Antony and Cleopatra (Arden Shakespeare: Third Series) Read online

  10 'Take all' "Winner takes all" (gambling phrase; plays on the sense of "Lower my ship's sails in defeat and surrender everything") 14 honest honorable, faithful

  16 fellows fellow servants

  18 tricks whims, caprices

  22 clapped up combined

  27 Scant ... cups give me plenty to drink

  29 suffered was under, was subject to

  33 period end

  34 Haply perhaps

  if ... shadow if you do, it will be as a mutilated ghost

  35 Perchance maybe

  41 yield reward

  43 discomfort grief, distress

  44 onion-eyed i.e. weeping

  47 the ... me may I be bewitched

  48 Grace forgiveness/the herb of grace (rue)

  hearty kind-hearted/sincere/noble, courageous

  49 dolorous sad, dismal

  50 for your comfort in order to cheer you up

  51 burn ... torches i.e. spend all night in revelry 55 consideration serious thoughts

  1 day i.e. of battle

  2 determine one way decide matters/conclude one way or another 5 Belike probably

  7 careful cautious, wary

  10 absolute positive, free from all doubt

  12 brave valiant/splendid

  purpose determination

  hautboys oboe-like instruments

  14 List listen

  18 signs well is a good omen

  21 Hercules legendary Greek hero of immense strength, supposed ancestor of Antony 28 masters sirs

  29 we have quarter our watch extends

  30 give off cease

  3 chuck chick (term of endearment)

  4 thine iron the armor that you are holding

  6 brave defy

  10 False that's wrong (Cleopatra has got the wrong piece of armor, or has tried to attach a piece incorrectly) 11 Sooth in truth

  la emphatic exclamation

  12 Well i.e. Cleopatra's assistance

  14 thy defences your own armor

  15 Briefly shortly

  17 Rarely splendidly

  18 we ... repose I choose to remove it in order to rest (Antony uses the royal pronoun) 19 doff't take it off

  storm rain of blows

  20 squire young man of good birth attendant on a knight

  21 tight deft

  dispatch hurry up

  22 knew'st understood

  23 royal occupation business of kings, i.e. warfare 24 workman expert craftsman

  25 him one

  knows ... charge has a military responsibility (i.e. comes to deliver a message)/has experience of fighting 26 betime early

  29 riveted trim armor

  30 port gate

  33 'Tis well blown referring either to the flourish of trumpets or to the dawning of the morning 35 of note famous

  37 dame queen/my lady

  39 check reprimand

  stand insist

  40 mechanic compliment formal etiquette

  41 that will who intend to

  45 That if only

  46 Determine decide/end

  1 happy fortunate

  2 Would I wish

  prevailed succeeded in persuading

  5 revolted deserted

  21 charge order

  22 subscribe sign

  25 Dispatch do it straightaway

  2 took captured

  5 universal peace the Pax Romana, a long period of relative peace established under the rule of Emperor Augustus (Octavius' subsequent title); also the beginning of the Christian era 6 three-nooked three-cornered; refers either to the tripartite division of lands ruled by a triumvirate, or to the continents of Europe, Africa, and Asia 7 bear the olive bring forth the olive tree/wear an olive garland (symbolic of peace) freely willingly, readily/abundantly/without impediment

  10 van vanguard, the front

  13 Jewry Judaea, modern Israel/Palestine

  14 dissuade persuade to change his allegiance

  15 Great Herod Herod the Great, King of the Jews

  18 fell away deserted

  entertainment hospitality/employment

  24 bounty overplus generous gift in addition

  25 on my guard while I was on guard duty

  29 safed escorted safely

  30 host army

  office duties

  33 alone the only, the worst

  34 most more than anyone else, most acutely

  36 turpitude wickedness, depravity

  37 blows swells/batters

  38 swift thought instant despair

  mean method (i.e. suicide)

  39 outstrike deal a heavier blow than/obliterate

  41 foul'st worst/muddiest

  Alarum a call to arms

  1 Retire retreat, fall back

  2 has work has his hands full

  our oppression the pressure on us

  5 droven driven

  6 clouts cloths, bandages/blows

  9 H puns on "ache" (the two were similarly pronounced)

  11 bench-holes toilet holes

  12 scotches gashes

  13 serves is as good as/gives us the opportunity

  15 score mark with cuts

  16 snatch ... behind an image from hare-hunting

  17 runner one who runs away, a coward

  19 sprightly comfort spirited encouragement

  21 halt limp

  2 gests deeds

  5 doughty-handed hardy in battle

  6 as ... cause as though you merely served the general cause as't ... mine as if each of you had the same personal motivation as I 7 shown all Hectors all behaved like Hector, the most renowned Trojan warrior 8 clip embrace

  10 congealment congealed blood

  11 whole better, healed (puns on "hole")

  12 fairy magical being, enchantress

  13 day light

  14 Chain ... neck put your arms round my armor-clad neck

  15 proof of harness invulnerable armor

  16 pants triumphing in triumph on my panting breast

  18 virtue courage

  22 something somewhat

  23 nerves muscles

  24 Get ... youth score as many victories as a young man (the image may be of running or of football) 25 Commend entrust

  28 such a shape the shape of a man

  31 carbuncled studded with gems

  32 holy Phoebus' car the chariot of the Greek and Roman sun god 34 targets shields

  owe own

  like ... them i.e. honorably (or possibly "hacked at like the soldiers they belong to") 36 camp accommodate

  sup eat

  37 carouses toasts

  38 royal peril great danger, fit for a king

  39 brazen brass/bold

  40 Make mingle combine your sounds with those of

  taborins drums

  41 That ... together so that their sounds reverberate back and forth from earth to heaven 2 th'court of guard the guardroom

  3 shiny bright

  embattle prepare for battle

  5 shrewd bad, difficult/damaging

  8 close concealed

  list listen to

  10 When ... memory when deserters are remembered with hatred in written accounts 15 sovereign ... melancholy i.e. the moon, associated with melancholy and madness 16 damp of night the damp night air was considered noxious disponge pour down as from a squeezed sponge

  17 rebel ... will i.e. because Enobarbus wishes to die 19 flint stony hardness

  20 dried with grief each sigh was thought to drain the heart of a drop of blood 23 thine own particular personally

  24 rank ... register publicly record me to be

  25 fugitive deserter

  31 Swoons faints

  bad desperate

  36 raught seized

  37 demurely quietly

  39 of note an important man

  hour ... out time on duty is over

  3 both i.e. sea and land

  4 i'th'fire or i'th'air the remaining two of the four elements (air, earth
, fire, water) 5 foot infantry

  8 put ... haven left the harbor

  9 appointment purpose/equipment

  1 But being charged unless we're attacked

  still inactive

  2 we shall we will be able to do

  3 vales flat lands between hills

  4 hold ... advantage stay in the most advantageous position 1 Yet ... joined battle has still not begun

  5 augurers Roman religious officials who predicted the future by interpreting, among other things, the behavior of birds 8 by starts in turn

  9 fretted worn, decayed/checkered

  15 Triple-turned whore! i.e. Cleopatra, whose affections shifted three times: she had affairs with Julius Caesar, Gneius Pompey, and Antony 18 charm enchantress

  20 uprise rising

  23 spanieled followed like fawning spaniels

  24 discandy dissolve

  melt their sweets the image is of dogs slobbering from the treats which have dissolved in their mouths 25 this pine i.e. Antony himself

  barked stripped of its bark

  27 grave serious/deadly, dangerous

  28 becked gestured

  29 Whose ... end i.e. whose love was the aim and achievement of my life crownet coronet

  30 gipsy believed to come from Egypt, proverbially deceitful fast and loose cheating game much practiced by Gypsies in which the victim bets on the apparent security of (or bets that he can secure) a cunningly coiled belt that is then readily unrolled; plays on the sense of "sexual cheating"

  31 Beguiled deceived

  32 spell enchantment

  Avaunt! Be gone!

  35 blemish Caesar's triumph spoil Caesar's triumphal procession (in which he intends to display you as a captive) 36 plebeians commoners

  37 spot stain, blemish

  38 monster-like, be shown be exhibited like a freak at a fair 39 For for the benefit of, to (an audience of)

  poor'st diminutives undergrown weaklings/dwarves

  dolts idiots

  40 Patient long-suffering

  41 prepared ready and waiting

  43 fell'st into had fallen victim to

  45 shirt of Nessus the poisoned shirt that Hercules' wife Deianira unwittingly gave him; it was soaked with the blood of the centaur Nessus, whom Hercules had shot with a poisoned arrow after the attempted rape of Deianira, and who had revenged himself by telling Deianira that his blood could be used as a love charm 46 Alcides Hercules

  47 Lichas the servant who brought Hercules the poisoned shirt and who was thrown into the sea by his enraged and pain-crazed master 48 club famous emblem of Hercules' strength

  49 worthiest most heroic, noblest/most deserving of death 2 Telamon ... shield Telamonian Ajax went mad and killed himself when the shield and armor of the dead Achilles were awarded to Ulysses rather than himself boar of Thessaly sent by Diana to ravage the kingdom of Calydon in Thessaly, central Greece 3 embossed driven to extremity, foaming at the mouth (used of a hunted animal) 4 th'monument the tomb, burial chamber

  6 rive split

  7 going off departing, being lost

  1 thou ... me can you still see me (Antony feels himself to have become insubstantial) 3 dragonish dragon-shaped

  5 pendent jutting, overhanging

  6 promontory headland

  8 mock deceive

  signs images/omens/pretenses

  9 vespers's evening

  pageants theatrical shows/empty illusions/tricks

  11 with a thought as quick as thought

  12 rack cloud (plays on the sense of "torture instrument that dislocates the limbs") dislimns paints out, obliterates (puns on "dislimbs," i.e. removes the limbs from their sockets) 15 knave boy, lad

  18 Egypt the Queen of Egypt

  22 Packed stacked, shuffled

  false-played falsely played away

  23 triumph victory/trump card

  26 robbed ... sword destroyed my soldiership/emasculated me 28 mingled ... entirely were completely bound up with yours 30 saucy impudent

  33 discharged paid in full

  34 unto thy hand for you

  37 divided ... lips she spoke half of your name before she died, the rest was still in her heart 38 rendered surrendered, gave up

  43 That ... richly you may consider yourself amply rewarded by the fact that I haven't harmed you 43 That ... richly you may consider yourself amply rewarded by the fact that I haven't harmed you 46 seven-fold ... Ajax Ajax's bronze shield was backed by seven layers of oxhide 47 battery assault with heavy blows, bombardment

  cleave split

  48 continent container

  49 Apace quickly

  50 bruised pieces dented armor

  51 From leave

  54 length delay

  torch i.e. the life of Cleopatra (aural play on torture) 56 very ... strength as an animal caught in a net is entangled by its efforts to escape 57 Seal conclude

  58 Stay wait

  59 souls ... flowers i.e. the paradisiacal Elysian Fields, where, in Greek mythology, the blessed went after death couch lie

  60 sprightly port lively bearing

  61 Dido ... Aeneas emblematic tragic lovers in Virgil's Aeneid; the Trojan hero, Aeneas, survived the sack of Troy, landed at Carthage in north Africa, and became the lover of Queen Dido, whom he eventually abandoned to found Rome; she committed suicide in despair want troops lack followers

  62 all ... ours all will follow us (haunt plays on its ghostly sense) 63 would wishes

  67 green Neptune's back the sea, of which Neptune was the Roman god 68 With ... cities commanded fleets of ships so large that they were like cities to lack for lacking

  72 exigent emergency/urgent legal summons

  74 prosecution pursuit/persecution/carrying out of legal proceedings 79 withhold restrain/preserve

  80 Parthian darts arrows of the Parthians, famous for shooting backward on horseback 81 enemy hostile

  83 windowed placed at a window

  84 pleached folded/crossed and bound

  85 corrigible submissive

  86 penetrative intense, penetrating

  wheeled seat chariot

  87 branded ... ensued marked, as a brand does a criminal, the humiliating lowliness of him who followed 91 honest faithful, honorable

  worn Most useful put to such good use

  93 pardon me release me from this duty

  96 precedent previous

  97 unpurposed of no use

  99 worship worth, honor

  100 Lo thee! See!

  114 I ... not I ought to do and you couldn't do for me 115 instruction teaching by example

  got upon me gained before I have/got as an advantage over me 116 nobleness in record noble reputation in history

  117 bridegroom ... bed playing on the idea of death as orgasm 121 dispatch me finish me off

  126 his period its end

  134 enter ... him gain me admittance to his service/allow me to ingratiate myself 139 Sufficing ... death sufficient blows to kill me

  140 absolute complete, perfect

  147 found proved true

  148 disposed come to terms

  150 how ... work the effect it might have

  156 bides waits/dwells

  158 live ... out outlive your faithful men

  160 heavy sorrowful

  161 sharp harsh, merciless

  162 grace honor

  Bid ... Which welcome what

  aloft on the gallery above the main stage

  12 sphere planets and stars were thought to orbit within transparent concentric spheres that ringed the earth Darkling in darkness

  13 The ... o'th'world the world is imaged as a coastline against which darkness and light ebb and flow; there is also suggestion of the world itself being a changeable place 22 importune urge, entreat (death to delay)

  27 th'imperious show the imperial spectacle, i.e. triumphal procession 29 brooched adorned by my presence like a brooch

  30 operation power, efficacy

  32 still conclus
ion silent judgment

  33 Demuring looking demurely/gazing at length

  38 heaviness sorrow/weight

  39 Juno supreme Roman goddess, Jove's wife

  40 Mercury messenger of the Roman gods, traditionally depicted wearing winged sandals 42 Wishers ... fools proverbial

  43 Die ... lived do not die until you have really lived ("die" has orgasmic connotations) 44 Quicken come to life

  46 heavy grievous, pitiful

  49 rail so high curse so loudly

  50 false housewife treacherous whore

  wheel the Roman goddess Fortuna was conventionally depicted turning a wheel, which raised men up before casting them down (may pick up on the domestic sense of housewife to play on the sense of "spinning wheel") 51 offence abusive language

  54 They ... together i.e. honor and safety

  56 None ... Proculeius trust none of Caesar's officers except Proculeius 64 Not ... countryman I have not submitted like a coward to Caesar 65 by a Roman i.e. by himself; Roman signifies the virtues of honor and courage 68 woo't wilt, i.e. will you

  71 sty pigsty/place inhabited by whores and lustful people 73 garland wreath crowning a victorious war hero

  74 pole battle standard, pole bearing a military flag/Pole Star (phallic connotations are also present) 75 odds is gone distinction between great and small

  76 remarkable wonderful, extraordinary

  77 visiting i.e. which comes and goes as it waxes and wanes 85 e'en only

  86 passion overpowering emotion/grief/a faint

  87 chares chores

  88 sceptre ornamental rod, symbol of royal authority

  injurious harmful/unjust

  91 sottish foolish

  97 Our lamp i.e. Antony

  sirs valid, if less frequently used, address form for women

  98 brave splendid/valiant

  103 briefest end swiftest death

  bearing of carrying

  2 frustrate defeated

  mocks makes himself ridiculous in

  3 pauses delays

  6 thus i.e. with drawn sword in the presence of a ruler; in Shakespeare's time this was a treasonous offense 10 wore ... haters spent my life fighting his enemies

  17 breaking destruction (of Antony)/disclosure (of the news) 18 crack loud noise/fracture

  19 civil city/orderly

  20 their dens their own homes/lions' dens

  21 single doom the fate of one individual alone

  22 moiety half

  25 self same

  36 persisted persistently sought

  37 waged equal with battled equally within

  39 steer humanity guide a man/govern mankind

  44 launch lance

  46 shown i.e. through my own downfall

  47 stall dwell

  49 sovereign ... hearts potent as heart's blood

  50 competitor partner

  51 top ... design the loftiest of undertakings

  52 front battlefront/forehead

  53 heart ... kindle my heart took courage from his

  54 stars, Unreconciliable unreconcilable fortunes

  55 divide ... this separate us, who were so equally matched in everything, to this degree 57 meeter season fitter time

  58 looks ... him appears to be urgent judging by his expression 60 yet i.e. still not a Roman subject