20

This is the man that can, in aught you would,
Resolve you.

Lys. Hail, reverend sir ! the gods preserve you !
Hel. And you, sir, to outlive the age

I

am,
And die as I would do.
Lys.

You wish me well.
Being on shore, honouring of Neptune's triumphs,
Seeing this goodly vessel ride before us,
I made to it, to know of whence you are.

Hel. First, what is your place?
Lys. I am the governor of this place you lie

before.
Hel. Sir,
Our vessel is of Tyre, in it the king;
A man who for this three months hath not spoken
To any one, nor taken sustenance
But to prorogue his grief.

Lys. Upon what ground is his distemperature ?

Hel. 'Twould be too tedious to repeat; But the main grief springs from the loss Of a beloved daughter and a wife.

Lys. May we not see him ?

Hel. You may ;
But bootless is your sight: he will not speak

30

To any.

Lys. Yet let me obtain my wish.
Hel. Behold him. [Pericles discovered.] This

was a goodly person,
Till the disaster that, one mortal night,
Drove him to this.

Lys. Sir king, all hail! the gods preserve you! Hail, royal sir !

26. prorogue, prolong, linger in more detail : 'with a long out. He has eaten only enough to overgrown beard, diffused hair, keep him in languishing sorrow. undecent nails on his fingers,

36. [Pericles discovered.] and himself lying upon his couch, Wilkins describes his condition grovelling on his face.'

40

50

Hel. It is in vain ; he will not speak to you.

First Lord. Sir,
We have a maid in Mytilene, I durst wager,
Would win some words of him.
Lys.

'Tis well bethought.
She questionless with her sweet harmony
And other chosen attractions, would allure,
And make a battery through his deafen'd parts,
Which now are midway stopp'd :
She is all happy as the fairest of all,
And, with her fellow maids, is now upon
The leafy shelter that abuts against
The island's side.
[Whispers a Lord, who goes off in the

barge of Lysimachus. Hel. Sure, all's effectless; yet nothing we'll

omit That bears recovery's name. But, since your

kindness
We have stretch'd thus far, let us beseech you
That for our gold we may provision have,
Wherein we are not destitute for want,
But weary for the staleness.
Lys.

O, sir, a courtesy
Which if we should deny, the most just gods
For every graff would send a caterpillar,
And so inflict our province. Yet once more
Let me entreat to know at large the cause
Of your king's sorrow.
Hel.

Sit, sir, I will recount it to you: But, see, I am prevented.

49. happy, accomplished. her fellow maids now upon.' 50. The line has been patched

60. graff, graft, scion. up by Malone and Steevens. The Qq and Ff have : • And 61. inflict, afflict.

60

70

Re-enter, from the barge, Lord, with MARINA,

and a young Lady. Lys.

O, here is
The lady that I sent for. Welcome, fair one !
Is 't not a goodly presence ?
Hel.

She's a gallant lady.
Lys. She's such a one,

were I well
assured
Came of a gentle kind and noble stock,
I'ld wish no better choice, and think me rarely

wed.
Fair one, all goodness that consists in bounty
Expect even here, where is a kingly patient :
If that thy prosperous and artificial feat
Can draw him but to answer thee in aught,
Thy sacred physic shall receive such pay
As thy desires can wish.
Mar.

Sir, I will use
My utmost skill in his

recovery,
Provided
That none but I and my companion maid
Be suffer'd to come near him.
Lys.

Come, let us leave her;
And the gods make her prosperous !

[Marina sings.
Lys. Mark'd he your music?
Mar.

No, nor look'd on us.
Lys. See, she will speak to him.
Mar. Hail, sir ! my lord, lend ear.
Per. Hum, ha!
Mar. I am a maid,
67. that, were I well assured

72. artificial feat, dexterous The construction is performance ; prosperous is proidiomatic, the subject of came leptic, anticipating the success being supplied from the relative of the 'feat,' which is still in that.

question. Cf. v. 80.

came.

90

My lord, that ne'er before invited eyes,
But have been gazed on like a comet: she speaks,
My lord, that, may be, hath endured a grief
Might equal yours, if both were justly weigh'd.
Though wayward fortune did malign my state,
My derivation was from ancestors
Who stood equivalent with mighty kings:
But time hath rooted out my parentage,
And to the world and awkward casualties
Bound me in servitude. [Aside] I will desist;
But there is something glows upon my cheek,
And whispers in mine ear ‘Go not till he speak.'
Per. My fortunes-parentage-good parent-

ageTo equal mine !—was it not thus? what say you ? Mar. I said, my lord, if you did know my

parentage, You would not do me violence. Per. I do think so. Pray you, turn your eyes

upon me. You are like something that— What country

woman? Here of these shores ? Mar.

No, nor of

any

shores : Yet I was mortally brought forth, and am No other than I appear. Per. I am great with woe, and shall deliver

weeping. My dearest wife was like this maid, and such a one My daughter might have been: my queen's square

brows;

100

94. awkward, adverse. in resentment at her presump

tion : 'presumptuous beauty in 95. He may be supposed here a child, how darest thou urge so to hold her from him at arm's much ? and therewithal in this length (cf. v. 127); but certainly rash distemperature, struck her not, as the novelist thought, in the face.'

ΙΙο

Her stature to an inch ; as wand-like straight;
As silver-voiced; her eyes as jewel-like
And cased as richly; in pace another Juno;
Who starves the ears she feeds, and makes them

hungry,
The more she gives them speech. Where do you

live?
Mar. Where I am but a stranger : from the deck
You may discern the place.
Per.

Where were you bred ?
And how achieved you these endowments, which
You make more rich to owe ?

Mar. If I should tell my history, it would seem
Like lies disdain'd in the reporting.
Per.

Prithee, speak : 120
Falseness cannot come from thee; for thou look'st
Modest as Justice, and thou seem'st a palace
For the crown'd Truth to dwell in: I will believe

thee, And make my senses credit thy relation To points that seem impossible ; for thou look'st Like one I loved indeed. What were thy friends? Didst thou not say, when I did push thee backWhich was when I perceived thee—that thou

camest From good descending ? Mar.

So indeed I did. Per. Report thy parentage. I think thou said'st Thou hadst been toss'd from wrong to injury, And that thou thought'st thy griefs might equal

mine,
If both were open'd.
Mar.

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

118. to owe, by possessing them. VOL. IV

97

H

130