_Another part of the island._
_Enter_ ALONSO, SEBASTIAN, ANTONIO, GONZALO, ADRIAN, FRANCISCO, _and
others_.
GON. By'r lakin, I can go no further, sir;
My old bones ache: here's a maze trod indeed
Through forth-rights and meanders! By your patience,
I needs must rest me.
_Alon._ Old lord, I cannot blame thee,
Who am myself attach'd with weariness,
To the dulling of my spirits: sit down, and rest.
Even here I will put off my hope and keep it
No longer for my flatterer: he is drown'd
Whom thus we stray to find, and the sea mocks
Our frustrate search on land. Well, let him go.
ANT. [_aside to_ SEB.]
I am right glad that he's so out of hope.
Do not, for one repulse, forego the purpose
That you resolved to effect.
SEB. [_aside to_ ANT.] The next advantage
Will we take throughly.
ANT. [_aside to_ SEB.]
Let it be to-night:
For, now they are oppress'd with travel, they
Will not, nor cannot, use such vigilance
As when they are fresh.
SEB. [_aside to_ ANT.] I say, to-night: no more.
[_Solemn and strange music._
ALON. What harmony is this? My good friends, hark!
GON. Marvellous sweet music!
_Enter_ PROSPERO _above, invisible. Enter several strange Shapes,
bringing in a banquet; they dance about it with gentle actions of
salutation; and, inviting the King, etc. to eat, they depart._
ALON. Give us kind keepers, heavens! What were these!
SEB. A living drollery. Now I will believe
That there are unicorns, that in Arabia
There is one tree, the phoenix' throne, one phoenix
At this hour reigning there.
ANT. I'll believe both;
And what does else want credit, come to me,
And I'll be sworn 'tis true: travellers ne'er did lie,
Though fools at home condemn 'em.
GON. If in Naples
I should report this now, would they believe me?
If I should say, I saw such islanders--
For, certes, these are people of the island--
Who, though they are of monstrous shape, yet, note,
Their manners are more gentle-kind than of
Our human generation you shall find
Many, nay, almost any.
PROS. [_aside._] Honest lord,
Thou hast said well; for some of you there present
Are worse than devils.
ALON. I cannot too much muse
Such shapes, such gesture and such sound, expressing,
Although they want the use of tongue, a kind
Of excellent dumb discourse.
PROS. [_aside._] Praise in departing.
FRAN. They vanish'd strangely.
SEB. No matter, since
They have left their viands behind; for we have stomachs.
Will't please you taste of what is here?
ALON. Not I.
GON. Faith, sir, you need not fear. When we were boys,
Who would believe that there were mountaineers
Dew-lapp'd like bulls, whose throats had hanging at 'em
Wallets of flesh? or that there were such men
Whose heads stood in their breasts? which now we find
Each putter-out of five for one will bring us
Good warrant of.
ALON. I will stand to and feed,
Although my last: no matter, since I feel
The best is past. Brother, my lord the duke,
Stand to and do as we.
_Thunder and lightning._ _Enter_ ARIEL, _like a harpy; claps his wings
upon the table; and, with a quaint device, the banquet vanishes_.
ARI. You are three men of sin, whom Destiny,
That hath to instrument this lower world
And what is in't, the never-surfeited sea
Hath caused to belch up you; and on this island
Where man doth not inhabit; you 'mongst men
Being most unfit to live. I have made you mad;
And even with such-like valour men hang and drown
Their proper selves.
[ALONSO, SEBASTIAN, _etc. draw their swords_.
You fools! I and my fellows
Are ministers of Fate: the elements,
Of whom your swords are temper'd, may as well
Wound the loud winds, or with bemock'd-at stabs
Kill the still-closing waters, as diminish
One dowle that's in my plume: my fellow-ministers
Are like invulnerable. If you could hurt,
Your swords are now too massy for your strengths
And will not be uplifted. But remember--
For that's my business to you--that you three
From Milan did supplant good Prospero;
Exposed unto the sea, which hath requit it,
Him and his innocent child; for which foul deed
The powers, delaying, not forgetting, have
Incensed the seas and shores, yea, all the creatures,
Against your peace. Thee of thy son, Alonso,
They have bereft; and do pronounce by me
Lingering perdition, worse than any death
Can be at once, shall step by step attend
You and your ways; whose wraths to guard you from--
Which here, in this most desolate isle, else falls
Upon your heads--is nothing but heart-sorrow
And a clear life ensuing.
_He vanishes in thunder; then, to soft music, enter the Shapes again,
and dance, with mocks and mows, and carrying out the table._
PROS. Bravely the figure of this harpy hast thou
Perform'd, my Ariel; a grace it had, devouring:
Of my instruction hast thou nothing bated
In what thou hadst to say: so, with good life
And observation strange, my meaner ministers
Their several kinds have done. My high charms work
And these mine enemies are all knit up
In their distractions; they now are in my power;
And in these fits I leave them, while I visit
Young Ferdinand, whom they suppose is drown'd,
And his and mine loved darling. [_Exit above._
GON. I' the name of something holy, sir, why stand you
In this strange stare?
ALON. O, it is monstrous, monstrous!
Methought the billows spoke and told me of it;
The winds did sing it to me, and the thunder,
That deep and dreadful organ-pipe, pronounced
The name of Prosper: it did bass my trespass.
Therefore my son i' the ooze is bedded, and
I'll seek him deeper than e'er plummet sounded
And with him there lie mudded. [_Exit._
SEB. But one fiend at a time,
I'll fight their legions o'er.
ANT. I'll be thy second.
[_Exeunt_ SEBASTIAN _and_ ANTONIO.
GON. All three of them are desperate: their great guilt,
Like poison given to work a great time after,
Now 'gins to bite the spirits. I do beseech you
That are of suppler joints, follow them swiftly
And hinder them from what this ecstasy
May now provoke them to.
ADR. Follow, I pray you. [_Exeunt._
[Illustration: ACT IV]
SCENE I
_Before_ PROSPERO'S _cell_.
_Enter_ PROSPERO, FERDINAND, _and_ MIRANDA.
PROS. If I have too austerely punish'd you,
Your compensation makes amends, for I
Have given you here a third of mine own life,
Or that for which I live; who once again
I tender to thy hand: all thy vexations
Were but my trials of thy love, and thou
Hast strangely stood the test: here, afore Heaven,
I ratify this my rich gift. O Ferdinand,
Do not smile at me that I boast her off,
For thou shalt find she will outstrip all praise
And make it halt behind her.
FER. I do believe it
Against an oracle.
PROS. Then, as my gift and thine own acquisition
Worthily purchased, take my daughter: but
If thou dost break her virgin-knot before
All sanctimonious ceremonies may
With full and holy rite be minister'd,
No sweet aspersion shall the heavens let fall
To make this contract grow; but barren hate,
Sour-eyed disdain and discord shall bestrew
The union of your bed with weeds so loathly
That you shall hate it both: therefore take heed,
As Hymen's lamps shall light you.
FER. As I hope
For quiet days, fair issue and long life,
With such love as 'tis now, the murkiest den,
The most opportune place, the strong'st suggestion
Our worser genius can, shall never melt
Mine honour into lust, to take away
The edge of that day's celebration,
When I shall think, or Phoebus' steeds are founder'd,
Or Night kept chain'd below.
PROS. Fairly spoke.
Sit then and talk with her; she is thine own.
What, Ariel! my industrious servant, Ariel!
_Enter_ ARIEL.
ARI. What would my potent master? here I am.
PROS. Thou and thy meaner fellows your last service
Did worthily perform; and I must use you
In such another trick. Go bring the rabble,
O'er whom I give thee power, here to this place:
Incite them to quick motion; for I must
Bestow upon the eyes of this young couple
Some vanity of mine art: it is my promise,
And they expect it from me.
ARI. Presently?
PROS. Ay, with a twink.
Ari. Before you can say 'come' and 'go,'
And breathe twice and cry 'so, so,'
Each one, tripping on his toe,
Will be here with mop and mow.
Do you love me, master? no?
PROS. Dearly, my delicate Ariel. Do not approach
Till thou dost hear me call.
ARI. Well, I conceive. [_Exit._
PROS. Look thou be true; do not give dalliance
Too much the rein: the strongest oaths are straw
To the fire i' the blood: be more abstemious,
Or else, good night your vow!
FER. I warrant you, sir;
The white cold virgin snow upon my heart
Abates the ardour of my liver.
PROS. Well.
Now come, my Ariel! I bring a corollary,
Rather than want a spirit: appear, and pertly!
No tongue! all eyes! be silent. [_Soft music._
_Enter_ IRIS.
IRIS. Ceres, most bounteous lady, thy rich leas
Of wheat, rye, barley, vetches, oats and pease;
Thy turfy mountains, where live nibbling sheep,
And flat meads thatch'd with stover, them to keep;
Thy banks with pioned and twilled brims,
Which spongy April at thy hest betrims,
To make cold nymphs chaste crowns; and thy broom-groves,
Whose shadow the dismissed bachelor loves,
Being lass-lorn; thy pole-clipt vineyard;
And thy sea-marge, sterile and rocky-hard,
Where thou thyself dost air;--the queen o' the sky,
Whose watery arch and messenger am I,
Bids thee leave these, and with her sovereign grace,
Here on this grass-plot, in this very place,
To come and sport: her peacocks fly amain:
Approach, rich Ceres, her to entertain.
[Illustration:
IRIS: '_You Nymphs, call'd Naiads, of the windring brooks,
Leave your crisp channels_' (page 112).]
_Enter_ CERES.
CER. Hail, many-colour'd messenger, that ne'er
Dost disobey the wife of Jupiter;
Who with thy saffron wings upon my flowers
Diffusest honey-drops, refreshing showers,
And with each end of thy blue bow dost crown
My bosky acres and my unshrubb'd down,
Rich scarf to my proud earth; why hath thy queen
Summon'd me hither, to this short-grass'd green?
IRIS. A contract of true love to celebrate;
And some donation freely to estate
On the blest lovers.
CER. Tell me, heavenly bow,
If Venus or her son, as thou dost know,
Do now attend the queen? Since they did plot
The means that dusky Dis my daughter got,
Her and her blind boy's scandal'd company
I have forsworn.
IRIS. Of her society
Be not afraid: I met her deity
Cutting the clouds towards Paphos, and her son
Dove-drawn with her. Here thought they to have done
Some wanton charm upon this man and maid,
Whose vows are, that no bed-right shall be paid
Till Hymen's torch be lighted: but in vain;
Mars's hot minion is return'd again;
Her waspish-headed son has broke his arrows,
Swears he will shoot no more, but play with sparrows
And be a boy right out.
CER. High'st queen of state,
Great Juno, comes; I know her by her gait.
_Enter_ JUNO.
JUNO. How does my bounteous sister? Go with me
To bless this twain, that they may prosperous be
And honour'd in their issue. [_They sing._
JUNO. Honour, riches, marriage-blessing,
Long continuance, and increasing,
Hourly joys be still upon you!
Juno sings her blessings on you.
CER. Earth's increase, foison plenty,
Barns and garners never empty,
Vines with clustering bunches growing,
Plants with goodly burthen bowing;
Spring come to you at the farthest
In the very end of harvest!
Scarcity and want shall shun you;
Ceres' blessing so is on you.
FER. This is a most majestic vision, and
Harmonious charmingly. May I be bold
To think these spirits?
PROS. Spirits, which by mine art
I have from their confines call'd to enact
My present fancies.
FER. Let me live here ever;
So rare a wonder'd father and a wise
Makes this place Paradise.
[JUNO _and_ CERES _whisper, and send_ IRIS _on employment_.
PROS. Sweet, now, silence!
Juno and Ceres whisper seriously;
There's something else to do: hush, and be mute,
Or else our spell is marr'd.
IRIS. You nymphs, call'd Naiads, of the windring brooks,
With your sedged crowns and ever-harmless looks,
Leave your crisp channels and on this green land
Answer your summons; Juno does command:
Come, temperate nymphs, and help to celebrate
A contract of true love; be not too late.
[Illustration: PROSPERO:
'_We are such stuff
As dreams are made on_' (page 114).]
_Enter certain Nymphs._
You sunburnt sicklemen, of August weary,
Come hither from the furrow and be merry:
Make holiday: your rye-straw hats put on
And these fresh nymphs encounter every one
In country footing.
_Enter certain Reapers, properly habited: they join with the Nymphs in
a graceful dance; towards the end whereof_ PROSPERO _starts suddenly,
and speaks; after which, to a strange, hollow, and confused noise, they
heavily vanish_.
PROS. [_aside._] I had forgot that foul conspiracy
Of the beast Caliban and his confederates
Against my life: the minute of their plot
Is almost come. [_To the Spirits._] Well done! avoid; no more!
FER. This is strange: your father's in some passion
That works him strongly.
MIR. Never till this day
Saw I him touch'd with anger so distemper'd.
PROS. You do look, my son, in a moved sort,
As if you were dismay'd: be cheerful, sir.
Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits and
Are melted into air, into thin air:
And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep. Sir, I am vex'd;
Bear with my weakness; my old brain is troubled:
Be not disturb'd with my infirmity:
If you be pleased, retire into my cell
And there repose: a turn or two I'll walk,
To still my beating mind.
FER. MIR. We wish your peace. [_Exeunt._
PROS. Come with a thought. I thank thee, Ariel: come.
_Enter_ ARIEL.
ARI. Thy thoughts I cleave to. What's thy pleasure?
PROS. Spirit,
We must prepare to meet with Caliban.
ARI. Ay, my commander: when I presented Ceres,
I thought to have told thee of it, but I fear'd
Lest I might anger thee.
PROS. Say again, where didst thou leave these varlets?
ARI. I told you, sir, they were red-hot with drinking;
So full of valour that they smote the air
For breathing in their faces; beat the ground
For kissing of their feet; yet always bending
Towards their project. Then I beat my tabor;
At which, like unback'd colts, they prick'd their ears,
Advanced their eyelids, lifted up their noses
As they smelt music: so I charm'd their ears
That calf-like they my lowing follow'd through
Tooth'd briers, sharp furzes, pricking goss and thorns,
Which enter'd their frail shins: at last I left them
I' the filthy-mantled pool beyond your cell,
There dancing up to the chins, that the foul lake
O'erstunk their feet.
PROS. This was well done, my bird.
Thy shape invisible retain thou still:
The trumpery in my house, go bring it hither,
For stale to catch these thieves.
ARI. I go, I go. [_Exit._
PROS. A devil, a born devil, on whose nature
Nurture can never stick; on whom my pains,
Humanely taken, all, all lost, quite lost;
And as with age his body uglier grows,
So his mind cankers. I will plague them all,
Even to roaring.
_Re-enter_ ARIEL, _loaden with glistering apparel, etc._
Come, hang them on this line.
PROSPERO _and_ ARIEL _remain, invisible. Enter_ CALIBAN, STEPHANO,
_and_ TRINCULO, _all wet_.
CAL. Pray you, tread softly, that the blind mole may not
Hear a foot fall: we now are near his cell.
STEPH. Monster, your fairy, which you say is a harmless fairy, has done
little better than played the Jack with us. Do you hear, monster? If I
should take a displeasure against you, look you,--
TRIN. Thou wert but a lost monster.
CAL. Good my lord, give me thy favour still.
Be patient, for the prize I'll bring thee to
Shall hoodwink this mischance: therefore speak softly,
All's hush'd as midnight yet.
TRIN. Ay, but to lose our bottles in the pool,--
STEPH. There is not only disgrace and dishonour in that, monster, but
an infinite loss.
TRIN. That's more to me than my wetting: yet this is your harmless
fairy, monster.
STEPH. I will fetch off my bottle, though I be o'er ears for my labour.
CAL. Prithee, my king, be quiet. See'st thou here,
This is the mouth o' the cell: no noise, and enter.
Do that good mischief which may make this island
Thine own for ever, and I, thy Caliban,
For aye thy foot-licker.
STEPH. Give me thy hand. I do begin to have bloody thoughts.
TRIN. O king Stephano! O peer! O worthy Stephano! look what a wardrobe
here is for thee!
CAL. Let it alone, thou fool; it is but trash.
TRIN. O, ho, monster! we know what belongs to a frippery! O king
Stephano!
STEPH. Put off that gown, Trinculo; by this hand I'll have that gown.
TRIN. Thy grace shall have it.
CAL. The dropsy drown this fool! what do you mean
To dote thus on such luggage? Let's alone
And do the murder first: if he awake,
From toe to crown he'll fill our skins with pinches,
Make us strange stuff.
STEPH. Be you quiet, monster. Mistress line, is not this my jerkin? Now
is the jerkin under the line: now, jerkin, you are like to lose your
hair and prove a bald jerkin.
TRIN. Do, do: we steal by line and level, an't like your grace.
STEPH. I thank thee for that jest; here's a garment for't: wit shall
not go unrewarded while I am king of this country. 'Steal by line and
level' is an excellent pass of pate; there's another garment for't.
TRIN. Monster, come, put some lime upon your fingers, and away with the
rest.
CAL. I will have none on't: we shall lose our time,
And all be turn'd to barnacles, or to apes
With foreheads villanous low.
STEPH. Monster, lay to your fingers: help to bear this away where my
hogshead of wine is, or I'll turn you out of my kingdom: go to, carry
this.
TRIN. And this.
STEPH. Ay, and this.
_A noise of hunters heard. Enter divers Spirits, in shape of dogs and
hounds, hunting them about;_ PROSPERO _and_ ARIEL _setting them on_.
PROS. Hey, Mountain, hey!
ARI. Silver! there it goes, Silver!
PROS. Fury, Fury! there, Tyrant, there! hark! hark!
[CALIBAN, STEPHANO, _and_ TRINCULO _are driven out_.
Go charge my goblins that they grind their joints
With dry convulsions, shorten up their sinews
With aged cramps, and more pinch-spotted make them
Than pard or cat o' mountain.
ARI. Hark, they roar!
PROS. Let them be hunted soundly. At this hour
Lies at my mercy all mine enemies:
Shortly shall all my labours end, and thou
Shalt have the air at freedom: for a little
Follow, and do me service. [_Exeunt._
[Illustration:
ARIEL: '_All prisoners, sir,
In the line-grove which weather-fends your cell_' (page 123).]
[Illustration: ACT V]
SCENE I
_Before_ PROSPERO'S _cell_.
_Enter_ PROSPERO _in his magic robes, and_ ARIEL.
PROS. Now does my project gather to a head:
My charms crack not; my spirits obey; and time
Goes upright with his carriage. How's the day?
ARI. On the sixth hour; at which time, my lord,
You said our work should cease.
PROS. I did say so,
When first I raised the tempest. Say, my spirit,
How fares the king and 's followers?
ARI. Confined together
In the same fashion as you gave in charge,
Just as you left them; all prisoners, sir,
In the line-grove which weather-fends your cell;
They cannot budge till your release. The king,
His brother, and yours, abide all three distracted,
And the remainder mourning over them,
Brimful of sorrow and dismay; but chiefly
Him that you term'd, sir, 'The good old lord, Gonzalo';
His tears run down his beard, like winter's drops
From eaves of reeds. Your charm so strongly works 'em,
That if you now beheld them, your affections
Would become tender.
PROS. Dost thou think so, spirit?
ARI. Mine would, sir, were I human.
PROS. And mine shall.
Hast thou, which art but air, a touch, a feeling
Of their afflictions, and shall not myself,
One of their kind, that relish all as sharply,
Passion as they, be kindlier moved than thou art?
Though with their high wrongs I am struck to the quick,
Yet with my nobler reason 'gainst my fury
Do I take part: the rarer action is
In virtue than in vengeance: they being penitent,
The sole drift of my purpose doth extend
Not a frown further. Go release them, Ariel:
My charms I'll break, their senses I'll restore,
And they shall be themselves.
[Illustration:
PROSPERO: '_You demi-puppets that
By moonshine do the green sour ringlets make_' (page 125).]
ARI. I'll fetch them, sir. [_Exit._
PROS. Ye elves of hills, brooks, standing lakes and groves,
And ye that on the sands with printless foot
Do chase the ebbing Neptune and do fly him
When he comes back; you demi-puppets that
By moonshine do the green sour ringlets make,
Whereof the ewe not bites; and you whose pastime
Is to make midnight mushrooms, that rejoice
To hear the solemn curfew; by whose aid,
Weak masters though ye be, I have bedimm'd
The noontide sun, call'd forth the mutinous winds,
And 'twixt the green sea and the azured vault
Set roaring war: to the dread rattling thunder
Have I given fire and rifted Jove's stout oak
With his own bolt; the strong-based promontory
Have I made shake and by the spurs pluck'd up
The pine and cedar: graves at my command
Have waked their sleepers, oped, and let 'em forth
By my so potent art. But this rough magic
I here abjure, and, when I have required
Some heavenly music, which even now I do,
To work mine end upon their senses that
This airy charm is for, I'll break my staff,
Bury it certain fathoms in the earth,
And deeper than did ever plummet sound
I'll drown my book. [_Solemn music._
_Re-enter_ ARIEL _before: then_ ALONSO, _with a frantic gesture,
attended by_ GONZALO; SEBASTIAN _and_ ANTONIO _in like manner, attended
by_ ADRIAN _and_ FRANCISCO: _they all enter the circle which_ PROSPERO
_had made, and there stand charmed; which_ PROSPERO _observing, speaks_:
A solemn air and the best comforter
To an unsettled fancy cure thy brains,
Now useless, boil'd within thy skull! There stand,
For you are spell-stopp'd.
Holy Gonzalo, honourable man,
Mine eyes, even sociable to the show of thine,
Fall fellowly drops. The charm dissolves apace,
And as the morning steals upon the night,
Melting the darkness, so their rising senses
Begin to chase the ignorant fumes that mantle
Their clearer reason. O good Gonzalo,
My true preserver, and a loyal sir
To him thou follow'st! I will pay thy graces
Home both in word and deed. Most cruelly
Didst thou, Alonso, use me and my daughter:
Thy brother was a furtherer in the act.
Thou art pinch'd for't now, Sebastian. Flesh and blood,
You, brother mine, that entertain'd ambition,
Expell'd remorse and nature; who, with Sebastian,
Whose inward pinches therefore are most strong,
Would here have kill'd your king; I do forgive thee,
Unnatural though thou art. Their understanding
Begins to swell, and the approaching tide
Will shortly fill the reasonable shore
That now lies foul and muddy. Not one of them
That yet looks on me, or would know me: Ariel,
Fetch me the hat and rapier in my cell:
I will discase me, and myself present
As I was sometime Milan: quickly, spirit;
Thou shalt ere long be free.
ARIEL _sings and helps to attire him_.
Where the bee sucks, there suck I:
In a cowslips bell I lie;
There I couch when owls do cry.
On the bat's back I do fly
After summer merrily.
Merrily, merrily shall I live now
Under the blossom that hangs on the bough.
PROS. Why, that's my dainty Ariel! I shall miss thee;
But yet thou shalt have freedom: so, so, so.
To the king's ship, invisible as thou art:
There shalt thou find the mariners asleep
Under the hatches; the master and the boatswain
Being awake, enforce them to this place,
And presently, I prithee.
ARI. I drink the air before me, and return
Or ere your pulse twice beat. [_Exit._
GON. All torment, trouble, wonder and amazement
Inhabits here: some heavenly power guide us
Out of this fearful country!
PROS. Behold, sir king,
The wronged Duke of Milan, Prospero:
For more assurance that a living prince
Does now speak to thee, I embrace thy body;
And to thee and thy company I bid
A hearty welcome.
ALON. Whether thou be'st he or no,
Or some enchanted trifle to abuse me,
As late I have been, I not know: thy pulse
Beats as of flesh and blood; and, since I saw thee,
The affliction of my mind amends, with which,
I fear, a madness held me: this must crave,
An if this be at all, a most strange story.
Thy dukedom I resign and do entreat
Thou pardon me my wrongs. But how should Prospero
Be living and be here?
PROS. First, noble friend,
Let me embrace thine age, whose honour cannot
Be measured or confined.
GON. Whether this be
Or be not, I'll not swear.
PROS. You do yet taste
Some subtilties o' the isle, that will not let you
Believe things certain. Welcome, my friends all!
[_Aside to_ SEBASTIAN _and_ ANTONIO.]
But you, my brace of lords, were I so minded,
I here could pluck his highness' frown upon you
And justify you traitors: at this time
I will tell no tales.
SEB. [_aside._] The devil speaks in him.
PROS. No.
For you, most wicked sir, whom to call brother
Would even infect my mouth, I do forgive
Thy rankest fault; all of them; and require
My dukedom of thee, which perforce, I know,
Thou must restore.
[Illustration:
PROSPERO: '_Graves at my command
Have waked their sleepers_' (page 126).]
ALON. If thou be'st Prospero,
Give us particulars of thy preservation;
How thou hast met us here, who three hours since
Were wreck'd upon this shore; where I have lost--
How sharp the point of this remembrance is!--
My dear son Ferdinand.
PROS. I am woe for't, sir.
ALON. Irreparable is the loss, and patience
Says it is past her cure.
PROS. I rather think
You have not sought her help, of whose soft grace
For the like loss I have her sovereign aid,
And rest myself content.
ALON. You the like loss!
PROS. As great to me as late; and, supportable
To make the dear loss, have I means much weaker
Than you may call to comfort you, for I
Have lost my daughter.
ALON. A daughter?
O heavens, that they were living both in Naples,
The king and queen there! that they were, I wish
Myself were mudded in that oozy bed
Where my son lies. When did you lose your daughter?
PROS. In this last tempest. I perceive, these lords
At this encounter do so much admire
That they devour their reason and scarce think
Their eyes do offices of truth, their words
Are natural breath: but, howsoe'er you have
Been justled from your senses, know for certain
That I am Prospero and that very duke
Which was thrust forth of Milan, who most strangely
Upon this shore, where you were wreck'd, was landed,
To be the lord on't. No more yet of this;
For 'tis a chronicle of day by day,
Not a relation for a breakfast, nor
Befitting this first meeting. Welcome, sir;
This cell's my court: here have I few attendants
And subjects none abroad: pray you, look in.
My dukedom since you have given me again,
I will requite you with as good a thing;
At least bring forth a wonder, to content ye
As much as me my dukedom.
_Here_ PROSPERO _discovers_ FERDINAND _and_ MIRANDA _playing at chess_.
MIR. Sweet lord, you play me false.
FER. No, my dear'st love,
I would not for the world.
MIR. Yes, for a score of kingdoms you should wrangle,
And I would call it fair play.
ALON. If this prove
A vision of the island, one dear son
Shall I twice lose.
SEB. A most high miracle!
FER. Though the seas threaten, they are merciful;
I have cursed them without cause. [_Kneels._
ALON. Now all the blessings
Of a glad father compass thee about!
Arise, and say how thou camest here.
MIR. O, wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,
That has such people in't!
PROS. 'Tis new to thee.
ALON. What is this maid with whom thou wast at play?
Your eld'st acquaintance cannot be three hours:
Is she the goddess that hath sever'd us,
And brought us thus together?
FER. Sir, she is mortal;
But by immortal Providence she's mine:
I chose her when I could not ask my father
For his advice, nor thought I had one. She
Is daughter to this famous Duke of Milan,
Of whom so often I have heard renown,
But never saw before; of whom I have
Received a second life; and second father
This lady makes him to me.
ALON. I am hers:
But, O, how oddly will it sound that I
Must ask my child forgiveness!
PROS. There, sir, stop:
Let us not burthen our remembrance with
A heaviness that's gone.
GON. I have inly wept,
Or should have spoke ere this. Look down, you gods,
And on this couple drop a blessed crown!
For it is you that have chalk'd forth the way
Which brought us hither.
ALON. I say, Amen, Gonzalo!
GON. Was Milan thrust from Milan, that his issue
Should become kings of Naples? O, rejoice
Beyond a common joy, and set it down
With gold on lasting pillars: In one voyage
Did Claribel her husband find at Tunis,
And Ferdinand, her brother, found a wife
Where he himself was lost, Prospero his dukedom
In a poor isle, and all of us ourselves
When no man was his own.
ALON. [_to_ FER. _and_ MIR.] Give me your hands:
Let grief and sorrow still embrace his heart
That doth not wish you joy!
GON. Be it so! Amen!
_Re-enter_ ARIEL, _with the_ MASTER _and_ Boatswain _amazedly
following_.
O look, sir, look, sir! here is more of us:
I prophesied, if a gallows were on land,
This fellow could not drown. Now, blasphemy,
That swear'st grace o'erboard, not an oath on shore?
Hast thou no mouth by land? What is the news?
BOATS. The best news is, that we have safely found
Our king and company; the next, our ship--
Which, but three glasses since, we gave out split--
Is tight and yare and bravely rigged as when
We first put out to sea.
ARI. [_aside to_ PROS.] Sir, all this service
Have I done since I went.
[Illustration: BOATSWAIN: '_And were brought moping hither_' (page
137).]
PROS. [_aside to_ ARIEL.] My tricksy spirit!
ALON. These are not natural events; they strengthen
From strange to stranger. Say, how came you hither?
BOATS. If I did think, sir, I were well awake,
I'ld strive to tell you. We were dead of sleep,
And--how we know not--all clapp'd under hatches;
Where but even now with strange and several noises,
Of roaring, shrieking, howling, jingling chains,
And mo diversity of sounds, all horrible,
We were awaked; straightway, at liberty;
Where we, in all her trim, freshly beheld
Our royal, good and gallant ship, our master
Capering to eye her: on a trice, so please you,
Even in a dream, were we divided from them
And were brought moping hither.
ARI. [_aside to_ PROS.] Was't well done?
PROS. [_aside to_ ARIEL.] Bravely, my diligence.
Thou shalt be free.
ALON. This is as strange a maze as e'er men trod;
And there is in this business more than nature
Was ever conduct of: some oracle
Must rectify our knowledge.
PROS. Sir, my liege,
Do not infest your mind with beating on
The strangeness of this business; at pick'd leisure
Which shall be shortly, single I'll resolve you,
Which to you shall seem probable, of every
These happen'd accidents; till when, be cheerful
And think of each thing well. [_Aside to_ ARIEL.]
Come hither, spirit:
Set Caliban and his companions free;
Untie the spell. [_Exit_ ARIEL.]
How fares my gracious sir?
There are yet missing of your company
Some few odd lads that you remember not.
_Re-enter_ ARIEL, _driving in_ CALIBAN, STEPHANO, _and_ TRINCULO, _in
their stolen apparel_.
STEPH. Every man shift for all the rest, and let no man take care for
himself; for all is but fortune. Coragio, bully-monster, coragio!
TRIN. If these be true spies which I wear in my head, here's a goodly
sight.
CAL. O Setebos, these be brave spirits indeed!
How fine my master is! I am afraid
He will chastise me.
SEB. Ha, ha!
What things are these, my lord Antonio?
Will money buy 'em?
ANT. Very like; one of them
Is a plain fish, and, no doubt, marketable.
PROS. Mark but the badges of these men, my lords,
Then say if they be true. This mis-shapen knave,
His mother was a witch, and one so strong
That could control the moon, make flows and ebbs,
And deal in her command without her power.
These three have robb'd me; and this demi-devil--
For he's a bastard one--had plotted with them
To take my life. Two of these fellows you
Must know and own; this thing of darkness I
Acknowledge mine.
CAL. I shall be pinch'd to death.
ALON. Is not this Stephano, my drunken butler?
SEB. He is drunk now: where had he wine?
ALON. And Trinculo is reeling ripe: where should they
Find this grand liquor that hath gilded 'em?
How camest thou in this pickle?
TRIN. I have been in such a pickle since I saw you last that, I fear
me, will never out of my bones: I shall not fear fly-blowing.
SEB. Why, how now, Stephano!
STEPH. O, touch me not; I am not Stephano, but a cramp.
PROS. You'ld be king o' the isle, sirrah?
STEPH. I should have been a sore one then.
ALON. This is a strange thing as e'er I look'd on.
[Illustration:
PROSPERO: '_Calm seas, auspicious gales,
And sail so expeditious_' (page 142).]
[_Pointing to_ CALIBAN.
PROS. He is as disproportion'd in his manners
As in his shape. Go, sirrah, to my cell;
Take with you your companions; as you look
To have my pardon, trim it handsomely.
CAL. Ay, that I will; and I'll be wise hereafter
And seek for grace. What a thrice-double ass
Was I, to take this drunkard for a god
And worship this dull fool!
PROS. Go to; away!
ALON. Hence, and bestow your luggage where you found it.
SEB. Or stole it, rather.
[_Exeunt_ CAL., STEPH., _and_ TRIN.
PROS. Sir, I invite your highness and your train
To my poor cell, where you shall take your rest
For this one night; which, part of it, I'll waste
With such discourse as, I not doubt, shall make it
Go quick away; the story of my life
And the particular accidents gone by
Since I came to this isle: and in the morn
I'll bring you to your ship and so to Naples,
Where I have hope to see the nuptial
Of these our dear-beloved solemnized;
And thence retire me to my Milan, where
Every third thought shall be my grave.
ALON. I long
To hear the story of your life, which must
Take the ear strangely.
PROS. I'll deliver all;
And promise you calm seas, auspicious gales
And sail so expeditious that shall catch
Your royal fleet far off. [_Aside to_ ARIEL.]
My Ariel, chick,
That is thy charge: then to the elements
Be free, and fare thou well! Please you, draw near. [_Exeunt._
EPILOGUE
SPOKEN BY PROSPERO
Now my charms are all o'erthrown,
And what strength I have's mine own,
Which is most faint: now, 'tis true,
I must be here confined by you,
Or sent to Naples. Let me not,
Since I have my dukedom got
And pardon'd the deceiver, dwell
In this bare island by your spell;
But release me from my bands
With the help of your good hands:
Gentle breath of yours my sails
Must fill, or else my project fails,
Which was to please. Now I want
Spirits to enforce, art to enchant,
And my ending is despair,
Unless I be relieved by prayer,
Which pierces so that it assaults
Mercy itself and frees all faults.
As you from crimes would pardon'd be,
Let your indulgence set me free.
Printed by T. and A. CONSTABLE, Printers to His Majesty at the
Edinburgh University Press
* * * * * *
Transcriber's note:
Some illustrations of this work have been moved from their original
sequence to enable the contents to continue without interruption.