1. Yslaked. Y is an ancient prefix to participles past (see Note 9, Act i., "Second Part Henry VI."); and 'slaked' here means 'relaxed in repose,' 'subdued in slumber.'

2. Rout. An old word for 'company,' 'assemblage.' Until as late as the commencement of the present (nineteenth) century, the word survived in use applied to a fashionable party of a particular kind.

3. The house about. The old copies give 'about the house.' Malone made the requisite transposition.

4. Eyne. Antique plural form of 'eyes.' See Note 38, Act i., "Midsummer Night's Dream ;" and Note 114, Act ii., "Antony and Cleopatra."

5. Now couches 'fore the mouse's hole. The old copies give 'from' for "fore." Malone's suggested correction.

6. Are the blither for their drouth. "Are" has been variously

DUMB SHOW.

Enter, from one side, PERICLES and SIMONIDES with Attendants; a Messenger meets them, kneels, and gives PERICLES a letter: be shows it to SIMONIDES; the Lords kneel to PERICLES.9 Then enter THAISA with child, and LYCHOSIMONIDES shows his daughter the letter; she rejoices: she and PERICLES take leave of her father, and depart with LYCHORIDA and their Attendants. Then excunt SIMONIDES and the rest.

RIDA.

By many a dearn 10 and painful perch 11

Of Pericles the careful search,

altered; but we think that probably' and' is elliptically understood before " are." We have several instances of similar elliptical construction in Shakespeare (see Note 63, Act ii.); as also of close repetition of the word “and” in a single sentence. For example, in the present play, we have "And for his sake I wish the having of it; and that you'd guide me," &c.; likewise, "He's their parent, and he is their grave and gives them," &c.

7. Quaintly eche. Skilfully eke out.' See Note 12, Act iii., "Two Gentlemen of Verona."

8. Plain. Here used for 'make plain.'

9. The lords kneel to Pericles. Because they now, through this letter, learn for the first time that he is King of Tyre.

10. Dearn. Sometimes spelt 'dern,' or 'derne.' The word is by some old writers used to express' dismal,' 'direful,' ' sad,' 'lonely,' 'solitary,' 'dreary;' by others, 'secret;' by others, earnest,' eager.' Here it may be intended to combine something of each of these senses.

11. Perch. A measure of five yards and a half.

By the four opposing coignes 12

Which the world together joins,

Is made with all due diligence

That horse and sail and high expense

Can stead the quest. 23 At last from Tyre,—
Fame answering the most strange enquire, 14.
To the court of King Simonides

Are letters brought, the tenour these:-
Antiochus and his daughter dead;
The men of Tyrus on the head
Of Helicanus would set on

The crown of Tyre,15 but he will none:

The mutiny he there hastes t' oppress ; 16
Says to them, if King Pericles

Come not home in twice six moons,

He, obedient to their dooms,

Will take the crown. The sum of this,
Brought hither to Pentapolis,

Y-ravished the regions round,

And every one with claps can sound,1 "Our heir-apparent is a king!

Who dream'd, who thought of such a thing?"
Brief, he must hence depart to Tyre:
His queen with child makes her desire
(Which who shall cross ?) along to go:-
Omit we all their dole and woe:-
Lychorida, her nurse, she takes,
And so to sea. Their vessel shakes
On Neptune's billow; half the flood

Hath their keel cut: but fortune's mood 19
Varies again; the grisly north 20

12. Coignes. The old copies misprint this 'crignes.' Rowe's correction. See Note 99, Act i., "Macbeth ;" and Note 18, Act iv., "Antony and Cleopatra."

13. Can stead the quest. Can aid the search.' See Note 36, Act i., "King Lear."

14. The most strange enquire. "Strange" has been altered by Malone and others to 'strong;' but we think that here "strange " is used to express 'unusual,' 'uncommon,' 'extraordinary. See Note 14, Act v., "Midsummer Night's Dream."

15. On the head of Helicanus would set on the crown, &c Similar pleonasms of expression are occasionally found in Shakespeare. See Note 106, Act i., "Romeo and Juliet."

16. T'oppress. 'To suppress.' The Latin word opprimere bears this sense as one of its meanings.

17. Y-ravished. See Note 1 of the present Act for another instance of the antique prefix, y. "Ravished" is here used in the sense of delighted,' 'rejoiced.'

18. With claps can sound. The word "can" was often used by ancient writers instead of "'gan.' Here we retain the original word; because the author's aim was evidently to give as antiquated an air as possible to Gower's diction in these chorusspeeches.

19. But fortune's mool. The old copies give 'mou'd,' or 'moou'd,' for "mood." Steevens's correction.

20. The grisly north. In the old copies "grisly" is variously spelt 'grisled,' 'grislee,' 'grieslee,' and "grisly." Some modern editions give grizzled;' but the word "grisly," signifying 'terrible,' 'hideous,' is used by Shakespeare elsewhere (in "Midsummer Night's Dream," Act v, sc. 1); and we think precisely suits for the requisite epithet here.

21. Well-a-near. An exclamation equivalent to 'well-a-day;' of which it is a provincially used form. See Note 14, Act ii., 'Henry V."

Disgorges such a tempest forth,
That, as a duck for life that dives,
So up and down the poor ship drives:
The lady shrieks, and, well-a-near,21
Does fall in travail with her fear:
And what ensues in this fell storin
Shall for itself itself perform.

I nill relate,22 action may
Conveniently the rest convey;

Which might not what by me is told.23
In your imagination hold

This stage the ship, upon whose deck

The sea-tost Pericles 4 appears to speak. [Exit

SCENE I.-On a Ship at Sea.

Enter PERICLES.

Per. Thou 25 god of this great vast,26 rebuke these surges,

Which wash both heaven and hell; and thou, that

hast

Upon the winds command, bind them in brass,
Having call'd them from the deep! Oh, still
Thy deafening, dreadful thunders; gently quench
Thy nimble, sulphurous flashes!-Oh, how, Lycho-
rida,

How does my queen ?-Thou storm, venomously Wilt thou spit all thyself?27-The seaman's whistle

22. I nill relate. "Nill" is an ancient negative; framed from 'ne will,' and signifying 'will not.' See Note 27, Act ii., "Taming of the Shrew."

23. Which might not what by me is told. Which ("action") might not so conveniently have represented to you what is related by me.'

24. The sea-tost Pericles. "Sea-tost," in the old copies, is given seas tost.' Rowe made the correction.

25. Thou god of this great vast. The old copies give 'the' for "thou" here. Rowe's correction. The diction throughout the present scene is veritably Shakespearian. It has that majesty of unstrained force which distinguishes his finest descriptive passages, and that dignity of expression, combined with the most simple and natural pathos, which characterises his passages of deepest passion. After the comparative stiffness traceable in the phraseology of the previous scenes, and after the cramped and antiquated chorus-speeches of Gower, this opening of the third Act always comes upon us with the effect of a grand strain of music-the music of the great master himself-with its rightly touched discords, and its nobly exalted soul-sufficing harmonies.

26. This great vast. This wide expanse of sky and sea.' At once, by these words, the poet shows us Pericles on the deck, face to face with Nature in her terrible aspect, exposed to the full sweep of the tempest, out amid the din and clamour of the elements; vainly striving to make his voice heard in calling to Lychorida, who is within the cabin, attending upon his queen. The stage appointments of the time permitted no efficient representation of shipboard; but the dramatist's words are of suffi cient force to place before us the absolute particulars of the situation.

27. Thou storm, venomously wilt thou spit all thyself! The old copies give 'Then storme venomously, wilt thou spet all thy

"

self?' Malone altered 'then' to "thou," which alteration we adopt, because it seems evident to us that the storm is here addressed; just as, before, the speaker has been intended to use "thou" when invoking the "god of this great vast;" but we cannot agree with the Cambridge Editors, in accepting Mr. Dyce's change of " storm to stormest; ' which destroys the address to the storm itself that we believe was here intended by the author. "Venomously" is here used to express 'maliciously,' 'spitefully,' 'virulently;' and "Wilt thou spit all thyself?" is equivalent to 'Wilt thou spend thyself entirely?' 'Wilt thou exhaust thyself utterly?' See, for an employment of "all," in a similar sense, Note 136, Act iv., "King Lear ;" and Note 64, Act i., "Antony and Cleopatra." "Wilt thou spit all thyself?" also includes the meaning of Wilt thou foam thus loudly to the exclusion of all other sounds?' because Pericles goes on to say that, owing to the noise of the storm, the boatswain's whistle cannot be heard; then how can he himself hope to make Lychorida hear his call? And yet, desperately, he again repeats his summons; then lapses into agonising prayer for Thaisa. 28. Midwife. The old copies give my wife.' Steevens's correction.

29. My queen's travails. "Travails" is one of the words formerly used in the plural as well as the singular, though now only in the latter. See Note 2, Act iv., "Richard III."

30. Conceit. Here used for 'power of conceiving thought.' 31. May vie honour with you. The old copies have 'vse' instead of "vie." Mason's and Steevens's correction. See Note 13, Act iv.

32. Quiet and gentle thy conditions! May thy qualities and disposition be quiet and gentle !' "May be" before "thy life" allows may be' to be elliptically understood as repeated in the present phrase. Conditions are 'qualities of character,' 'dispositions of mind.' See Note 38, Act ii., "Othello." 33. The rudeliest welcome to this world. Malone altered "welcome" to welcom'd;' but Wilkins's novel shows "welcome" to be the right word here.

First Sail. Slack the bolins 33 there!-Thou wilt not, wilt thou? Blow, and split thyself.

Sec. Sail. But sea-room, an the brine and cloudy billow kiss the moon, I care not.

First Sail. Sir, your queen must overboard : the sea works high, the wind is loud, and will not lie till the ship be cleared of the dead.

Per. That's your superstition.

First Sail. Pardon us, sir; with us at sea it hath been still observed; and we are strong in custom. 39 Therefore briefly yield her; for she must overboard straight.40

Per. As you think meet.-Most wretched queen!

Lyc. Here she lies, sir. 41

34. As chiding a nativity as fire, air, &c. Here, besides the direct allusion to the rough concomitants of Nature's stormy condition by which his child's birth into the world is ushered, Pericles refers indirectly to the influence which it was believed the due admixture of the elements in human composition exercised upon its future being. See Note 11, Act iii., "Antony and Cleopatra."

35. Thy loss is more than can thy portage quit. Thy loss [in losing thy mother] is more than can be counterbalanced by thy safe conveyance into life.'

36. With all thou canst find here.-Now, the good gods throw their best eyes upon't! The present passage affords an instance of a peculiarity in Shakespeare's style, which we have frequently pointed out; a sudden change of personal pronoun, applied to the same object. Throughout the speech, Pericles has used "thou" in apostrophising his new-born child; but, invoking the gods' best blessings, he abruptly concludes with 'it,' or upon 't." See Note 36, Act ii.

37. Flaw. Stormy blast,' 'tempestuous gust of wind.' See Note 35, Act v., "Hamlet

38. Bolins. A sailorly pronunciation of bow-lines.' The ropes by which the sails of a ship are governed when the wind is unfavourable: they are slackened when it is high.

་

39. And we are strong in custom. The old copies print easterne as the final word here. Mason proposed earnest ;' Steevens, 'credence ;' Jackson, 'astern;' and Boswell, custom;' which latter we adopt, as being probably the right one. 40. For she must overboard straight. As an example of the excessive corruption in the printing of the old copies, these words were there shuffled into the next speech of Pericles; whereas they evidently belong to the first sailor, and form the conclusion of his present speech. Malone made the requisite transposition.

41. Here she lies, sir. At these words we must suppose that Lychorida puts by a curtain and discovers an inner cabin with Thaisa lying apparently dead; the old stage appurtenance of a

Lying with simple shells.-O Lychorida,
Bid Nestor bring me spices, ink and paper,
My casket and my jewels; and bid Nicander
Bring me the satin coffer: 45 lay the babe
Upon the pillow: hie thee, whiles I say
A priestly farewell to her: suddenly, woman.
[Exit LYCHORIDA.

Till now,

I ne'er endur'd.

this?

raised portion at the back, provided with curtains, allowing of inner rooms, upper rooms, or even lower rooms to be supposed to be made visible to the audience. See Note 34, Act v., "Henry VIII.;" and Notes 14 and 24, Act v., "Antony and Cleopatra." In the present instance, the interior of the cabin beneath is supposed to be revealed to view: so much had the words of the poet-dramatist to do in appealing to the imaginations of his hearers.

42. In the onze. For this the old copies give 'in oare.' Steevens's correction.

43. Where, for a monument. Here "for" has the force of 'instead of.' See Note 38, Act v., "Hamlet."

44. Aye-remaining. The old copies misprint 'ayre remayning' here. Steevens, at the suggestion of Malone, made the correction; the propriety of which is evident when it is borne in mind that the poet here refers to those ever-lighted lamps kept perpetually burning in ancient shrines and sepulchres.

45. The satin coffer. The old copies give 'coffin' instead of "coffer" here. Malone's correction; which we take to be right, because subsequently (in the fourth scene of the present Act) Cerimon says, Madam, this letter, and some certain jewels, lay with you in your coffer." It has been opined that by

"the satin coffer" Pericles means a trunk in which satins and rich stuffs are kept, and that he here calls for it with the intention of taking thence the "cloth of state," in which Cerimon finds her "shrouded;" but we think it possible that the prince, by "the satin coffer," may mean one of those antique trunks lined with thickly-quilted satin formerly in use, wherein he meant to deposit his dead queen; and that the "chest," offered by the sailor as "caulked and bitumed ready," is accepted and used as an outer coffin.

46. Thither, gentle mariner, alter thy course for Tyre. 'Alter thy course, which is now for Tyre, to go thither [to

First Gent.

Sec. Gent.

Cer.

[Exeunt all except CERIMON.

Enter two Gentlemen.

Good morrow, sir.

Good morrow to your lordship. Gentlemen,

Why do you stir so early?

First Gent. Sir,

Our lodgings, standing bleak upon the sea, Shook as the earth did quake;

The very principals 49 did seem to rend,

Tharsus]. This is one of those passages of involved construction which we have occasionally pointed out in Shakespeare. See Note 51, Act ii.

47. Go thy ways, good mariner: I'll bring the body presently. Perfect Shakespeare is visible in every line of this short scene. The poetical appeal to Nature in her storm-throes of the husband anxiously thinking of his wife's travail-throes; the burst of agony with which he hears of her sudden death; the suppression of his lament for the sake of the child put into his arms, and exchanging exclamations of regret for those of aspiration that he may invoke blessings upon the head of his new-born daughter; the mildness of his attempted remonstrance with the sailors, and almost immediate acquiescence with their demand; the pathetic address to his dead wife, with its tender committal of her to the bosom of the ocean, there to lie "with simple shells;" his accumulating around her all embalming spices and rich envelopments; his gentle patience and courtesy towards the mariners; his thought for his infant's due bestowal; and his final desiring that he may be left alone with his beloved dead, that he may take his last " priestly farewell" of it, and that he may bring it in his own arms for consignment to the sea, are all conceived and expressed with a passionate force that but one writer we know ever possessed.

48. Give this to the 'pothecary, and tell me how it works. These words indicate that Cerimon gives the servant some recipe, which is to be made up by the apothecary. It is evident that it cannot be intended for the servant's master, who is pronounced to be beyond medical help; but it is probably intended for the servant himself, who may be supposed to have received some bruise or injury requiring a healing application, the effect of which Cerimon desires to know.

49. The very principals. The "principals " are the strongest rafters in the roof of a building.