Hector, then 't is wars.

Hect. Troilus, I would not have you fight to-day. Tro Who should withhold me? Not fate, obedience, nor the hand of Mars Beckoning with fiery truncheon my retire; Not Priamus, and Hecuba on knees, Their eyes o'ergalled with recourse of tears Nor you, my brother, with your true sword drawn, Oppos'd to hinder me, should stop my way, But by my ruin.

Re-enter CASSANDRA, with PRIAM.

Cas. Lay hold upon him, Priam, hold him fast: He is thy crutch; now if thou lose thy stay, Thou on him leaning, and all Troy on thee, Fall all together.

Pri.

Come, Hector, come, go back:

Thy wife hath dream'd; thy mother hath had visions;
Cassandra doth foresee; and I myself
Am like a prophet suddenly enrapt,

To tell thee that this day is ominous :
Therefore, come back.

Hect.

Eneas is a-field;

And I do stand engag'd to many Greeks, Even in the faith of valour, to appear This morning to them.

Pri.

Ay, but thou shalt not go. Hect. I must not break my faith. You know me dutiful; therefore, dear sir, Let me not shame respect; but give me leave To take that course by your consent and voice, Which you do here forbid me, royal Priam. Cas. O Priam, yield not to him. And. Do not, dear father. Hect. Andromache, I am offended with you: Upon the love you bear me, get you in. [Exit ANDRO. Tro. This foolish, dreaming, superstitious girl Makes all these bodements.

Look, how thou diest! look, how thy eye turns pale!
Look, now thy wounds do bleed at many vents!
Hark, how Troy roars! how Hecuba cries out!
How poor Andromache shrills her dolour forth!
Behold destruction, frenzy, and amazement,
Like witless antics, one another meet,
And all cry-Hector! Hector's dead! O Hector!
Tro. Away-Away!

Cas. Farewell.-Yet, soft.-Hector, I take my leave: Thou dost thyself and all our Troy deceive.

[Exit.

Hect. You are amaz'd, my liege, at her exclaim: Go in, and cheer the town; we 'll forth and fight; Do deeds worth praise, and tell you them at night. Pri. Farewell: the gods with safety stand about

thee!

[Exeunt severally PRI. and HECT. Alarums. Tro. They are at it; hark! Proud Diomed, believe, I come to lose my arm, or win my sleeve.

Tro. Hence, broker lackey! ignomy and shame Pursue thy life, and live aye with thy name. [Exeunt severally

SCENE IV.-Between Troy and the Grecian Camp Alarums: Excursions. Enter THERSITES. Ther. Now they are clapper-clawing one another I'll go look on. That dissembling abominable varlet, Diomed, has got that same scurvy doting foolish young knave's sleeve of Troy there in his helm: I would fain see them meet; that that same young Trojan ass, that loves the whore there, might send that Greekish whoremasterly villain, with the sleeve, back to the dis sembling luxurious drab, of a sleeveless errand. O' the other side, the policy of those crafty swearing rascals, -that stale old mouse-eaten dry cheese, Nestor, and that same dog-fox, Ulysses,-is not proved worth a blackberry :-They set me up, in policy, that mongrel cur, Ajax, against that dog of as bad a kind, Achilles: and now is the cur Ajax prouder than the cur Achilles, and will not arm to-day; whereupon the Grecians begin to proclaim barbarism, and policy grows into an ill opinion. Soft! here come sleeve, and t' other.

PANDARUS.

Pan. Do you hear, my lord? do you hear?

Tro. What now?

Pan. Here's a letter from yon' poor girl.
Tro. Let me read.

Pan. A whoreson tisick, a whoreson rascally tisick so troubles me, and the foolish fortune of this girl; and what one thing, what another, that I shall leave you one o' these days: And I have a rheum in mine eyes too; and such an ache in my bones, that, unless a man were cursed, I cannot tell what to think on 't.-What says she there?

Fellow, commend my service to her beauty;
Tell her I have chastis'd the amorous Trojan,
And am her knight by proof.
Serv.

I go, my lord. [Exit Servant
Enter AGAMEMNON.

Agam. Renew, renew! The fierce Polydamus
Hath beat down Menon: bastard Margarelon
Hath Doreus prisoner;

And stands colossus-wise, waving his beam,
Upon the pashed corses of the kings
Epistrophus and Cedius: Polixenes is slain;

Amphimacus, and Thoas, deadly hurt;
Patroclus ta'en, or slain; and Palamedes
Sore hurt and bruis'd: the dreadful Sagittary
Appals our numbers; haste we, Diomed,
To reinforcement, or we perish all.

Enter NESTOR.

Nest. Go, bear Patroclus' body to Achilles;
And bid the snail-pac'd Ajax arm for shame.
There is a thousand Hectors in the field:
Now here he fights on Galathe his horse,
And there lacks work; anon, he 's there afoot,
And there they fly, or die, like scaled sculls a
Before the belching whale; then is he yonder,
And there the strawy Greeks, ripe for his edge,
Fall down before him like the mower's swath :
Here, there, and everywhere, he leaves and takes ;
Dexterity so obeying appetite

That what he will he does; and does so much
That proof is call'd impossibility.

Enter ULYSSES.

Ulyss. O courage, courage, princes! great Achilles Is arming, weeping, cursing, vowing vengeance; Patroclus' wounds have rous'd his drowsy blood, Together with his mangled Myrmidons,

That noseless, handless, hack'd and chipp'd, come to him,

Crying on Hector. Ajax hath lost a friend,
And foams at mouth, and he is arm'd, and at it,
Roaring for Troilus; who hath done to-day
Mad and fantastic execution;
Engaging and redeeming of himself,
With such a careless force, and forceless care,
As if that luck, in very spite of cunning,
Bade him win all.

Enter AJAX.

Hect. Stand, stand, thou Greek; thou art a goodly mark:

No? wilt thou not?-I like thy armour well;
I'll frush it, and unlock the rivets all,

But I'll be master of it :-Wilt thou not, beast, abide?
Why then, fly on, I'll hunt thee for thy hide. [Exeunt.
SCENE VII.-- The same.

Enter ACHILLES, with Myrmidons.

Achil. Come here about me, you my Myrmidons; Mark what I say.-Attend me where I wheel: Strike not a stroke, but keep yourselves in breath; And when I have the bloody Hector found, Empale him with your weapons round about; In fellest manner execute your arms. Follow me, sirs, and my proceedings eye:It is decreed Hector the great must die. SCENE VIII.-The same.

[Exeunt.

Enter MENELAUS and PARIS, fighting: then THER

SITES.

Ther. The cuckold and the cuckold-maker are at

double-henned sparrow! 'loo, Paris, 'loo! The bull has the game:-'ware horns, ho! [Ex. PAR. and MEN. Enter MARGARELON.

Mar. Turn, slave, and fight.
Ther. What art thou?

Mar. A bastard son of Priam's.

Ther. I am a bastard too; I love bastards: 1 ani a bastard begot, bastard instructed, bastard in mind, bastard in valour, in everything illegitimate. One year will not bite another, and wherefore should one bastard?

traitor,

And pay thy life thou ow'st me for my horse!

Dio. Ha! art thou there?

Ajar. I'll fight with him alone: stand, Diomed.
Dio. He is my prize. I will not look upon.

Sculls-shoals of fish. We have the word in Milton ('Para1ise Lost,' book vii.):—

"Fish, that with their fins and shining scales

Glide under the green wave, iu sculls that oft
Bank the mid sea."

son of a whore fight for a whore, he tempts judgment: Farewell, bastard.

Mar. The devil take thee, coward!

[Exeunt.

SCENE IX.-Another Part of the Field.

Enter HECTOR.

Hect. Most putrified core, so fair without, Thy goodly armour thus hath cost thy life. a Frush-break to pieces.

Now is my day's work done: I'll take good breath:
Rest, sword: thou hast thy fill of blood and death!
[Puts off his helmet, and hangs his shield
behind him.

Enter ACHILLES and Myrmidons.
Achil. Look, Hector, how the sun begins to set;
How ugly night comes breathing at his heels:
Even with the vail and darking of the sun,
To close the day up, Hector's life is done.

Hect. I am unarm'd; forego this vantage, Greek. Achil. Strike, fellows, strike; this is the man I seek. [HECTOR falls.

So, Ilion, fall thou; now, Troy, sink down;
Here lies thy heart, thy sinews, and thy bone.—
On, Myrmidons; and cry you all amain,
"Achilles hath the mighty Hector slain."

Dio. The bruit is Hector 's slain, and by Achilles. Ajax. If it be so, yet bragless let it be;

Great Hector was a man as good as he.

Agam. March patiently along :-Let one be sent To pray Achilles see us at our tent.

If in his death the gods have us befriended,
Great Troy is ours, and our sharp wars are ended.
[Exeunt, marching.
SCENE XI.-Another Part of the Field.
Enter ENEAS and Trojans.

Ene. Stand, ho! yet are we masters of the field: Never home; here starve we out the night. go

| Frown on, you heavens, effect your rage with speed!
Sit, gods, upon your thrones, and smile at Troy!
I say, at once, let your brief plagues be mercy.
And linger not our sure destructions on!

Ene. My lord, you do discomfort all the hos
Tro. You understand me not that tell me so
I do not speak of flight, of fear, of death;
But dare all imminence that gods and men
Address their dangers in. Hector is gone!
Who shall tell Priam so, or Hecuba?
Let him that will a screech-owl aye be call'd
Go in to Troy, and say there-Hector 's dead:
There is a word will Priam turn to stone;
Make wells and Niobes of the maids and wives
Cold statues of the youth; and, in a word,
Scare Troy out of itself. But, march, away:
Hector is dead; there is no more to say.
Stay yet :-You vile abominable tents,
Thus proudly pight upon our Phrygian plains,
Let Titan rise as early as he dare,

I'll through and through you!--And thou, great-siz'd coward!

No space of earth shall sunder our two hates;
I'll haunt thee like a wicked conscience still,
That mouldeth goblins swift as frenzy thoughts.
Strike a free march to Troy!-with comfort go:
Hope of revenge shall hide our inward woe.

[Exeunt ENEAS and Trojans.

As TROILUS is going out, enter, from the other side, PANDARUS.

Pan. But hear you, hear you!

Tro. Hence, broker lackey! ignomy and shame Pursue thy life, and live aye with thy name.

[Erit TROILS Pan. A goodly medicine for mine aching bones!O world! world! world! thus is the poor agent de spised! O traitors and bawds, how earnestly are you set a' work, and how ill requited! Why should our endeavour be so desired, and the performance so loathed! what verse for it? what instance for it? - Let me see :Full merrily the humble-bee doth sing, Till he hath lost his honey and his sting: And being once subdued in armed tail, Sweet honey and sweet notes together fail.Good traders in the flesh, set this in your painted cloths.

As many as be here of pander's hall, Your eyes, half out, weep out at Pandar's fall: Or, if you cannot weep, yet give some groans, Though not for me, yet for your aching bones. Brethren, and sisters, of the hold-door trade, Some two months hence my will shall here be made: It should be now, but that my fear is this,Some galled goose of Winchester would hiss: Till then I ll sweat, and seek about for eases; And, at that time, bequeath you my diseases. [Exit

THE first edition of 'Pericles appeared in 1609, under the following title:-"The late and much admired play, called Pericles, Prince of Tyre. With the true relation of the whole historie, adventures, and fortunes of the said prince: As also the no lesse strange and worthy accidents, in the birth and life of his daughter Mariana. As it hath been divers and sundry times acted [by] his Maiesties Seruants at the Globe on the Bank-side. By William Shakespeare. Imprinted at London for Henry Gosson, and are to be sold at the sign of the Sunne in Paternoster-row, &c. 1609." Other quarto editions appeared in 1611, in 1619, in 1630, and in 1635. The variations in these from the text of 1609 are very slight. In 1664 'Pericles' first appeared in the folio collection of Shakspere's works, being introduced into the third edition, whose title-page states "Unto this impression is added seven plays never before printed in folio."

We advocate the belief that 'Pyrocles,' or 'Pericles,' was a very early work of Shakspere, in some form, however different from that which we possess. That it was an early work we are constrained to believe; not from the evidence of particular passages, which may be deficient in power or devoid of refinement, but from the entire construction of the dramatic action. The play is essentially one of movement, which is a great requisite for dramatic success; but that movement is not held in subjection to an unity of idea. But with his essential disadvantage we cannot doubt that, even with very imperfect dialogue, the action presented a succession of scenes of very absorbing interest. The introduction of Gower, however inartificial it may seem, was the result of very profound skill. The presence of Gower supplied the unity of idea which the desultory nature of the story wanted. Nevertheless, such a story we believe could not have been chosen by Shakspere in the seventeenth century, when his art was fully deve loped in all its wondrous powers and combinations. With his perfect mastery of the faculty of representing, instead of recording, the treatment of a story which would have required perpetual explanation and connection would have been painful to him, if not impossible.

Dr. Drake has bestowed very considerable attention upon the endeavour to prove that 'Pericles' ought to be received as the indisputable work of Shakspere. Yet his arguments, after all, amount only to the establishment of the following theory: "No play, in fact, more openly discloses the hand of Shakspeare than 'Pericles, and fortunately his share in its composition appears to have been very considerable; he may be distinctly, though not frequently, traced, in the first and second acts; after which, feeling the incompetency of his fellow-labourer, he seems to have assumed almost the entire management of the remainder, nearly the whole

of the third, fourth, and fifth acts bearing indisputable testimony to the genius and execution of the great master. "We have no faith whatever in this very easy mode of disposing of the authorship of a doubtful play-of leaving entirely out of view the most important part of every drama, its action, its characterization, looking at the whole merely as a collection of passages, of which the worst are to be assigned to somme âme damnée, and the best triumphantly claimed for Shakspere. There are some, however, who judge of such matters upon broader principles. Mr. Hallam says, "Pericles is generally reckoned to be in part, and only in part, the work of Shakspeare. From the poverty and bad management of the fable, the want of any effective or distinguishable character, for Marina is no more than the common form of female virtue, such as all the dramatists of that age could draw, and a general feebleness of the tragedy as a whole, I should not believe the structure to have been Shakspeare's. But many passages are far more in his manner than in that of any contemporary writer with whom I am acquainted." Here "the poverty and bad management of the fable"-" the want of any effective or distinguishable character," are assigned for the belief that the structure could not have been Shakspere's. But let us accept Dryden's opinion that

"Shakspeare's own muse his Pericles first hore," with reference to the original structure of the play, and the difficulty vanishes. It was impossible that the character of the early drama should not have been impressed upon Shakspere's earliest efforts. Do we therefore think that the drama, as it has come down to us, is presented in the form in which it was first written? By no means. We agree with Mr. Hallam that in parts the language seems rather that of Shakspere's “second or third manner than of his first." But this belief is not inconsistent with the opinion that the original structure was Shakspere's. No other poet that existed at the beginning of the seventeenth century—perhaps no poet that came after that period, whether Massinger, or Fletcher, or Webster-could have written the greater part of the fifth act. Coarse as the comic scenes are, there are touches in them unlike any other writer but Shakspere. We are willing to believe that, even in the very height of his fame, Shakspere would have bestowed any amount of labour for the improvement of an early production of his own, if the taste of his audiences had from time to time demanded its continuance upon the stage. It is for this reason that we think that the ‘Pericles' which appears to have been in some respects a new play at the beginning of the seventeenth century was the revival of a play written by Shakspere some twenty years earlier.

Shakspeare and his Times,' vol. ii. p. 268. + History of Literature,' vol. iii. p. 569.