SCENE I. Tharfus. An open Place near the Sea-fhore. Enter DIONYZA and LEONINE. DION. Thy oath remember; thou haft fworn to "Tis but a blow, which never shall be known. 4 Thy oath remember; thou haft fworn to do it :] Here, I think, may be traced the rudiments of the fcene in which Lady Macbeth inftigates her husband to murder Duncan : "I have given fuck, and know "How tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me; inflame love in thy bofom,] The firft quarto reads"Let not confcience which is but cold, in flaming thy love bofome, enflame too nicelie, nor let pitie," &c. The fubfequent impreffions afford no affiftance. Some words feem to have been loft. The fentiment originally expreffed, probably was this Let not confcience, which is but a cold monitor, deter you from executing what you have promised; nor let the beauty of Marina enkindle the flame of love in your bofom;-nor be foftened by pity, which even I, a woman, have caft off.-I am by no means fatisfied with the regulation that I have made, but it affords a glimmering of fenfe. Nearly the fame expreffion occurred before: That have inflam'd defire in my breaft—." I fufpect, the words enflame too nicely were written in the margin, the author not having determined which of the two ex UA Inflame too nicely; nor let pity, which LEON. I'll do't; but yet fhe is a goodly crea, DION. The fitter then the gods fhould have her.? Here Weeping the comes for her old nurfe's death. preffions to adopt; and that by mistake they were transcribed as a part of the text. The metre, which might be more commodioufly regulated, if these words were omitted, in fome meafüre fupports this conjecture: "Nor let pity, which ey'n women have caft off, We might read: inflame thy loving bofom : MALONE. With Mr. Malone's alteration, however, the words will Bear the following fenfe :-Let not confcience, which in itself is of a cold nature, have power to raise the flame of love in you, raise it even to folly.-Nicely, in ancient language, fignifies foolishly. Niais, Fr. Perhaps, indeed, the paffage originally flood thus: Which is but cold, inflame love in thy bofom; Melt thee, but be a foldier to thy purpose. Enflame too nicely-and-which even, are the words I omit. add only the pronoun-that. STEEVENS. but yet fhe is a goodly creature.] So, in King Henry and yet my confcience fays "She's a good creature." STEEVENS. but yet he is a goodly creature. Dion. The fitter then the gods fhould have her] So, in King Richard III : "O, he was gentle, mild, and virtuous.— "The fitter for the King of Heaven." STEEVENS. Here Weeping he comes for her old nurfe's death.] Old copy: ; Here he comes weeping for her onely miftreffe death. I am refoly'd. Thou art refolv'd? LEON. Enter MARINA, with a Basket of Flowers. MAR. No, no, I will rob Tellus of her weed, To ftrew thy green with flowers:9 the yellows, blues, As Marina had been trained in mufick, letters, &c. and had gained all the graces of education, Lychorida could not have been her only mistress. I would therefore read: Here comes fhe weeping for her old nurfe's death. PERCY. I have no doubt but we should adopt the ingenious amendment fuggested by Percy, with this difference only, the leaving out the word for, which is unneceffary, and hurts the metre. I fhould therefore read: Here he comes, weeping her old nurse's death. M. MASON. I have adopted Dr. Percy's amendment, but without Mr. M. Mafon's attempt to improve it. The word for is neceffary to the metre, as above in the preceding line was a modern interpolation. STEEVENS. I think mistress right. Her nurfe was in one fenfe her mistress ; Marina, from her infancy to the age of fourteen, having been under the care of Lychorida. Her only (or her old) miftrefs' death, (not " miftreffes death,") was the language of Shakspeare's time. So, in The Merchant of Venice: "With sweetest touches pierce your mistress' ear," &c. MALONE. No, [no,] I will rob Tellus of her weed, To firew thy green with flowers:] Thus the quartos. In the folio grave was fubftituted for green. By the green, as Lord Charlemont fuggefts to me, was meant " the green turf with which the grave of Lychorida was covered." So, in Taffo's Godfrey of Bulloigne, tranflated by Fairfax, 1600: "My afhes cold' fhall, buried on this green, "Enjoy that good this body ne'er poffeft." Weed in old language meant garment. MALONE. The purple violets, and marigolds, Before we determine which is the proper reading, let us reflect a moment on the bufinefs in which Marina is employed. She is about to ftrew the grave of her nurse Lychorida with flowers, and therefore makes her entry with propriety, faying No, no, I will rob Tellus &c. i. e. No, no, it fhall never be faid that I left the tomb of one to whom I owe fo much, without fome ornament. Rather than it fhall remain undecorated, I will ftrip the earth of its robe, &c. The profe romance, already quoted, fays" that always as the came homeward, fhe went and washed the tombe of her nouryce, and kept it contynually fayre and clene." Though I do not recollect that the green hillock under which a perfon is buried, is any where called their green, my respect for Lord Charlemont's opinion has in this prefent inftance withheld me from deserting the most ancient text, however dubious its authority. STEEVENS. 1 Shall, as a chaplet, [Old copy-carpet,] hang upon thy grave, While fummer days do laft.] So, in Cymbeline: While fummer lafts, and I live here, Fidele, "The leaf of eglantine, whom not to flander Mr. Steevens would read-Shall as a chaplet, &c. The word hang, it must be owned, favours this correction, but the flowers ftrew'd on the green-fward, may with more propriety be compared to a carpet than a wreath. MALONE. Malone informs us that all the former copies read-as a carpet, which was probably the right reading: nor would Steevens have changed it for chaplet had he attended to the beginning of Marina's fpeech: "I will rob Tellus of her weed, "To frew thy grave with flowers :" which corresponds with the old reading, not with his amendment. M. MASON. Perhaps Mr. M. Mason's remark also might have been spared, Born in a tempeft, when my mother died, DION. How now, Marina! why do you keep alone ?3 How chance my daughter is not with you ?4 Do not had he confidered that no one ever talked of hanging carpets out in honour of the dead. STEEVENS. 2 Whirring me from my friends.] Thus the earliest copy; I think rightly. The fecond quarto, and all the fubfequent impreffions, read Hurrying me from my friends. Whirring or whirrying, had formerly the fame meaning. A bird that flies with a quick motion, accompanied with noise, is ftill faid to whirr away. Thus, Pope: "Now from the brake the whirring pheafant (prings." The verb to whirry is ufed in the ancient ballad entitled Robin Goodfellow. Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, Vol. II. 203 : "More fwift than wind away I go, "O'er hedge and lands, "Thro' pools and ponds, "I whirry, laughing ho ho ho." MALONE. The verb-to whirr, is often ufed by Chapman in his verfion of the Iliad. So, Book XIV: gathering duft with whirring fiercely round." Again, Book XVII: through the Greeks and Ilians they rapt "The whirring chariot.' The two laft lines uttered by Marina, very ftrongly resemble a paffage in Homer's Iliad, Book XIX. 1. 377: · τὲς δ ̓ ἐκ ἐθέλοντας "αελλαι * Πόντον ἐπ ̓ ἰχθυόεντα ΦΙΛΩΝ ΑΠΑΝΕΥΘΕ ΦΕΡΟΥΣΙΝ. STEEVENS. 3 How now, Marina! why do you keep alone?] Thus the earliest copy. So, in Macbeth: "How now, my lord! why do you keep alone.?" The fecond quarto reads-why do you weep alone? MALONZ. How chance my daughter is not with you?] So, in King Henry IV. Part II: "How chance thou art not with the prince, thy brother?' MALONE. |