Pericles by William Shakespeare
Act 4 - Scene 1
Tarsus. An open place near the sea-shore.
Dionyza : Thy oath remember; thou hast sworn to do't:
[p]'Tis but a blow, which
never shall be known.
[p]Thou canst not do a thing in the world so
soon,
[p]To yield thee so much profit. Let not conscience,
[p]Which is
but cold, inflaming love i' thy bosom,
[p]Inflame too nicely; nor let
pity, which
[p]Even women have cast off, melt thee, but be
[p]A
soldier to thy purpose.
Leonine : I will do't; but yet she is a goodly creature.
Dionyza : The fitter, then, the gods should have her. Here
[p]she comes weeping
for her only mistress' death.
[p]Thou art resolved?
Leonine : I am resolved.
Marina : No, I will rob Tellus of her weed,
[p]To strew thy green with flowers:
the yellows, blues,
[p]The purple violets, and marigolds,
[p]Shall as
a carpet hang upon thy grave,
[p]While summer-days do last. Ay me!
poor maid,
[p]Born in a tempest, when my mother died,
[p]This world to
me is like a lasting storm,
[p]Whirring me from my friends.
Dionyza : How now, Marina! why do you keep alone?
[p]How chance my daughter is
not with you? Do not
[p]Consume your blood with sorrowing: you
have
[p]A nurse of me. Lord, how your favour's changed
[p]With this
unprofitable woe!
[p]Come, give me your flowers, ere the sea mar
it.
[p]Walk with Leonine; the air is quick there,
[p]And it pierces
and sharpens the stomach. Come,
[p]Leonine, take her by the arm, walk
with her.
Marina : No, I pray you;
[p]I'll not bereave you of your servant.
Dionyza : Come, come;
[p]I love the king your father, and yourself,
[p]With more
than foreign heart. We every day
[p]Expect him here: when he shall
come and find
[p]Our paragon to all reports thus blasted,
[p]He will
repent the breadth of his great voyage;
[p]Blame both my lord and me,
that we have taken
[p]No care to your best courses. Go, I pray
you,
[p]Walk, and be cheerful once again; reserve
[p]That excellent
complexion, which did steal
[p]The eyes of young and old. Care not for
me
[p]I can go home alone.
Marina : Well, I will go;
[p]But yet I have no desire to it.
Dionyza : Come, come, I know 'tis good for you.
[p]Walk half an hour, Leonine,
at the least:
[p]Remember what I have said.
Leonine : I warrant you, madam.
Dionyza : I'll leave you, my sweet lady, for a while:
[p]Pray, walk softly, do
not heat your blood:
[p]What! I must have a care of you.
Marina : My thanks, sweet madam.
[p][Exit DIONYZA]
[p]Is this wind westerly
that blows?
Leonine : South-west.
Marina : When I was born, the wind was north.
Leonine : Was't so?
Marina : My father, as nurse said, did never fear,
[p]But cried 'Good seaman!'
to the sailors, galling
[p]His kingly hands, haling ropes;
[p]And,
clasping to the mast, endured a sea
[p]That almost burst the deck.
Leonine : When was this?
Marina : When I was born:
[p]Never was waves nor wind more violent;
[p]And from
the ladder-tackle washes off
[p]A canvas-climber. 'Ha!' says one,
'wilt out?'
[p]And with a dropping industry they skip
[p]From stem to
stern: the boatswain whistles, and
[p]The master calls, and trebles
their confusion.
Leonine : Come, say your prayers.
Marina : What mean you?
Leonine : If you require a little space for prayer,
[p]I grant it: pray; but be
not tedious,
[p]For the gods are quick of ear, and I am sworn
[p]To do
my work with haste.
Marina : Why will you kill me?
Leonine : To satisfy my lady.
Marina : Why would she have me kill'd?
[p]Now, as I can remember, by my
troth,
[p]I never did her hurt in all my life:
[p]I never spake bad
word, nor did ill turn
[p]To any living creature: believe me, la,
[p]I
never kill'd a mouse, nor hurt a fly:
[p]I trod upon a worm against my
will,
[p]But I wept for it. How have I offended,
[p]Wherein my death
might yield her any profit,
[p]Or my life imply her any danger?
Leonine : My commission
[p]Is not to reason of the deed, but do it.
Marina : You will not do't for all the world, I hope.
[p]You are well favour'd,
and your looks foreshow
[p]You have a gentle heart. I saw you
lately,
[p]When you caught hurt in parting two that fought:
[p]Good
sooth, it show'd well in you: do so now:
[p]Your lady seeks my life;
come you between,
[p]And save poor me, the weaker.
Leonine : I am sworn,
[p]And will dispatch.
First Pirate : Hold, villain!
Second Pirate : A prize! a prize!
Third Pirate : Half-part, mates, half-part.
[p]Come, let's have her aboard suddenly.
Leonine : These roguing thieves serve the great pirate Valdes;
[p]And they have
seized Marina. Let her go:
[p]There's no hope she will return. I'll
swear
[p]she's dead,
[p]And thrown into the sea. But I'll see
further:
[p]Perhaps they will but please themselves upon her,
[p]Not
carry her aboard. If she remain,
[p]Whom they have ravish'd must by me
be slain.
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Next: Act 4 - Scene 2
