In what thou had'st to say: so, with good life,
And observation strange, my meaner ministers
Their several kinds have done: my high charras
work,
In this strange stare?
Alon.
When I shall think. or Phoebus' steeds are
founder'd,
Or night kept chain'd below.
Pro.
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 [service
And these, mine enemies, are all knit up
In their distractions: they now are in my power:
And in these fits I leave them, whilst I visit
Young Ferdinand, (whom they suppose is
And his and my lov'd darling. [drown'd),
[Exit PROSPERO from above.
Pro. Thou and thy meaner fellows your last
Gon. I' the name of something holy, sir, why Did worthily perform; and I must use you
(stand you In such another trick: go, bring the rabble,
O, it is monstrous! monstrous! O'er whom I give thee power, here, to this place:
Methought the billows spoke, and told me of it; Incite them to quick motion; for I must
The winds did sing it to me; and the thunder, Bestow upon the eyes of this young couple
That deep and dreadful organ-pipe, pronounc'd Some vanity of mine art; it is my promise,
The name of Prosper; it did bass my trespass. And they expect it from me.
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 SEB. and ANT. 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.
SCENE I-Before PROSPERO's Cell.
Enter PROSPERO, FERDINAND, and MIRANDA.
Pro. If I have too austerely punish'd you,
Your compensation makes amends; for I
Have given you here a thread of mine own life,
Or that for which I live; whom 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.
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 mowe;
Do you love me, master? no.
Pro. Dearly, my delicate Ariel: Do not ap
Till thou dost hear me call.
Ari.
Well, I conceive. [Exit.
Pro. 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.
1 warrant you,
The white-cold virgin snow upon my heart
Abates the ardour of my liver.
Pro.
Now come, my Ariel; bring a corollary,
Rather than want a spirit; appear, and pertly.-
No tongue; all eyes; be silent. [Soft musick.
A Masque. Enter IRIS.
Iris. Ceres, most bounteous lady, thy rich leas
Of wheat, rye, barley, vetches, oats, and peas:
Thy turfy mountains, where live nibbling sheep,
And flat meads thatch'd with stover, them to
Thy banks with peonied and lilied brims,
Which spungy April at thy hest betrims,
To make cold nymphs chaste crowns; and thy
Whose shadow the dismissed bachelor loves,
Being lass-lorn; thy pole-clipt vineyard;
And thy sea-marge, steril, and rocky-hard,
Where thou thyself dost air: The queen o' the
sky,
Whose watery arch, and messenger, am I,
Pro. Then, as my gift, and thine own acqui-Bids thee leave these; and with her sovereign
Here on this grass-plot, in this very place,
To come and sport: her peacocks fly amain;
Approach, rich Ceres, her to entertain.
Enter CERES.
To make this contract grow; but barren hate,Dost disobey the wife of Jupiter;
Sour-ey'd 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.
Cer. Hail, many-coloured messenger, that ne'er
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 sugges-
Our worser genius can, shall never melt
Mine honour into lust: to take away
The edge of that day's celebration,
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
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 bless'd lovers.
Ver.
Tell me, heavenly bow,
If Venus, or her son, as thou dost know,
Do now attend the queen? since they did plot | Against my life; the minute of their plot
The means, that dusky Dis my daughter got,
Her and her blind boy's scandal'd company
I have forsworn.
Is almost come. To the Spirits.] Well done:--
avoid;-no more.
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-rite shall be paid
Till Hymen's torch be lighted: but in vain;
Mar's hot minion is return'd again;
Her waspish-headed son has broke his arrows,
Swears he will shoot no more, but play with
Fer. This is strange: your father's in some
Never till this day
Saw I him touch'd with anger so distemper'd.
Pro. You do look, my son, in a mov'd 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 fabrick 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 of, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.-Sir, I am vex'd;
Bear with my weakness; my old brain is trou-
Be not disturb'd with my infirmity: [bled.
If you
[be,
be pleas'd, retire into my cell,
And there repose; a turn or two I'll walk,
To still my beating mind.
And be a boy right out.
Cer.
Highest 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
And honour'd in their issue.
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, and foison plenty;
Barns and garners never empty;
Vines, with clust'ring bunches growing;
Plants, with goodly burden bowing;
Spring come to you, at the farthest,
In the very hand 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?
Spirits, which by mine art
I have from their confines call'd to enact
My present fancies.
Fer. Mira. We wish your peace. [Exeunt.
Pro. Come with a thought:-I thank you :-
Ariel, come.
I thought to have told thee of it; but I fear'd,
Lest I might anger thee.
Pro. 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
Let me live here ever; 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
So rare a wonder'd father, and a wife,
Make this place Paradise.
[JUNO and CERES whisper; and send IRIS
on employment.
Pro.
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.
Advanc'd their eyelids, lifted up their noses,
As they smelt music; so I charm'd their ears,
Tooth'd briers, sharp furzes, pricking goss, and
That, calf-like, they my lowing follow'd, through
thorns,
[them
Iris. Yon nymphs, call'd Naiads, of the wand'-Which enter'd their frail shins: at last I left
ring brooks,
I' the filthy mantled pool beyond your cell,
There dancing up to the chins, that the foul lake
O'er-stunk their feet.
With your sedg'd crowns, and ever harmless
looks,
[land Leave your crisp channels, and on this green Answer your summons; Juno does command: Come, temperate nymphs, and help to celebrate A contract of true love; be not too late.
You sun-burn'd sicklemen, of August weary,
Come hither from the furrow, and be merry;
Make holy-day: 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 of which PROSPERO starts suddenly, and
speaks; after which, to a strange hollow, and
confused noise, they heavily vanish.
[Pro. Aside.] I had forgot that foul conspiracy Of the beast Caliban, and his coufederates,
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.
Pro. 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.
Re-enter ARIEL, loaden with glistering Apparel, &c.
Even to roaring:-Come, hang them on this line.
PROSPERO and ARIEL remain invisible. Enter CA-
LIBAN, STEPHANO, and TRINCULO; all wet.
Cal. Pray you tread softly, that the blind
Ste. Monster, your fairy, which, you say, is a harmless fairy, has done little better than play'd the Jack with us.
Trin. Monster, I do smell all horse-piss; at which my nose is in great indignation.
Ste. So is mine. 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 hood-wink this mischance; therefore, speak softly,
All's hush'd as midnight yet.
Trin. Ay, but to lose our bottles in the pool,Ste. 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.
Ste. I will fetch off my bottle, though I be o'er ears for my labour.
Cal. 'Pry'thee, my king, be quiet: Seest thou here, [enter: This is the mouth of the cell: no noise, and Do that good mischief, which may make this island
Thine own for ever, and I, thy Caliban,
For aye thy foot-licker.
Ste. Give me thy hand: for I do begin to have bloody thoughts.
Trin. O king! Stephano! O peer! O worthy! Stephano! look, what a wardrobe here is for
Cal. Let it alone, thou fool: it is but trash. Trin, O, ho, monster; we know what belongs to a frippery :-O king Stephano!
Ste. 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 it alone,
And do the murder first: if he awake,
From toe to crown he'll fill our skins with
pinches ;
Ste. 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, and't like your grace.
Ste. 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.
Ste. 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.
Ste. Ay, and this.
A noise of Hunters heard. Enter divers Spirits in shape of hounds, and hunt them about; PROSPERO and ARIEL setting them on.
Pro. Hey, Mountain, hey!
Ari. Silver! there it goes, Silver!
And the remainder mourning over them,
Brim-ful of sorrow, and dismay; but chiefly
Him you term'd, sir, The good old lord, Gonzalo;
His tears run down his beard, like winter's
drops
[works them,
From eaves of reeds: your charm so strongly
That if you now behold them, your affections
Would become tender.
Dost thou think so, spirit?
Ari. Mine would, sir, were I human.
Pro.
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 mov'd than thou art?
Though with their high wrongs I am struck to
Yet, with my nobler reason, 'gainst my fury,
Do I take part: the rarer action is [tent,
In virtue than in vengeance: they being peni-
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.
Ari.
I'll fetch them, sir. [Exit
Pro. Ye elves of hills, brooks, standing lakes,
And ye, that on the sands with printless foot Do chase the ebbing Neptune, and do fly him When he comes back; you demy-puppets, that By moon-shine 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 you be) I have be-dimm'd
The noon-tide sun, call'd forth the mutinous
winds,
And 'twixt the green sea and the azur'd 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-bas'd promontory
Have I made shake; and by the spurs pluck'd up
The pine, and cedar: graves, at my command,
Have wak'd their sleepers; op'd and let them
forth,
By my so potent art: But this rough magick
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 musick.
Re-enter ARIEL; after him, 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.
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 my 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'rt pinch'd for't now, Sebastian.- Flesh
and blood,
You brother mine, that entertain'd ambition,
Expell'd remorse and nature; who with Sebas-
(Whose inward pinches therefore are most
[strong,)
Would here have kill'd your king; I do forgive
thee,
Unnatural though thou art!-Their understand-
[ing
Begins to swell; and the approaching tide
Will shortly fill the reasonable shores,
That now lie 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;
[Exit ARIEL.
I will dis-case me, and myself present,
As I was sometime Milan:-quickly, spirit;
Thou shalt ere long be free.
ARIEL re-enters, singing, and helps to attire
PROSPERO.
Ari. Where the bee sucks, there suck I;
In a cowslip's 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. Pro. 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
Inhabits here: Some heavenly power guide us
Out of this fearful country!
Pro.
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.
Whe'r thou beest he, or no,
Or some enchanted trifle to amuse 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,
(An if this be at all) a most strange story.
I fear, a madness held me: this must crave
Thy dukedom I resign; and do entreat
Thou pardon me my wrongs:-But how should
Be living, and be here?
[Prospero
Let me embrace thine age;
Be measur'd, or confin'd.
Gon.
Or be not, I'll not swear.
First, noble friend, whose honour cannot
Whether this be,
You do yet taste
Some subtilties o' the isle, that will not let you
Believe things certain :-Welcome, my friends
all:-
But you, my brace of lords, were I so minded,
[Aside to SEB. and ANT.
I here' could pluck his highness' frown upon
I'll tell no tales.
And justify you traitors: at this time [you
The devil speaks in him. [Aside.
Pro.
No:-
For you, most wicked sir, whom to call brother
Thy rankest fault; all of them; and require
Would even infect my mouth, I do forgive
Thou must restore.
My dukedom of thee, which, perforce, I know
How thou hast met us here, who three hours
Give ns particulars of thy preservation:
If thou beest Prospero,
[lost
(How sharp the point of this remembrance is!, Were wreck'd upon this shore; where I have My dear son Ferdinand.
I am woe for't, sir.
Alon. Irreparable is the loss; and Patience
Says it is past her cure.
Pro.
I rather think,
You have not sought her help; of whose soft
For the like loss, I have her sovereign aid,
And rest myself content.
Pro. As great to me, as late; and portable To make the dear loss, have I means much
Than you may call to comfort you; for I
Have lost my daughter.
Alon.
O heavens! that they were living both in Naples,
A daughter?
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?
Pro. 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,
1 will requite you with as good a thing;
At least, bring forth a wonder, to content ye,
As much as me my dukedom.
The entrance of the Cell opens, and discovers FER-
DINAND and MIRANDA playing at chess.
Mira. Sweet lord, you play me false.
No, my dearest love,
I would not for the world. Mira. Yes, for a score of kingdoms you should wrangle,
And I would call it fair play.
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 mer-
ciful:
I have curs'd them without cause.
[FER. kneels to ALON. Alon. Now all the blessings Of a glad father compass thee about! Arise and say how thou cam'st here.
Mira. O! wonder: How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,
That has such people in't!
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 serv'd us,
And brought us thus together?
Fer.
Sir, she's 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.
I am hers; But O, how oddly will it sound, that I Must ask my child forgiveness! Pro.
Do not infest your mind with beating on
The strangeness of this business: at pick'd leisure,
Which shall be shortly, single I resolve you There, sir, stop: (Which to you shall seem probable) of every These happen'd accidents: till when, be cheer
Let us not burden our remembrances
With 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!
And think of each thing well. Come hither, spirit; [Aside.
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.
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