That whofo afk'd her for his wife, is, not to keep her and men in awe, but, to keep her fill to himself, and to deter others from demanding her in marriage. MALONE, ،، Mr. Malone has properly interpreted this paffage. So, in Twine's tranflation: which falfe refemblance of hateful marriage, to the intent that he might alwaits enjoy, he invented &c. to drive away all fuitors that fhould refort unto her, by propounding" &c. See alfo p. 22, n. 5. 5 - STEEVENS, many a wight] The quarto, 1609, reads wight. Correded in the folio. MALONE. . many of Perhaps the corre&ion is erroneous, and we fhould read, nearer to the traces of the old copy: So for her many of might did die, i. c. many men of might. Thus, afterwards: You fometime famous princes," &c. The w in the quarto 1609, might be only an m reverfed. STEVIN8. ،، That thei his doughter thus befought, The which he wolde unto him tell, "The remenant, that wexen wyfe, "Efchewden to make affaie." MALONE. As yon grim looks do teflify. ] This is an indication to me of the ale of scenery in our ancient theatres. I fuppofe the audience were here entertained with the view of a kind of Temple-bar at Antioch. STALVINS. What now ensues.6 to the judgment of your eye SCENE I. Antioch. A Room in the Palace. Enter ANTIOCHUS, PERICLES, and Attendants. 8 ANT. Young prince of Tyre, you have at large receiv'd The danger of the task you undertake. • What now en fues, ] The folio-What enfues. The original copy has-What now enfues. MALONE. 7 my cause who best can justify.] i. e. which (the judgment of your eye) beft can justify, i. e. prove its refemblance to the ordinary course of nature. So, afterwards: "When thou that kneel, and justify in knowledge,-.” But as no other of the four next chorufes concludes with a heroick couplet, unless through interpolation, I fufpe&t that the two lines before us originally flood thus: "What now ensues, "I give to the judgment of your eye, My caufe who beft can juftify." In another of Gower's monologues there is an avowed hemiftich: "And yet he rides it out. Now please you wit "The epitaph is for Marina writ แ By wicked Dionyza." See A& IV. fc, iv. STEEVENS. 8 Young prince of Tyre, ] It does not appear in the prefent drama that the father of Pericles is living By prince, therefore, throughout this play, we are to unde ftand prince regnant. See Ad II. fc. iv. and the epitaph in A& III. fc. iii. In the Gefta Romanorum, Apollonius is king of Tyre; and Appolyn, in Copland's tranflation from the French, has the fame title. Our author, in calling Pericles a prince, feems to have followed Gower. MALONE. In Twine's tranflation he is repeatedly called "Prince of Tyrus." STEEVENS PER. I have, Antiochus, and with a foul Embolden'd with the glory of her praife, Think death no hazard, in this enterprize. [ Mufick. ANT. Bring in our daughter, clothed like a bride, For the embracements even of Jove himfeif; At whofe conception, (till Lucina reign'd,) Nature this dowry gave, to glad her prefence,* Bring in our daughter, clothed like a bride,] All the copies reads The metre proves decifively that the word mufick was a marginal diredion, inferted in the text by the mistake of the tranfcriber or printer. MALONE. For the embracements even of Jove himself; At whose conception, (till Lucina_reign'd,} Nature this dowry gave, to glad her prefence, &c.] It appears to me, that by her conception, Shakspeare means her birth; and that till is here uled in the fenfe of while. So, in The Scornful Lady, Loveless fays to Morecraft: "Will you perfevere?" To which he replies: "Till I have a penny." That is, whilst I have one. And on the other hand, while fometimes fignifies till; as in Wit at feveral Weapons, Pompey fays: "I'll lie under the bed while midnight," &c. And in Maffinger's Old Law, Simonides fays to Cleanthes : "I'll truft you while your father's dead; Meaning, until he be dead; the words being used indifcriminately for each other in the old dramatick writers: and it is to be obferved that they are both expreffed in Latin by the fame word, donec. The meaning of the paffage, according to my apprehenfion, is this:"At whole birth, during the time of her mother's labour, over which Lucina was fuppofed to prefide, the planets all fat in council in order to endow her with the rareft perfections." And this agrees with the principles of judicial aftrology, a folly prevalent in Shakspeare's time; according to which the beauty, thể difpofition, as well as the fortune of all human beings, was fuppofed to depend upon the afpe& of the flars at the time they were born, not at the time in which they were conceived. M. MASON. VOL. XX. C The fenate-house of planets all did fit, Perhaps the error lies in the word conception, and inftead of it we ought to read conceffion. The meaning will then be obvious, and especially if we adopt Mr. M. Mason's feuse of the prepofition till. — “Bring in | fays Antiochus) my daughter habited like a bride for Jove himself, at whofe conceffion (i.e. by whofe grant or leave.} nature beftowed this dowry upon her While the was ftruggling into the world, the planets held a confultation how they should unite in her the utmost perfection their blended influence could bestow." - It should be obferved, that the prepofition at fometimes fignifics in confequence of. Thus, in The Comedy of Errors: "Whom I made lord of me, and all I had, "At your important letters." This change of a word allows the fenfe for which Mr. M. Mason contends, and without his ftrange fuppofal, that by her conception, was meant her birth. The thought is expreffed with lefs obfcurity in Kyng Appolyn of Tyre, 1510:5 For nature had put nothynge in oblyvy on at the fourminge of her, but as a chef operacyon had fet her in the fyght of the worlde. STEEVENS. In the fpeech now before us, the words whofe and her may, I think, refer to the daughter of Antiochus, without greater licence than is taken by Sbakipeare in many of his plays. So, in Othelloz "Our general caft us thus early for the love of his Dfdemona : whom [i. e. our general] let us not therefore blame, he hath not yet made wanton the night with her." I think the conftru&ion is, "at whofe conception the fenate-house of planets all did fit." &c. and that the words, " till Lucina reign'd, Nature," &c. ale paren thetical. MALONE, 3 The fenate house of planets all did fit, To knit in her their best perfections. ] I fufpe& that a rhyme was here intended, and that we ought to tranfpofe the words in the fecond line, as follows: The fenate house of planets all did fit, Their best perfections in her to knit. To the contagion of this couplet perhaps we owe the fubfequent fit of rhyming in which Pericles indulges himself, at the expence of readers and commentators. The leading thought, indeed, appears to have been adopted from Sidney's Arcadia, Book II: The fenate-houfe of the planets was at no time fo fet for the decreeing of perfection in a man," &c. Enter the daughter of ANTIOCHUS. PER. See, where he comes, apparell'd like the fpring, Graces her fubjects, and her thoughts the king Of every virtue gives renown to men! 4 The fentiment, however, is expreffed with lefs affectation in Julius Cæfar; See where the comes, &c.] In this fpeech of Pericles, a tanf position perhaps is neceffary. We might therefore read: See where she comes appareli'd like the king, Graces her fubjects, and her thoughts the fpring Of every virtue &c. Antiochus had commanded that his daughter fhould be clothed in a manner fuitable to the bride of Jove; and thus dreffed in royal robes, he may be faid to be apparelled like the king. After all, I am dissatisfied with my own conjedure, and cannot help fufpe&ing fome deep corruption in the words of Pericles. With what propriety can a lady's thoughts be ftyled the king of every virtue, &c.? Let the reader exert his fagacity on this occafion. In a fubfequent fcene Jupiter is called the king of thoughts; and in King Henry IV. Part I. Douglas tells Hotfpur that he is the king of honour; but neither of these paffages will folve our prefent dife ficulty. We might read: and her thoughts the wing Of every virtue, &c. for in All's well that ends well we have a virtue of a good wing." That every virtue may borrow wings (i. e. derive alacrity) from the fentiments of a young, beautiful, and virtuous woman, is a truth that cannot be denied. Pericles, at this inftant, fuppofes the daughter of Autiochus to be as good as the is fair. The pallage indeed, with another change as flight, may convey as obvious a meaning. She comes (fays Pericles) adorned with all the colours of the fpring the Graces are proud to enroll themselves among her |