SCENE I. On board PERICLES' ship, off Mytilene. A close Pericles, Prince of Tyre  Shakespeare homepage  |  Pericles  | Act 5, Scene 1 

 Previous scene  |  Next scene  SCENE I. On board PERICLES' ship, off Mytilene. A close  pavilion on deck, with a curtain before it; PERICLES 

 within it, reclined on a couch. A barge lying 

 beside the Tyrian vessel. 



 Enter two Sailors, one belonging to the Tyrian vessel, the other to the barge; to them HELICANUS  Tyrian Sailor  [To the Sailor of Mytilene]  Where is lord Helicanus? 

 he can resolve you. 

 O, here he is. 

 Sir, there's a barge put off from Mytilene, 

 And in it is Lysimachus the governor, 

 Who craves to come aboard. What is your will? 

 HELICANUS  That he have his. Call up some gentlemen. 

 Tyrian Sailor  Ho, gentlemen! my lord calls. 



 Enter two or three Gentlemen  First Gentleman  Doth your lordship call? 

 HELICANUS  Gentlemen, there's some of worth would come aboard; 

 I pray ye, greet them fairly. 



 The Gentlemen and the two Sailors descend, and go on board the barge 

 Enter, from thence, LYSIMACHUS and Lords; with the Gentlemen and the two Sailors  Tyrian Sailor  Sir, 

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

 Resolve you. 

 LYSIMACHUS  Hail, reverend sir! the gods preserve you! 

 HELICANUS  And you, sir, to outlive the age I am, 

 And die as I would do. 

 LYSIMACHUS  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. 

 HELICANUS  First, what is your place? 

 LYSIMACHUS  I am the governor of this place you lie before. 

 HELICANUS  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. 

 LYSIMACHUS  Upon what ground is his distemperature? 

 HELICANUS  'Twould be too tedious to repeat; 

 But the main grief springs from the loss 

 Of a beloved daughter and a wife. 

 LYSIMACHUS  May we not see him? 

 HELICANUS  You may; 

 But bootless is your sight: he will not speak To any. 

 LYSIMACHUS  Yet let me obtain my wish. 

 HELICANUS  Behold him. 



 PERICLES discovered  This was a goodly person, 

 Till the disaster that, one mortal night, 

 Drove him to this. 

 LYSIMACHUS  Sir king, all hail! the gods preserve you! 

 Hail, royal sir! 

 HELICANUS  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. 

 LYSIMACHUS  '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  HELICANUS  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. 

 LYSIMACHUS  O, sir, a courtesy 

 Which if we should deny, the most just gods 

 For every graff would send a caterpillar, 

 And so afflict our province. Yet once more 

 Let me entreat to know at large the cause 

 Of your king's sorrow. 

 HELICANUS  Sit, sir, I will recount it to you: 

 But, see, I am prevented. 



 Re-enter, from the barge, Lord, with MARINA, and a young Lady  LYSIMACHUS  O, here is 

 The lady that I sent for. Welcome, fair one! 

 Is't not a goodly presence? 

 HELICANUS  She's a gallant lady. 

 LYSIMACHUS  She's such a one, that, 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. 

 MARINA  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. 

 LYSIMACHUS  Come, let us leave her; 

 And the gods make her prosperous! 



 MARINA sings  LYSIMACHUS  Mark'd he your music? 

 MARINA  No, nor look'd on us. 

 LYSIMACHUS  See, she will speak to him. 

 MARINA  Hail, sir! my lord, lend ear. 

 PERICLES  Hum, ha! 

 MARINA  I am a maid, 

 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.' 

 PERICLES  My fortunes--parentage--good parentage-- 

 To equal mine!--was it not thus? what say you? 

 MARINA  I said, my lord, if you did know my parentage, 

 You would not do me violence. 

 PERICLES  I do think so. Pray you, turn your eyes upon me. 

 You are like something that--What country-woman? 

 Here of these shores? 

 MARINA  No, nor of any shores: 

 Yet I was mortally brought forth, and am 

 No other than I appear. 

 PERICLES  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; 

 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? 

 MARINA  Where I am but a stranger: from the deck 

 You may discern the place. 

 PERICLES  Where were you bred? 

 And how achieved you these endowments, which 

 You make more rich to owe? 

 MARINA  If I should tell my history, it would seem 

 Like lies disdain'd in the reporting. 

 PERICLES  Prithee, speak: 

 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 back-- 

 Which was when I perceived thee--that thou camest 

 From good descending? 

 MARINA  So indeed I did. 

 PERICLES  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. 

 MARINA  Some such thing 

 I said, and said no more but what my thoughts 

 Did warrant me was likely. 

 PERICLES  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 act. What were thy friends? 

 How lost thou them? Thy name, my most kind virgin? 

 Recount, I do beseech thee: come, sit by me. 

 MARINA  My name is Marina. 

 PERICLES  O, I am mock'd, 

 And thou by some incensed god sent hither 

 To make the world to laugh at me. 

 MARINA  Patience, good sir, 

 Or here I'll cease. 

 PERICLES  Nay, I'll be patient. 

 Thou little know'st how thou dost startle me, 

 To call thyself Marina. 

 MARINA  The name 

 Was given me by one that had some power, 

 My father, and a king. 

 PERICLES  How! a king's daughter? 

 And call'd Marina? 

 MARINA  You said you would believe me; 

 But, not to be a troubler of your peace, 

 I will end here. 

 PERICLES  But are you flesh and blood? 

 Have you a working pulse? and are no fairy? 

 Motion! Well; speak on. Where were you born? 

 And wherefore call'd Marina? 

 MARINA  Call'd Marina 

 For I was born at sea. 

 PERICLES  At sea! what mother? 

 MARINA  My mother was the daughter of a king; 

 Who died the minute I was born, 

 As my good nurse Lychorida hath oft 

 Deliver'd weeping. 

 PERICLES  O, stop there a little! 



 Aside  This is the rarest dream that e'er dull sleep 

 Did mock sad fools withal: this cannot be: 

 My daughter's buried. Well: where were you bred? 

 I'll hear you more, to the bottom of your story, 

 And never interrupt you. 

 MARINA  You scorn: believe me, 'twere best I did give o'er. 

 PERICLES  I will believe you by the syllable 

 Of what you shall deliver. Yet, give me leave: 

 How came you in these parts? where were you bred? 

 MARINA  The king my father did in Tarsus 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 Mytilene. But, 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. 

 PERICLES  Ho, Helicanus! 

 HELICANUS  Calls my lord? 

 PERICLES  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? 

 HELICANUS  I know not; but 

 Here is the regent, sir, of Mytilene 

 Speaks nobly of her. 

 LYSIMACHUS  She would never tell 

 Her parentage; being demanded that, 

 She would sit still and weep. 

 PERICLES  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 Tarsus, 

 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 sleep. 

 MARINA  First, sir, I pray, 

 What is your title? 

 PERICLES  I am Pericles of Tyre: but tell me now 

 My drown'd queen's name, as in the rest you said 

 Thou hast been godlike perfect, 

 The heir of kingdoms and another like 

 To Pericles thy father. 

 MARINA  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 began. 

 PERICLES  Now, blessing on thee! rise; thou art my child. 

 Give me fresh garments. Mine own, Helicanus; 

 She is not dead at Tarsus, 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? 

 HELICANUS  Sir, 'tis the governor of Mytilene, 

 Who, hearing of your melancholy state, 

 Did come to see you. 

 PERICLES  I embrace you. 

 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? 

 HELICANUS  My lord, I hear none. 

 PERICLES  None! 

 The music of the spheres! List, my Marina. 

 LYSIMACHUS  It is not good to cross him; give him way. 

 PERICLES  Rarest sounds! Do ye not hear? 

 LYSIMACHUS  My lord, I hear. 



 Music  PERICLES  Most heavenly music! 

 It nips me unto listening, and thick slumber 

 Hangs upon mine eyes: let me rest. 



 Sleeps  LYSIMACHUS  A pillow for his head: 

 So, leave him all. Well, my companion friends, 

 If this but answer to my just belief, 

 I'll well remember you. 



 Exeunt all but PERICLES 

 DIANA appears to PERICLES as in a vision  DIANA  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. 

 Or perform my bidding, or thou livest in woe; 

 Do it, and happy; by my silver bow! 

 Awake, and tell thy dream. 



 Disappears  PERICLES  Celestial Dian, goddess argentine, 

 I will obey thee. Helicanus! 



 Re-enter HELICANUS, LYSIMACHUS, and MARINA  HELICANUS  Sir? 

 PERICLES  My purpose was for Tarsus, there to strike 

 The inhospitable Cleon; but I am 

 For other service first: toward Ephesus 

 Turn our blown sails; eftsoons I'll tell thee why. 



 To LYSIMACHUS  Shall we refresh us, sir, upon your shore, 

 And give you gold for such provision 

 As our intents will need? 

 LYSIMACHUS  Sir, 

 With all my heart; and, when you come ashore, 

 I have another suit. 

 PERICLES  You shall prevail, 

 Were it to woo my daughter; for it seems 

 You have been noble towards her. 

 LYSIMACHUS  Sir, lend me your arm. 

 PERICLES  Come, my Marina. 



 Exeunt  SCENE II: 



 Enter GOWER, before the temple of DIANA at Ephesus  GOWER  Now our sands are almost run; 

 More a little, and then dumb. 

 This, my last boon, give me, 

 For such kindness must relieve me, 

 That you aptly will suppose 

 What pageantry, what feats, what shows, 

 What minstrelsy, and pretty din, 

 The regent made in Mytilene 

 To greet the king. So he thrived, 

 That he is promised to be wived 

 To fair Marina; but in no wise 

 Till he had done his sacrifice, 

 As Dian bade: whereto being bound, 

 The interim, pray you, all confound. 

 In feather'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  Shakespeare homepage  |  Pericles  | Act 5, Scene 1 

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