Page:Antony and Cleopatra (1921) Yale.djvu/133

Antony and Cleopatra, V. ii

The little O, the earth.

Dol. Most sovereign creature,—

Cleo. His legs bestrid the ocean; his rear'd arm

Crested the world; his voice was propertied

As all the tuned spheres, and that to friends;

But when he meant to quail and shake the orb,

He was as rattling thunder. For his bounty,

There was no winter in 't, an autumn 'twas

That grew the more by reaping; his delights

Were dolphin-like, they show'd his back above

The element they liv'd in; in his livery

Walk'd crowns and crownets, realms and islands were

As plates dropp'd from his pocket.

Dol. Cleopatra,—

Cleo. Think you there was, or might be, such a man

As this I dreamt of?

Dol. Gentle madam, no.

Cleo. You lie, up to the hearing of the gods.

But, if there be, or ever were, one such,

It's past the size of dreaming; nature wants stuff

To vie strange forms with fancy; yet to imagine

An Antony were nature's piece 'gainst fancy,

Condemning shadows quite.

Dol. Hear me, good madam.

Your loss is as yourself, great; and you bear it

As answering to the weight: would I might never

O'ertake pursu'd success, but I do feel,

By the rebound of yours, a grief that smites

My very heart at root.

Cleo. I thank you, sir.

Know you what Cæsar means to do with me?

 85 quail: overpower

88–90 his delights in; cf. n.

92 plates: pieces of money

97–99 nature wants stuff fancy; cf. n.

