PER.

You shall prevail,

Were it to woo my daughter; for it seems
You have been noble towards her.

Lys.

PER. Come, my Marina.

Sir, lend your arm. [Exeunt.

Enter GowER, before the Temple of DIANA at Ephesus.

Gow. Now our sands are almost run;
More a little, and then done.3
This, as my last boon, give me,*
(For such kindness must relieve me,)

I therefore read-I have another suit. So, in K. Henry VIII: "I have a suit which you must not deny me.” MALONE. This correction is undoubtedly judicious. I had formerly made an idle attempt in support 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 shall be silent. The old copies have dum; in which way I have observed in ancient books the word dumb was occasionally spelt. Thus, in The Metamorphosis of Pygmalion's Image, by J. Marston, 1598:

"Look how the peevish papists crouch and kneel
"To some dum idoll with their offering."

There are many as imperfect rhymes in this play, as that of the present couplet. So, in a former chorus, moons and dooms. Again, at the end of this, soon and doom. Mr. Rowe reads: More a little, and then done. Done is surely the true reading. page. STEEVENS.

MALONE.

See n. 7, in the following

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, still wanting to the measure. Perhaps our author wrote:

This then, as my last boon, give me,

STEEVENS.

That you aptly will suppose
What pageantry, what feats, what shows,
What minstrelsy, and pretty din,
The regent made in Mitylin,
To greet the king. So he has thriv'd,
That he is promis'd to be wiv'd
To fair Marina; but in no wise,
Till he had done his sacrifice,5
As Dian bade: whereto being bound,
The interim, pray you, all confound."
In feather'd briefness sails are fill'd
And wishes fall out as they're will'd.
At Ephesus, the temple see,
Our king, and all his company.
That he can hither come so soon,
Is by your fancy's thankful boon.7

[Exit.

Till he had done his sacrifice,] That is, till Pericles had done his sacrifice. MALONE.

The interim, pray you, all confound.] So, in K. Henry V:
Myself have play'd

L CC

The interim, by remembering you 'tis past.”

To confound here signifies to consume. So, in King Henry IV: "He did confound the best part of an hour, "Exchanging hardiment with great Glendower."

MALONE.

7 That he can hither come so soon,

Is by your fancy's thankful boon.] Old copies-thankful doom; but as soon and doom are not rhymes corresponding, I read as in the text.

We had similar rhymes before:

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if king Pericles

"Come not home in twice six moons,

Thankful boon may signify-the licence you grant us in return for the pleasure we have afforded you in the course of the play; or, the boon for which we thank you. So, before in this chorus: "This as my last boon give me.' STEEVENS.

99

"He, obedient to their dooms,
"Will take the crown."

I have therefore not disturbed the reading of the old copy.

MALONE,

The Temple of DIANA at Ephesus; THAISA standing near the Altar, as high Priestess; a number of Virgins on each side; CERIMON and other Inhabitants of Ephesus attendinged sia A

777 0193 a 1 Enter PERICLES, with his Train; LYSIMACHUS, HELICANUS, MARINA, and a Ladys

11A

PER. Hail Dian! to perform thy just command, I here confess myself the king of Tyre; Who, frighted from my country, did wed' The fair Thaisa, at Pentapolis.

At sea in childbed died she, but brought forth
A maid-child call'd Marina; who, O goddess,
Wears yet thy silver livery. She at Tharsus
Was nurs'd with Cleon; whom at fourteen years

"Come not, in twice six moons, home,

"He, obedient to their doom,
"Will take" &c.

STEEVENS.

I have already expressed my belief, that in this last instance, a transposition is necessary:

Thaisaas high-priestess;] Does this accord with Iachi-. mo's description:

"Live, like Diana's priestess, 'twixt cold sheets?" Diana must have been wofully imposed on, if she received the` mother of Marina as a maiden votaress. STEEVENS.

9 Who, frighted from my country, did wed-] Country must be considered as a trisyllable. So, entrance, semblance, and many others. MALONE.

who, O goddess,

Wears yet thy silver livery.] i. e. her white robe of innocence, as being yet under the protection of the goddess of chastity.

PERCY.

He sought to murder: but her better stars Brought her to Mitylene; against whose shore Riding, her fortunes brought the maid aboard us, Where, by her own most clear remembrance, she Made known herself my daughter.

THAI. Voice and favour!You are, you are-O royal Pericles!2-[She Faints. PER. What means the woman?" she dies! help, gentlemen!

CER. Noble sir,

If you have told Diana's altar true,

This is your wife.

PER.

Reverend appearer, no; I threw her o'erboard with these very arms. CER. Upon this coast, I warrant you.

PER.

'Tis most certain. CER. Look to the lady;-O, she's but o'erjoy'd. Early, one blust'ring morn,5 this lady was

So, in Shakspeare's Lover's Complaint:
"There my white stole of chastity I daft.”
We had the same expression before:

"One twelve moons more she'll wear Diana's livery."
MALONE.

• You are, you are―0 royal Pericles!] The similitude between this scene, and the discovery in the last Act of The Winter's Tale, will, I suppose, strike every reader. MALone.

• What means the woman?] This reading was furnished by the second quarto. The first reads-What means the mum?

MALONE.

Look to the lady;] When Lady Macbeth pretends to swoon, on hearing the account of Duncan's murder, the same exclamation is used. These words belong, I believe, to Pericles.

MALONE.

Early, one blust'ring morn,] Old copy-in blust'ring &c. The emendation, which is judicious, was furnished by Mr. Ma lone. STEEVens.

Thrown on this shore. I op'd the coffin, and recover'd her, and plac'd

6

Found there rich jewels;

her

Here in Diana's temple."

PER.

May we see them?

CER. Great sir, they shall be brought you to my house,

8

Whither I invite you. Look! Thaisa is
Recover❜d.

THAI. O, let me look!

If he be none of mine, my sanctity

Will to my sense bend no licentious ear,
But curb it, spite of seeing. O, my lord,
Are you not Pericles? Like him you speak,
Like him you are: Did you not name a tempest,
A birth, and death?

PER.

The voice of dead Thaisa!

• Found there rich jewels;] The second quarto, the folios, and Mr. Rowe, read these jewels. Pericles's next question shows that these could not be the poet's word. The true reading is found in the first quarto. It should be remembered, that Cerimon delivered these jewels to Thaisa, (before she left the house) in whose custody they afterwards remained. MALONE.

" Here in Diana's temple.] The same situation occurs again in The Comedy of Errors, where Ægeon loses his wife at sea, and finds her at last in a nunnery. STEEVENs.

8

they shall be brought you to my house,

Whither I invite you.] This circumstance bears some resemblance to the meeting of Leontes and Hermione. The office of Cerimon is not unlike that of Paulina in The Winter's Tale.

STEEVENS.

-to my sense-] Sense is here used for sensual passion. So also, in Measure for Measure and in Hamlet. [See note onSense, sure, you have

66

"Else you could not have motion." in the latter, Act III. sc. iv.] STEEVENS.