8 And humming water muft o'erwhelm thy corpfe, 2 Sail. Sir, we have a cheft beneath the hatches, caulk'd and bitumed ready. Per. I thank thee. Mariner, fay what coaft is this? maining, if it be right, muft mean air-hung, fufpended for ever in the air. So (as Mr. Steevens obferves to me) in Shakspeare's 21ft Sonnet: "-thofe gold candles fix'd in heaven's air. In K. Richard II. right-drawn fword, is used for a sword drawn in a just cause ;—and in Macbeth we meet with air-drawn dagger. Perhaps, however, the author wrote ayc-remaining. Thus in Othello: "Witnefs the ever-burning lights above". MALONE. The propriety of the emendation fuggefted by Mr. Malone, will be increafed if we recur to our author's leading thought, which is founded on the customs obferved in the pomp of ancient fepulture. Within old monuments and receptacles for the dead, perpetual (i. e. aye-remaining) lamps were fuppofed to be lighted up. Thus Pope in his Eloifa: "Ah hopeless, lafting flames, like those that burn "To light the dead, and warm th' unfruitful urn!” 'I would, however, read, And aye-remaining lamps, &c. Inftead of a monument erected above thy bones, AND perpetual lamps to burn near them, the Spouting whale shall oppress thee with his weight, and the mass of waters shall roll with low heavy murmur over thy head. STEEVENS. 8 ink and paper,] This is the reading of the fecond quarto. The first has taper. MALONE. 9 Bring me the fattin coffin:] It feems fomewhat extraordinary that Pericles fhould have carried a coffin to fea with him. We ought, I think, to read coffer. MALONE. Sattin coffer is most probably the true reading. In a fubfequent fcene, this coffin is fo called: Madam this letter and fome certain jewels Lay with you in your coffer. Our ancient coffers were often adorned on the infide with fuch coftly materials. A relation of mine has a trunk which formerly belonged to Katharine Howard when queen, and it is lined throughout with rofe-coloured fattin, most elaborately quilted. STEEVENS. 2 Sail. We are near Tharfus. Per. Thither, gentle mariner, Alter thy courfe for Tyre'. When can'ft thou reach it? 2 Sail. By break of day, if the wind cease. Per. O make for Tharfus. There will I vifit Cleon, for the babe Cannot hold out to Tyrus; there I'll leave it [Exeunt. Enter Cerimon, a Servant, and fome persons who have been shipwrecked. Cer. Philemon, ho! Enter Philemon. Phil. Doth my lord call? Cer. Get fire and meat for thefe poor men; It hath been a turbulent and ftormy night. Ser. I have been in many; but fuch a night as this, Till now, I ne'er endur'd 2. Cer. Your mafter will be dead ere you return; There's nothing can be minifter'd to nature, Alter thy courfe for Tyre:] Change thy course, which is now for Tyre, and go to Tharfus. MALONE. I have been in many; but fuch a night as this, Again, in K. Lear: Since I was man, "Such sheets of fire, fuch bursts of horrid thunder, VOL. II. G That • That can recover him. Give this to the 'pothecary And tell me how it works. Enter two Gentlemen. 1 Gent. Good morrow. [To Philemon. 2 Gent. Good morrow to your lordship. Cer. Gentlemen, why do you ftir fo early? 1. Gent. Sir, our lodgings, ftanding bleak upon the fea, Shook as the earth did quake *; The very principals did feem to rend, 5 And all to topple : pure furprise and fear 2 Gent. That is the cause we trouble you so carly; 'Tis not our husbandry. Cer. O you fay well. 1 Gent. But I much marvel that your lordship, having s Give this to the 'pothecary, ] The recipe that Cerimon fends to the apothecary, we muft fuppofe, is intended either for the poor men already mentioned, or for fome of his other patients.-The preceding words fhew that it cannot be defigned for the master of the fervant introduced here. MALONE. 4 Shook as the earth did quake:] So in Macbeth: the obfcure bird "Clamour'd the live-long night: fome fay the earth MALONE. 5 The very principals did feem to rend, And all to topple ;] The principals are the strongest rafters in the roof of a building.-The first quarto, which is followed by all the other copies, reads, I think corruptly-principles. If the speaker had been apprehenfive of a general diffolution of nature (which we must underland if we read principles), he did not need to leave his house: he would have been in as much danger without, as within. All to is an augmentative often ufed by our ancient writers. It occurs frequently in the Confeffio Amantis. The word topple, which means tumble, is again ufed by Shakspeare in Macbeth, and applied to buildings: "Tho' cattles topple on their warders' heads." Again, in King Henry IV. Part I: Shakes the old beldame earth, and topples down "Steeples and moft-grown towers." MALONE. Rich tire about you, fhould at these early hours It is most strange, Nature fhould be fo converfant with pain, Cer. I held it ever, Virtue and cunning' were endowments greater (Together with my practice) made familiar That nature works, and of her cures; which gives me A more content in courfe of true delight Rich tire about you, &c.] Thus the quarto 1609; but the fenfe of the paffage is not fufficiently clear. The gentlemen rofe early, because they were but in lodgings which flood expofed near the fea. They wonder, however, to find lord Cerimoni firring, because he had rich tire about him; meaning perhaps a bed more richly and comfortably furnished, where he could have flept warm and fecure in defiance of the tempelt. The reasoning of these gentlemen should rather have led them to fay fuch tosters about you; i. e. a houfe or caftle that could fafely refift the affaults of weather. They left their manfion because they were no longer fecure if they remained in it, and naturally wonder why he fhould have quitted his, who had no fuch apparent reafon for deserting it and rifing early. STEEVENS. Virtue and cunning-] Cunning means here knowledge. the bleft infufions That dwell in vegetives, in metals, flonés ;] So in Romeo and Juliet: O, mickle is the powerful grace that lies MALONE. "In plants, herbs, ftones, and their true qualities." G 2 STEEVENS. Than ⚫ Than to be thirsty after tottering honour, 2 Gent. Your honour hath through Epheíus pour'd Your charity, and hundreds call themselves Enter two Servants with a Cheft. Ser. So; lift there. Cer. What's that? Ser. Sir, Even now did the fea tofs upon our shore This cheft; 'tis of fome wreck. Cer. Set it down, let us Look upon it. 2 Gent. 'Tis like a coffin, fir. 'Tis wondrous heavy. Wrench it open straight; It is a good constraint of Fortune, it Belches upon us. 2 Gent. It is fo, my lord. Cer. How clofe 'tis caulk'd and bittum'd'! Did the fea Caft it up? • To please the fool and death.] The Fool and Death were principal perfonages in the old moralities. They are mentioned by our author in Measure for Measure: merely thou art death's fool, "For him thou labour'st by thy flight to fhun, "And yet run'ft toward him still." MALONE. How clofe 'tis caulk'd and bottom'd.] This, which is the reading of all the copies, is evidently a corruption. We had before"Sir, we have a cheft beneath the hatches, caulk'd and bittumed ready." MALONE. Ser |