Pro. Thou poisonous slave, got by the devil himself Upon thy wicked dam, come forth!

Enter CALIBAN.

Cal. As wicked dew as e'er my mother brushed
With raven's feather from unwholesome fen,
Drop on you both! a south-west blow on ye,

And blister you all o'er!

Pro. For this, be sure, to-night thou shalt have

cramps,

2

Side-stitches that shall pen thy breath up; urchins 1
Shall, for that vast of night that they may work
All exercise on thee: thou shalt be pinched

As thick as honey-combs, each pinch more stinging

Than bees that made them.

Cal. I must eat my dinner. This island's mine, by Sycorax my mother,

Which thou tak'st from me. When thou camest first, Thou strok'dst me, and mad'st much of me; wouldst

give me

Water with berries in't; and teach me how

To name the bigger light, and how the less,

That burn by day and night: and then I loved thee,

And showed thee all the qualities o' the isle,

The fresh springs, brine pits, barren place, and fertile ;
Cursed be I that did so!-All the charms

Of Sycorax, toads, beetles, bats, light on you!
For I am all the subjects that you have,

Which first was mine own king: and here you sty me
In this hard rock, whiles you do keep from me

The rest of the island.

Pro.

Thou most lying slave, Whom stripes may move, not kindness! I have used

thee,

1 Urchins were fairies of a particular class. Hedgehogs were also called urchins; and it is probable that the sprites were so named, because they were of a mischievous kind, the urchin being anciently deemed a very noxious animal.

2 That vast of night is that space of night. So, in Hamlet: "In the dead waste and middle of the night.”

23

Filth as thou art, with human care; and lodged thee
In mine own cell, till thou didst seek to violate
The honor of my child.

Cal. O ho, Ŏ ho!-'would it had been done!
Thou didst prevent me; I had peopled else
This isle with Calibans.

Pro.

Abhorred slave,

Which any print of goodness will not take,
Being capable of all ill! I pitied thee,

Took pains to make thee speak, taught thee each hour
One thing or other; when thou didst not, savage,
Know thine own meaning, but wouldst gabble like
A thing most brutish, I endowed thy purposes.

With words that made them known: But thy vile race,
Though thou didst learn, had that in't which good

natures

Could not abide to be with; therefore wast thou
Deservedly confined into this rock,

Who hadst deserved more than a prison.

Cal. You taught me language; and my profit on't Is, I know how to curse: The red plague rid1 you, For learning me your language!

Pro.

Hag-seed, hence!
Fetch us in fuel; and be quick, thou wert best,
To answer other business. Shrug'st thou, malice ?
If thou neglect'st, or dost unwillingly

What I command, I'll rack thee with old cramps;
Fill all thy bones with aches: 2 make thee roar,
That beasts shall tremble at thy din!

Cal. No, 'pray thee!

I must obey: his art is of such power,
It would control my dam's god, Setebos,3
And make a vassal of him.

Pro.

[Aside

1 Destroy.

2 The word aches is evidently a dissyllable here.

3«The giants, when they found themselves fettered, roared like bulls, and cried upon Setebos to help them."-Eden's Hist. of Travayle, 1577. p. 434.

Re-enter ARIEL invisible, playing and singing.
FERDINAND following him.

ARIEL'S SONG.

Come unto these yellow sands,

And then take hands:

Curt'sied when you have, and kissed,

(The wild waves whist,1)

Foot it featly, here and there,

And, sweet sprites, the burden bear.

Hark, hark!

Bur. Bowgh, wowgh.

The watch-dogs bark:

Bur. Bowgh, wowgh.

Hark, hark! I hear

The strain of strutting chanticlere

Cry, Cock-a-doodle-doo.

[Dispersedly.

[Dispersedly.

Fer. Where should this music be? i' the air, or the

earth?

It sounds no more;-and sure, it waits upon
Some god of the island. Sitting on a bank,
Weeping again the king my father's wreck,
This music crept by me upon the waters;
Allaying both their fury, and my passion,
With its sweet air: thence I have followed it,
Or it hath drawn me rather :-But 'tis gone.
No, it begins again.

ARIEL sings.

Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade,
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell:

[Burden, ding-dong,

Hark! now I hear them,-ding-dong, bell.

1 Still, silent.

And, that he does, I weep: myself am Naples;
Who with mine eyes, ne'er since at ebb, beheld
The king my father wrecked.

Mira.

Alack, for mercy!

Fer. Yes, faith, and all his lords; the duke of Milan And his brave son, being twain.

The duke of Milan,

[Aside.

Pro.
And his more braver daughter, could control' thee,
If now 'twere fit to do't:-At the first sight
They have changed eyes;-Delicate Ariel,
I'll set thee free for this!-A word, good sir;

I fear, you have done yourself some wrong: 2 a word.
Mira. Why speaks my father so ungently? This

Is the third man that e'er I saw; the first

That e'er I sighed for: pity move my father
To be inclined my way!

Fer.

O, if a virgin,

And your affection not gone forth, I'll make you
The queen of Naples.

Pro.

Soft, sir; one word more.

They are both in either's powers: but this swift business

I must uneasy make, lest too light winning

[Aside.

Make the prize light.-One word more; I charge thee, That thou attend me: thou dost here usurp

The name thou ow'st not; and hast put thyself

Upon this island, as a spy, to win it

From me, the lord on't.

Fer.

No, as I am a man.

Mira. There's nothing ill can dwell in such a

temple:

If the ill spirit have so fair an house,

Good things will strive to dwell with 't.

Pro.

Follow me.-[To FERD.

Speak not you for him; he's a traitor.-Come.

I'll manacle thy neck and feet together;

Sea-water shalt thou drink, thy food shall be
The fresh-brook muscles, withered roots, and husks