FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   57   58   59   60   61   62   63   64   65   66   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   >>  
se, my lord? ANTONY. Why, Dolabella's false, And Cleopatra's false; both false and faithless. Draw near, you well-joined wickedness, you serpents, Whom I have in my kindly bosom warmed, Till I am stung to death. DOLABELLA. My lord, have I Deserved to be thus used? CLEOPATRA. Can Heaven prepare A newer torment? Can it find a curse Beyond our separation? ANTONY. Yes, if fate Be just, much greater: Heaven should be ingenious In punishing such crimes. The rolling stone, And gnawing vulture, were slight pains, invented When Jove was young, and no examples known Of mighty ills; but you have ripened sin, To such a monstrous growth, 'twill pose the gods To find an equal torture. Two, two such!-- Oh, there's no further name,--two such! to me, To me, who locked my soul within your breasts, Had no desires, no joys, no life, but you; When half the globe was mine, I gave it you In dowry with my heart; I had no use, No fruit of all, but you: A friend and mistress Was what the world could give. O Cleopatra! O Dolabella! how could you betray This tender heart, which with an infant fondness Lay lulled betwixt your bosoms, and there slept, Secure of injured faith? DOLABELLA. If she has wronged you, Heaven, hell, and you revenge it. ANTONY. If she has wronged me! Thou wouldst evade thy part of guilt; but swear Thou lov'st not her. DOLABELLA. Not so as I love you. ANTONY. Not so? Swear, swear, I say, thou dost not love her. DOLABELLA. No more than friendship will allow. ANTONY. No more? Friendship allows thee nothing: Thou art perjured-- And yet thou didst not swear thou lov'st her not; But not so much, no more. O trifling hypocrite, Who dar'st not own to her, thou dost not love, Nor own to me, thou dost! Ventidius heard it; Octavia saw it. CLEOPATRA. They are enemies. ANTONY. Alexas is not so: He, he confessed it; He, who, next hell, best knew it, he avowed it. Why do I seek a proof beyond yourself? [To DOLABELLA.] You, whom I sent to bear my last farewell, Returned, to plead her stay. DOLABELLA. What shall I answer? If to have loved be guilt, then I have sinned; 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. CLEOPATRA. Ah, what will not
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   57   58   59   60   61   62   63   64   65   66   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   >>  



Top keywords:

DOLABELLA

 
ANTONY
 

CLEOPATRA

 

Heaven

 

repented

 

Cleopatra

 

Dolabella

 

wronged

 
Friendship
 
Secure

perjured

 

revenge

 
wouldst
 

injured

 

friendship

 
answer
 

sinned

 

farewell

 

Returned

 
suffer

innocent

 

forgiveness

 
offended
 

Octavia

 

bosoms

 

Ventidius

 

trifling

 

hypocrite

 
enemies
 
Alexas

avowed

 

confessed

 

greater

 

ingenious

 

Beyond

 

separation

 

punishing

 

crimes

 

slight

 

invented


vulture

 

rolling

 

gnawing

 
torment
 

wickedness

 

joined

 
serpents
 
faithless
 

kindly

 

Deserved