The purchase is to make men glorious;
Et bonum quo antiquius, eo melius.
If you, born in these latter times,
When wit's more ripe, accept my rhymes,
And that to hear an old man sing,
May to your wishes pleasure bring,
I life would wish, and that I might
Waste it for you, like taper-light.-
This city then, Antiochus the Great
Built up this city for his chiefest seat;
The fairest in all Syria;

(I tell you what mine authors say :)
This king unto him took a pheere,
Who died and left a female heir,
So buxom, blithe, and full of face,
As heaven had lent her all his grace;
With whom the father liking took,
And her to incest did provoke :
Bad father! to entice his own
To evil, should be done by none.
By custom, what they did begin,
Was, with long use, account no sin.
The beauty of this sinful damne
Made many princes thither frame,
To seek her as a bed-fellow,
In marriage-pleasures play-fellow:
Which to prevent, he made a law
(To keep her still, and men in awe,)
That whoso ask'd her for his wife,
His riddle told not, lost his life:
So for her many a wight did die,
As yon grim looks do testify.

What now ensues, to the judgment of your eye 1 give, my cause who best can justify. [Exit. SCENE I. Antioch. A Room in the Palace.

Enter Antiochus, Pericles, and Attendants. Ant. Young prince of Tyre, you have at large

receiv'd

For the embracements even of Jove himself;
At whose conception (till Lucina reign'd,
Nature this dowry gave to glad her presence,)
The senate-house of planets all did sit,
To knit in her their best perfections.

Enter the Daughter of Antiochus. Per. See, where she comes, apparell'd like the spring,

Graces her subjects, and her thoughts the king
Of every virtue gives renown to men!
Her face, the book of praises, where is read
Nothing but curious pleasures, as from thence
Sorrow where ever ras'd, and testy wrath
Could never be her mild companion.

Ye gods that made me man, and sway in love,
That have inflam'd desire in my breast,
To taste the fruit of yon celestial tree,
Or die in the adventure, be my helps,
As I am son and servant to your will,
To compass such a boundless happiness!
Ant. Prince Pericles,-

Per. That would be son to great Antiochus.
Ant. Before thee stands this fair Hesperides,
With golden fruit, but dangerous to be touch'd;
For death-like dragons here affright thee hard:
Her face, like heaven, enticeth thee to view
Her countless glory, which desert must gain:
And which, without desert, because thine eye
Presumes to reach, all thy whole heap must die.
Yon sometime famous princes, like thyself,
Drawn by report, advent'rous by desire,
Tell thee with speechless tongues, and semblance
pale,

That without covering, save yon field of stars, They here stand martyrs, slain in Cupid's wars

;)

And with dead cheeks advise thee to desist,
For going on death's net, whom none resist.
Per. Antiochus, I thank thee, who hath taught
My frail mortality to know itself,

And by those fearful objects to prepare
This body, like to them, to what I must:
For death remember'd, should be like a mirror,
Who tells us, life's but breath; to trust it, error,
I'll make my will then; and as sick men do,
Who know the world, see heaven, but feeling

wo,

Gripe not at earthly joys, as erst they did;

So I bequeath a happy peace to you,

And all good men, as every prince should do; My riches to the earth from whence they came; But my unspotted fire of love to you.

[To the Daughter of Antiochus. Thus ready for the way of life or death, I wait the sharpest blow, Antiochus, Scorning advice.

Ant.
Read the conclusion then;
Which read and not expounded, 'tis decreed,
As these before thee, thou thyself shalt bleed.
Daugh. In all, save that, may'st thou prove
prosperous!

In all, save that, I wish thee happiness!
Per. Like a bold champion, I assume the lists,
Nor ask advice of any other thought
But faithfulness, and courage.

[He reads the Riddle.]

I am no viper, yet 1 feed

On mother's flesh, which did me breed;
I sought a husband, in which labour,,
I found that kindness in a father.
He's father, son, and husband mild,
I mother, wife, and yet his child.
How they may be, and yet in two,
As you will live, resolve it you.
Sharp physick is the last but O you powers!
That give heaven countless eyes to view men's
acts,

Why cloud they not their sights perpetually,
If this be true, which makes me pale to read it?
Fair glass of light, I lov'd you, and could still,

Takes hold of the Hand of the Princess. Were not this glorious casket stor'd with ill: But I must tell you,-now, my thonghts revolt; For he's no man on whom perfections wait, That knowing sin within, will touch the gate. You're a fair viol, and your sense the strings: Who, finger'd to make man his lawful musick, Would draw heaven down, and all the gods to hearken;

But, being play'd upon before your time,
Hell only danceth at so harsh a chime:
Good sooth, I care not for you.

Ant. Prince Pericles, touch not, upon thy life, For that's an article within our law,

As dangerous as the rest. Your time's expir'd;
Either expound now, or receive your sentence.
Per. Great king..

Few love to hear the sins they love to act :
"Twould 'braid yourself too near for me to tell it.
Who has a book of all that monarchs do,
He's more secure to keep it shut, than shown;
For vice repeated, is like the wand'ring wind,
Blows dust in others' eyes, to spread itself;
And yet the end of all is bought thus dear,
The breath is gone, and the sore eyes see clear:
To stop the air would hurt them. The blind mole

All love the womb that their first beings bred, Then give my tongue like leave to love my head. Ant. Heaven, that 1 had thy head! he has found the meaning;

But I will gloze with him. Aside.] Young Prince of Tyre,

Though by the tenour of our strict edict,
Your exposition misinterpreting,

We might proceed to cancel of your days;
Yet hope, succeeding from so fair a tree
As your fair self, doth tune us otherwise:
Forty days longer we do respite you;
If by which time our secret be undone,
This mercy shows, we'll joy in such a son:
And until then, your entertain shall be,
As doth befit our honour, and your worth.
[Exeunt Ant. his Daughter, and Attendants.
Per. How courtesy would seem to cover sin!
When what is done is like a hypocrite,
The which is good in nothing but in sight.
If it be true that I interpret false,
Then were it certain, you were not so bad,
As with foul incest to abuse your soul;
Where now you're both a father and a son,
By your untimely claspings with your child
(Which pleasure fits a husband, not a father ;)
And she an eater of her mother's flesh,
By the defiling of her parent's bed;
And both like serpents are, who though they feed
On sweetest flowers, yet they poison breed.
Antioch, farewell! for wisdom sees, those men
Blush not in actions blacker than the night,
Will shun no course to keep them from the light.
One sin, I know, another doth provoke ;
Murder's as near to lust as flame to smoke.
Poison and treason are the hands of sin,
Ay, and the targets, to put off the shame:
Then, lest my life be cropp'd to keep you clear,
By flight I'll shun the danger which I fear.

Re-enter Antiochus.

[Exit.

SCENE II. Tyre. A Room in the Palace.
Enter Pericles, Helicanus, and other Lords
Per. Let none disturb us: Why should this
change of thought?

The sad companion, dull-ey'd melancholy,
By me so us'd a guest is, not an hour,

In the day's glorious walk, or peaceful night
(The tomb where grief should sleep,) can breed
me quiet!

Here pleasures court mine eyes, and mine eyes shun them,

And danger, which I feared, is at Antioch,
Whose arm seems far too short to hit me here:
Yet neither pleasure's art can joy my spirits,
Nor yet the other's distance comfort me.
Then it is thus: the passions of the mind,
That have their first conception by misdread,
Have after-nourishment and life by care;
And what was first but fear what might be done,
Grows elder now, and cares it be not done.
And so with me -the great Antiochus
('Gainst whom I am too little to contend,
Since he's so great, can make his will his act.)
Will think me speaking, though I swear to si
lence;

Nor boots it me to say, I honour him,
If he suspect I may dishonour him:
And what may make him blush in being known;
He'll stop the course by which it might be known,
With hostile forces he'll o'erspread the land,
And with the ostent of war will look so huge,
Amazement shall drive courage from the state:
Our men be vanquish'd, ere they do resist,
And subjects punish'd, that ne'er thought of
fence:
Which care of them, not pity of myself,
(Who am no more but as the tops of trees,
Which fence the roots they grow by, and defend
them,)

Ant. Enough.

Enter a Messenger.

My lord,

Let your breath cool yourself, telling your haste.
Mess. My lord, Prince Pericles is fled.
[Exit Messenger.
Ant.
As thou
Wilt live, fly after: and, as an arrow, shot
From a well experienc'd archer, hits the mark
His eye doth level at, so ne'er return,
Unless thou say, Prince Pericles is dead.
Thal. My lord, if I

Can get him once within my pistol's length,
I'll make him sure; so farewell to your highness.
Exit.

Ant. Thaliard, adieu! till Pericles be dead,
My heart can lend no succour to my head.

[Exit.

breast!

2Lord. And keep your mind, till you return to us, Peaceful and comfortable!

Hel. Peace, peace, my lords, and give experi

ence tongue.

They do abuse the king, that flatter him:
For flattery is the bellows blows up sin;
The thing the which is flatter'd, but a spark,
To which that breath gives heat and stronger
glowing;

Whereas reproof, obedient, and in order,
Fits kings, as they are men, for they may ert.
When Signior Sooth here does proclaim a peace
He flatters you, makes war upon your life:
cannot be much lower than my knees.
Prince, pardon me, or strike me, if you please;
Per. All leave us else; but let your cares o'er

I

look

change,

These mouths, whom but of late, earth, sea, and air,

Were all too little to content and please,
Although they gave their creatures in abundance,
As houses are defil'd for want of use,
They are now starv'd for want of exercise:
Those palates, who not yet two summers younger,
Must have inventions to delight the taste,
Would now be glad of bread and beg for it,
Those mothers who, to nousle up their babes,
Thought nought too curious, are ready now,
To eat those little darlings whom they lov'd.
So sharp are hunger's teeth, that man and wife
Draw lots, who first shall die to lengthen life :
Here stands a lord, and there a lady weeping;
Here many sink, yet those which see them fall,
Have scarce strength left to give them burial.
Is not this true.

Dio. Our cheeks and hollow eyes do witness it. Cle. O, let those cities, that of Plenty's cup And her prosperities so largely taste,

With their superfluous riots, hear these tears! The misery of Tharsus may be theirs.

Enter a Lord.

Lord. Where's the lord governor ?

Cle. Here.

The curse of heaven and men succeed their evils
Till when (the which, I hope, shall ne'er be seen,)
Your grace is welcome to our town and us.
Per. Which welcome we'll accept ; feast here
a while,

Until our stars that frown, lend us a smile.

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,
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 trouble's 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 can:
And, to remember what he does,
Gild his statue to make it glorious:
But tidings to the contrary

Are brought your eyes; what need speak I 7
Dumb show.

haste,

For comfort is too far for us to expect.

Lord. We have descried, upon our neighbour

ing shore,

A portly sail of ships make hitherward.
Cle. I thought as much.

One sorrow never comes, but brings an heir,
That may succeed as his inheritor;

And so in ours: some neighbouring nation,
Taking advantage of our misery,

Hath stuff'd these hollow vessels with their power,
To beat us down, the which are down already;
And make a conquest of unhappy me,
Whereas no glory's got to overcome.

Lord. That's the least fear: for by the semblance Of their white flags display'd, they bring us peace, And come to us, as favourers, not as foes.

Cle. Thou speak'st like him untutor'd to repeat, Who makes the fairest show means most deceit. But bring they what they will, what need we fear?

The ground's the low'st, and we are half way there.

Go tell their general, we attend him here,

To know for what he comes, and whence he

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.

Per. Lord governor, for so we hear you are,
Let not our ships, and number of our men,
Be, like a beacon fir'd, to amaze your eyes.
We have heard your miseries as far as Tyre,
And see 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, war-stuff'd within,
With bloody views, expecting overthrow,
Are stor'd with corn, to make your needy bread,
And give them life, who are hunger-starv'd, half
dead.

All. The gods of Greece protect you!
And we'll pray for you.
Per.

Rise, I pray you, rise;
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,

all the Train with them. Enter at another door, a Gentleman with a Letter to Pericles; Pericles shows the Letter to Cleon; then gives the Messenger a reward, and knights his Exeunt Pericles, Cleon, &c. severally.

Gow, Good Helicane, that staid at home
(Not to eat honey, like a drone,
From others' labours; for though he strive
To killen bad, keep good alive;
And, to fulfil his prince' desire.)
Sends word of all that haps in Tyre:
How Thaliard came full bent with sin,
And hid intent, to murder him;
And that in Tharsus was not best
Longer for him to make his rest:
He knowing so, 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:
And he, good prince, having all lost,
By waves from coast to coast is tost:

All perishen of man, of pelf,

Ne aught escapen 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. [Er
SCENE I. Pentapolis.

An open place by the Sea Side.
Enter Pericles, wet.

Per. Yet cease your ire, ye angry stars of bes

ven!

Wind, rain, and thunder, remember, earthly a
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 breath
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 grav,
Here to have death in peace, is all he'll crave
Enter three Fishermen.

1 Fish. What, ho, Pilche!

2 Fish. Ho! come, and bring away the nets 1 Fish. What, Patch-breech, I say!