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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

100

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

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

Kings 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, 105 What being more known grows worse, to smother it. All love the womb that their first being bred, Then give my tongue like leave to love my head. Ant. [Aside.] Heaven! that I had thy head; he has found the meaning;

99, 100. clear To .

them. The] Steevens (Mason conj.); cleare: To them, the Qq 1, 2, 3; cleare. To them, the Qq 4, 6; cleare. To them the Q5; clear. To . . . them, the Ff 3, 4.

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98-100. And yet them] and yet the only result is that the breath which carries abroad this dust passes away, and the sore eyes again see clearly enough to keep off the blast which would annoy them. In the words "the end... dear," the metaphor does not walk on all fours, for while the publishers of these rumours suffer for their rashness, the wind of course goes free.

101. Copp'd] peaked; from cop, head. Compare Gascoigne, Steel Glass, Epil. (1576): "Women with high copt hattes"; Aubrey (1697), Nat. Hist. of Surrey, "They show you a copped Hill whereon formerly stood a Castle" (quoted in New Eng. Dict.).

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102. The poor for 't] the wretched creature pays the penalty

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of his action by being thus discovered and killed by men.

102. poor worm] Here an expression of pity, as in The Tempest, III. i. 31: "Poor worm, thou art infected"; while in The Merry Wives of Windsor, v. iii. 87, and Love's Labour's Lost, IV. iii. 154, it is one of contempt. So, when used by Shakespeare of a snake the word has the contemptuous idea of a creeping thing.

105. It is... known] sc. that I have your secret.

106. it] redundant.

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108. Then give.. head] then allow my tongue by being silent to show similar love to my head of which it is the child.

109. Heaven! . . . head] Compare line 144 below.

But I will gloze with him. Young Prince of Tyre, 110
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.

115

120

[Exeunt all but Pericles.

How courtesy would seem to cover sin,
When what is done is like an hypocrite,
The which is good in nothing but in sight!

cancel of] Malone; cancel off Ff 3, 4; counsell (or counsel) of Qq.

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117. undone] solved.

118. This mercy] the respite I now

grant.

119.

entertain] entertainment. Compare Marston, Antonio and Mellida (pt. i.), 1. i. 66 :—

"With most obsequious sleekbrow'd entertain".

120. As doth worth] Steevens conjectures" As doth befit our honour, your degree," or " As doth our honour fit and your degree".

121. would seem] would speciously endeavour.

123. The which]" is generally used either where the antecedent, or some word like the antecedent, is repeated, or elsewhere such a repetition could be made if desired. In almost all cases there are two or more possible antecedents from which selection must be made " (Abbott, Shakespearian Grammar, § 270).

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 a husband, not a father;
And she an eater of her mother's flesh,
By the defiling of her parent's bed;

125

130

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'll shun the danger which I fear.

Re-enter ANTIOCHUS.

135

140

[Exit.

Ant. He hath found the meaning, for which we mean To have his head.

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136. shun] Malone; shew Qq, Ff 3, 4. 143, 144. He Arranged as in Malone; the first line ends meaning, in Qq, Ff 3, 4.

124, 125. be.. were] Here both words indicate doubt, disbelief. For the difference between be and is in hypothetical statements, compare Othello, III. iii. 384: "I think my wife be honest, and think she is not".

127. Where] whereas.

66

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128. untimely] not "prematurely " but or "ill-timed," 'improper," "hateful".

135. Blush not] The relative again omitted.

140. targets] shields, defences.
140. put off] avert.

141. clear] free from suspicion.

He must not live to trumpet forth my infamy, 145

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?

Thaliard,

Enter THALIARD.

Doth your highness call? 150

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; 155
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?

'Tis done.

Enough.

Enter a Messenger.

My lord,

160

Let your breath cool yourself, telling your haste.
My lord, Prince Pericles is fled.

[Exit.

55. Thaliard, . . . gold ;] Arranged as by Collier; five lines, end=mber, Thaliard,

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actions, faythfulnes

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n Qq 1, 2, 3; five lines, ending chamber,

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Thaliard:

...

gold, in the rest. Divided as by Steevens; one line in Qq, Ff 3, 4. ste.] Divided as by Malone; prose in Qq, Ff 3, 4. You . . . chamber] you are nberlain. Compare Macbeth, 6: "Those of his chamber, as 'd, had done 't"; and The s Tale, 1. ii. 235-237. Bartakes] imparts, cominuni

faith

Thaliard: actions . 158, 159. My 160, 161. Enough.

cates. Compare The Winter's Tale, v. iii. 132: "your exultation Partake to every one

161. Let your . . . haste] let your breath, which evidences your haste, etc.

Ant.

As thou

Wilt live, fly after; and like an arrow shot From a well-experienc'd archer hits the mark His eye doth level at, so thou ne'er return Unless thou say "Prince Pericles is dead." Thal. My lord,

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

165

I'll make him sure enough: so, farewell to your

highness.

Ant. Thaliard, adieu!

[Exit Thaliard.

Till Pericles be dead,

170

My heart can lend no succour to my head. [Exit.

SCENE II.-Tyre. A Room in the Palace.

Enter PERICLES.

Per. [To those without.] Let none disturb us.
should this change of thoughts,

The sad companion, dull-eyed melancholy,
Be my so us'd a guest, as not an hour

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Why

162-166. As thou dead.] Divided as by Malone; prose in Qq, Ff 3, 4. 167-169. My lord, highness.] As in Dyce; prose in Qq, Ff 3, 4.

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Scene II.

3. Be...

1. Let... thoughts,] One line in Qq 1, 2, 3; two in the rest. as] Dyce; By me so usde (or us'de or used or us'd) a guest as (with or without commas after used and guest) Qq, Ff 3, 4.

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