My charms I'll break, their fenfes I'll restore, And they fhall be themselves. Ari. I'll fetch them, Sir. [Exit. SCENE II. Pro. Ye elves of hills, brooks, ftanding lakes and groves, And ye, that on the fands with printless foot • Do chase the ebbing Neptune; and do fly him, 5 (Weak mafters tho' ye be) I have be-dimm'd The noon-tide fun, call'd forth the mutinous winds, 5 I have be-dimm'd • And The noon-tide Sun, call'd forth the mutinous winds, Have waked their fleepers; op'd, and let them forth By my fo potent Art.] Here is evidently an abfurd tranfpofition of the words in the laft line but one. But Mr. Theobald's defence of the present reading is still more abfurd. He juftifies the expreffion of Graves waking their Sleepers, by Beaumont and Fletcher's faying-Fame wakens the ruin'd Monuments which is an expreffion purely metaphorical, to fignify that those monuments are brought again into remembrance; and is therefore juftifiable. But-Graves waking their Sleepers must needs be understood literally. For Profpero would infinuate that dead men were actually raised to life by his Art. Therefore the expreffion is abfurd, and confequently none of Shakespear's, who certainly wrote Graves, at my command, Have open'd, and let forth their Sleepers, wak'd As And 'twixt the green fea and the azur'd vault Set roaring war; to the dread ratling thunder Have I giv'n fire, and rifted Jove's stout oak With his own bolt: the ftrong-bas'd promontory Have I made shake, and by the fpurs pluckt up The pine and cedar: graves at my command Have open'd, and let forth their fleepers, wak'd By my fo potent art.' But this rough magick I here abjure; and when I have requir'd Some As a further proof that Shakespear wrote it thus, we may observe, that he borrowed this fpeech from Medea's in Ovid: Stantia concutio cantu freta, nubila pello; Et mugire folum MANESQUE EXIRE SEPULCRIS. Now manefque exire fepulcris is juftly expreffed as we have reformed the lines, Graves, at my command, Have open'd, and let forth their fleepers, wak'd By my fo potent art The third line of his original containing an atchievement little in ufe amongst modern Inchanters he has with judgment omitted it in his imitation. 6 But this rough magick I bere abjure. And when I have required Some heavenly mufick, which ev'n now I do, Some This airy charm 1S FOR;) I'll break my staff, &c.-] If the prefent reading be genuine, then, by [airy charm] is meant the heavenly mufick two lines before. But this admitted, the confequence will be, 1. A wretched tautology; He had faid beavenly mufick to work mine end; and then immediately adds this airy charm of music is for working mine end. 2. As unpardonable a defect; for, according to this fenfe and reading, we are not informed what this end was, by not being told the State of their Senfes. We must needs then by [airy charm] understand the fire and cracks of fulphurous roaring, as it is called in the 3d Scene of A&t I. and thunder and lightning in the 4th Scene of Act III. which had in the highest degree terrified the perfons concerned. That this was the airy charm is farther evident from these words, in the following Scene, The charm diffolves apace, and as, &c. It Some heavenly musick, which ev'n now I do, This airy charm has frail'd ;) I'll break my staff; And deeper than did ever plummet found, I'll drown my book. S C E N E [Solemn Mufick. III. Here enters Ariel before; then Alonzo with a frantick gefture, attended by Gonzalo. Sebaftian and Anthonió in like manner, attended by Adrian and Francifco. They all enter the circle which Profpero bad made, and there Stand charm'd; which Profpero obferving, fpeaks. A folemn air, and the best comforter To an unfettled fancy, cure thy brains Now useless, boil'd within thy skull! There ftand, Holy Gonzalo, honourable man, It was diffolved, we fee, by the heavenly mufick, and therefore different from it. But if this be the fenfe of airy charm, then we fee the reading [IS FOR] must be corrupt; and that Shakespear wrote, -heavenly mufick To work mine end upon their fenfes, that This airy charm HAS FRAIL D. i. e. which fenfes the airy charm of Ariel above-mentioned has disturbed and shatter'd. For that this was their condition from the lines which follow in the next scene." 7 The charm diffolves apace; And as the morning fleals upon the night, Pll break my faff; appears Bury it certain fadoms in the earth.] Certain in its present fignification is predicated of a precife determinate number. But this fenfe would make the thought flat and ridiculous. We must confider the word certain therefore as ufed in its old fignification of a many, indefinitely. So Bale in his Acts of English Votaries fays,- But he took with him A CERTEN of his idle companions. For a many. So that Shakespear, I fuppofe, wrote the line thus, Bury't A CERTAIN Fadom in the Earth. VOL. I. 1 Mine Mine eyes, even fociable to th' fhew of thine, To him thou follow'ft; I will pay thy graces Thou'rt pinch'd for't now, Sebaftian, flesh and blood. "Will fhortly fill the reasonable shore, "That now lies 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; I will dif-cafe me, and myself present, [Exit Ariel, and returns immediately. As I was fometime Milan: quickly, Spirit; Thou fhalt e'er long be free. Ariel fings, and helps to attire bim. & Where the bee fucks, there fuck I; ign'rant fumes, ] Ignorant, for hurtful to reafon. 8 Where the bee fucks, there fuck I;] Mr. Theobald tells us, he has here ventured to vary from the printed Copies, and read lurk 1: Becaufe a Spirit cannot be intended, as he expreffes it, to want food. How Shakespear, or any other good Metaphyfician would have intended to fupport thefe Spirits, had they been of their own making, I do not know: But the people who gave them birth brought them up to good eating and drinking. There There I couch, when owls do cry. 9 After Summer, merrily. Merrily, merrily, fhall I live now, Under the bloffom, that hangs on the bough. Pro. Why, that's my dainty Ariel; I fhall miss thee; But yet thou shalt have freedom. So, fo, fo, To the King's fhip, invifible as thou art; There fhalt thou find the mariners asleep Under the hatches; the mafter and the boatswain, Being awake, enforce them to this place; And prefently, I pr'ythee. Ari. I drink the air before me, and return Or e'er your pulse twice beat. [Exit. Gon. All torment, trouble, wonder, and amazement Inhabits here; fome heav'nly power guide us Out of this fearful country! 9 After Summer, merrily.] This is the reading of all the Editions. Yet Mr. Theobald has fubftituted Sun-fet, because Ariel talks of riding on the Bat in this expedition. An idle fancy. That circumftance is given only to defign the time of night in which fairies travel. One would think the confideration of the circumftances fhould have fet him right. Ariel was a spirit of great delicacy, bound by the charms of Profpero, to a conftant attendance on his occafions. So that he was confined to the Island Winter and Summer. But the roughness of Winter is represented by Shakespear as difagreeable to fairies, and fuch like delicate fpirits, who on this account conftantly follow Summer. Was not this then the most agreeable circumftance of Ariel's new recover'd liberty, that he could now avoid Winter, and follow Summer quite round the Globe. But to put the matter out of question, let us confider the meaning of this line. There I couch, when Owls do cry. Where? in the Cowflip's bell, and where the Bee fucks, he tells us: this muft needs be in Summer. When? when Owls cry, and this is in Winter. When blood is nipt, and ways be foul, Then nightly fings the flaring owl.. The Song of Winter in Love's Labour Loft. The confequence is, that Ariel flies After-Summer. Yet the Oxford Editor has adopted this judicious emendation of Mr. Theobald. Pro. |