DIO. Our cheeks and hollow eyes do witness it. CLE. O, let those cities, that of Plenty's cup' And her prosperities so largely taste,

With their superfluous riots, hear these tears!
The misery of Tharsus may be theirs.

Enter a Lord.

LORD. Where's the lord governor?
CLE. Here.

8

Speak out thy sorrows which thou bring'st, in

haste,

For comfort is too far for us to expect.

LORD. We have descried, upon our neighbouring shore,

A portly sail of ships make hitherward.

CLE. I thought as much.

One sorrow never comes, but brings an heir,
That may succeed as his inheritor;"

And so in ours: some neighbouring nation,
Taking advantage of our misery,

7

O, let those cities, that of Plenty's cup-] A kindred thought is found in King Lear:

Take physick pomp!

"Expose thyself to feel what wretches feel,
"That thou may'st shake the superflux to them,
"And show the heavens more just.”

Again, ibidem:

8

"Let the superfluous and lust-dieted man," &c.

thy sorrows-] Perhaps the sorrows.

MALONE. STEEVENS.

9 One sorrow never comes, but brings an heir,
That may succeed as his inheritor;] So, in Hamlet:
sorrows never come as single spies,
"But in battalions." STEEVENS.

Again, ibidem:

"One woe doth tread upon another's heels,
"So fast they follow." MALONE.

1

Hath stuff'd these hollow vessels with their power,' To beat us down, the which are down already; And make a conquest of unhappy me,2

Whereas no glory's got to overcome.

LORD. That's the least fear; for, by the semblance*

Of their white flags display'd, they bring us peace, And come to us as favourers, not as foes.

CLE. Thou speak'st like him's untutor'd to

repeat,

5

Who makes the fairest show, means most deceit.

1 Hath stuff'd these hollow vessels with their power,] [Old copy-the-] The quarto, 1609, reads-That stuff'd &c. The context clearly shows that we ought to read Hath instead of That. By power is meant forces. The word is frequently used in that sense by our ancient writers. So, in King Lear: from France there comes a power "Into this scatter'd kingdom." MALONE.

I read :

Hath stuff'd these hollow vessels" &c.

Hollow, applied to ships, is a Homeric epithet. See Iliad I. v. 26. STEEVENS.

* And make a conquest of unhappy me,] I believe a letter was dropped at the press, and would read:

of unhappy men, &c. MALONE.

Perhaps the m is only a w reversed, and the author designed us to read, however improperly and ungrammatically-of unhappy we.

So, in Coriolanus:

66

and to poor we,

"Thine enmity's most capital." STEEVENS.

3 Whereas no glory's-] Whereas, it has been already observed, was anciently used for where. MALONE.

That's the least fear; for, by the semblance-] It should be remembered, that semblance was pronounced as a trisyllable -semble-ance. So, our author in The Comedy of Errors:

"And these two Dromios, one in semblance."

So, in The Two Gentlemen of Verona, resembleth is a quadrisyllable:

"O how this spring of love resembleth. .." MALONE. Thou speak'st like him's untutor'd to repeat,] The quarto,

But bring they what they will, what need we fear? The ground's the low'st, and we are half way there. Go tell their general, we attend him here,

To know for what he comes, and whence he comes, And what he craves.

LORD. I go, my lord.

[Exit.

CLE. Welcome is peace, if he on peace consist;? If wars, we are unable to resist.

Enter PERICLES, with Attendants.

PER. Lord governor, for so we hear you are, Let not our ships and number of our men,

1609, reads-like himnes untutor'd to repeat. I suppose the author wrote-him is-an expression which, however elliptical, is not more so than many others in this play. MALONE.

Perhaps we should read-him who is, and regulate the metre as follows:

Thou speak'st

Like him who is untutor'd to repeat &c.

The sense is Deluded by the pacifick appearance of this navy, you talk like one, who has never learned the common adage, "that the fairest outsides are most to be suspected."

STEEVENS.

what need we fear? &c.] The earliest copy reads and

points thus:

What need we leave our grounds the lowest?

The reading which is inserted in the text, is that of the second quarto, printed in 1619. MALONE.

But bring they what they will, and what they can,

What need we fear?

The ground's the lowest, and we are half way there.] The redundancy of the metre leads me to suspect this passage of interpolation. I therefore read:

But bring they what they will, what need we fear? The ground's the low'st, and we are half way there. Are the words omitted-and what they can-of any value? STEEVENS.

7

- if he on peace consist;] If he stands on peace. A Latin sense. MALONE.

Be, like a beacon fir'd, to amaze your eyes.
We have heard your miseries as far as Tyre,
And seen the desolation of
your streets:
Nor come we to add sorrow to your tears,
But to relieve them of their heavy load;
And these our ships you happily may think
Are, like the Trojan horse, war-stuff'd within,
With bloody views, expecting overthrow,

Are stor❜d with corn, to make your needy bread,"
And give them life, who are hunger-starv'd, half

dead.

ALL. The gods of Greece protect you! And we'll pray for you.

PER. Rise, I pray you, rise; We do not look for reverence, but for love, And harbourage for ourself, our ships, and men. CLE. The which when any shall not gratify, Or pay you with unthankfulness in thought,"

And these our ships you happily may think
Are, like the Trojan horse, war-stuff'd within,

With bloody views, expecting overthrow,] i. e. which you happily, &c. The old copy reads:

And these our ships you happily may think,

Are like the Trojan horse, was stuff'd within
With bloody veines, &c.

For the emendation of this corrupted passage the reader is indebted to Mr. Steevens. So, as he has observed, in a former

Scene:

9

"Hath stuff'd the hollow vessels with their power."

MALONE.

to make your needy bread,] i. e. to make bread for your needy subjects. PERCY.

1 Or pay you with unthankfulness in thought,] I suspect the author wrote:

Or pay you with unthankfulness in aught,

Be it our wives, &c.

If we are unthankful to you in any one instance, or refuse, should there be occasion, to sacrifice any thing for your service,

Be it our wives, our children, or ourselves,

The curse of heaven and men succeed their evils! Till when, (the which, I hope, shall ne'er be seen,) Your grace is welcome to our town and us.

PER. Which welcome we'll accept ; feast here a

while,

Until our stars that frown, lend us a smile.

ACT II.

[Exeunt.

Enter Gower.

Gow. Here have you seen a mighty king
His child, I wis, to incest bring;

A better prince, and benign lord,
Prove awful both in deed and word.

whether our wives, our children, or ourselves, may the curse of heaven, and of mankind, &c.-Aught was anciently written ought. Our wives, &c. may however refer to any in the former line; I have therefore made no change. MALone.

I believe the old reading is the true one. Ingratitude in thought is mental ingratitude. The governor imprecates vengeance on himself and his people, should any of them harbour even an ungrateful thought in their bosoms respecting Pericles. STEEVENS.

No amendment is wanting; the meaning is this:-" May these persons be cursed who shall pay you with unthankfulness, even in thought, though they should be our dearest friends, or even ourselves." M. MASON.

2 A better prince, and benign lord,

Prove awful &c.] i. e. you have seen a better prince, &c.