Imatges de pàgina
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Enter Ceres.

Cer. Hail, many-colour'd messenger, that ne'er Dost disobey the wife of Jupiter; Who, with thy saffron wings, upon my flowers Diffusest honey-drops, refreshing showers: And with each end of thy blue bow dost crown My bosky' acres, and my unshrubb'd down, Rich scarf to my proud earth; Why hath thy queen Summon'd me hither, to this short-grass'd green! Iris. A contract of true love to celebrate; And some donation freely to estate On the bless'd lovers. Cer.

Tell me, heavenly bow,

If Venus, or her son, as thou dost know,
Do now attend the queen? since they did plot
The means, that dusky Dis my daughter got,
Her and her blind boy's scandal'd company
I have forsworn.

Iris.

Of her society

Be not afraid: I met her deity

Cutting the clouds towards Paphos; and her son Dove-drawn with her: here thought they to have

done

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There's something else to do: hush, and be mute, Or else our spell is marr'd.

Iris. You nymphs, call'd Naiads, of the wand'ring brooks, With your sedg'd crowns, and ever harmless looks, Leave your crisp channels, and on this green land Answer your summons; Juno does command: Come, temperate nymphs, and help to celebrate A contract of true love; be not too late.

Enter certain Nymphs.

You sun-burn'd sicklemen, of August weary,
Come hither from the furrow, and be merry;
Make holy-day: your rye-straw hats put on,
And these fresh nymphs encounter every one
In country footing.

Enter certain Reapers, properly habited; they join with the Nymphs in a graceful dance; towards the end whereof Prospero starts suddenly, and speaks; after which, to a strange, hollow, and confused noise, they heavily vanish.

Pro. [Aside.] I had forgot that foul conspiracy Of the beast Caliban, and his confederates, Against my life; the minute of their plot Is almost come.- [To the Spirits.] Well done ;

avoid;-no more.

Fer. This is most strange: your father's in some passion

That works him strongly.
Mira.

Never till this day,
Saw I him touch'd with anger so distemper'd.
Pro. You do look, my son, in a mov'd sort,
As if you were dismay'd: be cheerful, sir:
Our revels now are ended; these our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits, and
Are melted into air, into thin air:

To bless this twain, that they may prosperous be, And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,
And honour'd in their issue.

SONG.

Juno. Honour, riches, marriage-blessing,
Long continuance, and increasing,
Hourly joys be still upon you!
Juno sings her blessings on you.

Cer. Earth's increase, and foizon plenty;
Barns, and garners never empty;
Vines, with clust'ring bunches growing;
Plants, with goodly burden bowing;
Spring come to you, at the farthest,
In the very end of harvest;
Scarcity, and want, shall shun you;
Ceres' blessing so is on you.

Fer. This is a most majestic vision, and
Harmonious charmingly: May I be bold

To think these spirits?

Pro.

Spirits, which by mine art

I have from their confines call'd to enact

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The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve;
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind: We are such stuff
As dreams are made of, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.-Sir, I am vex'd;
Bear with my weakness; my old brain is troubled.
Be not disturb'd with my infirmity:
If you be pleas'd, retire into my cell,
And there repose; a turn or two I'll walk,
To still my beating mind.

Fer. Mira.

We wish your peace. [Exeunt.

Pro. Come with a thought:-I thank you:Ariel, come.

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Sweet now, silence;

Ari. I told you, sir, they were red-hot with drinking?

(1) Woody. (2) Pluto. (3) Abundance. (4) Able to produce such wonders. (5) Vanished.

(6) A body of clouds in motion; but it is most probable that the author wrote track.

Pro.

Juno and Ceres whisper seriously;

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Ari.

I go, I go. [Exit.

Pro. A devil, a born devil, on whose nature
Nurture can never stick; on whom my pains,
Humanely taken, all, all lost, quite lost;
And as, with age, his body uglier grows,
So his mind cankers: I will plague them all,

Re-enter Ariel loaden with glistering apparel, &c.
Even to roaring: Come, hang them on this line.
Prospero and Ariel remain invisible. Enter Cali-
ban, Stephano, and Trinculo; all wet.

Cal. Pray, you, tread softly, that the blind mole may not

Hear a foot fall: we now are near his cell.

Ste. Monster, your fairy, which, you say, is a harmless fairy, has done little better than played the

Jack with us.

Trin. Monster, I do smell all horse-piss; at which my nose is in great indignation.

Ste. So is mine. Do you hear, monster? If I should take a displeasure against you; look you,Trin. Thou wert but a lost monster.

Cal. Good my lord, give me thy favour still:

Be patient, for the prize I'll bring thee to
Shall hood-wink this mischance: therefore, speak

softly,

All's hush'd as midnight yet.

Trin. Ay, but to lose our bottles in the pool,Ste. There is not only disgrace and dishonour in that, monster, but an infinite loss.

Trin. That's more to me than my wetting: yet this is your harmless fairy, monster.

Ste. I will fetch off my bottle, though I be o'er ears for my labour.

Cal. Pr'ythee, my king, be quiet: Seest thou here, This is the mouth o' the cell: no noise, and enter: Do that good mischief, which may make this island Thine own for ever, and I, thy Caliban,

For aye thy foot-licker.

Ste. Give me thy hand: I do begin to have bloody thoughts.

Trin. O king Stephano! O peer! O worthy Stephano! look, what a wardrobe here is for thee! Cal. Let it alone, thou fool; it is but trash.

Trin. O, ho, monster; we know what belongs to

a frippery:-O king Stephano!

Ste. Put off that gown, Trinculo; by this hand,

I'll have that gown.

Trin. Thy grace shall have it.

Cal. The dropsy drown this fool! what do you

mean,

(1) Bait. (2) Education. (3) Jack with a lantern. (4) Ever. (5) A shop for sale of old clothes.

To doat thus on such luggage? Let's along,
And do the murder first; if he awake,
From toe to crown he'll fill our skins with pinches;
Make us strange stuff.

Ste. Be you quiet, monster.-Mistress line, is not this my jerkin? Now is the jerkin under the line : now, jerkin, you are like to lose your hair, and prove a bald jerkin.

Trin. Do, do: We steal by line and level, an't like your grace.

Ste. I thank thee for that jest; here's a garment for't: wit shall not go unrewarded, while I am king. of this country: Steal by line and level, is an excellent pass of pate; there's another garment for't.

Trin. Monster, come, put some limes upon your fingers, and away with the rest.

Cal. I will have none on't: we shall lose our time, And all be turn'd to barnacles, or to apes With foreheads villanous low.

Ste. Monster, lay to your fingers; help to bear this away, where my hogshead of wine is, or I'll turn you out of my kingdom; go to, carry this. Trin. And this.

Ste. Aye, and this.

A noise of hunters heard. Enter divers Spirits, in shape of hounds, and hunt them about; Prospero and Ariel setting them on.

Pro. Hey, Mountain, hey! Ari. Silver! there it goes, Silver! Pro. Fury, Fury! there, Tyrant, there! hark, hark! [Cal. Ste. and Trin. are driven out. Go, charge my goblins that they grind their joints With dry convulsions; shorten up their sinews With aged cramps; and more pinch-spotted make them,

Than pard, or cat o' mountain.

Ari.

Hark, they roar.

Pro. Let them be hunted soundly: at this hour Lie at my mercy all mine enemies; Shortly shall all my labours end, and thou Shalt have the air at freedom: for a little, Follow, and do me service.

ACT V.

[Exeunt.

SCENE I.-Before the cell of Prospero. Enter Prospero in his magic robes, and Ariel.

Pro. Now does my project gather to a head: My charms crack not; my spirits obey; and time Goes upright with his carriage.-How's the day? Ari. On the sixth hour; at which time, my lord, You said our work should cease.

Pro.

I did say so, When first I rais'd the tempest. Say, my spirit, How fares the king and his? Ari. Confin'd together In the same fashion as you gave in charge; Just as you left them, sir; all prisoners In the lime grove which weather-fends your cell; They cannot budge, till you release. The king, His brother, and yours, abide all three distracted; And the remainder mourning over them, Brim-full of sorrow, and dismay; but chiefly Him you term'd, sir, The good old lord Gonzalo; His tears run down his beard, like winter's drops

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Scent 1.

TEMPEST.

From eaves of reeds:1 your charm so strongly works Didst thou, Alonso, use me and my daughter:

them,
That if you now beheld them, your affections

Would become tender.
Pro.

Dost thou think so, spirit?

Ari. Mine would, sir, were I human.
Pro.

And mine shall.

Hast thou, which art but air, a touch of feeling
Of their afflictions; and shall not myself,

One of their kind, that relish all as sharply,

Passion as they, be kindlier mov'd than thou art?
Though with their high wrongs I am struck to the

quick,

Yet with my nobler reason, 'gainst my fury

Do I take part: the rarer action is

In virtue than in vengeance: they being penitent,
The sole drift of my purpose doth extend

Not a frown further: Go, release them, Ariel;
My charms I'll break their senses I'll restore,
And they shall be themselves.

Ari.

I'll fetch them, sir.

Exit.

Pro. Ye elves of hills, brooks, standing lakes,

and groves;

And ye, that on the sands with printless foot
Do chase the ebbing Neptune, and do fly him,
When he comes back; you demy-puppets, that
By moon-shine do the green-sour ringlets make,
Whereof the ewe not bites; and you, whose pas-

time

Is to make midnight-mushrooms; that rejoice
To hear the solemn curfew; by whose aid
(Weak masters though ye be,) I have be-dimm'd
The noon-tide sun, call'd forth the mutinous winds,
And 'twixt the green sea and the azur'd vault
Set roaring war: to the dread rattling thunder
Have I given fire, and rifted Jove's stout oak
With his own bolt: the strong-bas'd promontory
Have I made shake; and by the spurs pluck'd up
The pine and cedar: graves, at my command,
Have wak'd their sleepers; op'd, and let them
forth

By my so potent art: But this rough magic
I here abjure: and, when I have requir'd
Some heavenly music (which even now I do,)
To work mine end upon their senses, that
This airy charm is for, I'll break my staff,
Bury it certain fathoms in the earth,
And, deeper than did ever plummet sound,
I'll drown my book.

[Solemn music.

Thy brother was a furtherer in the act;-
Thou'rt pinch'd for't now, Sebastian.-Flesh and

blood,
You brother mine, that entertain'd ambition,
Expell'd remorse and nature; who, with Sebastian,
(Whose inward pinches therefore are most strong,)
Would here have kill'd your king; I do forgive thee,
Unnatural though thou art!-Their understanding
Begins to swell: and the approaching tide
Will shortly fill the reasonable shores,

That now lie 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;

[Exit Ariel.

I will dis-case me, and myself present,
As I was sometime Milan: -quickly, spirit;
Thou shalt ere long be free.

Ariel re-enters, singing, and helps to attire
Prospero.

Ari. Where the bee sucks, there suck I;
In a cowslip's bell I lie :
There I couch when owls do cry.
On the bat's back I do fly,
After summer, merrily:
Merrily, merrily, shall I live now,
Under the blossom that hangs on the bough.

Pro. Why, that's my dainty Ariel; I shall miss

thee;

But yet thou shalt have freedom: so, so, so
To the king's ship, invisible as thou art:
There shalt thou find the mariners asleep
Under the hatches; the master, and the boatswain,
Being awake, enforce them to this place;
And presently, I pr'ythee.

Ari. I drink the air before me, and return
Or e'er your pulse twice beat.

[Exit Ariel.

Gon. All torment, trouble, wonder, and amaze

ment

Inhabits here: Some heavenly power guide us
Out of this fearful country!
Behold, sir king,

Pro.

The wrong'd duke of Milan, Prospero;
For more assurance that a living prince
Does now speak to thee, I embrace thy body;

And to thee, and thy company, I bid
A hearty welcome.
Alon.

Whe'r thou beest he, or no,

Or some enchanted trifle to abuse me,

Re-enter Ariel: after him, Alonso, with a frantic As late I have been, I not know: thy pulse gesture, attended by Gonzalo; Sebastian and Beats, as of flesh and blood; and, since I saw thee, Antonio in like manner, attended by Adrian and The affliction of my mind amends, with which, Francisco: They all enter the circle which Pros- I fear, a madness held me: this must crave pero had made, and there stand charmed; which (An if this be at all) a most strange story.

Prospero observing, speaks.

A solemn air, and the best comforter

To an unsettled fancy, cure thy brains,

Thy dukedom I resign; and do entreat

Thou pardon me my wrongs:-But how should

Prospero

Be living, and be here?

First, noble friend,

Now useless, boil'd within thy skull! There stand, Pro.

For you are spell-stopp'd.

Holy Gonzalo, honourable man,

Mine eyes, even sociable to the show of thine,

Fall fellowly drops. The charm dissolves apace;

And as the morning steals upon the night,
Melting the darkness, so their rising senses
Begin to chase the ignorant fumes that mantle
Their clearer reason.-O my good Gonzalo,
My true preserver, and a loyal sir
To him thou follow'st; I will pay thy graces
Home, both in word and deed.-Most cruelly

(1) Thatch. (2) Pity, or tenderness of heart.

Let me embrace thine age; whose honour cannot

Be measur'd, or confin'd.
Gon.

Whether this be,

Or be not, I'll not swear.
Pro.
You do yet taste
Some subtleties o' the isle, that will not let you
Believe things certain :-Welcome, my friends

all:

But you, my brace of lords, were I so minded,
(Aside to Seb. and Ant.
I here could pluck his highness' frown upon you,
(3) Whether.

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Receiv'd a second life, and second father

Alon.

I am her's:

You have not sought her help; of whose soft grace, This lady makes him to me.

For the like loss, I have her sovereign aid,

And rest myself content.

Alon.

You the like loss?

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daughter?

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, howsoe'r 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 dukedom 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 Ferdinand and Miranda playing at chess.

Mira. Sweet lord, you play me false.

Fer.

I would not for the world.

No, my dearest love,

Mira. Yes, for a score of kingdoms you should

wrangle,

And I would call it fair play.

Alon.

If this prove

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

Seb. A most high miracle !

Fer. Though the seas threaten, they are merciful;

I have curs'd them without cause.

Alon.

[Ferd. kneels to Alon. Now all the blessings

Of a glad father compass thee about!

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But O, how oddly will it sound, that I

Must ask my child forgiveness !
Pro.

There, sir, stop:

Let us not burden our remembrances With a heaviness that's gone.

Gon.

I have inly wept,

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 king of Naples? O, rejoice
Bevond 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.

3

Give me your hands:
[To Fer. and Mira.

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?
Boats. The best news is, that we have safely found
Our king and company: the next, our ship, -
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
My tricksys spirit!

Have I done since I went.
Pro.

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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: 2- 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

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a cramp.

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,
And seek for grace: What a thrice-double ass
Was I, to take this drunkard for a god,
And worship this dull fool!
Pro.

Go to; away!

Alon. Hence, and bestow your luggage where

you found it.

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 I 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 solemniz'd;
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 you
[Exeunt.

draw near.

D

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