Chapter 8

_Cl._ O Goddesse thou whom _Cyprus_ doth adore, _Venus_ of _Paphos_, bent to worke vs harme For olde _Iulus_ broode, if thou take care Of _Cæsar_, why of vs tak'st thou no care? _Antonie_ did descend, as well as he, From thine own Sonne by long enchained line: And might haue rul'd by one and self same fate, True _Troian_ bloud, the statelie _Romain_ state. _Antonie_, poore _Antonie_, my deare soule, Now but a blocke, the bootie of a tombe, Thy life, thy heate is lost, thy coullor gone, And hideous palenes on thy face hath seaz'd. Thy eies, two Sunnes, the lodging place of loue, Which yet for tents to warlike _Mars_ did serue, Lock'd vp in lidds (as faire daies cherefull light Which darknesse flies) do winking hide in night. _Antonie_ by our true loues I thee beseche, And by our hearts swete sparks haue sett on fire, Our holy mariage, and the tender ruthe Of our deare babes, knot of our amitie: My dolefull voice thy eare let entertaine, And take me with thee to the hellish plaine, Thy wife, thy frend: heare _Antonie_, ô heare My sobbing sighes, if here thou be, or there. Liued thus long, the winged race of yeares Ended I haue as _Destinie_ decreed, Flourish'd and raign'd, and taken iust reuenge Of him who me both hated and despisde. Happie, alas too happie! if of _Rome_ Only the fleete had hither neuer come. And now of me an Image great shall goe Vnder the earth to bury there my woe. What say I? where am I? ô _Cleopatra_, Poore _Cleopatra_, griefe thy reason reaues. No, no, most happie in this happles case, To die with thee, and dieng thee embrace: My bodie ioynde with thine, my mouth with thine, My mouth, whose moisture burning sighes haue dried: To be in one selfe tombe, and one selfe chest, And wrapt with thee in one selfe sheete to rest. The sharpest torment in my heart I feele Is that I staie from thee, my heart, this while. Die will I straight now, now streight will I die, And streight with thee a wandring shade will be, Vnder the _Cypres_ trees thou haunt'st alone, Where brookes of hell do falling seeme to mone. But yet I stay, and yet thee ouerliue, That ere I die due rites I may thee giue. A thousand sobbes I from my brest will teare, With thousand plaints thy funeralles adorne: My haire shall serue for thy oblations, My boiling teares for thy effusions, Mine eies thy fire: for out of them the flame (Which burnt thy heart on me enamour'd) came. Wepe my companions, wepe, and from your eies Raine downe on him of teares a brinish streame. Mine can no more, consumed by the coales Which from my breast, as from a furnace, rise. Martir your breasts with multiplied blowes, With violent hands teare of your hanging haire, Outrage your face: alas! why should we seeke (Since now we die) our beawties more to kepe? I spent in teares, not able more to spende, But kisse him now, what rests me more to doe? Then lett me kisse you, you faire eies, my light, Front seate of honor, face most fierce, most faire! O neck, ô armes, ô hands, ô breast where death (Oh mischief) comes to choake vp vitall breath. A thousand kisses, thousand thousand more Let you my mouth for honors farewell giue: That in this office weake my limmes may growe, Fainting on you, and fourth my soule may flowe.

At Ramsburie. 26. of Nouember.

1590.

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ERRATA

_Discourse_

C2v so gredelie it seekes to murther them. _formatting ambiguous: short line, but following word not indented_ C3 not withdrawen _no space in printed text_ C3v We folow solitarines, to flie carefulnes. _text reads "carefulues"_ C4 applied to mans naturall disposition _text reads "to / to" at line break_ D and this feeles the euill present _text unchanged: error for "thus"?_ this great and incurable disease of olde age _text reads "iucurable"_ Dv what good I pray can hee haue but onlie _text reads "bnt"_ D2v of the paines we felt at our birth? _question mark printed upside-down)

_Antonius_

Spelling and capitalization are unchanged. Forms such as "Phæbus" and "Phænician" (for "Phoebus" and "Phoenician") are used consistently; since names are in Roman type, there is no chance of error or ambiguity.

F2v Yelded _Pelusium_ on this Countries shore _text reads "_Pelusuim_"_ F3v To see at once so many Romanes there _text reads "Komanes"_ F4 Betraies thy loue, thy life alas! betraies _text reads "alas!)"_ Gv (As curse may blessing haue) _text reads ") As"_ G2v Fi'ring a brand _text unchanged_ H No humain force can them withstand, but death. _text reads "bnt"_ Hv _Er._ Feare of a woman troubled so his sprite? _comma for period_ H2 If we therin sometimes some faultes commit _no space in printed text_ Before they be in this our worlde borne: _text reads "wordle"_ H3 That giue them vp to aduersaries handes _text reads "adnersaries"_ H3v His legions led to drinke _Euphrates_ streames _text reads "legious"_ _Ch._ Our first affection to our selfe is due. _second "e" in "selfe" invisible_ H4 Yet if his harme by yours redresse might haue, _punctuation unchanged_ H4v And high st ate: _text unchanged: error for "high estate"?_ I2 The Allablaster couering of hir face _common variant spelling_ Yet this is nothing th'e'nchaunting skilles _text unchanged_ I4v Which of my greatnes greatest good receiu'd _text reads "Wbich"_ _Lu._ So long time you her constant loue haue tri'de. _text reads "Li."_ K3 Fortune may chaunge againe, _punctuation unchanged_ K4v She doth frequent _Ballonas_ bloudie trade: _text unchanged: normal spelling "Bellona" occurs later_ Mv _Agr._ What? Robbing his owne countrie of her due _flyspeck or ambiguous punctuation at end of line_ M3 _Ag._ What sodaine chaunce thee towards vs hath brought? _text reads "towar ds"_ M3v Accuse the Queene, himselfe of hir lament _text reads "Qneene"_ M4 [consecutive lines] _Dir._ What dost thou more attend? _punctuation at end of line unclear_ Ah _Antonie_! why dost thou death deferre? _question mark unclear_ Nv _Agr._ But best we sought into the tombe to gett _comma for period_ N2 The glorious triumph _Rome_ prepares for me._ _invisible period_ Shall ever civile hate _text reads "bate"_ N3 The _Parthians_ fayned flight, _text reads "fligbt"_ Therby our matchles _Rome_ _letter "m" in "Rome" italicized_ O2v That in this office weake my limmes may growe, _initial "T" in "that" not italicized_