SCENE I. Tharsus. An open Place near the Sea-shore. Enter DioNYZA and LEONINE. Dion. Thy oath remember; thou hast sworn to do it: Even women have cast off, melt thee, but be Leon. I'll do't; but yet she is a goodly creature. Dion. The fitter then the gods should have her. Here Weeping she comes for her old nurse's death. Thou art resolv'd? Leon. I am resolv'd. Enter MARINA, with a Basket of Flowers. Mar. No, no, I will rob Tellus of her weed, To strew thy green with flowers the yellows, blues, The purple violets, and marigolds, Ah me! poor maid, Born in a tempest, when my mother died, Whirring me from my friends.3 Dion. How now, Marina! why do you keep alone? How chance my daughter is not with you? Do not Consume your blood with sorrowing you have [9] So, in King Richard III: "O, he was gentle, mild, and virtuous,--- STEEVENS. [1] By the green, as Lord Charlemont suggests to me, was meant "the green turf with which the grave of Lychorida was covered." Weed in old language meant garment. [2] So, in Cymbeline: 66 -------with fairest flowers, MALONE. "While summer lasts, and I live here, Fidele, "I'll sweeten thy sad grave. Thou shalt not lack [3] A bird that flies with a quick motion, accompanied with noise, is said to whire away. Thus, Pope: "Now from the brake the whirring pheasant springs." MALONE. A nurse of me. Lord! how your favour's chang'd Give me your wreath of flowers, ere the sea mar it.* Mar. No, I pray you; I'll not bereave you of Dion. Come, come; your servant. I love the king your father, and yourself, We every day 6 He will repent the breadth of his great voyage; Walk, and be cheerful once again; reserve Mar. Well, I will go ; But yet I have no desire to it. Dion. Come, come, I know 'tis good for you. Walk half an hour, Leonine, at the least; Remember what I have said. Leon. I warrant you, madam. Dion. I'll leave you, my sweet lady, for a while; Pray you, walk softly, do not heat your blood: Mar. Thanks, sweet madam. Is this wind westerly that blows? [Exit DIONYZA. Mar. When I was born, the wind was north. Mar. My father, as nurse said, did never fear, [4] i. e. ere the sea mar your walk upon the shore by the coming in of the tide, walk there with Leonine. We see plainly by the circumstance of the pirates, that Marina, when seized upon, was walking on the sea-shore; and Shakespeare was not likely to reflect that there is little or no tide in the Mediterranean. CHARLEMONT. MALONE. [5] With the same warmth of affection as if I was his countrywoman. [6] Our fair charge, whose beauty was once equal to all that fame said of it. So, in Othello: "He hath achiev'd a maid, "That paragons description and wild fame.” MALONE. His kingly hands with hauling of the ropes; That almost burst the deck, and from the ladder-tackle Wilt out? and, with a dropping industry, They skip from stem to stern: the boatswain whistles, The master calls, and trebles their confusion. Leon. And when was this? Mar. It was when I was born: Never was waves nor wind more violent. Leon. If you require a little space for prayer, I grant it: Pray; but be not tedious, For the gods are quick of ear, and I am sworn Mar. Why, will you kill me? Leon. To satisfy my lady. Mar. Why would she have me kill'd? Leon. My commission Is not to reason of the deed, but do it. Mar. You will not do't for all the world, I hope. Leon. I am sworn, And will despatch. Enter Pirates, whilst MARINA is struggling. 1 Pirate. Hold, villain! [LEONINE runs away. [7] A canvas climber is one who climbs the mast, to furl, or unfurl, the canvas or sails. So, in King Henry V: "--and in them behold "Upon the hempen-tackle ship-boys_climbing." STEEVENS 2 Pirate. A prize! a prize! 3 Pirate. Half-part, mates, half-part. Come, let's have her aboard suddenly. The same. [Exeunt Pirates, with MARINA. SCENE II. Re-enter LEONINe. Leon. These roving thieves serve the great pirate Valdes ; And they have seiz'd Marina. Let her There's no hope she'll return. And thrown into the sea. go: I'll swear she's dead, But I'll see further; Perhaps they will but please themselves upon her, Whom they have ravish'd, must by me be slain. [Exit. Pand. Search the market narrowly; Mitylene is full of gallants. We lost too much money this mart, by being too wenchless. Bawd. We were never so much out of creatures. We have but poor three, and they can do no more than they can do; and with continual action are even as good as rotten. Pand. Therefore let's have fresh ones, whate'er we pay for them. If there be not a conscience to be used in every trade, we shall never prosper. Bawd. Thou say'st true: 'tis not the bringing up of poor bastards, as I think, I have brought up some elevenBoult. Ay, to eleven, and brought them down again. But shall I search the market? Bawd. What else, man? The stuff we have, a strong wind will blow it to pieces, they are so pitifully sodden. Pand. Thou say'st true; they are too unwholesome o'conscience. The poor Transilvanian is dead, that lay with the little baggage. Boult. Ay, she quickly pooped him ; she made him roastmeat for worms: but I'll go search the market. [Exit. Pand. Three or four thousand chequins were as pretty a proportion to live quietly, and so give over. Bawd. Why, to give over, I pray you? is it a shame to get when we are old? Pand. O, our credit comes not in like the commodity ; nor the commodity wages not with the danger; therefore, if in our youths we could pick up some pretty estate, 'twere not amiss to keep our door hatched. Besides, the sore terms we stand upon with the gods, will be strong with us for giving over. Bawd. Come, other sorts offend as well as we. Pand. As well as we! ay, and better too; we offend worse. Neither is our profession any trade; it's no callling-but here comes Boult. Enter the Pirates, and BoULT, dragging in MARina. Boult. Come your ways. [To MARINA.]-My masters, you say she's a virgin? 1 Pirate. O, sir, we doubt it not. Boult. Master, I have gone thorough for this piece, you see if you like her, so; if not, I have lost my earnest. Bawd. Boult, has she any qualities? Boult. She has a good face, speaks well, and has excellent good clothes; there's no further necessity of qualities can make her be refused. Bawd. What's her price, Boult? Boult. I cannot be baited one doit of a thousand pieces. Pand. Well, follow me, my masters; you shall have your money presently. Wife, take her in; instruct her [8] A hatch is a half-door, usually placed within a street-door, admitting people into the entry of a house, but preventing their access to its lower apartments, or its stair case. Thus says the Syracusan Dromio in The Comedy of Errors, to the Dromio of Ephesus: "Either get thee from the door, or sit down at the hatch." When the top of a hatch was guarded by a row of pointed iron spikes, no person could reach over and undo its fastening, which was always withinside, and near its bottom. This domestic portcullis perhaps was necessary to our ancient brothels. Secured within such a barrier, Mrs. Overdone could parley with her customers; refuse admittance to the shabby visitor, bargain with the rich gallant, defy the beadle, or keep the constable at bay. From having been therefore her usual defence, the hatch at last became an unequivocal denotement of her trade; for though the hatch with a flat top was a constant attendant on butteries in great families, colleges, &c. the hatch with spikes on it was peculiar to our early houses of amorous entertainment.---Nay, as I am assured by Mr. Walsh, (a native of Ireland, and one of the compositors engaged on the present edition of Shakespeare,) the entries to the Royal, Halifax, and Dublin bagnios in the city of Dublin, stil! derive convenience or security from hatches, the spikes of which are unsurmountable. STEEVENS. |