Cal. Ay, that I will; and I'll be wise hereafter,

And seek for grace.

What a thrice-double ass

Was I, to take this drunkard for a god,

And worship this dull fool!

Pros.

Go to; away!

295

Alon. Hence, and bestow your luggage where you

found it.

Seb. Or stole it, rather.

[Exeunt Cal., Ste., and Trin.

Pros. Sir, I invite your Highness and your train 300

To my poor cell, where you shall take your rest
For this one night; which, part of it, I'll waste
With such discourse as, I not doubt, shall make it

Go quick away: the story of my life,

And the particular accidents 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-beloved solemnized;
And thence retire me to my Milan, where
Every third thought shall be my grave.
Alon.

I long

To hear the story of your life, which must

Take the ear strangely.

And promise you calm seas, auspicious gales,

And sail so expeditious, that shall catch

Your royal fleet far off. [Aside to Ari.] My Ariel, chick,

That is thy charge: then to

305

310

315

the elements

Be free, and fare thou well!

Please you, draw near.

EPILOGUE.

SPOKEN BY PROSPERO.

Now my charms are all o'erthrown,
And what strength I have's mine own,
Which is most faint: now, 'tis true,
I must be here confined by you,
Or sent to Naples. Let me not,
Since I have my dukedom got,
And pardon'd the deceiver, dwell
In this bare island by your spell;
But release me from my bands
With the help of your good hands:
Gentle breath of yours my sails
Must fill, or else my project fails,
Which was to please. Now I want
Spirits to enforce, art to enchant ;
And my ending is despair,
Unless I be relieved by prayer,
Which pierces so, that it assaults
Mercy itself, and frees all faults.
As you from crimes would pardon'd be,
Let your indulgence set me free.

5

10

15

20

NOTES.

NOTE I.

1. 1. 15, 16. What cares these roarers. This grammatical inaccuracy, which escaped correction in the later folios, probably came from Shakespeare's pen. Similar cases occur frequently, especially when the verb precedes its nominative. For example, Tempest, Iv. 1. 262, 'Lies at my mercy all mine enemies,' and Measure for Measure, II. 1. 22, 'What knows the laws, &c.' We correct it in those passages where the occurrence of a vulgarism would be likely to annoy the reader. In the mouth of a Boatswain it can offend no one. We therefore leave it.

NOTE II.

1. 1. 57-59. Mercy on us! - we split, &c. It may be doubtful whether the printer of the first folio intended these broken speeches to express 'a confused noise within.' Without question such was the author's meaning. Rowe, however, and subsequent editors, printed them as part of Gonzalo's speech. Capell was the first editor who gave the true arrangement. (Theobald (Nichols' Illustrations, ii. 243) proposed the

same.

Hanmer attributed the words to Sebastian.]

NOTE III.

1. 2. 173. [As in Henry V. v. 2. 28 'mightiness' is a plural, I have here retained the reading of the folios, following Dyce in using the apostrophe to prevent misapprehension. In the first edition the editors printed 'princesses' and justified it in the following note. W. A. W.] See Mr Sidney Walker's Shakespeare's Versification, p. 243 sqq. 'The plurals of substantives ending in s, in certain instances, in se, ss, ce, and sometimes ge,... are found without the usual addition of s or es, in pronunciation at least, although in many instances the plural affix is added in printing, where the metre shows that it is not to be pronounced.'

In this and other instances, we have thought it better to trust to the ear of the reader for the rhythm than to introduce an innovation in orthography which might perplex him as to the sense. The form 'princesses,' the use of which in Shakespeare's time was doubted by one of our correspondents, is found in the History of King Leir.

Rowe's reading 'princes' might be defended on the ground that the sentiment is general, and applicable to royal children of both sexes; or that Sir Philip Sidney, in the first book of the Arcadia, calls Pamela and Philoclea 'princes.' [Comp. Bacon, Adv. of L. 1. 7, § 9, where he speaks of Queen Elizabeth as 'a prince.']

NOTE IV.

1. 2. 298. The metre of this line, as well as of lines 301, 302, is defective, but as no mode of correction can be regarded as completely satisfactory we have in accordance with our custom left the lines as they are printed in the Folio. The defect, indeed, in the metre of line 298 has not been noticed except by Hanmer, who makes a line thus:

'Do so, and after two days I'll discharge thee.'

Possibly it ought to be printed thus:

'Do so; and

After two days

I will discharge thee.'

There is a broken line, also of four syllables, 253 of the same scene, another of seven, 235.

There is no reason to doubt that the words are as Shakespeare wrote them, for, although the action of the play terminates in less than four hours (1. 2. 240 and v. 1. 186), yet Ariel's ministry is not to end till the voyage to Naples shall be over. Prospero, too, repeats his promise, and marks his contentment by further shortening the time of servitude, 'within two days, 1. 2. 421. Possibly 'invisible' (301) should have a line to itself. Words thus occupying a broken line acquire a marked emphasis.

But the truth is that in dialogue Shakespeare's language passes so rapidly from verse to prose and from prose to verse, sometimes even hovering, as it were, over the confines, being rhythmical rather than metrical, that all attempts to give regularity to the metre must be made with diffidence and received with doubt.

[Capell in his Notes proposes to divide the lines thus:

This punctuation seems to be supported by what Ferdinand says (391, 392):

'The music crept by me upon the waters,

Allaying both their fury and my passion, &c.'

At the end of the stanza the editors of the first edition printed Hark, hark 1... The watch-dogs bark as that part of the burthen which 'sweet sprites bear,' the other part being borne by distant watch-dogs. Dr Nicholson proposes substantially the same arrangement:

[Spirits dispersedly.] Hark, hark!

[Within.] Bow, wow.

[Spirits.] The watch-dogs bark.

[Within.] Bow, wow.

Mr Daniel, regarding 'Cry' as a stage direction, arranges the 'Burthen

dispersedly' thus, with Ariel's song:

His arrangement is adopted by Hudson in the Harvard edition.

Brae arranges :

Foot it featly

Here and there

And sweet sprites bear

The burden.

[Burden dispersedly

Hark, hark!-&c.

NOTE VI.

1. 2. 443. I fear you have done yourself some wrong. See this phrase

used in a similar sense, Measure for Measure, 1. 2. 39.

VOL. I.

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