Which tells me, in that glory once he was; 1 Knight. Who can be other, in this royal presence? Sim. Here, with a cup that's stor'd unto the brim (As you do love, fill to your mistress' lips,) We drink this health to you. Knights. Sim. Yet pause a while; We thank your grace. Yon knight, methinks, doth sit too melancholy, As if the entertainment in our court Had not a show might countervail his worth. Note it not you, Thaisa? Thai. To me, my father? What is it Sim. Therefore to make's entrance more sweet, here say, Do as I bid you, or you'll move me else. Thai. Now, by the gods, he could not please me better. [Aside. Sim. And further tell him, we desire to know, Of whence he is, his name and parentage. Thai. The king, my father, sir, has drunk to you. Per. I thank him. Thai. Wishing it so much blood unto your life. Per. I thank both him and you, and pledge him freely. Thai. And further he desires to know of you, A gentleman of Tyre, who only by Sim. Now by the gods, I pity his misfortune, will not have excuse, with saving, this Loud music is too harsh for ladies' heads; Since they love men in arms, as well as beds. [The Knights dance. So, this was well ask'd, 'twas so well perform'd. Come, sir; Hel. No, no, my Escanes; know this of me,Antiochus from incest liv'd not free; For which, the most high gods not minding longer To withhold the vengeance that they had in store, Due to this heinous capital offence, Even in the height and pride of all his glory, A fire from heaven came, and shrivell'd up And yet but just; for though 1 Lord. Know that our griefs are risen to the top, And now at length they overflow their banks. Hel. Your griefs, for what? wrong not the prince you love. 1 Lord. Wrong not yourself then, noble Helicane ; But if the prince do live, let us salute him, Or know what ground's made happy by his breath. 2 Lord. Whose death's, indeed, the strongest in our censure:" And knowing this kingdom, if without a head (Like goodly buildings left without a roof,) Will soon to ruin fall, your noble self, That best know'st how to rule, and how to reign, We thus submit unto,-our sovereign. All. Live, noble Helicane! Hel. Try honour's cause, forbear your suffrages: If that you love prince Pericles, forbear. Take I your wish, I leap into the seas, (4) Which adored them. (5) Satisfied. (6) Judgment, opinion. Where's hourly trouble for a minute's case. Go search like noblemen, like noble subjects, 1 Lord. To wisdom he's a fool that will not yield; And, since lord Helicane enjoineth us, We with our travels will endeavour it. Hel. Then you love us, we you, and we'll clasp hands; When peers thus knit, a kingdom ever stands. [Exeunt. SCENE V-Pentapolis. A room in the palace. Enter Simonides, reading a letter, the Knights! meet him. 1 Knight. Good morrow to the good Simonides. Sim. Knights, from my daughter this I let you know, That for this twelvemonth, she'll not undertake Her reason to herself is only known, 2 Knight. May we not get access to her, my lord? Stm. Faith, by no means; she hath so strictly tied her letter: She tells me here, she'll wed the stranger knight, And will no longer have it be delay'd. Per. All fortune to the good Simonides! Per. It is your grace's pleasure to commend ; Sim. Sir, you are music's master. My daughter? Per. As of a most virtuous princess. Sim. And she is fair too, is she not? Per. As a fair day in summer; wond'rous fair. Sim. My daughter, sir, thinks very well of you; Ay, so well, sir, that you must be her master, And she'll your scholar be; therefore, look to it. Per. Unworthy I to be her schoolmaster. Sim. She thinks not so; peruse this writing else. Per. What's here! A letter, that she loves the knight of Tyre? (1) Quenched: Per. Sim. Traitor! Ay, traitor, sir. Per. Even in his throat (unless it be the king,) That calls me traitor, I return the lie. Sim. Now, by the gods, I do applaud his courage. [Aside. Per. My actions are as noble as my thoughts, That never relish'd of a base descent. I came unto your court, for honour's cause, Here comes my daughter, she can witness it. Resolve your angry father, if my tongue Who takes offence at that would make me glad? Nay, come; your hands and lips must seal it too.- Thai. ACT III. Enter Gower. [Exeunt. Gow. Now sleep yslaked' hath the rout; No din but snores, the house about, Made louder by the o'er-fed breast Of this most pompous marriage-feast. The cat, with evne of burning coal, Now couches 'fore the inouse's hole; And crickets sing at the oven's mouth, As the blither for their drouth. Hymen hath brought the bride to bed, Where, by the loss of maidenhead, A babe is moulded ;-Be attent, And time that is so briefly spent, Dumb show. Thy dreadful thunders; gently quench thy nimble, O Enter Pericles and Simonides at one door, with Altendants; a Messenger meets him, kneels, and Wilt thou spit all thyself?-The seaman's whistle gives Pericles a letter. Pericles shows it to Simon- Is as a whisper in the ears of death, ides; the Lords kneel to the former. Then enter Unheard.-Lychorida!-Lucina,"1 Thaisa with child, and Lychorida. Simonides Divinest patroness, and midwife, gentle shows his daughter the letter; she rejoices: she To those that cry by night, convey thy deity and Pericles take leave of her father, and depart. Aboard our dancing boat; make swift the pangs Then Simonides, &c. retire. Of my queen's travails!-Now, Lychorida Gow. By many a dearn2 and painful perch,3 By the four opposing coignes,4 That horse, and sail, and high expense, The crown of Tyre, but he will none : The sum of this, Brought hither to Pentapolis, Who dream'd, who thought of such a thing! This stage, the ship, upon whose deck Enter Lychorida, with an infant. Lyc. Here is a thing Too young for such a place, who if it had Take in your arms this piece of your dead queen. Lyc. Patience, good sir; do not assist the storm. A little daughter; for the sake of it, Be manly, and take comfort. Per. O you gods! Lyc. Even for this charge. Per. Patience, good sir, Now, mild may be thy life! For a more blust'rous birth had never babe: For thou'rt the rudeliest welcom'd to this world, As fire, air, water, earth, and heaven can make, Enter two Sailors. 1 Sail. What courage, sir? God save you. 1 Sail. Slack the bolins" there; thou wilt not, wilt thou? Blow, and split thyself. 2 Sail. But sea-room, an the brine and cloudy billow kiss the moon, I care not. 1 Sail. Sir, your queen must overboard; the sea works high, the wind is loud, and will not lie, till the ship be cleared of the dead. Per. That's your superstition. 1 Sail. Pardon us, sir; with us at sea it still hath been observed; and we are strong in earnest. [Exit. Therefore briefly yield her; for she must overboard straight. SCENE I-Enter Pericles, on a ship at sea. Per. Thou god of this great vast,' rebuke these surges, Which wash both heaven and hell; and thou, that hast Upon the winds command, bind them in brass, Per. Be it as you think meet.-Most wretched queen! Lyc. Here she lies, sir. Per. A terrible child-bed hast thou had, my dear, To give thee hallow'd to thy grave, but straight (11) The goddess of child-bearing. (12) Thought. (13) Contend with you in honour. (15) Than thy entrance into life can requite. Must cast thee, scarcely coffin'd, in the ooze; 2 Sail. Sir, we have a chest beneath the hatches, caulk'd and bitum'd ready. Per. I thank thee. Mariner, say, what coast is this? 2 Sail. We are near Tharsus. Per. Thither, gentle mariner, But immortality attends the former, (Together with my practice,) made familiar That nature works, and of her cures; which gives me A more content in course of true delight 2 Gent. Your honour has through Ephesus pour'd forth Your charity, and hundreds call themselves Alter thy course for Tyre. When canst thou reach it? Your creatures, who by you have been restor❜d. 2 Sail. By break of day, if the wind cease. Per. O make for Tharsus. There will I visit Cleon, for the babe [Exeunt. SCENE II.-Ephesus. A room in Cerimon's house. Enter Cerimon, 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; It has been a turbulent and stormy night. And not your knowledge, personal pain, but even Serv. What is that? Did the sea toss upon our shore this chest ; Sir, even now 'Tis of some wreck. Cer. Whate'er it be, Set 't down, let's look on it. 2 Gent. 'Tis like a coffin, sir. Cer. 'Tis wondrous heavy. Wrench it open straight; If the sea's stomach be o'ercharg'd with gold, It is a good constraint of fortune, that Serv. I have been in many; but such a night as It belches upon us. this, 2 Gent. 'Tis so, my lord. Serv. I never saw so huge a billow, sir, Come, wrench it open; Soft, soft!-it smells most sweetly in my sense. 2 Gent. A delicate odour. Cer. As ever hit my nostril; so,-up with it. O you most potent god! what's here? a corse? i Gent. Most strange! Cer. Shrouded in cloth of state; balm'd and en treasur'd With bags of spices full! A passport too! Apollo, perfect me i'the characters! Here I give to understand, [Unfolds a scroll. [Reads. (If e'er this coffin drive a-land,) This queen, worth all our mundane" cost. If thou liv'st, Pericles, thou hast a heart The overpressed spirits. I have heard Enter a Servant, with boxes, napkins, and fire. The vial once more;-How thou stirr'st, thou block! The music there.—I pray you, give her air :- This queen will live: nature awakes; a warmth 1 Gent. Cer. Begin to part their fringes of bright gold; Cer. Most rare. Hush, gentle neighbours; Lend me your hands: to the next chamber bear her. Get linen; now this matter must be look'd to, For her relapse is mortal. Come, come, come; And Esculapius guide us! [Exeunt, carrying Thaisa away. SCENE III.-Tharsus. A room in Cleon's house. Enter Pericles, Cleon, Dionyza, Lychorida, and Marina. Per. Most honour'd Cleon, I must needs be gone; My twelve months are expir'd, and Tyrus stands In a litigious peace. You, and your lady, Take from my heart all thankfulness! The gods Make up the rest upon you! Cle. Your shafts of fortune, though they hurt you mortally, Yet glance full wand'ringly on us. Dion. O your sweet queen! That the strict fates had pleas'd you had brought her hither, To have bless'd mine eyes! Per. We cannot but obey The powers above us. Could I rage and roar As doth the sea she lies in, yet the end Must be as 'tis. My babe Marina (whom, For she was born at sea, I have nam'd so,) here I charge your charity withal, and leave her The infant of your care; beseeching you To give her princely training, that she may be Manner'd as she is born. Cle. Fear not, my lord: Your grace,' that fed my country with your corn (For which the people's prayers still fall upon you,) Must in your child be thought on. If neglection Should therein make me vile, the common body,2 By you reliev'd, would force me to my duty: But if to that my nature need a spur, The gods revenge it upon me and mine, To the end of generation! (1) Favour. (2) The common people. (3) Appear wilful, perverse by such conduct. I believe you, Per. Your honour and your goodness teach me credit, Without your vows. Till she be married, madam, By bright Diana, whom we honour all, Unscissar'd shall this hair of mine remain, Though I show will' in't. So I take my leave. Good madam, make me blessed in your care In bringing up my child. Dion. I have one myself, Who shall not be more dear to my respect, Than yours, my lord. Per. Madam, my thanks and prayers. Cle. We'll bring your grace even to the edge o'the shore; Then give you up to the mask'd Neptune,* and Look to your little mistress, on whose grace That I was shipp'd at sea, I well remember, I cannot rightly say: But since king Pericles, Cer. Madam, if this you purpose as you speak, Diana's temple is not distant far, Moreover, if you please, a niece of mine Thai. My recompense is thanks, that's all; Yet my good will is great, though the gift small. [Exeunt. ACT IV. Enter Gower. Gow. Imagine Pericles at Tyre, Now to Marina bend your mind, Whom our fast growing scene must find Which makes her both the heart and place Be't when she weav'd the sleided" silk (4) Insidious waves that wear a treacherous smile. (5) Groaning. (6) Called. (7) Untwisted. |