Lrs. A pillow for his head; [The Curtain before the Pavilion of PERICLES So leave him all.-Well, my companion-friends, I'll well remember you.5 [Exeunt LYSIMACHUS, HELICANUS, MARINA, and attendant Lady. See Vol. VII. p. 126, n. 6. Confult also Pindar's Firfi Pythian, Ronfard, Gray, &c. The verfion of Ronfard is worth transcribing : "Et au caquet de tes cordes bien jointes Ode 22, edit. 1632, folio. STEEVENS. So, in King Henry IV. Part II: "Let there be no noife made, my gentle friends, "Will whisper mufick to my weary fpirit." See Vol. XII. p. 197, n. 2. MAlone. 5 Well, my companion-friends, If this but anfwer to my juft belief, I'll well remember you.] Thefe lines clearly belong to Ma rina. She has been for fome time filent, and Pericles having now fallen into a flumber, fhe naturally turns to her companion, and affures her, that if she has in truth found her royal father, (as fhe has good reafon to believe,) fhe fhall partake of her profperity. It appears from a former fpeech in which the fame phrafe is used, that a lady had entered with Marina : "Sir, I will use My utmost skill in his recovery; provided I would therefore read in the paffage now before us : or, if the text here be right, we might read in the former inftance-my companion-maids. In the preceding part of this SCENE II. The fame. PERICLES on the Deck afleep; DIANA appearing to him as in a vifion. DIA. My temple ftands in Ephefus; hie thee thither, And do mine altar facrifice. There, when my maiden priests are met together, fcene it has been particularly mentioned, that Marina was with her fellow-maids upon the leafy fhelter, &c. There is nothing in these lines that appropriates them to Lyfimachus; nor any particular reason why he should be munificent to his friends because Pericles has found his daughter. On the other hand, this recollection of her lowly companion, is perfectly fuitable to the amiable character of Marina. MALONE. I am fatisfied to leave Lyfimachus in quiet poffeffion of these lines. He is much in love with Marina, and fuppofing himself to be near the gratification of his wishes, with a generofity common to noble natures on fuch occafions, is defirous to make his friends and companions partakers of his happiness. STEEVENS. My temple ftands in Ephefus ;] This vifion is formed on the following paffage in Gower: "The hie God, which wolde hym kepe, "Touchyng his doughter and his wife, "He shall be knowe upon his life." MALONE. Before the people all, Reveal how thou at fea didft lose thy wife : 7 And give them repetition to the life.] The old copies readto the like. For the emendation, which the rhyme confirms, the reader is indebted to Lord Charlemont. "Give them repetition to the life," means, as he obferves, "Repeat your misfortunes fo feelingly and fo exactly, that the language of your narration may imitate to the life the transactions you relate." So, in Cymbeline: 66. The younger brother, Cadwall, "Strikes life into my fpeech." In A Midfummer-Night's Dream, these words are again confounded, for in the two old copies we find : "Two of the firft, life coats in heraldry," &c. MALONE. Before I had read the emendation proposed by Lord Charlemont, it had fuggefted itself to me, together with the following explanation of it: i. e. repeat to them a lively and faithful narrative of your adventures. Draw fuch a picture as fhall prove itfelf to have been copied from real, not from pretended calamities; fuch a one as shall strike your hearers with all the luftre of confpicuous truth. I fufpect, however, that Diana's revelation to Pericles, was originally delivered in rhyme, as follows: 66 My temple ftands in Ephefus; hie thither, "And do upon mine altar facrifice. "There, when my maiden priests are met together, "Recount the progress of thy miferies. "Reveal how thou at fea didst lose thy wife; "How mourn thy croffes, with thy daughter's go, "And give them repetition to the life. "Perform my bidding, or thou liv'ft in woe : "Do't, and be happy, by my filver bow." Thus, in Twine's tranflation: "And when Appollonius laide him downe to reft, there appeared an angell in his fleepe, commaunding him to leaue his course toward Tharfus, and to faile unto Ephefus, and to go unto the Temple of Diana, accompanied with his fonne in lawe and his daughter, and there with a loude voice to declare all his adventures, whatsoever had befallen him from his youth unto that present day." STEEVENS. Perform my bidding, or thou liv'ft in woe: I will obey thee!-Helicanus ! Enter LYSIMACHUS, HELICANUS, and MARINA. HEL. Sir. PER. My purpose was for Tharfus, there to strike The inhofpitable Cleon; but I am For other service firft: toward Ephefus Turn our blown fails; eftfoons I'll tell thee why. [To HELICANUS. Shall we refresh us, fir, upon your fhore, As our intents will need? Lrs. With all my heart, fir; and when afhore, I have another fuit.* you come 8 and be happy,] The word be I have supplied. 9 MALONE. goddess argentine,] That is, regent of the filver moon. So, in The Rape of Lucrece: "Were Tarquin night, as he is but night's child, "The filver-fhining queen he would diftain." "In the chemical phrafe, (as Lord Charlemont observes to me,) a language well understood when this play was written, Luna or Diana means filver, as Sol does gold." MALONE. I -blown fails ;] i. e. fwollen. So, in Antony and Cleo patra: 2 "A vent upon her arm, and something blown." STEEVENS. I have another fuit.] The old copies read-I have another eight. But the aufwer of Pericles fhows clearly that they are corrupt. The fenfe requires fome word fynonymous to request, PER. You fhall prevail, Were it to woo my daughter; for it seems Gow. Now our fands are almoft run; More a little, and then done.3 This, as my last boon, give me,4 (For fuch kindness muft relieve me,) I therefore read-I have another fuit. So, in K. Henry VIII: "I have a fuit which you must not deny me." MALONE. This correction is undoubtedly judicious. I had formerly made an idle attempt in fupport of the old reading. STEEVENS. 3 More a little, and then done.] See the following note. STEEVENS. and then dumb.] Permit me to add a few words more, and then I fhall be filent. The old copies have dum; in which way I have obferved in ancient books the word dumb was occafionally fpelt. Thus, in The Metamorphofis of Pygmalion's Image, by J. Marston, 1598: "Look how the peevish papifts crouch and kneel There are many as imperfect rhymes in this play, as that of the prefent couplet. So, in a former chorus, moons and dooms. Again, at the end of this, foon and doom. Mr. Rowe reads: More a little, and then done. MALONE. Done is furely the true reading. See n. 7, in the following page. STEEVENS. 4 This, as my last boon, give me,] The word as, which is not found in the old copies, was supplied by Mr. Steevens, to complete the metre. MALONE. Some word is, in my opinion, ftill wanting to the measure. Perhaps our author wrote: This then, as my laft boon, give me, STEEVENS. |