Cer. Look to the lady;2-O, she 's but o'erjoy'd. Early, one blust'ring morn,3 this lady was Thrown on this shore. I op'd the coffin, and Found there rich jewels; recover'd her, and plac'd her Here in Diana's temple.5 Per. May we see them? Cer. Great sir, they shall be brought you to my house, Whither I invite you. Look! Thaisa is Recover'd. Thai. O, let me look! If he be none of mine, my sanctity Per. The voice of dead Thaisa! Thai. That Thaisa am I, supposed dead, Look to the lady;] When Lady Macbeth pretends to swoon, on hearing the account of Duncan's murder, the same exclamation is used. These words belong, I believe, to Pericles. Malone. 3 Early, one blust'ring morn,] Old copy-in blust'ring &c. The emendation, which is judicious, was furnished by Mr. Malone. Steevens. 4 Found there rich jewels;] The second quarto, the folios, and Mr. Rowe, reads these jewels. Pericles's next question shows that these could not be the poet's word. The true reading is found in the first quarto. It should be remembered, that Cerimon delivered these jewels to Thaisa, (before she left the house) in whose custody they afterwards remained. Malone. 5 Here in Diana's temple.] The same situation occurs again in The Comedy of Errors, where Ægeon loses his wife at sea, and finds her at last in a nunnery. Steevens. 6 they shall be brought you to my house, Whither I invite you.] This circumstance bears some resemblance to the meeting of Leontes and Hermione. The office of Cerimon is not unlike that of Paulina in The Winter's Tale. 7 Steevens. to my sense] Sense is here used for sensual passion. So also, in Measure for Measure and in Hamlet. [See note on 66 Sense, sure, you have "Else you could not have motion." in the latter, Act III, sc. iv.] Steevens. Thai. Now I know you better.- When we with tears parted Pentapolis, The king, my father, gave you such a ring. [Shows a ring. Per. This, this: no more, you gods! your present kindness Makes my past miseries sport:9 You shall do well, Melt, and no more be seen.1 O, come be buried Mar. My heart Leaps to be gone into my mother's bosom. [Kneels to THAI. Per. Look, who kneels here! Flesh of thy flesh Thaisa; Thy burden at the sea, and call'd Marina, For she was yielded there. supposed dead, Bless'd, and mine own! And drown'd.] Supposed dead, and that my death was by drowning. Malone. Drown'd, in this instance, does not signify suffocated by wa ter, but overwhelmed in it. Thus, in Knolles's History: ແ Galleys might be drowned in the harbour with the great ordnance, before they could be rigged." Steevens. 9 This, this: no more, you gods! your present kindness Makes my past miseries sport:] So, in King Lear: "It is a chance that does redeem all sorrows 1 "That ever I have felt." Malone. I may Melt, and no more be seen.] This is a sentiment which Shakspeare never fails to introduce on occasions similar to the present. So, in Othello: 66 If it were now to die, ""Twere now to be most happy, &c. Again, in The Winter's Tale: "If I might die within this hour, I have liv'd "To die when I desire," Malone. Melt, and no more be seen,] So, in the 39th Psalm:—“ 0, spare me a little, that I may recover my strength, before I go hence, and be no more seen." Steevens. 2 O come, be buried A second time within these arms.] So, in The Winter's Tale: "Not like a corse ;-or if not to be buried, "But quick, and in mine arms.” Malone. 3 Bless'd, and mine own!] So, in The Winter's Tale : Hel. Hail, madam, and my queen! Thai. I know you not. Per. You have heard me say, when I did fly from Tyre, * I left behind an ancient substitute. Can you remember what I call'd the man? I have nam'd him oft. Thai. 'Twas Helicanus then. Per. Still confirmation: Embrace him, dear Thaisa; this is he. Now do I long to hear how you were found; - How possibly preserv'd; and whom to thank, Besides the gods, for this great miracle. Thai. Lord Cerimon, my lord; this man, Through whom the gods have shown their power; that can From first to last resolve you. Per. Reverend sir, The gods can have no mortal officer More like a god than you. Will you deliver Cer. I will, my lord. Per. Pure Diana! I bless thee for thy vision, and will offer My night oblations to thee. Thaisa, This prince, the fair-betrotheds of your daughter, "Tell me, mine own, "Where hast thou been preserv'd? Where liv'd? How found "Thy father's court?" Malone. 4 I bless thee-] For the insertion of the present pronoun I am responsible. Malone. 5 the fair-betrothed-] i. e. fairly contracted, honourably affianced. Steevens. 6 Thaisa, This prince, the fair-betrothed of your daughter, Shall marry her at Pentapolis.] So, in the last scene of The Winter's Tale, Leontes informs Paulina: This your son-in-law, "And son unto the king, (whom heavens directing) “Is troth-plight to your daughter." Malone. VOL. XVII. C c This ornament that makes me look so dismal, And what this fourteen years no razor touch'd, Thai. Lord Cerimon hath letters of good credit, Per. Heavens make a star of him!8 Yet there, my queen, We'll celebrate their nuptials, and ourselves Will in that kingdom spend our following days; Our son and daughter shall in Tyrus reign. Lord Cerimon, we do our longing stay, To hear the rest untold.-Sir, lead the way. [Exeunt. This ornament that makes me look so dismul, Will I, my lov'd Marina, clip to form; And what this fourteen years no razor touch'd, To grace thy marriage-day, I'll beautify.] So, in Much Ado about Nothing: 66 the barber's man hath been seen with him; and the old ornament of his cheek hath already stuffed tennis balls." The author has here followed Gower, or Gesta Romanorum: this a vowe to God I make "That I shall never for hir sake, "My berde for no likynge shave. "Besette hir unto mariage." Confessio Amantis. The word so in the first line, and the words-my lov'd Marina, in the second, which both the sense and metre require, I have supplied. Malone. The author is in this place guilty of a slight inadvertency. It was but a short time before, when Pericles arrived at Tharsus, and heard of his daughter's death, that he made a vow never to wash his face or cut his hair. M. Mason, See p. 213, n. 1; where, if my reading be not erroneous, a proof will be found that this vow was made almost immediately after the birth of Marina; and consequently that Mr. M. Ma. son's present remark has no sure foundation. Steevens. 8 Heaven make a star of him!] So, in Romeo and Juliet: "Take him and cut him into little stars Again, in Cymbeline: 66 for they are fit "To inlay heaven with stars." Steevens. 9 Sir, lead the way.] Dr. Johnson has justly objected to the lame and impotent conclusion of The Second Part of King Hen ry IV: "Come, will you hence?" The concluding line of The Winter's Tale furnishes us with one equally as abrupt, and nearly resembling the present:" Hastily lead away." This pas Enter GoWER. Gow. In Antioch, and his daughter,' you have heard Of monstrous lust the due and just reward: A figure of truth, of faith, of loyalty: That him and his they in his palace burn. To punish them; although not done, but meant.4 New joy wait on you! Here our play has ending. sage will justify the correction of the old copy now made. It reads-Sir, leads the way. Malone. 1 In Antioch and his daughter.] The old copies read-In Antiochus and his daughter, &c. The correction was suggested by Mr. Steevens. "So, (as he observes,) in Shakspeare's other plays, France, for the king of France; Morocco, for the king of Morocco," &c. Malone. 2 Virtue preserv'd from fell destruction's blast, Led on by heaven, and crown'd with joy at last.] All the copies are here, I think, manifestly corrupt.-They read: Virtue preferr'd from fell destruction's blast The gross and numerous errors of even the most accurate copy of this play, will, it is hoped, justify the liberty that has been taken on this and some other occasions. It would be difficult to produce from the works of Shakspeare many couplets more spirited and harmonious than this. Malone 3 and honour'd name] The first and second quarto reads the honour'd name. The reading of the text, which appears to me more intelligible, is that of the folio 1664. The city is here used for the collective body of the citizens. Malone. 4 To punish them; although not done, but meant.] The defec tive metre of this line in the old copy, induces me to think that the word them, which I have supplied, was omitted by the carelessness of the printer. Malone. |