That pupils lacks she none of noble race, Where we left him, on the sea. We there him lost; Whence, driven before the winds, he is arriv'd God Neptune's annual feast to keep :8 from whence His banners sable, trimm'd with rich expence ; SCENE I. [Exit. On board PERICLES' Ship, off Mitylene. A close Pavilion on deck, with a Curtain before it; PERICLES within it, reclined on a Couch A Barge lying beside the Tyrian Vessel Enter Two Sailors, one belonging to the Tyrian Vessel, the other to the Barge; to them HELICANUS. Tyr. Sail. Where's the lord Helicanus? he can resolve you. [To the Sailor of Mitylene. O, here he is. Sir, there's a barge put off from Mitylene. And in it is Lysimachus the governor, Who craves to come aboard. What is your will? Enter Two Gentlemen. 1 Gent. Doth your lordship call? Hel. Gentlemen, There is some of worth would come aboard; I pray you, To greet them fairly. [The Gentlemen and the two Sailors descend, and go on board the Barge. [8] The citizens vied with each other in celebrating the feast of Neptune MALONE Enter, from thenee LYSIMACHUS and Lords; the Tyrian Gentlemen, and the Two Sailors. Tyr. Sail. Sir, This is the man that can, in aught you would, Lys. Hail, reverend sir! The gods preserve you! Lys. You wish me well. Being on shore, honouring of Neptune's triumphs, Hel. First, sir, what is your place? Lys. I am governor of this place you lie before. Our vessel is of Tyre, in it the king; A man, who for this three months hath not spoken But to prorogue his grief. Lys. Upon what ground is his distemperature ? Lys. May we not see him then? Hel. You may indeed, sir, But bootless is your sight; he will not speak Lys. Yet, let me obtain my wish. Hel. Behold him, sir: [PERICLES discovered.] this was a goodly person, Till the disaster, that, one mortal night, Drove him to this. Lys. Sir, king, all hail! the gods preserve you! Hail, Hail, royal sir! Hel. It is in vain ; he will not speak to you. 1 Lord. Sir, we have a maid in Mitylene, I durst wager, Would win some words of him. Lys. 'Tis well bethought. She, questionless, with her sweet harmony, And other choice attractions, would allure, And make a battery through his deafen'd parts, [9] So in Antony and Cleopatra: "Make battery to our ears with the loud music." HOLT WHITE. She, all as happy as of all the fairest, The island's side. [He whispers one of the attendant Lords.Exit Lord, in the Barge of LYSIMACHUS.1 Hel. Sure, all's effectless; yet nothing we'll omit That bears recovery's name. But, since your kindness We have stretch'd thus far, let us beseech you further, That for our gold we may provision have, Wherein we are not destitute for want, But weary for the staleness. Lys. O, sir, a courtesy, Which if we should deny, the most just God Hel. Sit, sir, I will recount it ; But see, I am prevented. Enter, from the Barge, Lord, MAKINA, and a young Lys. O, here is Lady. The lady that I sent for. Welcome, fair one! Is't not a goodly presence ?* Hel. A gallant lady. Lys. She's such, that were I well assur'd she came Of gentle kind, and noble stock, I'd wish No better choice, and think me rarely wed. Fair one, [1] It may seem strange that a fable should have been chosen to form a drama upon, in which the greater part of the business of the last Act should be transacted at sea; and wherein it should even be necessary to produce two vessels on the scene at the same time. But the customs and exhibitions of the modern stage give this objection to the play before us a greater weight than it really has. It appears, that, when Pericles was originally performed, the theatres were furnished with no such apparatus as by any stretch of the imagination could be supposed to present either a sea, or a ship; and that the audience were contented to behold vessels sailing in and out of port, in their mind's eye only This licence being once granted to the poet, the lord, in the instance now before us, walked off the stage, and returned again in a few minutes, leading in Marina, without any sensible impropriety; and the present drama, exhibited before such indulgent spectators, was not more incommodious in the representation than any other would have been. MALONE. [2] Is she not beautiful in her form? So, in King John: "Lord of thy presence, and no land beside." MALONE. If that thy prosperous-artificial feat3 Can draw him but to answer thee in aught, Mar. Sir, I will use My utmost skill in his recovery, Provided none but I and my companion Lys. Come, let us leave her, And the gods make her prosperous! [MARINA sings. Lys. Mark'd he your music? Mar. No, nor look'd on us. Lys. See, she will speak to him. Mar. Hail, sir! my lord, lend ear Per. Hum! ha! Mer. I am a maid, My lord, that ne'er before invited eyes,* But have been gaz'd on, comet-like: she speaks Who stood equivalent with mighty kings: But there is something glows upon my cheek, And whispers in mine ear, Go not till he speak. [Aside. To equal mine !-was it not thus? what say you? Per. I do think so. I pray you, turn your eyes again upon me. [3] So in Measure for Measure: -in her youth "There is a prone and speechless dialect, "Such as moves men; besides, she hath a prosperous art "When she will play with reason and discourse, "And well she can persuade." [4] So, in King Henry IV: "By being seldom seen, I could not stir, MALONE. MALONE. [5] Aukward is adverse. Our author has the same epithet in The Second Part of King Henry VI: "And twice by aukward wind from England's bank "Drove back again." STEEVENS. You are like something that—What country woman? Here of these shores? Mar. No, nor of any shores : Yet I was mortally brought forth, and am Per. I am great with woe, and shall deliver weeping. Her stature to an inch; as wand-like straight; As silver-voic'd; her eyes as jewel-like, And cas'd as richly in pace another Juno; Who starves the ears she feeds, and makes them hungry, The more she gives them speech.-Where do you live? Mar. Where I am but a stranger: from the deck You may discern the place. Per. Where were you bred? And how achiev'd you these endowments, which Mar. Should I tell my history, 'Twould seem like lies disdain'd in the reporting. Falseness cannot come from thee, for thou look'st For the crown'd truth to dwell in: I'll believe thee, To points that seem impossible; for thou look'st Mar. So indeed I did. Per. Report thy parentage. I think thou said'st Thou hadst been toss'd from wrong to injury, And that thou thought'st thy griefs might equal mine, If both were open'd. Mar. Some such thing indeed I said, and said no more but what my thoughts [6] To owe in ancient language is to possess. So, in Othello: -that sweet sleep "That thou ow'dst yesterday." The meaning of the compliment is :-These endowments, however valuable in themselves, are heighten'd by being in your possession. They acquire additional grace from their owner. Thus also one of Timon's flatterers: "You mend the jewel by the wearing of it." STEEVENS. |