The world and my great office will sometimes
Divide me from your bosom.
My responsibilities and my important position will sometimes separate me from your company.
Being in charge means I'll have to spend time away from you sometimes.
my job will pull me away from you sometimes
All which time
Before the gods my knee shall bow my prayers
To them for you.
All that time, I will kneel before the gods and offer my prayers to them on your behalf.
Every moment we're apart, I'll pray to the gods to watch over you.
i'll pray for you the whole time
Good night, sir.—My Octavia,
Read not my blemishes in the world’s report.
I have not kept my square, but that to come
Shall all be done by th’ rule. Good night, dear lady.
Sleep well, sir.—My dear Octavia, Don't believe the bad things the world might say about me. I haven't stayed perfectly on track, but everything from now will be done according to the rules. Sleep well, dear lady.
Good night, sir.—Octavia, don't listen to gossip about me. I haven't been perfect before, but from now on I'm doing everything right. Good night, my dear.
ignore what people say about me i'll do better now. goodnight
Good night, sir.
Good night, sir.
Good night, sir.
good night, sir.
The Soothsayer appears twice in this play — here and in 1.2, where he told Charmian and Iras that their future would be less bright than their present. Both times, he says things people already half-know but don't want to face. Here, he's not revealing a hidden truth so much as naming a truth Antony is actively suppressing. Antony already knows he plays smaller near Caesar — he's seen it, felt it, heard it whispered. The Soothsayer just gives him permission to act on it. This is Shakespeare's genius: the prophecy doesn't determine the future; it names the present. Antony's response — 'Speak this no more' — is the response of a man who recognizes a truth he'd rather not acknowledge.
Good night.
Good night.
Good night.
good night.
Now, sirrah, you do wish yourself in Egypt?
So, you want to be back in Egypt?
So, you're wishing you were in Egypt right now?
wishing you were back in egypt?
Would I had never come from thence, nor you thither!
I wish I had never left there, and you had never gone there!
I wish I'd never left Egypt, and I wish you'd never gone there!
wish i'd never left, wish you never went
Antony's dispatch of Ventidius to Parthia is the first exercise of his generalship we've seen in Rome — and it's brisk, decisive, and entirely correct. The Parthian frontier was one of Rome's most pressing military problems: in 53 BC, Crassus (the third triumvir of the earlier alliance) had been disastrously defeated there. Antony sending Ventidius is a real strategic move. Ventidius will succeed — we'll see him in Act 3. But there's an irony in it: Antony is dispatching his best lieutenant to do the honorable Roman military work while he himself is already mentally headed back to Alexandria. He's keeping up the appearance of imperial responsibility while abandoning its substance.
If you can, your reason.
If you can, explain your thinking.
If you're able to, tell me why you feel this way.
explain yourself
I see it in my motion, have it not in my tongue.
But yet hie you to Egypt again.
I can sense it, but I don't have the words. But still, go back to Egypt.
I can feel it in my bones, but I can't put it into words. Still, you should go back to Egypt.
i feel it but can't explain. go back to egypt
Say to me,
Whose fortunes shall rise higher, Caesar’s or mine?
Tell me this: Whose future will be greater, Caesar's or mine?
Answer me this: who's going to come out on top, Caesar or me?
who's gonna win, you or caesar?
Caesar’s.
Therefore, O Antony, stay not by his side.
Thy dæmon—that thy spirit which keeps thee—is
Noble, courageous, high, unmatchable,
Where Caesar’s is not. But near him, thy angel
Becomes afeard, as being o’erpowered. Therefore
Make space enough between you.
Caesar's. Therefore, Antony, don't stay by his side. Your spirit—that inner force that guides you—is now noble, brave, high, unmatched, whereas Caesar's is not. But near him, your inner light becomes afraid, as if being overwhelmed. Therefore make sure there's enough distance between you.
Caesar will. So Antony, don't stick around him. Your own spirit—the force that drives you—is noble, courageous, powerful, and without equal. But when you're near Caesar, that spirit gets intimidated, like it's being pushed down. So put space between yourselves.
caesar will stay away from him your spirit is great but it gets scared near him
Speak this no more.
Stop saying this.
That's enough. Don't talk like that.
stop
Antony's private resolution — 'I will to Egypt / And though I make this marriage for my peace / I' th' East my pleasure lies' — appears in the stage directions of this text, not as a labeled speech. This is a feature of early modern staging conventions that the First Folio sometimes preserves awkwardly. The lines are clearly Antony's private thoughts, delivered to the audience after the Soothsayer exits. In performance, they function as a soliloquy — a direct confession. Shakespeare places the confession immediately after Antony has sworn to Octavia that he'll live 'by the rule.' The structural juxtaposition is the point: the vow and the betrayal occupy the same scene.
To none but thee; no more but when to thee.
If thou dost play with him at any game,
Thou art sure to lose; and of that natural luck
He beats thee ’gainst the odds. Thy lustre thickens
When he shines by. I say again, thy spirit
Is all afraid to govern thee near him;
But, he away, ’tis noble.
Only to you, and only when I speak to you. If you play any game with him, you'll definitely lose; and because of his natural good luck, he'll beat you despite bad odds. Your brightness dims when he shines nearby. I tell you again, your inner spirit is afraid to guide you when he's close; but when he's away, you're truly great.
I'm only telling you this, and just between us. If you gamble or play any games with him, you'll lose—he always seems to get lucky and beat the odds. Your shine gets dimmer next to him. Your spirit gets scared to lead you when he's around, but the moment he's gone, you're powerful again.
you'll lose at games with him you dim when he's there you're great when he's gone
Get thee gone.
Say to Ventidius I would speak with him.
Leave me. Tell Ventidius I want to speak with him.
Go. Tell Ventidius I need to talk to him.
go get ventidius for me
He shall to Parthia. Be it art or hap,
He hath spoken true. The very dice obey him,
And in our sports my better cunning faints
Under his chance. If we draw lots, he speeds;
His cocks do win the battle still of mine
When it is all to naught, and his quails ever
Beat mine, inhooped, at odds. I will to Egypt:
And though I make this marriage for my peace,
I’ th’ East my pleasure lies.
He will go to Parthia. Whether by skill or luck, He has spoken truth. Even the dice obey him, And in our games my superior skill fails Under his chance. If we draw lots, he wins; His roosters always defeat mine When the stakes are everything, and his quails constantly Beat mine, trapped in their pens, against all odds. I will go to Egypt: And though I make this marriage for my peace, My pleasure lies in the East.
He's heading to Parthia. Caesar's lucky streak is undeniable—luck or skill, it doesn't matter. Even the dice favor him. In our competitions, my skill crumbles against his luck. Drawing lots, racing—he wins at everything. His roosters beat mine, his quails beat mine, no matter what. I'm going back to Egypt. Sure, I'm getting married for peace, but my real life is in the East.
caesar's got all the luck. even the dice obey him. my skill means nothing. he wins at everything. i'm going to egypt. this marriage is just for peace. my real pleasure is in the east
O, come, Ventidius,
You must to Parthia. Your commission’s ready.
Follow me and receive ’t.
Come here, Ventidius. You must go to Parthia. Your orders are ready. Follow me and take them.
Come on, Ventidius. You're heading to Parthia. Your orders are all set. Follow me and get them.
come on ventidius. parthia. your orders r ready. follow me
The Reckoning
This is one of the most quietly devastating scenes in the play. Antony has just made a political marriage that was supposed to solve everything — and within the same scene, before the ink is dry, he decides to abandon it. The Soothsayer doesn't tell him anything he doesn't know. That's the point. Antony uses the prophecy as permission to do what he already wants. He hears 'your luck always fails near Caesar' and thinks: right, so I should go where my luck is good — and his luck, his life, his self, is in Egypt. The scene is short, but it contains the engine of everything that follows.
If this happened today…
A senior executive has just been brought back into the firm and given a high-profile partner assignment with a rival he's always envied. His mentor pulls him aside: 'Look, whenever you're around him, you play small. You've seen it. Even when you're objectively better, you lose.' The executive nods, says nothing, thanks the mentor, and walks away already booking flights to the city where he actually thrives. The partnership is already over in his mind.