Now does my project gather to a head:My charms crack not; my spirits obey, and timeGoes upright with his carriage. How’s the day?
ARIEL
On the sixth hour; at which time, my lord,You said our work should cease.
PROSPERO
I did say so,When first I rais’d the tempest. Say, my spirit,How fares the King and ’s followers?
ARIEL
Confin’d togetherIn the same fashion as you gave in charge,Just as you left them; all prisoners, sir,In the line grove which weather-fends your cell;They cannot budge till your release. The King,His brother, and yours, abide all three distracted,And the remainder mourning over them,Brimful of sorrow and dismay; but chieflyHim you term’d, sir, “the good old lord, Gonzalo”.His tears run down his beard, like winter’s dropsFrom eaves of reeds; your charm so strongly works ’em,That if you now beheld them, your affectionsWould become tender.
PROSPERO
Dost thou think so, spirit?
ARIEL
Mine would, sir, were I human.
PROSPERO
And mine shall.Hast thou, which art but air, a touch, a feelingOf their afflictions, and shall not myself,One of their kind, that relish all as sharplyPassion as they, be kindlier mov’d than thou art?Though with their high wrongs I am struck to th’ quick,Yet with my nobler reason ’gainst my furyDo I take part: the rarer action isIn virtue than in vengeance: they being penitent,The sole drift of my purpose doth extendNot a frown further. Go release them, Ariel.My charms I’ll break, their senses I’ll restore,And they shall be themselves.
ARIEL
I’ll fetch them, sir.
Exit.
PROSPERO
Ye elves of hills, brooks, standing lakes, andgroves;And ye that on the sands with printless footDo chase the ebbing Neptune, and do fly himWhen he comes back; you demi-puppets thatBy moonshine do the green sour ringlets make,Whereof the ewe not bites; and you whose pastimeIs to make midnight mushrooms, that rejoiceTo hear the solemn curfew; by whose aid,Weak masters though ye be, I have bedimm’dThe noontide sun, call’d forth the mutinous winds,And ’twixt the green sea and the azur’d vaultSet roaring war: to the dread rattling thunderHave I given fire, and rifted Jove’s stout oakWith his own bolt; the strong-bas’d promontoryHave I made shake, and by the spurs pluck’d upThe pine and cedar: graves at my commandHave wak’d their sleepers, op’d, and let ’em forthBy my so potent art. But this rough magicI here abjure; and, when I have requir’dSome heavenly music,—which even now I do,—To work mine end upon their senses thatThis airy charm is for, I’ll break my staff,Bury it certain fathoms in the earth,And deeper than did ever plummet soundI’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 had made, and there stand charmed; which Prospero observing, speaks.
PROSPERO
A solemn air, and the best comforterTo an unsettled fancy, cure thy brains,Now useless, boil’d within thy skull! There stand,For you are spell-stopp’d.Holy Gonzalo, honourable man,Mine eyes, e’en sociable to the show of thine,Fall fellowlycompanionably or as an equal. drops. The charm dissolves apace;And as the morning steals upon the night,Melting the darkness, so their rising sensesBegin to chase the ignorant fumes that mantleTheir clearer reason. O good Gonzalo!My true preserver, and a loyal sirTo him thou follow’st, I will pay thy gracesHome, both in word and deed. Most cruellyDidst thou, Alonso, use me and my daughter:Thy brother was a furtherer in the act.Thou art pinch’d for ’t now, Sebastian. Flesh and blood,You, brother mine, that entertain’d ambition,Expell’d remorse and nature, 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 understandingBegins to swell, and the approaching tideWill shortly fill the reasonable shoresThat now lie foul and muddy. Not one of themThat yet looks on me, or would know me. Ariel,Fetch me the hat and rapier in my cell.
Exit Ariel.
PROSPERO
I will discaseto undress or remove one's outer clothing. me, and myself presentAs I was sometime Milan. Quickly, spirit;Thou shalt ere long be free.
Ariel re-enters, singing, and helps to attire Prospero.
ARIEL
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 flyAfter summer merrily.Merrily, merrily shall I live nowUnder the blossom that hangs on the bough.
PROSPERO
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 asleepUnder the hatches; the master and the boatswainBeing awake, enforce them to this place,And presently, I prithee.
ARIEL
I drink the air before me, and returnOr ere your pulse twice beat.
Exit.
GONZALO
All torment, trouble, wonder and amazementInhabits here. Some heavenly power guide usOut of this fearful country!
PROSPERO
Behold, sir King,The wronged Duke of Milan, Prospero.For more assurance that a living princeDoes now speak to thee, I embrace thy body;And to thee and thy company I bidA hearty welcome.
ALONSO
Whe’er thou be’st he or no,Or some enchanted trifle to abuse me,As late I have been, I not know: thy pulseBeats, 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, a most strange story.Thy dukedom I resign, and do entreatThou pardon me my wrongs. But how should ProsperoBe living and be here?
PROSPERO
First, noble friend,Let me embrace thine age, whose honour cannotBe measur’d or confin’d.
GONZALO
Whether this beOr be not, I’ll not swear.
PROSPERO
You do yet tasteSome subtleties o’ the isle, that will not let youBelieve things certain. Welcome, my friends all.But you, my brace of lords, were I so minded,I here could pluck his highness’ frown upon you,And justify you traitors: at this timeI will tell no tales.
SEBASTIAN
The devil speaks in him.
PROSPERO
No.For you, most wicked sir, whom to call brotherWould even infect my mouth, I do forgiveThy rankest fault, all of them; and requireMy dukedom of thee, which perforce I knowThou must restore.
ALONSO
If thou beest Prospero,Give us particulars of thy preservation;How thou hast met us here, whom three hours sinceWere wrack’d upon this shore; where I have lost,—How sharp the point of this remembrance is!—My dear son Ferdinand.
PROSPERO
I am woe for ’t, sir.
ALONSO
Irreparable is the loss, and patienceSays it is past her cure.
PROSPERO
I rather thinkYou have not sought her help, of whose soft grace,For the like loss I have her sovereign aid,And rest myself content.
ALONSO
You the like loss!
PROSPERO
As great to me, as late; and, supportableTo make the dear loss, have I means much weakerThan you may call to comfort you, for IHave lost my daughter.
ALONSO
A daughter?O heavens, that they were living both in Naples,The King and Queen there! That they were, I wishMyself were mudded in that oozy bedWhere my son lies. When did you lose your daughter?
PROSPERO
In this last tempest. I perceive, these lordsAt this encounter do so much admireThat they devour their reason, and scarce thinkTheir eyes do offices of truth, their wordsAre natural breath; but, howsoe’er you haveBeen justled from your senses, know for certainThat I am Prospero, and that very dukeWhich was thrust forth of Milan; who most strangelyUpon this shore, where you were wrack’d, was landedTo be the lord on’t. No more yet of this;For ’tis a chronicle of day by day,Not a relation for a breakfast norBefitting 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;At least bring forth a wonder, to content yeAs much as me my dukedom.
Here Prospero discovers Ferdinand and Miranda playing at chess.
MIRANDA
Sweet lord, you play me false.
FERDINAND
No, my dearest love,I would not for the world.
MIRANDA
Yes, for a score of kingdoms you should wrangle,And I would call it fair play.
ALONSO
If this proveA vision of the island, one dear sonShall I twice lose.
SEBASTIAN
A most high miracle!
FERDINAND
Though the seas threaten, they are merciful.I have curs’d them without cause.
Kneels to Alonso.
ALONSO
Now all the blessingsOf a glad father compass thee about!Arise, and say how thou cam’st here.
MIRANDA
O, wonder!How many goodly creatures are there here!How beauteous mankind is! O brave new worldThat has such people in ’t!
PROSPERO
’Tis new to thee.
ALONSO
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?
FERDINAND
Sir, she is mortal;But by immortal Providence she’s mine.I chose her when I could not ask my fatherFor his advice, nor thought I had one. SheIs daughter to this famous Duke of Milan,Of whom so often I have heard renown,But never saw before; of whom I haveReceiv’d a second life; and second fatherThis lady makes him to me.
ALONSO
I am hers:But, O, how oddly will it sound that IMust ask my child forgiveness!
PROSPERO
There, sir, stop:Let us not burden our remembrances withA heaviness that’s gone.
GONZALO
I have 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 wayWhich brought us hither.
ALONSO
I say, Amen, Gonzalo!
GONZALO
Was Milan thrust from Milan, that his issueShould become Kings of Naples? O, rejoiceBeyond a common joy, and set it downWith gold on lasting pillars: in one voyageDid Claribel her husband find at Tunis,And Ferdinand, her brother, found a wifeWhere he himself was lost; Prospero his dukedomIn a poor isle; and all of us ourselves,When no man was his own.
ALONSO
Give me your hands:Let grief and sorrow still embrace his heartThat doth not wish you joy!
GONZALO
Be it so. Amen!
Re-enter Ariel with the Master and Boatswain amazedly following.
GONZALO
O look, sir, look, sir! Here are more of us.I prophesied, if a gallows were on land,This fellow could not drown. Now, blasphemy,That swear’st grace o’erboard, not an oath on shore?Hast thou no mouth by land? What is the news?
BOATSWAIN
The best news is that we have safely foundOur 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 whenWe first put out to sea.
ARIEL
Sir, all this serviceHave I done since I went.
PROSPERO
My tricksy spirit!
ALONSO
These are not natural events; they strengthenFrom strange to stranger. Say, how came you hither?
BOATSWAIN
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 noisesOf roaring, shrieking, howling, jingling chains,And mo diversity of sounds, all horrible,We were awak’d; straightway, at liberty:Where we, in all her trim, freshly beheldOur royal, good, and gallant ship; our masterCap’ring to eye her. On a tricein an instant; immediately., so please you,Even in a dream, were we divided from them,And were brought moping hither.
ARIEL
Was’t well done?
PROSPERO
Bravely, my diligence. Thou shalt be free.
ALONSO
This is as strange a maze as e’er men trod;And there is in this business more than natureWas ever conduct of: some oracleMust rectify our knowledge.
PROSPERO
Sir, my liege,Do not infest your mind with beating onThe strangeness of this business. At pick’d leisure,Which shall be shortly, single I’ll resolve you,Which to you shall seem probable, of everyThese happen’d accidents; till when, be cheerfulAnd think of each thing well. Come hither, spirit;Set Caliban and his companions free;Untie the spell.
Exit Ariel.
PROSPERO
How fares my gracious sir?There are yet missing of your companySome few odd lads that you remember not.
Re-enter Ariel driving in Caliban, Stephano and Trinculo in their stolen apparel.
STEPHANO
Every man shift for all the rest, and let no man take care for himself, for all is but fortune.—Coragioan Italian exhortation meaning ‘courage!’ or ‘take heart!’.! bully-monster, coragio!
TRINCULO
If these be true spies which I wear in my head, here’s a goodly sight.
CALIBAN
O Setebosthe god worshipped by the witch Sycorax and invoked by her son Caliban., these be brave spirits indeed.How fine my master is! I am afraidHe will chastise me.
SEBASTIAN
Ha, ha!What things are these, my lord Antonio?Will money buy them?
ANTONIO
Very like; one of themIs a plain fish, and, no doubt, marketable.
PROSPERO
Mark but the badges of these men, my lords,Then say if they be true. This mis-shapen knave,His mother was a witch; and one so strongThat could control the moon, make flows and ebbs,And deal in her command without her power.These three have robb’d me; and this demi-devil,For he’s a bastard one, had plotted with themTo take my life. Two of these fellows youMust know and own; this thing of darkness IAcknowledge mine.
CALIBAN
I shall be pinch’d to death.
ALONSO
Is not this Stephano, my drunken butler?
SEBASTIAN
He is drunk now: where had he wine?
ALONSO
And Trinculo is reeling-ripe: where should theyFind this grand liquor that hath gilded ’em?How cam’st thou in this pickle?
TRINCULO
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.
SEBASTIAN
Why, how now, Stephano!
STEPHANO
O! touch me not. I am not Stephano, but a cramp.
PROSPERO
You’d be King o’ the isle, sirrah?
STEPHANO
I should have been a sore one, then.
ALONSO
This is as strange a thing as e’er I look’d on.
Pointing to Caliban.
PROSPERO
He is as disproportioned in his mannersAs in his shape. Go, sirrah, to my cell;Take with you your companions. As you lookTo have my pardon, trim it handsomely.
CALIBAN
Ay, that I will; and I’ll be wise hereafter,And seek for grace. What a thrice-double assWas I, to take this drunkard for a god,And worship this dull fool!
PROSPERO
Go to; away!
ALONSO
Hence, and bestow your luggage where you found it.
SEBASTIAN
Or stole it, rather.
Exeunta stage direction meaning that two or more characters leave the stage. Caliban, Stephano and Trinculo.
PROSPERO
Sir, I invite your Highness and your trainTo my poor cell, where you shall take your restFor this one night; which, part of it, I’ll wasteWith such discourse as, I not doubt, shall make itGo quick away: the story of my lifeAnd the particular accidents gone bySince I came to this isle: and in the mornI’ll bring you to your ship, and so to Naples,Where I have hope to see the nuptialOf these our dear-belov’d solemnized;And thence retire me to my Milan, whereEvery third thought shall be my grave.
ALONSO
I longTo hear the story of your life, which mustTake the ear strangely.
PROSPERO
I’ll deliver all;And promise you calm seas, auspicious gales,And sail so expeditious that shall catchYour royal fleet far off. My Ariel,chick,That is thy charge: then to the elementsBe free, and fare thou well! Please you, draw near.