Tempest (1918) Yale/Text/Act I
ACT FIRST
Scene One
[On a Ship at Sea]
A tempestuous noise of thunder and lightning heard.
Enter a Shipmaster and a Boatswain.
Mast. Boatswain!
Boats. Here, master: what cheer?
Mast. Good, speak to the mariners: fall to 't
yarely, or we run ourselves aground: bestir, 4
bestir. Exit.
Enter Mariners.
Boats. Heigh, my hearts! cheerly, cheerly, my
hearts! yare, yare! Take in the topsail. Tend
to the master's whistle—Blow, till thou burst
thy wind, if room enough! 9
Enter Alonso, Sebastian, Antonio, Ferdinand, Gonzalo, and others.
Alon. Good boatswain, have care. Where's
the master? Play the men.
Boats. I pray now, keep below. 12
Ant. Where is the master, boatswain?
Boats. Do you not hear him? You mar our
labour: keep your cabins: you do assist the
storm. 16
Gon. Nay, good, be patient.
Boats. When the sea is. Hence! What cares
these roarers for the name of king? To cabin:
silence! trouble us not. 20
Gon. Good, yet remember whom thou hast
aboard. 22
Boats. None that I more love than myself.
You are a counsellor: if you can command
these elements to silence, and work the peace
of the present, we will not hand a rope more; 26
use your authority: if you cannot, give thanks
you have lived so long, and make yourself ready
in your cabin for the mischance of the hour, if
it so hap.—Cheerly, good hearts!—Out of our 30
way, I say. Exit.
Gon. I have great comfort from this fellow:
methinks he hath no drowning mark upon him;
his complexion is perfect gallows. Stand fast,
good Fate, to his hanging! make the rope of his
destiny our cable, for our own doth little ad-
vantage! If he be not born to be hanged, our 37
case is miserable. Exeunt.
Enter Boatswain.
Boats. Down with the topmast! yare! lower,
lower! Bring her to try with main-course.
A cry within.
A plague upon this howling! they are louder
than the weather, or our office.— 42
Enter Sebastian, Antonio, and Gonzalo.
Yet again? what do you here? Shall we give
o'er, and drown? Have you a mind to sink?
Seb. A pox o' your throat, you bawling, blas-
phemous, incharitable dog!
Boats. Work you, then. 47
Ant. Hang, cur, hang! you whoreson, inso-
lent noisemaker, we are less afraid to be
drowned than thou art.
Gon. I'll warrant him for drowning: though
the ship were no stronger than a nutshell, and
as leaky as an unstanched wench. 53
Boats. Lay her a-hold, a-hold! Set her two
courses; off to sea again; lay her off.
Enter Mariners, wet.
Mar. All lost! to prayers, to prayers! all
lost! [Exeunt.]
Boats. What, must our mouths be cold? 58
Gon. The king and prince at prayers! let us assist them,
For our case is as theirs.
Seb. I am out of patience. 60
Ant. We are merely cheated of our lives by drunkards.—
This wide-chapp'd rascal,—would thou might'st lie drowning,
The washing of ten tides!
Gon. He'll be hang'd yet,
Though every drop of water swear against it, 64
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!'— 67
Ant. Let's all sink wi' the king.
Seb. Let's take leave of him. Exeunt.
Gon. Now would I give a thousand furlongs
of sea for an acre of barren ground; long heath,
brown furze, anything. The wills above be
done! but I would fain die a dry death. Exit.
Scene Two
[The Island: before the Cell of Prospero]
Enter Prospero and Miranda.
Mira. If by your art, my dearest father, you have
Put the wild waters in this roar, allay them.
The sky, it seems, would pour down stinking pitch, 3
But that the sea, mounting to th' welkin's cheek,
Dashes the fire out. O! I have suffer'd
With those that I saw suffer: a brave vessel,
Who had, no doubt, some noble creature in her,
Dash'd all to pieces. O! the cry did knock 8
Against my very heart. Poor souls, they perish'd.
Had I been any god of power, I would
Have sunk the sea within the earth, or e'er 11
It should the good ship so have swallow'd and
The fraughting souls within her.
Pro. Be collected:
No more amazement. Tell your piteous heart
There's no harm done.
Mira. O, woe the day!
Pro. No harm.
I have done nothing but in care of thee,— 16
Of thee, my dear one! thee, my daughter!—who
Art ignorant of what thou art, nought knowing
Of whence I am: nor that I am more better
Than Prospero, master of a full poor cell, 20
And thy no greater father.
Mira. More to know
Did never meddle with my thoughts.
Pro. 'Tis time
I should inform thee further. Lend thy hand,
And pluck my magic garment from me.—So: 24
Lie there, my art.—Wipe thou thine eyes; have comfort.
The direful spectacle of the wrack, which touch'd
The very virtue of compassion in thee,
I have with such provision in mine art 28
So safely order'd, that there is no soul—
No, not so much perdition as an hair,
Betid to any creature in the vessel
Which thou heard'st cry, which thou saw'st sink. Sit down; 32
For thou must now know further.
Mira. You have often
Begun to tell me what I am, but stopp'd,
And left me to a bootless inquisition,
Concluding, 'Stay; not yet.'
Pro. The hour's now come, 36
The very minute bids thee ope thine ear;
Obey and be attentive. Canst thou remember
A time before we came unto this cell?
I do not think thou canst, for then thou wast not 40
Out three years old.
Mira. Certainly, sir, I can.
Pro. By what? by any other house or person?
Of anything the image tell me, that
Hath kept with thy remembrance.
Mira. 'Tis far off; 44
And rather like a dream than an assurance
That my remembrance warrants. Had I not
Four or five women once that tended me?
Pro. Thou hadst, and more, Miranda. But how is it 48
That this lives in thy mind? What seest thou else
In the dark backward and abysm of time?
If thou remember'st aught ere thou cam'st here,
How thou cam'st here thou may'st.
Mira. But that I do not. 52
Pro. Twelve year since, Miranda, twelve year since,
Thy father was the Duke of Milan and
A prince of power.
Mira. Sir, are not you my father?
Pro. Thy mother was a piece of virtue, and 56
She said thou wast my daughter; and thy father
Was Duke of Milan, and his only heir
A princess,—no worse issued.
Mira. O, the heavens!
What foul play had we that we came from thence? 60
Or blessed was 't we did?
Pro. Both, both, my girl:
By foul play, as thou say'st, were we heav'd thence;
But blessedly 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. 65
Pro. My brother and thy uncle, call'd Antonio,—
I pray thee, mark me,—that a brother should
Be so perfidious!—he whom next thyself, 68
Of all the world I lov'd, and to him put
The manage of my state: as at that time.
Through all the signiories it was the first, 71
And Prospero the prime duke, being so reputed
In dignity, and for the liberal arts,
Without a parallel: those being all my study,
The government I cast upon my brother,
And to my state grew stranger, being transported 76
And rapt in secret studies. Thy false uncle—
Dost thou attend me?
Mira. Sir, most heedfully.
Pro. Being once perfected how to grant suits,
How to deny them, who t' advance, and who 80
To trash for over-topping; new created
The creatures that were mine, I say, or chang'd 'em,
Or else new form'd 'em: having both the key
Of officer and office, set all hearts i' the state 84
To what tune pleas'd his ear; that now he was
The ivy which had hid my princely trunk,
And suck'd my verdure out on 't.—Thou attend'st not.
Mira. O, good sir! I do.
Pro. I pray thee, mark me. 88
I, thus neglecting worldly ends, all dedicated
To closeness and the bettering of my mind
With that which, but by being so retir'd, 91
O'erpriz'd all popular rate, in my false brother
Awak'd an evil nature; and my trust,
Like a good parent, did beget of him
A falsehood in its contrary as great 95
As my trust was; which had, indeed, no limit,
A confidence sans bound. He being thus lorded,
Not only with what my revenue yielded,
But what my power might else exact,—like one,
Who having, into truth, by telling of it, 100
Made such a sinner of his memory,
To credit his own lie,—he did believe
He was indeed the duke; out o' the substitution,
And executing th' outward face of royalty, 104
With all prerogative:—Hence his ambition growing,—
Dost thou hear?
Mira. Your tale, sir, would cure deafness.
Pro. To have no screen between this part he play'd
And him he play'd it for, he needs will be 108
Absolute Milan. Me, poor man,—my library
Was dukedom large enough: of temporal royalties
He thinks me now incapable; confederates,—
So dry he was for sway,—wi' the king of Naples 112
To give him annual tribute, do him homage,
Subject his coronet to his crown, and bend
The dukedom, yet unbow'd,—alas, poor Milan!—
To most ignoble stooping.
Mira. O the heavens! 116
Pro. Mark his condition and the event; then tell me
If this might be a brother.
Mira. I should sin
To think but nobly of my grandmother:
Good wombs have borne bad sons.
Pro. Now the condition. 120
This King of Naples, being an enemy
To me inveterate, hearkens my brother's suit;
Which was, that he, in lieu o' the premises
Of homage and I know not how much tribute,
Should presently extirpate me and mine 125
Out of the dukedom, and confer fair Milan,
With all the honours on my brother: whereon,
A treacherous army levied, one midnight 128
Fated to the purpose did Antonio open
The gates of Milan; and, i' the dead of darkness,
The ministers for the purpose hurried thence
Me and thy crying self.
Mira. Alack, for pity! 132
I, not rememb'ring how I cried out then,
Will cry it o'er again: it is a hint,
That wrings mine eyes to 't.
Pro. Hear a little further,
And then I'll bring thee to the present business
Which now's upon us; without the which this story 137
Were most impertinent.
Mira. Wherefore did they not
That hour destroy us?
Pro. Well demanded, wench:
My tale provokes that question. Dear, they durst not, 140
So dear the love my people bore me, nor set
A mark so bloody on the business; but
With colours fairer painted their foul ends.
In few, they hurried us aboard a bark, 144
Bore us some leagues to sea; where they prepar'd
A rotten carcass of a butt, not rigg'd,
Nor tackle, sail, nor mast; the very rats
Instinctively have quit it: there they hoist us,
To cry to the sea that roar'd to us; to sigh 149
To the winds whose pity, sighing back again,
Did us but loving wrong.
Mira. Alack! what trouble
Was I then to you!
Pro. O, a cherubin 152
Thou wast, that did preserve me! Thou didst smile,
Infused with a fortitude from heaven,
When I have deck'd the sea with drops full salt,
Under my burden groan'd; which rais'd in me
An undergoing stomach, to bear up 157
Against what should ensue.
Mira. How came we ashore?
Pro. By providence divine. 159
Some food we had and some fresh water that
A noble Neapolitan, Gonzalo,
Out of his charity,—who being then appointed
Master of this design,—did give us; with 163
Rich garments, linens, stuffs, and necessaries,
Which since have steaded much so, of his gentleness,
Knowing I lov'd my books, he furnish'd me
From mine own library with volumes that
I prize above my dukedom.
Mira. Would I might 168
But ever see that man!
Pro. Now I arise:—
Sit still, and hear the last of our sea-sorrow.
Here in this island we arriv'd; and here
Have I, thy schoolmaster, made thee more profit
Than other princess can, that have more time
For vainer hours and tutors not so careful.
Mira. Heavens thank you for 't! And now, I pray you, sir,—
For still 'tis beating in my mind,—your reason 176
For raising this sea-storm?
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 prescience 180
I find my zenith doth depend upon
A most auspicious star, whose influence
If now I court not but omit, my fortunes
Will ever after droop. Here cease more questions; 184
Thou art inclin'd to sleep; 'tis a good dulness,
And give it way;—I know thou canst not choose.—
Come away, servant, come! I'm ready now.
Approach, my Ariel; come! 188
Enter Ariel.
Ari. All hail, great master! grave sir, hail! I come
To answer thy best pleasure; be 't to fly,
To swim, to dive into the fire, to ride 191
On the curl'd clouds: to thy strong bidding task
Ariel and all his quality.
Pro. Hast thou, spirit,
Perform'd to point the tempest that I bade thee?
Ari. To every article.
I boarded the king's ship; now on the beak, 196
Now in the waist, the deck, in every cabin,
I flam'd amazement: sometime I'd divide
And burn in many places; on the topmast,
The yards, and bowsprit, would I flame distinctly, 200
Then meet, and join: Jove's lightnings, the precursors
O' the dreadful thunder-claps, more momentary
And sight-outrunning were not: the fire and cracks
Of sulphurous roaring the most mighty Neptune
Seem to besiege and make his bold waves tremble, 205
Yea, his dread trident shake.
Pro. My brave spirit!
Who was so firm, so constant, that this coil
Would not infect his reason?
Ari. Not a soul 208
But felt a fever of the mad and play'd
Some tricks of desperation. All but mariners
Plunged in the foaming brine and quit the vessel,
Then all a-fire with me: the king's son, Ferdinand, 212
With hair up-staring,—then like reeds, not hair,—
Was the first man that leap'd; cried, 'Hell is empty,
And all the devils are here.'
Pro. Why, that's my spirit!
But was not this nigh shore?
Ari. Close by, my master. 216
Pro. But are they, Ariel, safe?
Ari. Not a hair perish'd;
On their sustaining garments not a blemish,
But fresher than before: and, as thou bad'st me,
In troops I have dispers'd them 'bout the isle.
The king's son have I landed by himself; 221
Whom I left cooling of the air with sighs
In an odd angle of the isle and sitting,
His arms in this sad knot.
Pro. Of the king's ship 224
The mariners, say how thou hast dispos'd,
And all the rest o' the fleet.
Ari. Safely in harbour
Is the king's ship; in the deep nook, where once
Thou call'dst me up at midnight to fetch dew
From the still-vex'd Bermoothes; there she's hid:
The mariners all under hatches stow'd; 230
Who, with a charm join'd to their suffer'd labour,
I have left asleep: and for the rest o' the fleet
Which I dispers'd, they all have met again,
And are upon the Mediterranean flote,
Bound sadly home for Naples,
Supposing that they saw the king's ship wrack'd, 236
And his great person perish.
Pro. Ariel, thy charge
Exactly is perform'd: but there’s more work:
What is the time o' th' day?
Ari. Past the mid season.
Pro. At least two glasses. The time 'twixt six and now 240
Must by us both be spent most preciously.
Ari. Is there more toil? Since thou dost give me pains,
Let me remember thee what thou hast promis'd
Which is not yet perform'd me.
Pro. How now! moody? 244
What is 't thou canst demand?
Ari. My liberty.
Pro. Before the time be out? no more!
Ari. I prithee,
Remember, I have done thee worthy service;
Told thee no lies, made thee no mistakings, serv'd
Without or grudge or grumblings: thou didst promise 249
To bate me a full year.
Pro. Dost thou forget
From what a torment I did free thee?
Ari. No.
Pro. Thou dost; and think'st it much to tread the ooze 252
Of the salt deep,
To run upon the sharp wind of the north,
To do me business in the veins o' th' earth
When it is bak'd with frost.
Ari. I do not, sir. 256
Pro. Thou liest, malignant thing! Hast thou forgot
The foul witch Sycorax, who with age and envy
Was grown into a hoop? hast thou forgot her?
Ari. No, sir.
Pro. Thou hast. Where was she born? speak; tell me. 260
Ari. Sir, in Argier.
Pro. O! was she so? I must,
Once in a month, recount what thou hast been,
Which thou forget'st. This damn'd witch, Sycorax, 263
For mischiefs manifold and sorceries terrible
To enter human hearing, from Argier,
Thou know'st, was banish'd: for one thing she did
They would not take her life. Is not this true?
Ari. Ay, sir. 268
Pro. This blue-ey'd hag was hither brought with child
And here was left by the sailors. Thou, my slave,
As thou report'st thyself, wast then her servant:
And, for thou wast a spirit too delicate 272
To act her earthy and abhorr'd commands,
Refusing her grand hests, she did confine thee,
By help of her more potent ministers,
And in her most unmitigable rage, 276
Into a cloven pine; within which rift
Imprison'd, thou didst painfully remain
A dozen years; within which space she died
And left thee there, where thou didst vent thy groans 280
As fast as mill-wheels strike. Then was this island,—
Save for the son that she did litter here,
A freckled whelp hag-born,—not honour'd with
A human shape.
Ari. Yes; Caliban her son. 284
Pro. Dull thing, I say so; he, that Caliban,
Whom now I keep in service. Thou best know'st
What torment I did find thee in; thy groans
Did make wolves howl and penetrate the breasts
Of ever-angry bears: it was a torment 289
To lay upon the damn'd, which Sycorax
Could not again undo; it was mine art,
When I arriv'd and heard thee, that made gape
The pine, and let thee out.
Ari. I thank thee, master.
Pro. If thou more murmur'st, I will rend an oak
And peg thee in his knotty entrails till
Thou hast howl'd away twelve winters.
Ari. Pardon, master; 296
I will be correspondent to command,
And do my spiriting gently.
Pro. Do so; and after two days
I will discharge thee.
Ari. That's my noble master!
What shall I do? say what? what shall I do?
Pro. Go make thyself like a nymph of the sea: be subject 301
To no sight but thine and mine; invisible
To every eyeball else. Go, take this shape,
And hither come in 't: go, hence with diligence!
Exit [Ariel].
Awake, dear heart, awake! thou hast slept well;
Awake!
Mira. The strangeness of your story put
Heaviness in me.
Pro. Shake it off. Come on;
We'll visit Caliban my slave, who never 308
Yields us kind answer.
Mira. 'Tis a villain, sir,
I do not love to look on.
Pro. But, as 'tis,
We cannot miss him: he does make our fire,
Fetch in our wood; and serves in offices 312
That profit us.—What ho! slave! Caliban!
Thou earth, thou! speak.
Cal. within. There's wood enough within.
Pro. Come forth, I say; there's other business for thee:
Come, thou tortoise! when? 316
Enter Ariel, like a water-nymph.
Fine apparition! My quaint Ariel,
Hark in thine ear.
Ari. My lord, it shall be done. Exit.
Pro. Thou poisonous slave, got by the devil himself
Upon thy wicked dam, come forth! 320
Enter Caliban.
Cal. As wicked dew as e'er my mother brush'd
With raven's feather from unwholesome fen
Drop on you both! a south-west blow on ye,
And blister you all o'er: 324
Pro. For this, be sure, to-night thou shalt have cramps,
Side stitches that shall pen thy breath up; urchins
Shall, for that vast of night that they may work,
All exercise on thee: thou shalt be pinch'd 328
As thick as honeycomb, each pinch more stinging
Than bees that made them.
Cal. I must eat my dinner.
This island's mine, by Sycorax my mother,
Which thou tak'st from me. When thou camest first, 332
Thou strok'dst me, and mad'st much of me; wouldst give me
Water with berries in 't: and teach me how
To name the bigger light, and how the less,
That burn by day and night: and then I lov'd thee 336
And show'd thee all the qualities o' th' isle,
The fresh springs, brine-pits, barren place, and fertile.
Cursed be I that did so!—All the charms
Of Sycorax, toads, beetles, bats, light on you!
For I am all the subjects that you have, 341
Which first was mine own king; and here you sty me
In this hard rock, whiles you do keep from me
The rest o' th' island.
Pro. Thou most lying slave, 344
Whom stripes may move, not kindness! I have us'd thee,
Filth as thou art, with human care; and lodg'd thee
In mine own cell, till thou didst seek to violate
The honour of my child. 348
Cal. Oh ho! Oh ho!—would it had been done!
Thou didst prevent me; I had peopled else
This isle with Calibans.
Pro. Abhorred slave,
Which any print of goodness will not take, 352
Being capable of all ill! I pitied thee,
Took pains to make thee speak, taught thee each hour
One thing or other: when thou didst not, savage,
Know thine own meaning, but wouldst gabble like 356
A thing most brutish, I endow'd thy purposes
With words that made them known: but thy vile race,
Though thou didst learn, had that in 't which good natures
Could not abide to be with; therefore wast thou
Deservedly confin'd into this rock, 361
Who hadst deserv'd more than a prison.
Cal. You taught me language; and my profit on 't 363
Is, I know how to curse: the red plague rid you,
For learning me your language!
Pro. Hag-seed, hence!
Fetch us in fuel; and be quick, thou'rt best,
To answer other business. Shrug'st thou, malice?
If thou neglect'st, or dost unwillingly 368
What I command, I'll rack thee with old cramps,
Fill all thy bones with aches; make thee roar,
That beasts shall tremble at thy din.
Cal. No, pray thee!—
[Aside.] I must obey: his art is of such power,
It would control my dam's god, Setebos, 373
And make a vassal of him.
Pro. So, slave; hence!
Exit Caliban.
Enter Ferdinand, and Ariel invisible, playing and singing.
Ariel. Song.
'Come unto these yellow sands,
And then take hands: 376
Curtsied when you have, and kiss'd
The wild waves whist:
Foot it featly here and there;
And, sweet sprites, the burthen bear. 380
Hark, hark!'
Burthen dispersedly: 'Bow, wow.'
Ari. 'The watch-dogs bark:'
Burthen dispersedly: 'Bow, wow.'
Ari. 'Hark, hark! I hear
The strain of strutting Chanticleer 384
Cry, Cock-a-diddle-dow.'
Fer. Where should this music be? i' th' air, or th' earth?
It sounds no more;—and sure, it waits upon
Some god o' th' island. Sitting on a bank,
Weeping again the king my father's wrack, 388
This music crept by me upon the waters,
Allaying both their fury, and my passion,
With its sweet air: thence I have follow'd it,—
Or it hath drawn me rather,—but 'tis gone. 392
No, it begins again.
Ari. Song.
'Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made:
Those are pearls that were his eyes: 396
Nothing of him that doth fade,
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell:' 400
Burthen: 'Ding-dong!'
'Hark! now I hear them,—Ding-dong, bell.'
Fer. The ditty does remember my drown'd father.
This is no mortal business, nor no sound
That the earth owes:—I hear it now above me.
Pro. The fringed curtains of thine eye advance, 405
And say what thou seest yond.
Mira. What is 't? a spirit?
Lord, how it looks about! Believe me, sir,
It carries a brave form:—but 'tis a spirit. 408
Pro. No, wench; it eats and sleeps, and hath such senses
As we have, such; this gallant which thou see'st,
Was in the wrack; and, but he's something stain'd
With grief,—that's beauty's canker,—thou might'st call him 412
A goodly person: he hath lost his fellows
And strays about to find 'em.
Mira. I might call him
A thing divine; for nothing natural
I ever saw so noble.
Pro. [Aside.] It goes on, I see, 416
As my soul prompts it.—Spirit, fine spirit! I'll free thee
Within two days for this.
Fer. Most sure, the goddess
On whom these airs attend!—Vouchsafe my prayer
May know if you remain upon this island; 420
And that you will some good instruction give
How I may bear me here: my prime request,
Which I do last pronounce, is—O you wonder!—
If you be maid or no?
Mira. No wonder, sir; 424
But certainly a maid.
Fer. My language! heavens!—
I am the best of them that speak this speech,
Were I but where 'tis spoken.
Pro. How! the best?
What wert thou, if the King of Naples heard thee? 428
Fer. A single thing, as I am now, that wonders
To hear thee speak of Naples. He does hear me;
And, that he does, I weep: myself am Naples,
Who with mine eyes,—ne'er since at ebb,—beheld
The king, my father wrack'd.
Mira. Alack, for mercy!
Fer. Yes, faith, and all his lords; the Duke of Milan, 434
And his brave son being twain.
Pro. [Aside.] The Duke of Milan,
And his more braver daughter could control thee,
If now 'twere fit to do 't.—At the first sight 437
They have changed eyes:—delicate Ariel,
I'll set thee free for this!—[To Fer.] A word, good sir;
I fear you have done yourself some wrong: a word. 440
Mira. Why speaks my father so ungently? This
Is the third man that e'er I saw; the first
That e'er I sigh'd for: pity move my father
To be inclin'd my way!
Fer. O! if a virgin, 444
And your affection not gone forth, I'll make you
The Queen of Naples.
Pro. Soft, sir: one word more—
[Aside.] They are both in either's powers: but this swift business
I must uneasy make, lest too light winning 448
Make the prize light—[To Fer.] One word more: I charge thee
That thou attend me. Thou dost here usurp
The name thou ow'st not; and hast put thyself
Upon this island as a spy, to win it 452
From me, the lord on 't.
Fer. No, as I am a man.
Mira. There's nothing ill can dwell in such a temple:
If the ill spirit have so fair a house,
Good things will strive to dwell with 't.
Pro. Follow me.— 456
Speak not you for him; he's a traitor—Come;
I'll manacle thy neck and feet together:
Sea-water shalt thou drink; thy food shall be
The fresh-brook mussels, wither'd roots and husks 460
Wherein the acorn cradled. Follow.
Fer. No;
I will resist such entertainment till
Mine enemy has more power.
He draws, and is charmed from moving.
Mira. O dear father!
Make not too rash a trial of him, for 464
He's gentle, and not fearful.
Pro. What! I say,
My foot my tutor?—Put thy sword up, traitor;
Who mak'st a show, but dar'st not strike, thy conscience
Is so possess'd with guilt: come from thy ward,
For I can here disarm thee with this stick 469
And make thy weapon drop.
Mira. Beseech you, father!
Pro. Hence! hang not on my garments.
Mira. Sir, have pity:
I'll be his surety.
Pro. Silence! one word more 472
Shall make me chide thee, if not hate thee. What!
An advocate for an impostor? hush!
Thou think'st there is no more such shapes as he,
Having seen but him and Caliban: foolish wench! 476
To the most of men this is a Caliban
And they to him are angels.
Mira. My affections
Are then most humble; I have no ambition
To see a goodlier man.
Pro. [To Fer.] Come on; obey: 480
Thy nerves are in their infancy again,
And have no vigour in them.
Fer. So they are:
My spirits, as in a dream, are all bound up.
My father's loss, the weakness which I feel, 484
The wrack of all my friends, nor this man's threats,
To whom I am subdued, are but light to me,
Might I but through my prison once a day
Behold this maid: all corners else o' th' earth
Let liberty make use of; space enough 489
Have I in such a prison.
Pro. [Aside.] It works.—[To Fer.] Come on.—
Thou hast done well, fine Ariel!—[To Fer.] Follow me.—
[To Ariel.] Hark, what thou else shalt do me.
Mira. Be of comfort; 492
My father's of a better nature, sir,
Than he appears by speech: this is unwonted,
Which now came from him.
Pro. Thou shalt be as free
As mountain winds; but then exactly do 496
All points of my command.
Ari. To the syllable.
Pro. Come, follow.—Speak not for him. Exeunt.
Footnotes to Act I
Scene One
3 Good: good friend
4 yarely: nimbly
34 complexion: appearance
is perfect: perfectly suggests, or prophesies
40 Bring her to try: bring her close to the wind
main-course: mainsail
51 warrant him for drowning: guarantee that he will never drown
54 a-hold: close to the wind
55 courses: lower sails
61 merely: absolutely
62 wide-chapp'd: wide-mouthed
65 glut: swallow
Scene Two
6 brave: fine
13 fraughting souls, etc.: human beings who composed her freight
14 amazement: horror
22 meddle: mingle
30 perdition: loss
35 bootless inquisition: fruitless inquiry
41 Out: fully
50 backward: past
56 piece: masterpiece
59 no worse issued: of no lower birth
64 teen: sorrow
65 from: gone from
70 as . . . time: then
71 signiories: principalities
76 state: position as duke
77 secret: magical
81 trash for over-topping: check for outrunning [their privileges]
82 or: either
83 key: used punningly in the ordinary sense and as meaning tuning key
87 on 't: of it
90 closeness: retirement
91, 92 Cf. n.
95 in its contrary: in opposition to it
97 sans: without
lorded: raised to the power of a lord
100–102 Cf. n.
103 substitution: power as deputy
109 Milan: Duke of Milan
111 confederates: conspires
112 dry: thirsty
117 event: outcome
123 in . . . premises: in consideration of the conditions
125 presently: at once
134 hint: theme
146 butt: tub
155 deck'd: sprinkled
157 undergoing stomach: enduring courage
165 steaded much: stood us in good stead
169 Cf. n.
172 made . . . profit: caused thee to be more proficient
177 thus far north: this much
179 dear: benignant, bountiful
181 zenith: zenith of my fortunes
183 omit: neglect
187 away: hither
192 task: employ
193 quality: skill, powers
194 to point: accurately
196 beak: bow
197 in the waist: amidships
200 distinctly: separately
202 momentary: instantaneous
207 coil: tumult
218 sustaining garments: garments which held them up (?)
223 odd angle: out-of-the-way corner
227 nook: bay
228 dew; cf. n.
229 still-vex'd: ever tempestuous
Bermoothes: Bermudas
234 flote: sea
240 glasses: hours [reckoned by the hourglass]
242 pains: laborious tasks
252 ooze: bottom
258 envy: malice
261 Argier: Algiers
266 for one thing she did; cf. n.
269 blue-ey'd: blue round the eyes
274 hests: behests
297 correspondent: obedient
311 miss: do without
317 quaint: dainty, trim
321 wicked: baleful
326 urchins: hobgoblins
327 vast: long void
334 berries; cf. n.
351 Cf. n.
364 rid: destroy
378 whist: hushed; cf. n.
379 featly: gracefully, deftly
380 burthen: refrain
390 passion: suffering
402 remember: commemorate
404 owes: owns
405 advance: lift
412 canker: worm that feeds on flowers
420 remain: dwell
429 single: solitary, with pun on feeble
436 control: confute
440 done . . . wrong: erred in your account of yourself
462 entertainment: treatment
465 fearful: dangerous (?)
466 foot: inferior (referring to Miranda)
468 come . . . ward: abandon your posture of defense
481 nerves: sinews