EROS   Most noble sir, arise. The Queen approaches.

Her head’s declined, and death will seize her but

Your comfort makes the rescue.

ANTONY         I have offended reputation;

A most unnoble swerving.

EROS   Sir, the Queen.

ANTONY         O, whither hast thou led me, Egypt? See

How I convey my shame out of thine eyes

By looking back what I have left behind

’Stroyed in dishonour.          (3.11.46-54)

Politely, gently, Eros is managing to get through to Antony, to cajole him back into the moment. Most noble sir, arise. Get up; gather yourself together, for the Queen approaches. And look, her head’s declined, she’s drooping, fainting, utterly cast down, and death will seize her but your comfort makes the rescue. Look, she’ll die unless you reassure her, unless you put your arms around her and tell her that it’s alright, that you still love her. (As his name suggests, Eros is highly emotionally intelligent; he understands Cleopatra’s vulnerability as much as Antony’s.) Antony seems to notice him, finally, at least a little, but he’s still reproaching himself: I have offended reputation; I’ve behaved in such a dishonourable way, lost my good name. A most unnoble swerving: I’m not noble at all, I’m unnoble in my falling away from the path of true nobility, my deviation, my retreat. I’m ignoble, not noble at all. But at least he’s picking up on Eros’s noble sir, even if it’s to reject it, and Eros presses on: sir, the Queen. And Antony, finally, sees her. Do they wait for the explosion? It doesn’t come, or not yet. O, whither hast thou led me, Egypt? What have you done? Why did I follow you? There’s a poignant juxtaposition of the intimate thou with his address to her as queen, as Egypt. See how I convey my shame out of thine eyes by looking back what I have left behind ’stroyed in dishonour. What I’m doing, he says, by way of a commentary on what he’s just been reproaching himself with, is trying to conceal my shame in this present moment, as you are all too aware of it—I’m trying to distract you, stop you looking at me like that, even—by bitterly dwelling on my glorious past, everything I’ve now tarnished and thrown away. I’ve made such a mess. I’ve ruined everything.