Hel. Sure, all 's effectless; yet nothing we 'll omit That bears recovery's name. But, since your kindness We have stretch'd thus far, let us beseech you further, That for our gold we may provision have, Wherein we are not destitute for want, But weary for the staleness. Lys. Hel. Sit, sir, I will recount it; order of the governor, from the honest house to which she had retreated. The words with and is, which I have inserted, are not in the old copy. Malone. If any alteration be thought necessary, I would read: "And is now about the leafy shelter," instead of upon. M. Mason. Mr. M. Mason's alteration cannot be admitted, as the words about and abut would be so near each other as to occasion the most barbarous dissonance.-I have at least printed the passage so as to afford it smoothness, and some apparent meaning. Steevens. 7 Exit Lord, in the Barge of Lysimachus.] It may seem strange that a fable should have been chosen to form a drama upon, in which the greater part of the business of the last Act should be transacted at sea; and wherein it should even be necessary to produce two vessels on the scene at the same time. But the customs and exhibitions of the modern stage give this objection to the play before us a greater weight than it really has. It appears, that, when Pericles was originally performed, the theatres were furnished with no such apparatus as by any stretch of the imagination could be supposed to present either a sea, or a ship; and that the audience were contented to behold vessels sailing in and out of port, in their mind's eye only. This licence being once granted to the poet, the lord, in the instance now before us, walked off the stage, and returned again in a few minutes, leading in Marina, without any sensible impropriety; and the present drama, exhibited before such indulgent spectators, was not more incommodious in the representation than any other would have been. Malone. 8 And so inflict our province.] Thus all the copies. But I do not believe to inflict was ever used by itself in the sense of to punish. The poet probably wrote-And so afflict our province. Malone. 9 Sit, sir,] Thus the eldest quarto. The modern editions read -Sir, sir. Malone. But see, I am prevented. Enter, from the Barge, Lord, MARINA, and Lys. O, here is The lady that I sent for. Welcome, fair one! Hel. A gallant lady. Lys. She's such, that were I well assur'd she came Of gentle kind, and noble stock, I 'd wish No better choice, and think me rarely wed. Is 't not a goodly presence] Is she not beautiful in her form? So, in King John: "Lord of thy presence, and no land beside." All the copies read, I think corruptedly, Is it not a goodly present? Malone. Mr. Malone's emendation is undoubtedly judicious. So, in Romeo and Juliet: "Show a fair presence, and put off these frowns." Steevens. 2 Fair one, all goodness that consists in bounty Expect even here, where is a kingly patient:] The quarto, 1609, reads: Fair on, all goodness that consists in beauty &c. The editor of the second quarto in 1619, finding this unintel ligible, altered the text, and printed-Fair and all goodness, &c. which renders the passage nonsense.-One was formerly written on; and hence they are perpetually confounded in our ancient dramas. See Vol. VII, p. 357, n. 1. The latter part of the line, which was corrupt in all the copies, has been happily amended by Mr. Steevens. Malone. I should think, that instead of beauty we ought to read bounty. All the good that consists in beauty she brought with her. But she had reason to expect the bounty of her kingly patient, if she proved successful in his cure. Indeed Lysimachus tells her so afterwards in clearer language. The present circumstance puts us in mind of what passes between Helena and the King, in All's Well that Ends Well. Steevens. 3 If that thy prosperous-artificial feat &c.] Old copy: Steevens. If that thy prosperous and artificial &c. "Veni ad me, Tharsia ;" (says Athenagoras) "ubi nunc ars studiorum tuorum ut consoleris dominum navis in tenebris sedentem; ut provoces eum exire ad lucem, quia nimis dolet pro conjuge et filia suâ ?”—Gesta Romanorum, p. 586, edit. 1558. Can draw him but to answer thee in aught, Mar. Sir, I will use My utmost skill in his recovery, Provided none but I and my companion Be suffer'd to come near him. Lys. Come, let us leave her, And the gods make her prosperous! [MARINA sings.4 The old copy has-artificial fate. For this emendation the reader is indebted to Dr. Percy. Feat and fate are at this day pronounced in Warwickshire alike; and such, I have no doubt, was the pronunciation in the time of Queen Elizabeth. Hence the two words were easily confounded. [See Mr. Malone's Supplement, &c. to Shakspeare, Vol. I, p. 411, n. 1.] A passage in Measure for Measure may add support to Dr. Percy's very happy emendation : 66 in her youth "There is a prone and speechless dialect, "Such as moves men; besides, she hath a prosperous art "When she will play with reason and discourse, "And well she can persuade." Malone. Percy reads feat, instead of fate, which may possibly be the right reading; but in that case we ought to go further, and strike out the word and: If that thy prosperous, artificial feat. The amendment I should propose is to read If that thy prosperous artifice and fate. M. Mason. I read as in the text. Our author has many compound epithets of the same kind; for instance,-dismal-fatal, mortal-staring, childish-foolish, senseless-obstinate, &c. in all of which the first adjective is adverbially used. See Vol. VII, p. 161, n. 7. Steevens. 4 Marina sings.] This song (like most of those that were sung in the old plays) has not been preserved. Perhaps it might have been formed on the following lines in the Gesta Romanorum, (or some translation of it) which Tharsia is there said to have sung to King Apollonius: "Per scorta [f. heu!] gradior, sed scorti conscia non sum; "Sic spinis rosa [f. qua] nescit violarier ullis. "Corruit et [f. en] raptor gladii ferientis ab ictu ; "Vulnera cessassent animi, lacrimæque deessent, Ipsa jubente Deo, lætari credo aliquando. Fuge [f. Terge] modo lacrimas, curam dissolve moles tam; My lord, that ne'er before invited eyes, But have been gaz'd on, comet-like :5 she speaks "Redde polo faciem, mentemque ad sidera tolle : auctor, "Non [f. Nec] sinit has lacrimas casso finire labore." Malone. I have subjoined this song (which is an exact copy of the Latin hexameters in the Gesta Romanorum) from Twine's translation. The song is thus introduced: "Then began she to record in verses, and therewithal to sing so swetely, that Appollonius, notwithstanding his great sorrow, wondred at her. And these were the verses which she soong so pleasantly unto the instru ment." 5 66 Amongst the harlots foul I walk, "Yet harlot none am I: "The rose among the thorns it grows, "The thief that stole me, sure I think, "Is slain before this time: "A bawd me bought, yet am I not "Than parents mine to know: "I am the issue of a king, 'My blood from kings doth flow. "I hope that God will mend my state, "And send a better day: "Leave off your tears, pluck up your heart, "And banish care away. "Show gladness in your countenance, "Cast up your cheerful eyes: "That God remains that once of nought "Created earth and skies. "He will not let, in care and thought, "You still to live, and all for nought." Steevens comet-like: So, in Love's Labour's Lost: "So, portent-like" &c. The old copy of Pericles has-like a comet. that ne'er before invited eyes, Steevens. But have been gaz'd on like a comet :] So, in King Henry IV: My lord, that, may be, hath endur'd a grief Who stood equivalent with mighty kings: But there is something glows upon my cheek, Mar. I said, my lord, if you did know my parentage, You would not do me violence.8 Per. I do think so. I pray you, turn your eyes again upon me.— You are like something that-What countrywoman? "By being seldom seen, I could not stir, "But, like a comet, I was wonder'd at." Malone. 6 My derivation was from ancestors 7 Who stood equivalent with mighty kings:] Thus, in Othello : "From men of royal siege; Steevens. and aukward casualties —] Aukward is adverse. Our author has the same epithet in The Second Part of K. Henry VI: "And twice by aukward wind from England's bank "Drove back again." Steevens. 8 You would not do me violence.] This refers to a part of the story that seems to be made no use of in the present scene. Thus, in Twine's translation: “Then Apollonius fell in rage, and forgetting all courtesie, &c. rose up sodainly and stroke the maiden," &c. See, however, p. 274, line 2. 9 I do think so. I pray you, turn your eyes again upon me. Steevens. You are like something that-What countrywoman? Here of these shores] This passage is so strangely corrupted in the first quarto and all the other copies, that I cannot forbear transcribing it: "Per. I do thinke so, pray you turne your eyes upon me, your like something that, what countrey women heare of these shewes. "Mar. No nor of any shewes," &c. pas For the ingenious emendation-shores, instead of shewes(which is so clearly right, that I have not hesitated to insert it in the text) as well as the happy regulation of the whole sage, I am indebted to the patron of every literary undertaking, my friend, the Earl of Charlemont. Malone. |
