Adri. Follow, I pray you. [Exeunt.
ACT IV
Scene I.—Before Prospero’s Cell.
Enter Prospero, Ferdinand, and Miranda. Prospero speaks.
If I have too austerely punish’d you,
Your compensation makes amends; for I
Have given you here a thread of mine own life,
Or that for which I live; who once again
I tender to thy hand: all thy vexations
Were but my trials of thy love, and thou
Hast strangely stood the test: here, afore Heaven,
I ratify this my rich gift. O Ferdinand,
Do not smile at me that I boast her off,
For thou shalt find she will outstrip all praise
And make it halt behind her.
Ferd. I do believe it
Against an oracle.
Pros. Then, as my gift, and thine own acquisition
Worthily purchased, take my daughter, thou.
Sit, then, and talk with her; she is thine own.—
What, Ariel! my industrious servant, Ariel!
Ari. What would my potent master? Here I am.
Pros. Thou and thy meaner fellows your last service
Did worthily perform; and I must use you
In such another trick. Go bring the rabble,
O’er whom I give thee power, here, to this place:
Incite them to quick motion; for I must
Bestow upon the eyes of this young couple
Some vanity437-1 of mine art: it is my promise,
And they expect it from me.
Ari. Presently?
Pros. Ay, with a twink.437-2
Ari. Before you can say Come and Go,
And breathe twice, and cry So, so.
Each one, tripping on his toe,
Will be here with mop437-3 and mow.437-4
Do you love me, master?—no? [Exit.
Pros. Now come, my Ariel! bring a corollary,437-5
Rather than want a spirit: appear, and pertly!437-6
No tongue; all eyes; be silent.
[Soft music.
Enter Iris.437-7
Iris. Ceres,437-8 most bounteous lady, thy rich leas
Of wheat, rye, barley, vetches, oats, and peas;
Thy turfy mountains, where live nibbling sheep,
And flat meads thatch’d with stover,438-9 them to keep;
Thy banks with peonéd438-10 and twillèd438-11 brims,
Which spongy438-12 April at thy best betrims,
To make cold nymphs chaste crowns;438-13 and thy brown groves,
Whose shadow the dismissed bachelor loves,
Being lass-lorn;438-14 thy pole-clipt vineyard;438-15
And thy sea-marge, steril, and rocky-hard,
Where thou thyself dost air;—the Queen o’ the Sky,438-16
Whose watery arch438-17 and messenger am I,
Bids thee leave these, and with her sovereign Grace,
Here on this grass-plot, in this very place,
To come and sport. Her peacocks438-18 fly amain:
Approach, rich Ceres, her to entertain.
Enter Ceres.
Cer. Hail, many-color’d messenger, that ne’er
Dost disobey the wife of Jupiter;438-19
Who, with thy saffron wings, upon my flowers
Diffusest honey-drops, refreshing showers;
And with each end of thy blue bow dost crown
My bosky440-20 acres and my unshrubb’d down,440-21
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 Venus440-22 or her son, as thou dost know,
Do now attend the Queen? Since they did plot
The means that dusky Dis440-23 my daughter got,440-24
Her and her blind boy’s440-25 scandal’d company
I have forsworn.
Iris. Of her society
Be not afraid: I met her deity
Cutting the clouds towards Paphos,440-26 and her son
Dove-drawn with her.
Cer. Here, Queen of highest state,
Great Juno comes; I know her by her gait.440-27
Enter Juno.440-28
Juno. How does my bounteous sister? Go with me
To bless this twain, that they may prosperous be,
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 foison plenty,441-29
Barns and garners never empty;
Vines with clustering bunches growing;
Plants with goodly burden bowing;
Spring come to you at the farthest
In the very end of harvest!441-30
Scarcity and want shall shun you;
Ceres’ blessing so is on you.
Ferd. This is a most majestic vision, and
Harmonious charmingly. May I be bold
To think these spirits?441-31
Pros. Spirits, which by mine art
I have from their confines call’d to enact
My present fancies.
Ferd. Let me live here ever;
So rare a wonder’d442-32 father and a wife
Make this place Paradise. [Juno and Ceres whisper, and send Iris on employment.
Pros. Sweet, now, silence!
Juno and Ceres whisper seriously;
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 winding brooks,
With your sedge crowns and ever-harmless looks,
Leave your crisp442-33 channels, and on this green land
Answer our 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,442-34 of August weary,
Come hither from the furrow, and be merry:
Make holiday; 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.
Pros. [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;443-35 no more!
Ferd. 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.
Pros. You do, my son, look in a moved 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:
And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,
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 rack443-36 behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on,443-37 and our little life
Is rounded443-38 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 pleased, retire into my cell,
And there repose: a turn or two I’ll walk,
To still my beating mind.
| Ferd. Mira. | We wish you peace. |
Pros. [To Ariel.] Come with a thought!—
I thank ye.444-39 [Exeunt Ferd. and Mira.]—Ariel, come!
Re-enter Ariel.
Ari. Thy thoughts I cleave to: what’s thy pleasure?
Pros. Spirit,
We must prepare to meet with444-40 Caliban.
Ari. Ay, my commander: when I presented Ceres,
I thought t’ have told thee of it; but I fear’d
Lest I might anger thee.
Pros. Well, say again, where didst thou leave these varlets?
Ari. I told you, sir, they were red-hot with drinking;
So full of valour, that they smote the air
For breathing444-41 in their faces; beat the ground
For kissing of their feet; yet always bending
Towards their project. Then I beat my tabor;
At which, like unback’d444-42 colts, they prick’d their ears,
Advanced444-43 their eyelids, lifted up their noses
As they smelt music: so I charm’d their ears,
That, calf-like, they my lowing follow’d through
Tooth’d briers, sharp furzes, pricking goss, and thorns,
Which enter’d their frail shins: at last I left them
I’ the filthy-mantled445-44 pool beyond your cell,
There dancing up to th’ chins, that445-45 the foul lake
O’erstunk their feet.
Pros. This was well done, my bird.
Thy shape invisible retain thou still:
The trumpery in my house, go bring it hither,
For stale445-46 to catch these thieves.
Ari. I go, I go. [Exit.
Pros. A devil, a born-devil,445-47 on whose nature
Nurture can never stick;445-48 on whom my pains,
Humanely taken, all are lost, quite lost;
And as with age his body uglier grows,
So his mind cankers.445-49 I will plague them all,
Even to roaring.—
Re-enter Ariel loaden with glistering apparel, &c.
Come, hang them on this line.445-50
Prospero and Ariel remain invisible. Enter Caliban, 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.
Steph. Monster, your fairy, which you say is a harmless fairy, has done little better than play’d the Jack with us.446-51
Trin. Monster, I do smell all horse-stale; at which my nose is in great indignation.
Steph. 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. Nay, good my lord, give me thy favour still.
Be patient, for the prize I’ll bring thee to
Shall hoodwink this mischance:446-52 therefore speak softly;
All’s hush’d as midnight yet.
Trin. Ay, but to lose our bottles in the pool,—
Steph. 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.
Steph. I will fetch off my bottle, though I be o’er ears for my labour.
Cal. Pr’ythee, my King, be quiet. See’st 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.
Steph. Give me thy hand. I do begin to have bloody thoughts.
Trin. O King Stephano! O peer!446-53 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.447-54—O King Stephano!
Steph. 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,
To dote 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.
Steph. Be you quiet, monster.—Mistress line, is not this my jerkin? Now is the jerkin under the line:447-55 now, jerkin, you are like to lose your hair, and prove a bald jerkin.
Trin. Do, do; we steal by line and level,447-56 an’t like your Grace.
Steph. 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;448-57 there’s another garment for’t.
Trin. Monster, come, put some lime448-58 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,448-59 or to apes
With foreheads villainous low.
Steph. 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.
Steph. Ay, and this.
A noise of hunters heard. Enter divers Spirits in shape of hounds, and hunt them about; Prospero and Ariel setting them on.
Pros. Hey, Mountain, hey!
Ari. Silver! there it goes, Silver!
Pros. Fury, Fury! there, Tyrant, there! hark! hark!— [Cal., Steph. 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.449-60
Ari. Hark, they roar!
Pros. 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. [Exeunt.
ACT V
Scene I.—Before the Cell of Prospero.
Enter Prospero in his magic robes, and Ariel. Prospero speaks:
Now does my project gather to a head:
My charms crack not; my spirits obey; and Time
Goes upright with his carriage.450-1 How’s the day?
Ari. On the sixth hour; at which time, my lord,
You said our work should cease.
Pros. I did say so,
When first I raised the tempest. Say, my spirit,
How fares the King and’s followers?
Ari. Confined together
In the same fashion as you gave in charge:
Just as you left them; all are prisoners, sir,
In the line-grove which weather-fends your cell;450-2
They cannot budge till your release.450-3 The King,
His brother, and yours, abide all three distracted;
And the remainder mourning over them,
Brimful of sorrow and dismay; but chiefly
He that you term’d The good old lord, Gonzalo:
His tears run down his beard, like winter-drops
From eaves of reeds. Your charm so strongly works ’em,
That, if you now beheld them, your affections
Would become tender.
Pros. Dost thou think so, spirit?
Ari. Mine would, sir, were I human.
Pros. And mine shall.
Hast thou, which art but air, a touch, a feeling
Of their afflictions, and shall not myself,
One of their kind, that relish all as sharply
Passion as they,451-4 be kindlier moved than thou art?
Though with their high wrongs I am struck to th’ 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.
Pros. Ye elves of hills, brooks, standing lakes, and groves;
And ye that on the sands with printless foot
Do chase the ebbing Neptune,451-5 and do fly him
When he comes back; you demi-puppets that
By moonshine do the green-sour ringlets451-6 make,
Whereof the ewe not bites; and you whose pastime
Is to make midnight mushrooms;452-7 that rejoice
To hear the solemn curfew;452-8 by whose aid—
Weak masters452-9 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 azure vault
Set roaring war: to the dread-rattling thunder
Have I given fire, and rifted Jove’s452-10 stout oak
With his own bolt: the strong-based promontory
Have I made shake, and by the spurs452-11 pluck’d up
The pine and cedar: graves at my command
Have waked their sleepers, oped, and let ’em forth
By my so potent art. But this rough magic
I here abjure; and, when I have required
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.
Re-enter Ariel: after him, Alonso, with a frantic gesture, attended by Gonzalo; Sebastian and Antonio in like manner, attended by Adrian and Francisco: they all enter the circle which Prospero has made, and there stand charmed; which Prospero observing, speaks.
A solemn air, as the best comforter
To an unsettled fancy, cure the brains,
Now useless, boil’d453-12 within the skull!—There stand,
For you are spell-stopp’d.—
Holy Gonzalo, honourable man,
Mine eyes, even sociable to453-13 the show of thine,
Fall fellowly drops.453-14—The charm dissolves apace;
And as the morning steals upon the night,
Melting the darkness, so their rising senses453-15
Begin to chase the ignorant fumes that mantle453-16
Their clearer reason.—O thou good Gonzalo,
My true preserver, and a loyal sir
To him thou follow’st! I will pay thy graces
Home453-17 both in word and deed.—Most cruelly
Didst thou, Alonso, use me and my daughter:
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 remorse453-18 and nature;453-19 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 shore,454-20
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:—
[Exit Ariel.
I will discase me,454-21 and myself present
As I was sometime Milan:454-22—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.454-23
Merrily, merrily shall I live now
Under the blossom that hangs on the bough.
Pros. 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 awaked, enforce them to this place,
And presently, I pr’ythee.
Ari. I drink the air before me,456-24 and return
Or e’er your pulse twice beat. [Exit Ariel.
Gonza. All torment, trouble, wonder, and amazement
Inhabit here: some heavenly power guide us
Out of this fearful country!
Pros. Behold, sir King,
The wronged 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. Whêr456-25 thou be’st he or no,
Or some enchanted trifle456-26 to abuse me,
As late I have been, I not know: thy pulse
Beats, as of flesh and blood; and, since I saw thee,
Th’ affliction of my mind amends, with which,
I fear, a madness held me: this must crave—
An if this be at all456-27—a most strange story.
Thy dukedom I resign and do entreat
Thou pardon me my wrongs.456-28 But how should Prospero
Be living and be here?
Pros. First, noble friend,456-29
Let me embrace thine age, whose honour cannot
Be measured or confined.
Gonza. Whether this be
Or be not, I’ll not swear.
Pros. You do yet taste
Some subtilties457-30 o’ the isle, that will not let you
Believe things certain.—Welcome, my friends all:—
[Aside to Sebas. and Anto.] But you, my brace of lords, were I so minded,
I here could pluck his Highness’ frown upon you,
And justify you traitors:457-31 at this time
I’ll tell no tales.
Sebas. [Aside to Anto.] The Devil speaks in him.
Pros. Now,
For you, most wicked sir, whom to call brother
Would even infect my mouth, I do forgive
Thy rankest fault; all of them; and require
My dukedom of thee, which perforce, I know,
Thou must restore.
Alon. If thou be’st Prospero,
Give us particulars of thy preservation;
How thou hast met us here, who three hours since
Were wreck’d upon this shore; where I have lost—
How sharp the point of this remembrance is!—
My dear son Ferdinand.
Pros. I’m woe457-32 for’t, sir.
Alon. Irreparable is the loss; and patience
Says it is past her cure.
Pros. I rather think
You have not sought her help; of whose soft grace,
For the like loss I have her sovereign aid,
And rest myself content.
Alon. You the like loss!
Pros. As great to me, as late;458-33 and, portable
To make the dear loss, have I means much weaker
Than you may call to comfort you; for I
Have lost my daughter.
Alon. A daughter!
O Heavens, that they were living both in Naples,
The King and Queen there! that they were, I wish
Myself were mudded in that oozy bed
Where my son lies. When did you lose your daughter?
Pros. In this last tempest. I perceive, these lords
At this encounter do so much admire,458-34
That they devour their reason, and scarce think
Their eyes do offices of truth, these words
Are natural breath:458-35 but, howsoe’er 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 yet458-36 of this;
For ’tis a chronicle of day by day,458-37
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’ve 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.459-38
Ferd. No, my dear’st love,
I would not for the world.
Mira. Yes, for a score of kingdoms you should wrangle,459-39
And I would call it fair play.
Alon. If this prove
A vision of the island, one dear son
Shall I twice lose.459-40
Sebas. A most high miracle!
Ferd. Though the seas threaten, they are merciful!
I’ve cursed them without cause. [Kneels to Alon.
Alon. Now all the blessings
Of the glad father compass thee about!
Arise, and say how thou earnest here.
Mira. O, wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,
That has such people in’t!
Pros. ’Tis new to thee.
Alon. What is this maid with whom thou wast at play?
Your eld’st acquaintance cannot be three hours:
Is she the goddess that hath sever’d us,
And brought us thus together?
Ferd. Sir, she’s mortal;
But by immortal Providence she’s mine:
I chose her when I could not ask my father
For his advice, nor thought I had one. She
Is daughter to this famous Duke of Milan,
Of whom so often I have heard renown,
But never saw before; of whom I have
Received a second life; and second father
This lady makes him to me.460-41
Alon. I am hers:
But, O, how oddly will it sound that I
Must ask my child forgiveness!
Pros. There, sir, stop:
Let us not burden our remembrance with
A heaviness that’s gone.
Gonza. I’ve 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!