Is a black Ethiop, reaching at the sun; Sim. He loves you well, that holds his life of you. [The second Knight passes. Who is the second, that presents himself? Thai. A prince of Macedon, my royal father; And the device he bears upon his shield Is an arm'd knight, that's conquer'd by a lady: The motto thus, in Spanish, Piu per dulçura que [The third Knight passes. per fuerça1. Sim. And what's the third? The third, of Antioch; Thai. [The fourth Knight passes. Sim. What is the fourth? Thai. A burning torch, that's turn'd upside down; The word, Quod me alit, me extinguit. Sim. Which shows that beauty hath his power and will, Which can as well inflame, as it can kill. [The fifth Knight passes. Thai. The fifth, an hand environed with clouds; Holding out gold, that's by the touchstone tried: The motto thus, Sic spectanda fides. [The sixth Knight passes. Sim. And what's the sixth and last, which the knight himself With such a graceful courtesy deliver'd? Thai. He seems to be a stranger; but his present is 3 i. e. the mot or motto. See Hamlet, Act i. Sc. 5: Now to my word. 4 i. e. more by sweetness than by force. It should be 'Mas per dulçura, &c. Più is Italian, not Spanish. The work which appears to have furnished the author of the play with this and the two subsequent devices of the knights has the following title: The heroical Devices of M. Claudius Paradin, Canon of Beaugen; whereunto are added the Lord Gabriel Symeon's, and others. Translated out of Latin into English, by P. S. 1591, 24mo. Mr. Douce has given copies of some of them in his Illustrations, vol. ii. p. 126. A wither'd branch, that's only green at top; Sim. A pretty moral; From the dejected state wherein he is, He hopes by you his fortunes yet may flourish. 1 Lord. He had need mean better than his outward show Can any way speak in his just commend: To have practis'd more the whipstock, than the lance. 2 Lord. He well may be a stranger, for he comes To an honour'd triumph, strangely furnished. 3 Lord. And on set purpose let his armour rust Until this day, to scour it in the dust. Sim. Opinion's but a fool, that makes us scan The outward habit by the inward man.9 But stay, the knights are coming; we'll withdraw Into the gallery. [Exeunt. [Great shouts, and all cry, The mean knight. SCENE III. The same. A Hall of State.-A Banquet prepared. Enter SIMONIDES, THAISA, Lords, Knights, and Sim. Knights, To say you are welcome, were superfluous. 6 This device and motto may have been taken from Daniel's translation of Paulus Jovius, 1585; in which it will be found at sig. H 7. b. i. e. the carter's whip. It was sometimes used as a term of contempt; as in Albumazar, 1615: - -out, Carter, Hence, dirty whipstock. 8 The idea of this ill appointed knight appears to have been taken from the first book of Sidney's Arcadia :-His armour of as old a fashion, beside the rustic poornesse, &c. so that all that looked on measured his length on the earth already, &c. 9 i. e. that makes us scan the inward man by the outward habit. Such inversions are not uncommon in old writers. As in a title-page, your worth in arms, Were more than you expect, or more than's fit, Thai. But you, my knight and guest; To whom this wreath of victory I give, And crown you king of this day's happiness. In framing artists, art hath thus decreed, To make some good, but others to exceed; And you're her labour'd scholar. Come, queen o'the feast (For, daughter, so you are), here take your place: Marshal the rest, as they deserve their grace. Knights. We are honour'd much by good Simonides. Sim. Your presence glads our days; honour we love, For who hates honour, hates the gods above. Per. Some other is more fit. 1 Knight. Contend not, sir; for we are gentlemen, That neither in our hearts, nor outward eyes, Envy the great, nor do the low despise. Per. You are right courteous knights. Sim. Sit, sit, sir; sit. Per. By Jove, I wonder, that is king of thoughts, These cates resist me1, be not thought upon. Thai. By Juno, that is queen Of marriage, all the viands that I eat Do seem unsavoury, wishing him my meat; i. e. these delicacies go against my stomach.' The old copy gives this speech to Simonides, and reads, he not thought upon.' Gower describes Apollinus, the Pericles of this play, under the same circumstances: That he sat ever stille and thought Sim. A country gentleman; He's but He has done no more than other knights have done; Broken a staff, or so; so let it pass. Thai. To me he seems like diamond to glass. Per. Yon king's to me, like to my father's picture, Which tells me, in that glory once he was; Had princes sit, like stars, about his throne, And he the sun, for them to reverence. None that beheld him, but like lesser lights, Did vail their crowns to his supremacy; Where now his son's a glowworm in the night, The which hath fire in darkness, none in light; Whereby I see that time's the king of men, For he's their parent, and he is their grave1, And gives them what he will, not what they crave. Sim. What, are you merry, knights? 1 Knight. Who can be other, in this royal presence? Sim. Here, with a cup that's stor'd unto the brim (As you do love, fill to your mistress' lips), We drink this health to you. Knights. Sim. Yet pause a while; We thank your grace. Yon knight, methinks, doth sit too melancholy, Had not a show might countervail his worth. Note it not you, Thaisa? Thai. To me, my father? Sim. What is it O, attend, my daughter; Princes, in this, should live like gods above, 2 Lower. 3 Where is here again used for whereas. The peculiar property of the glowworm, upon which the poet has here employed a line, is happily described in Hamlet in a single word: The glowworm shows the matin to be near, 4 So in Romeo and Juliet: The earth, that's nature's mother, is her tomb; What is her burying grave, that is her womb. Milton has the same thought: The womb of nature, and perhaps her grave.' Who freely give to every one that comes To honour them: and princes, not doing so, Therefore to make his entrances more sweet Here say, Thai. Alas, my father, it befits not me Sim. How ! Do as I bid you, or you'll move me else. Thai. Now, by the gods, he could not please me better. [Aside. Sim. And further tell him, we desire to know, Of whence he is, his name, and parentage. Thai. The king, my father, sir, has drunk to you. Per. I thank him. Thai. Wishing it so much blood unto your life. Per. I thank both him and you, and pledge him freely. Thai. And further he desires to know of you, Of whence you are, your name and parentage. Per. A gentleman of Tyre-(my name, Pericles; My education being in arts and arms);Who looking for adventures in the world, Was by the rough seas reft of ships and men, And, after shipwreck, driven upon this shore. Thai. He thanks your grace; names himself Pericles, 5 ، When kings, like insects, lie dead before us, our admiration is excited by contemplating how in both instances the powers of creating bustle were superior to those which either object should seem to have promised. The worthless monarch, and the idle gnat, have only lived to make an empty bluster; and when both alike are dead, we wonder how it happened that they made so much, or that we permitted them to make it: a natural reflection on the death of an unserviceable prince, who having dispensed no blessings, can hope for no better character.-Steevens. 6 By his entrance appears to be meant his present trance, the reverie in which he is sitting. |