To know for what he comes, and whence he comes,

And what he craves.

Lord. I go, my lord.

[Exit.

Cle. Welcome is peace, if he on peace consist; If wars, we are unable to resist.

Enter PERICLES with Attendants.

(48)

Per. Lord governor, for so we hear you are,
Let not our ships and number of our men
Be, like a beacon fir'd, t' amaze your eyes.
We've heard your miseries as far as Tyre,
And seen the desolation of your streets :
Nor come we to add sorrow to your tears,"
But to relieve them of their heavy load;
And these our ships, you happily may think
Are like the Trojan horse was stuff'd within
With bloody veins,(49) expecting overthrow,
Are stor❜d with corn to make your needy bread,
And give them life whom hunger starv'd half dead.
All. The gods of Greece protect you!

And we'll pray for you.

Per.

Rise, I pray you, rise: (50)
We do not look for reverence, but for love,
And harbourage for ourself, our ships, and men.
Cle. The which when any shall not gratify,
Or pay you with unthankfulness in thought,
Be it our wives, our children, or ourselves,
The curse of heaven and men succeed their evils!
Till when, the which I hope shall ne'er be seen,-

(18) tears,] "Papa! 'Hearts,' I conclude." Walker's Crit. Exam., &c., vol. iii. p. 334.

(49)

Are like the Trojan horse was stuff'd within
With bloody veins,]

i.e. Are like the Trojan horse, which was stuff'd, &c.-Steevens reads

"Are, like the Trojan horse, war-stuff'd within,
With bloody views."

(50) Rise, I pray you, rise:] The quarto of 1609 has "Arise, I pray you, rise."-The later old eds. have " Arise, I pray you, arise." (Compare, in p. 15, "Kise, prithee, rise.")

Your grace is welcome to our town and us.

Per. Which welcome we'll accept; feast here awhile, Until our stars that frown lend us a smile.

[Exeunt.

ACT II.

Enter GOWER.

Gow. Here have you seen a mighty king

His child, I wis, to incest bring;

A better prince, and benign lord,

That will prove awful both in deed and word.

Be quiet, then, as men should be,

Till he hath pass'd necessity.

I'll show you those in troubles reign,
Losing a mite, a mountain gain.
The good in conversation-
To whom I give my benison-
Is still at Tharsus, where each man
Thinks all is writ he spoken (1) can;

And, to remember what he does,

Build (62) his statue to make him glorious:

But tidings to the contrary

Are brought your eyes; what need speak I?

DUMB-SHOW.

Enter, from one side, PERICLES, talking with CLEON; their Trains with them. Enter, from the other side, a Gentleman, with a letter to PERICLES; who shows the letter to CLEON ; the Messenger a reward, and knights him. Exeunt severally PERICLES and CLEON, with their Trains.

Good Helicane, that (53) stay'd at home,

Not to eat honey like a drone

(51) spoken] Mr. Grant White substitutes "speken."

then gives

(52) Build] "Read 'Gild.' So, in Gower [Confessio Amantis]; 'It was of laton over-gylte.' Again, in Kyng Appolyn of Thyre, 1510; 'in remembraunce they made an ymage or statue of clene gold,' &c." STEEVENS.

(53) that] Steevens reads "hath :" but the whole passage is unintelligible.

From others' labours; for though (54) he strive
To killen bad, keep good alive;

And to fulfil his prince' desire,

Sends word (55) of all that haps in Tyre:

How Thaliard came full bent with sin
And hid intent to murder him;(56)

And that in Tharsus was not best
Longer for him to make his rest.
He, doing so,(57) put forth to seas,

Where when men been, there's seldom ease;
For now the wind begins to blow;
Thunder above, and deeps below,
Make such unquiet, that the ship

Should house him safe is wreck'd and split;(58)
And he, good prince, having all lost,

By waves from coast to coast is tost:
All perishen of man, of pelf,
Ne aught escapen (59) but himself;
Till fortune, tir'd with doing bad,
Threw him ashore, to give him glad:

And here he comes. What shall be next,
Pardon old Gower,-this longs the text.

[Exit.

(54) for though] Steevens reads "forth;" and Singer substitutes "forthy."

(55) Sends word] So Steevens.-The old eds. have "Sau'd one."

An instance of the license which our early poets sometimes allowed themselves to take with the rhyme. See note 106 on Troilus and Cressida.

(57) He, doing so,] Does this mean, "He, acting on the advice of Helicanus"?-Steevens reads "He, knowing so."

No misprint.-See note 56.

"

(59) escapen] Here the old eds. have "escapend," most probably by the transcriber's or printer's mistake, since our author writes "perishen in the preceding line.

SCENE I. Pentapolis. An open place by the sea-side.

Enter PERICLES, wet.

Per. Yet cease your ire, you angry stars of heaven! Wind, rain, and thunder, remember, earthly man

(60) breath

Is but a substance that must yield to you;
And I, as fits my nature, do obey you:
Alas, the sea hath cast me on the rocks,
Wash'd me from shore to shore, and left me
Nothing to think on but ensuing death:
Let it suffice the greatness of your powers.
To have bereft a prince of all his fortunes;
And having thrown him from your watery grave,
Here to have death in peace is all he'll crave.

Enter three Fishermen.

First Fish. What, ho, Pilch!

Sec. Fish. Ho, come (61) and bring away the nets!
First Fish. What, Patch-breech, I say!

Third Fish. What say you, master?

First Fish. Look how thou stirrest now! come away, or I'll fetch thee with a wanion.

Third Fish. Faith, master, I am thinking of the poor men that were cast away before us even now.

First Fish. Alas, poor souls, it grieved my heart to hear what pitiful cries they made to us to help them, when, wella-day, we could scarce help ourselves.

Third Fish. Nay, master, said not I as much when I saw the porpus, how he bounced and tumbled? they say they're

(60) me] The old eds have "my."

(61)

First Fish. What, ho, Pilch !
Sec. Fish. Ho, come]

The old eds. have

"1. What, to pelch?

2. Ha, come.'

("Pilch," Tyrwhitt's emendation, means a leathern coat; used here as

a nickname.)

half-fish, half-flesh: a plague on them, they ne'er come but I look to be washed. Master, I marvel how the fishes live in the sea.

First Fish. Why, as men do a-land,-the great ones eat up the little ones: I can compare our rich misers to nothing so fitly as to a whale; 'a plays and tumbles, driving the poor fry before him, and at last devours them all at a mouthful: such whales have I heard on o' the land, who never leave gaping till they've (62) swallowed the whole parish, church, steeple, bells, and all.

Per. [aside] A pretty moral.

Third Fish. But, master, if I had been the sexton, I would have been that day in the belfry.

Sec. Fish. Why, man?

Third Fish. Because he should have swallowed me too: and when I had been in his belly, I would have kept such a jangling of the bells, that he should never have left, till he cast bells, steeple, church, and parish, up again. But if the good King Simonides were of my mind,

Per. [aside] Simonides!

Third Fish. He (63) would purge the land of these drones, that rob the bee of her honey.

Per. [aside] How from the finny (6) subject of the sea These fishers tell th' infirmities of men;

And from their watery empire recollect

All that may men approve or men detect!

Peace be at your labour, honest fishermen.

Sec. Fish. Honest! good fellow, what's that? If it be a day fits you, search out of the calendar, and nobody look after it.

Per. May see the sea hath cast upon your coast.(55)

(2) they've] The old eds. have "they."

(63) Hej The old eds. have “We."

(64) finny] The old eds. have "fenny."

(65) Peace be at your labour, honest fishermen.

Sec. Fish. Honest! good fellow, what's that? If it be a day fits you, search out of the calendar, and nobody look after it.

Per. May see the sea hath cast upon your coast.]

That this is sadly mutilated, admits of no doubt.-"It should seem that