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A man who for this three months hath not spoken That none but I and my companion maid To any one, nor taken sustenance

But to prorogue his grief.

Lys. Upon what ground is his distemperature? Hel. "Twould be too tedious to repeat; But the main grief springs from the loss Of a beloved daughter and a wife. Lys. May we not see him?

Hel. You may;

But bootless is your sight: he will not speak To any.

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Lys. Yet let me obtain my wish. Hel. Behold him. 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, royal sir!

Hel. It is in vain; he will not speak to you.
First Lord. Sir,

We have a maid in Mitylen, I durst wager,
Would win some words of him.

Lys.

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'Tis well bethought. She questionless with her sweet harmony And other choice attractions, would allure, And make a battery through his deafen'd ports Which now are midway stopp'd: She is all happy as the fair'st of all, And with her fellow maids is now upon The leafy shelter that abuts against The island's side.

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Be suffer'd to come near him.
Lys.
Come, let us leave her;
And the gods make her prosperous!

Mark'd he your music?

Mar.

MARINA sings.

No, nor look'd on us.

Lys. See, she will speak to him. Mar. Hail, sir! my lord, lend ear. Per. Hum! ha!

Mar. I am a maid,

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My lord, that ne'er before invited eyes,
But have been gaz'd on like a comet; she speaks,
My lord, that, may be, hath endur'd a grief
Might equal yours, if both were justly weigh'd.
Though wayward fortune did malign my state,
My derivation was from ancestors
Who stood equivalent with mighty kings;
But time hath rooted out my parentage,
And to the world and awkward casualties
Bound me in servitude. Aside. I will desist ;
But there is something glows upon my cheek,
And whispers in mine ear 'Go not till he speak.'
Per. My fortunes-parentage-good parent-

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Per. I do think so. Pray you, turn your eyes upon me.

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 No other than I appear.

Per. I am great with woe, and shall deliver weeping.

My dearest wife was like this maid, and such a

:

one

My daughter might have been my queen's square brows;

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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 You make more rich to owe?

Mar. If I should tell my history, it would seem Like lies, disdain'd in the reporting. Per.

Prithee, speak;

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ume fresh garments! Mine own, Helicanus ;
She is not dead at Tarsus, as she should have been,
By savage Cleon; she shall tell thee all ;
When thou shalt kneel, and justify in knowledge
She is thy very princess. Who is this?
Hel. Sir, 'tis the governor of Mitylene,
Who, hearing of your melancholy state,
Did come to see you.
Per.
I embrace you.
Give me my robes; I am wild in my beholding.
O heavens! bless my girl. But hark! what music?
Tell Helicanus, my Marina, tell him
O'er, point by point, for yet he seems to doubt,
How sure you are my daughter. But what music?

Hel. My lord, I hear none. Per. None!

The music of the spheres! List, my Marina.
Lys. It is not good to cross him; give him way.
Per. Rarest sounds! Do ye not hear? 231
Lys. My lord, I hear.
Per.

Music. Most heavenly music : It nips me unto list'ning, and thick slumber Hangs upon mine eyes; let me rest. Sleeps. Lys. A pillow for his head.

So, leave him all. Well, my companion friends, If this but answer to my just belief,

I'll well remember you.

Exeunt all but PERICLES. DIANA appears to PERICLES as in a vision.

Dia. My temple stands in Ephesus; hie thee thither,

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And do upon mine altar sacrifice.
There, when my maiden priests are met together,
Before the people all,

Reveal how thou at sea didst lose thy wife;
To mourn thy crosses, with thy daughter's, call
And give them repetition to the life.

Perform my bidding, or thou liv'st in woe; Do it, and happy; by my silver bow! Awake, and tell thy dream!

Disappears.

Per. Celestial Dian, goddess argentine,

I will obey thee! Helicanus !

Re-enter LYSIMACHUS, HELICANUS, and

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SCENE III.-The Temple of DIANA at Ephesus ; THAISA standing near the altar, as high priestess; a number of Virgins on each side; CERIMON and other Inhabitants of Ephesus attending. Enter PERICLES, with his Train; LYSIMACHUS HELICANUS, MARINA, and a Lady.

Per. Hail, Dian! to perform thy just com. mand,

I here confess myself the King of Tyre;
Who, frighted from my country, did wed
At Pentapolis the fair Thaisa.
At sea in childbed died she, but brought forth
A maid-child call'd Marina; who, O goddess!
Wears yet thy silver livery. She at Tarsus
Was nurs'd with Cleon, whom at fourteen years
He sought to murder; but her better stars
Brought her to Mitylene, 'gainst whose shore »
Riding, her fortunes brought the maid aboard us,
Where, by her own most clear remembrance, she
Made known herself my daughter.
Thai.

Voice and favour! Faints.

You are, you are-O royal Pericles! Per. What means the nun? she dies; help, gentlemen!

Cer. Noble sir,

If you have told Diana's altar true, This is your wife.

Per.

Reverend appearer, no: I threw her overboard with these very arms. Cer. Upon this coast, I warrant you.

Per.

'Tis most certain. Cer. Look to the lady. O! she's but o'erjoy'd Early in blust'ring morn this lady was Thrown on this shore. I op'd the coffin, Found there rich jewels; recover'd her, and plac'd her

Here in Diana's temple.

Per.

May we see them?

Cer. Great sir, they shall be brought you to my house,

Whither I invite you. Look! Thaisa is

Recovered.

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If he be none of mine, my sanctity

Will to my sense bend no licentious ear, But curb it, spite of seeing.

O! my lord,

Are you not Pericles? Like him you speak, Like him you are. Did you not name a tempest, A birth, and death?

Per. The voice of dead Thaisa! Thai. That Thaisa am I, supposed dead And drown'd.

Per. Immortal Dian! Thai.

Now I know you better.

When we with tears parted Pentapolis.

10 The king my father gave you such a ring.

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In Antiochus 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. 90
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. 100
So on your patience evermore attending,

New joy wait on you! Here our play has ending.
Exit.

VENUS AND ADONIS.

TO THE

RIGHT HONOURABLE HENRY WRIOTHESLY,
EARL OF SOUTHAMPTON, AND BARON

RIGHT HONOURABLE,

OF TICHFIELD.

I know not how I shall offend in dedicating my unpolished lines to your lordship, nor how the world will censure me for choosing so strong a prop to support so weak a burden: only, if your honour seem but pleased, I account myself highly praised, and vow to take advantage of all idle hours, till I have honoured you with some graver labour. But if the first heir of my invention prove deformed, I shall be sorry it had so noble a godfather, and never after car so barren a land, for fear it yield me still so bad a harvest. I leave it to your honourable survey, and your honour to your heart's content ; which I wish may always answer your own wish and the world's hopeful expectation.

Your honour's in all duty,

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE.

· Vilia miretur vulgus; mihi flavus Apollo
Pocula Castalia plena ministret aqua.'

EVEN as the sun with purple-colour'd face
Had ta'en his last leave of the weeping morn,
Rose-cheek'd Adonis hied him to the chase;
Hunting he lov'd, but love he laugh'd to scorn;
Sick-thoughted Venus makes amain unto him,
And like a bold-fac'd suitor 'gins to woo him.
'Thrice-fairer than myself,' thus she began,
"The field's chief flower, sweet above compare,
Stain to all nymphs, more lovely than a man,
More white and red than doves or roses are; 10
Nature that made thee, with herself at strife,
Saith that the world hath ending with thy life.
'Vouchsafe, thou wonder, to alight thy steed,
And rein his proud head to the saddle-bow;
If thou wilt deign this favour, for thy meed
A thousand honey secrets shalt thou know :
Here come and sit, where never serpent hisses;
And being set, I'll smother thee with kisses:
And yet not cloy thy lips with loath'd satiety,
But rather famish them amid their plenty,
Making them red and pale with fresh variety;
Ten kisses short as one, one long as twenty:

A summer's day will seem an hour but short, Being wasted in such time-beguiling sport.' With this she seizeth on his sweating palm, The precedent of pith and livelihood,

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And trembling in her passion, calls it balm
Earth's sovereign salve to do a goddess good :
Being so enrag'd, desire doth lend her force
Courageously to pluck him from his horse.
Over one arm the lusty courser's rein,
Under her other was the tender boy,
Who blush'd and pouted in a dull disdain,
With leaden appetite, unapt to toy;

She red and hot as coals of glowing fire.
He red for shame, but frosty in desire.
The studded bridle on a ragged bough
Nimbly she fastens ; O! how quick is love:
The steed is stalled up, and even now
To tie the rider she begins to prove:
Backward she push'd him, as she would be
thrust,

And govern'd him in strength, though not it. lust.

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