The Dramatic Works of William Shakspeare

ACT I.

SCENE I. On a Ship at Sea.

A Storm, with Thunder and Lightning. Enter a SHIP-MASTER 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, bestir. [Exit.

Enter MARINERS.

Boats. Heigh, my hearts; cheerly, cheerly, my hearts; yare, yare: Take in the top-sail; Tend to the master's whistle.-Blow, till thou burst thy wind, if room enough!

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.

Ant. Where is the master, boatswain? Boats. Do you not hear him? You mar our labour! keep your cabins: you do assist the storm.

Gon. Nay, good, be patient. Boats. When the sea is. Hence! What care these roarers for the name of king? To cabin: silence: trouble us not.

Gon. Good; yet remember whom thou hast aboard.

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; 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 way, I say.

[Exit.

Gon. I have great comfort from this fellow: methinks, he hath no drowning mark upon

↑ Present instant.

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 advantage! If he be not born to be hanged, our case is miserable. [Exeunt.

Re-enter BOATSWAIN.

Boats. Down with the top-nast; 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.Re-enter SEBASTIAN, ANTONIO, and GONZALO. Yet again? what do you here? Shall we give sink? o'er, and drown? Have you a mind to Seb. A pox o' your throat? you bawling,

blasphemous, uncharitable dog! Boats. Work you, then. Ant. Hang, cur, hang! you whoreson, insolent noise-maker, we are less afraid to be drowned than thou art,

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

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? Gon. The king and prince at prayers! let us

assist them, For our case is as theirs.

Seb. I am out of patience.

Ant. We are merelyt cheated of our lives by

drunkards.

This wide-chapped rascal;-'Would, thou might'st lie drowning, The washing of ten tides!

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

Incontinent,

[A confused noise within.] + Absolutely.

Mercy on us. We split, we split! Farewell,
my wife and children!-Farewell, brother!-
We split, we split, we split.-

Ant. Let's all sink with the king. [Exit.
Seb. Let's take leave of him.

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

[Exit.

SCENE II. 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 [cheek,

pitch, But that the sea, mounting to the welkin's Dashes the fire out. O, I have suffer'd

With those that I saw suffer! a brave vessel, Who had no doubt some noble creatures in her, Dash'd all to pieces. O, the cry did knock

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*
It should the good ship so have swallowed, and
The freighting souls within her.

Pro. Be collected;

Pro. Thou had'st, and more, Miranda: But how is it, [else That this lives in thy mind? What seest thou In the dark backward and abysm* of time? If thou remember'st aught, ere thou cam'st here How thou cam'at here thou may'st.

Mira. But that I do not.

Pro. Twelve years since, Miranda, twelve years 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 She said thou wast my daughter; and thy

father

Mira. O, my heart bleeds To think o' the teent that I have turn'd you to, Which is from my remembrance! Please you, [nio,

further.

Pro. My brother, and thy uncle, call'd AntoI pray thee, mark me, that a brother should Be so perfidious!-he whom, next thyself,

No more amazement: tell your piteous heart, Of all the world I lov'd, and

There's no harm done.

Mira. O, woe the day!

Pro. No harm.

I should inform thee further. Lend thy hand,
And pluck my magic garment from me. So;
[Lays down his mantle.
Lie there my art. - Wipe thou thine eyes; have
comfort.
[touch'd
The direful spectacle of the wreck, which
The very virtue of compassion in thee
I have with such provision in mine art
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;

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;

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

I do not think thou can'st; for then thou wast Outt three years old.

Mira. Certainly, Sir, I can.

[not

Pro. By what? by any other house, or person? Of any thing the image tell me, that Hath kept with thy remembrance.

Mira. Tis far off;

And rather like a dream than an assurance That my remembrance warrants: Had I not Four or five women once, that tended me ?

The manage of my state; as, at that time, Through all the signiories it was the first, 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, [ed, And to my state grew stranger, being transport. And wrapt in secret studies. Thy false uncleDost thou attend me?

Pro. I thus neglecting worldly ends, all deTo closeness, and the bettering of my mind With that, which, but by being so retir'd, [ther O'er-priz'd all popular rate, in my false broAwak'd an evil nature: and my trust, Like a good parent, did beget of him

A falsehood, in its contrary as great

As my trust was; which had, indeed, no limit,

A confidence sanss bound. He being thus

lorded,

Not only with what my revenue yielded,
But what my power might else exact, -like onc,
Who having, unto truth, by telling of it,
Made such a sinner of his memory,

To credit his own lie, he did believe
He was the duke; out of the substitution,
And executing the outward face of royalty,
With all prerogative; -Hence his ambition
Growing, Dost hear?

Mira. Your tale, Sir, would cure deafness.

* Before.

+ Qulte.

* Abyss. + Sorrow. ‡ Cut away. Without

Pro. To have no screen between this part he From my own library, with volumes that

play'd

And him he play'd it for, he needs will be 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) with the king of Naples,

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!

Pro. Mark his condition, and the event; then If this might be a brother.

Mira. I should sin

[tell me,

To think but nobly of my grandmother:
Good wombs have borne bad sons.

Pro. Now the condition.

This king of Naples, being an enemy
To me inveterate, hearkens my brother's suit;
Which was, that he in lieut o' the premises,-
Ofhomage, and I know not how much tribute,-
Should presently extirpate me and mine

Out of the dukedom; and confer fair Milan,
With all the honours, on my brother: Whereon,
A treacherous army levied, one midnight
Fated to the purpose, did Antonio open [ness,
The gates of Milan; and, i' the dead of dark-
The ministers for the purpose hurried thence
Me, and thy crying self.

Mira. Alack, for pity!

I, not rememb'ring how I cried out then,
Will cry it o'er again; it is a hint,‡

That wrings mine eyes.

Pro. Hear a little further.

And then I'll bring thee to the present business Which now's upon us; without the which, this Were most impertinent.

Mira. Wherefore did they not

That hour destroy us?

Pro. Well demanded, wench;

[story

My tale provokes that question. Dear, they durst not;

(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;
Bore us some leagues to sea; where they they pre
A rotten carcass of a boat, not rigg'd, [pared
Nor tackle, sail, nor mast; the very rats
Instinctively had quit it: there they hoist us,
To cry to the sea that roar'd to us; to sigh
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 cherubim

:[smile,
Thou wast, that did preserve me! Thou didst
Infused with a fortitude from heaven, [salt;
When I have deck'ds the sea with drops full
Under my burden groan'd; which raised in me
An undergoing stomach, || to bear up
Against what should ensue.

Mira. How came we ashore ?
Pro. By Providence divine.

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 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, * Thirsty. 1 Consideration. ‡ Suggestion. || Stubborn resolution. Sprinkled.

I prize above my dukedom. Mira. 'Would I might But ever see that man!

Pro. Now I arise :

Pro. Hast thou, spirit, Perform'd to point the tempest that I bade Ari. To every article.

tinctly,

[thee?

I boarded the king's ship; now on the beak, Now in the waist, the deck, in every cabin, I flam'd amazement: Sometimes, I'd divide, And burn in many places; on the top-mast, The yards, and bowsprit, would I flame dis[precursors Then meet, and join: Jove's lightnings, the O' the dreadful thunder-claps, more momentary [cracks And sight-out-running were not: The fire, and Of sulphurous roaring, the most mighty Nep. tune [tremble. Seem'd to besiege, and make his bold waves Yea, his dread trident shake. Pro. My brave spirit!

Who was so firm, so constant, that this coilt Would not infect his reason?

Ari. Not a soul

But felt a fever of the mad, and play'd
Some tricks of desperation: All, but mariners,
Plung'd in the foaming brine, and quit the
vessel.
[dinand,
Then all a fire with me: the king's son, Fer-
With hair up-staring (then like reeds, not hair,)
Was the first man that leap'd; cried, Hell is
And all the devils are here.

Pro. Why, that's my spirit!
But was not this nigh shore ?
Ari. Close by, my master.
Pro. But are they, Ariel, safe ?

Ari. Not a hair perish'd;

[empty,

On their sustaining garments not a blemish, But fresher than before; and, as thou bad'st

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,

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
The mariners all under hatches stow'd;

[hid: Whom, 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,t
Bound sadly home for Naples;

[wreck'd,

Supposing that they saw the king's ship
And his great person perish.

Pro. Ariel, thy charge

And in her most unmitigable rage,
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 did'st vent thy
[island,

groans,
As fast as mill-wheels strike: then was this
(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.
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
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

Exactly is perform'd; but there's more work: The pine, and let thee out.

What is the time o' the day?

Ari. Past the mid season.

Ari. I pray thee

Remember, I have done thee worthy service;
Told thee no lies, made no mistakings, serv'd
Without or grudge or grumblings: thou didst
promise

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

Ari. I thank thee, master.

Pro. If thou more murmur'st, I will rend an And peg thee in his knotty entrails, till [oak, Thou hast howl'd away twelve winters,

Ari. Pardon, master:

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 to a nymph o' the
Be subject to no sight but mine; invisible [sea;
To every eye-ball else. Go, take this shape,
And hither come in't; hence, with diligence.
[Exit Ariel.
Awake, dear heart, awake! thou hast slept
[wel];

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
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
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 forth, thou tortoise! when?

Re-enter ARIEL, like a Water-Nymph.

Fine apparition! My quaint Ariel,

Hark in thine ear.

* Do without.

- Fairies,

Bur. Bowgh, wowgh.

As thick as honey-combs, each pinch more Than bees that made them.

[stinging

Cal. I must eat my dinner.

nis island's mine, by Sycorax my mother, Which thou tak'st from me. When thou camest

first,

ou strok'st me, and mad'st much of me;
would'st 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,

And show'd thee all the qualities o' the 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, Which first was mine own king: and here you sty me

In this hard rock, whiles you do keep from me The rest of the island.

Pro. Thou most lying slave, Whom stripes may move, not kindness: I have

us'd thee,

[thee Filth as thou art, with human care; and lodg'd In mine own cell, till thou didst seek to violate The honour of my child.

Cal. O ho, O ho!-'would it had been done! Thou didst prevent me; I had peopled else This isle with Calibans.

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

The watch-dogs bark:

Bur. Bowgh, wowgh.

Hark, hark! I hear

[dispersedly.

The strain of strutting chanticleer,
Cry, Cock-a-doodle-doo.

Fer. Where should this music be? i' the air,

or the earth?

Mira. What is't? a spirit? Lord, how it looks about! Believe me, Sir, It carries a brave form :-But 'tis a spirit. Pro. No, wench; it eats and sleeps, and hath such senses [seest, As we have, such: This gallant which thou Was in the wreck; and but he's something [call him With grief, that's beauty's canker, thou might'st A goodly person: he hath lost his fellows And strays about to find them.

stain'd

Mira. I might call him A thing divine; for nothing natural I ever saw so noble, Pro. It goes on,

Could notabide to be with; therefore wast thou
Deservedly confin'd into this rock,
Who hadst deserv'd more than a prison. [on't
Cal. You taught me language; and my profit
Is, I know how to curse: the red plague rid As my soul prompts it:-Spirit, fine spirit! I'll

[Aside.

[free thee [prayer

On whom these airs attend!-Vouchsafe, my May know, if you remain upon this island; 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; 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? [thee? What wert thou, if the king of Naples heard 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, wreck'd.

Mira. Alack, for mercy!

Fer. Yes, faith, and all his lords; the duke And his brave son, being twain. [of Milan, Pro. The duke of Milan,

And his more braver daughter, could controlt

thee,

* Destroy.

+ Confute

« Previous Continue »

Books