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ACT V.

THE TEMPEST.

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:

Merrily, merrily, shall I live now,

Under the blossom that hangs on the bough.

Pro. Why, that's my dainty Ariel! I shall miss thee;

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Pro.

ACT V. SCENE 1.-On the bat's back I do fly.

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.

Whe'r thou beest he, or no,
Alon.
Or some enchanted trifle 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,
This must crave
I fear, a madness held me.

(An if this be at all) a most strange story.

Thy dukedom I resign; and do entreat

Thou pardon me my wrongs.-But how should
Prospero

Be living, and be here?

Pro.

First, noble friend,

Let me embrace thine age, whose honour cannot

Be measur'd, or confin'd.

Gon.

Whether this be,

You do yet taste

Or be not, I'll not swear.

Pro.

Some subtleties o' the isle, that will not let you

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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?

Pro. In this last tempest. I perceive, these lords At this encounter do so much admire,

That they devour their reason, and scarce think
Their eyes do offices of truth, their words
Are natural breath; but, howso'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 of this;
For 'tis a chronicle of day by day,

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 have given me again,
I will requite you with as good a thing;

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Sir, my liege,

Do not infest your mind with beating on

The strangeness of this business: at pick'd leisure, Which shall be shortly, single I'll resolve you (Which to you shall seem probable) of every These happen'd accidents; till when, be cheerful, And think of each thing well.-Come hither, spirit; [Aside.

Set Caliban and his companions free;
Untie the spell.-[Exit ARIEL.]-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.

Ste. Every man shift for all the rest, and let no man take care for himself, for all is but fortune.— Coragio! bully-monster, coragio!

Trin. If these be true spies which I wear in my head, 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.

Seb.

Ha, ha!

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Find this grand liquor that hath gilded 'em?—
How cam'st 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.

Seb. Why, how now, Stephano!

Ste. O touch me not: I am not Stephano, but a cramp.

Pro. You'd be king of the isle, sirrah? Ste. I should have been a sore one then. Alon. This is a strange thing as e'er I look'd on. [Pointing to CALIBAN. Pro. 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

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[Exeunt CAL, STE., and TRIN.

Pro. 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 solemniz'd;
And thence retire me to my Milan, where
Every third thought shall be my grave.
Alon.

I long
To hear the story of your life, which must
Take the ear strangely.

Pro.

I'll deliver all;

And promise you calm seas, auspicious gales, And sail, so expeditious, that shall catch

Your royal fleet far off.-My Ariel;-chick,-
That is thy charge: then, to the elements;
Be free, and fare thou well!-Please you draw near.
[Exeun

EPILOGUE, spoken by PROSPERO.
Now my charms are all o'erthrown,
And what strength I have's mine own;
Which is most faint: now, 'tis true,
I must be here confin'd by you,
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.
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 reliev'd 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.

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ACT I.-SCENE I.

Boatswain"-Upon this scene Johnson remarks"In this naval dialogue, perhaps the first example of sailors' language exhibited on the stage, there are, as I have been told by a skilful navigator, some inaccuracies and contradictory orders." Malone, in reply to this, very properly pointed out that the orders should be considered as given not at once, but successively, as the emergency required. In Boswell's edition, we have a highly valuable communication from the second Lord Mulgrave, showing most conclusively that Shakespeare's technical knowledge of seamanship must have been the result of the most accurate personal observation, or, what is perhaps more difficult, of the power of combining and applying the information derived from others. Lord Mulgrave supposes Shakespeare must have acquired this technical knowledge "by conversation with some of the most skilful seamen of that time." He adds, "no books had then been published on the subject." Lord Mulgrave then exhibits the ship in five positions, showing how strictly the words of the dialogue represent these. We transcribe the general observations by which these technical illustrations are introduced:

"The succession of events is strictly observed in the natural progress of the distress described; the expedients adopted are the most proper that could have been devised for a chance of safety; and it is neither to the want of skill of the seamen nor the bad qualities of the ship, but solely to the power of Prospero, that the shipwreck is to be attributed. The words of command are not only strictly proper, but are only such as point the object to be attained, and no superfluous ones of detail. Shakespeare's ship was too well manned to make it necessary to tell the seamen how they were to do it, as well as what they were to do. He has shown a knowledge of the new improvements, as well as the doubtful points of seamanship. One of the latter he has introduced, under the only circumstances in which it was indisputable."

Mr. Campbell gives the testimony of Captain Glascock, R. N., to the correctness of Shakespeare in nautical matters:-"The boatswain in the TEMPEST delivers himself in the true vernacular style of the forecastle."

"-fall to't YARELY"-The adverb of yare-quick, ready. Yare is used several times by Shakespeare as a sea-term, (which it was,) but not exclusively so.

"-PLAY the men"-i. e. Behave like men. So in our translation of the Bible, (2 Sam. x. 12,)-"Let us play the men for our people."

"GONZALO. I have great comfort from this fellow""It may be observed of Gonzalo, that, being the only good man that appears with the king, he is the only man that preserves his cheerfulness in the wreck, and his hope on the island."-JOHNSON.

following note on this direction:-"The striking the "Down with the topmast"-Lord Mulgrave has the topmasts was a new invention in Shakespeare's time, which he here very properly introduces. Sir Henry Manwaring says, 'It is not agreed among all seamen whether it is better for a ship to hull with her topmast up or down.' In the Postscript to the Dictionary, he afterwards gives his own opinion:- If you have searoom, it is never good to strike the topmast.' Shakespeare has placed his ship in the situation in which it was indisputably right to strike the topmast-where he had not sea-rooin.'

"-Set her two courses; off to sea again"-With the two or three later editors, we follow the punctuation of Lord Mulgrave, a sailor critic. Stevens has"Set her two courses off." Captain Glascock also objects to this ordinary punctuation; and explains, "that the ship's head is to be put leeward, and that the vessel is to be drawn off the land under that canvass nautically denominated the two courses."

"MERELY cheated"-i. e. Absolutely: a common mode of using the word of old.

"-to GLUT him"-"To glut" is here used in its older sense, for to swallow down, to englut; a sense in which Milton continued to use it, ("glutted offal;") though it had, even in Shakespeare's day, given way to the present signification.

"We split, we split!-Farewell, my wife and children"-This, Collier, adhering to the folio, gives as the conclusion of Gonzalo's speech. Johnson applied it to the "confused noise within," and not as spoken by any determinate character. These words are very obviously appropriate in that connection, and very much otherwise as part of Gonzalo's speech, in blank verse. Mr. Collier is the only editor who has thought differently.

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