And a clear life ensuing.

Sour-ey'd disdain, and discord, shall bestrew The union of your bed with weeds so loathly, He vanishes in thunder: then, to soft music, enter That you shall hate it both: therefore, take heed, the Shapes again, and dance with mops and As Hymen's lamps shall light you. mowes, and carry out the table. Fer. As I hope With such love as 'tis now; the murkiest den, For quiet days, fair issue, and long life, The most opportune place, the strongest suggestion Our worser Genius can, shall never melt Mine honour into lust; to take away The edge of that day's celebration, When I shall think, or Phoebus' steeds are founder'd Or night kept chain'd below.

Pro. [Aside.] Bravely the figure of this harpy
hast thou

Perform'd, my Ariel; a grace it had, devouring:
Of my instruction hast thou nothing 'bated,
In what thou hadst to say: so, with good life,
And observation strange, my meaner ministers
Their several kinds have done: my high charms
work,

And these, mine enemies, are all knit up

In their distractions: they now are in my power;
And in these fits I leave them, whilst I visit
Young Ferdinand (whom they suppose is drown'd,)
And his and my lov'd darling.
[Exit Prospero from above.
Gon. I' the name of something holy, sir, why
stand you

In this strange stare?
Alon.

O, it is monstrous! monstrous!
Methought, the billows spoke, and told me of it;
The winds did sing it to me; and the thunder,
That deep and dreadful organ-pipe, pronounc'd
The name of Prosper; it did bass my trespass.
Therefore my son i' the ooze is bedded; and
I'll seek him deeper than c'er plummet sounded,
And with him there lie mudded.

Seb.
I'll fight their legions o'er.
Ant.

[Exit.
But one fiend at a time,

I'll be thy second.
[Exeunt Seb. and Ant.

Gon. All three of them are desperate; their

great guilt,

Like poison given to work a great time after,
Now 'gins to bite the spirits:-I do beseech you
That are of suppler joints, follow them swiftly,
And hinder them from what this ecstacy?
May now provoke them to.
Adr.

ACT IV.

Follow, I pray you.
[Exeunt.

Pro.
Fairly spoke :
Sit then, and talk with her, she is thine own.-
What, Ariel: my industrious servant Ariel!

Now come, my Ariel; bring a corollary,"

SCENE I.-Before Prospero's cell. Enter Pros- Rather than want a spirit; appear, and pertly.

pero, Ferdinand, and Miranda.

Pro. If I have too austerely punish'd you,
Your compensation makes amends; for I
Have given you here a thread of mine own life,
Or that for which I live; whom once again
I tender to thy hand: all thy vexations
Were but my trials of thy love, and thou
Hast strangely stood the test: here, afore Heaven,
I ratify this my rich gift. 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.

Fer.
Against an oracle.

I do believe it,

Pro. Then, as my gift, and thine own acquisition
Worthily purchas'd, take my daughter: But
If thou dost break her virgin knot before
All sanctimonious ceremonies may
With full and holy rite be minister'd,
No sweet aspersion' shall the heavens let fail
To make this contract grow; but barren hate,

(1) Pure, blameless. (2) Alienation of mind.

No tongue; all eyes; be silent. [Soft music.

A Masque. Enter Iris.

Iris. Ceres, most bounteous lady, thy rich leas
Of wheat, rye, barley, vetches, oats, and pease;
Thy turfy mountains, where live nibbling sheep,
And flat meads thatch'd with stover, them to keep;
Thy banks with peonied and lilied brims,
Which spongy April at thy hest' betrims,
To make cold nymphs chaste crowns; and thy
broom groves,

Whose shadow the dismissed bachelor loves,
Being lass-lorn; thy pole-clipt vineyard;
And thy sea-marge, steril, and rocky-hard,
Where thou thyself dost air: The queen o' the sky.
Whose watery arch, and messenger, am I,
Bids thee leave these; and with her sovereign

Enter Ceres.

Cer. Hail, many-colour'd messenger, that ne'er
Dost disobey the wife of Jupiter;
Who, with thy saffron wings, upon my flowers
Diffusest honey-drops, refreshing showers:
And with each end of thy blue bow dost crown
My bosky' acres, and my unshrubb'd down,
Rich scarf to my proud earth; Why hath thy queen
Summon'd me hither, to this short-grass'd green!
Iris. A contract of true love to celebrate;
And some donation freely to estate
On the bless'd lovers.

Be not afraid: I met her deity
Cutting the clouds towards Paphos; and her son
Dove-drawn with her: here thought they to have

Her waspish-headed son has broke his arrows,
Swears he will shoot no more, but play with spar-
rows,

And be a boy right out.
Cer.
Highest queen of state,
Great Juno comes; I know her by her gait.

Enter Juno.

Juno. How does my bounteous sister? Go with

me

To bless this twain, that they may prosperous be,
And honour'd in their issue.

SONG.

Juno. Honour, riches, marriage-blessing,
Long continuance, and increasing,
Hourly joys be still upon you!
Juno sings her blessings on you.

Cer. Earth's increase, and foizon3 plenty;
Barns, and garners never empty;
Vines, with clust'ring bunches growing;
Plants, with goodly burden bowing;
Spring come to you, at the farthest,
In the very end of harvest;
Scarcity, and want, shall shun you;
Ceres' blessing so is on you.

Fer. This is a most majestic vision, and
Harmonious charmingly: May I be bold
To think these spirits?

Pro.
Spirits, which by mine art
I have from their confines call'd to enact

My present fancies."

Fer.

Let me live here ever; So rare a wonder'd father, and a wife, Make this place Paradise.

There's something else to do: hush, and be mute,
Or else our spell is marr'd.

Iris. You nymphs, call'd Naiads, of the wand'ring
brooks,

With your sedg'd crowns, and ever harmless looks,
Leave your crisp channels, and on this green land
Answer your summons; Juno does command:
Come, temperate nymphs, and help to celebrate
A contract of true love; be not too late.

Enter certain Nymphs.

You sun-burn'd sicklemen, of August weary,
Come hither from the furrow, and be merry;
Make holy-day: your rye-straw hats put on,
And these fresh nymphs encounter every one
In country footing.

Enter certain Reapers, properly habiled; they join
with the Nymphs in a graceful dance; towards
the end whereof Prospero starts suddenly, and
speaks; after which, to a strange, hollow, and
confused noise, they heavily vanish.

Pro. [Aside.] I had forgot that foul conspiracy
Of the beast Caliban, and his confederates,
Against my life; the minute of their plot
Is almost come.- -[To the Spirits.] Well done ;-
avoid;-no more.

Fer. This is most strange: your father's in some
passion
That works him strongly.
Mira.
Never till this day,
Saw I him touch'd with anger so distemper'd.
Pro. You do look, my son, in a mov'd sort,
As if you were dismay'd: be cheerful, sir:
Our revels now are ended; these our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits, and
Are melted into air, into thin air:
And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve;
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,"
Leave not a rack behind: We are such stuff
As dreams are made of, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.-Sir, I am vex'd;
Bear with my weakness; my old brain is troubled.
Be not disturb'd with my infirmity:
If you be pleas'd, retire into my cell,
And there repose; a turn or two I'll walk,
To still my beating mind.
Fer. Mira.
We wish your peace.
[Exeunt.
Pro. Come with a thought:-I thank you :-
Ariel, come.

Enter Ariel.

Ari. Thy thoughts I cleave to; What's thy
pleasure?
Pro.

We must prepare to meet with Caliban.

Spirit,

Ari. Ay, my commander: when I presented
Ceres,

I thought to have told thee of it; but I fear'd

[Juno and Ceres whisper, and send Iris on Lest I might anger thee.

Pro.

employment.

Juno and Ceres whisper seriously;

Sweet now, silence;

Pro. Say again, where didst thou leave these varlets?

Ari. I told you, sir, they were red-hot with drinking?

(6) A body of clouds in motion; but it is most

(4) Able to produce such wonders) Abundanted, probable that the author wrote track.

A noise of hunters heard. Enter divers Spirits, in shape of hounds, and hunt them about ; Prospero and Ariel setting them on.

Pro. Hey, Mountain, hey! Ari. Silver! there it goes, Silver! Pro. Fury, Fury! there, Tyrant, there! hark, hark! [Cal. Stc. and Trin. are driven out. a Go, charge my goblins that they grind their joints With dry convulsions; shorten up their sinews With aged cramps; and more pinch-spotted make them,

Cal. The dropsy drown this fool! what do you Him you term'd, sir, The good old lord Gonzalo;

From eaves of reeds:1 your charm so strongly works Didst thou, Alonso, use me and my daughter: them, Thy brother was a furtherer in the act ;Thou'rt pinch'd for't now, Sebastian.-Flesh and blood,

That if you now beheld them, your affections
Would become tender.

Pro.

Dost thou think so, spirit?
Ari. Mine would, sir, were I human.
Pro.
And mine shall.
Hast thou, which art but air, a touch of feeling
Of their afflictions; and shall not myself,
One of their kind, that relish all as sharply,
Passion as they, be kindlier mov'd than thou art?
Though with their high wrongs I am struck to the
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.
Pro. Ye elves of hills, brooks, standing lakes,
and groves;

And ye, that on the sands with printless foot
Do chase the ebbing Neptune, and do fly him,
When he comes back; you demy-puppets, that
By moon-shine do the green-sour ringlets make,
Whereof the ewe not bites; and you, whose pas-
time

Is to make midnight-mushrooms; that rejoice
To hear the solemn curfew; by whose aid
(Weak masters 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 azur'd vault
Set roaring war: to the dread rattling thunder
Have I given fire, and rifted Jove's stout oak
With his own bolt: the strong-bas'd promontory
Have I made shake; and by the spurs pluck'd up
The pine and cedar graves, at my command,
Have wak'd their sleepers; op'd, and let them
forth

By my so potent art: But this rough magic
I here abjure: and, when I have requir'd
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.

You brother mine, that entertain'd ambition,
Expell'd remorse2 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 understanding
Begins to swell: and the approaching tide
Will shortly fill the reasonable shores,
That now lie 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 dis-case me, and myself present,
As I was sometime Milan:-quickly, spirit;
Thou shalt ere long be free.

Ariel re-enters, singing, and helps to altire
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;

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 awake, enforce them to this place;
And presently, I pr'ythee.

Ari. I drink the air before me, and return
Or e'er your pulse twice beat.

[Exit Ariel. Gon. All torment, trouble, wonder, and amazement

Inhabits here: Some heavenly power guide us
Out of this fearful country!

Pro.

Behold, sir king,
The wrong'd 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.

Whe'r thou beest he, or no, Or some enchanted trifle to abuse me, Re-enter Ariel after him, Alonso, with a frantic As late I have been, I not know thy pulse gesture, attended by Gonzalo; Sebastian and Beats, as of flesh and blood; and, since I saw thee, Antonio in like manner, attended by Adrian and The affliction of my mind amends, with which, Francisco: They all enter the circle which Pros- I fear, a madness held me: this must crave pero had made, and there stand charmed; which (An if this be at all) a most strange story. Prospero observing, speaks.

A solemn air, and the best comforter
To 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, even sociable to the show of thine,
Fall fellowly drops.-The charm dissolves apace;
And as the morning steals upon the night,
Melting the darkness, so their rising senses
Begin to chase the ignorant fumes that mantle
Their clearer reason.-O my good Gonzalo,
My true preserver, and a loyal sir

To him thou follow'st; I will pay thy graces
Home, both in word and deed.-Most cruelly

(1) Thatch. (2) Pity, or tenderness of heart.

Thy dukedom I resign; and do entreat
Thou pardon me my wrongs:-But how should
Prospero

Be living, and be here ?

First, noble friend, whose honour cannot

Whether this be,

You do yet taste

Some subtleties o' the isle, that will not let you
Believe things certain :-Welcome, my friends
all:

But you, my brace of lords, were I so minded,
Aside to Seb. and Ant.
I here could pluck his highness' frown upon you,
(3) Whether.