1 Dev. Where does the black fiend Ambition reside,
With the mischievous devil of Pride?
2 Dev. In the lowest and darkest caverns of hell,
Both Pride and Ambition do dwell.
1 Dev. Who are the chief leaders of the damned host?
3 Dev. Proud monarchs, who tyrannize most.
1 Dev. Damned princes there
The worst of torments bear;
3 Dev. Who on earth all others in pleasures excel,
Must feel the worst torments of hell.
[They rise singing this chorus.
Anto. O heavens! what horrid vision's this?
How they upbraid us with our crimes!
Alon. What fearful vengeance is in store for us!
1 Dev. Tyrants, by whom their subjects bleed,
Should in pains all others exceed;
1 Dev. And barbarous monarchs, who their neighbours invade,
And their crowns unjustly get;
And such who their brothers to death have betrayed,
In hell upon burning thrones shall be set.
3 Dev. { —In hell, in hell with flames they shall reign,
Chor. { And for ever, for ever shall suffer the pain.
Anto. O my soul! for ever, for ever shall suffer the pain!
Alon. Has heaven, in all its infinite stock of mercy,
No overflowings for us? poor, miserable, guilty men!
Gonz. Nothing but horrors do encompass us!
For ever, for ever must we suffer!
Alon. For ever we shall perish! O dismal words,
For ever!
1 Dev. Who are the pillars of the tyrants court?
2 Dev. Rapine and Murder his crown must support!
3 Dev. ——His cruelty does tread
On orphans' tender breasts, and brothers dead!
2 Dev. Can heaven permit such crimes should be
Attended with felicity?
1 Dev. No; tyrants their sceptres uneasily bear,
In the midst of their guards they their consciences fear.
2 Dev. { Care their minds when they wake unquiet will keep;
Chor. { And we with dire visions disturb all their sleep.
Anto. Oh horrid sight! how they stare upon us!
The fiend will hurry us to the dark mansion.
Sweet heaven, have mercy on us!
1 Dev. Say, say, shall we bear these bold mortals from hence?
2 Dev. No, no, let us shew their degrees of offence.
3 Dev. Let's muster their crimes upon every side,
And first let's discover their pride.
Enter Pride.
Pride. Lo here is Pride, who first led them astray,
And did to ambition their minds then betray.
Enter Fraud.
Fraud. And Fraud does next appear,
Their wandering steps who led;
When they from virtue fled,
They in my crooked paths their course did steer.
Enter Rapine.
Rapine. From fraud to force they soon arrive,
Where Rapine did their actions drive.
Enter Murder.
Murder. There long they could not stay;
Down the steep hill they run;
And to perfect the mischief which they had begun,
To murder they bent all their way.
Chorus of all.Around, around we pace,
About this cursed place;
While thus we compass in
These mortals and their sin.
[Devils vanish.
Anto. Heaven has heard me, they are vanished!
Alon. But they have left me all unmanned;
I feel my sinews slacken with the fright;
And a cold sweat trills down o'er all my limbs,
As if I were dissolving into water.
Oh Prospero, my crimes against thee sit heavy on my heart!
Anto. And mine against him and young Hippolito.
Gonz. Heaven have mercy on the penitent!
Anto. Lead from this cursed ground;
The seas in all their rage are not so dreadful.
This is the region of despair and death.
Alon. Beware all fruit, but what the birds have pecked.
The shadows of the trees are poisonous too:
A secret venom slides from every branch.
My conscience does distract me! O my son!
Why do I speak of eating or repose,
Before I know thy fortune?
[As they are going out, a Devil rises just before
them, at which they start, and are frighted.
Alon. O heavens! yet more apparitions!
Devil Sings.
Arise, arise! ye subterranean winds,
More to disturb their guilty minds:
And all ye filthy damps and vapours rise,
Which use to infect the earth, and trouble all the skies;
Rise you, from whom devouring plagues have birth:
You, that in the vast and hollow womb of earth
Engender earthquakes, make whole countries shake,
And stately cities into deserts turn;
And you, who feed the flames by which earth's entrails burn.
Ye raging winds, whose rapid force can make
All but the fixed and solid centre shake,
Come drive these wretches to that part of the isle,
Where nature never yet did smile:
Cause fogs and storms, whirlwinds, and earthquakes there:
There let them howl and languish in despair.
Rise and obey the powerful prince of the air.
[Two Winds rise, ten more enter and dance. At the end of the dance,
three Winds sink, the rest drive Alonzo, Antonio and Gonzalo off.
ACT III.
SCENE I.—A Wild Island.
Enter Ferdinand, Ariel, and Milcha invisible.
Ariel. Come unto these yellow sands,
And then take hands,
Curtsied when you have, and kissed;
And wild waves whist.
Foot it featly here and there,
And sweet sprites the burthen bear.
Hark! hark!
Bow waugh, the watch-dogs bark.
Bow waugh. Hark! hark! I hear
The strain of strutting Chanticleer,
Cry, Cock a doodle do.
Ferd. Where should this music be? in the air, or earth?
It sounds no more, and sure it waits upon
Some God in the island: Sitting on a bank,
Weeping against the duke my father's wreck,
This music hovered on the waters,
Allaying both their fury, and my passion,
With charming airs. Thence I have followed it,
(Or it has drawn me rather) but 'tis gone:
No, it begins again.
No, it begins again.
Milcha sings.
Full fathom five thy father lies,
Of his bones is coral made:
Those are pearls that were his eyes;
Nothing of him, that does fade,
But does suffer a sea change,
Into something rich and strange:
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell;
Hark! now I hear them, ding dong bell.
Ferd. This mournful ditty mentions my drowned father.
This is no mortal business, nor a sound
Which the earth owns——I hear it now before me;
However, I will on, and follow it.
[Exit Ferd. following Ariel.
SCENE II.—The Cypress Trees and Cave.
Enter Prospero and Miranda.
Prosp. Excuse it not, Miranda, for to you
(The elder, and, I thought, the more discreet,)
I gave the conduct of your sister's actions.
Mir. Sir, when you called me thence, I did not fail
To mind her of her duty to depart.
Prosp. How can I think you did remember hers,
When you forgot your own? did you not see
The man, whom I commanded you to shun?
Mir. I must confess I saw him at a distance.
Prosp. Did not his eyes infect and poison you?
What alteration found you in yourself?
Mir. I only wondered at a sight so new.
Prosp. But have you no desire once more to see him?
Come, tell me truly what you think of him.
Come, tell me truly what you think of him.
Mir. As of the gayest thing I ever saw,
So fine, that it appeared more fit to be
Beloved than feared, and seemed so near my kind,
That I did think I might have called it sister.
Prosp. You do not love it?
Mir. How is it likely that I should,
Except the thing had first loved me?
Prosp. Cherish those thoughts: You have a generous soul;
And since I see your mind not apt to take
The light impressions of a sudden love,
I will unfold a secret to your knowledge.
That creature, which you saw, is of a kind,
Which nature made a prop and guide to yours.
Mir. Why did you then propose him as an object
Of terror to my mind? You never used
To teach me any thing but god-like truths,
And what you said, I did believe as sacred.
Prosp. I feared the pleasing form of this young man
Might unawares possess your tender breast,
Which for a nobler guest I had designed;
For shortly, my Miranda, you shall see
Another of this kind, the full blown flower,
Of which this youth was but the opening bud.
Go in, and send your sister to me.
Mir. Heaven still preserve you, sir.
[Exit Mir.
Prosp. And make thee fortunate.
Enter Dorinda.
Oh, come hither: you have seen a man to-day,
Against my strict command.
Dor. Who, I? Indeed I saw him but a little, sir.
Prosp. Come, come, be clear. Your sister told me all.
Dor. Did she?
Truly she would have seen him more than I,
But that I would not let her.
Prosp. Why so?
Dor. Because, methought, he would have hurt me less,
Than he would her.
But if I knew you'd not be angry with me,
I could tell you, sir, that he was much to blame.
Prosp. Ha! was he to blame?
Tell me, with that sincerity I taught you,
How you became so bold to see the man?
Dor. I hope you will forgive me, sir, because
I did not see him much, till he saw me.
Sir, he would needs come in my way, and stared,
And stared upon my face, and so I thought
I would be revenged of him, and, therefore,
I gazed on him as long; but if I e'er
Come near a man again!
Prosp. I told you he
Was dangerous; but you would not be warned.
Dor. Pray be not angry, sir, if I tell you,
You are mistaken in him; for he did
Me no great hurt.
Prosp. But he may do you more harm hereafter.
Dor. No, sir, I'm as well as e'er I was in all my life,
But that I cannot eat nor drink for thought of him.
That dangerous man runs ever in my mind.
Prosp. The way to cure you is, no more to see him.
Dor. Nay, pray, sir, say not so. I promised him
To see him once again; and you know, sir,
You charged me I should never break my promise.
Prosp. Would you see him, who did you so much mischief?
Dor. I warrant you
I did him as much harm as he did me;
For when I left him, sir, he sighed so, as it grieved
My heart to hear him.
Prosp. Those sighs were poisonous, they infected you;
You say, they grieved you to the heart.
Dor. 'Tis true; but yet his looks and words were gentle.
Prosp. These are the day-dreams of a maid in love;
But still I fear the worst.
Dor. O fear not him, sir.
Prosp. You speak of him with too much passion; tell me,
(And on your duty tell me true, Dorinda,)
What passed betwixt you and that horrid creature?
Dor. How, horrid, sir? if any else but you
Should call it so, indeed, I should be angry.
Prosp. Go to! You are a foolish girl; but answer
To what I ask; what thought you when you saw it?
Dor. At first it stared upon me, and seemed wild,
And then I trembled; yet it looked so lovely,
That when I would have fled away, my feet
Seemed fastened to the ground, when it drew near,
And with amazement asked to touch my hand;
Which, as a ransom for my life, I gave:
But when he had it, with a furious gripe
He put it to his mouth so eagerly,
I was afraid he would have swallowed it.
Prosp. Well, what was his behaviour afterwards?
Dor. He on a sudden grew so tame and gentle,
That he became more kind to me than you are;
Then, sir, I grew I know not how, and, touching
His hand again, my heart did beat so strong,
As I lacked breath to answer what he asked.
Prosp. You've been too fond, and I should chide you for it.
Dor. Then send me to that creature to be punished.
Prosp. Poor child! Thy passion, like a lazy ague,
Has seized thy blood; instead of striving, thou humourest
And feed'st thy languishing disease: Thou fight'st
The battles of thy enemy, and 'tis one part of what
I threatened thee, not to perceive thy danger.
Dor. Danger, sir?
If he would hurt me, yet he knows not how:
He hath no claws, nor teeth, nor horns to hurt me,
But looks about him like a callow-bird,
Just straggling from the nest: Pray trust me, sir,
To go to him again.
Prosp. Since you will venture,
I charge you bear yourself reservedly to him;
Let him not dare to touch your naked hand,
But keep at distance from him.
Dor. This is hard!
Prosp. It is the way to make him love you more;
He will despise you, if you grow too kind.
Dor. I'll struggle with my heart to follow this;
But if I lose him by it, will you promise
To bring him back again?
Prosp. Fear not, Dorinda;
But use him ill, and he'll be yours for ever.
Dor. I hope you have not cozened me again.
[Exit Dor.
Prosp. Now my designs are gathering to a head;
My spirits are obedient to my charms.
What, Ariel! My servant Ariel, where art thou?
Enter Ariel.
Ariel. What would my potent master? Here I am.
Prosp. Thou and thy meaner fellows your last service
Did worthily perform, and I must use you
In such another work: How goes the day?
Ariel. On the fourth, my lord; and on the sixth,
You said our work should cease.
Prosp. And so it shall;
And thou shalt have the open air at freedom.
Ariel. Thanks, my great lord.
Prosp. But tell me first, my spirit,
How fares the duke, my brother, and their followers?
Ariel. Confined together, as you gave me order,
In the lime-grove, which weather-fends your cell;
Within that circuit up and down they wander,
But cannot stir one step beyond their compass.
Prosp. How do they bear their sorrows?
Ariel. The two dukes appear like men distracted, their
Attendants, brim-full of sorrow, mourning over them;
But chiefly he, you termed the good Gonzalo:
His tears run down his beard, like winter drops
From eaves of reeds; your vision did so work them,
That, if you now beheld them, your affections
Would become tender.
Prosp. Dost thou think so, spirit?
Ariel. Mine would, sir, were I human.
Prosp. And mine shall:
Hast thou, who art but air, a touch, a feeling
Of their afflictions, and shall not I (a man
Like them, one, who as sharply relish passions
As they) be kindlier moved than thou art?
Though they have pierced me to the quick with injuries,
Yet with my nobler reason, 'gainst my fury,
I will take part; the rarer action is
In virtue, than in vengeance. Go, my Ariel,
Refresh with needful food their famished bodies,
With shows and chearful musick comfort them.
Ariel. Presently, master?
Prosp. With a twinkle, Ariel.—But stay, my spirit;
What is become of my slave, Caliban,
And Sycorax, his sister?
Ariel. Potent sir,
They have cast off your service, and revolted
To the wrecked mariners, who have already
Parcelled your island into governments.
Prosp. No matter, I have now no need of them.
But, spirit, now I stay thee on the wing;
Haste to perform what I have given in charge:
But see they keep within the bounds I set them.
Ariel. I'll keep them in with walls of adamant,
Invisible as air to mortal eyes,
But yet unpassable.
Prosp. Make haste then.
[Exeunt severally.
SCENE III.—Wild Island.
Enter Alonzo, Antonio, and Gonzalo.
Gonz. I am weary, and can go no further, sir.
Alon. Old lord, I cannot blame thee, who am myself seized with a
weariness, to the dulling of my spirits:
[They sit.
Even here I will put off my hope, and keep it
No longer for my flatterers: He is drowned,
Whom thus we stray to find. I'm faint with hunger,
And must despair of food.
[Music without.
What! harmony again? My good friends, hark!
Anto. I fear some other horrid apparition.
Give us kind keepers, heaven, I beseech thee!
Gonz. 'Tis chearful music this, unlike the first.
Ariel and Milcha invisible, sing.
Dry those eyes which are o'erflowing,
All your storms are overblowing:
While you in this isle are biding,
You shall feast without providing:
Every dainty you can think of,
Every wine which you would drink of,
Shall be yours; all want shall shun you,
Ceres' blessing so is on you.
Alon. This voice speaks comfort to us.
Anto. Would 'twere come;
There is no music in a song to me,
My stomach being empty.
Gonz. O for a heavenly vision of boiled,
Baked, and roasted!
[Dance of fantastic Spirits; after the dance, a table
furnished with meat and fruit is brought in by two Spirits.
Anto. My lord, the duke, see yonder!
A table, as I live, set out and furnished
With all varieties of meats and fruits.
Alon. 'Tis so indeed; but who dares taste this feast,
Which fiends provide, to poison us?
Gonz. Why that dare I; if the black gentleman
Be so ill natured, he may do his pleasure.
Anto. 'Tis certain we must either eat or famish:
I will encounter it, and feed.
Alon. If both resolve, I will adventure too.
Gonz. The devil may fright me, yet he shall not starve me.
[Two Spirits descend, and fly away with the table.
Alon. Heaven! behold, it is as you suspected:
'Tis vanished.
Shall we be always haunted with these fiends?
Anto. Here we shall wander till we famish.
Gonz. Certainly one of you was so wicked as to
say grace; this comes on it, when men will be godly out of season.
Anto. Yonder's another table, let's try that.
[Exeunt.
Enter Trincalo and Caliban.
Trinc. Brother monster, welcome to my private palace. But where's thy
sister? is she so brave a lass?
Calib. In all this isle there are but two more, the daughters of the
tyrant Prospero; and she is bigger than them both. O, here she comes!
now thou mayest judge thyself, my lord.
Enter Sycorax.
Trinc. She's monstrous fair indeed. Is this to be my spouse? Well,
she's heir of all this isle (for I will geld monster). The Trincalos,
like other wise men, have anciently used to marry for estate, more than
for beauty.
Syc. I pr'ythee let me have the gay thing about thy neck, and that
which dangles at thy wrist.
[Sycorax points to his whistle and his bottle.
Trinc. My dear blubber-lips! this—observe, my chuck—is a
badge of my sea-office; my fair fuss, thou dost not know it.
Syc. No, my dread lord.
Trinc. It shall be a whistle for our first babe, and when the next
shipwreck puts me again to swimming, I'll dive to get a coral to it.
Syc. I'll be thy pretty child, and wear it first.
Trinc. I pr'ythee, sweet baby, do not play the wanton, and cry for my
goods ere I'm dead. When thou art my widow, thou shalt have the devil
and all.
Syc. May I not have the other fine thing?
Trinc. This is a sucking-bottle for young Trincalo.
Calib. Shall she not taste of that immortal liquor?
Trinc. Umph! that's another question: For if she be thus flippant in
her water, what will she be in her wine?
Enter Ariel (invisible) and changes the Bottle which stands upon the
Ground.
Ariel. There's water for your wine.
[Exit Ariel.
Trinc. Well! since it must be so.
[Gives her the bottle.
How do you like it now, my queen that must be?
[She drinks.
Syc. Is this your heav'nly liquor? I'll bring you to a river of the
same.
Trinc. Wilt thou so, Madam Monster? What a mighty prince shall I be
then! I would not change my dukedom to be great Turk Trincalo.
Syc. This is the drink of frogs.
Trinc. Nay, if the frogs of this island drink such, they are the
merriest frogs in Christendom.
Calib. She does not know the virtue of this liquor: I pr'ythee, let me
drink for her.
[Caliban drinks.
Trinc. Well said, Subject Monster!
Calib. My lord, this is mere water.
Trinc. 'Tis thou hast changed the wine then, and
drunk it up, like a debauched fish as thou art. Let
me see't, I'll taste it myself—Element! mere element,
as I live! It was a cold gulp, such as this,
which killed my famous predecessor, old Simon the
king[F].
Calib. How does thy honour? pr'ythee, be not angry, and I will lick
thy shoe.
Trinc. I could find in my heart to turn thee out of my dominions, for
a liquorish monster.
Calib. O, my lord, I have found it out; this must be done by one of
Prospero's spirits.
Trinc. There's nothing but malice in these devils; I would it had been
holy-water for their sakes!
Syc. 'Tis no matter, I will cleave to thee.
Trinc. Lovingly said, in troth: Now cannot I hold out against her.
This wife-like virtue of her's has overcome me.
Syc. Shall I have thee in my arms?
Trinc. Thou shalt have Duke Trincalo in thy arms: But, pr'ythee, be
not too boisterous with me at first; do not discourage a young beginner.
[They embrace.] Stand to your arms, my spouse, and subject
monster,—
Enter Stephano, Mustacho, and Ventoso.
The enemy is come to surprise us in our quarters. You shall know,
rebels, that I am married to a witch, and we have a thousand spirits of
our party.
Steph. Hold! I ask a truce; I and my viceroys (finding no food, and
but a small remainder of brandy,) are come to treat a peace betwixt us,
which may be for the good of both armies; therefore, Trincalo, disband.
Trinc. Plain Trincalo! methinks I might have been a duke in your
mouth; I'll not accept of your embassy without my title.
Steph. A title shall break no squares betwixt us: Viceroys, give him
his style of duke, and treat with him whilst I walk by in state.
[Ventoso and Mustacho bow, whilst Trincalo
puts on his Cap.
Must. Our lord and master, Duke Stephano, has
sent us, in the first place, to demand of you, upon what ground you make
war against him; having no right to govern here, as being elected only
by your own voice.
Trinc. To this I answer, That, having in the face of the world
espoused the lawful inheretrix of this island, Queen Blouze the First,
and having homage done me by this hectoring spark her brother; from
these two I claim a lawful title to this island.
Must. Who, that monster? He a Hector?
Calib. Lo, how he mocks me! wilt thou let him, my lord?
Trinc. Viceroys! keep good tongues in your heads, I advise you, and
proceed to your business.
Must. First and foremost, as to your claim, that you have answered.
Vent. But, second and foremost, we demand of you, that if we make a
peace, the butt also may be comprehended in the treaty.
Trinc. I cannot treat with my honour, without your submission.
Steph. I understand, being present, from my ambassadors, what your
resolution is, and ask an hour's time of deliberation, and so I take our
leave; but first I desire to be entertained at your butt, as becomes a
prince and his ambassadors.
Trinc. That I refuse, till acts of hostility be ceased. These rogues
are rather spies than ambassadors. I must take heed of my butt. They
come to pry into the secrets of my dukedom.
Vent. Trincalo, you are a barbarous prince, and so farewell.
[Exeunt
Steph. Must. and Vent.
Trinc. Subject-monster! stand you sentry before my cellar; my queen
and I will enter, and feast ourselves within.
[Exeunt.
SCENE IV.
Enter Ferdinand, and Ariel and Milcha invisible.
Ferd. How far will this invisible musician
Conduct my steps? he hovers still about me;
Whether for good or ill, I cannot tell,
Nor care I much; for I have been so long
A slave to chance, that I'm as weary of
Her flatteries as her frowns; but here I am——
Ariel. Here I am.
Ferd. Ha! art thou so? the spirit's turned an echo:
This might seem pleasant, could the burden of
My griefs accord with any thing but sighs;
And my last words, like those of dying men,
Need no reply. Fain I would go to shades,
Where few would wish to follow me.
Ariel. Follow me.
Ferd. This evil spirit grows importunate,
But I'll not take his counsel.
Ariel. Take his counsel.
Ferd. It may be the devil's counsel, I'll never take it.
Ariel. Take it.
Ferd. I will discourse no more with thee,
Nor follow one step further.
Ariel. One step further.
Ferd. This must have more importance than an echo;
Some spirit tempts me to a precipice.
I'll try if it will answer when I sing
My sorrows, to the murmur of this brook.
HE SINGS.
Go thy way.
Ariel.Go thy way.
Ferd.Why shouldst thou stay?
Ariel.Why shouldst thou stay?
Ferd. Where the winds whistle, and where the streams creep,
Under yon willow-tree fain would I sleep.
Then let me alone,
For 'tis time to be gone.
Ariel.For 'tis time to be gone.
Ferd. What cares or pleasures can be in this isle?
Within this desart place,
There lives no human race;
Fate cannot frown here, nor kind fortune smile.
Ariel. Kind fortune smiles, and she
Has yet in store for thee
Some strange felicity.
Follow me, follow me,
And thou shalt see.
Ferd. I'll take thy word for once;
Lead on, musician.
[Exeunt and return.
SCENE V.—The Cypress-trees and Caves.
Scene changes, and discovers Prospero and Miranda.