And to my state grew stranger, being transported,
And rapt in secret studies. Thy false uncle
Dost thou attend me?
Mira.

Sir, most heedfully.
Pro. Being once perfected how to grant suits,
How to deny them ; whom to advance, and whom
To trash for over-topping ;8 new created
The creatures that were mine; I say, or chang'd

them,
Or else new form'd them; having both the key
Of officer and office, set all hearts
To what tune pleas’d his ear; that now he was
The ivy, which had hid my princely trunk,
And suck'd my verdure out on't. - Thou attend'st

not:
I
pray thee, mark me.'
Mira.

O good sir, I do.
Pro. I thus neglecting worldly ends, all dedicate
To closeness, and the bettering of my

mind
With that, which, but by being so retired,
O'er-priz'd all popular rate, in my false brother
Awak'd an evil nature: and my trust,
Like a good parent, did beget of him

8 To trash for over-topping ;] To trash, 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 rest of the pack; i. e. when he over-tops them, when he hunts too quick.

See Othello, Act. II. sc. i.

9. both the key-] This is meant of a key for tuning the harpsichord, spinnet, or virginal; called now a tuning hammer.

I pray thee, mark me.] In the old copy, these words are the beginning of Prospero's next speech ; but, for the restoration of metre, I have changed their place. Steevens.

· Like a good parent, &c.] Alluding to the observation, that a father above the common rate of men has commonly a son below it. Heroum filii noxæ. Johnson.

1

A falsehood, in its contrary as great
As my trust was; which had, indeed, no limit,
A confidence sans bound. He being thus lorded,
Not only with what my revenue yielded,
But what my power might else exact,—like one,
Who having, unto truth, by telling of it,
Made such a sinner of his memory,
To credit his own lie, :—he did believe
He was the duke; out of the substitution,
And executing the outward face of royalty,
With all prerogative:—Hence his ambition
Growing, -Dost hear?

Mira. Your tale, sir, would cure deafness,
Pro. To have no screen between this part he

play'd,
And him he play'd it for, he needs will be
Absolute Milan: Me, poor man!—my library
Was dukedom large enough ; of temporal royalties
He thinks me now incapable: confederates
(So dry he was for sways) with the king of Naples,
To give him annual tribute, do him homage ;
Subject his coronet to his crown, and bend
The dukedom, yet unbow'd, (alas, poor Milan !)
To most ignoble stooping.
Mira.

O the heavens !
Pro. Mark his condition, and the event; then

tell me,

If this might be a brother.

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, however ungrammatically.

* He was the duke ; out of the substitution,] The reader should place his emphasis on—was. STEEVENS.

5 So dry he was for sway)] i. e. So thirsty.

Mira.

I should sin
To think but nobly of my grandmother :
Good wombs have borne bad sons.
Pro.

Now the condition.
This king of Naples, being an enemy
To me inveterate, hearkens my brother's suit;
Which was, that he in lieu o' the premises,
Of homage, and I know not how much tribute,
Should presently extirpate me and mine
Out of the dukedom; and confer fair Milan,
With all the honours, on my brother: Whereon,
A treacherous arıny levied, one midnight
Fated to the purpose, did Antonio open
The gates of Milan; and, i' the dead of darkness,
The ministers for the purpose hurried thence
Me, and thy crying self.
Mira.

Alack, for pity!
I, not rememb’ring how I cry'd out then,
Will
cry

it o'er again : it is a hint,
That wrings mine eyes.
Pro.

Hear a little further, And then I'll bring thee to the present business Which now's upon us; without the which, this

story Were most impertinent. Mira.

Wherefore did they not That hour destroy us? Pro.

Well demanded, wench; My tale provokes that question. Dear, they durst

not; (So dear the love my people bore me) nor set A mark so bloody on the business; but

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

7in lieu o' the premises, &c.] In lieu of, means here, in consideration of; an unusual acceptation of the word.

-a hint,] Hint is suggestion. 9 That wrings mine eyes.] i. e. squeezes the water out of them.

8

With colours fairer painted their foul ends.
In few, they hurried us aboard a bark;
Bore us some leagues to sea; where they prepared
A rotten carcase of a boat, not rigg'd,
Nor tackle, sail, nor mast; the very rats
Instinctively had quit it: there they hoist us,
To cry to the sea that roar’d to us; to sigh
To the winds, whose pity, sighing back again,
Did us but loving wrong.
Mira.

Alack! what trouble
Was I then to you!
Pro.

0! a cherubim
Thou wast, that did preserve me! Thou didst smile,
Infused with a fortitude from heaven,
When I have deck'd the seal with drops full salt;
Under my burden groan'd; which rais'd in me
An undergoing stomach, to bear up
Against what should ensue.
Mira.

How came we ashore?
Pro. By Providence divine.
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 ;s with

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.

An undergoing stomach,] Stomach is stubborn resolution. 3 Some food we had, and some fresh water, that

A noble Neapolitan, Gonzalo,

Rich garments, linens, stuffs, and necessaries,
Which since have steaded much; so, of his gentle-

ness,
Knowing I lov'd my books, he furnish'd me,
From my own library, with volumes that
I prize above

my

dukedom. Mira.

'Would I might But ever see that man! Pro.

Now I arise :Sit still, and hear the last of our sea-sorrow. Here in this island we arrived; and here Have I, thy school-master, made thee more profit Than other princes can, that have more time For vainer hours, and tutors not so careful. Mira. Heavens thank you fort! And now, I

pray you, sir,

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.

What Mr. Malone has styled “the idiom of Shakspeare's time,” can scarce deserve so creditable a distinction.

The genuine idiom of our language, at its different periods, can only be ascertained by reference to contemporary writers whose works were skilfully revised as they passed through the press, and are therefore unsuspected of corruption. A sufficient number of such books are before us. If they supply examples of phraseology resembling that which Mr. Malone would establish, there is an end of controversy between us. STEEVENS.

4 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,

-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 say, that the interest of a drama rises or declines. STEEYENS.