Piercing, and sharpens well the stomach. Come ;7-
Leonine, take her by the arm, walk with her.

Mar. No, I pray you;

I'll not bereave you of your servant.

Dion.

Come, come;
I love the king your father, and yourself,
With more than foreign heart. We every day
Expect him here: when he shall come, and find
Our paragon to all reports, thus blasted,
He will repent the breadth of his great voyage;
Blame both my lord and me, that we have ta'en
No care to your best courses.1 Go, I pray you,
Walk, and be cheerful once again; reserve
That excellent complexion, which did steal

The eyes of young and old.2 Care not for me;

7

Piercing, and sharpens well the stomach. Come;] Here the old copy furnishes the following line, which those who think it verse, may replace, the room of that supplied by the present

text:

And it pierces and sharpens the stomach. Come-. Steevens. 8 With more than foreign heart.] With the same warmth of affection as if I was his country woman. Malone.

9 Our paragon to all reports,] Our fair charge, whose beauty was once equal to all that fame said of it. So, in Othello:

1

66

He hath achiev'd a maid,

"That paragons description and wild fame." Malone.

that we have ta'en

No care to your best courses.] Either we should read-" of your best courses," or the word to has in this place the force that of would have.

M. Mason.

The plain meaning is-that we have paid no attention to what was best for you. Steevens.

That excellent complexion, which did steal

The eyes of young and old.] So, in Shakspeare's 20th

Sonnet:

"A man in hue all hues in his controlling,

"Which steals men's eyes, and women's souls amazeth."

Again, in his Lover's Complaint:

"Thus did he in the general bosom reign

"Of young and old.”

To reserve is here, to guard; to preserve carefully. So, in Shakspeare's 32d Sonnet:

"Reserve them, for my love, not for their rhymes."

Malone.

I can go home alone.

Mar.

Well, I will go;

But yet I have no desire to it.3

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:
What! I must have a care of you.

Mar.

Thanks, sweet madam.

[Exit DION.

South-west.

Is this wind westerly that blows?
Leon.

Mar. When I was born, the wind was north.
Leon.

Was 't so?

Mar. My father, as nurse said, did never fear,
But cry'd, good seamen! to the sailors, galling
His kingly hands with hauling of the ropes;
And, clasping to the mast, endur'd a sea

That almost burst the deck, and from the ladder-tackle
Wash'd off a canvas-climber: Ha! says one,

3

Well, I will go;

But yet I have no desire to it.] So, in The Merchant of Venice: "I have no mind of feasting forth to-night,

"But I will go."

Steevens.

4 His kingly hands with hauling of the ropes;] For the insertion of the words with and of I am answerable. Malone.

So, in Sidney's Arcadia, Book II: "- the princes did in their countenances accuse no point of feare, but encouraging the sailors to doe what might be done (putting their hands to every most paineful office) taught them to promise themselves the best," &c. Steevens.

5 That almost burst the deck,] Burst is frequently used by our author in an active sense. See Vol. IX, p. 110, n. 2.

6

from the ladder-tackle

Malone.

Wash'd off a canvas-climber:] A ship-boy. So, in King Henry V:

66

and in them behold

"Upon the hempen-tackle ship-boys climbing."

I suspect that a line preceding these two, has been lost, which perhaps might have been of this import:

O'er the good ship the foaming billow breaks
And from the ladder tackle &c.

Malone.

Wilt out? and, with a dropping industry,

They skip from stem to stern:7 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. Come, say your prayers speedily.
Mar.

What mean you?

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
To do my work with haste.

Mar.

Why, will you kill me.

A canvas-climber is one who climbs the mast, to furl, or unfurl, the canvas or sails. Steevens.

Malone suspects that some line preceding these has been lost, but that I believe is not the case, this being merely a continuation of Marina's description of the storm, which was interrupted by Leonine's asking her, When was that? and by her answer, When I was born, never were waves nor wind more violent.

Put this question and the answer in a parenthesis, and the description goes on without difficulty:

endur'd a sea

That almost burst the deck,

And from the ladder tackle washes off &c. M. Mason.

In consequence of Mr. M. Mason's remark, I have regulated the text anew, and with only the change of a single tense, (wash'd for washes,) and the omission of the useless copulative and. The question of Leonine, and the reply of Marina, which were introduced after the words,

that almost burst the deck,

are just as proper in their present as in their former situation; but do not, as now arranged, interrupt the narrative of Marina. Steevens.

7

・from stem to stern:] The old copies read-from stern to stern. But we certainly ought to read-from stem to stern. So, Dryden :

"Orontes' barque, even in the hero's view,
"From stem to stern by waves was overborne."

A hasty transcriber, or negligent compositor, might easily have mistaken the letter m and put rn in its place. Malone.

8 and trebles their confusion.] So, in King Henry V: "Hear the shrill whistle, which doth order give

"To sounds confus'd."

Malone.

Leon. To satisfy my lady.

Mar. Why would she have me kill'd?
Now, as I can remember, by my troth,
I never did her hurt in all my life;
I never spake bad word, nor did ill turn
To any living creature: believe me, la,
I never kill'd a mouse, nor hurt a fly:
I trod upon a worm against my will,
But I wept for it. How have I offended,
Wherein my death might yield her profit, or
My life imply her danger?

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.
You are well-favour'd, and your looks foreshow
You have a gentle heart. I saw you lately,
When you caught hurt in parting two that fought:
Good sooth, it show'd well in you; do so now:
Your lady seeks my life; come you between,
And save poor me, the weaker.

Leon. If you require a little space for prayer,
I grant it: Pray; be not tedious, &c.

Mar. Why, will you kill me?] So, in Othello:

"Oth. Have you pray'd to night, Desdemona ?---
"If you bethink yourself of any crime
"Unreconcil'd as yet to heaven and grace,
"Solicit for it straight.

"Des. Alas, my lord, what do you mean by that?
"Oth. Well, do it, and be brief.-

"Des. Talk you of killing," &c.

Steevens.

This circumstance is likewise found in the Gesta Romanorum: "Peto domine, says Tharsia, (the Marina of this play) ut si nulla spes est mihi, permittas me deum testare. Villicus ait, 'testate; et Deus ipse scit quod coactus te interficio.' Illa vero cum esset posita in oratione, venerunt pyratæ," &c. Malone.

Thus, in Twine's translation: "I pray thee, since there is no hope for me to escape my life, give me license to say my pray ers before I die. I give thee license, saide the villaine. And I take God to record, that I am constrained to murther thee against my will. Steevens.

1I trod upon a worm against my will,

But I wept for it.] Fenton has transplanted this image into

his Mariamne:

Leon.

And will despatch.

I am sworn,

Enter Pirates, whilst MARINA is struggling.

1 Pirate. Hold, villain!

2 Pirate. A prize! a prize!

[LEON. runs away?

3 Pirate. Half-part, mates, half-part. Come, let's have her aboard suddenly.

[Exeunt Pirates with MAR.

SCENE II.

The same.

Re-enter LEONINE.

Leon. These roving thieves serve the great pirate Val des ;3

And they have seiz'd Marina. Let her go:

There's no hope she 'll return. I'll swear she 's dead,
And thrown into the sea.-But I 'll see further;
Perhaps they will but please themselves upon her,
Not carry her aboard. If she remain,

Whom they have ravish'd, must by me be slain. [Exit.

2 Leonine runs away.] So, in Twine's translation: "When the villain heard that, he ran away as fast as he could.-Then came the Pyrats and rescued Tharsia, and carried her away to their ships, and hoised sailes, and departed." Steevens.

3 These roving thieves serve the great pirate Valdes;] [Old copy-roguing.] The Spanish armada, I believe, furnished our author with this name. Don Pedro de Valdes was an Admiral in that fleet, and had the command of the great galleon of Andalusia. His ship being disabled, he was taken by Sir Francis Drake, on the twenty-second of July, 1588, and sent to Dartmouth. This play, therefore, we may conclude, was not written till after that period.-The making one of this Spaniards ances tors a pirate, was probably relished by the audience in those days. Malone.

In Robert Greene's Spanish Masquerado, 1589, the curious reader may find a very particular account of this Valdes, who was commander of the Andalusian troops, and then prisoner in England. Steevens.

We should probably read-These roving thieves.-The idea of roguery is necessarily implied in the word thieves. M. Mason.