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ANT.

Speak this no more.

SOOTH. To none but thee; no more, but when to thee.

If thou dost play with him at any game,

Thou art sure to lose; and, of that natural luck, He beats thee'gainst the odds; thy lustre thickens,' When he shines by: I say again, thy spirit

Is all afraid to govern thee near him;

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But, he away, 'tis noble.

ANT.

Get thee gone:

Say to Ventidius, I would speak with him :

[Exit Soothsayer. He shall to Parthia.-Be it art, or hap, He hath spoken true: The very dice obey him; And, in our sports, my better cunning faints Under his chance: if we draw lots, he speeds: His cocks do win the battle still of mine, When it is all to nought; and his quails3 ever

being coragious and high when he is alone, becometh fearfull and timerous when he commeth neere vnto the other."

STEEVENS.

Our author has a little lower expressed his meaning more plainly:

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I say again, thy spirit

"Is all afraid to govern thee near him." We have this sentiment again in Macbeth :

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near him,

"My genius is rebuk'd; as, it is said,
"Mark Antony's was by Cæsar's."

The old copy reads-that thy spirit. The correction, which was made in the second folio, is supported by the foregoing passage in Plutarch, but I doubt whether it is necessary. MALONE. thy lustre thickens,] So, in Macbeth:

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-light thickens,-." STEEvens.

But, he away,] Old copy-alway. Corrected by Mr. Pope. MALONE.

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his quails-] The ancients used to match quails as we match cocks. JOHNSON.

Beat mine, inhoop'd, at odds. I will to Egypt: And though I make this marriage for my peace,

Enter VENTIdius.

I' the east my pleasure lies :-O, come, Ventidius,
You must to Parthia; your commission's ready:
Follow me, and receive it.
[Exeunt.

So, in the old translation of Plutarch: "For, it is said, that as often as they two drew cuts for pastime, who should haue any thing, or whether they plaied at dice, Antonius alway lost. Oftentimes when they were disposed to see cockefight, or quailes that were taught to fight one with another, Cæsars cockes or quailes did euer ouercome." STEEVENS.

-inhoop'd, at odds.] Thus the old copy. Inhoop'd is inclosed, confined, that they may fight. The modern editions read:

Beat mine, in whoop'd-at odds.

JOHNSON.

Shakspeare gives us the practice of his own time; and there is no occasion for in whoop'd-at, or any other alteration. John Davies begins one of his Epigrams upon Proverbs:

"He sets cocke on the hoope, in, you would say;

"For cocking in hoopes is now all the play." FARMER. The attempt at emendation, however, deserves some respect; as, in As you like it, Celia says: "—and after that out of all whooping." STEEVENS.

At odds was the phraseology of Shakspeare's time. So, in Mortimeriados, by Michael Drayton, no date:

"She straight begins to bandy him about,

"At thousand odds, before the set goes out." MALONE.

inhoop'd, Quails are put in a broad hoop to fight.

See Dowe's Illustrations, Vol. II. p. 87. HARRIS.

SCENE IV.

The same. A Street.

Enter LEPIDUS, MECENAS, and AGRIPPA.

LEP. Trouble yourselves no further: pray you, hasten

Your generals after.

AGR.

Sir, Mark Antony

Will e'en but kiss Octavia, and we'll follow.

LEP. Till I shall see you in your soldier's dress, Which will become you both, farewell.

MEC.

We shall,

As I conceive the journey, be at mount5
Before you, Lepidus.

Lep.

My purposes do draw me much about;

You'll win two days upon me.

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MEC. AGR.

LEP. Farewell.

Your way is shorter,

Sir, good success!

[Exeunt.

at mount-] i. e. Mount Misenum. STEEVENS.

Our author probably wrote-a'the mount. MALONE.

[blocks in formation]

SCENE V.

Alexandria. A Room in the Palace.

Enter CLEOPATRA, CHARMIAN, IRAs, and
ALEXAS.

CLEO. Give me some musick; musick, moody

food

Of us that trade in love.

ATTEND.

The musick, ho!

Enter MARDIAN

CLEO. Let it alone; let us to billiards:" Come, Charmian.

CHAR. My arm is sore, best play with Mardian. CLEO. As well a woman with an eunuch play'd, As with a woman;-Come, you'll play with me, sir?

-musick, moody food-] The mood is the mind, or mental disposition. Van Haaren's panegyrick on the English begins, Grootmoedig Volk, [great-minded nation.] Perhaps here is a poor jest intended between mood the mind and moods of musick. JOHNSON.

Moody, in this instance, means melancholy. Cotgrave explains moody, by the French words, morne and triste.

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So, in The Comedy of Errors:

"Sweet recreation barr'd, what doth ensue,

STEEVENS

"But moody and dull melancholy?" MALONE.

let us to billiards:] This is one of the numerous anachronisms that are found in these plays. This game was not known in ancient times. MALONE.

MAR. As well as I can, madam.

CLEO. And when good will is show'd, though it come too short,

The actor may plead pardon.

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I'll none now:

Give me mine angle,We'll to the river: there,
My musick playing far off, I will betray
Tawny-finn'd fishes; my bended hook shall pierce
Their slimy jaws; and, as I draw them up,
I'll think them every one an Antony,

And say, Ah, ha! you're caught.

CHAR.

'Twas merry, when You wager'd on your angling; when your diver Did hang a salt-fish' on his hook, which he With fervency drew up.

CLEO.

That time!-O times!I laugh'd him out of patience; and that night I laugh'd him into patience: and next morn, Ere the ninth hour, I drunk him to his bed; Then put my tires and mantles on him, whilst I wore his sword Philippan.2 O! from Italy;

* And when good will is show'd, though it come too short, The actor may plead pardon.] A similar sentiment has already appeared in A Midsummer-Night's Dream:

"For never any thing can be amiss,

"When simpleness and duty tender it." STEEVENS.

• Tawny-finn'd fishes ;] The first copy reads:

Tawny fine fishes,

Corrected by Mr. Theobald.

'Did hang a salt-fish &c.]

JOHNSON.

MALONE.

This circumstance is likewise taken from Sir Thomas North's translation of the life of Antony in Plutarch.

STEEVENS.

whilst

I wore his sword Philippan.] We are not to suppose, nor is there any warrant from history, that Antony had any particular sword so called. The dignifying weapons, in this sort, is a custom of much more recent date. This therefore seems a com

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