Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra

Antony and Cleopatra

Please see the bottom of this page for explanatory notes and resources.

ACT III SCENE X	Another part of the plain.
[ CANIDIUS marcheth with his land army one way over the stage; and TAURUS, the lieutenant of OCTAVIUS CAESAR, the other way. After their going in, is heard the noise of a sea-fight ]
[Alarum. Enter DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS]
DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS	Naught, naught all, naught! I can behold no longer:
	The Antoniad, the Egyptian admiral,
	With all their sixty, fly and turn the rudder:
	To see't mine eyes are blasted.
[Enter SCARUS]
SCARUS	Gods and goddesses,	5
	All the whole synod of them!
DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS	What's thy passion!
SCARUS	The greater cantle of the world is lost
	With very ignorance; we have kiss'd away
	Kingdoms and provinces.	10
DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS	How appears the fight?
SCARUS	On our side like the token'd pestilence,
	Where death is sure. Yon ribaudred nag of Egypt,--
	Whom leprosy o'ertake!--i' the midst o' the fight,
	When vantage like a pair of twins appear'd,	15
	Both as the same, or rather ours the elder,
	The breese upon her, like a cow in June,
	Hoists sails and flies.
DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS	That I beheld:
	Mine eyes did sicken at the sight, and could not	20
	Endure a further view.
SCARUS	She once being loof'd,
	The noble ruin of her magic, Antony,
	Claps on his sea-wing, and, like a doting mallard,
	Leaving the fight in height, flies after her:	25
	I never saw an action of such shame;
	Experience, manhood, honour, ne'er before
	Did violate so itself.
DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS	Alack, alack!
[Enter CANIDIUS]
CANIDIUS	Our fortune on the sea is out of breath,	30
	And sinks most lamentably. Had our general
	Been what he knew himself, it had gone well:
	O, he has given example for our flight,
	Most grossly, by his own!
DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS	Ay, are you thereabouts?	35
	Why, then, good night indeed.
CANIDIUS	Toward Peloponnesus are they fled.
SCARUS	'Tis easy to't; and there I will attend
	What further comes.
CANIDIUS	To Caesar will I render	40
	My legions and my horse: six kings already
	Show me the way of yielding.
DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS	I'll yet follow
	The wounded chance of Antony, though my reason
	Sits in the wind against me.	45
[Exeunt]

Antony and Cleopatra, Act 3, Scene 11
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Explanatory Notes for Act 3, Scene 10
From Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra. Ed. M. Eaton. Boston: Educational Publishing Company.
(Line numbers have been altered.)
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2. Antoniad. Cleopatra's own ship, named for Antony.

3. Sixty. That is, sixty vessels.

6. Synod. Assembly. The word was formerly applied chiefly to the gods, but later it was used largely of ecclesiastical assemblies.

7. Cantle. Portion; the word originally meant "corner."

12. Token'd. Spotted. The marks of the plague were popularly called "God's tokens."

13. Ribaudred. Profligate woman.

15. Vantage. Advantage.

17. Breeze. As if stung by a gadfly.

22. Loof'd. Luffed, having turned her vessel toward the wind.

23. Magic. Charms, fascinations.

24. Sea-wing. Raises his sails.

24. Mallard. Drake, the male wild duck.

32. Knew himself. Displayed the courage he knows he possesses.

35. Thereabouts. Is that what you think?

37. Peloponnesus. The southern peninsula of Greece.

38. Easy to't. Easy to reach it.

38. Attend. Await.

44. Wounded chance. "Broken fortunes."

45. Sits in the wind. Opposes such a course.

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How to cite the explanatory notes:
Shakespeare, William. Antony and Cleopatra. Ed. M. Eaton. Boston: Educational Publishing Company, 1908. Shakespeare Online. 20 Feb. 2010. (date when you accessed the information) < http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/antony_3_10.html >.

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