Note 406 — Part II—The Worldlings (continued 2)

"He words me, girls; he words me, that I should not Be noble to myself; but hark thee, Charmian.... Now, Iras, what think'st thou? Thou, an Egyptian puppet shalt be shown In Rome, as well as I: mechanic slaves, With greasy aprons, rules and hammers, shall Uplift us to the view.... Saucy lictors Will catch at us, like strumpets; and scald rhymers Ballad us out o' tune; the quick comedians Extemporally will stage us, and present Our Alexandrian revels; Antony Shall be brought drunken forth, and I shall see Some squeaking Cleopatra boy my greatness I' the posture of a whore.... Husband, I come: Now to that name my courage prove my title! I am fire and air; my other elements I give to baser life. So; have you done? Come, then, and take the last warmth of my lips. Farewell, kind Charmian; Iras, long farewell.... Dost thou not see my baby at my breast, That sucks the nurse asleep?"

—Shakespeare's "Antony and Cleopatra," 5, 2.

These two last lines, referring to the asp, are sublime, as the bitter joke of a courtesan and an artist.