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Enter PERICLES, on shipboard. | |
| Per. Thou God of this great vast, rebuke these surges, | |
| Which wash both heaven and hell; and thou, that hast | |
| Upon the winds command, bind them in brass, | |
| Having call’d them from the deep. O! still | 5 |
| Thy deafening, dreadful thunders; gently quench | |
| Thy nimble, sulphurous flashes. O! how Lychorida, | |
| How does my queen? Thou stormest venomously; | |
| Wilt thou spit all thyself? The seaman’s whistle | |
| Is as a whisper in the ears of death, | 10 |
| Unheard. Lychorida! Lucina, O! | |
| Divinest patroness, and midwife gentle | |
| To those that cry by night, convey thy deity | |
| Aboard our dancing boat; make swift the pangs | |
| Of my queen’s travails! | 15 |
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Enter LYCHORIDA, with an Infant. | |
| Now, Lychorida! | |
| Lyc. Here is a thing too young for such a place, | |
| Who, if it had conceit, would die, as I | |
| Am like to do: take in your arms this piece | 20 |
| Of your dead queen. | |
| Per. How, how, Lychorida! | |
| Lyc. Patience, good sir; do not assist the storm. | |
| Here’s all that is left living of your queen, | |
| A little daughter: for the sake of it, | 25 |
| Be manly, and take comfort. | |
| Per. O you gods! | |
| Why do you make us love your goodly gifts, | |
| And snatch them straight away? We here below, | |
| Recall not what we give, and therein may | 30 |
| Use honour with you. | |
| Lyc. Patience, good sir, | |
| Even for this charge. | |
| Per. Now, mild may be thy life! | |
| For a more blust’rous birth had never babe: | 35 |
| Quiet and gentle thy conditions! | |
| For thou art the rudeliest welcome to this world | |
| That e’er was prince’s child. Happy what follows! | |
| Thou hast as chiding a nativity | |
| As fire, air, water, earth, and heaven can make, | 40 |
| To herald thee from the womb; even at the first | |
| Thy loss is more than can thy portage quit, | |
| With all thou canst find here. Now, the good gods | |
| Throw their best eyes upon ’t! | |
| |
Enter two Sailors. | 45 |
| First Sail. What courage, sir? God save you! | |
| Per. Courage enough. I do not fear the flaw; It hath done to me the worst. Yet for the love Of this poor infant, this fresh-new sea-farer, | |
| I would it would be quiet. | |
| First Sail. Slack the bolins there! thou wilt not, wilt thou? Blow, and split thyself. | |
| Sec. Sail. But sea-room, an the brine and cloudy billow kiss the moon, I care not. | 50 |
| First Sail. Sir, your queen must overboard: the sea works high, the wind is loud, and will not lie till the ship be cleared of the dead. | |
| Per. That’s your superstition. | |
| First Sail. Pardon us, sir; with us at sea it hath been still observed, and we are strong in custom. Therefore briefly yield her, for she must overboard straight. | |
| Per. As you think meet. Most wretched queen! | |
| Lyc. Here she lies, sir. | 55 |
| Per. A terrible child-bed hast thou had, my dear; | |
| No light, no fire: the unfriendly elements | |
| Forgot thee utterly; nor have I time | |
| To give thee hallow’d to thy grave, but straight | |
| Must cast thee, scarcely coffin’d, in the ooze; | 60 |
| Where, for a monument upon thy bones, | |
| And aye-remaining lamps, the belching whale | |
| And humming water must o’erwhelm thy corpse, | |
| Lying with simple shells! O Lychorida! | |
| Bid Nestor bring me spices, ink and paper, | 65 |
| My casket and my jewels; and bid Nicander | |
| Bring me the satin coffer: lay the babe | |
| Upon the pillow. Hie thee, whiles I say | |
| A priestly farewell to her: suddenly, woman. [Exit LYCHORIDA. | |
| Sec. Sail. Sir, we have a chest beneath the hatches, caulk’d and bitumed ready. | 70 |
| Per. I thank thee. Mariner, say what coast is this? | |
| Sec. Sail. We are near Tarsus. | |
| Per. Thither, gentle mariner, | |
| Alter thy course for Tyre. When canst thou reach it? | |
| Sec. Sail. By break of day, if the wind cease. | 75 |
| Per. O! make for Tarsus. | |
| There will I visit Cleon, for the babe | |
| Cannot hold out to Tyrus; there I’ll leave it | |
| At careful nursing. Go thy ways, good mariner; | |
| I’ll bring the body presently. [Exeunt. | 80 |
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