But since he is gone, the king's ease must please ' :
He 'scap'd the land, to perish at the seas.-
I'll present myself.—[To them.] Peace to the lords of Tyre.

Hel. Lord Thaliard from Antiochus is welcome.

Thal. From him I come,
With message unto princely Pericles;
But since my landing I have understood,
Your lord hath betook himself to unknown travels,
My message must return from whence it came.

Hel. We have no reason to desire it?,
Commended to our master, not to us :
Yet, ere you shall depart, this we desire,
As friends to Antioch, we may feast in Tyre.

[Exeunt.

SCENE IV.

Tharsus. A Room in the Governor's House.

Enter CLEON, DIONYZA, and Attendants.
Cle. My Dionyza, shall we rest us here,
And by relating tales of other's griefs,
See if 'twill teach us to forget our own?

Dio. That were to blow at fire in hope to quench it;
For who dig hills, because they do aspire,
Throws down one mountain to cast up a higher.
Oh my distressed lord ! even such our griefs;

Here they're but felt, and seen with mistful eyes",
But like to groves, being topp'd, they higher rise.

Cle. Oh Dionyza,
Who wanteth food, and will not say he wants it,
Or can conceal his hunger, till he famish ?
Our tongues and sorrows too sound deep our woes
Into the air; our eyes do weep, till lungs
Fetch breath that may proclaim them louder; that
If heaven slumber, while their creatures want,
They may awake their helps to comfort them'.
I'll then discourse our woes, felt several years,
And, wanting breath to speak, help me with tears.

Dio. I'll do my best, sir.

Cle. This Tharsus, o'er which I have the government,
A city, on whom plenty held full hand,
For riches strew'd herself even in the streets,
Whose towers bore heads so high, they kiss'd the clouds,
And strangers ne'er beheld, but wonder'd at;
Whose men and dames so jetted', and adorn’d,
Like one another's glass to trim them by :
Their tables were stor’d full to glad the sight,
And not so much to feed on as delight;
All poverty was scorn'd, and pride so great,
The name of help grew odious to repeat.

Dio. Oh! 'tis too true.

Cle. But see what heaven can do! By this our change, These mouths, whom but of late, earth, sea, and air,

9

seen with MISTFUL eyes,] “ Mistful ” was Steevens's emendation, for mischiefs of the early impressions. In our former edition we retained the old reading, but, on reconsideration, think mischiefs a printer's error. Shakespeare has the expression “mistful eyes” in “Henry V." A. iv. sc. 6, Vol. iii. p. 618; and there “mistful ” is misprinted mirtful in the folios, but amended to “mistful” in the corr. fo. 1632.

They may awake their helps to comfort them.] In the old copies the lines are these, and are thus arranged

“Our tongues and sorrows do sound deep

Our woes into the air, our eyes to weep
Till tongues fetch breath, that may proclaim
Them louder, that if heaven slumber, while
Their creatures want, they may awake

Their helpers, to comfort them." The various corrections were made by Steevens and Malone; and though in some places we might have guess'd differently, on the whole, we think it best to adhere to their text. The passage is difficult, even as corrected.

1 - dames so JEITED,] i.e. So strutted. See “Cymbeline," A. iii. sc. 3, this Vol. p. 307, and other references there given. VOL. VI.

Dd

3

Were all too little to content and please,
Although they gave their creatures in abundance,
As houses are defil'd for want of use,
They are now starv'd for want of exercise:
Those palates, who not yet two summers younger',
Must have inventions to delight the taste,
Would now be glad of bread, and beg for it:
Those mothers who to nousle up their babes :
Thought nought too curious, are ready now
To eat those little darlings whom they lov’d.
So sharp are hunger's teeth, that man and wife
Draw lots, who first shall die to lengthen life.
Here stands a lord, and there a lady weeping;
Here many sink, yet those which see them fall,
Have scarce strength left to give them burial.
Is not this true ?
Dio. Our cheeks and hollow eyes do witness it.

.
Cle. Oh! let those cities, that of plenty's cup
And her prosperities so largely taste,
With their superfluous riots, heed these tears':
The misery of Tharsus may be their's.

a

Enter a Lord.
Lord. Where's the lord governor ?

Cle. Here.
Speak out thy sorrows, which thou bring'st, in haste",
For comfort is too far for us to expect.

:

3

2 Those palates, who not yet two summers younger,] The old copies read “who not yet to sarers younger ;" but we adopt the emendation preferred by Steevens : nevertheless the poet may possibly have written,

· Those palates, who not us’d to suffer hunger :" Malone printed,

“Who not us'd to hunger's savour.” who to Nousle up their babes] Surely a word used by Pope (who spells it nuzzle) can want no explanation; yet commentators resort to ancient romances, plays, and poems, and even to glossaries, in illustration of a word still in daily use. Shakespeare would smile at such a waste of time and space. The Rev. Mr. Dyce, we are bound to say, has no additional note.

Lord. We have descried, upon our neighbouring shore,
A portly sail of ships make hitherward.

Cle. I thought as much.
One sorrow never comes, but brings an heir
That may succeed as his inheritor;
And so in our's. Some neighbouring nation,
Taking advantage of our misery,
Hath stuff'do these hollow vessels with their power,

,
To beat us down, the which are down already;
And make a conquest of unhappy me,
Whereas no glory's got to overcome.

Lord. That's the least fear; for by the semblance
Of their white flags display'd, they bring us peace,
And come to us as favourers, not as foes.

Cle. Thou speak'st like him's' untutor'd to repeat;
Who makes the fairest show means most deceit.
But bring they what they will, and what they can,
What need we fear?
The ground's the low'st, and we are half way there.
Go, tell their general we attend him here,
To know for what he comes, and whence he comes,
And what he craves.
Lord. I go, my lord.

[Exit. Cle. Welcome is peace, if he on peace consisto; If wars, we are unable to resist.

а

Enter PERICLES, with Attendants.
Per. Lord governor, for so we hear you are,
Let not our ships and number of our men,
Be, like a beacon fir’d, to amaze your eyes.
We have heard your miseries as far as Tyre,
And seen the desolation of your streets;
Nor come we to add sorrow to your tears,
But to relieve them of their heavy load :
And these our ships, you happily may think,
Are like the Trojan horse, was stuff'd within

And we'll pray

With bloody veins ', expecting overthrow,
Are stor'd with corn to make your needy bread,
And give them life whom hunger starv'd half dead.
All. The gods of Greece protect you !

for

you. Per.

Arise, I pray you, arise :
We do not look for reverence, but for love,
And harbourage for ourself, our ships, and men.

Cle. The which when any shall not gratify,
Or pay you with unthankfulness in thought, ,
Be it our wives, our children, or ourselves,
The curse of heaven and men succeed their evils !
Till when, (the which, I hope, shall ne'er be seen)
Your
grace

is welcome to our town and us.
Per. Which welcome we'll accept; feast here a while,
Until our stars, that frown, lend us a smile.

[Exeunt.

ACT II.

Enter GOWER.

Gow. Here you have seen a mighty king
His child, I wis, to incest bring';
A better prince, and benign lord,
That will prove awful both in deed and word.
Be quiet, then, as men should be,
Till he hath pass'd necessity.
I'll show you those in trouble's reign,
Losing a mite, a mountain gain.
The good in conversation
(To whom I give my benizon)
Is still at Tharsus ', where each man