Page images
PDF
EPUB
[blocks in formation]

On a Ship at Sea. tompelurus Noise of Thunder and Lightning beard. I fay. Enter a Ship-mafler and a Boutswain.

!

May BOATSWAIN master: What cheer?

Med. Good: Speak to the mariners-fall to't
Farely, or we run ourselves aground: beftir, beftir.

Enter Mariners.

Gon. I have great comfort from this fellow; methinks, he hath no drowning mark upon him: his complexion is perfect gallows. Stand faft, good fate, to his hanging; make the rope of his deftiny our cable, for our own doth little advantage: If [Exir. he be not born to be hang'd, our cafe is miferable. [Exeunt. Bar, Heigh, my hearts; cheerly, cheerly, Re-enter Boatswain. hearts; yare, yare: Take in the top-fail; Boats. Down with the top-mast; yare, lower, Tend to the mafter's whittle; -Blow, till thou lower; bring her to try with main-course. [A butt thy wind, if room enough! cry within.] A plague upon this howling 1 Este Amo, Sebastian, Anthonio, Ferdinand, they are louder than the weather, or our office. Gonzalo, and others. A. Good boatswain, have care.

the master? Play the men.

By: I pray now, keep below.

Where's

A. Where's the mafter, boatswain?
Bat Do you not hear him? You mar our
Keep your cabins: you do affift the storm.

Gs. Nav, good, be patient.

B. When the fea is. Hence! What care
breroarers for the name of king? To cabin:
trouble us not.

Gon. Good; yet remember whom thou haftaboard.
Aug. None that I more love than myself.

Re-enter Sebaflian, Anthonio, and Gonzalo. Yet again? What do you here? Shall we give o'er, and drown? Have you a mind to fink?

Seb. A pox o' your throat! you bawling, blafphemous, uncharitable dog ! Boats. Work you then.

Ant. Hang, cur, hang! you whoreson, infolent noifemaker! we are lefs afraid to be drown'd, than thou art.

Gon. I'll warrant him from drowning; though the ship were no ftronger than a nut-shell, and as leaky as an unstanch'd 3 wench.

Boats. Lay her a-hold, a-hold; fet her two

are a counfellor; if you can command these courses; off to fea again, lay her off.

ments to filence, and work the peace of the

Peer, we will not handle a rope more; ufe

azhority. If you cannot, give thanks you

Enter Mariners wet.

Mar. All loft! to prayers, to prayers! all loft !

[Exsunt.

eLe'd fo long, and make yourself ready in! Boats. What, must our mouths be cold?

1 Readily, nimbly.

2 Of the present inftant, the poet probably means. 3 Incontinent.

B

Gon.

Gore The king and prince at prayers! let us No, not fo much perdition as an hair,

affift them,

For our cafe is as theirs.

Seb. I am out of patience.

Ant. We're I merely cheated of our lives by

drunkards.

lie drowning,

This wide-chopp'd rafcal;- Would, thou might'st

The washing of ten tides!

Gon. He'll be hanged yet;
Though every drop of water swear against it,
And gape at wid'st to glut him.

[A confused noise within.) Mercy on us! -
We split! we split! Farewell my wife and
children! Farewell, brother! We split, we
split, we split.

Ant. Let's all fink with the king.
Seb. Let's take leave of him.

Betid to any creature in the vessel

Which thou heard'it cry, which thou faw'st ink.

Sit down;

For thou must now know further.

Mira. You have often

Begun to tell me what I am; but ftopp'd,
And left me to a bootless inquifition;
Concluding, Stay, not yet.-

Pro. The hour's now come;

The very minute bids thee ope thine ear;
Obey, and be attentive. Canft thou remember
A time before we came unto this cell?

I do not think, thou canft; for then thou wast nor
Out 7 three years old.

Mira. Certainly, fir, I can.

[Exit.
[Exit. Of any thing the image tell me, that
Hath kept with thy remembrance.

Pro. By what? by any other house, or perfon

Gon. Now would I give a thoufand furlongs of fea for an acre of barren ground; 3 long heath, brown furze, any thing: The wills above be done, but I would fain die a dry death! (Exit. SCENE II.

The inchanted islands before the cell of Profpera.
Enter Profpero and Miranda.

Mira. If by your art, my dearest father, you

have

Put the wild waters in this roar, allay them:
The sky, it feems, would pour down ftinking pitch,
But that the fea, mounting to the welkin's cheek,
Dashes the fire out. O, I have fuffer'd

WWith those that I faw fuffer! a brave veffel,

Who had, no doubt, fome noble creatures in her,
Dash'd all to pieces. O, the cry did knock
Againft my very heart! Poor fouls! they perish'd.
Had 1 been any god of power, I would
Have funk the fea within the earth, or ere 4

It should the good ship fo have swallow'd, and
The freighting fouls within her.

[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]

What foul play had we, that we came from thence?

Or bleffed was 't, we did?

Pro. Both, both, my girl:

By foul play, as thou fay it, were we heav'd thence;
But bleffedly holp hither.

Mira. O, my heart bleeds

To think o' the teen & that I have turn'd you to,
Which is from my remembrance! Please you

further.

Pro. My brother, and thy uncle, call'd An-
thonio,-

I pray thee mark me, that a brother should
Be fo perfidious!-he whom, next thyself,
Of all the world I lov'd, and to him put
The manage of my ftate; as, at that time,
Through all the figniories it was the firft,
And Profpero the prime duke; being fo reputed
In dignity, and, for the liberal arts,
Without a parallel; those being all my ftudy,
The government I caft upon my brother,
And to my ftate grew stranger, being transported,
And wrapp'd in fecret studies. Thy falfe uncle
Doft thou attend me?

Mira. Sir, most heedfully.

:

Abfolutely. 2 Swallow. 3 Perhaps it should be ling, heath, &o. 4 Before. Si. c. a very

poor cell. Mingle. 7 Quite. 8 Sorrow, grief, trouble.

Pro.

1

Pra. Being once perfected how to grant fuits,
How to deny them; whom to advance, and whom
To trach for over-topping; new created ['em,
The creatures that were mine; I say, or chang'd
Or elfe new form'd'em; having both the key
Of officer and office, fet all hearts i' the ftate
To what tune pleas'd his ear; that now he was
The ivy, which had hid my princely trunk, [not.
And fuck'd my verdure out on't. Thou attend'st
Mua. O good fir, I do.

Pro. I pray thee, mark me.

I tas neglecting worldly ends, all dedicated
To clofenels, and the bettering of my mind
With that, which, but by being so retir'd,
O'er-priz'd all popular rate, in my falfe brother
Awak'd an evil nature and my truft,
Like a good parent, did beget of him

A finhood, in its contrary as great

As my truft was; which had, indeed, no limit,
A conndence fans bound. He being thus lorded,
Not only with what my revenue yielded,

But what my power might elfe exact, -like one,
Whe having unto truth, by telling of it,
Made foch a finner of his memory,

Ta credit his own lie, he did believe

He was, indeed, the duke; out of the substitution,
And executing the outward face of royalty, [ing,-
With al prerogative:-Hence his ambition grow-
Det tavu hear?

Mrs. Your tale, fir, would cure deafness.
Pre Tohavene screen between this part he play'd
And tom be play'd it for, he needs will be
Are Mian: Me, poor man!-my library
Wish kedom large enough; of temporal royalties
He Links me now incapable: confederates,
Sery he was for fway, with the king of Naples
Tigrelmannual tribute, do him homage,
Sject his coronet to his crown, and bend
The cakedom, yet unbow'd (alas, poor Milan !)
To mort ignoble stooping.

[blocks in formation]

Pre. Mark his condition, and the event; then tell

Eths might be a brother.

Mira. I fhould fin

To think 3 but nobly of my grandmother:

Guod wombs have born bad fons.

Fra. Now the condition.

This king of Naples, being an enemy

T: me inveterate, hearkens my brother's fuit;
Wach was, that he in lieu o' the premises,-
Of Domage, and I know not how much tribute, -
Sad prefently extirpate me and mine

Oz of the dukedom; and confer fair Milan,
With all the honours, on my brother: Whereon,
A treacherous army levy'd, one mid-night

Fast so the purpose, did Anthonio open

The riter of Milan; and, i' the dead of darkness,
The minifters for the purpose hurried thence

Me, and thy crying felf.

Mira. Alack, for pity!

Hot remembring how I cried out then,

cay it o'er again; it is a hint 4,

[blocks in formation]

Pro. Well demanded, wench;
My tale provokes that question. Dear, they durst not;
(So dear the love my people bore me) nor fet
A mark fo bloody on the business; but
With colours fairer painted their foul ends.
In few, they hurried us aboard a bark;
Bore us fome leagues to sea; where they prepar'd
A rotten carcafs of a boat, not rigg'd,
Nor tackle, fail, nor mast; the very rats
Instinctively had quit it: there they hoift us
To cry to the fea that roar'd to us; to figh
To the winds, whose pity, fighing back again,
Did us but loving wrong.

Mira. Alack! what trouble

Was I then to you!

Pro. O! a cherubim

Thou waft, that did preserve me! Thou didst smile,
Infused with a fortitude from heaven,

When I have 5 deck'd the fea with drops full falt;
Under my burden groan'd; which rais'd in me
An undergoing ftomach, to bear up
Againft what should ensue.

Mira. How came we afhore?

Pro. By Providence divine.

Some food we had, and fome fresh water, that
A noble Neapolitan, Gonzalo,

Out of his charity, who being then.appointed
Master of this design, did give us; with
Rich garments, linens, stuffs, and neceflaries,
Which fince have steaded much; fo, of his gentleness,
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 fee that man !

Pro. Now, I arife:

Sit ftill, and hear the laft of our fea-forrow.
Here in this ifsland we arriv'd; and here
Have I, thy schoolmatter, made thee more profit
Than other princes can, that have more time
For vainer hours, and tutors not fo careful. [you, fir,
Mira. Heavens thank you for't! And now, I pray
(For ftill 'tis beating in my mind) your reafon
For raifing this fea-ftorm?

Pro. Know thus far forth.-
By accident most strange, bountiful fortune,
Now my dear lady, hath mine enemies
Brought to this shore: and by my prefcience
I find my zenith doth depend upon

A most aufpicious star; whose influence
If now I court not, but omit, my fortunes

Will ever after droop. Here cease more questions;
Thou art inclin'd to fleep; 'tis a good dulness,

And give it way:-I know, thou canft not choose

[Miranda fleeps.

1 To traga, Warburton says, is to cut away the fuperfluities. 2 Thirsty. 3 Otherwife than. Suggestion 5 Covered. i. c. a stubborn resolution.

B2

Come

1

Come away, fervant, come: I am ready now;

Approach, my Ariel, come.

Enter Ariel.

What is the time o' the day?

Ari. Past the mid feafon.

Pro. At least two glasses: the time 'twixt fix and now,

Ari. All hail, great master! grave fir, hail! I corné Must by us both be spent most precioufly.

[blocks in formation]

But felt a fever of the mad, and play'd

Some tricks of defperation: All, but mariners, Plung'd in the foaming brine, and quit the vetiel, Then all a-fire with me: the king's fon, Ferdinand, With hair upstarting (then like reeds, not hair) Was the first man that leap'd; cried, Hell is empty, And all the devils are bere.

Pro. Why, that's my spirit!

But was not this nigh shore?
Ari. Close by, my mafter.
Pro. But are they, Ariel, safe?

Ari. Not a hair perish'd;

On their fuftaining garments not a blemish,
But frefher than before: and, as thou bad'st me,
In troops I have difpers'd them 'bout the ifle:
The king's fon have I landed by himself;
Whom I left cooling of the air with fighs,
In an odd angle of the ifle, and fitting,
His arms in this fad knot.

Pro. Of the king's ship,

The mariners, fay how thou haft diípos'd, And all the rest o' the fleet?

Ali. Safely in harbour

Is the king's ship; in the deep nook, where once
Thou call'dft me up at midnight to fetch dew
From the still-vex'd Bermoothes 2, there the's hid:
The mariners all under hatches flow'd;

Whom, with a charm join'd to their fuffer'd labour,
I have left afleep: and for the rest o' the fleet,
Which I ditpers'd, they all have met again;
And are upon the Mediterranean flote,
Bound fadly home for Naples;

Suppofing that they saw the king's ship wreck'd,
And his great perfon perifh.

Pro. Ariel, thy charge

Exactly is perform'd; but there's more work:

Performed to the minuteft article.

Ari. Is there more toil? Since thou dost give me pains,

Let me remember thee what thou haft promis'd,

Which is not yet perform'd me.

Pro. How now, moody?

What is 't thou canft demand?

Ari. My liberty.

Pro. Before the time be out? No more.
Ari. I pray thee:

Remember, I have done thee worthy fervice;
Told thee no lies, made thee no mistakings, serv'd
Without or grudge, or grumblings: thou didit promifs
To bate me a full year.

Pro. Doft thou forget

From what a torment I did free thee?
Ari. No.

Pro. Thou doft; and think'st it much to tread the ooze

Of the falt deep;

To run upon the sharp wind of the north;
To do me business in the veins o' the earth,
When it is bak'd with froft.

hi. I do not, fir.

Pro. Thou ly'it, malignant thing! Haft thou forgot The foul witch Sycorax, who, with age and envy, Was grown into a hoop? haft thou forgot her? Ari. No, fir.

Pro. Thou haft: Where was she born? speak; tell me. Ari. Sir, in Argier 4.

Pro. Oh, was the fo? I muft,

Once in a month, recount what thou haft been,
Which thou forgett'st. This damn'd witch, Sycorax,
For mifchiefs manifold, and forceries terrible
To enter human hearing, from Argier,

Thou know it, was barnifh'd; for one thing she did,
They would not take her life: Is not this true?

[blocks in formation]

Pro. This blue-ey'dhag was hither brought with And here was left by the failors: Thou, my flave, As thou report'st thyself, wast then her fervant: And, for thou waft a fpirit too delicate

To act her earthy and abhorr'd commands,
Refuing her grand hefts, the did confine thee,
By help of her more potent minifters,
And in her moft unmitigable rage,
hate a cloven pine; within which rift
Imprifon'd, thou didft painfully remain
A dozen years; within which space the died,

And left thee there; where thou didst vent thy groans, As fast as mill-wheels ftrike? Then was this island (Save for the fon that the did litter here,

A freckled whelp, hag-born) not honour'd with
A human thape.

Ari. Yes; Caliban her fon.

Pro. Dull thing, I fay fo; he, that Caliban, Whom now I keep in fervice. Thou best know! What torment I did find thee in: thy groans Did make wolves howl, and penetrate the breafts Of ever-angry bears, it was a torment To lay upon the damn'd, which Sycorax Could not again undo; it was mine art,

2 Bermudas. 3 Flote is wave.

+ Algiers.

When

When I arriv'd, and heard thee, that made gape

The pine, and let thee out.

Ari. I thank thee, master.

The fresh springs, brine-pits, barren place, and fertiles
Curs'd be 1, that I did fo!-All the charms
Of Sycorax, toads, beetles, bats, light on you!

Pra. If thou more murmur'st, I will rend an oak, For I am a'l the fubjects that you have,

And peg thee in his knotty entrails, t 1

Thounatt howld away twelve winters.

Pardon, mafter:

I will be correfpondent to command,
And do my fpiriting gently.

Pro. Do fo; and after two days
I will difcharge thee.

Ari That's my noble mafter!

What thall I do? fay what? what shall I do?

Pre. Go make thyself like to a nymph o' the fea; Be furyect to no fight but thine and mine; invisible To every eye-ball elfe. Go, take this shape,

And hither come in it: go, hence, with diligence. [Exit Ariel. Awake, dear heart, awake! thou haft flept well;

[blocks in formation]

Who first was mine own king: and here you sty me In this hard rock, whiles you do keep from me The rest of the ifland.

Pro. Thou moft lying flave,
[thee,
Whom ftripes may move, not kindness; I have us'd
Filth as thou art, with human care; and lodg'd thes
In mine own cell, till thou didst seek to violate
The honour of my child.

Cal. Oh ho, ơh ho! - wou'd it had been done!
Thou didst prevent me; I had peopled elfe
This ifle with Calibans.

Pro. Abhorred flave,
Which any print of goodness will notta' e,
Being capable of all ill! I pitied thee,
[hour
Took pains to make thee speak, taught thee each
One thing or other: when thou didst not, savage,
Know thy own meaning, but wouldst gabble like
A thing more brutish, I endow'd thy purposes
With words that made them known: But thy

vild race 4

Though thou didit learn, had that in 't which good

natures

Could not abide to be with; therefore wast thou
Deservedly confin'd into this rock,

Who hadit deferv'd more than a prifon.

Cal. You taught me language; and my profit on't Is, I know how to curfe: the red plague 5 rid you, For learning me your language!

Pro. Hag-feed, hence!

Fetch us in fewel, and be quick; thou wert beft, [thee: To anfwer other bufinefs. Shrug'ft thou, malice? If thou neglect'st, or doft unwillingly

What I command, I'll rack thee with old cramps;
Fill all thy bones with aches; make thee roar,

[Exit. That beafts thall tremble at thy din,

i. My lord, it shall be done. Pra. Thou poifonous flave, got by the devil himself Upon thy wicked dam, come forth!

Enter Caliban.

Cal. As wicked 1 dew as e'er my mother brush'd With raven's feather from unwholesome fen, Drop on you both! a fouth-west blow on ye, And blister you all o'er!

[cramps,

Pre. For this, be fure, to-night thou shalt have Sale-ftitches that shall pen thy breath up; urchins 2 Shall for that vast of night 3 that they may work, Al exercife on thee: thou shalt be pinch'd

As thick as honeycombs, each pinch more ftinging Than bees that made 'em.

Cal. I muft eat my dinner.

This ifland's mine, by Sycorax my mother,
Which thou tak'st from me. When thou cameft first,
Thou stroak'dst me, and mad'st much of me; wouldit

give me

Water with berries in't; and teach me how
Io name the bigger light, and how the lefs,
That burn by day and night: and then I lov'd thee,
And thew'd thee all the qualities o' the ifle,

Cal. No, pray thee!

[blocks in formation]

1 Baneful.

Perhaps put here for fairies.

[blocks in formation]

• Race, in this place, feems to fignify original disposition, inborn qualities • We learn from Magellan's voyage, that Setebes was the fupreme God of the Patagons. 7.Silent.

[blocks in formation]
« PreviousContinue »