The way which promises assurance; and Give up yourself merely to chance and peril, Ant. I'll fight by sea. Cle. I have sixty sail; Cæsar's none better. Ant. Our overplus of shipping we will burn, And, with the rest full manned, from the head of Actium Beat the approaching Cæsar.-If we fail, We then can do❜t by land. Thy business? Enter MESSENger. Mess. The enemy, my lord, is now descried. Cæsar has taken Toryne. Ant. There in person! Well, to our ships;-this speed of Cæsar carries Mess. While he was yet in Rome, His power went out in such detachments as Ant. Canidius, [Retires. Our nineteen legions thou shalt hold by land, And our twelve thousand horse. Haste to thy charge. [Exit CANIDIUS. So now on board-and cheerly!-Come, my Thetis ! [To CLEOP. A martial flourish. Away! Away! [Exeunt ANTONY, CLEOPATRA, ENOBARBUS, and Followers, SCENE III. The Country near Actium. Enter CANIDIUS, marching with his Land Army. Can. Halt! breathe awhile, ere we ascend the steep. Set we our squadrons upon yonder hill, In eye of Cæsar's battle;-from which place And so proceed accordingly. [Alarum from the sea. Draw near each other; Roman strains of war, [Exeunt. SCENE IV. Sea Shore-Open Sea beyond it. A Grand Sea Fight; which ends in the defeat of ANTONY and CLEOPATRA. SCENE V. Open Country near Actium. Enter PHILO. Philo. Lost! lost! all lost! I can behold no longer The Antoniad, the Egyptian admiral, With all their sixty, fly and turn the rudder; Enter ENOBARBUS. Eno. Gods and goddesses! " The greater portion of the world is lost, Philo. How appears the fight? Eno. On our side like the spotted pestilence, Where death is sure. Yon ribald hag of Egypt, Whom leprosy o'ertake! i' the midst o' the fight, When 'vantage like a pair of twins appear'd, Both as the same, or rather our's the elder, Hoists sail, and flies:-and she, once being looft, The noble ruin of her magic, Antony, Claps on his sea wing, like a doting mallard, Leaving the battle, and flies after her. I never saw an action of such shame; Experience, manhood, honour, ne'er before Did violate so itself. Enter CANIDIUS. Can. Our fortune on the sea is out of breath, And sinks most lamentably. Had our general Been what he knew himself, it had gone well: Oh, he has given example for our flight, Most grossly by his own. Eno. Ay, are you thereabouts? Why then, good night Indeed! Can. Towards Peloponnesus are they fled. To the all-conquering Cæsar I will render Eno. Hark! the enemy! [Shouts. I'll follow yet the wounded chance of Antony, Although my reason sits i' the wind against me. [Shouts again. Exeunt, severally SCENE VI. Another Part of the Country, near Actium, Enter CESAR, and his Train. Cas. Where is the man whom Antony, when fly I Atten. Cæsar, he's here. [Ambassador from ANTONY advances. Cæs. Approach, and speak. Amb. Such as I am, I come from Antony: was, of late, as petty to his ends As is the morn dew on the myrtle leaf To the vast ocean. Cas. Well;-declare thine office. Amb. Lord of his fortunes, he salutes thee, and Requires to live in Egypt; which not granted, He sues to breathe between the heavens and earth, Cæs. For Antony I have no ears to his request. The queen Cas. In thy course to Egypt, A messenger of mine, to Cleopatra, Must be thy fellow. Bring him through the bands, Thyreus, Thyr. [Advancing.] My lord [Exit AMBASSADOR. Caes. Thou must sail with him, Thyreus. And in our name, what she requires; add more, Thyr. Cæsar, I go. Caes. Go quickly, then; and should thy vessel prove A sluggard to the wind, I may set foot On Afric's ground before thee. Now, my friends, [Exit THYREUS. We must, once more, embark to seek these runa 'ways: Tis fit we take the lion we have driven Into his last retreat. Therefore, for Egypt. Strike, and march on ! [Exeunt. |