• Thai. Wishing it fo much blood unto your life. Per. I thank both him and you, and pledge him freely.

Thai. And further he defires to know of you,
Of whence you are, your name and parentage.
Per. A gentleman of Tyre-(my name Pericles;
My education has been in arts and arms ;)
Who looking for adventures in the world,
Was by the rough feas reft of fhips and men,
And, after fhipwreck, driv'n upon this fhore.
Thai. He thanks your grace; names himself Pe-
ricles,

A gentleman of Tyre, who only by
Misfortune of the fea has been bereft

Of fhips and men, and caft upon this fhore.
Sim. Now, by the gods, I pity his misfortune,
And will awake him from his melancholy.
Come, gentlemen, we fit too long on trifles,
And waste the time, which looks for other revels,
Even in your armours, as you are addreft,
Will very well become a foldier's dance:
I will not have excufe, with faying, this

Even in your armours, as you are addreft,] As you are accoutered-prepared for combat, So in K. Henry V.

"Tomorrow for our march we are addreft." MALone. • I will not have excufe, with faying, this

Loud mufick is too harsh

the clafhing of their armour.

-] i. e. the loud noise made by "This loud mufick" is the read

ing of the first quarto. The fecond quarto, and all the subsequent copies, read that, which renders the paffage unintelligible. The dance here introduced is thus defcribed in an ancient Dialogue against the Abuse of Dancing, bl. let. no date:

"There is a daunce called Choria

"Which joy doth testify;

"Another called Pyrricke

"Which warlike feats doth try.

"For men in armour geftures made,

"And leapt, that so they might
"When need requires, be more prompt
"In publique weale to fight." MALONE,

- Loud

Loud mufick is too harsh for ladies' heads;
Since they love men in arms, as well as beds.
[The Knights dance.
So, this was well afk'd; 'twas fo well perform'd.
Come, fir; here's 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 deny'd [The Knights and Ladies dance. Of your fair courtesy.-Unclafp, unclafp;

Thanks, gentlemen, to all; all have done well,
But you the best. [To Pericles.] Pages and lights, to

conduct

Thefe knights unto their feveral lodgings: Yours, fir,
We have given order to be next our own 7.
Per. I am at your grace's pleasure.

'Sim. Princes, it is too late to talk of love,
For that's the mark I know you level at:
Therefore each one betake him to his reft;
To morrow, all for speeding do their best.

Enter Helicanus, and Escanes.

Hel. No, Efcanes, know this of me, Antiochus from inceft liv'd not free;

to be next our own.] So Gower:

"The kynge his chamberleyn let calle
"And bad that he by all weye

"A chamber for this man purvei

[Exeunt.

"Whicle nigh bis own chambre bee." MALONE.

For

For which, the most high gods not minding longer
To with-hold the vengeance that they had in ftore,
Due to this heinous capital offence;

Even in the height and pride of all his glory,
When he was feated in a chariot of

An inestimable value, and his daughter

With him, a fire from heaven came and fhrivel'd up
Those bodies, even to loathing; for they fo ftunk,
That all those eyes ador'd them, ere their fall,
Scorn now their hand fhould give them burial.
Efca. 'Twas very strange.

Hel. And yet but juftice; for though

This king were great, his greatness was no guard
To bar heav'n's fhaft, but fin had his reward'.
Ejca. 'Tis very true.

Enter three Lords.

1 Lord. See, not a man in private conference, Or council, hath refpect with him but he.

2 Lord. It fhall no longer grieve without reproof. Lord. And curft be he that will not fecond it.

3

I Lord. Follow me then: Lord Helicane a word. Hel. With me? and welcome: happy day, my lords.

a fire from heaven came and fbrivel'd up Thofe bodies,—]

This circumstance is mentioned by Gower: they hym tolde

"That for vengeance as God it wolde,
"Antiochus as men maie witte

"With thonder and lightnyng is forfmitte.
"His doughter hath the fame chance,
"So ben thei both in o balance."

MALONE.
• That all thofe eyes ador'd them, ere their fall,
Scorn now, &c.] The expreffion is elliptical:

That all thofe eyes which adored them, &c. MALONE.

by fin had his reward.] Thus the folios and the modern editions. The prefent reading was furnished by the earliest quarto.

MALONE.

1 Lord,

I Lord. Know that our griefs are rifen to the top, And now at length they overflow their banks. Hel. Your griefs, for what? wrong not your prince you love.

1 Lord. Wrong not yourself then, noble Heli

cane;

But if the prince do live, let us falute him,
Or know what ground's made happy by his breath.
If in the world he live, we'll feek him out;
If in his grave he reft, we'll find him there;
And be refolv'd, he lives to govern us 2,
Or dead, gives cause to mourn his funeral,
And leaves us to our free election.

2 Lord. Whofe death's, indeed, the strongest in our cenfure':

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

1 And be refolv'd he lives to govern us,] Refolv'd is fatisfied, freed from doubt. So in a fubfequent scene:

"Refolve your angry father, if my tongue, &c."

MALONE. Whofe death's indeed the strongest in our cenfure;] i. e. the most probable in our opinion. Cenfure is thus used in King Ri

chard III:

"To give your cenfure in this weighty bufinefs." STEEVENS.

And knowing this kingdom is without a head,] They did not know that the kingdom had abfolutely loft its governor; for in the very preceding line this lord obferves that it was only more probable that he was dead, than living.-I therefore read, with a very flight change-if without a head. In the next line but one, by fupplying the word twill, which I fuppofe was omitted by the careleffness of the compofitor, the fenfe and metre are both reflored. The paffage as it stands in the old copies, is not, by any mode of construction, reducible to grammar. MALONE.

(Like goodly buildings left without a roof) The fame thought occurs in K. Henry IV. Part II:

66

leaves his part-created coft
"A naked fubject to the weeping clouds,

"And wafte for churlish winter's tyranny." STEEVENS.

That

•That best know'ft how to rule, and how to reign, We thus fubmit unto, our fovereign.

Omn. Live, noble Helicane.

Hel. Try honour's caufe; forbear your fuffrages
If that you love prince Pericles, forbear.
Take I your wifh, I leap into the feas,
Where's hourly trouble, for a minute's ease.
A twelvemonth longer, let me entreat you
To forbear the absence of your king;
If in which time expir'd, he not return,
I fhall with aged patience bear your yoke.
But if I cannot win you to this love,

Go fearch like nobles, like noble subjects,
And in your fearch, fpend your adventurous worth;
Whom if you find, and win unto return,

You fhall like diamonds fit about his crown.

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

We with our travels will endeavour it ".

Hel. Then you love us, we you, and we'll clafp

hands;

When peers thus knit, a kingdom ever stands.

SCENE V.

Pentapolis.

[Exeunt.

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

• We with our travels will endeavour.] Endeavour what? I fuppofe, to find out Pericles. We fhould therefore add the fyllable which feems wanting both to metre and fenfe :

We with our travels will endeavour it. STEEVENS.
The author might have intended an abrupt fentence.

MALONE.

7 In the Hyftorie of Kyng Appolyn of Thyre," two kynges fones" pay their court to the daughter of Archyftrates, (the Simonides of the

pre