Per. Tell thy story ; If thine consider'd prove the thousandth part Have suffer'd like a girl: yet thou dost look Like Patience, gazing on kings' graves, and smiling How lost thou them? Thy name, my most kind virgin? Recount, I do beseech thee; come, sit by me. Mar. My name, sir, is Marina. Per. O, I am mock'd, And thou by some incensed god sent hither Mar. Patience, good sir, Or here I'll cease. Per. Nay, I'll be patient; Thou little know'st how thou dost startle me, To call thyself Marina. Mar. The name Marina, Was given me by one that had some power; Per. How a king's daughter? And call'd Marina? Mar. You said you would believe me ; But, not to be a troubler of your peace, I will end here. Per. But are you flesh and blood? Have you a working pulse? and are no fairy? No motion-Well; speak on. Where were you born? And wherefore call'd Marina ? Mar. Call'd Marina, For I was born at sea. Per. At sea? thy mother? Mar. My mother was the daughter of a king; Who died the very minute I was born, As my good nurse Lychorida hath oft Deliver'd weeping Per. O, stop there a little ! This is the rarest dream that e'er dull sleep [7] By her beauty and patient meekness disarming Calamity, and preventing her from using her up-lifted sword. So, in King Henry IV: Part II: "And hangs resolv'd correction in the arm, "That was uprear'd to execution." Extremity (though not personified as here) is in like manner used in King Lear, for the utmost of human suffering: -another, "To amplify too much, would make much more, MALONE. Did mock sad fools withal: this cannot be. My daughter's buried. [Aside.] Well :-where were you bred? I'll hear you more, to the bottom of your story, Mar. You'll scarce believe me; 'twere best I did give o'er. Per. I will believe you by the syllable Of what you shall deliver. Yet, give me leave: Did seek to murder me and having woo'd Whither will you have me? Why do you weep! It may be, You think me an impostor; no, good faith; If good king Pericles be. Per. Ho, Helicanus ! Hel. Calls my gracious lord? Per. Thou art a grave and noble counsellor, Hel. I know not; but Here is the regent, sir, of Mitylene, Lys. She would never tell Her parentage; being demanded that, Per. O Helicanus, strike me, honour'd sir; Give me a gash, put me to present pain; And drown me with their sweetness. O, come hither, Thou that wast born at sea, buried at Tharsus, And found at sea again !—O Helicanus, Down on thy knees, thank the holy gods, as loud What was thy mother's name? tell me but that, Though doubts did ever sleep. Mar. First, sir, I pray, What is your title? Per. I am Pericles of Tyre: but tell me now (As in the rest thou hast been godlike perfect,) My drown'd queen's name, thou art the heir of kingdoms, And another life to Pericles thy father. Mar. Is it no more to be your daughter, than To say, my mother's name was Thaisa ? Thaisa was my mother, who did end, The minute I began. Per. Now, blessing on thee, rise; thou art my child. When thou shalt kneel and justify in knowledge, Per. I embrace you, sir. Give me my robes; I am wild in my beholding: O'er, point by point, for yet he seems to doubt, Per. None? The music of the spheres: list, my Marina. Do ye not hear? Lys. Music? My lord, I hear Per. Most heavenly music : It nips me unto list'ning, and thick slumber Hangs on mine eye-lids; let me rest. Lys. A pillow for his head; [He sleeps. [The Curtain before the Pavilion of PERICLES So leave him all.-Well, my companion-friends, I'll well remember you. 7* [Exeunt LYSIMACHUS, HELICANUS, MARINA, and attendant Lady. VOL. IX. SCENE II. The same. PERICLES on the Deck asleep; DIANA appearing to him as in a vision. Dia. My temple stands in Ephesus; hie thee thither, And do upon mine altar sacrifice. There, when my maiden priests are met together, Before the people all, Reveal how thou at sea didst lose thy wife : To mourn thy crosses, with thy daughter's, call, And give them repetition to the life. Perform my bidding, or thou liv'st in woe: Do't, and be happy, by my silver bow. [DIANA disappears. Per. Celestial Dian, goddess argentine, 8 I will obey thee !-Helicanus ! Enter LYSIMACHUS, HELICANUS, and MARINA. Hel. Sir. Per. My purpose was for Tharsus, there to strike The inhospitable Cleon; but I am For other service first toward Ephesus Turn our blown sails; eftsoons I'll tell thee why. [TO HELICANUS. Shall we refresh us, sir, upon your shore, And give you gold for such provision As our intents will need? Lys. With all my heart, sir; and when you come ashore, I have another suit. Per. You shall prevail, Were it to woo my daughter; for it seems You have been noble towards her. Lys. Sir, lend your arm. Per. Come, my Marina. [Exeunt. Enter GowER,before the Temple of DIANA at Ephesus. Gow. Now our sands are almost run; More a little, and then done. This, as my last boon, give me, (For such kindness must relieve me,) [3] That is, regent of the silver moon. MALONE. What pageantry, what feats, what shows, To greet the king. So he has thriv'd, SCENE III. [Exit. The Temple of DIANA at Ephesus; THAISA standing near the Per. Hail, Dian! to perform thy just command, At sea in childbed died she, but brought forth Thai. Voice and favour! You are, you are-O royal Pericles !2_ [9] Does this accord with Iachimo's description: [She faints. Live, like Diana's priestess, 'twixt cold sheets ?" Diana must have been wofully imposed on, if she received the mother of Marina as a maiden votaress. STEEVENS. [1] Her white robe of innocence, as being yet under the protection of the goddess of chastity. PERCY. [2] The similitude between this scene, and the discovery in the last Act of The Winter's Tale, will, I suppose, strike every reader. MALONE. |