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
[ter?
Where my son lies. When did you lose your daugh-
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, howso'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 dakedom 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.

The entrance of the Cell opens, and discovers FER-
DINAND and MIRANDA playing at chess.
Mir. Sweet lord, you play me false.
Fer.
No, my dearest love,

I would not for the world.
Mira. Yes, for a score of kingdoms you should
And I would call it fair play.
[wrangle,
Alon.

If this prove
A vision of the island, one dear son
Shall I twice lose.

A most high miracle!

Seb. Fer. Though the seas threaten, they are merciful : I have curs'd them without cause. (Fer. kneels to Al.) 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! Tis new to thee. [at play? Alon. What is this maid, with whom thou wast

Pro.

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. Give me your hands: (To Fer. and Mir.) Let grief and sorrow still embrace his heart, That doth not wish you joy!

Gon.
Be't so! Amen!
Re-enter ARIEL, with the Master and Boatswain
amazedly following.

O look, sir, look, sir; here are 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?

Our king and company; the next, our ship,—
Boats. The best news is, that we have safely found
Which, but three glasses since, we gave out split,
Is tight, and yare, and bravely rigg'd, as when
We first put out to sea.

Ari. Sir, all this service Have I done since I went. Pro. Alon. These are not natural events: they strengthen, From strange to stranger:-Say, how came you hiBoats. If I did think, sir, I were well awake, ither? I'd 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, gingling chains, And more diversity of sounds, all horrible, We were awak'd; 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. Was't well done?

My tricksy spirit!(Aside.)

Ari. Pro. Bravely, my diligence. Thou shalt (Aside.) 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.

Pro.

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.

B

And think of each thing well.-Come hither, spirit: Set Caliban and his companions free : (Aside.) 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. Ste. 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 them?

Ant. Very like; one of them

Is a plain fish, and, no doubt, marketable.
Pro. 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? [they Alon. And Trinculo is reeling ripe. Where should Find this grand liquor, that hath gilded them?How cam'st 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?

[cramp. Ste. O, touch me not; I am not Stephano, but a Pro. You'd be king of the isle, sirrah? Ste. I should have been a sore one then. Alon. This is as strange a thing as e'er I look'd on. (Pointing to Caliban.)

Pro. 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,

Pro.

Go to; away! [found it. Alon. Hence, and bestow your luggage where you Seb. Or stole it rather. [Exeunt Cal.Ste.and Trin. Pro. 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 1 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.
Pro.
I'll deliver all;
And promise you calm seas, auspicious gales,
And sail so expeditious, that shall catch
Your royal fleet far off-My Ariel;-chick,-
That is thy charge; then to the elements
Be free, and fare thou well;-(aside.) Please yon
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 confin'd 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 reliev'd 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.

instant.

Id. L. 35. Gonzalo ] It may be observed of Gonzalo, that, being the only good man that appears with the king, he is the only man that preserves his cheerfulness in the wreck, and his hope on the island. JOHNSON. 13. 1. 43.-bring her to try with main-course.] This phrase occurs in Smith's Sea Grammar, 1627, 4to, under the article How to handle a Ship in a Storme:"Let us lie at Trie with our main course; that is, to hale the tacke aboord, the sheat close aft, the boling set up, and the helme tied close aboord." STEEVENS. P. 1, c. 2, l. 6. --an uustaunched wench.] Unstaunched, perhaps incontinent. 11.7. Lay her a-hold, a-hold:] i. e. bring her to lie as near the wind as she can, in order to keep clear of the land, and get her out to sea. Set her two courses; off to sea again,] The courses are the main-sail and fore-sail. Id. I. 16. - merely-] in this place signifies absolutely. STEEVENS. Id. 1. 21. - to glut him.] Shakspeare probably wrote, t'englut him, to swallow him. In this signification englut, from engloutir, Fr., occurs frequently. Yet Milton writes glutted offal for swallowed, and, therefore, perhaps, the present text may stand. Id. 1. 22. Mercy on us! &c.- -Farewell, bro

Id

ther! &c.] It is probable that the lines succeeding the confused noise within should be considered as spoken by no determinate cha

racters

Id 1 28.

an acre of barren ground; long heath, brown furze, &c.] Sir T. Hanmer reads -ling, heath, broom, furze.-Perhaps rightly, though he has been charged with tautology.

Id. 1.51. Pro. No harm.] Perhaps Shakspeare wrote,
O, woe the day! no harm?

To which Prospero properly answers:
I have done nothing but in care of thee.

JOHNSON.

P. 4, c. 2, l. 3. more better-] This ungrammatical expression is very frequent among our oldest writers.

Id. l. 4. - full poor cell,] i. e. a cell in a great degree of poverty.

Id. 1. 7. Did never meddle with my thoughts. J i. e. mix with them.

To meddle, means also, to interfere, to trouble, to busy itself.

Id. l. 15.

-virtue of compassion-] Virtue; the most efficacious part, as, the virtue of a plant is in the extract.

Id. l. 17.

Id.

no soul-] Such interruptions are not uncommon to Shakspeare. He sometimes begins a sentence, and, before he concludes it, entirely changes its construction, because another, more forcible, occurs. As this change frequently happens in conversation, it may be suffered to pass uncensured in the language of the stage. STEEVENS.

1. 31. Out three years old.] i. e. Quite three years old. Id. 1. 42.

Id.

Id.

abysm of time? i. e. Abyss. This method of spelling the word is common to other ancient writers. They took it from the French abysme, now written abime. 1. 46. Twelve years since, Miranda, twelve years since.] Years, in the first instance, is used as a dissyllable, in the second as a monosyllable; a licence not peculiar to the prosody of Shakspeare.

1. 53. A princess;—no worse issued.] The old copy reads-" And princess." For the trivial change in the text I am answerable. Issued is descended. STEEVENS.

Id. 1. 61. Id. 1. 79. To trash for over-topping :] To trash, teen-] is sorrow, grief, trouble. in old books of gardening, is to cut away the superfluities. It is used, also, by sportsmen in the North, when they correct a dog for misbehaviour in pursuing the game. A trash, among hunters, denotes a piece of leather, couples, or any other weight fastened round the neck of a dog, when his speed is superior to the pack; i. e, when he over-tops them, when he hunts too quick.

1d. c. 2, l. 1. - both the key-] This is meant of a key for turning the harpsichord, spinnet, or virginal; called now a tuning hammer. Id. l. 2. "Set all hearts i'th' state,"-MALONE. Id. 1. 6. I pray thee mark me.] In the old copy.

B*

these words are the beginning of Prospero's next speech; but, for the restoration of metre, I have changed their place. STEEVENS. Mr. Malone follows the old copy.

ld. l. 8. "Dedicated"-MALONE.
Id. 1. 13. Like a good parent, &c.] Alluding
to the observation, that a father above the
common rate of men has commonly a son be-
low it. Heroum filii noxæ. JOHNSON.
Id. l. 18.
like one,

Who having, unto truth, by telling of it,
Made such a sinner of his memory,

To credit his own lie,] There is, perhaps, no correlative, to which the word it can with grammatical propriety belong. Lie, however, seems to have been the correlative to which the poet meant to refer, and the meaning is, Who having made his memory such a sinner to truth as to credit his own lie by telling of it. Id. 1. 22. He was the duke; out of the substitution,] The reader should place his emphasis on-was: but Mr. Malone reads, "he was indeed the duke."

Id. l. 33. (So dry he was for sway)] i. e. So thirsty

Id. l. 42. To think but nobly-] But, i. e. in this place otherwise, than.

Id. l. 47. in lieu o'the premises, &c.] In lieu

of, means here, in consideration of; an unusual acceptation of the word.

Id. l. 59. - a hint] Hint is suggestion. Id. 1. 60. That wrings mine eyes ] i. e. squeezes the water out of them. Mr. Malone reads, "mine eyes to't."

P. 5, c. 1, l. 5. deck'd the sea-] To deck the

sea, if explained to honour, adorn, or dignify, is indeed ridiculous, but the original import of the verb deck, is to cover; so, in some parts, they yet say deck the table. This sense may be borne, but perhaps the poet wrote fleck'd, which I think is still used in rustic language of drops falling upon water. Dr. Warburton reads mock'd; the Oxford edition, brack'd. JOHNSON.

To deck signifies in the North, to sprinkle; and degg'd, which means the same, is in daily use in the north of England. When clothes that have been washed are too much dried, it is necessary to moisten them before they can be ironed, which is always done by sprinkling; this operation the maidens universally call degging.

Id. 1. 7. An undergoing stomach,] Stomach is stubborn resolution.

Id 1.14. Some food we had, and some fresh water, that

A noble Neapolitan, Gonzalo,

Out of his charity, (who being then appointed

Master of this design,) did give us ;] Mr. Steevens has suggested, that we might better read-he being then appointed; and so we should certainly now write: but the reading of the old copy is the true one, that mode of phraseology being the idiom of Shakspeare's time. MALONE.

I have left the passage in question as I found it, though with slender reliance on its integrity. STEEVENS.

Id. 1. 22. Now I arise:] Perhaps these words belong to Miranda, and we should read:

Mir. 'Would I might

But ever see that man!-Now I arise. Pro. Sit still, and hear the last of our

sea-sorrow.

As the words "now I arise"-may signify, "now I rise in my narration,"-"now my story heightens in its consequence," I have left the passage in question undisturbed. We still

Id. l. 51. Perform'd to point—] i. e. to the minutest article; a literal translation of the French phrase-à point.

Id. 1. 53. -now on the beak,] The beak was a strong pointed body at the head of the ancient gallies it is used here for the forecastle, or the boltsprit. JOHNSON.

Id. 1. 54. Now in the waist,] The part between the quarter-deck and the forecastle. JOHNSON, ld. l. 56. Sometimes, I'd divide,

And burn in many places;] Burton says, that the spirits of fire, in form of fire-drakes and blazing stars, "oftentimes sit on shipmasts," &c. Melanch. P. I. § 2. p. 30. edit. 1632. WARTON.

Id. l. 63. Yea his dread trident shake. Lest the metre should appear defective, it is necessary to apprize the reader, that in some counties, shake is still pronounced by the comm people as if it was written shaake, a dissyfable. FARMER.

Id. l. 70. · and quit the vessel,] Quit, for quitted.

Id. c. 2, l. 1. – sustaining—] i. e. their garments that bore them up and supported them; or their garments which bore, without being jured, the drenching of the sea.

Id.

Î. 13. The epithet here applied to the Berm:das, will be best understood by those who have seen the chafing of the sea over the rugged rocks by which they are surrounded and which render access to them so dangerous It was in our poet's time the current option, that Bermudas was inhabited by monsters, a devils.-Setebos, the god of Caliban's dam, was an American devil, worshipped by the giants of Patagonia. HENLEY.

Id. 1. 18-the Mediterranean flote,] Flote is wave Id. l. 41. Dost thou forget-] That the character

and conduct of Prospero may be understood, something must be known of the system of enchantment, which supplied all the marve lous found in the romances of the middle ages This system seems to be founded on the o nion that the fallen spirits, having differen degrees of guilt, had different habitations lotted them at their expulsion, some b confined in hell, some (as Hooker, who de vers the opinion of our poet's age, expresses it), dispersed in air, some on earth, some water, others in caves, dens, or miner under the earth. Of these, some were mo malignant and mischievous than others. earthy spirits seem to have been thought most depraved, and the aerial the less vitiate Thus Prospero observes of Ariel:

-thou wast a spirit too delicate

To act her earthy and abhorr'd com mands. Over these spirits a power might be obtaine by certain rights performed or charms learned This power was called The black art, knowledge of enchantment. The enchanter being (as king James observes in his Demont

logy), one who commands the devil, whereas the witch serves him.-The art was held by all, though not equally criminal, yet unlawful, and, therefore, Casaubon, speaking of one who had commerce with spirits, blames him, though he imagines him one of the best kind, who dealt with them by way of command. Thus Prospero repents of his art in the last scene. The spirits were always considered as in some measure enslaved to the enchanter, at least for a time, and as serving with unwillingness; therefore Ariel so often begs for liberty; and Caliban observes, that the spirits serve Prospero with no good will, but hate him rootedly. JOHNSON.

1.1.56. in Argier.] Argier is the ancient English name for Algiers.

P 6, c. 1, l. 23. — to a nymph o'the sea ;] There does not appear to be sufficient cause why Ariel should assume this new shape, as he was to be invisible to all eyes but those of Prospero. STEEVENS. Mr. Malone arranges these lines thus:

"Go make thyself like a nymph o'the sea;
be subject

To no sight but thine and mine: invisible
To every eye-ball else. Go, take this shape,
And hither come in't: go, hence, with 'di-
ligence."

11.30. The strangeness-] Why should a wonderful story produce sleep? I believe experience will prove, that any violent agitation of the mind easily subsides in slumber, especially when, as in Prospero's relation, the last images are pleasing. JOHNSON.

The poet seems to have been apprehensive that the audience, as well as Miranda, would sleep over this long but necessary tale, and, therefore, strives to break it. First, by making Prospero divest himself of his magic robe and wand: then by waking her attention no less than six times by verbal interruption: then by varying the action when he rises and bids her continue sitting: and lastly, by carrying on the business of the fable while Miranda sleeps, by which she is continued on the stage till the poet has occasion for her again. WARNER.

II. 38. We cannot miss him:] that is, we cannot do without him.

141.52. Cal. As wicked dew-] Wicked, having baneful qualities.

1. 1.57. urchins-] i. e. hedgehogs; or perhaps, here, fairies,

Id.1.58

for that vast of night that they may work] The vast of night means the night which is naturally empty and deserted, without action; or when all things lying in sleep and silence, makes the world appear one great uninhabited caste.

Vastum is likewise the ancient law term for for waste, uncultivated land.

It should be remembered, that, in the pneumatology of former ages, these particulars were settled with the most minute exactness, and the different kinds of visionary beings had different allotments of time suitable to the variety or consequence of their employments. During these spaces, they were at liberty to act, but were always obliged to leave off at a certain hour, that they might not interfere in that portion of night which belonged to others.

Id. 1. 12.

when thou didst not, savage,

Know thine own meaning.] By this expression, however defective, the poet seems to have meant-When thou didst utter sounds, to which thou hadst no determinate meaning.

Id. 1. 14. But thy vile race,] Race, in this place, seems to signify original disposition, inborn qualities.

Id. 1. 21. the red plague rid you,] The erysipelas was anciently called the red plague. The word rid, means to destroy.

Id. 1. 32. my dam's god, Setebos,] Mr. Warner has observed, on the authority of John Barbot, that "the Patagons are reported to dread a great horned devil called Setebos." We learn from Magellan's voyage, that Selebos was the supreme god of the Patagons and Cheleule was an interior one. Setebos is also mentioned in Hackluyt's Voyages, 1598. Id. 1. 35. Re-enter Ariel invisible,] In the wardrobe of the lord-admiral's men (i. e. company of comedians), 1598, was—“a robe for to goo invisebell."

Id. 1. 40. Court'sied when you have, and kiss'd,] As was anciently done at the beginning of some dances.

Id. 1. 55. Weeping again the king my father's wreck,] Thus the old copy; but in the books of Shakspeare's age again is sometimes printed instead of against, [i. e. opposite to,] which Mr. Malone thinks was our author's word.

Id.

1. 62. Full fathom five thy father lies; &c.] The songs in this play, Dr. Wilson, who reset and published two of them, tells us, in his Court Ayres, or Ballads, published at Oxford 1660, that Full fathom five," and "Where the bee sucks," had been first set by Robert Johnson, a composer contemporary with Shakspeare. BURNEY.

Id. 1. 65. Nothing of him that doth fade,

But doth suffer a sea-change-] Every thing about him, that is liable to alteration, is changed.

Id. l. 70. The same burden to a song occurs in The Merchant of Venice. It should here be

Ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong, bell. Id. l. 71. Ariel's lays, however seasonable and efficacious, must be allowed to be of no supernatural dignity or eloquence; they express nothing great, or reveal any thing above mortal discovery. JOHNSON.

Id. 1. 73. That the earth owes :] To owe, in this place, as well as many others, signifies to own. Id. l. 74. The fringed curtains, &c.] The same expression occurs in Pericles, Prince of Tyre, 1609:

her eyelids

Begin to part their fringes of bright gold."

The

P. 7, c. 1, l. 7. "It goes on, I see," MALONE. Id. 1. 20. If you be made, or no?] Some copies read maid, and the critics are not fully agreed in their opinions. Mr. M. Mason says, question is, whether our readers will adopt a natural and simple expression, which requires no comment, or one which the ingenuity of many commentators has but imperfectly supported."

Id. l. 34. And his brave son, being twain.] This is a slight forgetfulness. Nobody was lost in the wreck, yet we find no such character as the son of the duke of Milan. THEOBALD. 1. 36. controul thee,] Confute, or unanswerably contradict thee.

--

- I fear you have done yourself some wrong: i. e. I fear that, in asserting yourself to be king of Naples, you have uttered a