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I said, and said no more but what my thoughts
Did warrant me was likely.

Per.

Tell thy story; If thine consider'd prove the thousandth part Of my endurance, thou art a man, and I Have suffer'd like a girl: yet thou dost look Like Patience, gazing on kings' graves, and smiling

Extremity out of act19. What were thy friends? How lost thou them? Thy name, my most kind virgin?

Recount, I do beseech thee; come, sit by me.
Mar. My name, sir, is Marina.

Per.
O, I am mock'd,
And thou by some incensed god sent hither
To make the world laugh at me.

Mar.

Or here I'll cease

Per.

Patience, good sir,

Nay, I'll be patient;

Thou little know'st how thou dost startle me,
To call thyself Marina.

Mar.

The name Marina

Was given me by one that had some power;
My father, and a king.

Per.

And call'd Marina?

Mar.

How! a king's daughter?

You said you would believe me;

But, not to be a troubler of your peace,
I will end here.

Per.
But are you flesh and blood?
Have you a working pulse? and are no fairy?

19 By her beauty and patient meekness disarming Calamity, and preventing her from using her uplifted sword. Extremity (though not personified as here) is in like manner used for the utmost of human suffering in King Lear:

another,

To amplify too much, would much more
And top extremity.”

So in Twelfth Night:

She sat like Patience on a monument
Smiling at Grief.'

VOL. IX.

15

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Mar. My mother was the daughter of a king;
Who died the very minute I was born,

As my good nurse Lychorida hath oft
Deliver'd weeping.

Per.

O, stop there a little!
This is the rarest dream that e'er dull sleep
Did mock sad fools withal: this cannot be.
My daughter's buried. [Aside.] Well:-where were
you bred?

I'll hear you more, to the bottom of your story,
And never interrupt you.

Mar. You'll scarce believe me; 'twere best I did
give o'er.

Per. I will believe you by the syllable

Of what you shall deliver21. Yet, give me leave:How came you in these parts? where were you bred? Mar. The king, my father, did in Tharsus leave me; Till cruel Cleon, with his wicked wife,

Did seek to murder me: and having woo'd

A villain to attempt it, who having drawn to do't, A crew of pirates came and rescued me;

Brought me to Mitylene. But now, good sir, Whither will you have me? Why do you weep? It may be,

You think me an impostor; no, good faith;

I am the daughter to king Pericles,

If good king Pericles be.

20 i. e. No puppet dressed up to deceive me. So in The Two Gentlemen of Verona :

"O excellent motion! exceeding puppet!'

21 That is, I will believe every the minutest part of what you say. So in All's Well that Ends Well:

To the utmost syllable of your worthiness.'

And in Macbeth :

'To the last syllable of recorded; ime.

Per. Ho, Helicanus!

Hel.

Calls my gracious lord?
Per. Thou art a grave and noble counsellor,
Most wise in general: Tell me, if thou canst,
What this maid is, or what is like to be,
That thus hath made me weep?

Hel.

I know not; but

Here is the regent, sir, of Mitylene,
Speaks nobly of her.

Lys.

She would never tell

Her parentage; being demanded that,
She would sit still and weep.

Per. O Helicanus, strike me, honour'd sir;
Give me a gash, put me to present pain;
Lest this great sea of joys rushing upon me,
O'erbear the shores of my mortality,

And drown me with their sweetness. O, come hither,
Thou that beget'st him that did thee beget;
Thou that wast born at sea, buried at Tharsus,
And found at sea again! O Helicanus,

Down on thy knees, thank the holy gods, as loud
As thunder threatens us; This is Marina.-
What was thy mother's name? tell me but that,
For truth can never be confirm'd enough,
Though doubts did ever sleep22.

Mar.

What is your title?

First, sir, I pray,

Per. I am Pericles of Tyre: but tell me now My drown'd queen's name (as in the rest thou hast Been godlike perfect), thou'rt the heir of kingdoms, And another life to Pericles thy father23.

like

22 i. e. in plain language, though nothing ever happened to awake a scruple or doubt concerning your veracity.'

23 This passage is very much corrupted in the old copies in the last line we have, another like.' The emendation is founded upon that of Mason Malone reads:

'Per. I am Pericles of Tyre: but tell me now
My drowned queen's name as in the rest you said
Thou hast been godlike perfect,) the heir of kingdoms,
And a mother like to Péricles thy father.'

Mar. Is it no more to be your daughter, than To say, my mother's name was Thaisa? Thaisa was my mother, who did end, The minute I began24.

Per. Now, blessing on thee, rise; thou art my child. Give me fresh garments. Mine own, Helicanus (Not dead at Tharsus, 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.

I embrace you, sir.

Per. 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?

Lys.

Music? My lord, I hear

Per. Most heavenly music:

It nips me unto list'ning, and thick slumber

Hangs on mine eyelids; let me rest.

Lys. A pillow for his head;

[He sleeps.

[The Curtain before the Pavilion of PERICLES is closed.

Mason's emendation is confirmed by what Pericles says in the preceding speech :—

6

O come hither

Thou that beget'st him that did thee beget.'

24 So in the Winter's Tale :

Lady,

Dear queen, that ended when I but began,
Give me that hand of yours to kiss."

So leave him all.-Well, my companion-friends25, If this but answer to my just belief,

I'll well remember you.

[Exeunt LYSIMACHUS, HELICANUS, MARINA, and attendant Lady.

SCENE II. The same.

PERICLES on the Deck asleep; DIANA appearing to him as in a Vision1.

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

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't, and be happy, by my silver bow.

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Awake, and tell thy dream. [DIANA disappears. Per. Celestial Dian, goddess argentine3,

I will obey thee!-Helicanus!

25 Malone would give these lines to Marina, reading

111

Well, my companion-friend.'

Observing that a lady had entered with her, and Marina says, I will use my utmost skill in the recovery of Pericles,

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Steevens contends for the text as it stands, remarking that Lysimachus is much in love with Marina, and supposing himself to be near the gratification of his wishes, with a generosity common to noble natures on such occasions, is desirous to make his friends and companions partakers of his happiness.'

1 This vision appears to be founded on a passage in Gower. 2 In the old copy we have here like for life again. The passage appears to mean: Draw such a picture as shall prove itself to have been copied from real, not from pretended calamities; such a one as shall strike the hearers with all the lustre of conspicuous truth.'

3 i. e. regent of the silver moon. In the language of alchemy, which was well understood when this play was written, Luna or Diana means silver, as Sol does gold.

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