EPILOGUE,

N

Spoken by Profpero.

OW my charms are all d'er-thrown,
And what ftrength I have's mine own;
Which is most faint: and now, 'tis true,
I must be here confin'd by you,
Or Jent to Naples. Let me not,
Since I have my Dukedom got,
And pardon'd the deceiver, dwell
In this bare ifland by your Spell:
But releafe me from my bands,
With the help of your good hands.
Gentle breath of yours my fails
Muft fill, or elfe my project fails,
Which was to please.
For now I want
Spirits t'enforce, art to enchant :
And my ending is defpair, (21)
Unless I be reliev'd by prayer;
Which pierces fo, that it assaults
Mercy itself, and frees all faults.
As you from crimes would pardon'd be,
Let your indulgence set me free!

(21) And my ending is Defpair,] The allufion is very well kept up in this Epilogue. And the Actor here is not only applying to the Audience for Favour, in behalf of the Author; but Profpero fpeaks in the Character of a Magician; and fo [as Mr. Warburton hinted to me] alludes to the old Stories told of the Necromancers' Defpair in their Last Moments, and the Prayers of their Friends for them.

A

1

THESEUS, Duke of Athens.
Egeus, an Athenian Lord.

Lyfander, in love with Hermia.

Demetrius, in love with Hermia.

Philoftrate, Mafter of the Sports to the Duke.

Quince, the Carpenter.

Snug, the Joiner.

Bottom, the Weaver.

Flute, the Bellows-mender.

Snowt, the Tinker.

Starvelling, the Tailor.

Hippolita, Princefs of the Amazons, betroth'd to Thefeus. Hermia, Daughter to Egeus, in love with Lyfander. Helena, in love with Demetrius.

Other Fairies attending on the King and Queen.

SCENE, Athens; and a Wood not far from it.