Of marriage, all the viands that I eat

Do seem unsavoury, wishing him my meat!
Sure he's a gallant gentleman.

Sim. He's but a country gentleman:

He has done no more than other knights have done,
He has broken a staff, or so; so, let it pass.

Thai. To me he seems like diamond to glass.
Per. Yond' king's to me like to my father's picture,
Which tells me3 in that glory once he was;
Had princes sit, like stars, about his throne,
And he the sun for them to reverence.
None that beheld him, but like lesser lights
Did vail their crowns to his supremacy;
Where now his son, like a glow-worm in the night,
The which hath fire in darkness, none in light:
Whereby I see that Time's the king of men;
He's both their parent, and he is their grave,
And gives them what he will, not what they crave.
Sim. What are you merry, knights?

I 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.

Yond' knight 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?

Sim.

What is it

O! attend, my daughter:

Princes, in this, should live like gods above,

Who freely give to every one that comes

Which tells ME-] The quarto, 1609, omits "me," found in all later copies. In the last line but one of this speech, the quarto, 1609, alone reads, "He's both their parent."

To honour them; and princes, not doing so,

Are like to gnats, which make a sound, but kill'd

To make his entrance more sweet, here say,
We drink this standing-bowl of wine to him.
Thai. Alas, my father! it befits not me
Unto a stranger knight to be so bold:
He may my proffer take for an offence,
Since men take women's gifts for impudence.
Sim. How!

Do as I bid you, or you'll move me else.

Thai. [Aside.] Now, by the gods, he could not please me better.

Sim. And farther 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, farther, he desires to know of you,
Of whence you are, your name and parentage.
Per. A gentleman of Tyre (my name, Pericles,
My education been in arts and arms')

Who looking for adventures in the world,
Was by the rough seas reft of ships and men,

And after shipwreck driven upon this shore.

Thai. He thanks your grace; names himself Pericles,

A gentleman of Tyre,

Who only by misfortune of the seas

Bereft of ships and men, cast on the shore.

My education BEEN in arts and arms,] i. e. My education haring been in arts and arms. Malone altered "been" of all the old editions to being; but that "been" is the right word we have the evidence of the novel founded upon "Pericles," where we meet with the very same words-" his education been in arts and arms."

5 - cast on the shore.] This speech is perfectly intelligible: we print it in the words of all the old copies, which we prefer to patching up a text, as

Sim. Now by the gods, I pity his misfortune,
And will awake him from his melancholy.
Come, gentlemen, we sit too long on trifles,

And waste the time which looks for other revels.
Even in your armours, as you are address'd,

Will very well become a soldier's dance.
I will not have excuse, with saying, 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;

Here is a lady that wants breathing too:
And I have often heard, you knights of Tyre
Are excellent in making ladies trip,

And that their measures are as excellent.

Per. In those that practise them, they are, my lord. Sim. O! that's as much, as you would be denied [The Knights and Ladies dance.

Of your fair courtesy.-Unclasp, unclasp;

Thanks, gentlemen, to all; all have done well,

But you the best. [To PERICLES.] Pages and lights, to conduct

These knights unto their several lodgings!-Yours, sir,
We have given order to be next our own.
Per. I am at your grace's pleasure.

Sim. Princes, it is too late to talk of love",
And that's the mark I know you level at:
Therefore, each one betake him to his rest;
To-morrow all for speeding do their best.

[Exeunt.

modern editors seem to have done, under the supposition that they could restore the versification.

6 Princes, it is too late to talk of love,] In the quarto, 1609, this speech is made part of what is said by Pericles; but the obvious error is corrected, in a hand-writing of the time, in the copy belonging to the Duke of Devonshire.

SCENE IV.

Tyre. A Room in the Governor's House.

Enter HELICANUS and ESCANES.

Hel. No, 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,
When he was seated, and his daughter with him,
In a chariot of inestimable value,

A fire from heaven came, and shrivell'd up
Those bodies, even to loathing; for they so stunk,
That all those eyes ador'd them ere their fall,
Scorn now their hand should give them burial.
Esca. "Twas very strange.

Hel.

And yet but just; for though
This king were great, his greatness was no guard
To bar heaven's shaft, but sin had his reward.
Esca. "Tis very true.

Enter Three Lords.

1 Lord. See! not a man, in private conference Or council, has respect with him but he.

2 Lord. It shall no longer grieve without reproof. 3 Lord. And curs'd be he that will not second it. 1 Lord. Follow me, then.-Lord Helicane, a word. Hel. With me? and welcome.- Happy day, my lords.

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.
If in the world he live, we'll seek him out;
If in his grave he rest, we'll find him there;
And be resolved, he lives to govern us,

Or dead, gives cause to mourn his funeral,
And leaves us to our free election.

2 Lord. Whose death's, indeed, the strongest in our

censure:

And knowing this kingdom is without a head,
Like goodly buildings left without a roof,

Soon fall to ruin, 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,
Where's hourly trouble for a minute's ease.
A twelvemonth longer, let me entreat you
To forbear the absence of your king;
If in which time expir'd he not return,
I shall with aged patience bear your yoke.
But if I cannot win you to this love,

Go search like nobles, like noble subjects,
And in your search spend your adventurous worth;
Whom if you find, and win unto return,

You shall like diamonds sit about his crown.

1 Lord. To wisdom he's a fool that will not yield: And since lord Helicane enjoineth us,

We with our travels will endeavour.

Hel. Then, you love us, we you, and we'll clasp hands:

When peers thus knit, a kingdom ever stands.

VOL. VIII.

[Exeunt.

X