50 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. Therefore briefly yield her, for she must overboard straight. Per. As you think meet. Most wretched queen! 55 Lyc. Here she lies, sir. Per. A terrible childbed hast thou had, my dear; To give thee hallow'd to thy grave, but straight And aye-remaining lamps, the belching whale 60 63. aye-remaining] Steevens (Malone); ayre (or air) remanying (or remaining) Qq, Ff 3, 4. September, 1900, and 16th February, Ig01. Many instances are quoted, the earliest being from Plutarch's Life of Cato Uticensis, who, when bringing back the ashes of his brother from Thrace to Italy, was begged by his friends to put them in a separate ship. This he refused to do, and out of all the fleet his vessel alone had a perilous passage. Fuller is cited in regard to the body of Saint Louis which was thrown overboard because "a ship cannot abide to be made a bier ". It is also stated that sailors believe the presence of a corpse causes the vessel in which it is borne to sail slower. But no explanation is offered as to the origin of the superstition. Sailors are no doubt much given to omens and prognostications, and there is to them apparently something uncanny in the association of the living and the dead as shipmates. 51-55. Pardon queen] Malone was the first to read this passage as ... prose throughout and to transfer the words "for she must overboard straight" from Pericles (as in the old copies) to the First Sailor. For a full history of the text and the various conjectures made, see note in the Cambridge Shakespeare at the end of the play. 52. we are... custom] Here custom is Boswell's conjecture for easterne, and it is proved by the words of the novel: "But the Maister going on, tolde him, that by long experience they had tried, that a shippe may not abide to carry a dead carcase ."; and again: "but we that by long practise have tried the proofe of it," etc. 59. Forgot thee utterly] had no concern for your perilous plight. 61. ooze] muddy bed of the sea; A.S. waze and wos. Compare The Tempest, III. iii. 10: "my son in the ooze is bedded". 62. for] in place of. 63. aye-remaining] ever kept alight. And humming water must o'erwhelm thy corpse, Lying with simple shells. O Lychorida! 65 Bid Nestor bring me spices, ink and paper, 70 [Exit Lychorida. econd Sail. Sir, we have a chest beneath the hatches, caulked and bitumed ready. er. I thank thee. Mariner, say what coast is this? econd Sail. We are near Tarsus. Ter. Thither, gentle mariner, 75 Alter thy course for Tyre. When canst thou reach it? econd Sail. By break of day, if the wind cease. 71, 72. Sir, 68. coffer] Malone; Coffin Qq, Ff 3, 4. In allusion to the Roman custom of 63. belching] spouting. Compare "roilus and Cressida, v. v. 23: "like caled sculls before the belching hale". 66. spices] for embalming the body. 67. My casket... jewels] i.e. the asket containing my jewels. 68. the satin coffer] It is disputed whether the coffer was that in which he was afterwards laid, or merely a offer from which Pericles takes the loth of state to be used as a shroud. Further, whether it was a coffer lined with satin, or one containing satins and other rich materials for dress. Later on, III. iv. 1, 2, we have, "this letter .. Lay with you in your coffer," out the word there may be used of he chest here offered by the sailor. ready.] Prose 69. Hie thee] make haste: Hie, originally to strive, exert oneself, pant; hence hasten. 70. A priestly farewell] the Service for the Dead, or portions of it. a 72. caulked . . . ready] Steevens quotes Twine's translation: " large chest, and we will seare it all over with pitch and rozen melted together," etc. 72. bitumed] made water-tight with bitumen. 76. thy Tyre] your course now set for Tyre; or possibly for is used as = instead of for Tyre, Alter being used as an equivalent to "make your course otherwise than". Delius, quoting Wilkins's novel, reads from, a conjecture which he ascribes to Mommsen, and which was also made by Collier. Per. O make for Tarsus. There will I visit Cleon, for the babe Cannot hold out to Tyrus; there I'll leave it 80 At careful nursing. I'll bring the body presently. [Exeunt. SCENE II.—Ephesus. A Room in Cerimon's House. Enter CERIMON, with a Servant, and some Persons who have been shipwrecked. Cer. Philemon, ho! Enter PHILEMON. Phil. Doth my lord call? Cer. Get fire and meat for these poor men; 'T has been a turbulent and stormy night. Serv. I have been in many; but such a night as this 5 Till now I ne'er endur'd. Cer. Your master will be dead ere you return; There's nothing can be minister'd to nature That can recover him. [To Philemon.] Give this to And tell me how it works. ?cond Gent. That is the cause we trouble you so early; 'Tis not our husbandry. ?r. O! you say well. 20 irst Gent. But I much marvel that your lordship, having II, 12. Gentlemen, early?] Divided as by Steevens; one line in Qq, 3, 4. 16-18. The very house.] Arranged as by Malone; two lines, e first ending topple. in Qq, Ff 3, 4. 21-24. But. strange,] Arnged as by Malone; three lines, ending Lordship, . . . howers ... strange, Qq, Ff 3, 4. quake] Compare 'to 15. Shook acbeth, 11. iii. 65, 66. 16. principals] chief supports; hether these were "the strongest fters in the roof of a building Malone), or "the four corner-posts a house" (Craig), seems doubtful. 17. all-to] "Some connect pple,' believing that here and in . W. of W. Iv. iv. 57, 'to-pinch,' o' is an intensive prefix, as in E.E. ut neither of the two passages ecessitates the supposition that hakespeare used this archaism. We can, therefore, either write 'all»,' and treat it as meaning altogether,' or suppose that 'all' means 'quite,' and that 'to topple,' ke 'to rend,' depends upon 'seem'. his last is the more obvious and ... ... Cer. Rich tire about you, should at these early hours 'Tis most strange, Nature should be so conversant with pain, I hold it ever, Virtue and cunning were endowments greater May the two latter darken and expend, But immortality attends the former, Making a man a god. 'Tis known I ever And I can speak of the disturbances 25 30 35 That nature works, and of her cures; which doth give me A more content in course of true delight Than to be thirsty after tottering honour, 40 26-39. I hold . . . delight] Arranged as by Malone. 26, 27. Ever cunning were] Malone; Euer Vertue and Cunning, Were Qq i, 2, 3; euer virtue and cunning, Were (the rest). |