Journeys Through Bookland, Vol. 8
Chapter 10
_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 ringlets[451-6] 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 masters[452-9] 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's[452-10] stout oak With his own bolt: the strong-based promontory Have I made shake, and by the spurs[452-11] 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'd[453-12] within the skull!--There stand, For you are spell-stopp'd.-- Holy Gonzalo, honourable man, Mine eyes, even sociable to[453-13] 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 senses[453-15] Begin to chase the ignorant fumes that mantle[453-16] Their clearer reason.--O thou good Gonzalo, My true preserver, and a loyal sir To him thou follow'st! I will pay thy graces Home[453-17] 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 remorse[453-18] 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._ Whêr[456-25] thou be'st he or no, Or some enchanted trifle[456-26] 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 all[456-27]--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 subtilties[457-30] 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 woe[457-32] 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 yet[458-36] 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!
_Gonza._ Was Milan thrust from Milan, that his issue Should become Kings of Naples! O, rejoice Beyond a common joy! and set it down With gold on lasting pillars: In one voyage Did Claribel her husband find at Tunis; And Ferdinand, her brother, found a wife Where he himself was lost; Prospero, his dukedom, In a poor isle; and all of us, ourselves, When no man was his own.[462-42]
_Alon._ [_To FERD. and MIRA._] Give me your hands: Let grief and sorrow still embrace his heart That doth not wish you joy!
_Gonza._ Be't so! Amen!--
_Re-enter ARIEL, with the _Master_ and _Boatswain_ amazedly following._
O, look, sir, look, sir! here is more of us: I prophesied, if a gallows were on land, This fellow could not drown.[462-43]--Now, blasphemy, That swear'st grace o'erboard, not an oath on shore?[462-44] Hast thou no mouth by land? What is the news?
_Boats._ The best news is, that we have safely found Our King and company; the next, our ship-- Which, but three glasses since, we gave out split-- Is tight, and yare, and bravely rigg'd, as when We first put out to sea.
_Ari._ [_Aside to PROS._] Sir, all this service Have I done since I went.
_Pros._ [_Aside to ARIEL._] My tricksy[463-45] spirit!
_Alon._ These are not natural events; they strengthen From strange to stranger.--Say, how came you hither?
_Boats._ If I did think, sir, I were well awake, I'd strive to tell you. We were dead of sleep, And--how we know not--all clapp'd under hatches; Where, but even now, with strange and several noises Of roaring, shrieking, howling, jingling chains, And more diversity of sounds, all horrible, We were awaked; straightway, at liberty: When we, in all her trim, freshly beheld Our royal, good, and gallant ship; our master Capering to eye her:[463-46] on a trice, so please you, Even in a dream, were we divided from them, And were brought moping[463-47] hither.
_Ari._ [_Aside to PROS._] Was't well done?
_Pros._ [_Aside to ARI._] Bravely, my diligence. Thou shalt be free.
_Alon._ This is as strange a maze as e'er men trod; And there is in this business more than Nature Was ever conduct of:[463-48] some oracle Must rectify our knowledge.[463-49]
_Pros._ Sir, my liege, Do not infest your mind with beating on[463-50] The strangeness of this business; at pick'd leisure,[464-51] Which shall be shortly, single I'll resolve[464-52] you-- Which to you shall seem probable--of every These happen'd accidents:[464-53] till when, be cheerful, And think of each thing well.--[_Aside to ARIEL._] Come hither, spirit: Set Caliban and his companions free; Untie the spell. [_Exit ARI._]--How fares my gracious sir? There are yet missing of your company Some few odd lads that you remember not.
_Re-enter ARIEL, driving in CALIBAN, STEPHANO, and TRINCULO, in their stolen apparel._
_Steph._ Every man shift for all the rest,[464-54] and let no man take care for himself; for all is but fortune.--Coragio,[464-55] bully-monster, coragio!
_Trin._ If these be true spies which I wear in my head,[464-56] here's a goodly sight.
_Cal._ O Setebos, these be brave spirits indeed! How fine my master is! I am afraid He will chastise me.
_Sebas._ Ha, ha! What things are these, my Lord Antonio? Will money buy 'em?
_Anto._ Very like; one of them Is a plain fish, and, no doubt, marketable.
_Pros._ Mark but the badges of these men, my lords, Then say if they be true. This mis-shaped knave,-- His mother was a witch; and one so strong That could control the Moon, make flows and ebbs, And deal in her command without[465-57] her power. These three have robb'd me; and this demi-devil-- For he's but half a one--had plotted with them To take my life: two of these fellows you Must know and own; this thing of darkness I Acknowledge mine.
_Cal._ I shall be pinch'd to death.
_Alon._ Is not this Stephano, my drunken butler?
_Sebas._ He is drunk now: where had he wine?
_Alon._ And Trinculo is reeling ripe: where should they Find this grand liquor that hath gilded[465-58] 'em?-- How camest thou in this pickle?
_Trin._ I have been in such a pickle since I saw you last, that I fear me, will never out of my bones: I shall not fear fly-blowing.[465-59]
_Sebas._ Why, how now, Stephano!
_Steph._ O, touch me not! I am not Stephano, but a cramp.
_Pros._ You'd be king o' the isle, sirrah?
_Steph._ I should have been a sore[465-60] one, then.
_Alon._ [_Pointing to CAL._] This is as strange a thing as e'er I look'd on.
_Pros._ He is as disproportion'd in his manners As in his shape.--Go, sirrah, to my cell; Take with you your companions; as you look To have my pardon, trim it handsomely.
_Cal._ Ay, that I will; and I'll be wise hereafter, And seek for grace. What a thrice double ass Was I, to take this drunkard for a god, And worship this dull fool!
_Pros._ Go to; away!
_Alon._ Hence, and bestow your luggage where you found it.
_Sebas._ Or stole it, rather.
[_Exeunt CAL., STEPH., and TRIN._
_Pros._ Sir, I invite your Highness and your train To my poor cell, where you shall take your rest For this one night; which, part of it, I'll waste With such discourse as, I not doubt, shall make it Go quick away,--the story of my life, And the particular accidents gone by, Since I came to this isle: and in the morn I'll bring you to your ship, and so to Naples, Where I have hope to see the nuptial Of these our dear-beloved solemnized; And thence retire me[466-61] to my Milan, where Every third thought shall be my grave.[466-62]
_Alon._ I long To hear the story of your life, which must Take the ear strangely.
_Pros._ I'll deliver all; And promise you calm seas, auspicious gales, And sail so expeditious, that shall catch Your royal fleet far off.--[_Aside to ARI._] My Ariel, chick, That is thy charge: then to the elements Be free, and fare thou well!--Please you, draw near. [_Exeunt._
EPILOGUE[467-63]
SPOKEN BY PROSPERO
Now my charms are all o'erthrown, And what strength I have's mine own,--[467-64] Which is most faint: now, 'tis true, I must be here confined by you,[467-65] Or sent to Naples. Let me not, Since I have my dukedom got, And pardon'd the deceiver, dwell In this bare island by your spell; But release me from my bands, With the help of your good hands.[467-66] Gentle breath of yours my sails Must fill, or else my project fails, Which was to please: now I want Spirits to enforce, art to enchant; And my ending is despair, Unless I be relieved by prayer; Which pierces so, that it assaults Mercy itself, and frees all faults. As you from crimes would pardon'd be, Let your indulgence set me free.
FOOTNOTES:
[366-1] _Good_ was often used in Shakespeare's time as we use the word _well_, to introduce a sentence.
[366-2] _Fall to't yarely_ means _get to work briskly_.
[366-3] Perhaps the line should read, "Blow till thou burst _thee_, wind."
[366-4] If there is sea-room enough. The boatswain is not alarmed if he can have room to handle his ship.
[366-5] We still say "play the man" when we wish to encourage any one to be brave and manly.
[367-6] The word _time_ may be understood after _present_. The boatswain infers that they cannot make peaceful weather of the present storm.
[367-7] _Hap_ means _happen_.
[367-8] The word _complexion_ here means _bent_ or _inclination_. Gonzalo says the boatswain is born to be hung; he cannot be drowned.
[367-9] The boatswain finds he has not sea-room enough so he calls upon the sailors to take down the topmast and to bring the ship as close into the wind as possible and hold her there with the main sail.
[367-10] This sentence means _they are noisier than the tempest and the commands of our officers_.
[368-11] Gonzalo still thinks the boatswain was born to be hanged, and warrants that he will not be drowned.
[368-12] The boatswain is still trying to bring her to the wind, so she may get out to sea. The _courses_ are the largest lower sails.
[368-13] _Merely_, here, means _entirely_ or _absolutely_.
[368-14] _Glut_ means _swallow_.
[369-15] These are all plants that grow in England, and were to Shakespeare the familiar signs of barren ground.
[369-16] _The wills above be done_ means _the will of the Powers above be done_. Gonzalo interests us from the start by his rather humorous view of everything.
[369-1] _Welkin_ means _sky_.
[369-2] _Brave_ means _fine_.
[369-3] _Or e'er_ means _before_ or _sooner than_.
[370-4] _Fraughting_ means _freighting_. The human souls were the freight of the ship.
[370-5] _Amazement_ means _anguish_ and _deep distress_ rather than astonishment.
[370-6] In the time of Shakespeare it was not considered inelegant English to use two forms of the comparative and superlative degrees. _More better_, _most best_ are good examples.
[370-7] _Meddle_ means _mix_. Miranda says she never thought of knowing more about herself or her father.
[370-8] Prospero means that with his garment he lays his magic arts aside and becomes the loving, human father.
[370-9] Prospero does not complete his sentence, but expresses the same thought in different form.
[372-10] _Bootless inquisition_ means _fruitless questioning_. The father has before begun to tell Miranda who she is, but has interrupted himself, and said, "Stay, not yet."
[372-11] _Out_ means _fully_.
[372-12] Prospero says, in these two lines, "If you can remember anything that happened before we came here, you may remember _how_ we came here."
[373-13] _Holp_ is an old form of _helped_.
[373-14] _Teen_ is an old word that means _trouble_ or _anxiety_.
[373-15] _Please you, further_, means _Please you, tell me further_.
[373-16] _Manage_ means _management_.
[373-17] _Signiories_ is a name for _principalities_.
[373-18] _Prime_ means _first_ or _leading_.
[374-19] _Who_ is used for _whom_, as it was not considered ungrammatical in Shakespeare's day.
[374-20] _Trash_ means _check_ or _set back_.
[374-21] _Over-topping_ means _rising too high_. Prospero means that his brother knew what persons to check when they tried to rise too high, to gain too much power.
[374-22] The brother understood the _key_ that kept officer and office in tune, and so set the minds of all Prospero's subjects thinking as the usurper wished. That is, Antonio took Prospero's friends away from him.
[374-23] We would say _so that_ instead of merely _that_.
[374-24] _To closeness_ means _to privacy_, to studies in his own home.
[374-25] _But_ in this sense means _except_.
[374-26] This is a difficult clause to understand. What Prospero means is probably that his studies would have exceeded all popular estimate in value, but that they (if they had not) kept him so retired from public life. Prospero sees the mistake he made, but cannot give up the idea that his studies were valuable.
[375-27] _Sans_ is a French word that means _without_.
[375-28] _By falsing it_ means _by falsifying it_ or _forging it_.
[375-29] Shakespeare omits the word _as_ before _to_. Antonio made so great a sinner of his memory unto truth as to credit his own lie.
[375-30] _Out of the substitution_ may be understood to mean _because of his being my substitute_.
[375-31] Prospero's tale is not clearly told. He is evidently thinking of other things, and his sentences are often imperfect. His mind wanders to the things he intends doing, to the storm, the strangers on the island and to his plans for the future. Miranda is not inattentive--she is fascinated by the story--but her father attributes his own wandering thoughts to her.
[375-32] Tired of ruling behind a screen, for that is what Prospero really was. Antonio planned to remove his brother and become absolute Duke of Milan.
[375-33] Shakespeare omits the word _for_ before _me_.
[376-34] _So dry he was for sway_, might now be written as _so thirsty he was for power_.
[376-35] Prospero bewails the fate of his principality, Milan.
[376-36] The meaning of the last seven lines is that Antonio thought Prospero incapable of ruling, offered to pay the King of Naples an annual tribute, to do him homage and to make Milan subject to Naples.
[376-37] _In lieu_ now means _instead of_, but Shakespeare uses it in the sense of _in return for_.
[376-38] _Presently_ means _immediately_.
[376-39] _Practice_ means _plot_ or _stratagem_.
[376-40] The six lines mean that one midnight, suited to such a plot, a treacherous army having been levied, Antonio opened the gates of Milan, and in the dead of darkness hurried away Prospero and the crying Miranda.
[377-41] In this place _hint_ means _theme_ or _subject_.
[377-42] _Upon's_ is _upon us_.
[377-43] _Impertinent_ in this connection means _out of place_.
[377-44] _Wench_ means _girl_, and at the time of Shakespeare was a term of affection, like _dear girl_.
[377-45] _In few_ may be read as _in a few words_, that is, _to make the story brief_.
[377-46] _Hoist us_ means _hoisted us_, that is _left us_.
[378-47] _Degg'd_ means _sprinkled_.
[378-48] Shakespeare, as was the custom in those days, often used the word _stomach_ for _courage_; an _undergoing stomach_ is a _lasting courage_.
[378-49] _Steaded_ means _aided_. We might say, _which have since stood us in good stead_.
[378-50] Readers of Shakespeare dispute about the meaning of this sentence. We might imagine Prospero to say half to himself "Now _I arise_;" that is, "My turn has come."
[378-51] _Made thee more profit_, that is, _have made you to profit more_, have taught you to better advantage.
[379-52] The _zenith_ is the _highest point_.
[379-53] Prospero means that if he acts now his fortunes will rise to their highest point, but that if he waits, he will lose his opportunity.
[379-54] Prospero, by his magic, throws his daughter into a deep sleep so that he may carry on his plans without her knowledge.
[379-55] This line may be understood to read, _Ariel, and all spirits of his kind_.
[379-56] _Performed to point_ means _performed in every respect_.
[379-57] The _beak_ of a ship is the _prow_, the projecting forward part.
[380-58] The _waist_ of a ship is the middle portion.
[380-59] _Distinctly_ means here _separately_. Ariel caused light globes of flame to appear for a second in different parts of the rigging, and to move about and to join.
[380-60] _Momentary_ means _instantaneous_.
[380-61] _Coil_ means _tumult_ or _confusion_.
[380-62] This clause means _There was not a soul that did not feel such a fever as madmen feel_.
[380-63] In this place _upstaring_ means _sticking up_.
[381-64] For _unstaining_ we would say _unstained_.
[381-65] _Odd angle_ probably means _out-of-the-way place_.
[381-66] Probably Ferdinand sat with his arms folded loosely, his head hanging on his breast.
[381-67] This is a good example of the way Shakespeare sometimes changes the natural order in which the parts of a sentence should be placed. Naturally the sentence would read: "Say, how hast thou disposed of the mariners of the King's ship, and all the rest of the fleet?"
[381-68] _Bermoothes_ is the old form of the word _Bermudas_. It was supposed that witches haunted the Bermudas and filled the air with tempests, which kept the waters always stormy. _Still-vexed_ means _always stormy_. The present errands of the spirit Ariel are not the first he has executed for Prospero. Dew from the Bermudas was probably wanted for some of his magical rites.
[381-69] To enjoy _The Tempest_, we must lay aside our reason to the extent of believing in charms and in magic, in witchcraft and in Ariel's wonderful powers. Prospero's control of the magic art is part of what he gained from his studies while Antonio was stealing his principality.
[382-70] _Flote_ is _flood_, therefore _wave_ or _sea_.
[382-71] This means that it was about two o'clock in the afternoon--past the mid-season by about the time it would take the sand to run twice through the hour-glass.
[382-72] _Remember_ here means _remind_.
[382-73] _Perform'd me_ means _performed for me_.
[382-74] _Say_ no more.
[382-75] "To release me a full year before my time is up," is what Ariel says Prospero has promised.
[383-76] This speech shows how marvelous are some of the things Ariel has already done for Prospero.
[383-77] Prospero is not speaking in earnest when he calls Ariel a "malignant thing." He intends to release Ariel soon.
[383-78] To Shakespeare and other writers of his time, the word _envy_ meant _malice_.
[383-79] _Argier_ is an old name for Algiers.
[383-80] _Blue-eyed_ means that the witch had dark blue circles around her eyes, not that she had real blue eyes.
[383-81] _For_ means _because_.
[384-82] _Hests_ means _behests_ or _commands_.
[384-83] The witch confined Ariel _in_ a cloven pine tree.
[384-84] This line means _save for the son that was born here_.
[384-85] _Correspondent_ means _obedient_.
[385-86] _Miss_ means _spare_.
[385-87] _When_ was often used as an exclamation of impatience.
[386-88] Old meanings for _quaint_ are _artful, ingenious_.
[386-89] _Wicked dew_ probably means _poisonous dew_.
[386-90] Caliban, in cursing his master, alludes to the common belief of that time that a southwest wind was unwholesome.
[386-91] _Side stitches_ are _stitches_ or _pains_ in the side.
[386-92] _Urchins_ were troublesome _sprites_ or _fairies_.
[386-93] _Vast_ alludes to the middle hours of night when in the stillness and vacancy evil spirits can do their work.
[386-94] Just what Caliban means here is uncertain.
[387-95] _Sty_ here means _confine_, as in a sty.
[387-96] This clause means _did'st not, savage, know the meaning of thine own words_.
[387-97] _Rid_ means _destroy_.
[388-98] _Old_ here, as often in the writings of Shakespeare's time, is used merely to make stronger the meaning of the word that follows it.
[388-99] _Kiss'd the wild waves whist_ means _soothed the wild waves into peace_.
[389-100] Ferdinand was suffering, and Shakespeare used the word _passion_ to express the idea as we use it in speaking of the Passion of Christ.
[389-101] This line means _without suffering a change from the effects of the sea_.
[389-102] _Owes_ here means _possesses_.
[389-103] Prospero speaking to Miranda says, "Lift up your eyelids and tell me what you see yonder."
[389-104] In this connection _brave_ means _fine_ or _noble_.
[390-105] _Canker_ means _rust_ or _tarnish_. Prospero says, "Except for the fact that he's somewhat stained with grief, which tarnishes beauty, you might call him a goodly person."
[390-106] Miranda, it must be remembered, has never seen any other man than her father.
[390-107] Prospero sees his plan going on well and gives Ariel credit for it. Just what the plan is will soon become apparent.
[390-108] Ferdinand speaks somewhat aside when he sees the beautiful Miranda, and then directly addresses her. He is embarrassed, calls her a goddess, asks her how he shall behave, calls her a wonder, but above all, wishes to know if she is mortal or not.
[390-109] The word _Miranda_ means _wonderful_
[390-110] "She speaks my language!"
[391-111] _A single thing_ means _a weak and companionless thing_.
[391-112] _Myself am Naples_ means _I am now the King of Naples_.
[391-113] Notice that this is the only mention of a son to Antonio, the usurping Duke of Milan.
[391-114] _Control_ means here _confute_, that is, _tell you differently_.
[391-115] Prospero notices the interest the two young people have taken in each other, and as this furthers his plan he feels more grateful to Ariel.
[391-116] What Prospero says is, "I fear that in claiming to be the King of Naples you have done some wrong to your character."
[392-117] Prospero wishes to test the love he sees in Ferdinand, and make him earn his prize. So he charges the young man with deceit and threatens him.
[392-118] _Fearful_ here means _timid_.
[393-119] _Ward_ is his position of defense to ward off a blow.
[393-120] _Nerves_ is here used for _muscles_ and _sinews_.
[394-1] This word means a ship--the _merchantman_.
[395-2] A _visitor_ in this sense is one who visits the sick to comfort them. Antonio and Sebastian are ridiculing Gonzalo for his efforts to cheer and console them.
[395-3] _Tell_ means _keep tally_. Sebastian means that the clock of Gonzalo's wit has struck one.
[395-4] _Dolour_ means _grief_ or _sadness_.
[395-5] Instead of _of he or Adrian_, we would say merely _he or Adrian_. Antonio offers to bet a good sum on which will speak first, Gonzalo or Adrian.
[395-6] Gonzalo.
[395-7] _A match_ means _I take the bet_.
[396-8] Sebastian has lost his bet, and he pays with a laugh.
[396-9] Adrian means _temperature_ when he says _temperance_.
[396-10] People often named their girls _Temperance_, _Prudence_, _Faith, etc._ It is to this fact that Antonio jokingly alludes.
[396-11] _Lush_ means _juicy_.
[396-12] _Eye_ here means _tint_ or _shade_.
[397-13] We would now say _for_ instead of _to_.
[397-14] Tunis is near the supposed site of Carthage. The story of Dido and Æneas is told in Virgil's _Æneid_.
[397-15] One of the stories of the god Mercury is that he gave to Amphion, King of Thebes, a magic harp upon which the king played and so charmed the stones that they sprang into place to make the walls of his city.
[398-16] The meaning of _stomach_ in this line is _appetite_ or _desire_. Alonso says they crowd their words into his ears when his feelings do not relish such nonsense.
[398-17] _Rate_ means _estimation_.
[398-18] _His_ is used for _its_ and refers to _shore_.
[398-19] For _as_, read _as if_.
[399-20] _Who_ is used for _which_. This is but another illustration of the changes that have taken place in the use of words since Shakespeare's time.
[399-21] Sebastian tells the King that he alone is responsible for the loss. Even his daughter weighed her wish to be obedient against her loathing of the match.
[399-22] _Dearest_ here means the same as _heaviest_ or _worst_.
[399-23] _Chirurgeon_ is the old word for _surgeon_. Antonio says, "And in the most surgeon-like manner."
[400-24] Gonzalo says, literally. "When you are sad, we all share your sorrow."
[400-25] "Had I the colonizing" is what Gonzalo means. Antonio makes it appear that Gonzalo was speaking of _planting_ the island.
[400-26] _Succession_ means _inheritance_, as a son _succeeds_ to his father's property.
[400-27] _Bourn_ means _brook_, hence _boundary_, as of land.
[400-28] _Tilth_ means _tillage_ or _cultivation_, as of land.
[401-29] He probably means any _engine of war_.
[401-30] _Foison_ means _plenty_ of grain or fruits.
[401-31] The _Golden Age_ is that period of the world's history when there was no sin, sorrow or suffering, and when all mankind was so good that there was no need of government of any sort. The Greeks, especially, but other peoples to some extent, have mythical tales of such a time.
[401-32] _Sensible_ is here used for _sensitive_.
[401-33] Gonzalo admits that in witty talk he is nothing in comparison to Antonio and Sebastian.
[401-34] A blow with the _flat_ of a sword is harmless: so is Gonzalo's wit.
[402-35] We would say _should_ instead of _would_ in this case.
[402-36] When they used to hunt birds in the night, they called it _bat-fowling_. Sometimes at night they took a light into the woods, and while one of the hunters held a net in front of the light, the others would beat the bushes round about. Some of the frightened birds would fly directly at the light and become entangled in the net.
[402-37] _Adventure_ here means _put in peril_.
[402-38] Ariel is at work again, and in carrying out the plans of Prospero, he causes some to fall asleep that the others may plot.
[402-39] _Omit_ here means _neglect_. Sebastian suggests that it will be better for Alonso to go to sleep while he can. He has reasons for wishing the King asleep.
[403-40] Alonso grows more sleepy under Ariel's influence, and in these words alludes to what Sebastian has just said--"It is a wondrous heavy offer of sleep."
[404-41] _They_ refers to the other men.
[404-42] Probably we must understand Antonio to mean, "What might you be!" In this way Antonio begins to tempt Sebastian, whom he finds ready to listen.
[404-43] _Speaks_ means _proclaims_.
[404-44] Antonio says in effect, "You close your eyes when you are awake. You are blind to your opportunity."
[404-45] "If _you_ heed me."
[404-46] Antonio means, "Which if you do, you shall be three times as great as you are now."
[405-47] By _I am standing water_, Sebastian means that he is like the ocean standing between tides, ready to ebb or flow. That is, he is ready to accept suggestions from Antonio.
[405-48] Antonio says in effect, "The more you ridicule the purpose I suggest, the more you welcome it."
[405-49] _Ebbing men_, that is, _men whose fortunes are at a low ebb_.
[405-50] _Matter_ means _something of great importance_.
[405-51] "It is difficult or painful for you to say what you think." While both have about the same idea in their minds, neither is quite willing to speak of it openly. It is too cruel and murderous a thought.
[405-52] Francisco.
[405-53] That is, "this lord who remembers little of the favors done him, and will be remembered no better."
[405-54] _Earth'd_ means _buried_.
[406-55] A _wink_ here means _the least distance_.
[406-56] It is difficult to say just what _But doubt discovery there_ means. Antonio says, "But out of your certainty that Ferdinand is drowned, you have a great hope, a hope so high that ambition cannot see anything greater."
[406-57] This means _ten leagues farther away than a man can travel in his life_.
[406-58] _Can have no note_ means _can receive no word_.
[406-59] This clause means _unless the sun carried the mail_.
[406-60] _Though some were cast up again._
[406-61] This sentence means, _you and I can manage what is to come_.
[407-62] "_Measure us back_," etc., means the same as _Return to us_.
[407-63] The word _others_ may be understood after _there be_.
[407-64] A _chough_ is a bird of the jackdaw kind.
[407-65] This clause means, _I myself could breed a bird to talk as sensibly_.
[407-66] This is difficult to understand. Perhaps it means. "And how does your present contentment advance or care for your interest?"
[407-67] _Feater_ means _more fittingly_ or _more becomingly_.
[408-68] A _kibe_ is a sore on the heel.
[408-69] _Candied_ means here the same as crystallized.
[408-70] This means, _while you, doing the same thing, might put Gonzalo to continuous sleep forever_.
[408-71] _Suggestion_ here means _temptation_.
[408-72] _They'll tell the clock to any business_, etc., means _they will speak any words we tell them to_.
[408-73] _Draw together_ is _let us draw our swords together_.
[409-74] That is, _Why are your swords drawn_?
[409-75] This means, _Why do you look so ghastly_?
[410-1] _Inch-meal_ means _piece-meal_.
[410-2] _Urchin-shows_ are _fairy-shows_.
[410-3] _Fire-brand_ refers to will o' the wisp, or dancing balls of light seen sometimes at night in swampy places. People used to think these lights were tended by naughty sprites who lured men into trouble.
[410-4] We would now say _sometimes_.
[410-5] _Mow_ means _make mouths_ or _grin_.
[411-6] _Pricks_, here, means their _prickles_ or _sharp quills_.
[411-7] Caliban is a monster, part brute, part human, more fish-like than man-like, probably. He works only when Prospero drives him to it, and he hates his master bitterly in spite of all that the latter has done for him. Now Caliban is under punishment for his wickedness.
[411-8] _To bear off_ means _to keep off_.
[411-9] A _bombard_ is a black jar or jug to hold liquor.
[411-10] _Poor-john_ is an old name for dried and salted _hake_, a kind of fish.
[411-11] Trinculo means that any strange beast could be exhibited and make a man's fortune.
[412-12] A _gaberdine_ was a coarse outer garment or frock.
[412-13] A _swabber_ is a man who scrubs the decks of a ship.
[412-14] _Tang_ means _sharp taste_; here it means that Kate spoke sharply.
[413-15] _Inde_ may mean India as we understand it, or West India, that is, America. Stephano probably alludes to the sham wonders from America that were often exhibited by lying showmen.
[413-16] _Neat's-leather_ is _calfskin_.
[413-17] Stephano means that he will take all he can get.
[413-18] He alludes to an old saying, "Good liquor will make a cat talk."
[414-19] This is probably the nearest to a prayer that Stephano can remember in his fright.
[414-20] This alludes to an old proverb, "He that would eat with the devil must use a long spoon."
[414-21] _Siege_ here means _seat_.
[414-22] A moon-calf was any shapeless monster; supposed to be made so through the influence of the moon.
[415-23] The superstitious Trinculo is still a little afraid that Stephano may be a ghost.
[415-24] _Constant_ here means _settled_, from his recent experiences in the sea.
[415-25] The word _an_ may be omitted from before _if_ without altering the meaning. Caliban fears the men may be evil spirits, but thinks Stephano must be a god.
[415-26] _Sack_ is an old-fashioned intoxicating drink. A _butt_ is a big cask holding about two hogsheads.
[416-27] All these things the fanciful used to think they could see in the face of the moon.
[416-28] This probably means that Caliban had taken a long hearty draught at the bottle.
[417-29] _Pig-nuts_ were probably _ground-nuts_, the small bulbous growths on the roots of certain vines.
[417-30] A _staniel_ is a _kestril_, a beautiful hawk.
[418-1] Ferdinand says, "Some sports are painful, and the delight we take in them offsets the labor."
[418-2] _Baseness_ here means _lowliness_, rather than anything base or evil.
[418-3] Prospero has set Ferdinand to carrying logs, a hard task and a lowly one, to test his love for Miranda, to find out how manly he really is.
[419-4] The meaning of this line probably is that when he works the least he is really most wearied because he does not have Miranda's sympathetic words to cheer him, or the sweet thought that he is working for her.
[420-5] _Put it to the foil_, means _put it on the defensive_. Foil was a general name for swords.
[420-6] Ferdinand thinks his father has been drowned, but wishes it were not so, even though he is thereby made King.
[422-7] The flesh-fly is the blow-fly, which lays its eggs in meat and helps its decay.
[422-8] _Hollowly_ here means _falsely_.
[422-9] We would now say, "_Whatsoever_ else."
[422-10] Instead of _to want_, we would say _from wanting_.
[423-11] _Fellow_ here means _equal_.
[423-12] _Bondman_ may be read for _bondage_. He accepts her as willingly as a slave ever accepted freedom.
[423-13] "A thousand thousand _farewells_."
[423-14] Prospero desires Ferdinand to love and marry Miranda and has planned for it, but he is surprised at the suddenness and strength of their love.
[423-1] As in a naval battle one ship runs alongside another, and the sailors leap aboard.
[424-2] _Set_ means _fixed and staring_.
[424-3] _Standard_ may be read _standard-bearer_.
[424-4] Trinculo means that Caliban is too drunk to stand.
[424-5] Trinculo is always jesting, even at his own expense. He means he is so drunk he would pick a quarrel with a constable.
[424-6] _Debosh'd_ means _debauched_.
[425-7] A _natural_ is a fool or a simpleton.
[425-8] Stephano means "You shall be hanged on the next tree."
[425-9] As Ariel is invisible, each thinks another has spoken.
[425-10] "_This thing_" is Caliban himself.
[426-11] The court fools or jesters of that day wore clothes of many colors--were _pied_, that is, _dappled_.
[426-12] _Patch_ is another word referring to the parti-colored clothing of the jester.
[426-13] The _quick freshes_ are the running springs of fresh water.
[426-14] _Stock-fish_ is a word used in the writings of that period to mean some kind of a fixture, which men struck with their fists or with cudgels in practicing boxing and fighting.
[427-15] Stephano speaks first to Caliban, then to Trinculo.
[427-16] The _weazand_ is the windpipe or throat.
[427-17] _Sot_ in this place means _fool_, not _drunkard_. Caliban thinks Prospero's books are the source of his magic power over such spirits as Ariel and those he commands.
[427-18] _Brave_ here means _beautiful_ or _showy_.
[428-19] This speech of Ariel's is made aside, that is, out of hearing of the three conspirators.
[428-20] _Troll the catch_ means _sing the jolly song_.
[428-21] _While-ere_ means _awhile since_.
[428-22] "I will do anything reasonable," says Stephano.
[428-23] "What is this music I hear?"
[428-24] A common sign in those times was called the picture of Nobody. It consisted of a head upon two legs, with arms.
[429-25] Stephano probably means, "Take a blow from my fist," and speaks to the invisible spirit or devil that he now thinks to be near them, because of Ariel's curious interruptions.
[429-26] _Sometime_ is again used for _sometimes_.
[430-1] _By our lady!_ was a common exclamation. A diminutive form of this was _by our ladykin_ which was contracted into _by our lakin_.
[430-2] _Forth-rights_ are straight lines.
[430-3] _Meanders_ are crooked lines.
[430-4] _Attach'd with_ means _seized by_.
[430-5] _Frustrate_ means _defeated_ or _baffled_.
[430-6] _Throughly_ means the same as _through_. Sebastian means that the next time he will carry his purpose through.
[431-7] A _drollery_ was an amusing show of the _Punch and Judy_ kind, where the characters were puppets. In a _living_ drollery, the characters would be alive instead of puppets.
[431-8] The _phoenix_ was a fabled bird of antiquity which lived a hundred years and then died in flames, only to rise young and strong again from its ashes. There was but one such bird in the world, and somewhere in Arabia was a tree, different from any other in the world, in which the phoenix built its nest.
[431-9] _Certes_ means _for a certainty_.
[432-10] _Muse_ here means _wonder at_.
[432-11] Probably Prospero alludes to an old saying which meant, "Do not praise your banquet too soon; wait till it is over."
[432-12] Among the _strange shapes_ that danced about the banquet were deformed men from whose throats the flesh hung down in huge pockets, like goitres, and others whose heads grew from their breasts without neck and shoulders.
[432-13] Sometimes in Shakespeare's days they practiced a curious kind of insurance. If a man were going on a long journey, he _put out_ in the hands of agents a sum of money, under the agreement that if he returned he was to have a certain number of times the money he put out. If the journey was perilous, the agreement might call for five times the sum; if a safer journey, perhaps twice the amount. If the traveler did not return, the agents kept the sum put out. Gonzalo uses the phrase "_Each putter-out of one for five_," to mean each man who goes on a perilous journey. He means that every traveler returning vouches for, or gives good warrant for, the wonders he has seen.
[433-14] Instead of _That hath to instrument_, we might read _That has control of_. The whole sentence means: "You are three sinful men whom Destiny, that rules this lower world and what is in it, has caused the never-surfeited sea to throw on shore; yes, and on this island which man does not inhabit; you who are among men the most unfit to live."
[433-15] Water closes immediately over any cut made in it.
[434-16] _Dowle_ means _down_, and the comparison means, _as cut off a single thread of down from my plumes_.
[434-17] _Requit_ means here _revenged_.
[434-18] _Whose_ refers to the word _powers_ six lines before. The meaning of the remainder of Ariel's speech is as follows: "Nothing but repentance and a clear life hereafter can guard you from the wrath that otherwise will fall upon your heads in this desolate isle."
[435-19] The meaning of the preceding clause is: "Thus with the skill of life and keen observance of the ways of men, my humbler servants have done their work, each according to his nature or kind."
[435-20] _It_ refers to his sin against Prospero.
[435-21] That is: "It sang my misdeed in a terrible bass."
[435-22] This clause means: "My son sleeps in the ooze on the bottom of the ocean."
[435-23] _Mudded_ means _buried in mud_. Alonso threatens to drown himself.
[436-24] There are said to be poisons which will not work until a long time after a person takes them.
[436-25] For _ecstasy_, read _fit of madness_.
[437-1] _Vanity_ probably means _fine display_.
[437-2] _With a twink_ means _in the twinkling of an eye_.
[437-3] _Mop_ means _chattering_.
[437-4] _Mow_ means _making faces_. _Mop and mow_ were words applied to such chattering and grinning as a monkey makes.
[437-5] A _corollary_ here means _more than enough_.
[437-6] _Pertly_ means _alertly_.
[437-7] Iris was the fleet messenger of the Greek gods. She had beautiful golden wings, and as she flew across the heavens, she left the many-colored rainbow as her trail.
[437-8] Ceres was the Greek goddess of the earth, who especially watched over the growth of grain and fruits. She it is who brings rich harvests, or when her attention is called away, permits drought to kill the vegetation.
[438-9] _Stover_ is fodder. A mead thatched with stover is a meadow covered with rich grass and hay.
[438-10] The common marsh-marigold was called _peony_ in some localities.
[438-11] Reeds were called _twills_ in some localities.
[438-12] The frequent rains of April make the ground like a water-soaked sponge.
[438-13] This passage means: "Thy banks with edges bordered with marsh-marigolds and reeds which rainy April trims to make cold crowns for chaste nymphs."
[438-14] _Lass-lorn_ means _forsaken by his lass_.
[438-15] The poles in a vineyard are _clipt_ or _embraced_ by the vines.
[438-16] Juno was Queen of the sky and Iris was her special messenger.
[438-17] Rainbow.
[438-18] Peacocks were sacred to Juno and are represented as accompanying her.
[438-19] Jupiter was the chief god of the ancient Greeks, and Juno was his wife.
[440-20] _Bosky_ means _wooded_.
[440-21] _Unshrubbed downs_ are tracts of land on which no bushes grow.
[440-22] Venus was the Greek goddess of love and beauty.
[440-23] _Dis_ is another name for Pluto, who according to the Greek mythology ruled in the dismal lower world.
[440-24] By the aid of Venus, Pluto stole Proserpina, the daughter of Ceres and Jupiter, and carried her away to be his queen in Hades.
[440-25] Her _blind boy_ is Cupid, the mischievous little god of love.
[440-26] Paphos was a city in Cyprus, where Venus loved to live.
[440-27] Juno's walk was very stately and dignified.
[440-28] Juno was a large, noble, motherly-looking woman, who is represented in art as attended by the nymphs and the hours, as well as by Iris. The goose and the cuckoo were as much Juno's birds as the peacock. She was the protectress of young married people and infants, and so was worshipped especially by women.
[441-29] _Foison_ and _plenty_ mean about the same thing. The phrase might be read, _overflowing plenty_, a great plenty.
[441-30] This means, may a new spring come as soon as you have gathered the harvest of the old one. May there be no winter in your lives.
[441-31] Ferdinand is still amazed, and inquires if they are really spirits that he sees.
[442-32] _So rare a wonder'd father_ means, _so rarely wonderful a father_.
[442-33] _Crisp_ means _curled_, alluding to the wavelets that the breezes make on the surface of the water.
[442-34] The _sicklemen_ are reapers called from the harvest fields to make merry.
[443-35] _Avoid_ means _begone_.
[443-36] The thin fleecy clouds, highest in the sky, were called _rack_.
[443-37] _On_ is here used for _of_.
[443-38] We would say _rounded off_ or _finished_.
[444-39] _I thank ye_ is spoken to Ferdinand and Miranda, and is Prospero's reply to their good wishes.
[444-40] _Meet with_ means _oppose_ or _counteract_.
[444-41] _For breathing_ means _because it breathed_. In the next line, _for kissing_ means _because it kissed_.
[444-42] _Unback'd_ means _unridden_.
[444-43] _Advanced_ means _raised_.
[445-44] The pool was mantled, or covered over, with filth.
[445-45] For _that_ read _so that_ or _insomuch that_.
[445-46] _Stale_ means _bait_. It was a term used by hunters for a bait that would lure birds.
[445-47] Caliban.
[445-48] _Nurture_ can never stick on his _nature_: that is, he can never be improved by culture or education.
[445-49] _Cankers_ means _rusts_, or here, _eats into itself_.
[445-50] It is not known whether _line_ refers to a clothesline or to a line tree. Only Shakespeare himself could tell us to a certainty.
[446-51] _Play'd the Jack with us._ "Led us astray as a Jack-o'-lantern might."
[446-52] _To hoodwink this mischance_ means _to make it forgotten_ or _overlooked_.
[446-53] In Hudson's Shakespeare this is explained as an allusion to the old ballad entitled "Take thy old Cloak about thee." The following stanza is quoted:
"_King Stephen_ was a worthy _peer_, His breeches cost him but a crown: He held them sixpence all too dear. Therefore he called the tailor lown."
[447-54] A _frippery_ was a shop where old clothes were sold. Trinculo has found the clothing Ariel hung upon the line.
[447-55] _Under the line._ We can imagine that Stephano has pulled the leather jerkin or coat from the line. When he says _under the line_, he thinks of that as an expression sailors use when they are near the equinoctial line or equator, where the heat is intense, so strong as to take the hair or fur off the coat and make it a _bald jerkin_.
[447-56] _By line and level_, that is, as architects build, by plumb line and level. Trinculo picks up the word _line_ and makes a new pun on it.
[448-57] A _pass_ is a _thrust_; _pate_ is _head_. _Pass of pate_ is a _thrust_ or _sally of wit_.
[448-58] _Lime_ is a sticky substance used to catch birds.
[448-59] _Barnacles_ here means _barnacle-geese,_ a kind of geese supposed by the superstitious to be produced when certain barnacles or shell-fish fell into the sea water.
[449-60] _Pard_ is a contraction for _leopard_; _cat-o'-mountain_ may be another name for wild-cat, though wild-cats are not spotted. Probably the term is loosely used to mean any spotted animal of the cat tribes.
[450-1] _Goes upright with his carriage_ means, _goes erectly under his burden_, that is, there is time enough to accomplish what Prospero wishes to do.
[450-2] That is, "In the grove of line-trees which protects your cell from the weather."
[450-3] _Till your release_ means _till you release them_.
[451-4] In this place _all_ has the sense of _quite_; _relish_ means _feel_; _passion_ has the sense of _suffering_. The meaning of the clause is, that feel suffering quite as sharply as they.
[451-5] _Neptune_, the name of the god of the seas, is used for _sea_ or _ocean_.
[451-6] "Fairy rings" are green circles in the grass. They were supposed to be caused by fairies dancing in a circle, but are now known to be caused by mushrooms which grow in circles and which enrich the ground as they decay. Because it contained some peculiar quality which Shakespeare calls sourness, the sheep would not eat the grass of the rings.
[452-7] Because mushrooms and toadstools spring up so quickly in the night, they were supposed to be the work of fairies.
[452-8] The curfew rings at night, and the fairies rejoice to hear it, for it is the signal for them to begin their frolics.
[452-9] The fairies are weak masters, that is, they can accomplish little if left to themselves, but under the direction of a human mind like Prospero's they could work such wonders as he describes.
[452-10] The oak was sacred to Jove (Jupiter), and lightning and thunder-bolts were his chief weapons.
[452-11] The spurs are the long _roots_ of the pines and cedars.
[453-12] _Boil'd_ is used for _boiling_ or _seething_.
[453-13] _Sociable to_ means _sympathizing with_.
[453-14] _Fall fellowly drops_ means _shed tears in sympathy_.
[453-15] _Rising senses_ means _clearing mental faculties_.
[453-16] _Ignorant fumes that mantle_ alludes to the confusion that the charm has caused in their ideas. The whole passage means simply that they are recovering their senses.
[453-17] This sentence means, _I will reward thee to the utmost_.
[453-18] _Remorse_ here means _pity_.
[453-19] _Nature_ here means _brotherly love_.
[454-20] _The reasonable shore_ means _the shore of reason_. As the tide rises to the shore of the sea, so their clearing thoughts fill their minds.
[454-21] _Discase me_ means _remove my disguise_.
[454-22] _As I was sometime Milan_ means _as I was once, the Duke of Milan_.
[454-23] The meaning of the three lines preceding has been much disputed. No one knows exactly what the poet meant. Perhaps Ariel sings with this meaning: "When the owls cry and foretell the approach of winter, I fly on the back of a bat in a merry search for summer."
[456-24] Ariel uses this fanciful way of saying that he will go as fast as human thought.
[456-25] _Whêr_ is a contraction of _whether_.
[456-26] _Trifle_ here means _phantom_ or _spirit_.
[456-27] This clause means, _if this be at all true_.
[456-28] _My wrongs_ means _the wrongs I have done_.
[456-29] He speaks to Gonzalo.
[457-30] _Taste some subtilties_ means _feel some deceptions_.
[457-31] _Justify you traitors_ means _prove that you are traitors_.
[457-32] _Woe_ here means _sorry_.
[458-33] _As late_ means _as recent_.
[458-34] In this place _admire_ means _wonder_.
[458-35] _Are natural breath_ means _are the breath of a human being_. The lords are still amazed; they cannot reason, they can scarcely believe their eyes or that the words they hear come from a living human being.
[458-36] In this connection _yet_ means _now_ or _for the present_.
[458-37] That is, it is a story to be told day after day.
[459-38] Miranda playfully accuses Ferdinand of cheating in the game.
[459-39] The exact meaning of _wrangle_ has not been determined, and critics still disagree. However, what Miranda says is, "you might cheat me for a score of kingdoms and yet I would call it fair play."
[459-40] Alonzo means that if this sight of Ferdinand is one of the witcheries of the island, he will feel that he has lost his son a second time.
[460-41] And this lady by becoming my wife makes him a second father to me.
[462-42] That is, "all of us have found our senses, when no man was in possession of his own."
[462-43] See Act I--Scene I.
[462-44] This sentence means, "Now you blasphemous man who swore so on board the ship that we could be saved, have you not an oath to swear on shore?"
[463-45] _Tricksy_ means _clever_.
[463-46] _Capering to eye her_ means _dancing with joy at seeing her_.
[463-47] _Moping_ here means _bewildered_.
[463-48] _Conduct of_ is used for _conductor_ or _leader of_.
[463-49] That is, "some wise man must make it clear to us."
[463-50] This sentence means "Do not trouble your mind by hammering away at the strangeness of these happenings."
[464-51] _At pick'd leisure_ is _at a chosen time when we have the opportunity_.
[464-52] _Single I'll resolve_ means _I will explain singly_.
[464-53] _Of every these happen'd accidents_ means _how every one of these things happened_.
[464-54] Stephano is still a little drunk and his tongue uncertain in its speech. He means, _Let us every man shift for himself_.
[464-55] _Coragio_ is used for _courage!_
[464-56] Trinculo means, "If my eyes do not deceive me."
[465-57] _Without_ here means _outside of_ or _beyond_.
[465-58] _Gilded_ is a word that was commonly applied to a man who was drunk.
[465-59] Meat that is infested with maggots which have hatched from eggs laid by flies is said to be fly-blown. These will not lay their eggs in pickled meat. Trinculo says he has been so pickled, that is drunk, that the flies will not blow him.
[465-60] Stephano is sore from his torments, but as the word _sore_ also means _harsh_ and _severe_, he makes a good pun in his speech.
[466-61] _Retire me_ means _withdraw myself_.
[466-62] Prospero has accomplished his purpose; he has recovered his dukedom, has found a suitable husband for his daughter, and now feels that life has little in store for him. So every third thought will be in preparation for his death.
[467-63] The Epilogue is a part spoken by one of the actors after the play is over, and is addressed to the audience. Here _Prospero_ steps forward and speaks.
[467-64] He has dismissed Ariel and laid aside all his magic arts.
[467-65] The audience may hold him on the island or send him to Naples, for he is still under a spell.
[467-66] He asks the audience to applaud, to clap their hands, for noise always breaks charms, and will release him from the enchantment so that he may return to his dukedom.
STUDIES FOR "THE TEMPEST"
THE AUTHOR. Many times we have had occasion to say that an acquaintance with an author has much to do with our liking for his works, and as we read the great plays of our greatest poet, we wish we might know him more intimately. However, when we look for information concerning him, we quickly find that comparatively little is known of the man beyond what we can draw from his writings, and few authors have shown themselves less vividly. After doing our best, we can find only a great, shadowy Author who must have had a broad knowledge, a rare invention, a profound insight into human nature, a penetrating sympathy and a marvelous power of expression. As seen through his works, he appears more than human, but when we look into our histories, we wonder that so great a man could have lived and died, and left so light an impression on his times. In fact, some wise men have felt that the William Shakespeare we know could never have written the great plays that bear his name. That is a question, however, we need not discuss; it is better to leave the credit where it has rested for centuries, and believe that the plays are better evidence of Shakespeare's greatness than his own life is evidence of his ability to write them.
William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-on-Avon, April 23, 1564. His father, John Shakespeare, was a respectable citizen, a wool-dealer and a glover, who at one time possessed considerable means, and was an alderman and a bailiff in the little town, but who later on lost most of his property and ceased to be prominent in the affairs of the village. William's mother was Mary Arden, a gentle, tender woman of Norman descent, who exerted a powerful influence over the lives of her children.
Until William was about fourteen years old he attended the free school in Stratford, and though there are many legends concerning his boyhood pranks and his gift for learning, we know practically nothing for a certainty. In one of the desks at the school, they still show the initials he is supposed to have cut during some idle moment. Of his youth we know still less, except that at about eighteen he married Ann Hathaway, a farmer's daughter who lived in the village of Shottery, a mile or two from Stratford. Ann was eight years older than William, but they seem to have lived happily and to have loved the children that were born to them.
The next thing we can be really certain of is, that about the time William was twenty-three he went to London and soon became connected with a company of actors. Here the genius of the poet began to make itself felt. He wrote some plays, he recast others, and by the time he had been five years in the city, he was prominent among the bright men of his time, and was recognized as a rising man. Unlike most actors and writers of that period, Shakespeare was not a dissipated man, but attended carefully to his duties, saved his money, and ten years after he left Stratford was able to return to his native town and buy a fine estate, to which he added from time to time. His money had not all come from his writings and his acting, however, for he owned a large part of the stock in the two leading theaters in London.
About 1604 he ceased to be an actor, although he continued to write for the stage, and in fact produced his greatest plays after that date. Seven years later he returned finally to Stratford, and there lived a quiet and delightful home life until 1616, when on the anniversary of his birth he died suddenly of a fever. He was buried in the little parish church at Stratford, where his remains rest beside those of his wife. On the flat stone that covers his body is inscribed this epitaph:
"Good frend for Iesus sake forbeare, To digg the dvst encloased heare: Blesse be ye man yt spares thes stones, And Cvrst be he yt moves my bones."
Such are the principal facts that we know concerning the great man, and a simple biography it certainly is. We must not, however, think that he was not popular among his fellows, or that he was merely a successful business man. He counted among his friends the wisest and best men of his time, and some of them have written their impressions of him. Ben Jonson, a rough but sincere and honest man, says: "I loved the man, and do honor his memory, on this side idolatry, as much as any. He was indeed honest, and of an open, free nature; had an excellent phantasy, brave notions and gentle expressions."
THE PLAY. _The Tempest_ was one of the last of the poet's dramas, though not the last, as some writers have contended. It was not printed until 1623, after the poet's death, but it was written, according to Hudson, between 1603 and 1613, and probably between 1610 and 1613.
The story seems to have been original with Shakespeare; at least no satisfactory evidence has been given to show that he borrowed it. This is rather unusual, for Shakespeare showed a fine contempt for originality, and borrowed the plots of his plays from a great variety of sources. His own version of each story, however, was so masterly that no one regrets that he availed himself of all the assistance he could get.
The scene of the play is laid on an island; what island we do not know. Probably it is as mythical as the events that happened on it.
_The Tempest_ is one of Shakespeare's most perfect plays. In form it is perfect, and follows, more closely than was customary with him, the strict laws of the old Greek dramas, the laws which critics still uphold as those governing the highest art. The three unities are here observed: The events all occur in a single day; they happen in a single place; from beginning to end there is one continuous line of thought. Only the last characteristic is still generally observed by dramatic writers.
Beside perfection in form, _The Tempest_ shows the greatest nicety in the way the natural and supernatural move along together without a single interference. It is difficult to think of the magic art of Prospero as more marvelous than the coarse plotting of Sebastian, or to consider the delicate Ariel and the mis-shapen Caliban less human than the manly Ferdinand, or the honest old Gonzalo. Only a great writer could accomplish this, and none but a genius could make of his work a piece so fine that we delight in every line of it. It would be unfair too not to mention the beautiful expressions that abound in it, the high sentiments that prevail, and the great renunciation that Prospero makes when he has in his hands every means for swift and terrible revenge.
CHARACTERS. In reading the drama we become acquainted with the characters, and begin to be indifferent toward some, to have admiration for others and contempt for others. In real life we must not be governed by our first impressions of people. We must study their appearance, their speech, their actions, and make up our minds as to their characters before we decide to make them our friends. It is very unwise to trust every agreeable person we meet, and especially unwise to be suspicious of every person who at first impresses us unfavorably. The older we grow, the keener becomes our power to read character, and the less liable we are to be deceived if we try always to use our best judgment. One of the great benefits literature can offer us is the opportunity to study character, and Shakespeare had such a remarkable insight into human nature, and so great a power of drawing character that in his plays we can see before us almost every type of human being, and from a study of them we can gain a knowledge of humanity that will help us every day of our lives.
Accordingly, let us take up, one after another, the principal characters in _The Tempest_ and study them in such a way that we shall be able to read other plays with greater ease and quickened intelligence.
1. _Prospero._ The hero of the drama is a man well advanced in years, grave, dignified and serene. As Duke of Milan he was a prince of power, "without a parallel in dignity and knowledge." He was popular with his subjects, for so dear was the love his people bore him, that the conspirators did not dare to destroy him. Yet he was not inclined to rule his dukedom, for he grew a stranger to his estate, so transported and wrapt was he in secret studies. He confesses that his library was dukedom enough for him, and that he had volumes that he prized above his dukedom. This was his weakness, and upon this his false brother preyed, until one night in the dead of darkness the Duke and the crying Miranda were set adrift in the rotten carcass of a boat, which the very rats instinctively had quit.
On the island, with the books Gonzalo had preserved for him, he continued his studies and played the schoolmaster to his gentle child until she was better educated and more highly cultured than other princesses that spend more time in vain enjoyments and have less careful tutors. Prospero's love for his daughter is the strong, central trait in his character. He has raised her judiciously, guarded her zealously, and now when he finds, brought to his very door, all the actors in the tragedy of his life, his one great care is to provide for Miranda's happiness. All his plans lead to that end, and when he has achieved it, the labors of his life are over.
The supernatural powers that Prospero has acquired seem natural to the studious, dignified old gentleman, and amazing as they are, we can discredit none of them. He tells us he caused the storm, and Miranda begs him to save the passengers on the doomed ship with perfect confidence in his ability to do it. He causes sleep to fall on Miranda, and he summons the gentle Ariel, who enters as naturally as a human being, and admits the marvelous acts that he has seen Prospero perform. Caliban testifies to the power of Prospero so convincingly that we know the magician has control of the destinies of every human being on the island, and can wreak a terrible vengeance if he is determined to do it. When Ferdinand draws his sword, the magician by a word makes him powerless as he stands. We see the magic banquet appear and disappear, and Iris, Ceres, Juno, the nymphs and the reapers come and converse, as a proof positive of his more than mortal power. How has he used this power and how will he continue to use it? When first he came upon the island it was full of evil, and the powers of darkness ruled. He has imprisoned and punished the evil spirits; freed the gentle and the good, banished all discord, and filled the island "full of noises, sounds and sweet airs that give delight and hurt not." That in the future he will use his vast power only for good, we feel assured. Only Caliban hates and abuses him, but the testimony of one so wicked rather proves the gentleness, wisdom and justice of the magician.
Prospero's passionate love for his daughter makes him cunning and wise. Before he will trust his daughter to Ferdinand, he tests both the character and the love of the latter most severely. He even feigns anger and appears to be cruel and unjust. That he is feigning, neither suspect, but Miranda says: "Never till this day saw I him touch'd with anger so distemper'd," and "My father's a better nature, sir, than he appears by speech." When he is assured of Ferdinand's worthiness, of the sincerity of his love for Miranda and of her devotion to her young lover, he is delighted, and becomes so interested in the entertainment he is giving them, that he forgets the plot against his life, although the hour of his danger has arrived. It is true the father stoops to listening, but his purpose is so worthy, no one is inclined to cavil at his watchfulness, and, in any event, his exceeding care but justifies the feeling that his love for Miranda is the mainspring of his every act.
On this small island Prospero is little less than a god, and controls affairs with almost supernatural justice and wisdom. Caliban, the ungrateful, terribly wicked monster, is punished unsparingly but with justice, for in the end with repentance he is forgiven, and the tortures cease. Ariel and the other obedient spirits, though reproved at times, are rewarded by freedom and placed beyond the reach of the evil powers of earth and air.
The sufferings Prospero has endured, the intensity of his studies, and the fierceness of his struggles with the supernatural powers of evil, have given a tinge of sadness to his thought, and have led him to feel that the result of all his labors may amount to little. The world is to him but an insubstantial pageant that shall dissolve and fade, leaving not the trace of the thinnest cloud behind. And as for ourselves,
"We are such stuff As dreams are made on, and our little life Is rounded with a sleep."
Yet no sooner does he give way to this feeling than he sees how unkind it is to trouble the young with such musings, and says pathetically to Ferdinand,
"Sir, I am vex'd; Bear with my weakness; my old brain is troubled: Be not disturbed with my infirmity."
It is, however, at the end of the play, when all his plans have been carried out successfully, and enemies and friends are alike at his mercy, that the character of Prospero shines out most gloriously. Rejoicing at the fruition of his hopes, he asks from his enemies only a sincere repentance, and then nobly resigning the great arts which have rendered the plotters powerless, he forgives them one and all: his brother Antonio; the scheming Sebastian; Caliban, the evil spirit; and the two weak but wicked ones, Stephano and Trinculo. Then with generosity unparalleled he restores Ferdinand to his father, the King, who has joined with Antonio, and promises to all "calm seas, auspicious gales and sail so expeditious that shall catch your royal fleet far off." Remembering to set Ariel free, he lays aside his magic gown, breaks his staff, buries it fathoms deep in the earth, and drowns his magic book deeper than did ever plummet sound. Thus he leaves us, only a man once more, but a loving father, a wise and gentle ruler.
2. _Miranda._ We have seen that the master feeling in Prospero's soul is his love for his daughter. Is she worthy of so great an affection? Let us draw our answers from the drama.
(a) She is beautiful.
Ferdinand says:
"Most sure, the goddess On whom these airs attend!"
And:
"O you wonder! If you be maid or no?"
Caliban says:
"And that most deeply to consider is The beauty of his daughter; he himself Calls her a nonpareil: I ne'er saw woman But only Sycorax my dam and she; But she as far surpasseth Sycorax As great'st does least."
Alonzo says:
"Is she the goddess that hath sever'd us, And brought us thus together?"
(b) She is educated, cultured and refined.
Prospero says:
"And here Have I, thy schoolmaster, made thee more profit Than other princesses can, that have more time For vainer hours, and tutors not so careful."
(c) She is tender-hearted, sympathetic and compassionate.
She says:
"O, I have suffer'd With those that I saw suffer!"
And:
"O, the cry did knock Against my very heart!"
Prospero speaks of these traits:
"Wipe thou thine eyes; have comfort. The direful spectacle of the wreck, which touch'd The very virtue of compassion in thee,----"
Speaking of the trials which Prospero puts upon Ferdinand, she says:
"Make not too rash a trial of him, for He's gentle and not fearful."
When she learns of her helplessness at the time they were set adrift, she says:
"O, my heart bleeds To think o' the teen that I have turn'd you to."
When Miranda hears how her father was treated by her false uncle, she exclaims:
"Alack, for pity! I, not remembering how I cried on't then, Will cry it o'er again: it is a hint That wrings mine eyes to't."
(d) She is brave.
Prospero says of her childhood:
"O, a cherubim Thou wast that did preserve me! Thou didst smile, Infused with a fortitude from Heaven."
(e) She is innocent and unacquainted with mankind and hates the sight of evil.
When she first sees Ferdinand, she asks:
"What is't? A spirit? Lord, how it looks about! Believe me, sir, It carries a brave form. But 'tis a spirit."
Again:
"I do not know One of my sex; no woman's face remember, Save, from my glass, mine own; nor have I seen More that I may call men, than you, good friend."
And finally:
"How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, That has such people in't."
She says of Caliban:
"'Tis a villain, sir, I do not love to look on."
(f) She is grateful.
When she is told of Gonzalo's services to her and her father, she exclaims:
"Would I might But ever see that man!"
(g) She is a loving, faithful woman:
While Ferdinand is at work she pleads:
"Alas, now, pray you, Work not so hard,---- Pray, set it down, and rest you: when this burns, 'Twill weep for having wearied you."
Again:
"If you'll sit down, I'll bear your logs the while."
Later Ferdinand asks, "Wherefore weep you?" Miranda answers:
"At mine unworthiness,---- ----Hence, bashful cunning! And prompt me, plain and holy innocence! I am your wife, if you will marry me; If not, I'll die your maid: to be your fellow You may deny me; but I'll be your servant, Whether you will or no."
(h) Lover and father both bestow unqualified praise upon her. Ferdinand says:
"Admired Miranda! Indeed the top of admiration; worth What's dearest to the world!---- ----but you, O you, So perfect and so peerless, are created Of every creature's best!"
Her father says:
"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."
3. _Ferdinand._ The quotations we have made from the text seem to have answered our question as to Miranda's worthiness. Upon what sort of a man has she set her affections? Will she find in her husband the man she thinks she is to marry? Answer these questions for yourselves by reading the text and setting down the proofs as we did while studying Miranda.
4. _Ariel._ Prospero's agent Ariel is an interesting study, for the poet has drawn him with lines so clear and exact that he seems a veritable person. Will you not seek to know him, and in doing so follow these suggestions?
(a) Ariel appears in the following scenes: