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. O, attend, my daughter; Princes, in this, should live like gods above, Who freely give to every one that comes To honour them: and princes, not doing so, Are like to gnats, which make a sound, but kill'd Are wonder'd at

Therefore to make's 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. 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,
Of whence you are, your name and parentage.
Per. A gentleman of Tyre-(my name, Pericles;
My education being 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 has been bereft
Of ships and men, and cast upon this shore.
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 musick 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 practice 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. J Pages and lights, 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,
For 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.

SCENE IV.

[Exeunt.

Tyre. A Room in the Governor's House.

Enter Helicanus and Escanes.

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 curst 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 resolv'd, 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, 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 seat,
Where's hourly trouble for a minute's ease.
A twelvemonth longer, let me then entreat you
To forbear choice i 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 noblemen, 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 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,
Which from herself by no means ren I get.

tame you;

tied her

To her chamber, that it is impossible.

One twelve moons more she'll wear Diana's livery;

This by the eye of Cynthia hath she vow'd, And on her virgin honour will not break it. 3 Knight. Though loath to bid farewell, we take our leaves. [Exeunt.

Sim. So They're well despatch'd; now to my daughter's letter:

She tells me here, she'll wed the stranger knight,
Or never more to view nor day nor light.
Mistress, 'tis well, your choice agrees with mine;
I like that well :-nay, how absolute she's in't,
Not minding whether I dislike or no!
Wel., I commend her choice;
And will no longer have it be delay'd.
Soft, here he comes:-I must dissemble it.
Enter Pericles.

Per. All fortune to the good Simonides!
Sim. To you as much,sir! I am beholden to you,
For your sweet musick this last night: my ears,
I do protest, were never better fed

With such delightful pleasing harmony.

Per. It is your grace's pleasure to commend; Not my desert.

Sim.

Sir, you are musick's master.

Per. The worst of all her scholars,my good lord. Sim. Let me ask one thing. What do you think, sir, of

My daughter 7
Per.
As of a most virtuous princess.
Sim. And she is fair too, is she not?
Per. As a fair day in summer; wondrous 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?
'Tis the king's subtilty, to have my life. [Aside.
O, seek not to entrap, my gracious lord,
A stranger, and distressed gentleman,
That never aim'd so high, to love your daughter,
But bent all offices to honour her.

Sim. Thou hast bewitch'd my daughter, and thou art

A villain.

Per. By the gods, I have not, sir. Never did thought of mine levy offence; Nor never did my actions yet commence

A deed might gain her love, or your displeasure. Sim. Traitor, thou liest.

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 cou[Aside.

rage.

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,
And not to be a rebel to her state;

And he that otherwise accounts of me,"
This sword shall prove he's honour's enemy.
Sim. No!-

Here comes my daughter, she can witness it.

Enter Thaisa.

Will you, not having my consent, bestow
Your love and your affections on a stranger?
(Who, for aught I know to the contrary,
Or think, may be as great in blood as 1.) Aside
Hear therefore, mistress; frame your will to
mine,-

And you, sir, hear you.-Either be rul'd by me,
Or I will make you-man and wife.-
Nay, come; your hands and lips must seal it

too.

And being join'd, I'll thus your hopes destroyAnd for a further grief,-God give you joy! What, are you both pleas'd?

Thai. Yes, if you love me, sit. Per. Even as my life, my blood that fosters i Sim. What, are you both agreed 7 Both. Yes, please your majesty. Sim. It pleaseth me so well, I'll see you wed; Then, with what haste you can, get you to bed [Exeunt

ACT III.

Enter Gower.

Gow. Now sleep yslacked 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 eyne of burning coal, Now couches 'fore the mouse's hole; And crickets sing at th' ovens' 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, With your fine fancies quaintly eche; What's dumb in show, I'll plain with speech.

Dumb Show.

Enter Pericles and Simonides at one door, with
A tendants: a Messenger meets them, kneels,
and gives Pericles a Letter. Pericles shows
to Simonides; the Lords kneel to the former.
Then enter Thaisa with child, and Lycharid
Simonides shows his Daughter the Letter; she
rejoices: she and Pericles take leave of her Fa
ther, and depart. Then Simonides, &c. retire
Gow. By many a dearn and painful perch,
Of Pericles the careful search
By the four opposing coignes,
Which the world together joins,
Is made, with all due diligence,
That horse, and sail, and high expense,
Can stead the quest. At last from Tyre
(Fame answering the most strong inquire)
To the court of King Simonides
Are letters brought; the tenour these:
Antiochus and his daughter's dead:
The men of Tyrus, on the head

Of Helicanus would set on

The crown of Tyre, but he will none:

The mutiny there he hastes t' oppress;

Says to them, if King Pericles

Come not home, in twice six inoons,
He, obedient to their dooms,

Will take the crown. The sum of this,
Brought hither to Pentapolis,
Y-ravished the regions round,
And every one with claps 'gan sound,
Our heir apparent is a king:

Who dream'd, who thought of such a thing?
Brief, he must hence depart to Tyre;
His queen, with child, makes her desire
(Which who shall cross?) along to go
(Omit we all their dole and wo;)
Lychorida, her nurse she takes,
And so to sea. Their vessel shakes
On Neptune's billow; half the flood

Hath their keel cut; but fortune's mood
Varies again; the grizzled north
Disgorges such a tempest forth,
That, as a duck for life that dives,
So up and down the poor ship drives.
The lady shrieks, and, well-a-near!
Doth fall in travail with her fear:
And what ensues in this fell storm,
Shall, for itself, itself perform.
I nill relate; action may
Conveniently the rest convey:
Which might not what by me is told.
In your imagination hold
This stage, the ship, upon whose deck
The sea-tost prince appears to speak.

SCENE I.

[Exit.

Upon the winds command, bind them in brass, Having call'd them from the deep! O still thy deaf'ning,

Thy dreadful thunders; gently quench thy nimble
Sulphureous flashes!-O how, Lychorida,
How does my queen!-Thou storm, thou! veno-
mously

Wilt thou spit all thyself?-The seaman's whistle
Is as a whisper in the ears of death,
Unheard.-Ly chorida!-Lucina, Ó
Divinest patroness, and midwife, gentle
To those that cry by night, convey thy deity
Aboard our dancing boat; make swift the pangs
Of my queen's travails!-Now, Lychorida

Enter Lychorida, with an Infant.

Lyc. Here is a thing

Too young for such a place, who if it had
Conceit would die as I am like to do.

Take in your arms this piece of your dead queen.
Per. How! how, Lychorida!

Lyc. Patience, good sir; do not assist the storm. Here's all that is left living of your queen,A little daughter; for the sake of it,

Be manly, and take comfort.

O you gods!

P. Why do you make us love your goodly gifts, And snatch them straight away? We,here below, Recall not what we give, and therein may Vi honour with yourselves. INC.

Even for this charge.

Per.

Patience, good sir,

Now, mild may be thy life! For a more blust'rous birth had never babe : Quiet and gentle thy conditions!

For thou art the rudeliest welcom'd to this world, That e'er was prince's child. Happy what fol lows!

Thou hast as chiding a nativity,

As fire, air, water, earth, and heaven can make, To herald thee from the womb: even at the first, Thy loss is more than can thy portage quit, With all thou canst find here.-Now the good gods

Throw their best eyes upon it!

Enter two Sailors.

1 Sail. What courage, sir? God save you. Per. Courage enough: I do not fear the flaw; It hath done to me the worst. Yet, for the love Of this poor infant, this fresh new sea-farer, I would, it would be quiet.

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 je till the ship be cleared of the dead. Per. That's your superstition.

1 Sail. Pardon us, sir; with us at sea it still bath been observed; and we are strong in cus tom. Therefore briefly yield her; for she must overboard straight.

Per. Be it as you think meet.-Most wretched queen!

Lyc. Here she lies, sir.

Per. A terribie child-bed hast thou had,my dear, No light, no fire; the unfriendly elements Forgot thee utterly; nor have I time

To give thee hallow'd to thy grave, but straigh
Must cast thee, scarcely coffin'd, in the ooze;
Where, for a monument upon thy bones,
And aye-remaining lamps, the belching whale,
And humming water must o'erwhelm thy corpse
Lying with simple shells. Lychorida,
Bid Nestor bring me spices, ink, and paper,
My casket and my jewels; and bid Nicander
Bring me the satin coffer: lay the babe
Upon the pillow: hie thee, whiles I say
A priestly farewell to her: suddenly, woman.
[Erit Lychorida.
2 Sail. Sir,we have a chest beneath the hatches,
caulk'd and bitumed ready.
Per. I thank thee. Mariner, say what coast is
this?

2 Sail. We are near Tharsus.
Per. Thither, gentle mariner,
Alter thy course for Tyre. When canst thou
reach it?

2 Sail. By break of day. if the wind cease.
Per. O make for Tharsus.

There will I visit Cleon, for the babe
Cannot hold out to Tyrus; there I'll leave it
At careful nursing. Go thy ways, good mariner;
I'll bring the body presently.
[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. Serv. I have been in many; but such a night as this,

Till now I ne'er endur'd.

Cer. Your master will be dead ere you return; There's nothing can be minister'd to nature, That can recover him. Give this to the 'pothecary, And tell me how it works. [To Philemon. [Exeunt Philemon, Servant, and those who had been shipwrecked.

Gentlemen,

But immortality attends the former,
Making a man a god. 'Tis known, I ever
Have studied physick, 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 I can speak of the disturbances

That nature works, and of her cures; which gives

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

Your charity, and hundreds call themselves
Your creatures, who by you have been restor'd:
And not your knowledge, personal pain, but even
Your purse, still open, hath built Lord Cerimon
Such strong renown as time shall never-
Enter Two Servants with a Chest.
Serv. So: lift there.

Cer.

What is that?

Serv. Sir, even now Did the sea toss upon our shore this chest ; 'Tis of some wreck, Cer.

Set 't down, let's look on it. 2 Gent. 'Tis like a coffin, sir. Cer.

Whate'er it be,

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. Ser. 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 entreasur'd

With bags of spices full! A passport too!
Apollo, perfect me i' the characters!

[Unfolds a Scroll. [Reads.

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

1 Gent.

This queen will live: nature awakes; a warmth
Breathes out of her; she hath not been entranc'd
Above five hours. See, how she 'gins to blow
Into life's flower again!
The heavens, sir,
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
Appear, to make the world twice rich. O live,
And make us weep to hear your fate, fair crea
ture,
[She moves.

Rare as you seem to be!
Thai.
O dear Diana,
Where am I? Where's my lord ? What world is
2 Gent. Is not this strange ?
[this]
Most rare.
Hush, gentle neighbours;
Lend me your hands: to the next chamber bear

1 Gent.

Cer.

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 you 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,)

night.

2 Gent. Most likely, sir. Cer.

Nay, certainly to-night; For look, how fresh she looks!-They were too rongh,

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 have heard
Of an Egyptian, had nine hours lien dead,
By good appliance was recover'd.

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 yon.

The vial once more;-How thou stirr'st, thou block!

The musick there.-I pray you, give her air:

Should therein make me vile, the common body,
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!

Per.
I believe you;
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 e'en to the edge o' the shore;

Then give you up to the mask'd Neptune; and The gentlest winds of heaven.