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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!
Awake, and tell thy dream!

[Diana disappears.

Per. Celestial Dian, goddess argentine,

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?

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Lys. With all my heart, sir! and when you come Will to my sense bend no licentious ear,

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.

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But curb it, spite of seeing. O, my lord,
Are you not Pericles? Like him you speak,
Like him you are! Did you not name a tempest,
A birth, and death?

Per. The voice of dead Thaisa!

Thai. That Thaisa am I, supposed dead
And drown'd.

Enter GoWER, before the temple of DIANA, at Per. Immortal Dian!

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,)

That you aptly will suppose

What pageantry, what feats, what shows,
What minstrelsy, and pretty din,
The regent made in Mitylin,

To greet the king. So he has thriv'd,
That he is promis'd to be wiv'd
To fair Marina; but in no wise,
Till he hath done his sacrifice,

As Dian bade: whereto being bound,
The interim, pray you, all confound.
In feather'd briefness sails are fill'd,
And wishes fall out as they're will'd.
At Ephesus, the temple see,
Our king, and all his company.
That he can hither come so soon,
Is by your fancy's thankful boon.

SCENE III.

Thai. Now I know you better.

When we with tears parted Pentapolis,
The king, my father, gave you such a ring.

[Shows a ring.

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Per. You have heard me say, when I did fly from
Tyre,

The temple of DIANA at Ephesus; THAISA standing I left behind an ancient substitute.
near the altar, as High-Priestess; a number of Can you remember what I call'd the man?
Virgins on each side; CERIMON and other Inha-
bitants of Ephesus attending.

Enter PERICLES, with his train; LYSIMACHUS,
HELICANUS, MARINA, and a Lady.

Per. Hail, Dian! to perform thy just command,
I here confess myself the king of Tyre;
Who, frighted from my country, did wed
The fair Thaisa, at Pentapolis.

At sea in childbed died she, but brought forth
A maid-child call'd Marina; who, O goddess,
Wears yet thy silver livery. She at Tharsus
Was nurs'd with Cleon; whom at fourteen years
He sought to murder: but her better stars
Brought her to Mitylene; against whose shore
Riding, her fortunes brought the maid aboard us,

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Cer. I will, my lord!
Beseech you, first go with me to my house,
Where shall be shown you all was found with her;
How she came placed here within the temple;
No needful thing omitted.

Per. Pare Diana!

I bless thee for thy vision, and will offer
My night oblations to thee. Thaisa,

This prince, the fair-betrothed of your daughter,
Shall marry her at Pentapolis. And now,
This ornament that makes me look so dismal,
Will I, my lov'd Marina, clip to form;
And what this fourteen years no razor touch'd,
To grace thy marriage-day, I'll beautify.
Thai. Lord Cerimon hath letters of good credit,
Sir, that my father's dead.

Per. Heavens make a star of him! Yet there,
queen,

We'll celebrate their nuptials, and ourselves
Will in that kingdom spend our following days;
Our son and daughter shell in Tyrus reign.

In

To

Lord Cerimon, we do our longing stay,
To hear the rest untold. Sir, lead the way [Exeunt.
Enter GOWER.

Gow. In Antioch, and his daughter, you have heard
Of monstrous lust the due and just reward:
In Pericles, his queen and daughter, seen
(Although assail'd with fortune fierce and keen,)
Virtue preserv'd from fell destruction's blast,
Led on by heaven, and crown'd with joy at last.
In Helicanus may you well descry
A figure of truth, of faith, of loyalty:
In reverend Cerimon there well appears,
The worth that learned charity aye wears.
For wicked Cleon and his wife, when fame
Had spread their cursed deed, and honour'd name
Of Pericles, to rage the city turn;
That him and his they in his palace burn.
my The gods for murder seemed so content
To punish them; although not done, but meant.
So on your patience evermore attending,
New joy wait on you! Here our play has ending.

Co

Un

An
W

Ou
Ma

G

L

A

(S

In

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[Exit Gown

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SCENE I. — A room of state in KING LEAR's palace.
Enter KENT, GLOSTER, and EDMUND.
Kent. I thought, the king had more affected the
duke of Albany, than Cornwall.

Glo. It did always seem so to us: but now, in the division of the kingdom, it appears not which of the dukes he values most; for equalities are so weighed, that curiosity in neither can make choice of either's moiety.

Kent. Is not this your son, my lord?

I

Glo. His breeding, sir, hath been at my charge: have so often blushed to acknowledge him, that now I am brazed to it.

Kent. I cannot conceive you.

Glo. Sir, this young fellow's mother could: whereupon she grew round-wombed; and had, indeed, sir, a son for her cradle, ere she had a husband for her bed. Do you smell a fault? Kent. I cannot wish the fault undone, the issue of it being so proper.

Glo. But I have, sir, a son by order of law, some

year elder than this, who yet is no dearer in my

account: though this knave came somewhat sancily
into the world before he was sent for, yet was his
mother fair; there was good sport at his making
and the whoreson must be acknowledged. — Do you
know this noble gentleman, Edmund?
Edm. No, my lord.

Glo. My lord of Kent: remember him hereafter as my honourable friend.

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Edm. My services to your lordship. Kent. I must love you, and sue to know you better. Edm. Sir, I shall study deserving. Glo. He hath been out nine years, shall again. The king is coming! [Trumpets sound within. Enter LEAR, CORNWALL, ALBANY, GONERIL, REGAN, CORDELIA, and Attendants. Lear. Attend the lords of France and Burgundy,

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In three, our kingdom; and 'tis our fast intent
To shake all cares and business from our age;
Conferring them on younger strengths, while we
Unburden'd crawl toward death.-Oour son of Corn-
wall,

And you, our no less loving son of Albany,
We have this hour a constant will to publish
Our daughters' several dowers, that future strife
May be prevented now. The princes, France and
Burgundy,

Great rivals in our youngest daughter's love,
Long in our court have made their amorous sojourn,
And here are to be answer'd.-Tell me, my daughters,
(Since now we will divest us, both of rule,
Interest of territory, cares of state,)

Which of you, shall we say, doth love us most?
That we our largest bounty may extend

Where merit doth most challenge it. - Goneril,
Our eldest-born, speak first!

Gon. Sir, I

Do love you more, than words can wield the matter,
Dearer than eye-sight, space, and liberty;
Beyond what can be valued, rich or rare;
No less than life, with grace, health, beauty, honour:
As much as child e'er lov'd, or father found.
A love, that makes breath poor, and speech unable;
Beyond all manner of so much I love you.
Cor. What shall Cordelia do? Love, and be silent.
[Aside.
Lear. Of all these bounds, even from this line to this,
With shadowy forests and with champains rich'd,
With plenteous rivers and wide-skirted meads,
We make thee lady. To thine and Albany's issue
Be this perpetual,What says our second daughter,
Our dearest Regan, wife to Cornwall? Speak
Reg. I am made of that self metal as my sister,
And prize me at her worth. In my true heart
I find, she names my very deed of love:
Only she comes too short, that I profess
Myself an enemy to all other joys,

Which the most precious square of sense possesses;
And find, I am alone felicitate

In your dear highness' love.
Cor. Then poor Cordelia!

And yet not so; since, I am sure, my love's
More richer, than my tongue.

[Aside.

Lear. To thee, and thine, hereditary ever,
Remain this ample third of our fair kingdom;
No less in space, validity, and pleasure,

Than that confirm'd on Goneril. Now, our joy,
Although the last, not least; to whose young love
The vines of France, and milk of Burgundy,
Strive to be interess'd; what can you say, to draw
A third more opulent than your sisters? Speak!
Cor. Nothing, my lord!

Lear. Nothing?

Cor. Nothing!

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To love my father all.

Lear. But goes this with thy heart? Cor. Ay, good my lord!

Lear. So young, and so untender? Cor. So young, my lord, and true!

Lear. Let it be so!-Thy truth then be thy dower:
For, by the sacred radiance of the sun,
The mysteries of Hecate, and the night,
By all the operations of the orbs,
From whom we do exist, and cease to be,
Here I disclaim all my paternal care,
Propinquity and property of blood,
And as a stranger to my heart and me
Hold thee, from this, for ever. The barbarous
Scythian,

Or he that makes his generation messes
To gorge his appetite, shall to my bosom
Be as well neighbour'd, pitied, and reliev'd,
As thou, my sometime daughter.
Kent. Good my liege,
Lear. Peace, Kent!

Come not between the dragon and his wrath:
I lov'd her most, and thought to set my rest
On her kind nursery. Hence, and avoid my sight!
[To Cordelia.

So be my grave my peace, as here I give
Her father's heart from her! Call France! Who
stirs?

Call Burgundy! - Cornwall, and Albany,
With my two daughters' dowers digest this third:
Let pride, which she calls plainness, marry her.
I do invest you jointly with my power,
Pre-eminence, and all the large effects,
That troop with majesty. Ourself, by monthly

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Kent. Let it fall rather, though the fork invade The region of my heart: be Kent unmannerly, When Lear is mad. What would'st thou do, old man?

Think'st thou, that duty shall have dread to speak, When power to flattery bows? To plainuess honour's bound,

When majesty stoops to folly. Reverse thy doom; And, in thy best consideration, check

This hideous rashness: answer my life my judgment, Thy youngest daughter does not love thee least; Nor are those empty-hearted, whose low sound Reverbs no hollowness.

Lear. Kent, on thy life, no more!

Kent. My life I never held but as a pawn To wage against thine enemies; nor fear to lose it, Thy safety being the motive.

Lear. Out of my sight!

Kent. See better, Lear! and let me still remain

The true blank of thine eye.

Lear. Now, by Apollo,-
Kent. Now, by Apollo, king,
Thou swear'st thy gods in vain!

Lear. O, vassal! miscreant!

Most best, most dearest, should in this trice of time [Laying his hand on his sword. Commit a thing so monstrous, to dismantle

Alb. et Corn. Dear sir, forbear!
Kent. Do!

Kill thy physician, and the fee bestow
Upon the foul disease. Revoke thy gift;

Or, whilst I can vent clamour from my throat,
I'll tell thee, thou dost evil.

Lear. Hear me, recreant!
On thine allegiance hear me!

Since thou hast sought to make us break our vow,
(Which we durst never yet,) and, with strain'd
pride,

To come betwixt our sentence and our power;
(Which nor our nature nor our place can bear,)
Our potency made good, take thy reward.
Five days we do allot thee, for provision
To shield thee from diseases of the world;
And, on the sixth, to turn thy hated back
Upon our kingdom: if, on the tenth day following,
Thy banis'd trunk be found in our dominions,
The moment is thy death. Away! By Jupiter,
This shall not be revok'd.

Kent. Fare thee well, king! since thus thou wilt appear,

Freedom lives hence, and banishment is here. -
The gods to their dear shelter take thee, maid,

[To Cordelia.
That justly think'st, and hast most rightly said!
And your large speeches may your deeds approve,
[To Regan and Goneril.
That good effects may spring from words of love.
Thus Kent, O princes, bids you all adieu!
He'll shape his old course in a country new! [Exit.
Re-enter GLOSTER, with FRANCE, BURGUNDY,
Attendants.

and

Glo. Here's France and Burgundy, my noble lord!
Lear. My lord of Burgundy,

We first address towards you, who with this king
Hath rivall'd for our daughter. What, in the least,
Will you require in present dower with her,
Or cease your quest of love?

Bur. Most royal majesty,

I crave no more, than hath your highness offer'd, Nor will you tender less.

Lear. Right noble Burgundy,

When she was dear to us, we did hold her so;
But now her price is fall'n. Sir, there she stands;
If aught within that little, seeming substance,
Or all of it, with our displeasure piec'd,
And nothing more, may fitly like your grace,
She's there, and she is yours.

Bur. I know no answer.

Lear. Sir,

Will you, with those infirmities she owes,

Unfriended, new-adopted to our hate,

So many folds of favour! Sure, her offence
Must be of such unnatural degree,
That monsters it, or your fore-vouch'd affection
Fall into taint: which to believe of her,
Must be a faith, that reason without miracle
Could never plant in me.

Cor. I yet beseech your majesty,
(If for I want that glib and oily art,

To speak and purpose not; since what I well in-
tend,

I'll do't before I speak,) that you make known
It is no vicious blot, murder, or foulness,
No unchaste action, or dishonour'd step,
That hath depriv'd me of your grace and favour:
But even for want of that, for which I am richer;
A still-soliciting eye, and such a tongue,
That I am glad I have not, though not to have it,
Hath lost me in your liking.

Lear. Better thou

Hadst not been born, than not to have pleas'd ne

better.

France. Is it but this? a tardiness in nature, Which often leaves the history unspoke, That it intends to do?-My lord of Burgundy, What say you to the lady? Love is not love, When it is mingled with respects, that stand Aloof from the entire point. "Will you have her? She is herself a dowry.

Bur. Royal Lear,

Give but that portion which yourself propos'd,
And here I take Cordelia by the hand,
Dutchess of Burgundy.

Lear. Nothing. I have sworn; I am firm. Bur. I am sorry then, you have so lost a father, That you must lose a husband.

Cor. Peace be with Burgundy!
Since that respects of fortune are his love,
I shall not be his wife.

France. Fairest Cordelia, that art most rich, being poor;

Most choice, forsaken; and most lov'd, despis'd!
Thee and thy virtues here I seize upon:
Be it lawful, I take up what's cast away.

Gods, gods! 'tis strange, that from their cold'st neglect

My love should kindle to inflam'd respect!

Thy dowerless daughter, king, thrown to my chance,

Is queen of us, of ours, and our fair France:
Not all the dukes of wat'rish Burgundy
Shall buy this unpriz'd precious maid of me.-
Bid them farewell, Cordelia, though unkind:
Thou losest here, a better where to find.
Lear. Thou hast her, France: let her be thire

for we

Dower'd with our curse, and stranger'd with our Have no such daughter, nor shall ever see oath,

Take her, or leave her?

Bur. Pardon me, royal sir!

Election makes not up on such conditions.

Lear. Then leave her, sir! for, by the power that

made me,

I tell you all her wealth.

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That face of hers again: therefore be gone,
Without our grace, our love, our benizon!-
Come, noble Burgundy!

[Flourish. Exeunt Lear, Burgundy, Cornwal

Albany, Gloster, and Attendants.
France. Bid farewall to your sisters.
Cor. The jewels of our father, with wash'd eyes

[To France. Cordelia leaves you: I know you what you are

I would not from your love make such a stray,

And, like a sister, am most loath to call

To match you where I hate; therefore beseech' you Your faults, as they are nam'd. Use well our father

To avert your liking a more worthier way,
Than on a wretch, whom nature is asham'd
Almost to acknowledge hers.

France. This is most strange!

That she, that even but now was your best object,
The argument of your praise, balm of your age,

To your professed bosoms I commit him;
But yet, alas! stood I within his grace,
I would prefer him to a better place.
So farewell to you both!

Gon. Prescribe not us our duties.
Reg. Let your study

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Be, to content your lord; who hath recei'vd you
At fortune's alms. You have obedience scanted,
And well are worth the want that you have wanted.
Cor. Time shall unfold what plaited cunning
hides;

Who cover faults, at last shame them derides.
Well may you prosper!

France. Come, my fair Cordelia!

[Exeunt France and Cordelia. Gon. Sister, it is not a little I have to say, of what most nearly appertains to us both. I think, our father will hence to-night.

Reg. That's most certain, and with you; next month with us.

Gon. You see how full of changes his age is; the observation we have made of it hath not been little: he always loved our sister most; and with what poor judgment he hath now cast her off, appears too grossly.

Reg. 'Tis the infirmity of his age: yet he hath ever but slenderly known himself.

of it into your pocket? the quality of nothing hath not such need to hide itself. Let's see! Come, if it be nothing, I shall not need spectacles!

Edm, I beseech you, sir, pardon me! it is a letter from my brother, that I have not all o'erread; for so much as I have perused, I find it not for your over-looking.

Glo. Give me the letter, sir!

Edm. I shall offend, either to detain or give it. The contents, as in part I understand them, are to blame. Glo. Let's see, let's see!

Edm. I hope, for my brother's justification, he wrote this but as an essay or taste of virtue. Glo. [Reads.] This policy, and reverence of age, makes the world bitter to the best of our times; keeps our fortunes from us, till our oldness cannot relish them. I begin to find an idle and fond bondage in the oppression of aged tyranny; who sways, not as it hath power, but as it is suffered. Come to me, that of this I may speak more. If our father would sleep till I waked him, you should enjoy half his Gon. The best and soundest of his time hath been revenue for ever, and live the beloved of your brobut rash; then must we look to receive from his ther, Edgar.- Humph-Conspiracy! - Sleep till I age, not alone the imperfections of long-engrafted waked him, you should enjoy half his revenue,condition, but, therewithal, the unruly waywardness, My son Edgar! Had he a hand to write this? a heart that infirm and choleric years bring with them. and brain to breed it in?-When came this to you? Reg. Such unconstant starts are we like to have who brought it? from him, as this of Kent's banishment. Gon. There is further compliment of leave-taking between France and him. Pray you, let us hit together! If our father carry authority with such dispositions as he bears, this last surrender of his will but offend us.

Reg. We shall further think of it.

Gon. We must do something, and i'the heat.

[Exeunt. SCENE II. A hall in the Earl of GLOSTER'S Castle.

Enter EDMUND, with a letter.
Edm. Thou, nature, art my goddess! to thy law
My services are bound! Wherefore should I
Stand in the plague of custom; and permit
The curiosity of nations to deprive me,

For that I am some twelve or fourteen moonshines
Lag of a brother? Why bastard? wherefore base?
When my dimensions are as well compact,
My mind as generous, and my shape as true,
As honest madam's issue? why brand they us
With base? with baseness? bastardy? base, base?
Who, in the lusty stealth of nature, take
More composition and fierce quality,
Than doth, within a dull, stale, tired bed,
Go to the creating a whole tribe of fops,
Got 'tween asleep and wake?— Well then,
Legitimate Edgar, I must have your land:
Our father's love is to the bastard Edmund,
As to the legitimate: fine word, legitimate!
Well, my legitimate, if this letter speed,
And my invention thrive, Edmund the base
Shall top the legitimate. I grow; I prosper: -
Now, gods, stand up for bastards!

Enter GLOSter.

Glo.Kent banish'd thus ! and France in choler parted!
And the king gone to-night! subscrib'd his power!
Confin'd to exhibition! All this done
Upon the gad! -Edmund! how now? what news?
Edm. So please your lordship, none.
[Putting up the letter.
Glo. Why so earnestly seek you to put up that letter?
Edm. I know no news, my lord!

Glo. What paper were you reading?

Edm. Nothing, my lord!

Edm. It was not brought me, my lord, there's the cunning of it; I found it thrown in at the casement of my closet.

Glo. You know the character to be your brother's? Edm. If the matter were good, my lord, I durst swear it were his; but, in respect of that, I would fain think it were not.

Glo. It is his.

Edm. It is his hand, my lord, but, I hope, his heart is not in the contents.

Glo. Hath he never heretofore sounded you in this business?

Edm. Never, my lord! But I have often heard him maintain it to be fit, that, sons at perfect age, and fathers declining, the father should be as ward to the son, and the son manage his revenue.

Glo. O villain, villain!- His very opinion in the letter! - Abhorred villain! Unnatural, detested, brutish villain! worse than brutish!-Go, sirrah, seek him! I'll apprehend him!-- Abominable villain !

Where is he?

Edm. I do not well know, my lord! If it shall please you to suspend your indignation against my brother, till you can derive from him better testimony of his intent, you shall run a certain course; where, if you violently proceed against him, mistaking his purpose, it would make a great gap in your own honour, and shake in pieces the heart of his obedience. I dare pawn down my life for him, that he hath writ this to feel my affection to your honour, and to no other pretence of danger.

Glo. Think you so?

Edm. If your honour judge it meet, I will place you where you shall hear us confer of this, and by an auricular assurance have your satisfaction; and that without any farther delay than this very evening. Glo. He cannot be such a monster.

Edm. Nor is not, sure!

Glo. To his father, that so tenderly and entirely loves him!-Heaven and earth!-Edmund, seek him out! wind me into him, I pray you! frame the business after your own wisdom: I would unstate myself, to be in a due resolution.

Edm. I will seek kim, sir, presently! convey the business as I shall find means, and acquaint you withal.

Glo. No? What needed then that terrible dispatch Glo. These late eclipses in the sun and moon por

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