Dublin.
_The Island of Prospero._--We cannot assert that Shakspeare, in the
_Tempest_, had any particular island in view as the scene of his immortal
drama, though by some this has been stoutly maintained. Chalmers prefers
one of the Bermudas. The Rev. J. Hunter, in his _Disquisition on the Scene,
&c. of the Tempest_, endeavours to confer the honour on the Island of
Lampedosa. In reference to this question, a statement of the
pseudo-Aristotle is remarkable. In his work "[Greek: peri thaumasiôn
akousmatôn]," he mentions Lipara, one of the Æolian Islands, lying to the
north of Sicily, and nearly in the course of Shakspeare's Neapolitan fleet
from Tunis to Naples. Among the [Greek: polla teratôdê] found there, he
tells us:
"[Greek: Exakouesthai gar tumpanôn kai kumbalôn êchon gelôta te meta
thorubou kai krotalôn enargôs. legousi de ti teratôdesteron gegonenai
peri to spêlaion.]"
If we compare this with the aerial music heard by Ferdinand (_Tempest_, I.
2.), especially as the orchestra is represented by the genial burin of M.
Retsch in the fifth plate of his well-known sketches (_Umrisze_), it will
appear probable that Shakspeare was acquainted with the Greek writer either
in the original or through a translation. As far as I am aware, this has
not been observed by any of the commentators.--From _The Navorscher_.