Page images
PDF
EPUB
[blocks in formation]

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 The pine, and let thee out.

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

Pardon, master :

I will be correspondent to command,
And do my spriting 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 a nymph o' the sea;
Be subject to no sight but thine and mine; invisible
To every eyeball else. Go, take this shape,
And hither come in 't go, hence with diligence!
[Exit ARIEL.
Awake, dear heart, awake! thou hast slept well;
Awake!
MIRA. [Waking.] The strangeness of your
story put

Heaviness in me.

a

[blocks in formation]

MIRA. (Waking.)] Mr. Collier claims for his annotator the merit of having first added this not very important stage direction.

b We cannot miss him:] We cannot do without him. e When?] See note (f), p. 449, Vol. I.

d4s wicked dew-] Wicked here implies baneful, pernicious; as in opposition we hear of the virtuous properties of "herbs, plants, stones," &c.

e Urchins-] Hedgehogs were formerly so called. it is doubtful, however, whether urchins in this place does not signify some fairy

[blocks in formation]

CAL. As wicked dew as e'er my mother brush'd With raven's feather from unwholesome fen, Drop on you both! a south-west blow on ye, And blister you all o'er! (6)

PRO. For this, be sure, to-night thou shalt have cramps,

Side-stitches that shall pen thy breath up; urchins Shall, for that vast' of night that they may work, All exercise on thee: thou shalt be pinch'd

As thick as honeycomb, each pinch more stinging Than bees that made 'em.

CAL. I must eat my dinner. This island's mine, by Sycorax my mother, Which thou tak'st from me. When thou camest first, Thou strok'dst me, and mad'st much of me; wouldst 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,

beings; as in "The Merry Wives of Windsor," Act IV. Sc. 4,44 -we'll dress

Like urchins, ouphes, and fairies," &c.

f Vast of night-] By "vast of night" the poet may have meant the chasm or vacuity of night, as in "Hamlet," Act I. Sc. 2,"In the dead vast and middle of the night." But some critics have conjectured we should read," urchins

Shall for that, fast of night."

[ocr errors][merged small][graphic]

Which first was mine own king: and here you sty me

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

PRO.
Thou most lying slave,
Whom stripes may move, not kindness! I have
us'd thee,

Filth as thou art, with human care; and lodg'd thee.

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.

PRO.a Abhorred slave, Which any print of goodness will not take, Being capable of all ill! I pitied thee,

Took pains to make thee speak, taught thee each hour

One thing or other: when thou didst not, savage,

a PRO.] This speech, in the folios, has the prefix "Mira," but it plainly belongs to Prospero, to whom Theobald assigned it, and who has retained it ever since.

b

Which any print of goodness will not take,
Being capable of all ill!]

Here, as in many other places, capable signifies impressible, susceptible.

e Race,-] That is, Nature, essence.

d The red plague rid you,-] See note (a), p. 447, Vol. II. e Fill all thy bones with aches,-] Mr. Collier remarks that "this word, of old, was used either as a monosyllable or as a dissyllable, as the case might require." This may be questioned. "Ake," says Baret in his " Alvearie," "is the Verbe of the substantive Ach, ch being turned into k." As a substantive, then,

Know thine own meaning, but wouldst gabble like 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

Could not abide to be with; therefore wast thou Deservedly confin'd into this rock,

Who hadst deserv'd more than a prison.

CAL. You taught me language; and my profit on't

Is, I know how to curse. The red plague ridd you, For learning me your language!

PRO. Hag-seed, hence ! Fetch us in fuel; and be quick, thou 'rt best, To answer other business. Shrugg'st thou, malice? If thou neglect'st, or dost unwillingly What I command, I'll rack thee with old cramps, Fill all thy bones with aches, make thee roar, That beasts shall tremble at thy din.

e

[merged small][ocr errors][merged small]
[graphic][merged small][merged small]

[Aside.] I must obey: his art is of such power, It would control my dam's god, Setebos, (7) And make a vassal of him.

PRO. Re-enter ARIEL, invisible, playing and singing; FERDINAND following.

So, slave; hence! [Exit CAL.

[blocks in formation]

BURDEN. Bough, wowgh.

The watch-dogs bark: BURDEN. Bough, wowgh.

ARI.

[Dispersedly.

[Dispersedly.

Hark, hark! I hear
The strain of strutting chanticleer
Cry, cock-a-doodle-doo.*

FER. Where should this music be? i' the air, or the earth?

It sounds no more :-and sure it waits upon
Some god o' the island. Sitting on a bank,
Weeping again the king my father's wreck,
This music crept by me upon the waters,
Allaying both their fury and my passion
With its sweet air: thence I have follow'd it,
Or it hath drawn me rather:-but 't is gone.
No, it begins again.

(*) Old text, cock-a-didle-dowe.

should be read parenthetically, in the sense of, the wild waves being hushed. The original punctuation, however,"Court'sied when you have, and kiss'd, The wild waves whist: "

(when you have curtsied, and kissed the waves to peace) affords an intelligible and poetic meaning.

[blocks in formation]

FER. The ditty does remember my drown'd
father:-
:-

This is no mortal business, nor no sound
That the earth owes :-I hear it now above me.
PRO. The fringed curtains of thine eye advance,
And say what thou seest yond.

MIRA.
What is 't? a spirit?
Lord, how it looks about! Believe me, sir,
It carries a brave form :-but 't is a spirit.
PRO. No, wench; it eats, and sleeps, and hath
such senses

As we have, such. This gallant which thou seest
Was in the wreck; and but he's something stain'd
With grief, that's beauty's canker, thou mightst
call him

A goodly person: he hath lost his fellows,
And strays about to find 'em.

MIRA.

I might call him

A thing divine; for nothing natural

I ever saw so noble.

PRO. [Aside.] It goes on, I see,

As my soul prompts it.-Spirit, fine spirit! I'll

free thee

[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]

And his brave son, being twain.
PRO. [Aside.]
The duke of Milan
And his more braver daughter, could control thee,
If now 't were fit to do't.—At the first sight
They have chang'd eyes :-delicate Ariel,
I'll set thee free for this!-A word, good sir;
I fear you have done yourself some wrong: a word.
MIRA. Why speaks my father so ungently?
This

Is the third man that e'er I saw; the first
That e'er I sigh'd for: pity move my father
To be inclin'd my way!

FER.
O, if a virgin,
And your affection not gone forth, I'll make you
The queen of Naples.

PRO. Soft, sir! one word more.[Aside.] They are both in either's powers; but this swift business

I must uneasy make, lest too light winning
Make the prize light.-One word more; I charge

thee

[blocks in formation]

If the ill spirit have so fair a house,

Good things will strive to dwell with 't.

[blocks in formation]

Speak not you for him; he's a traitor.-Come,
I'll manacle thy neck and feet together:
Sea-water shalt thou drink; thy food shall be
The fresh-brook muscles, witner'd roots, and husks
Wherein the acorn cradled. Follow.

FER.

I will resist such entertainment, till Mine enemy has more power.

MIRA.

No,

[Draws, and is charmed from moving. O dear father,

Make not too rash a trial of him, for
He's gentle, and not fearful."

PRO.
What! I say,
My foot my tutor !-Put thy sword up, traitor;
Who mak'st a show, but dar'st not strike, thy
conscience

Is so possess'd with guilt: come from thy ward;

"Make not too rash a trial of him," &c.

we believe that Smollett's interpretation is the true one,- he's of

a lofty spirit and not to be intimidated.

[ocr errors][merged small]
[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][graphic][merged small][merged small]
« PreviousContinue »