Authors: William Shakespeare
The Tempest (15 page)
ALONSO
Give me your hands:
To Ferdinand and Miranda
Let grief and sorrow
still
embrace
his heart
243
That doth not wish you joy.
GONZALO
Be it so. Amen!
Enter Ariel, with the Master and Boatswain amazedly following
O, look, sir, look, sir! Here is more of us!
I prophesied, if a gallows were on land,
To Boatswain
This fellow could not drown.— Now,
blasphemy
248
,
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 found
Our king and company: the next, our ship,
Which but three
glasses
since we
gave out
253
split,
Is
tight and yare
254
and bravely rigged as when
We first put out to sea.
Aside to Prospero
ARIEL
Sir, all this service
Have I done since I went.
Aside to Ariel
PROSPERO
My
tricksy
258
spirit!
ALONSO
These are not natural events: they strengthen
From 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
clapped under hatches
263
,
Where, but even now, with strange and
several
264
noises
Of roaring, shrieking, howling, jingling chains,
And more diversity of sounds, all horrible,
We were awaked: straightway
at liberty
267
,
Where we, in all our
trim
268
, freshly beheld
Our royal, good and gallant ship, our master
Cap’ring
to eye her.
On a trice
270
, so please you,
Even in a dream, were we divided from them
And were brought
moping
272
hither.
Aside to Prospero
ARIEL
Was’t well done?
Aside to Ariel
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 nature
Was ever
conduct
277
of: some oracle
Must rectify our knowledge.
PROSPERO
Sir, my liege,
Do not infest your mind with
beating
280
on
The strangeness of this business. At
picked leisure
281
—
Which shall
be shortly single
282
— I’ll resolve you,
Which to you shall seem probable
283
, of every
These
happened accidents.
284
Till when, be cheerful
And think of each thing
well.
285
— Come hither, spirit,
Aside to Ariel
Set Caliban and his companions free:
Untie the spell.—
[
Exit Ariel
]
To Alonso
How fares my gracious sir?
There are yet missing of your company
Some few odd lads that you remember not.
Enter Ariel, driving in Caliban, Stephano and Trinculo, in their stolen
apparel
STEPHANO
Every man
shift
290
for all the rest, and let no man take
care for himself: for all is but
fortune.
Coraggio
,
bully
291
-monster,
coraggio
!
TRINCULO
If these be true
spies
293
which I wear in my head,
here’s a goodly sight.
CALIBAN
O Setebos, these be brave spirits indeed!
How fine my master is! I am afraid
He will chastise me.
SEBASTIAN
Ha, ha!
What things are these, my lord Antonio?
Will money buy ’em?
ANTONIO
Very
like.
One of them
301
Is a plain fish
, and no doubt marketable.
PROSPERO
Mark but the
badges
303
of these men, my lords,
Then say if they be
true.
304
This misshapen knave,
His mother was a witch, and one so strong
That could control the moon, make flows and ebbs,
And deal in her command without her power
307
:
These three have robbed me, and this demi-devil —
For he’s a
bastard
309
one — had plotted with them
To take my life. Two of these fellows you
Must know and own: this thing of darkness I
Acknowledge mine.
CALIBAN
I shall be pinched 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
316
: where should they
Find this grand liquor that hath
gilded
317
’em?
How cam’st thou in this
pickle?
318
To Trinculo
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-
320
SEBASTIAN
Why, how now, Stephano?
STEPHANO
O, touch me not: I am not Stephano, but a
PROSPERO
You’d be king o’the isle,
sirrah?
325
STEPHANO
I should have been a
sore
326
one then.
ALONSO
This is a strange thing as e’er I looked on.
Points to Caliban
PROSPERO
He is as disproportioned in his
manners
328
As in his shape. Go, sirrah, to my cell:
Take with you your companions: as you look
To have my pardon,
trim it handsomely.
331
CALIBAN
Ay, that I will: and I’ll be wise hereafter,
And seek for
grace.
What a
thrice-double
333
ass
Was 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.
[
Exeunt Caliban, Stephano and Trinculo
]
PROSPERO
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
341
With such discourse as I not doubt shall make it
Go quick away: the story of my life
And the particular
accidents
344
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-belovèd
solemnized
348
,
And thence retire me to my Milan, where
Every third thought
350
shall be my grave.
ALONSO
I long
To hear the story of your life, which must
PROSPERO
I’ll deliver all,
And promise you calm seas, auspicious gales
And sail so
expeditious
that shall
catch
356
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.
359
Exeunt
[
all but Prospero
]
EPILOGUE SPOKEN BY PROSPERO
Now my
charms are all o’erthrown
360
,
And what strength I have’s mine own,
Which is most faint: now ’tis true,
I must be here confined by
you
363
,
Or sent to Naples. Let me not,
Since I have my dukedom got
And pardoned the deceiver, dwell
In this bare island by your spell,
But release me from my
bands
368
With the help of your good
hands
369
:
Gentle breath
370
of yours my sails
Must fill, or else my project fails,
Which was to please. Now I
want
372
Spirits to enforce, art to enchant,
And my ending is despair,
Unless I be relieved by
prayer
375
,
Which
pierces so, that it assaults
376
Mercy itself, and frees all faults.
As you from crimes would pardoned be,
Let your
indulgence
379
set me free.
Awaits applause
Exit
F = First Folio text of 1623, the only authority for the play
F2 = a correction introduced in the Second Folio text of 1632
Ed = a correction introduced by a later editor
SD = stage direction
SH = speech heading (i.e. speaker’s name)
List of parts
based on
“
Names of the Actors
” (
reordered) at end of F text
1.1.8 SD
Ferdinand
= Ed. F =
Ferdinando
59 wi’th’
= Ed. F = with’
1.2.129 wi’th’
= Ed. F = with
202 princes
= Ed. F = Princesse
(old spelling of
“
princes
”)
330 she
= Ed. F = he
2.2.173 trencher
= Ed. F =
trenchering
3.1.2 sets
= Ed. F = set
15 least
= F2. F = lest
3.2.117 scout
= Ed. F =
cout
(
118
F =
skowt
)
3.3.2 ache
= F2. F = akes
34 islanders
= F2. F = Islands
4.1.12 gainst
= Ed. F = Against (
beginning new half-line
)
13 guest
= F.
Some
eds emend to
gift.
57 abstemious
= F2. F = abstenious
67 vetches
spelled
Fetches
in
F
80 Her
= Ed. F = here
119 SH CERES
= Ed.
(no
change of singer in F)
134 wise
= F.
Some eds emend to
wife
209 them on
= Ed. F = on them
5.1.18 run
= F2. F = runs
77 Didst
= F
(catchword on sig. B2v; text reads
Did)
87 lies
= Ed. F = ly
118 Whether
= Ed. F = Where
291
Coraggio … coraggio
= F2. F =
Coragio … Corasio
ACT 1 SCENE 1
The play opens dramatically on board a ship in the middle of a violent storm. It features two sets of characters: mariners and nobles. Social hierarchy is overturned as the sailors give the orders, telling the aristocrats to keep out of the way. Despite their best efforts though, by the end of the scene, all agree that they and the ship are lost. The scene is characterized by the peril of the situation and the vitality of the boatswain’s language. It opens the debate on issues of sovereignty, authority and legitimacy, character, fate, and predestination.
A long scene which introduces the inhabitants of the island and the relationships between them. It raises questions of personal claims to authority and sovereignty over the island as divergent accounts of individual histories are related.
Lines 1–218:
Reveals that the storm was not a product of nature but conjured up by Prospero. His daughter, Miranda, is distressed by the suffering of the victims but he reassures her that all are safe. Laying his magic cloak aside, he explains his real identity and how they came to the island. He is the rightful Duke of Milan and relates how twelve years ago with the support of the King of Naples, his brother Antonio usurped his dukedom. He and Miranda were set adrift in a small boat but survived thanks to one of the courtiers, Gonzalo, who took pity on them and furnished them with necessities for the voyage as well as Prospero’s books. He speaks with bitterness of his brother Antonio’s treachery, but by his own account, his neglect of civic duty in favor of private study played a role in encouraging his ambition. He goes on to explain his reason for raising this storm: his enemies
were all on board ship: Fortune has delivered them into his hands. To what extent is a providential, benign destiny at work in shaping the course of events?