John Dryden

“ Dispatch; ere this, the Town's in Cæsar's hands:
My Lord looks down concern'd, and fears my stay,
Lest I shou'd be surpriz'd;
Keep him not waiting for his love too long.
You, Charmion, bring my Crown and richest Jewels,
With 'em, the Wreath of Victory I made
(Vain Augury!) for him who now lies dead;
You, Iras, bring the cure of all our ills.
⁠Iras.⁠The Aspicks, Madam?
⁠Cleop.⁠Must I bid you twice? Exeunt Char. and Iras.
'Tis sweet to die, when they wou'd force life on me,
To rush into the dark aboad of death,
And seize him first; if he be like my Love,
He is not frightful sure. ”

“ But Cleopatra, who would die with me,
Must she be left? Pity pleads for Octavia;
But does it not plead more for Cleopatra?
⁠Ven.⁠Justice and Pity both plead for Octavia;
For Cleopatra, neither.
One would be ruin'd with you; but she first
Had ruin'd you: the other, you have ruin'd,
And yet she would preserve you.
In every thing their merits are unequal.
⁠Ant.⁠Oh, my distracted Soul!
⁠Octav.⁠Sweet Heav'n compose it.
Come, come, my Lord, if I can pardon you,
Methinks you should accept it. Look on these;
Are they not yours? Or stand they thus neglected
As they are mine? ”

“ Both my Nature, as I am an Englishman, and my Reason, as I am a Man, have bred in me a loathing to that specious Name of a Republick: that mock-appearance of a Liberty, where all who have not part in the Government, are Slaves: And Slaves they are of a viler note than such as are Subjects to an absolute Dominion. For no Christian Monarchy is so absolute, but 'tis circumscrib'd with Laws: But when the Executive Power is in the Law-makers, there is no farther check upon them; and the People must suffer without a remedy, because they are oppress'd by their Representatives. ”

“ Charmion, is this well done?
⁠Char.⁠Yes, 'tis well done, and like a Queen, the last
Of her great Race: I follow her. (Sinks down; Dies.)
⁠Alexas.⁠'Tis true,
She has done well: much better thus to die,
Than live to make a Holy-day in Rome.
⁠Serap.⁠See, see how the Lovers sit in State together,
As they were giving Laws to half Mankind.
Th' impression of a Smile left in her face,
Shows she dy'd pleas'd with him for whom she liv'd,
And went to charm him in another World.
Cæsar's just entring; grief has now no leisure. ”

“ Gent.He sees not Cleopatra.
Ven.Would he had never seen her.
Gent.He eats not, drinks not, sleeps not, has no use
Of any thing, but thought; or, if he talks,
'Tis to himself, and then 'tis perfect raving:
Then he defies the World, and bids it pass;
Sometimes he gnaws his Lip, and Curses loud
The Boy Octavius; then he draws his mouth
Into a scornful smile, and cries, Take all,
The World's not worth my care.
Ven.Just, just his nature.
Virtue's his path; but sometimes 'tis too narrow
For his vast Soul ”

“ Thou bravest Soldier, and thou best of Friends!
Bounteous as Nature; next to Nature's God!
Could'st thou but make new Worlds, so wouldst thou give 'em,
As Bounty were thy being, Rough in Battel,
As the first Romans, when they went to War;
Yet, after Victory, more pitiful,
Than all their Praying Virgins left at home!
Alex.Would you could add to those more shining Virtues,
His Truth to her who loves him. ”

“ Cleop.Then pass it o'er, because it troubles you:
I should have been more griev'd another time.
Next, I'm to lose my Kingdom.———Farewel, Egypt.
Yet, is there any more?
Dolla.Madam, I fear
Your too deep sense of grief has turn'd your reason.
Cleop.No, no, I'm not run mad; I can bear Fortune:
And Love may be expell'd by other Love,
As Poysons are by Poysons.
Dolla.—You o'erjoy me, Madam,
To find your griefs so moderately born.
You've heard the worst; all are not false, like him.
Cleop.No; Heav'n forbid they should.
Dolla.Some men are constant. ”

“ Moderation is doubtless an Establishment of Greatness; but there is a steadiness of temper which is likewise requisite in a Minister of State: so equal a mixture of both Virtues, that he may stand like an Isthmus betwixt the two encroaching Seas of Arbitrary Power, and Lawless Anarchy. The Undertaking would be difficult to any but an extraordinary Genius, to stand at the Line, and to divide the Limits; to pay what is due to the Great Representative of the Nation, and neither to inhance, nor to yeild up the undoubted Prerogatives of the Crown. ”

“ Cleop.Could you not beg
An hours admittance to his private ear?
Like one who wanders through long barren Wilds,
And yet foreknows no Hospitable Inn
Is near to succour hunger,
Eats his fill, before his painful march:
So would I feed a while my famish'd eyes
Before we part; for I have far to go,
If death be far, and never must return.
Ventidius, with Octavia, behind. ”

“ Your bonds are easie; you have long been practis'd
In that lascivious Art: he's not the first
For whom you spread your snares: let Cæsar witness.
⁠Cleop.⁠I lov'd not Cæsar; 'twas but gratitude
I paid his Love: the worst your malice can,
Is but to say the greatest of Mankind
Has been my Slave. The next, but far above him,
In my esteem, is he whom Law calls yours,
But whom his Love made mine. ”

“ A heavy numness creeps through every limb,
And now 'tis at my head: my eye-lids fall,
And my dear Love is vanish'd in a mist.
Where shall I find him, where? O turn me to him,
And lay me on his breast. ——— Cæsar, thy worst;
Now part us, if thou canst. (Dies.) Iras sinks down at her feet,
and dies ”

“ Serap.'Tis strange that Antony, for some dayes past,
Has not beheld the face of Cleopatra;
But here, in Isis Temple, lives retir'd,
And makes his Heart a Prey to black despair.
Alex.'Tis true; and we much fear he hopes by absence
To cure his mind of Love. ”

“ Ant.No, I can kill my self; and so resolve.
Ven.I can dy with you too, when time shall serve;
But Fortune calls upon us now to live,
To fight, to Conquer.
Ant.Sure thou Dream'st, Ventidius.
Ven.No, 'tis you Dream; you sleep away your hours
In desperate sloth, miscall'd Phylosophy. ”

“ But to press it yet farther, there are many witty Men, but few Poets, neither have all Poets a taste of Tragedy. And this is the Rock on which they are daily splitting. Poetry, which is a Picture of Nature, must generally please: but 'tis not be understood that all parts of is must please every man; therefore is not Tragedy to be judg'd by a witty man, whose taste is only confin'd to Comedy. Nor is every man who loves Tragedy a sufficient Judge of it: he must understand the excellencies of it too, or he will only prove a blind Admirer, not a Critique. ”

“ No People in the World being capable of using them, but we who have the happiness to be born under so equal, and so well-pois'd a Government. A Government which has all the Advantages of Liberty beyond a Commonwealth, and all the Marks of Kingly Sovereignty without the danger of a Tyranny. ”

“ Enter Antony and Ventidius.
⁠Ant.⁠O happy Cæsar! Thou hast men to lead:
Think not 'tis thou hast conquer'd Antony;
But Rome has conquer'd Egypt. I'm betray'd.
⁠Ven.⁠Curse on this treach'rous Train!
Their Soil and Heav'n infect 'em all with baseness:
And their young Souls come tainted to the World
With the first breath they draw. ”

“ Ant.Gods, 'tis too much; too much for Man to bear!
Cleo.What is't for me then,
A weak forsaken Woman? and a Lover?—
Here let me breathe my last: envy me not
This minute in your Armes: I'll die apace:
As fast as ere I can; and end your trouble.
Ant.Dye! Rather let me perish: loos'nd Nature
Leap from its hinges. ”

“ Alex.O, she dotes,
She dotes, Serapion, on this vanquish'd Man,
And winds her self about his mighty ruins,
Whom would she yet forsake, yet yield him up,
This hunted prey, to his pursuers hands,
She might preserve us all; but 'tis in vain ———
This changes my designs, this blasts my Counsels,
And makes me use all means to keep him here,
Whom I could wish divided from her Arms
Far as the Earth's deep Center. Well, you know
The state of things; no more of your ill Omens,
And black Prognosticks; labour to confirm
The peoples hearts. ”

“ Those who envy your Fortune, if they wanted not good Nature, might more justly pity it; and when they see you watch'd by a Croud of Suitors, whose importunity 'tis impossible to avoid, would conclude with Reason, that you have lost much more in true content, than you have gain'd by Dignity; and that a private Gentleman is better attended by a single Servant, than your Lordship with so clamorous a Train. ”

“ The greatest error in the contrivance seems to be in the person of Octavia: For, though I might use the privilege of a Poet, to introduce her into Alexandria, yet I had not enough consider'd, that the compassion she mov'd to her self and Children, was destructive to that which I reserv'd for Anthony and Cleopatra; whose mutual love being founded upon vice, must lessen the favour of the Audience to them, when Virtue and Innocence were oppress'd by it. And, though I justified Anthony in some measure, by making Octavia's departure, to proceed wholly from her self ”

“ And the Examples of our Neighbours teach us, that they are not always the happiest Subjects whose Kings extend their Dominions farthest. Since therefore we cannot win by an Offensive War, at least a Land-War, the Model of our Government seems naturally contriv'd for the Defensive part: and the consent of a People is easily obtain'd to contribute to that Power which must protect it. Felices nimium bona si sua nôrint, Angligenæ! And yet there are not wanting Malecontents amongst us, who surfeiting themselves on too much happiness, wou'd perswade the People that they might be happier by a change. ”

“ Yet, in this nicety of manners does the excellency of French Poetry consist: their Heroes are the most civil people breathing; but their good breeding seldom extends to a word of sense: All their Wit is in their Ceremony; they want the Genius which animates our Stage ”

“ His grief betrays it. Good! The joy to find
She's yet alive, compleats the reconcilement.
I've sav'd my self, and her. But, Oh! the Romans!
Fate comes too fast upon my Wit,
Hunts me too hard, and meets me at each double. Exit.
⁠Ven.⁠Wou'd she had dy'd a little sooner tho,
Before Octavia went; you might have treated:
Now 'twill look tame, and wou'd not be receiv'd.
Come, rouze your self, and lets die warm together.
⁠Ant.⁠I will not fight: there's no more work for War.
The bus'ness of my angry hours is done.
⁠Ven.⁠Cæsar is at your Gates. ”

“ No word of Cleopatra: She deserves
More World's than I can lose.
Ven.Behold, you Pow'rs,
To whom you have intrusted Humankind;
See Europe, Africk, Asia put in balance,
And all weigh'd down by one light worthless Woman!
I think the Gods are Antony's, and give
Like Prodigals, this neather World away,
To none but wastful hands.
Ant.You grow presumptuous.
Ven.I take the priviledge of plain love to speak.
Ant.Plain love! plain arrogance, plain insolence:
Thy Men are Cowards; thou an envious Traitor;
Who, under seeming honesty, hast vented
The burden of thy rank o'reflowing Gall. ”

“ Octavia saw it.
Cleop.They are enemies.
Ant.Alexas is not so: he, he confest it;
He, who, next Hell, best knew it, he avow'd it.
(To Dol.) Why do I seek a proof beyond your self?
You whom I sent to bear my last Farewel,
Return'd to plead her stay.
Dolla.What shall I answer?
If to have lov'd be guilt, then I have sinn'd;
But if to have repented of that love
Can wash away my crime, I have repented.
Yet, if I have offended past forgiveness,
Let not her suffer: she is innocent.
Cleop.Ah, what will not a Woman do who loves! ”

“ For your Diligence, your Constancy, and your Prudence, wrought more surely within, when they were not disturb'd by any outward Motion. The highest Virtue is best to be trusted with its Self, for Assistance only can be given by a Genius Superiour to that which it assists. ”

“ Live; but live wretched, 'tis but just you shou'd,
Who made me so: Live from each others sight:
Let me not hear you meet: Set all the Earth,
And all the Seas, betwixt your sunder'd Loves:
View nothing common but the Sun and Skys:
Now, all take several ways ”

“ My Lord, my Lord, love will not always last,
When urg'd with long unkindness, and disdain;
Take her again whom you prefer to me;
She stays but to be call'd. Poor cozen'd Man!
Let a feign'd parting give her back your heart,
Which a feign'd love first got ”

“ These, My Lord, are Considerations which I should not pass so lightly over, had I room to manage them as they deserve: for no Man can be so inconsiderable in a Nation, as not to have a share in the welfare of it; and if he be a true Englishmen, he must at the same time be fir'd with Indignation, and revenge himself as he can on the Disturbers of his Country. And to whom could I more fitly apply my self, than to your Lordship, who have not only an inborn, but an hereditary Loyalty? ”