To make cold nymphs chaste crowns; and thy broom groves, Whose shadow the dismissed bachelor loves, 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 white violet, the wall-flower, the stock-gilly-flower, the cowslip, 9 Mr. Douce remarks that this is an elegant expansion of the following lines in Phaer's Virgil Æneid, Lib. iv. "Dame rainbow down therefore with safron wings of dropping showres, Whose face a thousand sundry hues against the sun devoures, 10 Bosky acres are woody acres, fields intersected by luxuriant hedge-rows and copses. 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. Cer. Tell me, heavenly bow, If Venus, or her son, as thou dost know, Iris. Of her society Be not afraid: I met her deity Cutting the clouds towards Paphos; and her son Her waspish-headed son has broke his arrows, 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, Cer. Earth's increase, and foison 11 plenty; Vines, with clust'ring bunches growing; Fer. This is a most majestic vision, and Pro. I have from their confines call'd to enact My present fancies. Fer. Spirits, which by mine art Let me live here ever; So rare a wonder'd 13 father, and a wife, Make this place Paradise. [JUNO and CERES whisper, and send IRIS on Pro. employment. Sweet now, silence: Juno and Ceres whisper seriously; 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, 11 Foison is abundance, particularly of harvest corn. 13" So rare a wonder'd father," is a father able to produce such wonders. 14 Crisp channels; i. e. curled, from the curl raised by a breeze on the surface of the water. So in 1 K. Hen. IV. Act i. Sc. 3. Hid his crisp head in the hollow bank." Enter certain Nymphs. You sun-burn'd sicklemen, of August weary, Enter certain Reapers, properly habited: they join with the Nymphs in a graceful dance; towards the end of which 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 strange: your father's in some passion That works him strongly.. Mira. Never till this day, And, like the baseless fabrick of this vision 15, 15 In the tragedy of Darius, by Lord Sterline, printed in 1603, is the following passage: "Let greatness of her glassy scepters vaunt Not scepters, no, but reeds, soon bruised soon broken; And let this worldly pomp our wits enchant, All fades, and scarcely leaves behind a token. Those golden palaces, those gorgeous halls, Those stately courts, those sky-encountering walls, The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces, 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. The preceding stanza also contains evidence of the same train of thought with Shakspeare. "And when the eclipse comes of our glory's light, Then what avails the adoring of a name? A meer illusion made to mock the sight, Whose best was but the shadow of a dream." It is evident that one poet imitated the other, and it seems probable that Shakspeare was the imitator. The exact period at which the Tempest was produced is not known, but it is thought not earlier than 1611. It was first printed in the folio of 1623. Lord Sterline also wrote a tragedy entitled Julius Cæsar, in which there are parallel passages to some in Shakspeare's play on the same subject, and Malone thinks the coincidences more than accidental. 16 Faded, i. e. vanished, from the Latin vado. The ancient English pageants were shows, on the reception of princes or other festive occasions; they were exhibited on stages in the open air. On these allegorical spectacles very costly ornaments were bestowed. See Warton's Hist. of Poetry, ii. 199, 202, Fabian, ii. 382, and above all Mr. Gifford's Ben Jonson passim. 17 A vapour an exhalation. See Mr. Horne Tooke's admirable observation on this passage in the Diversions of Purley, Vol. ii. p. 388, 4to. ed. |