 | The tempest |  |
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ACT I.
SCENE I.
The Stage darkened—represents a cloudy sky, a very rocky coast, and a ship on a tempestuous sea.—Ariel comes upon the stage.AIR.
Arise
, arise, ye subterranean winds,
Arise ye deadly blighting fiends;
Rise you, from whom devouring plagues have birth,
You that i' th' vast and hollow womb of earth
Engender earthquakes, make whole countries shake;
Ye eager winds, whose rapid force can make
All, but the fix'd and solid centre, shake:
Come, drive yon ship to that part of the isle
Where nature never yet did smile.
Arise ye deadly blighting fiends;
Rise you, from whom devouring plagues have birth,
You that i' th' vast and hollow womb of earth
Engender earthquakes, make whole countries shake;
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All, but the fix'd and solid centre, shake:
Come, drive yon ship to that part of the isle
Where nature never yet did smile.
Myself will fly on board, and on the beak,
In the waste, the deck, in every cabin,
I'll flame amazement. Sometimes I'll divide,
And burn in many places. On the top-mast,
The yards, and bowsprit will I flame distinctly,
Then meet and join. Jove's lightnings, the precursors
Of dreadful thunder-claps, more momentary
And sight out-running, are the the fire and cracks
Of sulph'rous roaring; the most mighty Neptune
Shall seem to siege, make his bold waves tremble,
Yea, his dread trident shake.
[Exit.
In the waste, the deck, in every cabin,
I'll flame amazement. Sometimes I'll divide,
And burn in many places. On the top-mast,
The yards, and bowsprit will I flame distinctly,
Then meet and join. Jove's lightnings, the precursors
Of dreadful thunder-claps, more momentary
And sight out-running, are the the fire and cracks
Of sulph'rous roaring; the most mighty Neptune
Shall seem to siege, make his bold waves tremble,
Yea, his dread trident shake.
Repeated flashes of lightning, and claps of thunder.
SCENE II.
A part of the island near Prospero's cell.Enter Prospero and Miranda.
MIRANDA.
If by your art (my dearest father) you have
Put the wild waters in this roar, allay them.
O! I have suffer'd with those I saw suffer.
Had I been any god of pow'r, I would
Have sunk the sea within the earth, or e'er
It should the goodly ship have swallow'd, and
The freighting souls within her.
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Hark how the winds rush from their caves,
Hark how old ocean frets and raves,
From their deep roots the rocks be tears;
Whole deluges lets fly,
That dash against the sky,
And seem to drown the stars.
Hark how old ocean frets and raves,
From their deep roots the rocks be tears;
Whole deluges lets fly,
That dash against the sky,
And seem to drown the stars.
PROSPERO.
Tell your piteous heart, there's no harm done;
I have done nothing, but in care of thee,
My child, who art ignorant of what thou art;
But I will now inform thee—pray attend:
'Tis twelve years since thy father was the duke
Of Milan—be not amaz'd, my daughter;
Thou art a princess of no less issue.
MIRANDA.
O the heav'ns, what foul play had we!
PROSPERO.
Mark me well.
I then neglecting worldly ends, all dedicated
To study, and the bettering of my mind,
Did cast the government on my brother,
Call'd Anthonio.—He, from substitution,
And executing the outward face of
Royalty, with all prerogative, did
Believe he was indeed the duke; hence his
Ambition growing, he confederates
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Who, for homage and certain tribute, agrees
To extirpate me from my dukedom, and
To confer fair Milan on my brother:
This settled, and an army levy'd; one night,
Fated to the purpose, did Anthonio open
The gates of Milan, and i'th' dead of darkness,
The ministers for the purpose, hurry'd thence
Me, and thy crying self; in fine, they forc'd us
Out to sea, in a rotten unrigg'd boat,
Where they left us to the mercy of the winds.
AIR.
In pity, Neptune smooths the liquid way,
Obsequious Tritons on the surface play,
And sportful dolphins with a nimble glance,
To the bright sun their glitt'ring scales advance.
In oozy bed profound the billows sleep,
No clamorous winds awake the silent deep;
With safety thro' the sea our boat is bore.
In gentle gales we're wasted to the shore.
Here in this island we arriv'd, and here
Obsequious Tritons on the surface play,
And sportful dolphins with a nimble glance,
To the bright sun their glitt'ring scales advance.
In oozy bed profound the billows sleep,
No clamorous winds awake the silent deep;
With safety thro' the sea our boat is bore.
In gentle gales we're wasted to the shore.
Have I, thy school-master, made thee more profit
Than other princes can, who have more time
For vainer hours, and tutors not so careful.
MIRANDA.
Heav'n thank you for't!
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Know further, that fortune,
Now grown bountiful to this shore, hath brought
Mine enemies; and, by my prescience,
I find my zenith doth depend upon
A most propitious star, whose influence
If now I court not, but omit, my fortunes
Will ever after drop.—
Thou art inclin'd to sleep; 'tis a good dulness,
And give it way; I know thou can'st not chuse.
AIR.
MIRANDA.
Come, O sleep, my eyelids close,
Lull my soul to soft repose.
PROSPERO.
Approach, my Ariel.
SCENE III.
Enter Ariel.ARIEL.
All hail, great master! grave sir, hail! I come
To answer thy best pleasure; be't to fly,
To swim, to dive into the fire, to ride
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Ariel, and all his qualities.
AIR.
In the bright moonshine, while winds whistle loud,
Tivy, tivy, tivy, we mount and we fly,
All racking along in a downy white cloud:
And lest our leap from the sky should prove too far,
We slide on the back of a new-falling star.
Merry, merry, merry, we sail from the east,
Half tippled at a rainbow feast.
Tivy, tivy, tivy, we mount and we fly,
All racking along in a downy white cloud:
And lest our leap from the sky should prove too far,
We slide on the back of a new-falling star.
Merry, merry, merry, we sail from the east,
Half tippled at a rainbow feast.
PROSPERO.
Spirit, thou hast perform'd to point
The tempest that I bade thee, and dispos'd
The ship and princes exactly to thy charge;
But there's more work: what is the time o'th' day?
ARIEL.
Past the mid-season.
AIR.
PROSPERO.
We must work, we must haste;
Noontide hour is long since past;
Sprights that glimmer in the sun,
Into shades already run;
Naples will be here anon.
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Let me remember thee what thou hast promis'd.
PROSPERO.
What is't thou can'st demand?
ARIEL.
My liberty.
PROSPERO.
Before the time be out? No more.
Do'st thou forget
The foul witch Sycorax, the dam of Caliban,
Whom I now keep in service?
ARIEL.
No.
PROSPERO.
Thou do'st, and think'st it much to tread the ooze
Of the salt deep;
To run against the sharp wind of the north,
To do my business in the veins of the earth,
When it is bak'd with frost!
ARIEL.
I do not, sir.
PROSPERO.
Thou best know'st what torment I found thee in:
It was my art, when I arriv'd and heard thee,
That made the pine, within whose rift thou wast
Imprisoned, to gape and let thee out;
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And peg thee in his knotty entrails, till thou
Hast howl'd out twelve long winters.
ARIEL.
Pardon, master.
PROSPERO.
Go, make thyself like a nymph of the sea;
Be subject to no mortal sight but mine.
Hark thee in thine ear—
ARIEL.
My lord, it shall be done.
[Exit.
PROSPERO.
Awake, dear heart, awake! Thou hast slept well,
Awake—
MIRANDA.
The strangeness of your story put
Heaviness in me.
[Exeunt.
SCENE IV.
Enter Ferdinand—and Ariel invisible.AIR.
ARIEL.
Come unto the yellow sands,
And then take hands;
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The wild waves whist,
Foot it featly here and there,
And sweet spirits the burthen bear.
FERDINAND.
Where should this music be, i'th' air, or earth?
It sounds no more, and sure it waits upon
Some god of this island. Sitting on a bank,
Weeping against the king my father's wreck,
This music hover'd on the waters,
Allaying both their fury and my passion
With chearing airs: thence I follow'd it,
(Or it has drawn me rather) but 'tis gone;
No, it begins again!
AIR.
ARIEL.
Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made:
Those are pearls that were his eyes;
Nothing of him that doth fade,
But doth suffer a sea-change,
Into something rich and strange:
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell;
Hark! now I hear them, ding, dong, bell.
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This is no mortal business, nor no sound
That the earth owns: I hear it now above me.
It must mean good or ill, and here I am.
ARIEL.
Here I am.
FERDINAND.
Hah! art thou so? The spirit's turn'd an echo.
ARIEL.
An echo.
FERDINAND.
This might seem pleasant, could the burthen of
My griefs accord with any thing but sighs.
ARIEL.
Sighs.
FERDINAND.
And my last words, like those of dying men,
Need no reply. Fain I would go to shades,
Where few would wish to follow me.
ARIEL.
Follow me.
FERDINAND.
I will discourse no more with thee,
Nor follow one step further.
ARIEL.
One step further.
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This must have more importance than an echo.
ARIEL.
An echo.
FERDINAND.
I'll try if it will answer when I sing
My sorrows to the murmur of this brook.
ARIEL.
This brook.
DUETT.
FERDINAND.
Go thy way.
ARIEL.
Go thy way.
FERDINAND.
Why should'st thou stay?
ARIEL.
Why should'st thou stay?
FERDINAND.
Where the winds whistle, and where the streams creep,
Under you willow-tree fain would I sleep:
Then let me alone,
For 'tis time to be gone.
ARIEL.
For 'tis time to be gone.
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Some strange felicity;
Follow me, follow me,
And thou shalt see.
[Exeunt.
SCENE V.
Changes to the wild part of the island.Enter Stephano, Ventoso, and Mustacho.
VENTOSO.
This will be a doleful day with Suky.
She gave me a gilt nutmeg at parting;
That's lost too. O she's a most charming wench.
MUSTACHO.
Beshrew thy heart, for thus reminding me
Of my wise: I should ne'er have thought of her;
But nature will shew itself; I must melt.
STEPHANO.
Look, look, poor Mustacho weeps for grief.
VENTOSO.
In truth, he sheds the brandy from his eyes.
STEPHANO.
Hang wives and mistresses, let's drink about.
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Here's to thee, Tom, this whining love despise;
Pledge me, my friend, and drink till thou art wise.
It sparkles brighter far than she;
'Tis pure and right, without deceit;
And such no woman e'er will be;
No, they are all sophisticate;
Follies they have so numberless in store,
That only he who loves them can have more;
Neither their sighs nor tears are true,
Those idly blow, these idly fall;
Nothing like to ours at all,
But sighs and tears have sexes too.
Courage, my lads, this island is our own;
Pledge me, my friend, and drink till thou art wise.
It sparkles brighter far than she;
'Tis pure and right, without deceit;
And such no woman e'er will be;
No, they are all sophisticate;
Follies they have so numberless in store,
That only he who loves them can have more;
Neither their sighs nor tears are true,
Those idly blow, these idly fall;
Nothing like to ours at all,
But sighs and tears have sexes too.
The king, the prince, and all their train are drown'd.
VENTOSO.
Then, my good friends, let's form a government.
STEPHANO.
I was the master at sea, and will be
Duke at land: you, Mustacho, was my mate,
And now I'm prince, shalt be my viceroy.
MUSTACHO.
Stephano, let me speak for the people,
Because they are but few, or rather none,
Within this island to speak for themselves:
Know that, to prevent the shedding Christian blood,
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Provided I be viceroy over him.
Good people, say, are ye all satisfy'd?
What, none answer?—Their silence gives consent.
SCENE VI.
Enter Trincalo (with a Bottle) half drunk.TRINCALO.
I shall no more to sea;
Here I shall die on shore.
VENTOSO.
The ghost of Trincalo, our brave boatswain!
Be not afraid, 'tis very Trincalo.
How got you on shore?
TRINCALO.
On a butt of sack.
My cellar is a rock, by the sea-side.
STEPHANO.
Welcome, subject, to our dominion.
TRINCALO.
What subject? what dominion? Here, boys,
Here's old sack: I'll be old Simon the king.
But are you all alive?—for Trincalo
Will tipple with no ghosts, till he be dead.
Stephano, thy Hand.—
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You must kiss it then.
He is chosen duke, in full assembly.
TRINCALO.
A duke! where? what's he duke of?
MUSTACHO.
This island.
Oh, Trincalo, we are all made for ever,
The island's empty, and all is our own.
VENTOSO.
We two are viceroys o'er all the isle.
TRINCALO.
What, were matters carried thus against me
In my absence? but I oppose it all.
MUSTACHO.
Art thou mad, Trincalo? will you disturb
A settled government? where you don't know
The laws of the country?
TRINCALO.
I'll have no laws.
MUSTACHO.
Then civil war begins.
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TRINCALO.
Whilst blood does flow within these veins,
Or any spark of life remains,
My right I will maintain.
MUSTACHO.
Whilst I this temper'd steel can weild,
I'll ne'er to thee, thou braggard, yield;
Thy threats are all in vain.
TRINCALO.
I deny thee.
MUSTACHO.
I'll not fly thee.
TRINCALO.
Braggard, come.
MUSTACHO.
—Braggard?
Thy boasted courage now I'll try;
I see thou art afraid to die.
TRINCALO.
Not I.
MUSTACHO.
That's a lye.
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Lye, Sir?
MUSTACHO.
Ay, Sir.
Both.
Behold, I conquer, or I die.
STEPHANO.
Hold, loving subjects, we'll have no civil
Wars in this our reign; I here appoint
Both you and him my viceroys o'er this isle.
MUSTACHO and TRINCALO.
Agreed.
TRINCALO
sings.
Then since no state's completely blest,
Let's learn the bitter to allay,
Inspir'd with this, let's dance and play
[striking the bottle.
Enjoy at least the present day,
And leave to fate the rest.
| The tempest | |