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Per. This, this: no more, you gods! your present

kindness

Makes my past miseries sport: You shall do well,
That on the touching of her lips I may

Melt, and no more be seen. O come, be buried
A second time within these arms.

Mar.
Leaps to be gone

My heart

into my

mother's bosom.

[Kneels to Thaisa.

Per. Look, who kneels here! Flesh of thy flesh,

Thaisa;

Thy burden at the sea, and call'd Marina,

For she was yielded there.

Thai.

Hel. Hail, madam, and my queen!

Thai.

Bless'd, and mine own!

I know you not.

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

Tyre,

I left behind an ancient substitute.

Can remember what I call'd the man?

you

I have nam'd him oft.

Thai.

'Twas Helicanus then.

Per. Still confirmation:

Embrace him dear Thaisa; this is he.

Now do I long to hear how you were found;
How possibly preserv'd; and whom to thank,
Besides the gods, for this great miracle.

Thai. Lord Cerimon, my lord; this man, Through whom the gods have shown their power; that can

From first to last resolve you.

Per.

Reverend sir,

The gods can have no mortal officer

More like a god than you. Will you deliver

How this dead queen re-lives?

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.

Pure 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, my

queen,

We'll celebrate their nuptials, and ourselves

Will in that kingdom spend our following days;
Our son and daughter shall in Tyrus reign.

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.

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. [Exit Gower.

ANNOTATIONS

UPON

PERICLES, PRINCE OF TYRE.

1

HOLY-ALES;] Holydays was the old reading. Dr. Farmer altered it to holy-ales for the metre sake. Holy-ales are Church ales.

2 -his chiefest seat;] So in Twine's translation"The most famous and mighty King Antiochus, which builded the goodlie citie of Antiochia in Syria, and called it after his owne name, as the chiefest seat of all his dominions."

3

nion.

-took a pheere,] Pheere is mate or compa

+ As yon grim looks do testify.] Mr. Steevens very justly remarks on this passage, that it is a strong indication of the use of scenery in our ancient theatres. The heads must certainly here be pointed out by the chorus. Gower, in the Confessio Amantis, says they were stuck upon the palace gate.

5 At whose conception, &c.] The meaning of Antiochus is hardly to be comprehended; no doubt the passage is corrupt: in Kyng Appolyn of Tyre we are told

with less obscurity that " nature had put nothynge in oblyvyon at the fourminge of her, but as a chef operacyon had set her in the syght of the worlde."

6 See where she comes, &c.] This passage is extremely uncouth. The daughter of Antiochus may be apparelled like the spring, and the graces may attend her as her subjects; but how her thoughts are to be the king of all the virtues which give renown to men, it would puzzle the critics to discover. I think, with Mr. Steevens, that the corruption here lies too deep to be cured.

7 A countless glory,] The old copy reads, her countless glory, which is preferable, in my opinion, to Mr. Steevens's emendation. "Her face, of heavenly cast, enticeth thee to long for the sight of her other numberless beauties, which" &c.

[blocks in formation]

To stop the air would hurt them.] To stop the air which would hurt them.

9 Lest your breath &c.] Old copy

Let your breath cool yourself, telling your haste. This passage is little better than nonsense, as it stands, and evidently requires amendment. The words are addressed, not to the Messenger, but to Thaliard, who has told the King that he may consider Pericles as already dead; to which the King replies, Enough;

Lest your breath cool yourself, telling you haste. That is, " Say no more of it, lest your breath, in

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