Cleopatra Noblest of men, woo't die? Hast thou no care of me? [shall I abide In this dull world, which in thy absence is No better than a sty?]1 O see, my women, (Mark Antony dies) The crown o' the earth doth melt. My lord! O wither'd is the garland of the war, The soldier's pole is fall'n: young boys and girls Are level now with men; the odds is gone, And there is nothing left remarkable Beneath the visiting moon. (Faints)
On the death of Antony
Set by Samuel Barber (1910 - 1981), "On the death of Antony", op. 40 no. 1 (1968), published 1968 [ soprano, women's chorus, and piano ], from Two Choruses from "Anthony and Cleopatra", no. 1  [sung text checked 1 time]
Note: this setting is made up of several separate texts.
Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Antony and Cleopatra, Act IV, Scene 15 and Act V, Scene 2, first published 1607
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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "La mort d'Antoine", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
See also Thomas Pasatieri's setting {link:1116714}Antony and Cleopatra.
1 omitted by Barber.Researcher for this page: Ivan Nunes
CLEOPATRA I [dream'd]1 there was an Emperor Antony: O, such another sleep, that I might see But such another man! DOLABELLA If it might please ye,-- CLEOPATRA [His face was as the heavens; and therein stuck A sun and moon, which kept their course, and lighted The little O, the earth.]2 DOLABELLA Most sovereign creature,-- CLEOPATRA 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:]2 his delights Were dolphin-like; they show'd his back above The element they lived in: [in his livery Walk'd crowns and crownets; realms and islands were As plates dropp'd from his pocket.]2 DOLABELLA Cleopatra! CLEOPATRA Think you there was, or might be, such a man As this I dream'd of? DOLABELLA Gentle madam, no. CLEOPATRA 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 And Antony, were nature's piece 'gainst fancy, Condemning shadows quite.]2
Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Antony and Cleopatra, Scene V, Act 2
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title
Note: Mollicone's setting omits all of Dolabella's lines; Barber's includes only "Gentle madam, no". Mollicone's setting ends "As plates dropp'd from his pocket"
1 Barber: "dream't"2 omitted by Barber.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]