Who, hearing of your melancholy state, I embrace you, sir. PER. Give me my robes; I am wild in my beholding. O heavens bless my girl! But hark, what mu sick? Tell Helicanus, my Marina, tell him1 O'er, point by point,2 for yet he seems to doubt,3 How sure you are my daughter.-But what musick? HEL. My lord, I hear none. PER. None? The musick of the spheres: list, my Marina. Do ye not hear? Lys. Musick? My lord, I hear PER. Most heavenly musick: It nips me unto list'ning, and thick slumber Hangs on mine eye-lids; let me rest. [He sleeps. Tell Helicanus, my Marina, tell him-] Thus the earliest quarto, 1619, and all the subsequent editions read: 3 But hark, what musick's this Helicanus? my O'er, point by point,] So, in Gower: "And never durst make hir mone "But only to this lorde allone." MALONE. -for yet he seems to doubt,] The old copies read-for yet he seems to doat. It was evidently a misprint. MALONE. 4 Most heavenly musick: It nips me unto list'ning, and thick slumber "Makes heaven drowsy with the harmony." Lrs. A pillow for his head; [The Curtain before the Pavilion of PERICLES So leave him all.-Well, my companion-friends, 5 I'll well remember you." [Exeunt LYSIMACHUS, HELICANUS, MARINA, and attendant Lady. See Vol. VII. p. 126, n. 6. Consult also Pindar's First Pythian, Ronsard, Gray, &c. The version of Ronsard 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 noise made, my gentle friends, "Will whisper musick to my weary spirit." See Vol. XII. p. 197, n. 2. Malone. 5 Well, my companion-friends, If this but answer to my just belief, I'll well remember you.] These lines clearly belong to Marina. She has been for some time silent, and Pericles having now fallen into a slumber, she naturally turns to her companion, and assures her, that if she has in truth found her royal father, (as she has good reason to believe,) she shall partake of her prosperity. It appears from a former speech in which the same phrase 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 passage now before us: or, if the text here be right, we might read in the former instance-my companion-maids. In the preceding part of this PERICLES on the Deck asleep; DIANA appearing to him as in a vision. DIA. My temple stands in Ephesus; hie thee thither, And do upon mine altar sacrifice. There, when my maiden priests are met together, scene it has been particularly mentioned, that Marina was with her fellow-maids upon the leafy shelter, &c. There is nothing in these lines that appropriates them to Lysimachus; 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 suitable to the amiable character of Marina. * MALONE. I am satisfied to leave Lysimachus in quiet possession of these lines. He is much in love with Marina, and supposing himself to be near the gratification of his wishes, with a generosity common to noble natures on such occasions, is desirous to make his friends and companions partakers of his happiness. STEEVENS. My temple stands in Ephesus;] This vision is formed on the following passage 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 sea didst lose thy wife: misfor 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 observes, "Repeat your tunes so feelingly and so exactly, that the language of your narration may imitate to the life the transactions you relate." So, in Cymbeline: 66 The younger brother, Cadwall, In A Midsummer-Night's Dream, these words are again confounded, for in the two old copies we find: "Two of the first, life coats in heraldry," &c. MALONE. Before I had read the emendation proposed by Lord Charlemont, it had suggested itself to me, together with the following explanation of it: i. e. repeat to them a lively and faithful narrative of your adventures. Draw such a picture as shall prove itself to have been copied from real, not from pretended calamities; such a one as shall strike your hearers with all the lustre of conspicuous truth. I suspect, however, that Diana's revelation to Pericles, was originally delivered in rhyme, as follows: "My temple stands in Ephesus; hie thither, "And do upon mine altar sacrifice. "There, when my maiden priests are met together, "Before the people all, in solemn wise, "Recount the progress of thy miseries. "Reveal how thou at sea didst lose thy wife; "How mourn thy crosses with thy daughter's: go, "And give them repetition to the life. "Perform my bidding, or thou liv'st in woe: "Do't, and be happy, by my silver bow." Thus, in Twine's translation: "And when Appollonius laide him downe to rest, there appeared an angell in his sleepe, commaunding him to leaue his course toward Tharsus, and to saile unto Ephesus, and to go unto the Temple of Diana, accompanied with his sonne 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'st in woe: [DIANA disappears. PER. Celestial Dian, goddess argentine," I will obey thee!-Helicanus! Enter LYSIMACHUS, HELICANUS, and MARINA. HEL. Sir. PER. My purpose was for Tharsus, there to strike The inhospitable Cleon; but I am For other service first: toward Ephesus Turn our blown sails;' eftsoons I'll tell thee why. [TO HELICANUS. Shall we refresh us, sir, upon your shore, And give you gold for such provision As our intents will need? Lrs. With all my heart, sir; and when you come ashore, I have another suit.2 9 and be happy,] The word be I have supplied. MALONE. goddess argentine,] That is, regent of the silver moon. So, in The Rape of Lucrece: "Were Tarquin night, as he is but night's child, "The silver-shining queen he would distain." "In the chemical phrase, (as Lord Charlemont observes to me,) a language well understood when this play was written, Luna or Diana means silver, as Sol does gold." Malone. 1 patra: blown sails;] i. e. swollen. So, in Antony and Cleo "A vent upon her arm, and something blown." - STEEVENS, • I have another suit.] The old copies read-I have another sleight. But the answer of Pericles shows clearly that they are corrupt. The sense requires some word synonymous to request. |