Pericles Original Text: Act 5, Prologue

This page contains the original text of Pericles Act 5, Prologue. Shakespeare’s original Pericles text is extremely long, so we’ve split the text into one Scene per page. All Acts are listed on the Pericles text page, or linked to from the bottom of this page.

Pericles, Act 5, Prologue

  Enter Gower.

GOWER

Marina thus the brothel scapes, and chances
Into an honest house, our story says.
She sings like one immortal, and she dances
As goddess-like to her admired lays.
Deep clerks she dumbs, and with her neele composes
Nature’s own shape of bud, bird, branch, or berry,
That even her art sisters the natural roses;
Her inkle, silk, twin with the rubied cherry,
That pupils lacks she none of noble race,
Who pour their bounty on her; and her gain
She gives the cursed bawd. Here we her place,
And to her father turn our thoughts again,
Where we left him, on the sea. We there him lost,
Where, driven before the winds, he is arriv’d
Here where his daughter dwells, and on this coast
Suppose him now at anchor. The city striv’d
God Neptune’s annual feast to keep, from whence
Lysimachus our Tyrian ship espies,
His banners sable, trimm’d with rich expense,
And to him in his barge with fervor hies.
In your supposing once more put your sight:
Of heavy Pericles think this his bark;
Where what is done in action, more, if might,
Shall be discover’d, please you sit and hark.

Exit

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Read more scenes from Pericles:

Pericles Act 1, Prologue
Pericles Act 1, Scene 1
Pericles Act 1, Scene 2
Pericles Act 1, Scene 3
Pericles Act 1, Scene 4

Pericles Act 2, Prologue
Pericles Act 2, Scene 1
Pericles Act 2, Scene 2
Pericles Act 2, Scene 3
Pericles Act 2, Scene 4
Pericles Act 2, Scene 5

Pericles Act 3, Prologue
Pericles Act 3, Scene 1
Pericles Act 3, Scene 2
Pericles Act 3, Scene 3
Pericles Act 3, Scene 4

Pericles Act 4, Prologue
Pericles Act 4, Scene 1
Pericles Act 4, Scene 2
Pericles Act 4, Scene 3
Pericles Act 4, Scene 5
Pericles Act 4, Scene 6

Pericles Act 5, Prologue
Pericles Act 5, Scene 1
Pericles Act 5, Scene 2
Pericles Act 5, Scene 3
Pericles Act 5, Epilogue

Read all of Shakespeare’s original texts >>

Read all of Shakespeare’s plays translated to modern English >>