Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

Ser. I never faw fo huge a billow, fir,

As tofs'd it upon shore.

Cer. Wrench it open;

Soft, foft-it fmells moft fweetly in my fenfe. 2 Gent. A delicate odour.

Oh

Cer. As ever hit my noftril; fo,-up with it. you moft potent gods! what's here? a corfe! 1 Gent. Moft ftrange!

Cer. Shrowded in cloth of ftate!

Balm'd and entreafur'd with full bags of fpices!
A paffport too! Apollo, perfect me

In the characters 2!

Here I give to understand,

(If e'er this coffin drive a-land)

Iking Pericles have loft

[He reads out of a

This queen, worth all our mundane coft3.

Who finds her, give her burying,

She was the daughter of a king*:

Befides this treasure for a fee,

The gods requite his charity!

If thou liv'ft, Pericles, thou haft a heart

fcrowl.

That even cracks for woes! This chanc'd to-night.

Apollo, perfect me

In the characters!] Cerimon, having made phyfick his peculiar ftudy, would naturally, in any emergency, invoke Apollo. On the prefent occafion, however, he addreffes him as the patron of learning. MALONE.

3

mundane coft: i. e. worldly. MALONE.

Who finds her, give her burying,

She was the daughter of a king:]

The author had, perhaps, the facred writings in his thoughts: "Go fee now this curfed woman and bury her; for she is a king's daughter." 2 Kings, ix. 36 MALONE.

[merged small][merged small][ocr errors]

Even is the reading of the fecond quarto. The first has ever.

G3

MALONE.

2 Gent

2 Gent. Most likely, fir.

Cer. Nay, certainly to-night;

For look how fresh fhe looks!-They were too rough*

That threw her in the fea.

Make a fire within

Fetch hither all my boxes in my closet.
Death may ufurp on nature many hours,
And yet the fire of life kindle again
The o'er-preft fpirits. I have heard of an
Egyptian that had nine hours lien dead,
Who was by good appliance recovered.

Enter a Servant with napkins and fire.

Well faid, well faid; the fire and the cloths.—
The rough and woeful mufick that we have,
Cause it to found, 'befeech you 7.

The vial once more; -How thou ftir'ft, thou block?

The mufick there.-I pray you give her air ;

*

Gentle

They were too rough] I fufpect the author wrote-They were too rafb― MALONE.

6

nine hours lien dead,] So in the lxviiith Pfalm: though ye have lien among the pots"- STEEVENS. The rough and woeful mufick that we have,

Caufe it to found, 'befeech you.] Paulina in like manner in the Winter's Tale, when the pretends to bring Hermione to life, orders mufick to be played, to awake her from her trance. MALONE. The vial once more; - bow thou ftir'ft, thou block?—

The mufick there- ] The first quarto reads, -the viol once more, The fecond and the subsequent editions—the vial, If the first be right, Cerimon mult be fuppofed to repeat his orders that they fhould again found their rough and woeful mufick, So in Tawelfth Night a

"That firain again!".

The word viol has occurred before in this play in the fense of violin. I think, however, the reading of the fecond quarto is right. Cerimon, in order to revive the queen, first commands loud mufick to be played, and then a fecond time adminitters fome cordial to her, which we may fuppofe had been before administered to her when his fervants entered with the napkins, &c. See Conf. Amant. 180;

Gentlemen, this queen will live: Nature awakes;
A warmth breathes out of her; fhe hath not been
Entranc'd above five hours. See how the 'gins
To blow into life's flower again!

1 Gent. The heavens,

Through you, encrease our wonder, and fet up
Your fame for ever.

Cer. She is alive; behold,

Her eye-lids, cafes to thofe heavenly jewels '
Which Pericles hath loft,

Begin to part their fringes of bright gold";

[ocr errors]

this worthie kinges wife
"Honeflie thei token oute,
"And maden fyres all aboute;
"Thei leied hir on a couche fofte,
"And with a fhete warmed ofte
"Hir colde brefte began to heate,
"Hir herte alfo to flacke and beate.
"This maister hath hir every joynte
"With certein oyle and balfam anoynte,
"And put a licour in hir mouthe

"Whiche is to few clerkes couthe."

Little weight is to be laid on the fpelling of the first quarto.In the quarto edition of K. Richard II. 1615, viol is printed for

vial:

"Edward's feven fons, whereof thyself art one,
"Were feven viols of his facred blood."

Again, in the folio, 1623, ibid:

"One viol full of Edward's facred blood."

Again, in The tragical Hiftory of Romeus and Juliet, 1562: "She poured forth into the vyoll of the fryer

"Water

99 MALONE.

› Nature awakes a warmth breath out of her; ] Thus the quarto, 1609. Read:

Nature awakes;

A warmth breathes out of her. STEEVENS. The fecond quarto and the modern editions read, unintelligibly, Nature awakes a warm breath out of her. MALONE.

cafes to thofe heavenly jewels] The fame expreffion occurs in the Winter's Tale:

[ocr errors]

they feem'd almoft, with ftaring on one another, to tear the cafes of their eyes." MALONE.

2

Begin to part their fringes of bright gold;] So in the Tempeft :
"The fringed curtains of thine eye advance,
"And fay what thou fee'ft yond?" MALONE.
G 4

The

The diamonds of a moft praised water

O live,

Do appear, to make the world twice rich.
And make us weep to hear your fate, fair creature,

Rare as you feem to be!

Thai. O dear Diana,

[She moves.

Where am I? Where's my lord? What world is this?

2 Gent. Is not this strange?

1 Gent. Moft rare.

Cer. Hufh, my gentle neighbours;

Lend me your hands: to the next chamber bear her,
Get linen; now this matter must be look'd to,
For her relapfe is mortal. Come, come, come,
And Efculapius guide us!

[Exeunt, carrying her away.

[blocks in formation]

Tharfus. A room in Cleon's houfe.

Enter Pericles, Cleon, Dionyza, Lychorida, and Marina.
Per. Most honour'd Cleon, I must needs be gone;
My twelve months are expir'd, and Tyrus ftands
In a litigious peace. You and your lady

Take from my heart all thankfulness! The gods
Make up the rest upon you!

Cle. Your fhakes of fortune, though they haunt you mortally,

Yet glance full wond'ringly on us.

3 What world is this?] So in the Conf. Amant.:
And first hir eien up the cafte,

"And whan fhe more of strength caught,
"Hir armes both forth fhe ftraughte,

"Helde up hir honde and pitouflie
"She fpake, and faid, where am I?

"Where is my lorde? What worlde is this?

As fhe that wote not howe it is." MALONE.

Dion.

though they haunt you mortally,] Thus the first quarto.

The folios and the modern editions read hate. MALONE.

Your

Dion. O your fweet queen!

That the ftrict fates had pleas'd you had brought her

hither,

To have bleft mine eves with her!

Per. We cannot but

Obey the powers above us. Could I rage
And roar as doth the fea fhe lies in, yet
The end must be as 'tis. My gentle babe,
Marina, (whom, for fhe was born at sea,
I have nam'd fo here) I charge your charity
Withal, leaving her the infant of your care;
Befeeching you to give her princely training,
That the may be manner'd as fhe is born.
Cle. Fear not, my lord; but think,

Your grace, that fed my country with your corn,
(For which the people's prayers ftill fall upon you)

Your fhakes of fortune, though they haunt you mortally,
Yet glance full wond'ringly on us.] I think we should read:
Your Jhafts of fortune, though they hurt (or hunt or bit) you
mortally,

Yet glance full wandringly, &c.

Thus Tully in one of his Familiar Epifles

." omnibus telis fortuna propofita fit vita noftra." Again, Shakspeare in his Othello: The shot of accident or dart of chance —"

66

Again, in Hamlet :

"The flings and arrows of outrageous fortune." Again, in the Merry Wives of Windfor: am glad, though you have ta'en a special stand to strike at me, that your arrow hath glanced."

The fenfe of the paffage should seem to be as follows. All the malice of fortune is not confined to yourfelf. Though her arrows ftrike deeply at you, yet wandering from their mark, they fometimes glance on us; as at prefent, when the uncertain state of Tyre deprives us of your company at Tharfus. STEEVENS.

Fear not my lord, but think,

Your grace,] Such is the reading of the ancient co

pies. I believe, Shakspeare wrote,

Fear not, my lord, but that

Your grace, &c.

However, as the paffage is intelligible, I have made no change.

MALONE.

Muft

« AnteriorContinuar »