ACT V. SCENE I.

_Before the cell of Prospero._

  _Enter PROSPERO in his magic robes, and ARIEL._

_Pros._ Now does my project gather to a head:
My charms crack not; my spirits obey; and time
Goes upright with his carriage. How's the day?

_Ari._ On the sixth hour; at which time, my lord,
You said our work should cease.

_Pros._                       I did say so,                          5
When first I raised the tempest. Say, my spirit,
How fares the king and's followers?

_Ari._                            Confined together
In the same fashion as you gave in charge,
Just as you left them; all prisoners, sir,
In the line-grove which weather-fends your cell;                    10
They cannot budge till your release. The king,
His brother, and yours, abide all three distracted,
And the remainder mourning over them,
Brimful of sorrow and dismay; but chiefly
Him that you term'd, sir, "The good old lord, Gonzalo;"             15
His tears run down his beard, like winter's drops
From eaves of reeds. Your charm so strongly works 'em,
That if you now beheld them, your affections
Would become tender.

_Pros._            Dost thou think so, spirit?

_Ari._ Mine would, sir, were I human.

_Pros._                             And mine shall.                 20
Hast thou, which art but air, a touch, a feeling
Of their afflictions, and shall not myself,
One of their kind, that relish all as sharply,
Passion as they, be kindlier moved than thou art?
Though with their high wrongs I am struck to the quick,             25
Yet with my nobler reason 'gainst my fury
Do I take part: the rarer action is
In virtue than in vengeance: they being penitent,
The sole drift of my purpose doth extend
Not a frown further. Go release them, Ariel:                        30
My charms I'll break, their senses I'll restore,
And they shall be themselves.

_Ari._                      I'll fetch them, sir.    [_Exit._

_Pros._ Ye elves of hills, brooks, standing lakes, and groves;
And ye that on the sands with printless foot
Do chase the ebbing Neptune, and do fly him                         35
When he comes back; you demi-puppets that
By moonshine do the green sour ringlets make,
Whereof the ewe not bites; and you whose pastime
Is to make midnight mushrooms, that rejoice
To hear the solemn curfew; by whose aid--                           40
Weak masters though ye be--I have bedimm'd
The noontide sun, call'd forth the mutinous winds.
And 'twixt the green sea and the azured vault
Set roaring war: to the dread rattling thunder
Have I given fire, and rifted Jove's stout oak                      45
With his own bolt; the strong-based promontory
Have I made shake, and by the spurs pluck'd up
The pine and cedar: graves at my command
Have waked their sleepers, oped, and let 'em forth
By my so potent art. But this rough magic                           50
I here abjure; and, when I have required
Some heavenly music,--which even now I do,--
To work mine end upon their senses, that
This airy charm is for, I'll break my staff,
Bury it certain fathoms in the earth,                               55
And deeper than did ever plummet sound
I'll drown my book.                    [_Solemn music._

  _Re-enter ARIEL before: then ALONSO, with a frantic gesture,
  attended by GONZALO; SEBASTIAN and ANTONIO in like manner,
  attended by ADRIAN and FRANCISCO: they all enter the circle
  which PROSPERO had made, and there stand charmed; which PROSPERO
  observing, speaks:_

A solemn air, and the best comforter
To an unsettled fancy, cure thy brains,
Now useless, boil'd within thy skull! There stand,                  60
For you are spell-stopp'd.
Holy Gonzalo, honourable man,
Mine eyes, even sociable to the show of thine,
Fall fellowly drops. The charm dissolves apace;
And as the morning steals upon the night,                           65
Melting the darkness, so their rising senses
Begin to chase the ignorant fumes that mantle
Their clearer reason. O good Gonzalo,
My true preserver, and a loyal sir
To him thou follow'st! I will pay thy graces                        70
Home both in word and deed. Most cruelly
Didst thou, Alonso, use me and my daughter:
Thy brother was a furtherer in the act.
Thou art pinch'd for't now, Sebastian. Flesh and blood,
You, brother mine, that entertain'd ambition,                       75
Expell'd remorse and nature; who, with Sebastian,--
Whose inward pinches therefore are most strong,--
Would here have kill'd your king; I do forgive thee,
Unnatural though thou art. Their understanding
Begins to swell; and the approaching tide                           80
Will shortly fill the reasonable shore,
That now lies foul and muddy. Not one of them
That yet looks on me, or would know me: Ariel,
Fetch me the hat and rapier in my cell:
I will discase me, and myself present                               85
As I was sometime Milan: quickly, spirit;
Thou shalt ere long be free.

_ARIEL sings and helps to attire him._

    Where the bee sucks, there suck I:
    In a cowslip's bell I lie;
    There I couch when owls do cry.                                 90
    On the bat's back I do fly
    After summer merrily.
Merrily, merrily shall I live now
Under the blossom that hangs on the bough.

_Pros._ Why, that's my dainty Ariel! I shall miss thee;             95
But yet thou shalt have freedom: so, so, so.
To the king's ship, invisible as thou art:
There shalt thou find the mariners asleep
Under the hatches; the master and the boatswain
Being awake, enforce them to this place,                           100
And presently, I prithee.

_Ari._ I drink the air before me, and return
Or ere your pulse twice beat.    [_Exit._

_Gon._ All torment, trouble, wonder and amazement
Inhabits here: some heavenly power guide us                        105
Out of this fearful country!

_Pros._                    Behold, sir king,
The wronged Duke of Milan, Prospero:
For more assurance that a living prince
Does now speak to thee, I embrace thy body;
And to thee and thy company I bid                                  110
A hearty welcome.

_Alon._         Whether thou be'st he or no,
Or some enchanted trifle to abuse me,
As late I have been, I not know: thy pulse
Beats, as of flesh and blood; and, since I saw thee,
The affliction of my mind amends, with which,                      115
I fear, a madness held me: this must crave--
An if this be at all--a most strange story.
Thy dukedom I resign, and do entreat
Thou pardon me my wrongs. --But how should Prospero
Be living and be here?

_Pros._              First, noble friend,                          120
Let me embrace thine age, whose honour cannot
Be measured or confined.

_Gon._                 Whether this be
Or be not, I'll not swear.

_Pros._                  You do yet taste
Some subtilties o' the isle, that will not let you
Believe things certain. Welcome, my friends all!                   125
[_Aside to Seb. and Ant._]
    But you, my brace of lords, were I so minded,
I here could pluck his Highness' frown upon you,
And justify you traitors: at this time
I will tell no tales.

_Seb._ [_Aside_]    The devil speaks in him.

_Pros._                                    No.
For you, most wicked sir, whom to call brother                     130
Would even infect my mouth, I do forgive
Thy rankest fault,--all of them; and require
My dukedom of thee, which perforce, I know,
Thou must restore.

_Alon._          If thou be'st Prospero,
Give us particulars of thy preservation;                           135
How thou hast met us here, who three hours since
Were wreck'd upon this shore; where I have lost--
How sharp the point of this remembrance is!--
My dear son Ferdinand.

_Pros._              I am woe for't, sir.

_Alon._ Irreparable is the loss; and patience                      140
Says it is past her cure.

_Pros._                 I rather think
You have not sought her help, of whose soft grace
For the like loss I have her sovereign aid,
And rest myself content.

_Alon._                You the like loss!

_Pros._ As great to me as late; and, supportable                   145
To make the dear loss, have I means much weaker
Than you may call to comfort you, for I
Have lost my daughter.

_Alon._              A daughter?
O heavens, that they were living both in Naples,
The king and queen there! that they were, I wish                   150
Myself were mudded in that oozy bed
Where my son lies. When did you lose you daughter?

_Pros._ In this last tempest. I perceive, these lords
At this encounter do so much admire,
That they devour their reason, and scarce think                    155
Their eyes do offices of truth, their words
Are natural breath: but, howsoe'er you have
Been justled from your senses, know for certain
That I am Prospero, and that very duke
Which was thrust forth of Milan; who most strangely                160
Upon this shore, where you were wreck'd, was landed,
To be the Lord on't. No more yet of this;
For 'tis a chronicle of day by day,
Not a relation for a breakfast, nor
Befitting this first meeting. Welcome, sir;                        165
This cell's my court: here have I few attendants,
And subjects none abroad: pray you, look in.
My dukedom since you have given me again,
I will requite you with as good a thing;
At least bring forth a wonder, to content ye                       170
As much as me my dukedom.

  _Here Prospero discovers FERDINAND and MIRANDA playing at chess._

_Mir._ Sweet lord, you play me false.

_Fer._                              No, my dear'st love,
I would not for the world.

_Mir._ Yes, for a score of kingdoms you should wrangle,
And I would call it fair play.

_Alon._                      If this prove                         175
A vision of the island, one dear son
Shall I twice lose.

_Seb._            A most high miracle!

_Fer._ Though the seas threaten, they are merciful;
I have cursed them without cause.               [_Kneels._

_Alon._                          Now all the blessings
Of a glad father compass thee about!                               180
Arise, and say how thou camest here.

_Mir._                             O, wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,
That has such people in't!

_Pros._                  'Tis new to thee.

_Alon._ What is this maid with whom thou wast at play?             185
Your eld'st acquaintance cannot be three hours:
Is she the goddess that hath sever'd us,
And brought us thus together?

_Fer._                      Sir, she is mortal;
But by immortal Providence she's mine:
I chose her when I could not ask my father                         190
For his advice, nor thought I had one. She
Is daughter to this famous Duke of Milan,
Of whom so often I have heard renown,
But never saw before; of whom I have
Received a second life; and second father                          195
This lady makes him to me.

_Alon._                  I am hers:
But, O, how oddly will it sound that I
Must ask my child forgiveness!

_Pros._                      There, sir, stop:
Let us not burthen our remembrances with
A heaviness that's gone.

_Gon._                 I have inly wept,                           200
Or should have spoke ere this. Look down, you gods,
And on this couple drop a blessed crown!
For it is you that have chalk'd forth the way
Which brought us hither.

_Alon._                I say, Amen, Gonzalo!

_Gon._ Was Milan thrust from Milan, that his issue                 205
Should become kings of Naples? O, rejoice
Beyond a common joy! and set it down
With gold on lasting pillars: In one voyage
Did Claribel her husband find at Tunis,
And Ferdinand, her brother, found a wife                           210
Where he himself was lost, Prospero his dukedom
In a poor isle, and all of us ourselves
When no man was his own.

_Alon._ [_to Fer. and Mir._] Give me your hands:
Let grief and sorrow still embrace his heart
That doth not wish you joy!

_Gon._                    Be it so! Amen!                          215

  _Re-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,
This fellow could not drown. Now, blasphemy,
That swear'st grace o'erboard, not an oath on shore?
Hast thou no mouth by land? What is the news?                      220

_Boats._ 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 split--
Is tight and yare and bravely rigg'd, as when
We first put out to sea.

_Ari._ [_Aside to Pros._] Sir, all this service                    225
Have I done since I went.

_Pros._ [_Aside to Ari._] My tricksy spirit!

_Alon._ These are not natural events; they strengthen
From strange to stranger. Say, how came you hither?

_Boats._ If I did think, sir, I were well awake,
I'ld strive to tell you. We were dead of sleep,                    230
And--how we know not--all clapp'd under hatches;
Where, but even now, with strange and several noises
Of roaring, shrieking, howling, jingling chains,
And more diversity of sounds, all horrible,
We were awaked; straightway, at liberty;                           235
Where we, in all her trim, freshly beheld
Our royal, good, and gallant ship; our master
Capering to eye her:--on a trice, so please you,
Even in a dream, were we divided from them,
And were brought moping hither.

_Ari._ [_Aside to Pros._] Was't well done?                         240

_Pros._ [_Aside to Ari._] Bravely, my diligence. Thou shalt be free.

_Alon._ This is as strange a maze as e'er men trod;
And there is in this business more than nature
Was ever conduct of: some oracle
Must rectify our knowledge.

_Pros._                   Sir, my liege,                           245
Do not infest your mind with beating on
The strangeness of this business; at pick'd leisure
Which shall be shortly, single I'll resolve you,
Which to you shall seem probable, of every
These happen'd accidents; till when, be cheerful,                  250
And think of each thing well.
    [_Aside to Ari._] Come hither, spirit:
Set Caliban and his companions free;
Untie the spell. [_Exit Ariel._] How fares my gracious sir?
There are yet missing of your company
Some few odd lads that you remember not.                           255

  _Re-enter ARIEL, driving in CALIBAN, STEPHANO, and TRINCULO,
  in their stolen apparel._

_Ste._ Every man shift for all the rest, and let no man
take care for himself; for all is but fortune. --Coragio,
bully-monster, coragio!

_Trin._ If these be true spies which I wear in my head,
here's a goodly sight.                                             260

_Cal._ O Setebos, these be brave spirits indeed!
How fine my master is! I am afraid
He will chastise me.

_Seb._             Ha, ha!
What things are these, my lord Antonio?
Will money buy 'em?

_Ant._            Very like; one of them                           265
Is a plain fish, and, no doubt, marketable.

_Pros._ Mark but the badges of these men, my lords,
Then say if they be true. This mis-shapen knave,
His mother was a witch; and one so strong
That could control the moon, make flows and ebbs,                  270
And deal in her command, without her power.
These three have robb'd me; and this demi-devil--
For he's a bastard one--had plotted with them
To take my life. Two of these fellows you
Must know and own; this thing of darkness I                        275
Acknowledge mine.

_Cal._          I shall be pinch'd to death.

_Alon._ Is not this Stephano, my drunken butler?

_Seb._ He is drunk now: where had he wine?

_Alon._ And Trinculo is reeling ripe: where should they
Find this grand liquor that hath gilded 'em?--                     280
How camest thou in this pickle?

_Trin._ 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-blowing.

_Seb._ Why, how now, Stephano!                                     285

_Ste._ O, touch me not;--I am not Stephano, but a cramp.

_Pros._ You'ld be king o' the isle, sirrah?

_Ste._ I should have been a sore one, then.

_Alon._ This is a strange thing as e'er I look'd on.
                                [_Pointing to Caliban._

_Pros._ He is as disproportion'd in his manners                    290
As in his shape. Go, sirrah, to my cell;
Take with you your companions; as you look
To have my pardon, trim it handsomely.

_Cal._ Ay, that I will; and I'll be wise hereafter,
And seek for grace. What a thrice-double ass                       295
Was I, to take this drunkard for a god,
And worship this dull fool!

_Pros._                Go to; away!

_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                               305
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                            310
Every third thought shall be my grave.

_Alon._                              I long
To hear the story of your life, which must
Take the ear strangely.

_Pros._               I'll deliver all;
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,       315
That is thy charge: then to the elements
Be free, and fare thou well! Please you, draw near.
    [_Exeunt._

  Notes: V, 1.

  7: _together_] om. Pope.
  9: _all_] _all your_ Pope.
  10: _line-grove_] _lime-grove_ Rowe.
  11: _your_] F1 F2. _you_ F3 F4.
  15: _sir_] om. Pope.
  16: _run_] _runs_ F1.
  _winter's_] _winter_ F4.]
  23: F1 F2 put a comma after _sharply_. F3 F4 omit it.
  24: _Passion_] _Passion'd_ Pope.
  26: _'gainst_] Pope. _gainst_ F1 F2. _against_ F3 F4.
  33: SCENE II. Pope.
  37: _green sour_] _green-sward_ Douce conj.
  46: _strong-based_] Rowe. _strong-bass'd_ Ff.
  58: SCENE III. Pope.
  60: _boil'd_] Pope. _boile_ F1 F2. _boil_ F3 F4.
  62: _Holy_] _Noble_ Collier MS.
  63: _show_] _shew_ Ff. _flow_ Collier MS.
  64: _fellowly_] _fellow_ Pope.
  68: _O_] _O my_ Pope. _O thou_ S. Walker conj.
  69: _sir_] _servant_ Collier MS.
  72: _Didst_] F3 F4. _Did_ F1 F2.
  74: _Sebastian. Flesh and blood,_] _Sebastian, flesh and blood._
    Theobald.
  75: _entertain'd_] _entertaine_ F1.
  76: _who_] Rowe. _whom_ Ff.
  82: _lies_] F3 F4. _ly_ F1 F2.
  83: _or_] _e'er_ Collier MS.
  84: Theobald gives as stage direction "Exit Ariel and returns
    immediately."
  88: _suck_] _lurk_ Theobald.
  90: _couch_] _crowch_ F3 F4.
  [Capell punctuates _There I couch: when owls do cry,_]
  92: _summer_] _sun-set_ Theobald.
  106: _Behold,_] _lo!_ Pope.
  111: _Whether thou be'st_] _Where thou beest_ Ff. _Be'st thou_ Pope.
    _Whe'r thou be'st_ Capell.
  112: _trifle_] _devil_ Collier MS.
  119: _my_] _thy_ Collier MS.
  124: _not_] F3 F4. _nor_ F1 F2.
  132: _fault_] _faults_ F4.
  136: _who_] F2 F3 F4. _whom_ F1.
  145: _and,_] _sir, and_ Capell.
  _supportable_] F1 F2. _insupportable_ F3 F4. _portable_ Steevens.
  148: _my_] _my only_ Hanmer.
  _A daughter_] _Only daughter_ Hanmer. _Daughter_ Capell.
  156: _eyes_] F1. _eye_ F2 F3 F4.
  _their_] _these_ Capell.]
  172: SCENE IV. Pope.
  Here Prospero discovers...] Ff. SCENE opens to the entrance of
    the cell. Here Prospero discovers... Theobald. Cell opens and
    discovers... Capell.]
  172: _dear'st_] _dearest_ Ff.
  179: [Kneels] Theobald.
  191: _advice_] F4. _advise_ F1 F2 F3.
  199, 200: _remembrances with_] _remembrance with_ Pope.
    _remembrances With_ Malone.
  213: _When_] _Where_ Johnson conj.]
  _and_] om. Capell.
  216: SCENE V. Pope.
  _sir, look, sir_] _sir, look_ F3 F4.]
  _is_] _are_ Pope.]
  221: _safely_] _safe_ F3 F4.
  230: _of sleep_] _a-sleep_ Pope.
  234: _more_] Rowe. _mo_ F1 F2. _moe_ F3 F4.
  236: _her_] Theobald (Thirlby conj.). _our_ Ff.
  242-245: Given to Ariel in F2 F3 F4.
  247: _leisure_] F1. _seisure_ F2. _seizure_ F3 F4.
  248: _Which shall be shortly, single_] Pope. _(which shall be
    shortly single)_ Ff.
  253: [Exit Ariel] Capell.
  256: SCENE VI. Pope.
  258: _Coragio_] _corasio_ F1.
  268: _mis-shapen_] _mis-shap'd_ Pope.
  271: _command, without her power._] _command. Without her power,_
    anon. conj.
  _without_] _with all_ Collier MS.
  280: _liquor_] _'lixir_ Theobald.
  282-284: Printed as verse in Ff.
  289: _This is_] F1 F2. _'Tis_ F3 F4.]
  _e'er I_] _I ever_ Hanmer.
  [Pointing to Caliban.] Steevens.]
  299: [Exeunt... Trin.] Capell.
  308: _nuptial_] _nuptiall_ F1. _nuptials_ F2 F3 F4.
  309: See note (XVIII).

Prospero asks about King Alonso and his attendants. Ariel informs his master that the shipwrecked group is a pitiful sight: the three traitors are distracted and the rest are mourning. Ariel says Prospero's feelings toward the group would become tender at the sight. Even Ariel would cry...if he were human. Hearing Ariel speak so kindly, with mercy befitting a human, Prospero says he'll put his thirst for vengeance aside and be merciful. He sends Ariel to free the traitors and the rest of their crew from their confusion, and draws a magic circle with his staff . As Ariel leaves him, Prospero muses on all that he has done with his potent art of magic, and solemnly says that once this last task is done, he'll break his staff and bury it in the earth, and drown his book in the ocean. In other words, the guy is giving up his magic. Ariel arrives, dragging behind him a frantic Alonso, Gonzalo, Sebastian, and Antonio, with their attendant lords Adrian and Francisco. They all stand in Prospero's magic circle, charmed, as Prospero addresses each of them. He speaks to Gonzalo first, and tears up as he thanks him for being his "true preserver" and remaining so loyal to whomever he serves. Prospero then chides King Alonso for treating him and Miranda so poorly, and says Sebastian, too, suffers for wronging them. Finally, Prospero comes to his terrible brother Antonio. Prospero reveals that Antonio plotted with Sebastian to murder the King, but forgives them all. Prospero then notes that the group may not recognize him . Prospero then asks Ariel to bring his hat and sword, so they might know that the man before them is the old, genuine Duke of Milan. As Ariel dresses Prospero, the airy spirit sings another pretty little song and Prospero notes, though he will miss Ariel, the spirit will surely soon have his freedom. All Ariel needs to do is bring the sleeping mariners from their ship to this spot. Gonzalo and all the shipwrecked gang look on, unsure whether this is more enchantment, or if it's really Prospero before them. Alonso, stunned, immediately returns Prospero's dukedom and asks for Prospero's forgiveness. Alonso also wants to know how Prospero survived and ended up on this island. Prospero turns then to Gonzalo, praising him again before getting back to Antonio and Sebastian. Prospero says he could say some things that would raise a couple of eyebrows, but out of the kindness of his heart, he will keep them to himself. The pair of traitors is not even a bit ashamed or sorry. Sebastian claims the Devil speaks in Prospero, but Prospero ignores this, and instead wholeheartedly forgives his traitorous brother Antonio. King Alonso brings up the loss of his son, Ferdinand, and Prospero cryptically says he has lost his daughter--they've lost both children on account of the tempest. The story of how all of this came to be, he says, is not the kind of thing that can be discussed over a single sitting, but over the course of long days. In the meantime, they can entertain themselves with other things. Perhaps, for instance, they'd like to take a look in Prospero's humble cell? Prospero draws back the curtain to his home and reveals Ferdinand and Miranda, who happen to be playing chess. Alonso and Ferdinand are pleasantly surprised to find each other alive, and Miranda, faced with so many dudes for the first time, declares "O, wonder! / How many goodly creatures are there here! / How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world / That has such people in't!" Alonso points out that Ferdinand can't have known the girl he's playing chess with for more than three hours, but hears the surprising news that the girl is his new daughter-in-law, three hours or no. Gonzalo, Alonso, and all the other "good" guys are overjoyed with the news. Ariel then enters on cue with the boatswain from the first scene, who happily announces that not only are all the sailors alive, but the ship is good as new. Like magic. Alonso, meanwhile, thinks they should consult an oracle about how on earth all of this very strange stuff has happened, but Prospero tells him to relax. He assures Alonso that he'll explain everything eventually, and for now they should just enjoy the moment. Finally, Prospero tells Ariel to free Caliban and his companions from the whole "being savagely hunted by hounds" spell. Stefano, Trinculo, and Caliban enter, the former two in Prospero's stolen clothes. Alonso claims Stefano as his drunken butler, and Prospero claims Caliban as his own slave-begotten-of-a-witch-and-the-Devil. There's some punning on being in a pickle, and Prospero, in a merciful mood, demands that Caliban take his friends and go to work tidying up the cell, if he wants forgiveness. Caliban laments that he was, as we suspected, a "thrice-double ass" to take this drunkard Stefano for a god. The three exit to prepare Prospero's cell. Prospero invites Alonso and everyone back to his place, where they'll be treated to Prospero's long life story. Prospero promises that in the morning they'll all go on the newly fixed ship to Naples. Once there, Prospero hopes to see the children married, and then head back to Milan, "where every third thought shall be my grave." Alonso glosses over this happy little sentiment by saying he looks forward to Prospero's autobiography. Prospero promises tomorrow will bring them favorable weather . He leaves Ariel the final task of seeing to the weather, and after that the spirit is finally free. Prospero sends everyone into his home, and then speaks directly to the audience. In the play's final speech, Prospero informs the audience that the only thing that can free him from the island prison and send him to Naples is the audience's applause and approval. P.S. Some literary critics think that this speech is Shakespeare the playwright's way of saying "so long" to the theater. If you want to know more about this, go to "Symbolism."

This scene opens with Ariel revealing to Prospero that Alonso, Sebastian, and Antonio are remorseful, worried, and desperate. Gonzalo is worried and grief-stricken at his king's pain. Prospero reassures Ariel that he will be compassionate in dealing with his enemies and asks that Ariel bring the group to him. While he is waiting for the king and his party to appear, Prospero soliloquizes about what he has accomplished with magic and, at the soliloquy's end, promises that he will now give up his magic, bury his magic staff, and drown his magic book at sea. Almost immediately, Ariel enters with the royal party, who appear to be in a trance, and places them within the magic circle that Prospero had earlier drawn. With a few chanted words, the spell is removed. Prospero, clothed in the garments of the duke of Milan -- his rightful position -- appears before them. In a gesture of reconciliation, Prospero embraces Alonso, who is filled with remorse and immediately gives up Prospero's dukedom. Gonzalo is also embraced in turn, and then Prospero turns to Sebastian and Antonio. Prospero tells them that he will not charge them as traitors, at this time. Antonio is forgiven and required to renounce his claims on Prospero's dukedom. While Alonso continues to mourn the loss of his son, Prospero relates that he too has lost his child, his daughter. But he means that he has lost her in marriage and pulls back a curtain to reveal Ferdinand and Miranda playing chess. Ferdinand explains to his father that he is betrothed to Miranda and that this event occurred while he thought his father dead. Alonso quickly welcomes Miranda and says he will be a second father to his son's affianced. At the sight of the couple, Gonzalo begins to cry and thanks God for having worked such a miracle. Ariel enters with the master of the boat and boatswain. Although the ship lay in harbor and in perfect shape, the puzzled men cannot explain how any of this has occurred. Alonso is also mystified, but Prospero tells him not to trouble his mind with such concerns. Next, Ariel leads in Caliban, Stefano, and Trinculo, who are still drunk. Prospero explains that these men have robbed him and plotted to murder him. Caliban immediately repents and promises to seek grace. The three conspirators, who have sobered somewhat since confronted with Prospero and the king, are sent to decorate Prospero's cell. Prospero invites his guests to spend the night with him, where he will tell them of his adventures and of his life during these past 12 years. Ariel's last duty to Prospero is to provide calm seas when they sail the next morning.


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,                                       5
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:                                   10
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,                                           15
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.                                    20

  Notes: Epilogue.

  EPILOGUE ... PROSPERO.] advancing, Capell.]
  1: _Now_] _Now, now_ F3 F4.
  3: _now_] _and now_ Pope.
  13: _Now_] _For now_ Pope.

NOTES.

NOTE I.

I. 1. 15. _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.

I. 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.

NOTE III.

I. 2. 173. _princesses._ 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.'

NOTE IV.

I. 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 (I. 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,' I. 2. 420. 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.

NOTE V.

I. 2. 377, 378:

  _Courtsied when you have and kiss'd_
  _The wild waves whist._

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 we have printed _Hark, hark! ... The watch-dogs
bark_ as that part of the burthen which 'sweet sprites bear.' The other
part is borne by distant watch-dogs.

NOTE VI.

I. 2. 443. _I fear you have done yourself some wrong._ See this phrase
used in a similar sense, _Measure for Measure_, I. 11. 39.

NOTE VII.

II. 1. 27. _Which, of he or Adrian._ 'Of' is found in the same
construction, _Midsummer Night's Dream_, III. 2. 336,

  'Now follow if thou darest to try whose right,
  Of thine or mine, is most in Helena.'

NOTE VIII.

II. 1. 157. _Of its own kind._ There is no doubt, as Dr Guest has shewn,
that 'it,' which is the reading of the 1st and 2nd folios, was commonly
used as a genitive in Shakespeare's time, as it is still in some
provincial dialects. 'Its,' however, was coming into use. One instance
occurs in this play, I. 11. 95, 'in its contrary.'

NOTE IX.

II. 1. 241. _she that from whom._ Mr Spedding writes: 'The received
emendation is not satisfactory to me. I would rather read, "She
that--From whom? All were sea-swallow'd &c., i.e. from whom should she
have note? The report from Naples will be that all were drowned. We
shall be the only survivors." The break in the construction seems to me
characteristic of the speaker. But you must read the whole speech to
feel the effect.'

NOTE X.

II. 1. 249-251. All editors except Mr Staunton have printed in italics
(or between inverted commas) only as far as '_Naples?_', but as '_keep_'
is printed with a small k in the folios, they seem to sanction the
arrangement given in our text.

NOTE XI.

II. 1. 267. _Ay, sir; where lies that? if 'twere a kibe._ Mr Singer and
Mr Dyce have changed ''twere' to 'it were' for the sake of the metre.
But then the first part of the line must be read with a wrong emphasis.
The proper emphasis clearly falls on the first, third, and fifth
syllables, 'AY, sir; WHERE lies THAT?' See Preface.

NOTE XII.

II. 2. 165. Before 'here; bear my bottle' Capell inserts a stage
direction [_To Cal._], but it appears from III. 2. 62, that Trinculo was
entrusted with the office of bottle-bearer.

NOTE XIII.

III. 1. 15. _Most busy lest, when I do it._ As none of the proposed
emendations can be regarded as certain, we have left the reading of F1,
though it is manifestly corrupt. The spelling 'doe' makes Mr Spedding's
conjecture 'idlest' for 'I doe it' more probable.

NOTE XIV.

III. 3. 17. The stage direction, which we have divided into two parts,
is placed all at once in the folios after 'as when they are fresh'
[Solemne and strange Musicke; and Prosper on the top (invisible:) Enter
... depart].

Pope transferred it to follow Sebastian's words, 'I say, to night: no
more.'

NOTE XV.

III. 3. 48. _Each putter out of five for one._ See Beaumont and
Fletcher, _The Noble Gentleman_, I. 1. (Vol. II. p. 261, ed. Moxon):
'The return will give you five for one.' MARINE is about to travel.

NOTE XVI.

IV. 1. 146. _You do look, my son, in a moved sort._ Seymour suggests a
transposition: 'you do, my son, look in a moved sort.' This line however
can scarcely have come from Shakespeare's pen. Perhaps the writer who
composed the Masque was allowed to join it, as best he might, to
Shakespeare's words, which re-commence at 'Our revels now are ended,'
&c.

NOTE XVII.

IV. 1. 230. _Let's alone._ See Staunton's "Shakespeare," Vol. I. p. 81,
note (b).

NOTE XVIII.

V. 1. 309. _Of these our dear-beloved solemnized._ The Folios have
'belov'd'; a mode of spelling, which in this case is convenient as
indicating the probable rhythm of the verse. We have written 'beloved,'
in accordance with the general rule mentioned in the Preface.

'Solemnized' occurs in four other verse passages of Shakespeare. It is
three times to be accented 'SOlemnized' and once (_Love's Labour's
Lost_, II. 1. 41) 'soLEMnized.'

       *       *       *       *       *
           *       *       *       *
       *       *       *       *       *

Sources:

The editors' Preface (e-text 23041) discusses the 17th- and
18th-century editions in detail; the newer (19th-century) editions
are simply listed by name. The following editions may appear in the
Notes. All inset text is quoted from the Preface.

  Folios:
  F1 1623; F2 (no date given); F3 1663; F4 1685.
    "The five plays contained in this volume occur in the first Folio
    in the same order, and ... were there printed for the first time."

  Early editions:
  Rowe 1709
  Pope 1715
    "Pope was the first to indicate the _place_ of each new scene;
    as, for instance, _Tempest_, I. 1. 'On a ship at sea.' He also
    subdivided the scenes as given by the Folios and Rowe, making
    a fresh scene whenever a new character entered--an arrangement
    followed by Hanmer, Warburton, and Johnson. For convenience of
    reference to these editions, we have always recorded the
    commencement of Pope's scenes."
  Theobald 1733
  Hanmer ("Oxford edition") 1744
  Warburton 1747
  Johnson 1765
  Capell 1768; _also Capell's annotated copy of F2_
  Steevens 1773
  Malone 1790
  Reed 1803

  Later editions:
  Singer, Knight, Cornwall, Collier, Phelps, Halliwell, Dyce, Staunton

  Dryden:
    "_The Tempest_ was altered by Dryden and D'Avenant, and published
    as _The Tempest; or the Enchanted Island_, in 1669. We mark the
    emendations derived from it: 'Dryden's version.'"

Errors and inconsistencies:

  _Re-enter Boatswain._
    [printed BOATSWAIN in small capitals]
  _Enter _Ariel_._
    [printed "Ariel" in lower case]
  Where my son lies. When did you lose you daughter?
    [Text unchanged: error for "your"?]

  [Text-critical notes]

  I. 2. 135: _to 't_] om. Steevens (Farmer conj.).
    [Here and elsewhere in the volume, body text has unspaced "to't"
    while line notes have spaced "to 't".]
  I. 2. 202: _o' the_] _of_ Pope.
    [Text unchanged: body text is capitalized "O' the"]
  II. 1. 88: _Ay._] I. Ff. _Ay?_ Pope.
    [Text unchanged: apparent error for italic _I._]
  III. 3. 17: Prospero above]
    [Text unchanged: stage direction is after l. 19]

  [Endnotes]

  I: I. 1. 15.  [I. 1. 16]
  V: 377, 378.  [376-377]
  XVI: IV. 1. 146  [IV. 1. 147]

Prospero, who is now alone on stage, requests that the audience free him. He states that he has thrown away his magic and pardoned those who have injured him. Now he requires that the audience release him from the island, which has been his prison so that he might return to Naples. The audience's applause will be the signal that he is freed. Prospero indicates that his forgiveness of his former enemies is what all men crave. With the audience's applause, Prospero leaves the stage.

The Epilogue is often used to tie up loose ends and clarify any issues that remain unresolved. However, this epilogue does not provide the answers that the audience might expect. For instance, the audience never learns what is to become of Caliban or what will happen to Antonio and Sebastian. Few scholars ponder such questions. Instead, there has been a great deal of speculation on whether Prospero's farewell to magic is intended to announce Shakespeare's retirement from the stage. When Prospero asks the audience to free him from his imprisonment, is it instead the voice of Shakespeare asking the audience to free him from his craft? Certainly, there are parallels between Prospero and Shakespeare to consider. Both are manipulators; Prospero manipulates everyone on the island, and Shakespeare manipulates the characters he creates and the plots he devises. Both create entertainment, Prospero the masque and Shakespeare his plays, and both are intent on retiring. It is easy to look at Prospero's words and imagine Shakespeare mouthing them as he retires from the stage. But such parallels do not necessarily reveal how the author was, could be, or wants to be. The words on the page, or now spoken before an audience, do not tell the author's intentions or tone. To attribute Prospero's words to Shakespeare's own life may be a fallacy. After the completion of Prospero's story, Shakespeare did continue to write, composing parts of three more plays. It would be unwise to focus solely on The Tempest as somehow representative of Shakespeare's farewell to the stage and thus overlook the many other important strengths of the play.


SCENE II.

_The island.

Before PROSPERO'S cell._

  _Enter PROSPERO and MIRANDA._

_Mir._ If by your art, my dearest father, you have
Put the wild waters in this roar, allay them.
The sky, it seems, would pour down stinking pitch,
But that the sea, mounting to the welkin's cheek,
Dashes the fire out. O, I have suffer'd                              5
With those that I saw suffer! a brave vessel,
Who had, no doubt, some noble creature in her,
Dash'd all to pieces. O, the cry did knock
Against my very heart! Poor souls, they perish'd!
Had I been any god of power, I would                                10
Have sunk the sea within the earth, or ere
It should the good ship so have swallow'd and
The fraughting souls within her.

_Pros._                        Be collected:
No more amazement: tell your piteous heart
There's no harm done.

_Mir._              O, woe the day!

_Pros._                           No harm.                          15
I have done nothing but in care of thee,
Of thee, my dear one, thee, my daughter, who
Art ignorant of what thou art, nought knowing
Of whence I am, nor that I am more better
Than Prospero, master of a full poor cell,                          20
And thy no greater father.

_Mir._                   More to know
Did never meddle with my thoughts.

_Pros._                          'Tis time
I should inform thee farther. Lend thy hand,
And pluck my magic garment from me. --So:
                                [_Lays down his mantle._
Lie there, my art. Wipe thou thine eyes; have comfort.              25
The direful spectacle of the wreck, which touch'd
The very virtue of compassion in thee,
I have with such provision in mine art
So safely order'd, that there is no soul,
No, not so much perdition as an hair                                30
Betid to any creature in the vessel
Which thou heard'st cry, which thou saw'st sink. Sit down;
For thou must now know farther.

_Mir._                        You have often
Begun to tell me what I am; but stopp'd,
And left me to a bootless inquisition,                              35
Concluding "Stay: not yet."

_Pros._                The hour's now come;
The very minute bids thee ope thine ear;
Obey, and be attentive. Canst thou remember
A time before we came unto this cell?
I do not think thou canst, for then thou wast not                   40
Out three years old.

_Mir._             Certainly, sir, I can.

_Pros._ By what? by any other house or person?
Of any thing the image tell me that
Hath kept with thy remembrance.

_Mir._                        'Tis far off,
And rather like a dream than an assurance                           45
That my remembrance warrants. Had I not
Four or five women once that tended me?

_Pros._ Thou hadst, and more, Miranda. But how is it
That this lives in thy mind? What seest thou else
In the dark backward and abysm of time?                             50
If thou remember'st ought ere thou camest here,
How thou camest here thou mayst.

_Mir._                         But that I do not.

_Pros._ Twelve year since, Miranda, twelve year since,
Thy father was the Duke of Milan, and
A prince of power.

_Mir._           Sir, are not you my father?                        55

_Pros._ Thy mother was a piece of virtue, and
She said thou wast my daughter; and thy father
Was Duke of Milan; and his only heir
And princess, no worse issued.

_Mir._                       O the heavens!
What foul play had we, that we came from thence?                    60
Or blessed was't we did?

_Pros._                Both, both, my girl:
By foul play, as thou say'st, were we heaved thence;
But blessedly holp hither.

_Mir._                   O, my heart bleeds
To think o' the teen that I have turn'd you to.
Which is from my remembrance! Please you, farther.                  65

_Pros._ My brother, and thy uncle, call'd Antonio,--
I pray thee, mark me,--that a brother should
Be so perfidious!--he whom, next thyself,
Of all the world I loved, and to him put
The manage of my state; as, at that time,                           70
Through all the signories it was the first,
And Prospero the prime duke, being so reputed
In dignity, and for the liberal arts
Without a parallel; those being all my study,
The government I cast upon my brother,                              75
And to my state grew stranger, being transported
And rapt in secret studies. Thy false uncle--
Dost thou attend me?

_Mir._             Sir, most heedfully.

_Pros._ Being once perfected how to grant suits,
How to deny them, whom to advance, and whom                         80
To trash for over-topping, new created
The creatures that were mine, I say, or changed 'em,
Or else new form'd 'em; having both the key
Of officer and office, set all hearts i' the state
To what tune pleased his ear; that now he was                       85
The ivy which had hid my princely trunk,
And suck'd my verdure out on't. Thou attend'st not.

_Mir._ O, good sir, I do.

_Pros._                 I pray thee, mark me.
I, thus neglecting worldly ends, all dedicated
To closeness and the bettering of my mind                           90
With that which, but by being so retired,
O'er-prized all popular rate, in my false brother
Awaked an evil nature; and my trust,
Like a good parent, did beget of him
A falsehood in its contrary, as great                               95
As my trust was; which had indeed no limit,
A confidence sans bound. He being thus lorded,
Not only with what my revenue yielded,
But what my power might else exact, like one
Who having into truth, by telling of it,                           100
Made such a sinner of his memory,
To credit his own lie, he did believe
He was indeed the duke; out o' the substitution,
And executing the outward face of royalty,
With all prerogative:--hence his ambition growing,--               105
Dost thou hear?

_Mir._        Your tale, sir, would cure deafness.

_Pros._ To have no screen between this part he play'd
And him he play'd it for, he needs will be
Absolute Milan. Me, poor man, my library
Was dukedom large enough: of temporal royalties                    110
He thinks me now incapable; confederates,
So dry he was for sway, wi' the King of Naples
To give him annual tribute, do him homage,
Subject his coronet to his crown, and bend
The dukedom, yet unbow'd,--alas, poor Milan!--                     115
To most ignoble stooping.

_Mir._                  O the heavens!

_Pros._ Mark his condition, and th' event; then tell me
If this might be a brother.

_Mir._                    I should sin
To think but nobly of my grandmother:
Good wombs have borne bad sons.

_Pros._                       Now the condition.                   120
This King of Naples, being an enemy
To me inveterate, hearkens my brother's suit;
Which was, that he, in lieu o' the premises,
Of homage and I know not how much tribute,
Should presently extirpate me and mine                             125
Out of the dukedom, and confer fair Milan,
With all the honours, on my brother: whereon,
A treacherous army levied, one midnight
Fated to the purpose, did Antonio open
The gates of Milan; and, i' the dead of darkness,                  130
The ministers for the purpose hurried thence
Me and thy crying self.

_Mir._                Alack, for pity!
I, not remembering how I cried out then,
Will cry it o'er again: it is a hint
That wrings mine eyes to't.

_Pros._                   Hear a little further,                   135
And then I'll bring thee to the present business
Which now's upon 's; without the which, this story
Were most impertinent.

_Mir._               Wherefore did they not
That hour destroy us?

_Pros._             Well demanded, wench:
My tale provokes that question. Dear, they durst not,              140
So dear the love my people bore me; nor set
A mark so bloody on the business; but
With colours fairer painted their foul ends.
In few, they hurried us aboard a bark,
Bore us some leagues to sea; where they prepared                   145
A rotten carcass of a boat, not rigg'd,
Nor tackle, sail, nor mast; the very rats
Instinctively have quit it: there they hoist us,
To cry to the sea that roar'd to us; to sigh
To the winds, whose pity, sighing back again,                      150
Did us but loving wrong.

_Mir._                 Alack, what trouble
Was I then to you!

_Pros._          O, a cherubin
Thou wast that did preserve me. Thou didst smile,
Infused with a fortitude from heaven,
When I have deck'd the sea with drops full salt,                   155
Under my burthen groan'd; which raised in me
An undergoing stomach, to bear up
Against what should ensue.

_Mir._                   How came we ashore?

_Pros._ By Providence divine.
Some food we had, and some fresh water, that                       160
A noble Neapolitan, Gonzalo,
Out of his charity, who being then appointed
Master of this design, did give us, with
Rich garments, linens, stuffs and necessaries,
Which since have steaded much; so, of his gentleness,              165
Knowing I loved my books, he furnish'd me
From mine own library with volumes that
I prize above my dukedom.

_Mir._                  Would I might
But ever see that man!

_Pros._              Now I arise:  [_Resumes his mantle._
Sit still, and hear the last of our sea-sorrow.                    170
Here in this island we arrived; and here
Have I, thy schoolmaster, made thee more profit
Than other princesses can, that have more time
For vainer hours, and tutors not so careful.

_Mir._ Heavens thank you for't! And now, I pray you, sir,          175
For still 'tis beating in my mind, your reason
For raising this sea-storm?

_Pros._                   Know thus far forth.
By accident most strange, bountiful Fortune,
Now my dear lady, hath mine enemies
Brought to this shore; and by my prescience                        180
I find my zenith doth depend upon
A most auspicious star, whose influence
If now I court not, but omit, my fortunes
Will ever after droop. Here cease more questions:
Thou art inclined to sleep; 'tis a good dulness,                   185
And give it way: I know thou canst not choose.
                                        [_Miranda sleeps._
Come away, servant, come. I am ready now.
Approach, my Ariel, come.

  _Enter _ARIEL_._

_Ari._ All hail, great master! grave sir, hail! I come
To answer thy best pleasure; be't to fly,                          190
To swim, to dive into the fire, to ride
On the curl'd clouds, to thy strong bidding task
Ariel and all his quality.

_Pros._                  Hast thou, spirit,
Perform'd to point the tempest that I bade thee?

_Ari._ To every article.                                           195
I boarded the king's ship; now on the beak,
Now in the waist, the deck, in every cabin,
I flamed amazement: sometime I'ld divide,
And burn in many places; on the topmast,
The yards and bowsprit, would I flame distinctly,                  200
Then meet and join. Jove's lightnings, the precursors
O' the dreadful thunder-claps, more momentary
And sight-outrunning were not: the fire and cracks
Of sulphurous roaring the most mighty Neptune
Seem to besiege, and make his bold waves tremble,                  205
Yea, his dread trident shake.

_Pros._                     My brave spirit!
Who was so firm, so constant, that this coil
Would not infect his reason?

_Ari._                     Not a soul
But felt a fever of the mad, and play'd
Some tricks of desperation. All but mariners                       210
Plunged in the foaming brine, and quit the vessel,
Then all afire with me: the king's son, Ferdinand,
With hair up-staring,--then like reeds, not hair,--
Was the first man that leap'd; cried, "Hell is empty,
And all the devils are here."

_Pros._                 Why, that's my spirit!                     215
But was not this nigh shore?

_Ari._                    Close by, my master.

_Pros._ But are they, Ariel, safe?

_Ari._                           Not a hair perish'd;
On their sustaining garments not a blemish,
But fresher than before: and, as thou badest me,
In troops I have dispersed them 'bout the isle.                    220
The king's son have I landed by himself;
Whom I left cooling of the air with sighs
In an odd angle of the isle, and sitting,
His arms in this sad knot.

_Pros._                  Of the king's ship
The mariners, say how thou hast disposed,                          225
And all the rest o' the fleet.

_Ari._                       Safely in harbour
Is the king's ship; in the deep nook, where once
Thou call'dst me up at midnight to fetch dew
From the still-vex'd Bermoothes, there she's hid:
The mariners all under hatches stow'd;                             230
Who, with a charm join'd to their suffer'd labour,
I have left asleep: and for the rest o' the fleet,
Which I dispersed, they all have met again,
And are upon the Mediterranean flote,
Bound sadly home for Naples;                                       235
Supposing that they saw the king's ship wreck'd,
And his great person perish.

_Pros._                    Ariel, thy charge
Exactly is perform'd: but there's more work.
What is the time o' the day?

_Ari._                     Past the mid season.

_Pros._ At least two glasses. The time 'twixt six and now          240
Must by us both be spent most preciously.

_Ari._ Is there more toil? Since thou dost give me pains,
Let me remember thee what thou hast promised,
Which is not yet perform'd me.

_Pros._                      How now? moody?
What is't thou canst demand?

_Ari._                     My liberty.                             245

_Pros._ Before the time be out? no more!

_Ari._                                 I prithee,
Remember I have done thee worthy service;
Told thee no lies, made thee no mistakings, served
Without or grudge or grumblings: thou didst promise
To bate me a full year.

_Pros._               Dost thou forget                             250
From what a torment I did free thee?

_Ari._                             No.

_Pros._ Thou dost; and think'st it much to tread the ooze
Of the salt deep,
To run upon the sharp wind of the north,
To do me business in the veins o' the earth                        255
When it is baked with frost.

_Ari._                     I do not, sir.

_Pros._ Thou liest, malignant thing! Hast thou forgot
The foul witch Sycorax, who with age and envy
Was grown into a hoop? hast thou forgot her?

_Ari._ No, sir.

_Pros._       Thou hast. Where was she born? speak; tell me.       260

_Ari._ Sir, in Argier.

_Pros._              O, was she so? I must
Once in a month recount what thou hast been,
Which thou forget'st. This damn'd witch Sycorax,
For mischiefs manifold, and sorceries terrible
To enter human hearing, from Argier,                               265
Thou know'st, was banish'd: for one thing she did
They would not take her life. Is not this true?

_Ari._ Ay, sir.

_Pros._ This blue-eyed hag was hither brought with child,
And here was left by the sailors. Thou, my slave,                  270
As thou report'st thyself, wast then her servant;
And, for thou wast a spirit too delicate
To act her earthy and abhorr'd commands,
Refusing her grand hests, she did confine thee,
By help of her more potent ministers,                              275
And in her most unmitigable rage,
Into a cloven pine; within which rift
Imprison'd thou didst painfully remain
A dozen years; within which space she died,
And left thee there; where thou didst vent thy groans              280
As fast as mill-wheels strike. Then was this island--
Save for the son that she did litter here,
A freckled whelp hag-born--not honour'd with
A human shape.

_Ari._       Yes, Caliban her son.

_Pros._ Dull thing, I say so; he, that Caliban,                    285
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                              290
Could not again undo: it was mine art,
When I arrived and heard thee, that made gape
The pine, and let thee out.

_Ari._                    I thank thee, master.

_Pros._ If thou more murmur'st, I will rend an oak,
And peg thee in his knotty entrails, till                          295
Thou hast howl'd away twelve winters.

_Ari._                              Pardon, master:
I will be correspondent to command,
And do my spiriting gently.

_Pros._                   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?                        300

_Pros._ 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;                    305
Awake!

_Mir._ The strangeness of your story put
Heaviness in me.

_Pros._        Shake it off. Come on;
We'll visit Caliban my slave, who never
Yields us kind answer.

_Mir._               'Tis a villain, sir,
I do not love to look on.

_Pros._                 But, as 'tis,                              310
We cannot miss him: he does make our fire,
Fetch in our wood, and serves in offices
That profit us. What, ho! slave! Caliban!
Thou earth, thou! speak.

_Cal._ [_within_] There's wood enough within.

_Pros._ Come forth, I say! there's other business for thee:        315
Come, thou tortoise! when?

  _Re-enter ARIEL like a water-nymph._

Fine apparition! My quaint Ariel,
Hark in thine ear.

_Ari._           My lord, it shall be done.    [_Exit._

_Pros._ Thou poisonous slave, got by the devil himself
Upon thy wicked dam, come forth!                                   320

  _Enter CALIBAN._

_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!

_Pros._ For this, be sure, to-night thou shalt have cramps,        325
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.                       330
This island's mine, by Sycorax my mother,
Which thou takest from me. When thou camest first,
Thou strokedst me, and madest much of me; wouldst give me
Water with berries in't; and teach me how
To name the bigger light, and how the less,                        335
That burn by day and night: and then I loved thee,
And show'd thee all the qualities o' th' isle,
The fresh springs, brine-pits, barren place and fertile:
Curs'd be I that did so! All the charms
Of Sycorax, toads, beetles, bats, light on you!                    340
For I am all the subjects that you have,
Which first was mine own king: and here you sty me
In this hard rock, whiles you do keep from me
The rest o' th' island.

_Pros._               Thou most lying slave,
Whom stripes may move, not kindness! I have used thee,             345
Filth as thou art, with human care; and lodged thee
In mine own cell, till thou didst seek to violate
The honour of my child.

_Cal._ O ho, O ho! would 't had been done!
Thou didst prevent me; I had peopled else                          350
This isle with Calibans.

_Pros._                Abhorred slave,
Which any print of goodness wilt 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,                   355
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                    360
Deservedly confined into this rock,
Who hadst deserved more than a prison.

_Cal._ You taught me language; and my profit on't
Is, I know how to curse. The red plague rid you
For learning me your language!

_Pros._                      Hag-seed, hence!                      365
Fetch us in fuel; and be quick, thou'rt best,
To answer other business. Shrug'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,                     370
That beasts shall tremble at thy din.

_Cal._                              No, pray thee.
[_Aside_] I must obey: his art is of such power,
It would control my dam's god, Setebos,
And make a vassal of him.

_Pros._                 So, slave; hence!    [_Exit Caliban._

  _Re-enter ARIEL, invisible, playing and singing; FERDINAND
  following._

_ARIEL'S song._

    Come unto these yellow sands,                                  375
        And then take hands:
    Courtsied when you have and kiss'd
        The wild waves whist:
    Foot it featly here and there;
    And, sweet sprites, the burthen bear.                          380

 _Burthen_ [_dispersedly_]. Hark, hark!
                           Bow-wow.
        The watch-dogs bark:
                            Bow-wow.

_Ari._  Hark, hark! I hear
        The strain of strutting chanticleer                        385
        Cry, Cock-a-diddle-dow.

_Fer._ Where should this music be? i' th' air or th' earth?
It sounds no more: and, sure, it waits upon
Some god o' th' island. Sitting on a bank,
Weeping again the king my father's wreck,                          390
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 'tis gone.
No, it begins again.                                               395

_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                                   400
    Into something rich and strange.
    Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell:

                    _Burthen:_ Ding-dong.

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

_Fer._ The ditty does remember my drown'd father.                  405
This is no mortal business, nor no sound
That the earth owes:--I hear it now above me.

_Pros._ The fringed curtains of thine eye advance,
And say what thou seest yond.

_Mir._                      What is't? a spirit?
Lord, how it looks about! Believe me, sir,                         410
It carries a brave form. But 'tis a spirit.

_Pros._ 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          415
A goodly person: he hath lost his fellows,
And strays about to find 'em.

_Mir._                      I might call him
A thing divine; for nothing natural
I ever saw so noble.

_Pros._ [_Aside_] It goes on, I see,
As my soul prompts it. Spirit, fine spirit! I'll free thee         420
Within two days for this.

_Fer._                  Most sure, the goddess
On whom these airs attend! Vouchsafe my prayer
May know if you remain upon this island;
And that you will some good instruction give
How I may bear me here: my prime request,                          425
Which I do last pronounce, is, O you wonder!
If you be maid or no?

_Mir._              No wonder, sir;
But certainly a maid.

_Fer._              My language! heavens!
I am the best of them that speak this speech,
Were I but where 'tis spoken.

_Pros._                     How? the best?                         430
What wert thou, if the King of Naples heard thee?

_Fer._ A single thing, as I am now, that wonders
To hear thee speak of Naples. He does hear me;
And that he does I weep: myself am Naples,
Who with mine eyes, never since at ebb, beheld                     435
The king my father wreck'd.

_Mir._                    Alack, for mercy!

_Fer._ Yes, faith, and all his lords; the Duke of Milan
And his brave son being twain.

_Pros._                      [_Aside_] The Duke of Milan
And his more braver daughter could control thee,
If now 'twere fit to do't. At the first sight                      440
They have changed eyes. Delicate Ariel,
I'll set thee free for this. [_To Fer._] A word, good sir;
I fear you have done yourself some wrong: a word.

_Mir._ Why speaks my father so ungently? This
Is the third man that e'er I saw; the first                        445
That e'er I sigh'd for: pity move my father
To be inclined my way!

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

_Pros._            Soft, sir! one word more.
[_Aside_] They are both in either's powers:
        but this swift business                                    450
I must uneasy make, lest too light winning
Make the prize light. [_To Fer._] One word more; I charge thee
That thou attend me: thou dost here usurp
The name thou owest not; and hast put thyself
Upon this island as a spy, to win it                               455
From me, the lord on't.

_Fer._                No, as I am a man.

_Mir._ There's nothing ill can dwell in such a temple:
If the ill spirit have so fair a house,
Good things will strive to dwell with't.

_Pros._                                Follow me.
Speak not you for him; he's a traitor. Come;                       460
I'll manacle thy neck and feet together:
Sea-water shalt thou drink; thy food shall be
The fresh-brook muscles, wither'd roots, and husks
Wherein the acorn cradled. Follow.

_Fer._                           No;
I will resist such entertainment till                              465
Mine enemy has more power.
            [_Draws, and is charmed from moving._

_Mir._                O dear father,
Make not too rash a trial of him, for
He's gentle, and not fearful.

_Pros._                     What! I say,
My foot my tutor? Put thy sword up, traitor;
Who makest a show, but darest not strike, thy conscience           470
Is so possess'd with guilt: come from thy ward;
For I can here disarm thee with this stick
And make thy weapon drop.

_Mir._                  Beseech you, father.

_Pros._ Hence! hang not on my garments.

_Mir._                                Sir, have pity;
I'll be his surety.

_Pros._           Silence! one word more                           475
Shall make me chide thee, if not hate thee. What!
An advocate for an impostor! hush!
Thou think'st there is no more such shapes as he,
Having seen but him and Caliban: foolish wench!
To the most of men this is a Caliban,                              480
And they to him are angels.

_Mir._                    My affections
Are, then, most humble; I have no ambition
To see a goodlier man.

_Pros._              Come on; obey:
Thy nerves are in their infancy again,
And have no vigour in them.

_Fer._             So they are:                                    485
My spirits, as in a dream, are all bound up.
My father's loss, the weakness which I feel,
The wreck of all my friends, nor this man's threats,
To whom I am subdued, are but light to me,
Might I but through my prison once a day                           490
Behold this maid: all corners else o' th' earth
Let liberty make use of; space enough
Have I in such a prison.

_Pros._ [_Aside_]      It works. [_To Fer._] Come on.
Thou hast done well, fine Ariel! [_To Fer._] Follow me.
[_To Ari._] Hark what thou else shalt do me.

_Mir._                                     Be of comfort;          495
My father's of a better nature, sir,
Than he appears by speech: this is unwonted
Which now came from him.

_Pros._                Thou shalt be as free
As mountain winds: but then exactly do
All points of my command.

_Ari._                  To the syllable.                           500

_Pros._ Come, follow. Speak not for him.    [_Exeunt._

  Notes: I, 2.

  3: _stinking_] _flaming_ Singer conj. _kindling_ S. Verges conj.
  4: _cheek_] _heat_ Collier MS. _crack_ Staunton conj.
  7: _creature_] _creatures_ Theobald.
  13: _fraughting_] Ff. _fraighted_ Pope. _fraighting_ Theobald.
    _freighting_ Steevens.
  15: Mir. _O, woe the day!_ Pros. _No harm._] Mir. _O woe the day!
    no harm?_ Johnson conj.
  19: _I am more better_] _I'm more or better_ Pope.
  24: [Lays ... mantle] Pope.
  28: _provision_] F1. _compassion_ F2 F3 F4. _prevision_ Hunter conj.
  29: _soul_] _soul lost_ Rowe. _foyle_ Theobald. _soil_ Johnson conj.
    _loss_ Capell. _foul_ Wright conj.
  31: _betid_] F1. _betide_ F2 F3 F4.
  35: _a_] F1. _the_ F2 F3 F4.
  38: _thou_] om. Pope.
  41: _Out_] _Full_ Pope (after Dryden). _Quite_ Collier MS.
  44: _with_] _in_ Pope (after Dryden).
  53: _Twelve year ... year_] _Tis twelve years ... years_ Pope.
  58, 59: _and his only heir And princess_] _and his only heir
    A princess_ Pope. _thou his only heir And princess_ Steevens.
    _and though his only heir A princess_] Johnson conj.
  63: _holp_] _help'd_ Pope.
  _O, my heart_] _My heart_ Pope.
  78: _me_] om. F3 F4.
  80: _whom ... whom_] F2 F3 F4. _who ... who_ F1.
  81: _trash_] _plash_ Hanmer.
  82, 83: _'em ... 'em_] _them ... them_ Capell.
  84: _i' the state_] _i'th state_ F1. _e'th state_ F2.
    _o'th state_ F3 F4. om. Pope.
  88: _O, good sir ... mark me._] _Good sir ... mark me then._ Pope.
    _O yes, good sir ... mark me._ Capell.
  Mir. _O, ... do._ Pros. _I ... me_] _I ... me._ Mir. _O ... do._
    Steevens.
  89: _dedicated_] _dedicate_ Steevens (Ritson conj.).
  91: _so_] F1. om. F2 F3 F4.
  97: _lorded_] _loaded_ Collier MS.
  99: _exact, like_] _exact. Like_ Ff.
  100: _having into truth ... of it_] _loving an untruth, and telling
    't oft_ Hanmer. _having unto truth ... oft_ Warburton. _having to
    untruth ... of it_ Collier MS. _having sinn'd to truth ... oft_
    Musgrave conj.
  _telling_] _quelling_ S. Verges conj.
  101: _Made ... memory_] _Makes ... memory_ Hanmer. _Makes ...
    memory too_ Musgrave conj.
  103: _indeed the duke_] _the duke_ Steevens. _indeed duke_ S. Walker
    conj.
  _out o' the_] _from_ Pope.
  105: _his_] _is_ F2.
  105, 106: _ambition growing_] _ambition Growing_ Steevens.
  106: _hear?_] _hear, child?_ Hanmer.
  109: _Milan_] _Millanie_ F1 (Capell's copy).
  112: _wi' the_] Capell. _with_ Ff. _wi' th'_ Rowe. _with the_
    Steevens.
  116: _most_] F1. _much_ F2 F3 F4.
  119: _but_] _not_ Pope.
  120: _Good ... sons_] Theobald suggested that these words should be
    given to Prospero. Hanmer prints them so.
  122: _hearkens_] _hears_ Pope. _hearks_ Theobald.
  129: _Fated_] _Mated_ Dryden's version.
  _purpose_] _practise_ Collier MS.
  131: _ministers_] _minister_ Rowe.
  133: _out_] _on't_ Steevens conj.
  135: _to 't_] om. Steevens (Farmer conj.).
  138: _Wherefore_] _Why_ Pope.
  141: _me_] om. Pope.
  146: _boat_] Rowe (after Dryden). _butt_ F1 F2 F3. _but_ F4.
    _busse_ Black conj.
  147: _sail_] F1. _nor sail_ F2 F3 F4.
  148: _have_] _had_ Rowe (after Dryden).
  150: _the winds_] _winds_ Pope.
  155: _deck'd_] _brack'd_ Hanmer. _mock'd_ Warburton. _fleck'd_
    Johnson conj. _degg'd_ anon. ap. Reed conj.
  162: _who_] om. Pope. _he_ Steevens conj.
  169: _Now I arise_] Continued to Miranda. Blackstone conj.
  [Resumes his mantle] om. Ff. [Put on robe again. Collier MS.
  173: _princesses_] _princesse_ F1 F2 F3. _princess_ F4.
    _princes_ Rowe. _princess'_ Dyce (S. Walker conj.). See note (III).
  186: [M. sleeps] Theobald.
  189: SCENE III. Pope.
  190: _be't_] F1. _be it_ F2 F3 F4.
  193: _quality_] _qualities_ Pope (after Dryden).
  198: _sometime_] F1. _sometimes_ F2 F3 F4.
  200: _bowsprit_] _bore-sprit_ Ff. _bolt-sprit_ Rowe.
  201: _lightnings_] Theobald. _lightning_ Ff.
  202: _o' the_] _of_ Pope.
  _thunder-claps_] _thunder-clap_ Johnson.
  205: _Seem_] _Seem'd_ Theobald.
  206: _dread_] F1. _dead_ F2 F3 F4.
  _My brave_] _My brave, brave_ Theobald. _That's my brave_ Hanmer.
  209: _mad_] _mind_ Pope (after Dryden).
  211, 212: _vessel, ... son_] _vessell; Then all a fire with me
    the King's sonne_ Ff.
  218: _sustaining_] _sea-stained_ Edwards conj. _unstaining_ or
    _sea-staining_ Spedding conj.
  229: _Bermoothes_] _Bermudas_ Theobald.
  231: _Who_] _Whom_ Hanmer.
  234: _are_] _all_ Collier MS.
  _upon_] _on_ Pope.
  239-240: Ari. _Past the mid season._ Pros. _At least two glasses_]
    Ari. _Past the mid season at least two glasses._ Warburton.
    Pros. _... Past the mid season?_ Ari. _At least two glasses_
    Johnson conj.
  244: _How now? moody?_] _How now, moody!_ Dyce (so Dryden, ed. 1808).
  245: _What_] F1. _Which_ F2 F3 F4.
  248: _made thee_] Ff. _made_ Pope.
  249: _didst_] F3 F4. _did_ F1 F2.
  264: _and sorceries_] _sorceries too_ Hanmer.
  267: _Is not this true?_] _Is this not true?_ Pope.
  271: _wast then_] Rowe (after Dryden). _was then_ Ff.
  273: _earthy_] _earthly_ Pope.
  282: _son_] F1. _sunne_ F2. _sun_ F3 F4.
  _she_] Rowe (after Dryden). _he_ Ff.
  298: See note (IV).
  301: _like_] F1. _like to_ F2 F3 F4.
  302: _Be subject to_] _be subject To_ Malone.
  _but thine and mine_] _but mine_ Pope.
  304: _in't_] _in it_ Pope.
  _go, hence_] _goe: hence_ Ff. _go hence_ Pope. _hence_ Hanmer.
  307: _Heaviness_] _Strange heaviness_ Edd. conj.
  312: _serves in offices_] F1. _serves offices_ F2 F3 F4.
    _serveth offices_ Collier MS.
  316: _Come, thou tortoise! when?_] om. Pope.
  _Come_] _Come forth_ Steevens.]
  320: _come forth!_] _come forth, thou tortoise!_ Pope.
  321: SCENE IV. Pope.
  332: _camest_] Rowe. _cam'st_ Ff. _cam'st here_ Ritson conj.
  333: _madest_] Rowe (after Dryden). _made_ Ff.
  339: _Curs'd be I that_] F1. _Curs'd be I that I_ F2 F3 F4.
    _cursed be I that_ Steevens.
  342: _Which_] _Who_ Pope, and at line 351.
  346: _thee_] om. F4.
  349: _would 't_] Ff. _I wou'd it_ Pope.
  351: Pros.] Theobald (after Dryden). Mira. Ff.
  352: _wilt_] F1. _will_ F2 F3 F4.
  355, 356: _didst not ... Know_] _couldst not ... Shew_ Hanmer.
  356: _wouldst_] _didst_ Hanmer.
  361, 362: _Deservedly ... deserved_] _Justly ... who hadst Deserv'd_
    S. Walker conj. _Confin'd ... deserv'd_ id. conj.
  362: _Who ... prison_] om. Pope (after Dryden).
  366: _thou'rt_] F1 F2 F3. _thou art_ F4. _thou wer't_ Rowe.
  375: SCENE V. Pope.
  following.] Malone.
  378: _The wild waves whist_] Printed as a parenthesis by Steevens.
    See note (V).
  380: _the burthen bear_] Pope. _bear the burthen_ Ff.
  381-383: Steevens gives _Hark, hark! The watch-dogs bark_ to Ariel.
  387: _i' th' air or th' earth?_] _in air or earth?_ Pope.
  390: _again_] _against_ Rowe (after Dryden).
  407: _owes_] _owns_ Pope (after Dryden), but leaves _ow'st_ 454.
  408: SCENE VI. Pope.
  419: _It goes on, I see,_] _It goes, I see_ Capell. _It goes on_
    Steevens.
  420: _fine spirit!_] om. Hanmer.
  427: _maid_] F3. _mayd_ F1 F2. _made_ F4.
  443: See note (VI).
  444: _ungently_] F1. _urgently_ F2 F3 F4.
  451: _lest_] F4. _least_ F1 F2 F3.
  452: _One_] _Sir, one_ Pope.
    _I charge thee_] _I charge thee_ [to Ariel. Pope.
  460: Pros. prefixed again to this line in Ff.
  468: _and_] _tho'_ Hanmer.
  469: _foot_] _fool_ S. Walker conj. _child_ Dryden's version.
  470: _makest_] _mak'st_ F1. _makes_ F2 F3 F4.
  471: _so_] F1. om. F2 F3 F4. _all_ Pope.
  478: _is_] _are_ Rowe.
  488: _nor_] _and_ Rowe (after Dryden). _or_ Capell.
  489: _are_] _were_ Malone conj.

Prospero and Miranda stand on the shore of the island, having just witnessed the shipwreck. Miranda entreats her father to see that no one on-board comes to any harm. Prospero assures her that no one was harmed and tells her that it's time she learned who she is and where she comes from. Miranda seems curious, noting that Prospero has often started to tell her about herself but always stopped. However, once Prospero begins telling his tale, he asks her three times if she is listening to him. He tells her that he was once Duke of Milan and famous for his great intelligence. Prospero explains that he gradually grew uninterested in politics, however, and turned his attention more and more to his studies, neglecting his duties as duke. This gave his brother Antonio an opportunity to act on his ambition. Working in concert with the King of Naples, Antonio usurped Prospero of his dukedom. Antonio arranged for the King of Naples to pay him an annual tribute and do him homage as duke. Later, the King of Naples helped Antonio raise an army to march on Milan, driving Prospero out. Prospero tells how he and Miranda escaped from death at the hands of the army in a barely-seaworthy boat prepared for them by his loyal subjects. Gonzalo, an honest Neapolitan, provided them with food and clothing, as well as books from Prospero's library. Having brought Miranda up to date on how she arrived at their current home, Prospero explains that sheer good luck has brought his former enemies to the island. Miranda suddenly grows very sleepy, perhaps because Prospero charms her with his magic. When she is asleep, Prospero calls forth his spirit, Ariel. In his conversation with Ariel, we learn that Prospero and the spirit were responsible for the storm of Act I, scene i. Flying about the ship, Ariel acted as the wind, the thunder, and the lightning. When everyone except the crew had abandoned the ship, Ariel made sure, as Prospero had requested, that all were brought safely to shore but dispersed around the island. Ariel reports that the king's son is alone. He also tells Prospero that the mariners and Boatswain have been charmed to sleep in the ship, which has been brought safely to harbor. The rest of the fleet that was with the ship, believing it to have been destroyed by the storm, has headed safely back to Naples. Prospero thanks Ariel for his service, and Ariel takes this moment to remind Prospero of his promise to take one year off of his agreed time of servitude if Ariel performs his services without complaint. Prospero does not take well to being reminded of his promises, and he chastises Ariel for his impudence. He reminds Ariel of where he came from and how Prospero rescued him. Ariel had been a servant of Sycorax, a witch banished from Algiers  and sent to the island long ago. Ariel was too delicate a spirit to perform her horrible commands, so she imprisoned him in a "cloven pine" . She did not free him before she died, and he might have remained imprisoned forever had not Prospero arrived and rescued him. Reminding Ariel of this, Prospero threatens to imprison him for twelve years if he does not stop complaining. Ariel promises to be more polite. Prospero then gives him a new command: he must go make himself like a nymph of the sea and be invisible to all but Prospero. Ariel goes to do so, and Prospero, turning to Miranda's sleeping form, calls upon his daughter to awaken. She opens her eyes and, not realizing that she has been enchanted, says that the "strangeness" of Prospero's story caused her to fall asleep.

Analysis Act I, scene ii opens with the revelation that it was Prospero's magic, and not simply a hostile nature, that raised the storm that caused the shipwreck. From there, the scene moves into a long sequence devoted largely to telling the play's background story while introducing the major characters on the island. The first part of the scene is devoted to two long histories, both told by Prospero, one to Miranda and one to Ariel. If The Tempest is a play about power in various forms , then Prospero is the center of power, controlling events throughout the play through magic and manipulation. Prospero's retellings of past events to Miranda and Ariel do more than simply fill the audience in on the story so far. They also illustrate how Prospero maintains his power, exploring the old man's meticulous methods of controlling those around him through magic, charisma, and rhetoric. Prospero's rhetoric is particularly important to observe in this section, especially in his confrontation with Ariel. Of all the characters in the play, Prospero alone seems to understand that controlling history enables one to control the present--that is, that one can control others by controlling how they understand the past. Prospero thus tells his story with a highly rhetorical emphasis on his own good deeds, the bad deeds of others toward him, and the ingratitude of those he has protected from the evils of others. For example, when he speaks to Miranda, he calls his brother "perfidious," then immediately says that he loved his brother better than anyone in the world except Miranda . He repeatedly asks Miranda, "Dost thou attend me?" Through his questioning, he commands her attention almost hypnotically as he tells her his one-sided version of the story. Prospero himself does not seem blameless. While his brother did betray him, he also failed in his responsibilities as a ruler by giving up control of the government so that he could study. He contrasts his popularity as a leader--"the love my people bore me" --with his brother's "evil nature" . When he speaks to Ariel, a magical creature over whom his mastery is less certain than over his doting daughter, Prospero goes to even greater lengths to justify himself. He treats Ariel as a combination of a pet, whom he can praise and blame as he chooses, and a pupil, demanding that the spirit recite answers to questions about the past that Prospero has taught him. Though Ariel must know the story well, Prospero says that he must "once in a month" recount Ariel's history with Sycorax, simply to ensure that his servant's fickle nature does not cause him to become disloyal. Every time he retells Ariel's history, we feel, he must increase both the persuasiveness of his own story and his control over Ariel. This is why he now chooses to claim that Ariel is behaving badly--so that he can justify a retelling of the history, even though Ariel is perfectly respectful. He forces Ariel to recall the misery he suffered while trapped in the pine tree . He then positions himself as the good savior who overthrew Sycorax's evil. However, he immediately follows this with a forceful display of his own magical power, threatening to trap Ariel in an oak just as the "evil" Sycorax had trapped him in a pine. In this way, Prospero exercises control both intellectually and physically. By controlling the way Ariel and Miranda think about their lives, he makes it difficult for them to imagine that challenging his authority would be a good thing to do, and by threatening Ariel with magical torture, he sets very high stakes for any such rebellion. For his part, Ariel promises to "do my spiriting gently" from now on.