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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.

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ARI. My lord, it shall be done. [Exit. PRO. Thou poisonous slave, got by the devil himself

Upon thy wicked dam, come forth!

Enter CALIBAN.(5)

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
Do so; and after two days 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

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!

A

MIRA. [Waking.] The strangeness of your story put

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a 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.

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

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

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,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 rast and middle of the night." But some critics have conjectured we should read," urchins

Shall for that, fast of night."

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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. 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,

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[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.

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BURDEN. Bowgh, 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.

ARIEL sings.

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 :
BURDEN. Ding-dong.

Hark! now I hear them,-Ding-dong, bell.

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.

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I might call him

It goes on, I see,

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

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If the ill spirit have so fair a house,

Good things will strive to dwell with 't.

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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.

No,

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

What! I say,

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

PRO.
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. cthy ward;] Thy posture of defence.

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