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. [censure :" 2 Lord. Whose death's, indeed, the strongest in our 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: I shall with aged patience bear your yoke. But if I cannot win you to this love, Go search like noblemen, like noble subjects, 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 "To give your censures in this weighty business." STEEVENS. L 16 VOL. X. 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; And on her virgin honour will not break it. 3 Knight. Though loath to bid farewell, we take our leaves. Sim. So [Exeunt. They're well despatch'd; now to my daughter's letter: 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. My daughter? What do you think, sir, of [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 a fiction of his own. STEEVENS. Per. As of a most virtuous princess. Per. As a fair day in summer; wond'rous fair. Sim. She thinks not so; peruse this writing else. A letter, that she loves the knight of Tyre? A stranger and distressed gentleman, That never aim'd so high, to love your daughter, [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. 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. Per. My actions are as noble as my thoughts, I came unto your court, for honour's cause, And he that otherwise accounts of me, 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: [8] So, in Hamlet: "That has no relish of salvation in't." Again, in Macbeth: "So well thy words become thee as thy wounds; [Aside. STEEVENS. MALONE. Did e'er solicit, or my hand subscribe Who takes offence at that, would make me glad? I am glad of it with all my heart. [Aside.] I'll tame you ; Will you, not having my consent, bestow Your love and your affections on a stranger? [Aside. (Who, for ought I know to the contrary, Or think, may be as great in blood as I.) Hear, therefore, mistress; frame your will to mine, And you, sir, hear you.-Either be rul'd by me, Nay, come; your hands and lips must seal it too. Thai. Yes, if you love me, sir. Per. Even as my life, my blood that fosters it. 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. 1 ACT III. Enter GoWER. Gow. Now sleep yslaked hath the rout; [9] So, in Cymbeline : "The crickets, sing, and man's o'erlabour'd sense [Exeunt. 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 letter; she rejoices: she and PERICLES take leave of her Father, and depart. Then SIMONIDES, &c. retire. Gow. By many a dearn and painful perch," That horse, and sail, and high expence, Are letters brought, the tenour these : The crown of Tyre, but he will none : Come not, in twice six moons, home, Will take the crown. The sum of this, Brought hither to Pentapolis "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. [8] 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. |