Enter Gower.
Now our Sands are almost run,
More a little, and then done.
This my last boon give me,
For such kindness must relieve me:
That you aptly will suppose,
What pageantry, what feats, what shows,
What Minstrelsie, what pretty din,
The Regent made in Metalin,
-- 3005 --
To greet the King; so he thriv'd,
That he is promis'd to be wiv'd
To fair Marina, but in no wise,
'Till he had done his Sacrifice,
As Dian bad, whereto being bound,
The interim pray, you all confound.
In fether'd briefness Sails are fill'd,
And wishes fall out as they're will'd.
At Ephesus the Temple see,
Our King, and all his Company.
That he can hither come so soon,
Is by your Fancy's thankful doom.
[Exit.
Enter Pericles, Lysimachus, Hellicanus, Marina, Thaisa, Cerymon, and others.
Per.
Hail Dian, to perform thy just command,
I here confess my self the King of Tyre.
Who frighted from my Country, did wed
At Pentapolis, the fair Thaisa,
At Sea in Child-bed died she, but brought forth
A Maid Child called Marina; who, O Goddess,
Wears yet thy Silver Livery. She at Tharsus
Was Nurst with Cleon, who at fourteen Years
He sought to Murder, but her better Stars
Brought her to Metaline, 'gainst whose Shore riding,
Her Fortunes brought the Maid aboard to us,
Where by her own most clear remembrance, she
Made known her self my Daughter.
Thai.
Voice and Favour! You are, you are, O Royal
Pericles.
[She faints away.
Per.
What means the Woman? she dies! help, Gentlemen.
Cer.
Sir, if you have told Diana's Altar true,
This is your Wife.
Per.
Reverend Appearer, no, I threw her over-board with
these very Arms.
Cer.
Upon this Coast, I warrant you.
Per.
'Tis most certain.
Cer.
Look to the Lady; O she's but overjoy'd.
Early in blust'ring morn, this Lady was thrown upon this
-- 3006 --
Shore. I opened the Coffin, found these rich Jewels, recover'd
her, and placed her here in Diana's Temple.
Per.
May we see them?
Cer.
Great Sir, they shall be brought you to my House,
whither I invite you; look, Thaisa is recovered.
Thai.
O let me look if he be none of mine,
My Sanctity will to my Sense bend no licentious Ear,
But curb it spight of seeing:
O my Lord, are you not Pericles?
Like him you speak, like him you are:
Did you not name a Tempest, a Birth, and Death?
Per.
The Voice of dead Thaisa.
Thai.
That Thaisa am I, supposed dead and drown'd.
Per.
Immortal Dian!
Thai.
Now I know you better,
When we with Tears parted Pentapolis,
The King, my Father, gave you such a Ring.
Per.
This, this, no more, you Gods,
Your present Kindness makes my past Miseries Sport,
You shall do well, that on the touching of her Lips
I may melt, and no more be seen;
O come, be buried a second time within these Arms.
Mar.
My Heart leaps to be gone into my Mother's Bosom.
Per.
Look who kneels here, Flesh of thy Flesh, Thaisa,
Thy Burden at the Sea, and call'd Marina,
For she was yielded there.
Thai.
Blest, and mine own.
Hell.
Hail, Madam, and my Queen.
Thai.
I know you not.
Per.
You have heard me say when I did fly from Tyre,
I left behind an ancient Substitute;
Can you remember what I call'd the Man?
I have nam'd him oft.
Thai.
'Twas Hellicanus then.
Per.
Still Confirmation,
Embrace him dear Thaisa, this is he,
Now do I long to hear how you were found?
How possibly preserved? And who to thank,
Besides the Gods, for this great Miracle?
-- 3007 --
Thai.
Lord Cerymon, my Lord, this Man, through whom
The Gods have shewn their Power, that can from first
To last resolve you.
Per.
Reverend Sir,
The Gods can have no mortal Officer
More like a God than you,
Will you deliver how this dead Queen re-lives?
Cer.
I will, my Lord, beseech you first go with me
Unto my House, where shall be shewn you all
Was found with her;
How she came plac'd here in the Temple,
No needful thing omitted.
Per.
Pure Dian! bless thee for thy Vision,
I will offer Night Oblations to thee.
Thaisa, this Prince, the fair betroth'd of your Daughter,
Shall marry at Pentapolis,
And now this Ornament that makes me look dismal,
Will I clip to form,
And what this fourteen Years no Razor touch'd,
To grace thy Marriage Day, I'll beautifie.
Thai.
Lord Cerymon hath Letters of good Credit,
Sir, my Father's dead.
Per.
Heav'ns make a Star of him; yet here, my Queen,
We'll celebrate their Nuptials, and our selves
Will in that Kingdom spend our following Days;
Our Son and Daughter shall in Tyrus reign.
Lord Cerymon, we do our longing stay,
To hear the rest untold, Sir, lead's the way.
[Ex. omnes.
Enter Gower.
In Antiochus and his Daughter, you have heard
Of monstrous Lust, the due and just Reward:
In Pericles, his Queen and Daughter seen,
Although assailed with Fortunes fierce and keen,
Virtue preferr'd from fell Destruction's blast,
Led on by Heav'n, and crown'd with Joy at last.
In Hellicanus may you well descry,
A Figure of Truth, of Faith, of Loyalty:
In reverend Cerymon there well appears,
The worth that learned Charity aye wears.
-- 3008 --
For wicked Cleon and his Wife, when Fame
Had spread their cursed Deed, and honour'd Name
Of Pericles, to rage the City turn,
That him and his, they in his Palace burn.
The Gods for Murder seemed so content,
To punish, although not done, but meant.
So on your Patiences ever more attending,
New Joy wait on you, here our Play hath ending.
