1

Hufh, gentle neighbours;

Lend me your hands: to the next chamber bear

her.4

Get linen; now this matter must be look'd to,

For her relapse is mortal.

And Æfculapius guide us!

Come, come, come;

[Exeunt, carrying THAISA away.

"And first hir eyen up fhe cafte,
"And whan fhe more of ftrength caught,
"Hir armes both forth fhe ftraughte;
"Helde up hir honde and piteouslie
"She spake, and faid, where am I?

"Where is my lorde? What worlde is this?
"As fhe that wote not howe it is."

Hush, gentle neighbours ;

MALONE.

to the next chamber bear her.] Thus, in Twine's tranflation: And when he had fo faide, he tooke the body reverently in his armes, and bare it unto his owne chamber," &c. STEEVENS.

So, in King Henry IV. Part II:

"I pray you, take me up, and bear me hence
"Into another chamber: foftly, pray;
"Let there be no noife made, my gentle friends,
"Unless fome dull and favourable hand
"Will whisper mufick to my wearied fpirit."

MALONE.

SCENE III.

Tharfus. A Room in Cleon's Houfe.

Enter PERICLES, CLEON, DIONYZA, LYCHORIDA, and MARINA.

PER. Moft honour'd Cleon, I muft 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 thankfulnefs! The gods
Make up the rest upon you!

CLE. Your fhafts of fortune, though they hurt you mortally,5

Yet glance full wand'ringly on us."

though they hurt you mortally,] First quarto-haunt. MALONE.

The folios and the modern editions read-hate.

• Your fhafts of fortune, though they hurt you mortally,
Yet glance full wand'ringly on us.] Old copy:

Your thakes of fortune, though they haunt you mortally,
Yet glance full wond'ringly on us.

I read, (as in the text):

Your fhafts of fortune, though they hurt you mortally,
Yet glance full wand'ringly &c.

66

-

omnibus

Thus, Tully, in one of his Familiar Epiftles: telis fortuna propofita fit vita noftra." Again, Shakspeare, in his Othello:

The shot of accident, or dart of chance-."

Again, in Hamlet :

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

The fenfe of the paffage fhould feem to be as follows.-All the malice of fortune is not confined to yourself. Though her

DION.

O your fweet queen!

That the strict fates had pleas'd you had brought her hither,

To have blefs'd mine eyes!

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 babe Marina (whom For fhe was born at fea, I have nam'd fo,) here I charge your charity withal, and leave her The infant of your care; befeeching you To give her princely training, that the may be Manner'd as the is born.7

CLE. Fear not, my lord: Your grace, that fed my country with your corn, (For which the people's prayers ftill fall upon you,) Muft in your child be thought on. If neglection Should therein make me vile,' the common body,

arrows ftrike deeply at you, yet wandering from their mark, they fometimes glance on us; as at prefent, when the uncertain ftate of Tyre deprives us of your company at Tharfus. STEEVENS. 7 Manner'd as he is born.] So, in Cymbeline:

and he is one

"The trueft manner'd, fuch a holy witch,

"That he enchants focieties to him." MALONE.

Fear not, my lord: &c.] Old copies :

Fear not my lord, but think

Your grace, &c. STEEVENS.

I fufpect the poet wrote:

Fear not my lord, but that
Your grace, &c. MALONE.

I have removed the difficulty by omiting the words-but think, which are unneceffary to the fenfe, and spoil the measure. STEEVENS.

Should therein make me vile,] The modern editions have neglect. But the reading of the old copy is right. The word is ufed by Shakspeare in Troilus and Crefida:

By you reliev'd, would force me to my duty:
But if to that my nature need a spur,1
The gods revenge it upon me and mine,
To the end of generation!

PER.

I believe

you ;

Your honour and your goodness teach me credit,❜
Without your vows. Till the be married, madam,
By bright Diana, whom we honour all,
Unfciffar'd fhall this hair of mine remain,
Though I fhow will in't.3 So I take

2

"And this neglection of degree it is

my

leave.

"That by a pace goes backward." MALONE.

I have no fpur

"To prick the fides of my intent." STEEVENS.

Your honour and your goodness teach me credit,] Old copies -teach me to it, a weak reading, if not apparently corrupt. For the infertion of its prefent fubftitute I am anfwerable. I once thought we fhould read-witch me to it, a phrase familiar enough to Shakspeare,

Mr. M. Mason is fatisfied with the old reading; but thinks "the expreffion would be improved by leaving out the participle to, which hurts the fenfe, without improving the metre." Then, fays he, the line will run thus:

Your honour and your goodness teach me it,,

STEEVENS.

3 Though I show will in't :] The meaning may be-" Though I appear wilful and perverfe by fuch conduct." We might read: Though I fhow ill in't. MALONE.

Till fhe be married, madam,

By bright Diana, whom we honour all,
Unfciffar'd Shall this hair of mine remain,
Though I fhow will in't.] Old copy:

Unfifter'd fhall this heir of mine &c.

But a more obvious and certain inftance of corruption perhaps is not discoverable throughout our whole play.

I read, as in the text; for fo is the prefent circumftance recited in A& V. and in confequence of the oath expreffed at the prefent moment:

Good madam, make me blessed in your care

In bringing up my child.

DION.

I have one myself,

Who fhall not be more dear to my respect,
Than yours, my lord.

Madam, my thanks and

And now,

prayers.

"This ornament, that makes me look fo difmal,
"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 alfo, in Twine's tranflation: "

and he fware a folemn oath, that he would not poule his head, clip his beard, &c. untill he had married his daughter at ripe yeares."

Without the present emendation therefore, Pericles must appear to have behaved unaccountably; as the binding power of a romantick oath could alone have been the motive of his long perfiftence in fo ftrange a neglect of his perfon.

The words-unfcilar'd and hair, were eafily mistaken forunfifter'd and heir; as the manufcript might have been indiftinct, or the compofitor inattentive.

The verb-to fciffar [i. e. to cut with fciffars] is found in The Two Noble Kinfmen, by Fletcher :

"My poor chin too, for 'tis not fciffar'd juft
"To fuch a favourite's glass."

I once ftrove to explain the original line as follows:
Unfifter'd hall this heir of mine remain,

Though I fhow will in't:

i. e. till the be married, I fwear by Diana, (though I may show [will, i. e.] obftinacy in keeping fuch an oath,) this heir of mine fhall have none who can call her fifter; i, e, I will not marry, and fo have a chance of other children before fhe is difpofed of. -Obftinacy was anciently called wilfulness.

But it is fcarce poffible that unfifter'd thould be the true reading; for if Pericles had taken another wife, after his daughter's marriage, could he have been fure of progeny to fifter his first child? or what wilfulness would he have shown, had he continued a fingle man? To perfift in wearing a squalid head of hair and beard, was indeed an obftinate peculiarity, though not without a parallel; for both Francis I. and our Henry VIII. reciprocally fwore that their beards fhould grow untouched till their propofed interview had taken place. STEEVENS.