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My lord, your brother doubts, if I am sincere,
And thinks (an error natural to him)

I will break my vow to you. You will clear my fame,

And labour to convince him, that to-morrow
Erixene's at once a bride and queen. [Exit.
Per. When I have worked him up to violence,
Bring thou the king, and pity my distress.
[To Pericles, who goes out.
Dem. On what extremes extreme distress com-
pels me!

In things impossible I put my trust:
I, in my only brother, find a foe;
Yet, in my rival, hope the greatest friend.
When all our hopes are lodged in such expedi-
ents,

'Tis as if poison were our only food,
And death was called on as the guard of life.
Per. Why dost thou droop?

Dem. Because I am dead; quite dead
To hope; and yet rebellious to despair;
Like ghosts unblessed, that burst the bars of
death.

Strange is my conduct! Stranger my distress: Beyond example both! Whoe'er before me Pressed his worst foe to prove his truest friend? But though thou art not my brother, thou art a

man;

And, if a man, compassionate the worst

That man can feel; though found that worst in

me.

Per. What would'st?

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In tenderest returns of love divine,
Can in one day be yours? Impossible!

Per. If I am deceived, I am pleased with the deceit.

How my heart dances in the golden dream!
In pity do not wake me, till to-morrow.
Dem. Then thou wilt wake distracted. Trust
me, brother,
She gives her hand alone.

Per. Nor need I more;
That hand's enough, that brings a sceptre in it.
I scorn a prince, who weds with meaner views.
Her duty's mine, and I conceive small pain
From your sweet error, that her love is your's.
I am pleased such cordial thoughts of your own

merit Support you in distress.

Dem. Inhuman Perseus!

If pity dwells within the heart of man,
If due that pity to the last distress,
Pity a lover exquisitely pained,
A lover exquisitely pained by you.
Oh! in the name of all the gods, relent!
Give me my princess, give her to my throes!
Amidst a thousand you may chuse a love;
The spacious earth contains but one for me.
But Oh! I rave. Art thou not he, the man,
Who drinks any groans like music to his ear?
And would, as wine, as nectar, drink my blood?
Are all my hopes of mercy lodged in thee?
Oh, rigid gods! and shall I then fall down,
Embrace thy feet, and bathe them with my tears?
Yes, I will drown thee with my tears, my blood,
So thou afford a human ear to pangs,

A brother's pangs, a brother's broken heart!
Per. Pardon, Demetrius; but the princess
calls,

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Dem. What, see, talk, touch, nay, taste her like a bee,

Draw honey from her wounded lip, while I
Am stung to death!

Per. The triumph once was your's.

Dem. Rip up my breast, or you shall never stir.

My heart may visit her! Oh, take it with you!
Have I not seen her, where she has not been?
Have I not clasped her shadow? Trod her steps?
Transported trod! as if they led to Heaven?
Each morn my life I lighted at her eye,
And every evening, at its close, expired.

[Bursts into tears. Per. Fie! thou art a Roman; can a Roman weep?

Sure Alexander's helmet can sustain

Far heavier strokes than these. For shame, Demetrius;

E'en snatch up the next Sabine in thy way, 'Twill do as well.

[Going.

Dem. By Heaven you shall not stir. Long as I live, I stand a world between you, And keep you distant as the poles asunder. Who takes my love, in mercy take my life; Thy bloody pass cleave through thy brother's

breast.

I beg, I challenge, I provoke my death. [His hand upon his sword.

Enter KING and DYMAS.

Per. You will not murder me?
Dem. Yes, you and all.
King. How like a tyger foaming o'er his prey!
Per. Now, sir, believe your eyes, believe your

ears,

And still believe me perjured as this morning. King. Heaven's wrath's exhausted, there's no more to fear.

My darling son found criminal in all !

Dem. That villain there to blast me! Yes, I'll speak;

For what have I to fear, who feel the worst?
'Tis time the truth were known. That villain,
sir,

Has cleft my heart, and laughs to see it bleed:
But his confession shall redeem my fame,
And re-enthrone me in my princess' smile;
Or I'll return that false embrace he gave me,
And stab him in your sight.

King. Hold, insolent!
Where's your respect to me?
Dem. Oh, royal sir!

That has undone me. Through respect I gave
A feigned consent, which his black artifice
Has turned to ny destruction. I refused

That slave's, that cursed slave's, that statesman's

daughter,

And he pretends she was refused to me.
Hence, hence this desolation. Nought I fear,
Though nature groan her last. And shall he

then

Escape and triumph?

King. Guards there! Seize the prince!

[He is seized. The man you menace you shall learn to fear. Dym. Hold, sir! not this for me! It is your

son:

What is my life, though poured upon your feet?
King. Is this a son?

Dem. No, sir; my crime's too great,
Which dares to vindicate a father's honour,
To catch the glories of a falling crown,
And save it from pollution. But I've done.
I die, unless my princess is restored;

[Pointing to Dymas,
And if I die, by heaven, and earth, and hell !
His sordid blood shall mingle with the dust,
And see if thence 'twill mount into the throne.
Oh, sir! think of it! I'll expect my fate. [Erit.
King. And thou shalt have it.
Dym. How, my lord; in tears!

King. As if the gods came down in evidence, How many sudden rays of proof concur To my conviction? Was ever equal boldness? But 'tis no wonder from a brother king;

[Produces the forged letter. This king of Thrace-To-morrow he'll be king Of Macedon- -He therefore dies to-night.

Per. And yet I doubt it, for I know his fond

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That seeks your crown and life.
King. And life?
Dym. No, sir;

He'll only take your crown; you still may live. King. Heaven blast thee for that thought! Per. Why shakes my father?

King. It stabs, it gnaws, it harrows up my
soul.

Is he not young? Was he not much indulged?
Galled by his brother? Doubted by his father?
Tempted by Rome? A nation to a boy?
Dym. Oh, a mere infant-that deposes kings.
King. No; once he saved my crown.
Dym. And now would wear it.
King. How my head swims!

Per. Nor strange; the task is hard.

Dym. Yet scarce for him. Brutus was but a
Roman :

[Speaking, as if he would not have the king
hear.

Yet, like a Philip dared, and is immortal. King. I hear thee, Dyinas; give me then the mandate. [Going to sign, he stops short. Dym. No wonder if his mother thus had paused.

Per. Rank cankers on thy tongue! Why mention her? Aside. King. Oh, gods! I see her now: what am I doing! [Throws away the style. I see her dying eye let fall a tear In favour of Demetrius. Shall I stab Her lovely image, stampt on every feature? Dym. His soul escaped it, sir. King. Thou liest; begone.

[Perseus and Dymas in great confusion-Perseus whispers Dymas. Dym. True; that, or nought, will touch him. [Aside to Perseus. [To the king.

If, sir, your mercy-
Per. O speak on of mercy!
Mercy, the darling attribute of Heaven!
Dym. If you should spare him-
King. What if I should spare him?
Dym. I dare not say- -Your wrath again
might rise.

King. Yes, if thou'rt silent-What if I should spare him?

Dym. Why, if you would, proud Rome would thank you for it.

King. Rome! Her applause more shocks me than his death.

O, thou, Death's orator! Dread advocate
For bowelless severity! assist

My trembling hand, as thou hast steeled my

heart;

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[The King, going out, meets Demetrius in mourning, introduced by Antigonus. He starts back, and drops on Dymas. Recovering, speaks.]

King. This, Fate, is thy tenth wave, and quite
o'erwhelms me:

It less had shocked me, had I met his ghost."
This is a plot to sentence me to death.
What hast thou done, my mortal foe! thrown
bars
[To Antigonus.
Athwart my glory? But thy scheme shall fail.
As rushing torrents sweep the obstructed mound,
So Philip meets this mountain in his way,
Yet keeps his purpose still.

[Perseus and Pericles whisper aside.

Peri. I can't but fear it.

Per. I grant the danger great, yet don't despair.

Jove is against thee, Perseus on thy side. Ant. The prince, dread sir, low on his bended knee

King. This way, Antigonus. Dost mark his bloom?

Grace in his aspect, grandeur in his mien ?
Ant. I do.

King. 'Tis false; take a king's word. He's

dead.

That darling of my soul would stab me sleeping. How dar'st thou start? Art thou the traitor's father?

If thou art pale, what is enough for me?
How his grave yawns! Oh, that it were my own!
Ant. Mourn not the guilty.
King. No, he's innocent:

Death pays his debt to justice, and that done,
I grant him still my son; as such I love him:
Yes, and will clasp him to my breast, while yet
His clay is warm, nor moulders at my touch.
Per. A curse on that embrace!
Dym. Nay, worse; he weeps.

[Aside.

King. Poor boy, be not deceived by my compassion;

My tears are cruel, and I groan thy death.

Dem. And am I then to die? If death's de

creed,

Stab me yourself, nor give me to the knife
Of midnight ruffians, that have forged my crimes.
For you I beg, for you I pour my tears;
You are deceived, dishonoured; I am only slain.
Oh, father!-

King. Father! there's no father here.
Forbear to wound me with that tender name,
Nor raise all nature up in arms against me!

Dem. My father! guardian! friend! nay, deity!

What less than gods give being, life, and death! My dying mother

King. Hold thy peace, I charge thee.

Dem. Pressing your hand, and bathing it with

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Clasping your knees, though banished from your | He, he, who dooms thee, bleeds upon thy tomb.

breast.

King. My knees! Would that were all! he grasps my heart!

Perseus, canst thou stand by, and see me ruined?
[Reaching his hand to Perseus.
Per. Loose, loose thy hold. It is my father too.
King. Yes, Macedon, and thine, and I'll pre-
serve thee.

Dem. Who once before preserved it from the
Thracian?

And who, at Thrasymene, turned the lifted bolt
From Philip's hoary brow?

King. I'll hear no more.

O Perseus! Dymas! Pericles! assist me,
Unbind me, disenchant me, break this charm
Of nature, that accomplice with my foes;
Rend me, O rend me, from the friend of Rome!
Per. Nay, then, howe'er reluctant, aid I must.
The friend of Rome! That severs you for ever,
Though most incorporate and strongly knit,
As lightning rends the knotted oak asunder.

Dem. In spite of lightning I renew the tie ;
And stubborn is the grasp of dying men.
Who's he that shall divide me from myself?
[Demetrius is forced from the king's knees, on
which, starting up, he flings his arms round
his father.]

Still of a piece with him, from whom I grew,
I'll bleed on my asylum, dart my soul

In this embrace, and thus my treason crown.
King. Who love yourselves, or Macedon, or

me,

From the cursed eagle's talons wrench my
crown,

And this barbed arrow from my breast.-'Tis
done;
[Forced asunder.
And the blood gushes after it. I faint!
Dym. Support the king!

Per. While treason licks the dust.

[Erit.

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At horrid parricide, and flagrant treason,
Though through a bosom dearer than his own.
Think'st thou my tender heart can hate a bro-
ther?

The Gods and Perseus war with nought but guilt.
But I must go. What, sir, your last commands
To your Erixene? She chides my stay.
[Exit.

Dem. Without that token of a brother's love
He could not part; my death was not enough.
I came for mercy, and I find it here.
And death is mercy, since my love is lost.
Alas! my father too! my heart aches for him.
And Perseus-fain would I forgive even thee:
But Philip's sufferings cry too loud against it.
Blind author, and sure mourner of my death!
Father most dear!-What pangs hast thou to
come?

Like that poor wretch is thy unhappy doom,
Who, while in sleep his fevered fancy glows,
Draws his keen sword, and sheaths it in his foes:
But, waking, starts upright, in wild surprise,
To feel warm blood glide round him as he lies;
To see his reeking hands in crimson dyed,

[Pointing at Demetrius, fullen in the struggle. And a pale corse extended by his side:

Dym. A field well fought.

Per. And justice has prevailed.

He views with horror what mad dreams have done,

King. O, that the traitor could conceal the son! And sinks, heart-broken, on a murdered son. Farewell, once best beloved! still more deplored!

[Exeunt.

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Bid Dymas' daughter weep. I half forgot
His perjured insolence; I'll go and glut
My vengeance. Oh, how just a traitor's death!
And blacker still, a traitor to my love,

[Exeunt Erixene and Delia.

Scene draws, and shews DEMETRIUS in prison.

Dem. Thou subterranean sepulchre of peace!
Thou home of horror! hideous nest of crimes!
Guilt's first sad stage in her dark road to hell!
Ye thick-barred sunless passages for air,
To keep alive the wretch, that longs to die!
Ye low-browed arches, through whose sullen
gloom

Resound the ceaseless groans of pale despair!
Ye dreadful shambles, caked with human blood!
Receive a guest from far, far other scenes,
From pompous courts, from shouting victories,
Carousing festivals, harmonious bowers,
And the soft chains of heart-dissolving love.
Oh, how unlike to these! Heart-breaking load
Of shame eternal, ne'er to be knocked off!
Oh welcome death!-no, never but by thee!—
Nor has a foe done this. A friend! a father!-
Oh, that I could have died without their guilt!

Enter ERIXENE, DEMETRIUS gazing at her.
So looked in chaos the first beam of light:
How drives the strong enchantment of her eye
All horror hence!-IIow die the thoughts of
death!

Erix. I knew not my own heart. I cannot bear it.

Shame chides me back; for, to insult his woes Is too severe; and to condole, too kind. [Going. Dem. Thus, I arrest you in the name of mercy,

|

| And dare compel your stay. Is then one look,
One word, one moment, a last moment too,
When I stand tottering on the brink of death,
A cruel ignominious death, too much
For one, that loves like me? A length of years
You may devote to my blest rival's arms;
I ask but one short moment. O permit,
Permit the dying to lay claim to thee!
To thee, thou dear equivalent for life,
Cruel, relentless, marble-hearted maid!

Erix. Demetrius, you persist to do me wrong; For, know, though I behold thee as thou art, Doubly a traitor, to the state and me,

Thy sorrow, thy distress, have touched my bosom: I own it is a fault-1 pity thee.

Enter OFFICER.

Offi. My lord, your time is short, and death waits for you.

Erix. Death!-I forgive thee from my inmost soul.

Dem. Forgive me? Oh! thou need'st not to forgive,

If imposition had not struck thee blind.
Truth lies in ambush yet, but will start up,
And seize thy trembling soul, when mine is fled.
O, I've a thousand, thousand things to say!

Erir. And I am come a secret to disclose, That might awake thee, wert thou dead already! Offi. My lord, your final moment is expired. Dem. and Erix. One, one short moment more! Dem. No; death lets fall

The curtain, and divides our love for ever! [Demetrius is forced out.

Erir. Oh, I've a darker dungeon in my soul, Nor want an executioner to kill me. What revolutions in the human heart Will pity cause! What horrid deeds revenge!

SCENE III.

[Exit.

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