2 Lord. It shall no longer grieve without reproof. 3 Lord. And curs'd be he that will not second it. 1 Lord. Follow me then: Lord Helicane, a word. Hel. With me? and welcome: Happy day, my lords. 1 Lord. Know, that our griefs are risen to the top, And now at length they overflow their banks.

Hel. Your griefs, for what? wrong not the prince you love.

1 Lord. Wrong not yourself then, noble Helicane ; But if the prince do live, let us salute him,

Or know what ground's made happy by his breath.
If in the world he live, we'll seek him out;

If in his grave he rest, we'll find him there ;
And be resolv'd, he lives to govern us,

Or dead, gives cause to mourn his funeral,

And leaves us to our free election.

2 Lord. Whose death's, indeed, the strongest in our censure:5

And knowing this kingdom, if without a head,
(Like goodly buildings left without a roof,)
Will soon to ruin fall, your noble self,

That best know'st how to rule, and how to reign,
We thus submit unto,-our sovereign.

All. Live, noble Helicane !

Hel. Try honour's cause; forbear your suffrages:
If that you love prince Pericles, forbear.
Take I your wish, I leap into the seas,

Where's hourly trouble, for a minute's ease.
A twelvemonth longer, let me then entreat you
To forbear choice i'the absence of your king;
If in which time expir'd, he not return,
I shall with aged patience bear your yoke.
But if I cannot win you to this love,

Go search like noblemen, like noble subjects,
And in your search spend your adventurous worth;
Whom if you find, and win unto return,

You shall like diamonds sit about his crown.

1 Lord. To wisdom he's a fool that will not yield; And, since lord Helicane enjoineth us,

We with our travels will endeavour it.

Hel. Then you love us, we you, and we'll clasp hands; When peers thus knit, a kingdom ever stands. [Exeunt.

[5] i. e. the most probable in our opinion. Censure is thus used in King Richard III:

4

"To give your censures in this weighty business."

VOL. IX.

STEEVENS.

SCENE V.

Pentapolis. A Room in the Palace. Enter SIMONIDES, reading a letter, the Knights meet him.

1 Knight. Good morrow to the good Simonides. Sim. Knights, from my daughter this I let you know, That for this twelvemonth, she'll not undertake A married life.

Her reason to herself is only known,

Which from herself by no means can I get.

2 Knight. May we not get access to her, my lord? Sim. Faith, by no means; she hath so strictly tied her To her chamber, that it is impossible.

One twelve moons more she'll wear Diana's livery;
This by the eye of Cynthia hath she vow'd,"

And on her virgin honour will not break it.

3 Knight. Though loath to bid farewell, we take our leaves.

[Exeunt.

Sim. So
They're well despatch'd; now to my daughter's letter:
She tells me here, she'll wed the stranger knight,
Or never more to view nor day nor light.

Mistress, 'tis well, your choice agrees with mine;
I like that well :-nay, how absolute she 's in't,
Not minding whether I dislike or no !

Well, I commend her choice;

And will no longer have it be delay'd.

Soft, here he comes :-I must dissemble it.

Enter PERICLES.

Per. All fortune to the good Simonides!

Sim. To you as much, sir! I am beholden to you, For your sweet music this last night: my ears,

I do protest, were never better fed

With such delightful pleasing harmony.

Per. It is your grace's pleasure to commend ;

Not my desert.

Sim. Sir, you are music's master.

Per. The worst of all her scholars, my good lord." Sim. Let me ask one thing. What do you think, sir, of My daughter?

[6] It were to be wished that Simonides (who is represented as a blameless character) had hit on some more ingenious expedient for the dismission of these wooers. Here he tells them as a solemn truth, what he knows to be afiotion of his own. STEEVENS.

Per. As of a most virtuous princess.
Sim. And she is fair too, is she not ?

Per. As a fair day in summer; wond'rous fair..
Sim. My daughter, sir, thinks very well of you;
Ay, so well, sir, that you must be her master,
And she'll your scholar be; therefore look to it.j
Per. Unworthy I to be her schoolmaster.

Sim. She thinks not so; peruse this writing else.
Per. What's here!

A letter, that she loves the knight of Tyre?
'Tis the king's subtilty, to have my life.
O, seek not to intrap, my gracious lord,
A stranger and distressed gentleman,

That never aim'd so high, to love your daughter,
But bent all offices to honour her.

[Aside.

Sim. Thou hast bewitch'd my daughter," and thou art A villain.

Per. By the gods, I have not, sir.

Never did thought of mine levy offence;
Nor never did my actions yet commence

A deed might gain her love, or your displeasure.
Sim. Traitor, thou liest.

Per. Traitor !

Sim. Ay, traitor, sir.

Per. Even in his throat, (unless it be the king,) That calls me traitor, I return the lie.

Sim. Now, by the gods, I do applaud his courage.
[Aside.

Per. My actions are as noble as my thoughts,
That never relish'd of a base descent.8
I came unto your court, for honour's cause,
And not to be a rebel to her state;

And he that otherwise accounts of me,
This sword shall prove he's honour's enemy.
Sim. No!-

Here comes my daughter, she can witness it.

Enter THAISA.

Per. Then, as you are as virtuous as fair,
Resolve your angry father, if my tongue

[7] So, Brabantio, addressing himself to Othello:
"Damn'd as thou art, thou hast enchanted her."

[8] So, in Hamlet:

"That has no relish of salvation in't.”

Again, in Macbeth:

"So well thy words become thee as thy wounds;
"They smack of honour both.”

STEEVENS,

MALONE.

Did e'er solicit, or my hand subscribe

To any syllable that made love to you?
Thai. Why, sir, say if you had,

Who takes offence at that, would make me glad?
Sim. Yea, mistress, are you so perémptory?

I am glad of it with all my heart. [Aside.] I'll tame you;
I'll bring you in subjection.-

Will you, not having my consent, bestow
Your love and your affections on a stranger?
(Who, for ought I know to the contrary,
Or think, may be as great in blood as I.)

[Aside.

Hear, therefore, mistress; frame your will to mine,

And you, sir, hear you.-Either be rul'd by me,

Or I will make you-man and wife.

Nay, come; your hands and lips must seal it too.
And being join'd, I'll thus your hopes destroy ;-
And for a further grief,-God give you joy!
What, are you both pleas'd?

Thai. Yes, if you love me, sir.

Per. Even as my life, my blood that fosters it.
Sim. What, are you both agreed?
Both. Yes, 'please your majesty.

Sim. It pleaseth me so well, I'll see you wed;
Then, with what haste you can, get you to bed.

[Exeunt.

ACT III.

Enter GoWER.

Gow. Now sleep yslaked hath the rout;
No din but snores, the house about,
Made louder by the o'er-fed breast
Of this most pompous marriage feast.
The cat, with eyne of burning coal,
Now couches 'fore the mouse's hole;
And crickets sing at th' oven's mouth,
As the blither for their drouth.9
Hymen hath brought the bride to bed,
Where, by the loss of maidenhead,
A babe is moulded ;-Be attent,

[9] So, in Cymbeline:

"The crickets sing, and man's o'erlabour'd sense
"Repairs itself by rest,"

MALONE.

And time that is so briefly spent,

With your fine fancies quaintly eche;'

What's dumb in show, I'll plain with speech.

Dumb Show. Enter PERICLES and SIMONIDES at one door,
with Attendants; a Messenger meets them, kneels, and gives
PERICLES a letter. PERICLES shows it to SIMONIDES; the
Lords kneel to the former. Then enter THAISA with child,
and LYCHORIDA. SIMONIDES shows his Daughter the let-
ter; she rejoices: she and PERICLES take leave of her Father,
and depart.
Then SIMONIDES, &c. retire.

Gow. By many a dearn and painful perch, 3
Of Pericles the careful search
By the four opposing coignes, 4
Which the world together joins,
Is made, with all due diligence,

That horse, and sail, and high expence,
Can stead the quest. At last from Tyre,
(Fame answering the most strong inquire,)
To the court of king Simonides

Are letters brought, the tenour these:
Antiochus and his daughter's dead;
The men of Tyrus, on the head

Of Helicanus would set on

The crown of Tyre, but he will none :

The mutiny there he hastes t'appease ;
Says to them, if king Pericles

Come not, in twice six moons, home,

He obedient to their doom,

Will take the crown.

The sum of this,

[1] So in the Chorus to King Henry V. (first folio):

-still be kind,

"And eche out our performance with your mind." MALONE. [2] The lords kneel to Pericles, because they are now, for the first time, informed by this letter, that he is king of Tyre. By the death of Antiochus and his daughter, Pericles has also succeeded to the throne of Antioch, in consequence of having rightly interpreted the riddle proposed to him.

MALONE.

[3] Dearn signifies lonely, solitary. A perch is a measure of five yards and a half. STEEVENS.

[4] By the four opposite corner-stones that unite and bind together the great fabric of the world. The word is again used in Macbeth:

"

-No jutty, frieze,

"Buttress, or coigne of vantage, but this bird

"Hath made his pendant bed and procreant cradle."

In the passage before us, the author seems to have considered the world as a stupendous edifice artificially constructed. To seek a man in every corner of the globe, is still common-language.

MALONE.

4*

VOL. IX.