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To beat us down, the which are down already;
And make a conquest of unhappy me,

Whereas no glory's got to overcome.3

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's untutor❜d to repeat, Who makes the fairest, show, means most deceit.4 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 comes,
And what he craves.

Lord. I go, my lord.

[Exit.

Cle. Welcome is peace, if he on peace consist ;5 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 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, 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,

MALONE.

[3] Whereas, it has been already observed, was anciently used for where. [4] Perhaps we should read-him who is, and regulate the metre as fol lows:

Thou speak' st

Like him who is untutor'd to repeat, &c.

The sense is-Deluded by the pacific appearance of this navy, you talk like one, avho has never learned the common adage, "that the fairest outsides are Most to be suspected." STEEVENS.

[5] If he stands on peace. A Latin sense.

MALONE.

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,)
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.

[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,
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 benizon,)
Is still at Tharsus, where each man
Thinks all is writ he spoken can :6
And, to remember what he does,
Gild his statue glorious :

But tidings to the contrary

Are brought your eyes; what need speak I?

Dumb show. Enter at one door PERICLES, talking with CLEON; 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 him. Exeunt PERICLES, CLEON, &c. severally.

Gow. Good Helicane hath staid at home,
Not to eat honey, like a drone,

From others' labours; forth he strive

To killen bad, keep good alive;

[6] Thinks all is writ he spoken can: Pays as much respect to whatever Pericles says, as if it were holy writ. "As true as the gospel," is still common language.

MALONE.

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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,
Makes 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;7
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 long's the text. 8

SCENE I.

[Exit.

Pentapolis. An open Place by the Sea Side. Enter PERICLES,

vet.

Per. Yet cease your ire, ye angry stars of heaven!
Wind, rain, and thunder, remember earthly man
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 watry grave,
Here to have death in peace, is all he'll crave.

[7] Our ancestors had a plural number in their tenses which is now lost out of the language; e. g. in the present tense,

I escape

Thou escapest
He escapeth

We escapen
Ye escapen
They escapen.

But it did not, I believe, extend to the preter-imperfects, otherwise than hus: They didden [for did] escape.

PERCY.

[8] The meaning of this may be-Excuse old Gower from telling you what follows. The very text to it has proved of too considerable length already.

STEEVENS:

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