Antony and Cleopatra (40 page)

⁸¹
Pont
Pontus, part of modern Turkey   

⁸²
Jewry
the Jews in Judaea, present-day Israel/Palestine   

⁸³
Comagene
part of Syria   

⁸⁴
Mede and Lycaonia
modern Iran and eastern Turkey   

⁸⁵
sceptres
kings   

⁸⁸
afflict
torment, distress   

⁹⁰
breaking forth
breaking out into open conflict   

⁹¹
wrong led
misled, deceived   

⁹²
negligent danger
danger due to our negligence   

⁹³
time
state of affairs   

⁹⁵
determined … way
events predetermined by destiny maintain their course without lamenting them   

⁹⁷
Nothing … me
my dearest   

⁹⁸
mark
reach   

⁹⁹
his … us
us his agents   

¹⁰⁵
large
licentious   

¹⁰⁶
abominations
degrading vices   

turns you off
rejects you   

¹⁰⁷
potent regiment
powerful authority, government   

trull
low prostitute   

¹⁰⁸
noises it
is clamorous, cries out   

¹¹¹
Be … patience
remain calm, patient   

³
forspoke
spoken against   

⁶
If … us
even if the war had not been declared against me personally   

⁹
serve
undertake military action (plays on the sense of “have sex”)   

horse … together
both male and female horses   

¹⁰
horse … lost
cavalry would be completely useless   

bear … horse
carry the soldiers and have sex with the stallions   

¹³
puzzle
confound, make difficulties for/bewilder, perplex   

¹⁶
Traduced
blamed, censured   

¹⁹
Sink Rome
let Rome sink   

²⁰
charge
responsibility/cost   

²¹
president
ruler   

²²
for
as/in place of   

²⁷
Tarentum and Brundusium
Italian ports, modern Taranto and Brindisi   

²⁸
cut
cross   

Ionian Sea
part of the Mediterranean Sea, south of the Adriatic Sea between Italy and Greece   

²⁹
take in
conquer   

Toryne
town on Greek coast north of Actium   

³⁰
Celerity
speed   

³³
becomed
suited   

⁴⁰
Pharsalia
a plain in Thessaly, central Greece; site of Julius Caesar’s decisive defeat of Pompey the Great   

⁴⁵
muleteers
mule-drivers   

⁴⁶
Ingrossed
collected wholesale   

swift impress
hasty conscription   

⁴⁸
yare
easily managed   

⁴⁹
fall
befall   

⁵³
absolute
consummate   

⁵⁴
Distract
disrupt/confuse/demoralize   

⁵⁵
footmen
foot soldiers, infantry   

unexecuted
unused   

⁵⁷
assurance
sure success   

⁶²
overplus
surplus   

⁶³
th’head
the headland, promontory   

⁶⁶
descried
spotted, seen   

⁶⁸
impossible
impossibly   

⁶⁹
power
army   

⁷²
Thetis
sea nymph, mother of the great warrior Achilles; sometimes confused with Tethys, the mother of the Nile   

⁷⁴
rotten planks
i.e. ships   

misdoubt
doubt, mistrust   

⁷⁶
Phoenicians
a seafaring people from the coastal regions of what is now Lebanon   

a-ducking
getting wet (perhaps with hints of “cringing, bowing”)   

⁷⁷
used
been accustomed   

⁸⁰
Hercules
legendary Greek hero of immense strength, supposed ancestor of Antony   

⁸¹
action … on’t
enterprise is not founded on his military strength   

⁸³
men
men/servingmen   

⁸⁵
horse whole
cavalry undivided   

⁸⁹
Carries
shoots forward like an arrow or other missile   

⁹⁰
yet
still   

⁹¹
power … distractions
army was deployed in separate detachments (or “… employed such diversionary tactics”)   

⁹²
Beguiled
deceived   

⁹⁷
throws forth
delivers   

³
whole
together, undivided   

⁴
exceed
go beyond   

⁵
prescript
instruction, command   

⁶
jump
venture, hazard   

¹
yond
the further, other   

²
eye
sight   

battle
army   

Alarum
a trumpet call to arms   

²
admiral
flagship (named
Antoniad
)   

³
sixty
other ships of the Egyptian fleet   

⁴
blasted
blinded, as though struck by lightning or malign planetary influence   

⁷
thy passion
the cause of your outburst   

⁸
cantle
portion, section   

⁹
With very ignorance
through sheer stupidity   

kissed away
said goodbye to, but also implying that Antony’s amorous behavior is the cause   

¹²
tokened pestilence
final stages of the plague, when red spots (“the Lord’s tokens”) appear   

¹³
Yon
yonder, that   

ribaudred
exact meaning unclear; perhaps “ribald” (licentious, immoral) or “ribald-rid” (ridden by a licentious man) (“ribald” is a variant spelling of “ribaud”)   

nag
worn-out old horse/whore   

¹⁴
o’ertake
infect/overcome (
leprosy
was often confused with venereal disease)   

¹⁵
vantage
advantage   

¹⁶
Both … same
equal on each side   

elder
stronger, more likely to achieve victory   

¹⁷
breeze
gadfly that bites cattle (plays on the sense of “light wind,” necessary to fill the
sails
of Cleopatra’s departing ship)   

¹⁸
flies
flees   

²²
loofed
luffed, brought around into the wind/aloof, at a distance   

²⁴
Claps … sea-wing
hoists his sails   

doting mallard
lovesick male duck   

²⁵
in
at its   

²⁶
action
deed/military campaign   

³²
knew himself
knew himself to be (i.e. courageous, honorable)   

³⁴
grossly
flagrantly   

³⁵
thereabouts
considering such a course   

goodnight
it’s all over   

³⁶
Peloponnesus
large peninsula in southern Greece   

³⁷
to’t
to get to it   

attend
await   

³⁹
render
surrender, hand over   

⁴³
chance
fortunes   

⁴⁴
Sits … against
is in direct opposition to   

³
lated
late, overtaken by night   

¹³
that
that which   

¹⁴
mutiny
quarrel with one another   

¹⁵
they them
the brown hairs reprove the white   

¹⁸
Sweep your way
make the path easy   

¹⁹
loathness
reluctance   

hint
opportunity   

²⁰
despair
spiritual hopelessness that precedes suicide   

Let … itself
leave me since I have abandoned myself   

²²
possess you
put you in possession   

²³
little
little while   

Pray you
I pray you, please   

²⁴
command
the power to order you (to go)/authority over my troops/command over myself   

²⁹
Juno
chief Roman goddess, wife to Jupiter   

³²
fie
exclamation of disgust or reproach   

³⁶
Yes, my lord
Antony is lost in thought; unaware of Cleopatra’s presence,
he
addresses someone he is thinking of   

he
i.e. Caesar   

Philippi
the battle at which Antony and Octavius Caesar defeated Cassius and Brutus, key members of the group that had just assassinated Julius Caesar   

³⁷
sword … dancer
in its scabbard, like a dancer’s sword worn for ornament   

³⁹
mad
foolish/insane/enraged   

ended
defeated   

alone
only   

⁴⁰
Dealt on lieutenantry
employed subordinates to do the fighting   

⁴¹
squares
affairs/rules/squadrons   

⁴²
stand by
be ready to help me; apparently Cleopatra feels faint   

⁴⁵
unqualitied
deprived of the qualities that define him, unmanned   

⁴⁶
sustain
support   

⁴⁸
declined
drooping, bowed   

but
unless   

⁴⁹
comfort
support/well-being   

⁵⁰
reputation
personal honor, my good name   

⁵¹
swerving
error, transgression   

⁵⁴
convey … dishonour
hide away brooding over everything I have lost through my dishonorable behavior   

eyes
sight   

⁵⁶
’Stroyed
destroyed   

⁶¹
strings
heartstrings   

⁶⁴
beck
nod, silent gesture of command   

bidding
orders   

⁶⁸
young man
i.e. Caesar   

treaties
entreaties/negotiations   

⁶⁹
palter
haggle, negotiate/equivocate, deal evasively or cunningly   

shifts of lowness
desperate measures (or “tricks”) to which the humiliated are driven   

⁷³
sword
phallic connotations   

affection
love/passion/sexual desire   

⁷⁴
on all cause
whatever the reason   

⁷⁶
rates
equals, is worth