theme for you."
I am not satisfied with this passage. Perhaps for 'their' and 'you' we should read your and them, as I have done.
"If you'll patch a quarrel.
As matter whole you have not to make it with."
The negative was properly inserted by Rowe.
"Go to them; your considerate stone am I."
"Truths would be tales only,
Where now half-tales be truths."
Hanmer read 'but tales'; Steevens 'as tales'; Capell 'then be tales.' We might also read 'mere tales.'
"Or else he seeks us out.—Where lies he now?—
About the Mount Misenum.—What's his strength?—
By land great and increasing; but by sea
He is an absolute master."
I give 'By land' to Cæsar. See on As You Like it, ii. 1.
"In her pavilion (cloth of gold of tissue)."
With Collier's folio I read and for 'of.' See Final Note to Comus in my Milton.
"The silken tackle
Swell with the touches of the flower-soft hands,
That yarely frame the office."
'Swell' (sc. with pride, i.e. are elate) no doubt makes good sense; but the words of North's Plutarch are "Others tending the tackle and ropes of the barge, out of which there came a wonderful sweet savour of perfumes, that perfumed the wharf's side." Smell, the reading of Collier's folio, is therefore probably right. In the last line 'the' should, I think, be their.
Sc. 3.
"Would I had never come from thence nor you
Come thither."
"I see it in my motion, have it not in my tongue."
We should probably read notion, i.e. idea, mind.
"But near him thy angel
Becomes a fear."
Upton read afear'd, and, I think, rightly; a Fear was a source of terror, not an object of it. In the corresponding place of North's Plutarch the word is afraid.
Sc. 4.
"We shall,
As I conceive the journey, be at Mount Misenum."
"Tawny-finn'd fishes."
Theobald's correction of 'tawny-fine' of the folio.
"Ram thou thy fruitful tidings in mine ears,
That long time have been barren."
I adopt without hesitation the excellent correction of Rain for 'Ram.' "Rain sacrificial whisperings in his ear" (Tim. i. 1). "In measure rain thy joy" (Mer. of Ven. iii. 2).
Sc. 5.
"If Antony
Be free and healthful, so tart a favour suits not
To trumpet such good tidings."
We might also read, as is usually done, 'why so tart a favour?'
Sc. 6.
"Made the all-honour'd honest Roman Brutus."
The the was properly inserted in the 2nd folio.
Sc. 7.
"The third part of the world, man? Seest thou not?"
"The holding every man shall bear as loud
As his strong sides can volley."
'Bear' is, as usual, one of Theobald's excellent corrections for 'beat' of the folio; 'holding' is burthen.
Act III.
Sc. 1.
"Than gain which darkens him * * *"
"Without the which a soldier and his sword
Grants scarce distinction."
For 'Grants' we might read Gains.
Sc. 2.
"Ever think, speak, cast, write, sing, number, ho!"
"This is to horse. Adieu, most noble Agrippa."
"Be the ram to batter.
The fortress of it down; for better might we," etc.
"Believe it till I weep too."
Theobald, who is always followed, read wept, but, it seems to me, from not understanding the passage: what is meant is, accept this explanation till you see me weep from pure feeling, which Antony was no more capable of doing than I am.
Sc. 3.
"This creature's no such thing.—No, nothing, madame."
Sc. 4.
"Shall stain your brother."
The critics give examples of 'stain' in the sense of eclipse, throw into the shade.
Sc. 5.
"Then would thou hadst a pair of chaps, no more."
The critics properly read world and hast.
"They'll grind the one the other."
It is strange that the one, required both by sense and metre, was first added by Johnson.
Sc. 6.
"Being an abstract 'tween his lust and him."
For 'abstract,' which makes no sense, Warburton read obstruct, which has been generally adopted; but as this subst. occurs nowhere else, I prefer to read obstruction.
"Up to a whore; who now are levying."
As no good sense has been made of 'who,' I read they.
"King Malchus of Arabia, the King of Pont."
It is, however, I think, probable that a proper name has been lost.
"Till we perceived both how you were wrong-led."
For 'wrong-led' Collier's folio reads well wronged.
"And the high gods
To do you justice make his ministers."
I would read God.
Sc. 7.
"And as the president of my kingdom will I."
"I have sixty sails, Cæsar none better hath."
Sc. 8.
"Yon ribaudred nag of Egypt."
For 'ribaudred' Steevens and Malone read ribald-rid, and Tyrwhitt hag for 'nag.' There is no need of change. 'Ribaudred' is vile, obscene; and 'nag,' like hackney, etc., was used of unchaste women.
"When vantages, like a pair of twins, appear'd."
"Hoists sails and flies.—That I beheld myself."
"'Tis easy to it; and therefore I will attend."
It should perhaps be ''Tis easy way.'
Sc. 9.
"Which has no need of you; begone, I pray."
"By looking back on what I have left behind."
"Obey it on all cause.—Oh, pardon, pardon!"
Sc. 10.
"As is the morn-dew on the myrtle-leaf
To his grand sea."
I think we should read 'morning,' and this for 'his.' It is the adjacent Mediterranean that is meant.
"Offers from thine invention."
The folio reads "From thine invention offers." See on Temp. iii. 1.
Sc. 11.
"To lay his gay comparisons aside."
Mr. Singer and myself have both conjectured 'caparisons.'
"Hear it apart.—Here's none but friends; say boldly."
Hanmer also added Here.
"Thus then, thou most renowned! Cæsar entreats thee."
"Farther than he is Cæsar['s]."
"And put yourself under his shroud, who is
The universal landlord."
Collier's folio adds who is.
"Say to great Cæsar this. In disputation
I kiss his conquering hand."
Warburton's reading 'deputation,' is not to be disputed.
"Dissolve my life! The next Cæsarion smite!"
'Smite' is the proper correction for 'smile' of the folio. See on Hen. V. ii. 2.
Act IV.
Sc. 1.
"Enough to fetch him in. See it be done."
"Thou,—and thou,—and thou.—You have all serv'd me well."
Sc. 2.
"Haply you shall not see me more, or, if
You do, a mangled shadow."
Sc. 4.
"Come, my good fellow, put mine iron on."
The folio has thine for 'mine'; Rowe also added my.
Sc. 6.
"Alexas did revolt, and went to Jewry
On affairs of Antony's; there did dissuade
Great Herod to incline himself to Cæsar."
Malone has shown from North's Plutarch that persuade, not 'dissuade,' was the poet's word. In the first line for 'and' I read He, which may have been written A'.
Sc. 7.
"Cæsar himself has work, and our oppression
Exceeds what we expected."
The right word is 'opposition,' also the reading of Hanmer and Warburton.
"And let the Queen know of our guests."
He had no guests. Theobald read gests, which must be right, though Shakespeare uses it nowhere else.
"Each man's like me; you have shown yourselves all Hectors."
Sc. 9.
"Hark! the drums
Demurely wake the sleepers."
It is rather remarkable that Mr. Dyce and I should have simultaneously conjectured Do merrily, of which I think there can be little doubt. See Introd. p. [67].
Sc. 10.
"And they have put forth the haven * *"
Rowe proposed Further on; Capell Hie we on; Tyrwhitt Let us go; and Malone Let's seek a spot. I read "We'll take our stand."
"But being charg'd we will be still by land."
Here both 'But' and 'still' may cause some difficulty. The former is to be taken in its original and proper sense, except, unless; the latter in the sense of quiet.
"The hearts
That spaniel'd me at heels."
The folio has pannell'd; Hanmer made the correction.
"Oh! this false soul of Egypt! this grave charme."
In my Edition, yielding to an impulse I could not resist, I have added a final r to 'charme' both here and a few lines before; thus making it accord with 'witch' and 'gypsy,' as he also calls her. But he likewise terms her 'spell,' and Perdita (W. T. iv. 3) is called 'enchantment,' both, however, in the vocative. It is also rather improbable that the last letter of the same word should have been effaced in two places; but this may be explained by supposing an effacement of the ends of many of the lines in a page of the MS.; and while the others were restored, 'charme,' as making sense, was not supposed to have been injured. By 'Egypt' is meant the Queen, so styled elsewhere also. 'Grave' is heavy, powerful, oppressive; as in the gravibus Persis of Horace, Carm. iii. 5. 4.
"And hoist thee up unto the shouting plebeians."
Sc. 12.
"That which is now a horse, even with a thought
The rack dislimns, and makes it indistinct."
It might be better to read dislimbs.
"Pack'd cards with Cæsar['s]."
"Unarm me, Eros; the long day's work is done."
"The courage of a woman; less noble-minded."
It is evident that the final syllable had been effaced.
Sc. 13.
"His death's upon him, but he is not dead."
"Burn the great sphere thou mov'st in! darkling stand on."
"No more, but e'en a woman."
The folio has in for 'e'en'; the correction is Johnson's.
Act V.
Sc. 1.
"Being so frustrate, tell him he mocks us by
The pauses that he makes."
I adopt Malone's excellent addition, which has everything in its favour.
"His taints and honours
Wag'd equal with him."
We should perhaps read, as has been proposed, Weigh'd for 'Wag'd.'
"For Cæsar cannot live
To be ungentle."
'Live' is the correction of Southern and Pope of leave in the folio. 'To be' is being. See Introd. p. [70].
Sc. 2.
"Which sleeps, and never palates more the dung,
The beggar's nurse and Cæsar's."
With Mr. Dyce I would read dug, the correction of Warburton. Of may have been lost in the beginning of the last line. Still 'dung' may be right, denoting earth; so I have retained it in my Edition.
"He gives me so much of my own, as I
Will kneel to him in thanks for."
For 'as' Mason would read and.
"If idle talk will once be necessary."
Hanmer read 'accessary'; but perhaps without need.
"And he hath sent me for thee."
"There was no winter in it; an autumn 'twas."
So Theobald; the folio has Antony.
"His delights
Were dolphin-like; they showed his back above
The element they lived in."
For 'his' we should read their or the.
"By the rebound of yours; a grief that suites
My very heart at root."
'Suites' is shoots (see on L. L. L. iv. 3). Some read smites.
"To one so meek, that my own servant should," etc.
The poet may have written weak.
"With one that I have bred. The gods! it smites me."
For 'The' we should read Ye, as in Cor. i. 6.
"Of eyes again so royal! your crown's away;
I'll mend it, and then play...."
Pope most properly read awry for 'away,' which was caused probably by the rime with play.