- TLN 2271rhetorical device
“our sands are almost run; More a little, and then dumb”
Gower uses the image of sand running through an hourglass to signal that his role as storyteller is nearly over: 'sands are almost run' means the story's time is nearly spent. 'Then dumb' means he will fall silent — his final speech is a few lines away.
historical John Gower and the Confessio Amantis “promised to be wived To fair Marina”
'Wived' means married, or provided with a wife. The regent Lysimachus has been promised Marina as his bride. The verb form 'to be wived' — to get oneself a wife — was current in Shakespeare's time but sounds deliberately old-fashioned in Gower's mouth.
- TLN 2282classical allusion
“done his sacrifice, As Dian bade”
'Dian' is Diana, goddess of chastity and the hunt. In the vision at the end of Act 5 Scene 1, Diana appeared to Pericles and commanded him to travel to her temple at Ephesus and make an offering there. This act of ritual sacrifice is the condition that must be fulfilled before the marriage can happen.
classical Diana, virgin goddess of the moon “the interim, pray you, all confound. In feather'd briefness”
'Confound' here means to pass over, collapse, or make nothing of — not to destroy or confuse. Gower is asking the audience to ignore the travel time between Mytilene and Ephesus. 'Feather'd briefness' means swift speed: feathers stand for flight, so feathered brevity is the swiftness of a bird in flight.
historical John Gower and the Confessio Amantis“hither come so soon, Is by your fancy's thankful doom”
'Doom' here means judgment or decision, not death or destruction. 'Fancy' means imagination. Gower is saying that Pericles can arrive at Ephesus so quickly only because the audience's willing imagination decrees it so — a playful acknowledgment that theatrical time is governed by the spectator's consent.
historical John Gower and the Confessio Amantis