Shook, as the earth did quake;

The very principals did seem to rend,

And all to topple.

Pure surprise and fear Made me to quit the house.

2 Gent. That is the cause we trouble you so early; "Tis not our husbandry.

Cer.

O! you say well.

1 Gent. But I much marvel that your lordship,

having

Rich tire about you, should at these early hours
Shake off the golden slumber of repose.

"Tis most strange,

Nature should be so conversant with pain,
Being thereto not compell'd.

I hold it ever,

Cer.
Virtue and cunning were endowments greater

Than nobleness and riches: careless heirs
May the two latter darken and expend;
But immortality attends the former,
Making a man a god. "Tis known, I ever
Have studied physic, through which secret art,
By turning o'er authorities, I have

(Together with my practice) made familiar
To me and to my aid, the blest infusions.
That dwell in vegetives, in metals, stones;
And can speak of the disturbances that nature
Works, and of her cures; which doth give me
A more content in course of true delight
Than to be thirsty after tottering honour,
Or tie my treasure up' in silken bags,
To please the fool and death.

2 Gent. Your honour has through Ephesus pour'd forth

8 Virtue and CUNNING-] "Cunning" here means knowledge, as in Vol. vi. p. 588.

? Or tie my TREASURE up-] The old copies have pleasure; but no doubt a misprint, the compositor having caught the commencement of the word from the next line.

Your charity, and hundreds call themselves

Your creatures, who by you have been restor'd:
And not your knowledge, your personal pain, but even
Your purse, still open, hath built lord Cerimon

Such strong renown as time shall never—

Did the sea toss upon our shore this chest:

"Tis of some wreck.

Cer.

Set it down; let's look upon't.

2 Gent. "Tis like a coffin, sir.

Cer.

Whate'er it be,

"Tis wondrous heavy.

Wrench it open straight:

If the sea's stomach be o'ercharg'd with gold,

"Tis a good constraint of fortune it belches upon us.

2 Gent. "Tis so, my lord.

Cer.

How close 'tis caulk'd and bitum'd'.

Did the sea cast it up?

Serv. I never saw so huge a billow, sir,

As toss'd it upon shore.

Cer.

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 gods! what's here? a corse? 1 Gent. Most strange!

Cer. Shrouded in cloth of state; balm'd and entreasured

With full bags of spices! A passport too:

Apollo, perfect me i' the characters!

[Unfolds a Scroll.

1 How close 'tis caulk'd and BITUM'D!] The old copies misprint "bitum'd," which, from what has gone before, is evidently the true word, bottom'd.

"Here I give to understand,

(If e'er this coffin drive a-land)

I, king Pericles, have lost

This queen, worth all our mundane cost.

Who finds her, give her burying;

She was the daughter of a king:
Besides this treasure for a fee,
The gods requite his charity!"

If thou liv'st, Pericles, thou hast a heart

[Reads.

That even cracks for woe!-This chanc'd to-night.

2 Gent. Most likely, sir.

Cer.

Nay, certainly to-night;

For look, how fresh she looks.-They were too rough,

That threw her in the sea. Make fire within:
Fetch hither all the boxes in my closet.

Death may usurp on nature many hours,
And yet the fire of life kindle again
The overpressed spirits. I heard

Of an Egyptian, that had nine hours lien dead,
Who was by good appliance recovered2.

Enter a Servant, with Boxes, Napkins, and Fire.
Well said, well said; the fire and the cloths.-
The rough and woful music that we have,
Cause it to sound, 'beseech you.

The vial once more;-how thou stirr'st, thou block !—
The music there!-I pray you, give her air.

Gentlemen,

This queen will live: nature awakes a warm

2 Who was by good appliance recovered.] The words of the novel founded upon "Pericles" tend to show that this passage is corrupt, and that Cerimon means, that he has heard of an Egyptian who had the power of restoring those who had for nine hours lain in a state of apparent death. The words are :—“ I have read of some Egyptians, who after four hours' death (if a man may call it so) have raised impoverished bodies, like to this, unto their former health.” Perhaps, for "impoverished," we ought to read imperished. The Egyptians were celebrated for their magical powers.

Breath out of her3: she hath not been entranc'd
Above five hours. See, how she 'gins to blow
Into life's flower again!

1 Gent.

The heavens,

Through you, increase our wonder, and set up
Your fame for ever.

Cer.

She is alive! behold,

Her eyelids, cases to those heavenly jewels
Which Pericles hath lost,

Begin to part their fringes of bright gold:
The diamonds of a most praised water
Do appear to make the world twice rich. Live,
And make us weep to hear your fate, fair creature,
Rare as you seem to be!

Thai.

O dear Diana!

[She moves.

Where am I? Where's my lord? What world is this? 2 Gent. Is not this strange?

1 Gent.

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;
And Esculapius guide us!

[Exeunt, carrying THAISA away.

3 BREATH out of her!] Malone states that "the old copies read—a warmth breath out of her." This should seem to be a mistake: the text is simply, "nature awakes a warm breath out of her!" i. e. Cerimon perceives a warm breath come from her. Modern editors (some without the slightest notice, and all without the slightest necessity) alter the text of every old impression to "a warmth breathes out of her." They besides, in this part of the play, take most unwarrantable liberties with the versification, which is very irregular: no patching and mending can reduce it to strict ten-syllable measure, which probably it was never meant to be.

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 wanderingly 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 gentle 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, but think
Your grace, that fed my country with your corn,
(For which the people's prayers still fall upon you)

Yet glance full WANDERINGLY on us.] The old copies have wondringly, and in the preceding line shakes for "shafts," and haunt for "hurt," excepting the folio, 1664, which has hate. The several amendments were introduced by Steevens. In the speech of Pericles the folio omits "litigious." Lower down Malone rejected the epithet “gentle” before “babe.”