Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra 4.9

Antony and Cleopatra

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

ACT IV SCENE IX	Octavius Caesar's camp.
[Sentinels at their post]
First Soldier	If we be not relieved within this hour,
	We must return to the court of guard: the night
	Is shiny; and they say we shall embattle
	By the second hour i' the morn.
Second Soldier	This last day was	5
	A shrewd one to's.
[Enter DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS]
DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS	O, bear me witness, night,--
Third Soldier	What man is this?
Second Soldier	Stand close, and list him.
DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS	Be witness to me, O thou blessed moon,	10
	When men revolted shall upon record
	Bear hateful memory, poor Enobarbus did
	Before thy face repent!
First Soldier	Enobarbus!
Third Soldier	Peace!	15
	Hark further.
DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS	O sovereign mistress of true melancholy,
	The poisonous damp of night disponge upon me,
	That life, a very rebel to my will,
	May hang no longer on me: throw my heart	20
	Against the flint and hardness of my fault:
	Which, being dried with grief, will break to powder,
	And finish all foul thoughts. O Antony,
	Nobler than my revolt is infamous,
	Forgive me in thine own particular;	25
	But let the world rank me in register
	A master-leaver and a fugitive:
	O Antony! O Antony!
[Dies]
Second Soldier	Let's speak To him.
First Soldier	Let's hear him, for the things he speaks	30
	May concern Caesar.
Third Soldier	Let's do so. But he sleeps.
First Soldier	Swoons rather; for so bad a prayer as his
	Was never yet for sleep.
Second Soldier	Go we to him.	35
Third Soldier	Awake, sir, awake; speak to us.
Second Soldier	Hear you, sir?
First Soldier	The hand of death hath raught him.
[Drums afar off]
	Hark! the drums
	Demurely wake the sleepers. Let us bear him	40
	To the court of guard; he is of note: our hour
	Is fully out.
Third Soldier	Come on, then;
	He may recover yet.
[Exeunt with the body]

Antony and Cleopatra, Act 4, Scene 10
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Explanatory Notes for Act 4, Scene 9
From Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra. Ed. M. Eaton. Boston: Educational Publishing Company.
(Line numbers have been altered.)
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2. Court of guard. The guard room where the sentinels muster.

3. Shiny. Clear.

3. Embattle. Muster for battle.

6. Shrewd. Bad, unfortunate.

9. List. Listen to him.

11. Revolted. Who have revolted, been traitors.

17. Melancholy. The influence of the moon was supposed to produce madness.

18. Disponge. Shed like a sponge.

20. Throw my heart. Johnson regards this line as a conceit unworthy of Shakespeare.

25. Particular. That is, as far as you yourself are concerned, but let the world call me a traitor.

38. Raught. Reached him.

40. Demurely. That is, gravely, with measured beat of drums, as befits so serious a day as the one before us.

41. Note. Importance, rank.

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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_4_9.html >.

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