And you're her labour'd scholar. Come, queen o' the feast,
(For, daughter, so you are) here take your place :
Marshal the rest, as they deserve their grace.

Knights. We are honour'd much by good Simonides.
Sim. Your presence glads our days: honour we love,
For who hates honour hates the gods above.
Marshal. Sir, yond's your place.

Per.

Some other is more fit.

1 Knight. Contend not, sir; for we are gentlemen, That neither in our hearts, nor outward eyes,

Envy the great, nor do the low despise3.
Per. You are right courteous knights.
Sim.

Sit, sir; sit.

By Jove, I wonder, that is king of thoughts,
These cates resist me', he not thought upon.
Thai. By Juno, that is queen

Of marriage, all the viands that I eat
Do seem unsavoury, wishing him my meat!
Sure, he's a gallant gentleman.

Sim. He's but a country gentleman:

He has done no more than other knights have done,
He has broken a staff, or so: so, let it pass.

Thai. To me he seems like diamond to glass.

Per. Yond' king's to me like to my father's picture,
Which tells me in that glory once he was;
Had princes sit, like stars, about his throne,
And he the sun for them to reverence.
None that beheld him, but like lesser lights

Did vail their crowns to his supremacy;

Where now his son, like a glow-worm in the night,

3 THAT neither in our hearts, nor outward eyes,

ENVY the great, nor do the low despise.] This is the reading of the 4to, 1619, and of all subsequent impressions. The 4to, 1609, has Have for "That," Envies for "Envy," and shall for "do."

♦ These cates resist me,] i. e. Are opposed to my appetite: for "resist me " we ought perhaps to read "distaste me." There is no doubt that these lines belong to Simonides, who, like his daughter, could not eat for admiration of Pericles. The novel by Wilkins tells us that both "at one instant were so struck in love with the noblenesse of his [Pericles'] woorth, that they could not spare so much time to satisfie themselves with the delicacie of their viands, for talking of his praises." Sign. D 2. Steevens gave the two lines to Pericles.

Which tells ME] The 4to, 1609, omits "me," found in all later copies. In the last line but one of this speech, the 4to, 1609, alone reads, "He's both their parent:" the folio, 1664, has "For he's their parents," &c.

The which hath fire in darkness, none in light:
Whereby I see that Time's the king of men;
He's both their parent, and he is their grave,
And gives them what he will, not what they crave.
Sim. What are you merry, knights?

1 Knight. Who can be other, in this royal presence? Sim. Here, with a cup that's stor'd unto the brim, (As you do love, fill to your mistress' lips)

We drink this health to you.

Knights.

Sim. Yet pause a while;

We thank your grace.

Yond' knight doth sit too melancholy,

As if the entertainment in our court

Had not a show might countervail his worth.

Note it not you, Thaisa?

Thai.

To me, my father?

Sim.

What is it

Oh! attend, my daughter:

Princes, in this, should live like gods above,
Who freely give to every one that comes
To honour them; and princes, not doing so,
Are like to gnats, which make a sound, but kill'd
Are wonder'd at. Therefore,

To make his entrance more sweet, here say,
We drink this standing-bowl of wine to him.
Thai. Alas, my father! it befits not me
Unto a stranger knight to be so bold:
He may my proffer take for an offence,
Since men take women's gifts for impudence.
Sim. How!

Do as I bid you, or you'll move me else.

Thai. [Aside.] Now, by the gods, he could not please me

better.

Sim. And farther tell him, we desire to know,

Of whence he is, his name, and parentage.

Thai. The king my father, sir, has drunk to you.

Per. I thank him.

Thai. Wishing it so much blood unto your life.

Per. I thank both him and you, and pledge him freely. Thai. And, farther, he desires to know of you, Of whence you are, your name and parentage. Per. A gentleman of Tyre, my name, Pericles,

My education been in arts and arms,

Who looking for adventures in the world,

Was by the rough seas reft of ships and men,
And after shipwreck' driven upon this shore.

Thai. He thanks your grace; names himself Pericles,
A gentleman of Tyre,

Who only by misfortune of the seas

Bereft of ships and men, cast on the shore".

Sim. Now by the gods, I pity his misfortune,
And will awake him from his melancholy.-
Come, gentlemen, we sit too long on trifles,
And waste the time which looks for other revels.
Even in your armours, as you are address'd,
Will very well become a soldier's dance.
I will not have excuse, with saying, this
Loud music is too harsh for ladies' heads,
Since they love men in arms, as well as beds.

[The Knights dance.

So, this was well ask'd, 'twas so well perform'd.-
Come, sir;

Here is a lady that wants breathing too:

And I have often heard, you knights of Tyre
Are excellent in making ladies trip,

And that their measures are as excellent.

Per. In those that practise them, they are, my lord. Sim. Oh! that's as much, as you would be denied [The Knights and Ladies dance. Of your fair courtesy.-Unclasp, unclasp; Thanks, gentlemen, to all; all have done well,

6 My education BEEN in arts and arms,] i. e. My education having been in arts and arms. Malone altered " been" of all the old editions to being; but that "been" is the right word we have the evidence of the novel founded upon "Pericles," where we meet with the very same expression—“ his education been in arts and arms." See the Introduction.

7 And after SHIPWRECK] Here we have proof of the inconsistency of modern editors, who at one time prefer the old, uncertain spelling of our ancestors, and at another adopt that now in every-day use. It is 44 ship-wrack" in all the early editions, and elsewhere Mr. Singer sometimes follows that exploded orthography: here he deserts it, as indeed he ought to have done upon all occasions. We do not print for readers of the seventeenth, but of the nineteenth century, and observe the spelling of our own day, not that of two hundred and fifty years ago.

-

-- cast on the shore.] This speech is perfectly intelligible: we print it in the words of all the old copies, which we prefer to patching up a text, as some editors have done, under the vain supposition that they could restore the versification of Shakespeare. If we are to add, or withdraw words ad libitum, there can be no end of alteration, according to the pleasure, or taste of critics.

VOL. VI.

Ee

But you the best. [To PERICLES.]-Pages and lights, to

conduct

These knights unto their several lodgings!-Your's, sir,
We have given order to be next our own.
Per. I am at your grace's pleasure.
Sim. Princes, it is too late to talk of love',
And that's the mark I know you level at:
Therefore, each one betake him to his rest;
To-morrow all for speeding do their best.

[Exeunt.

SCENE IV.

Tyre. A Room in the Governor's House.

Enter HELICANUS and ESCANES.

Hel. No, Escanes; know this of me,
Antiochus from incest liv'd not free:

For which the most high gods, not minding longer
To withhold the vengeance that they had in store,
Due to this heinous capital offence,

Even in the height and pride of all his glory,
When he was seated, and his daughter with him,
In a chariot of inestimable value,

A fire from heaven came, and shrivell'd up
Those bodies, even to loathing; for they so stunk,
That all those eyes ador'd them ere their fall,
Scorn now their hand should give them burial.
Esca. 'Twas very strange.

Hel.

And yet but just; for though

This king were great, his greatness was no guard

To bar heaven's shaft, but sin had his reward.

Esca. "Tis very true.

9 Princes, it is too late to talk of love,] In the 4to, 1609, this speech is made part of what is said by Pericles; but the obvious error is corrected, in a handwriting of the time, in the copy belonging to the Duke of Devonshire.

1 To-morrow all for speeding do their best.] The novel by Wilkins here gives an incident of which we find no trace in any of the printed copies, but which most likely originally formed part of the representation: it is in these words :"Presently calling for a goodly milke white steede, and a payre of golden spurres, them first he bestowed uppon him, telling him they were the prises due to his merite, and ordained for that dayes enterprise." Sign. D 2 b.

Enter three Lords.

1 Lord. See! not a man, in private conference Or council, has respect with him but he.

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: And knowing this kingdom is without a head,

Like goodly buildings left without a roof,

Soon fall to ruin, 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. For 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 entreat you

3

2 FOR honour's CAUSE forbear your suffrages ;] We willingly adopt this reading at the suggestion of the Rev. Mr. Dyce, who ("Remarks," p. 263), however, assigns a wrong reason for doing a right thing. The old text is " honour's cause;" and Steevens proposed "Try honour's course,"-a plausible change, but clearly not the proper emendation.

Try

3 A twelvemonth longer, let me entreat you] This line is an instance of silent interpolation, for the sake of mending the halting measure: modern editors, without all warrant, read,

"A twelvemonth longer, let me then entreat you."

We adhere to the text of all the old copies, as our best guide under the circumstances. We may remark, that in Wilkins' novel, the period required by Helicanus for search is only three months.