Pericles

Pericles

ACT III	Enter GOWER
GOWER	Now sleep y-slaked hath the rout;
	No din but snores the house about,
	Made louder by the o'er-fed breast
	Of this most pompous marriage-feast.
	The cat, with eyne of burning coal,	5
	Now crouches fore the mouse's hole;
	And crickets sing at the oven's mouth,
	E'er the blither for their drouth.
	Hymen hath brought the bride to bed.
	Where, by the loss of maidenhead,	10
	A babe is moulded. Be attent,
	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.	15
	Enter, PERICLES and SIMONIDES at one door, withAttendants; a Messenger meets them, kneels, andgives PERICLES a letter: PERICLES shows itSIMONIDES; the Lords kneel to him. Then enterTHAISA with child, with LYCHORIDA a nurse. TheKING shows her the letter; s
	By many a dern and painful perch
	Of Pericles the careful search,
	By the four opposing coigns
	Which the world together joins,
	Is made with all due diligence	20
	That horse and sail and high expense
	Can stead the quest. At last from Tyre,
	Fame answering the most strange inquire,
	To the court of King Simonides
	Are letters brought, the tenor these:	25
	Antiochus and his daughter dead;
	The men of Tyrus on the head
	Of Helicanus would set on
	The crown of Tyre, but he will none:
	The mutiny he there hastes t' oppress;	30
	Says to 'em, if King Pericles
	Come not home in twice six moons,
	He, obedient to their dooms,
	Will take the crown. The sum of this,
	Brought hither to Pentapolis,	35
	Y-ravished the regions round,
	And every one with claps can sound,
	'Our heir-apparent is a king!
	Who dream'd, who thought of such a thing?'
	Brief, he must hence depart to Tyre:	40
	His queen with child makes her desire--
	Which who shall cross?--along to go:
	Omit we all their dole and woe:
	Lychorida, her nurse, she takes,
	And so to sea. Their vessel shakes	45
	On Neptune's billow; half the flood
	Hath their keel cut: but fortune's mood
	Varies again; the grisly north
	Disgorges such a tempest forth,
	That, as a duck for life that dives,	50
	So up and down the poor ship drives:
	The lady shrieks, and well-a-near
	Does fall in travail with her fear:
	And what ensues in this fell storm
	Shall for itself itself perform.	55
	I nill relate, action may
	Conveniently the rest convey;
	Which might not what by me is told.
	In your imagination hold
	This stage the ship, upon whose deck	60
	The sea-tost Pericles appears to speak.
	Exit
ACT III SCENE I:	Enter PERICLES, on shipboard
PERICLES	Thou god of this great vast, rebuke these surges,
	Which wash both heaven and hell; and thou, that hast
	Upon the winds command, bind them in brass,
	Having call'd them from the deep! O, still	65
	Thy deafening, dreadful thunders; gently quench
	Thy nimble, sulphurous flashes! O, how, Lychorida,
	How does my queen? Thou stormest venomously;
	Wilt thou spit all thyself? The seaman's whistle
	Is as a whisper in the ears of death,	70
	Unheard. Lychorida!--Lucina, O
	Divinest patroness, and midwife gentle
	To those that cry by night, convey thy deity
	Aboard our dancing boat; make swift the pangs
	Of my queen's travails!	75
	Enter LYCHORIDA, with an Infant
	Now, Lychorida!
LYCHORIDA	Here is a thing too young for such a place,
	Who, if it had conceit, would die, as I
	Am like to do: take in your arms this piece
	Of your dead queen.	80
PERICLES	How, how, Lychorida!
LYCHORIDA	Patience, good sir; do not assist the storm.
	Here's all that is left living of your queen,
	A little daughter: for the sake of it,
	Be manly, and take comfort.	85
PERICLES	O you gods!
	Why do you make us love your goodly gifts,
	And snatch them straight away? We here below
	Recall not what we give, and therein may
	Use honour with you.	90
LYCHORIDA	Patience, good sir,
	Even for this charge.
PERICLES	Now, mild may be thy life!
	For a more blustrous birth had never babe:
	Quiet and gentle thy conditions! for	95
	Thou art the rudeliest welcome to this world
	That ever was prince's child. Happy what follows!
	Thou hast as chiding a nativity
	As fire, air, water, earth, and heaven can make,
	To herald thee from the womb: even at the first	100
	Thy loss is more than can thy portage quit,
	With all thou canst find here. Now, the good gods
	Throw their best eyes upon't!
	Enter two Sailors
First Sailor	What courage, sir? God save you!
PERICLES	Courage enough: I do not fear the flaw;	105
	It hath done to me the worst. Yet, for the love
	Of this poor infant, this fresh-new sea-farer,
	I would it would be quiet.
First Sailor	Slack the bolins there! Thou wilt not, wilt thou?
	Blow, and split thyself.	110
Second Sailor	But sea-room, an the brine and cloudy billow kiss
	the moon, I care not.
First Sailor	Sir, your queen must overboard: the sea works high,
	the wind is loud, and will not lie till the ship be
	cleared of the dead.	115
PERICLES	That's your superstition.
First Sailor	Pardon us, sir; with us at sea it hath been still
	observed: and we are strong in custom. Therefore
	briefly yield her; for she must overboard straight.
PERICLES	As you think meet. Most wretched queen!	120
LYCHORIDA	Here she lies, sir.
PERICLES	A terrible childbed hast thou had, my dear;
	No light, no fire: the unfriendly elements
	Forgot thee utterly: nor have I time
	To give thee hallow'd to thy grave, but straight	125
	Must cast thee, scarcely coffin'd, in the ooze;
	Where, for a monument upon thy bones,
	And e'er-remaining lamps, the belching whale
	And humming water must o'erwhelm thy corpse,
	Lying with simple shells. O Lychorida,	130
	Bid Nestor bring me spices, ink and paper,
	My casket and my jewels; and bid Nicander
	Bring me the satin coffer: lay the babe
	Upon the pillow: hie thee, whiles I say
	A priestly farewell to her: suddenly, woman.	135
	Exit LYCHORIDA
Second Sailor	Sir, we have a chest beneath the hatches, caulked
	and bitumed ready.
PERICLES	I thank thee. Mariner, say what coast is this?
Second Sailor	We are near Tarsus.
PERICLES	Thither, gentle mariner.	140
	Alter thy course for Tyre. When canst thou reach it?
Second Sailor	By break of day, if the wind cease.
PERICLES	O, make for Tarsus!
	There will I visit Cleon, for the babe
	Cannot hold out to Tyrus: there I'll leave it	145
	At careful nursing. Go thy ways, good mariner:
	I'll bring the body presently.
	Exeunt