William Shakespeare - The Complete Works of William Shakespeare

ANTIOCHUS.

Prince Pericles, —

PERICLES.

That would be son to great Antiochus.

ANTIOCHUS.

Before thee stands this fair Hesperides,

With golden fruit, but dangerous to be touch’d;

For deathlike dragons here affright thee hard:

Her face, like heaven, enticeth thee to view

Her countless glory, which desert must gain;

And which, without desert, because thine eye

Presumes to reach, all thy whole heap must die.

Yon sometimes famous princes, like thyself,

Drawn by report, adventurous by desire,

Tell thee, with speechless tongues and semblance pale,

That without covering, save yon field of stars,

Here they stand Martyrs, slain in Cupid’s wars;

And with dead cheeks advise thee to desist

For going on death’s net, whom none resist.

PERICLES.

Antiochus, I thank thee, who hath taught

My frail mortality to know itself,

And by those fearful objects to prepare

This body, like to them, to what I must;

For death remember’d should be like a mirror,

Who tells us life ‘s but breath, to trust it error.

I’ll make my will then, and, as sick men do

Who know the world, see heaven, but, feeling woe,

Gripe not at earthly joys as erst they did;

So I bequeath a happy peace to you

And all good men, as every prince should do;

My riches to the earth from whence they came;

But my unspotted fire of love to you.

[To the daughter of Antiochus.]

Thus ready for the way of life or death,

I wait the sharpest blow, Antiochus.

ANTIOCHUS.

Scorning advice, read the conclusion, then:

Which read and not expounded, ‘tis decreed,

As these before thee thou thyself shalt bleed.

DAUGHTER.

Of all say’d yet, mayst thou prove prosperous!

Of all say’d yet, I wish thee happiness!

PERICLES

Like a bold champion, I assume THe lists,

Nor ask advice of any other thought

But faithfulness and courage.

[He reads the riddle.]

I am no viper, yet I feed

On mother’s flesh which did me breed.

I sought a husband, in which labour

I found that kindness in a father:

He’s father, son, and husband mild;

I mother, wife, and yet his child.

How they may be, and yet in two,

As you will live, resolve it you.

Sharp physic is the last: but, O you powers

That give heaven countless eyes to view men’s acts,

Why cloud they not their sights perpetually,

If this be true, which makes me pale to read it?

Fair glass of light, I loved you, and could still,

[Takes hold of the hand of the Princess.]

Were not this glorious casket stored with ill:

But I must tell you, now my thoughts revolt;

For he’s no man on whom perfections wait

That, knowing sin within, will touch the gate,

You are a fair viol, and your sense the strings;

Who, finger’d to make man his lawful music,

Would draw heaven down, and all the gods to hearken;

But being play’d upon before your time,

Hell only danceth at so harsh a chime.

Good sooth, I care not for you.

ANTIOCHUS.

Prince Pericles, touch not, upon thy life,

For that’s an article within our law,

As dangerous as the rest. Tour time’s expired:

Either expound now, or receive your sentence.

PERICLES.

Great king,

Few love to hear the sins they love to act;

‘Twould braid yourself too near for me to tell it.

Who has a book of all that monarchs do,

He’s more secure to keep it shut than shown:

For vice repeated is like the wandering wind,

Blows dust in others’ eyes, to spread itself;

And yet the end of all is bought thus dear,

The breath is gone, and the sore eyes see clear

To stop the air would hurt them. The blind mole casts

Copp’d hills towards heaven, to tell the earth is throng’d

By man’s oppression; and the poor worm doth die for’t.

Kind are earth’s gods; in vice their law’s their will;

And if Jove stray, who dares say Jove doth ill?

It is enough you know; and it is fit,

What being more known grows worse, to smother it.

All love the womb that their first bred,

Then give my tongue like leave to love my head.

ANTIOCHUS.[Aside]

Heaven, that I had thy head! he has found the meaning:

But I will gloze with him. — Young prince of Tyre.

Though by the tenour of our strict edict,

Your exposition misinterpreting,

We might proceed to cancel of your days;

Yet hope, succeeding from so fair a tree

As your fair self, doth tune us otherwise:

Forty days longer we do respite you;

If by which time our secret be undone,

This mercy shows we’ll joy in such a son:

And until then your entertain shall be

As doth befit our honour and your worth.

[Exeunt all but Pericles.]

PERACLES.

How courtesy would seem to cover sin,

When what is done is like an hypocrite,

The which is good in nothing but in sight!

If it be true that I interpret false,

Then were it certain you were not so bad

As with foul incest to abuse your soul;

Where now you’re both a father and a son,

By your untimely claspings with your child,

Which pleasure fits an husband, not a father;

And she an eater of her mother’s flesh,

By the defiling of her parent’s bed;

And both like serpents are, who though they feed

On sweetest flowers, yet they poison breed.

Antioch, farewell! for wisdom sees, those men

Blush not in actions blacker than the night,

Will shun no course to keep them from the light.

One sin, I know, another doth provoke;

Murder’s as near to lust as flame to smoke:

Poison and treason are the hands of sin,

Ay, and the targets, to put off the shame:

Then, lest my life be cropp’d to keep you clear,

By flight I ‘II shun the danger which I fear.

[Exit.]

[Re-enter Antiochus.]

ANTIOCHUS.

He gath found the meaning, for which we mean

To have his head.

He must not live to trumpet forth my infamy,

Nor tell the world Antiochus doth sin

In such a loathed manner;

And therefore instantly this prince must die;

For by his fall my honour must keep high.

Who attends us there?

[Enter Thaliard.]

THALIARD.

Doth your highness call?

ANTIOCHUS.

Thaliard,

You are of our chamber, and our mind partakes

Her private actions to your secrecy;

And for your faithfulness we will advance you.

Thaliard, behold, here’s poison, and here’s gold;

We hate the prince of Tyre, and thou must kill him:

It fits thee not to ask the reason why,

Because we Bid it. Say, is it done?

THALIARD.

My lord,

Tis done.

ANTIOCHUS.

Enough.

[Enter a Messenger.]

Let your breath cool yourself, telling your haste.

MESSENGER.

My lord, prlnce Pericles is fled.

[Exit.]

ANTIOCHUS.

As thou

Wilt live, fly after: and like an arrow shot

From a well-experienced archer hits the mark

His eye doth level at, so thou ne’er return

Unless thou say ‘Prince Pericles is dead.’

THALIARD.

My lord,

If I can get him within my pistol’s length,

I’ll make him sure enough: so, farewell to your highness.

ANTIOCHUS.

Thaliard! adieu!

[Exit Thaliard.]

Till

Pericles be dead,

My heart can lend no succour to my head.

[Exit.]

SCENE II. Tyre. A room in the palace.

[Enter Pericles.]

PERICLES. [To Lords without.]

Let none disturb us. — Why should this change of thoughts,

The sad companion, dull-eyed melancholy,