Original: But see what heaven can do! By this our change,
Modern: But look at what fate can do! Because of this reversal in our fortune,

Original: These mouths, who but of late, earth, sea, and air,
Modern: These same mouths that just recently thought the earth, sea, and air

Original: Were all too little to content and please,
Modern: Weren’t enough to satisfy and please them,

Original: Although they gave their creatures in abundance,
Modern: Even though nature provided food in abundance,

Original: As houses are defiled for want of use,
Modern: Just as houses fall into ruin from lack of care,

Original: They are now starved for want of exercise:
Modern: These mouths are now starving from lack of use:

Original: Those palates who, not yet two summers younger,
Modern: Those same taste buds that less than two years ago

Original: Must have inventions to delight the taste,
Modern: Had to have fancy, exotic dishes to please them,

Original: Would now be glad of bread, and beg for it:
Modern: Would now be grateful for plain bread, and beg for it:

Original: Those mothers who, to nousle up their babes,
Modern: Those mothers who, to raise and nurture their babies,

Original: Thought nought too curious, are ready now
Modern: Thought nothing was too fancy or expensive, are ready now

Original: To eat those little darlings whom they loved.
Modern: To eat those same little darlings they once loved.

Original: So sharp are hunger’s teeth, that man and wife
Modern: Hunger is so severe that husband and wife

Original: Draw lots who first shall die to lengthen life:
Modern: Draw straws to see who will die first so the other can survive:

Original: Here stands a lord, and there a lady weeping;
Modern: Here stands a nobleman, and there a noblewoman weeping;

Original: Here many sink, yet those which see them fall
Modern: Here many people collapse and die, yet those who see them falling

Original: Have scarce strength left to give them burial.
Modern: Barely have enough strength left to bury them.

Original: Is not this true?
Modern: Isn’t this the truth?

Pericles, Prince of Tyre follows the wandering journey of Prince Pericles across the Mediterranean. The play opens with Pericles fleeing Antioch after discovering that King Antiochus is engaged in an incestuous relationship with his daughter. Fearing for his life, Pericles leaves his kingdom of Tyre in the care of his trusted advisor Helicanus and sets sail. He arrives in Tarsus during a famine, where he provides grain to the starving people, earning the gratitude of Governor Cleon and his wife Dionyza.

Continuing his travels, Pericles is shipwrecked near Pentapolis, where he washes ashore and participates in a tournament to win the hand of Thaisa, daughter of King Simonides. Pericles wins both the tournament and Thaisa’s love, and they marry. However, news arrives that Antiochus and his daughter have died, making it safe for Pericles to return to Tyre. During the sea voyage home, Thaisa gives birth to a daughter during a violent storm but appears to die in childbirth. The sailors insist her body must be cast overboard, so Pericles places her in a sealed coffin and commits it to the sea.

Thaisa’s coffin washes ashore in Ephesus, where the physician Cerimon revives her. Believing her husband and child are dead, she becomes a priestess in Diana’s temple. Meanwhile, Pericles leaves his infant daughter Marina with Cleon and Dionyza in Tarsus, asking them to raise her. Fourteen years pass, and Marina grows into a beautiful and virtuous young woman, causing Dionyza’s own daughter to pale in comparison. Jealous, Dionyza orders Marina’s murder, but pirates capture her before the deed is done and sell her to a brothel in Mytilene.

In the brothel, Marina’s purity and eloquence convert clients to virtue rather than vice, eventually leading to her release and employment as a teacher. When Pericles returns to Tarsus, Cleon and Dionyza show him a false tomb, claiming Marina died of natural causes. Grief-stricken, Pericles becomes a hermit aboard his ship. His vessel eventually arrives in Mytilene, where the governor Lysimachus brings Marina aboard to cure the melancholy stranger through music. Father and daughter recognize each other, leading to joyful reunion. The goddess Diana then appears to Pericles in a vision, directing him to her temple in Ephesus, where he is reunited with Thaisa. The play concludes with Marina’s betrothal to Lysimachus.