ARKCODEX
Act III, Scene 7
1Near Actium. Antony’s camp.
2Enter Cleopatra and Enobarbas.
3CleopatraI will be even with thee, doubt it not.
4EnobarbasBut why, why, why?
5CleopatraThou hast forspoke my being in these wars,
And say’st it is not fit.
6EnobarbasWell, is it, is it?
7CleopatraIf not denounced against us, why should not we
Be there in person?
8EnobarbasAside. Well, I could reply:
If we should serve with horse and mares together,
The horse were merely lost; the mares would bear
A soldier and his horse.
9CleopatraWhat is’t you say?
10EnobarbasYour presence needs must puzzle Antony;
Take from his heart, take from his brain, from’s time,
What should not then be spared. He is already
Traduced for levity; and ’tis said in Rome
That Photinus an eunuch and your maids
Manage this war.
11CleopatraSink Rome, and their tongues rot
That speak against us! A charge we bear i’ the war,
And, as the president of my kingdom, will
Appear there for a man. Speak not against it;
I will not stay behind.
12EnobarbasNay, I have done.
Here comes the emperor.
13Enter Antony and Canidius.
14AntonyIs it not strange, Canidius,
That from Tarentum and Brundusium
He could so quickly cut the Ionian sea,
And take in Toryne? You have heard on’t, sweet?
15CleopatraCelerity is never more admired
Than by the negligent.
16AntonyA good rebuke,
Which might have well becomed the best of men,
To taunt at slackness. Canidius, we
Will fight with him by sea.
17CleopatraBy sea! what else?
18CanidiusWhy will my lord do so?
19AntonyFor that he dares us to’t.
20EnobarbasSo hath my lord dared him to single fight.
21CanidiusAy, and to wage this battle at Pharsalia,
Where Caesar fought with Pompey: but these offers,
Which serve not for his vantage, he shakes off;
And so should you.
22EnobarbasYour ships are not well mann’d;
Your mariners are muleters, reapers, people
Ingross’d by swift impress; in Caesar’s fleet
Are those that often have ’gainst Pompey fought:
Their ships are yare; yours, heavy: no disgrace
Shall fall you for refusing him at sea,
Being prepared for land.
23AntonyBy sea, by sea.
24EnobarbasMost worthy sir, you therein throw away
The absolute soldiership you have by land;
Distract your army, which doth most consist
Of war-mark’d footmen; leave unexecuted
Your own renowned knowledge; quite forego
The way which promises assurance; and
Give up yourself merely to chance and hazard,
From firm security.
25AntonyI’ll fight at sea.
26CleopatraI have sixty sails, Caesar none better.
27AntonyOur overplus of shipping will we burn;
And, with the rest full-mann’d, from the head of Actium
Beat the approaching Caesar. But if we fail,
We then can do’t at land.
28Enter a Messenger.
29Thy business?
30MessengerThe news is true, my lord; he is descried;
Caesar has taken Toryne.
31AntonyCan he be there in person? ’tis impossible;
Strange that power should be. Canidius,
Our nineteen legions thou shalt hold by land,
And our twelve thousand horse. We’ll to our ship:
Away, my Thetis!
32Enter a Soldier.
33How now, worthy soldier?
34SoldierO noble emperor, do not fight by sea;
Trust not to rotten planks: do you misdoubt
This sword and these my wounds? Let the Egyptians
And the Phoenicians go a-ducking; we
Have used to conquer, standing on the earth,
And fighting foot to foot.
35AntonyWell, well; away! Exeunt Antony, Cleopatra, and Enobarbas.
36SoldierBy Hercules, I think I am i’ the right.
37CanidiusSoldier, thou art: but his whole action grows
Not in the power on’t: so our leader’s led,
And we are women’s men.
38SoldierYou keep by land
The legions and the horse whole, do you not?
39CanidiusMarcus Octavius, Marcus Justeius,
Publicola, and Caelius, are for sea:
But we keep whole by land. This speed of Caesar’s
Carries beyond belief.
40SoldierWhile he was yet in Rome,
His power went out in such distractions as
Beguiled all spies.
41CanidiusWho’s his lieutenant, hear you?
42SoldierThey say, one Taurus.
43CanidiusWell I know the man.
44Enter a Messenger.
45MessengerThe emperor calls Canidius.
46CanidiusWith news the time’s with labour, and throes forth,
Each minute, some. Exeunt.