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,

Which first was mine own king: and here you sty me In this hard rock, whiles you do keep from me

The rest of 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,
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,
Tho' thou didst learn, had that in't which good natures
Could not abide to be with; therefore wast thou
Deservedly confin'd into this rock,

Who had'st deserv'd 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, 2 For learning me your language !

Pro. Hag-seed, hence!

Fetch us in fuel; and be quick thou wert best,

To answer other business. Shrugg'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,
That beasts shall tremble at thy din.

Cal. No, pray thee!

I must obey his art is of such power,

It would control my dam's god Setebos,

[Aside.

[1] This savage exclamation was originally and constantly appropriated by the writers of our ancient Mysteries and Moralities, to the Devil; and has, in this instance, been transferred to his descendant Caliban. STEEV. [2] The erysipelas was anciently called the red plague. STEEV.

And make a vassal of him.

Pro. So, slave; hence!

[Exit CAL.

Re-enter ARIEL invisible, playing, and singing; FERDINAND following him.

ARIEL'S SONG.

Come unto these yellow sands,
And then take hands :

Court'sied when you have, and kiss'd,
(The wild waves whist,)

Foot it featly here and there;

And, sweet sprites, the burden bear.

Hark, hark!

Bur. Bowgh, wowgh.

The watch-dogs bark:

Bur. Bowgh, wowgh.

Hark, hark! I hear

The strain of strutting chanticlere

Cry, Cock-a-doodle-doo.

[dispersedly.

[dispersedly,

Fer. Where should this music be? i' the air, or the

earth?

It sounds no more :-and sure, it waits upon
Some god of 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 'tis gone.
No, it begins again.

ARIEL sings.

Full fathom five thy father lies ;3
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade,

[3] Ariel's lays, (which have been condemned by Gildon as trifling, and defended not very successfully by Dr. Warburton,) however seasonable and efficacious, must be allowed to be of no supernatural dignity or elegance; they express nothing great, nor reveal any thing above mortal discovery. The reason for which Ariel is introduced thus trifling is, that he and his companions are evidently of the fairy kind, an order of beings to which tradition has always ascribed sort of diminutive agency, powerful but ludicrous, a humorous and frolic controlment of nature, well expressed by the songs of Ariel. JOHNSON.

maid

But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell :

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

[Burden, ding-dong.

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 'tis 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 them.

Mira. I might call him

A thing divine; for nothing natural

I ever saw so noble.

Pro. It goes on,

[Aside.

As my soul prompts it :-Spirit, fine spirit! I'll free thee
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,
Which I do last pronounce, is, O you wonder !
you be made, or no?

If

Mira. 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.

Pro. How! the best?

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, ne'er since at ebb, beheld
The king my father wreck'd.

Mira. Alack, for mercy!

Fer. Yes, faith, and all his lords; the duke of Milan, And his brave son, being twain.

Pro. The duke of Milan,

[Aside.

And his more braver daughter, could control thee,
If now 'twere fit to do't :-At the first sight
They have chang'd eyes :-Delicate Ariel,

I'll set thee free for this! A word, good sir ;

I fear, you have done yourself some wrong: a word-
Mira. Why speaks my father so ungently? This
Is the third man that e'er I saw; the first

That e'er I sigh'd for: pity move my father
To be inclin'd my way!

Fer. O, if a virgin,

And your affection not gone forth, I'll make you
The queen of Naples.

Pro. Soft, sir; one word more..

They are both in either's powers but this swift business

I must uneasy make, lest too light winning

[Aside.

Make the prize light.-One word more; I charge thee, That thou attend me: thou dost here usurp

The name thou ow'st not; and hast put thyself

Upon this island, as a spy to win it

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 an house,

Good things will strive to dwell with't.
Pro. [To FERD.] Follow me.

Speak not you for him; he's a traitor.
I'll manacle thy neck and feet together:

-Come.

Sea-water shalt thou drink, thy food shall be

The fresh-brook muscles, wither'd roots, and husks
Wherein the acorn cradled

Fer. No;

Follow.

I will resist such entertainment, till

Mine enemy has more power.

Mira. O, dear father,

Make not too rash a trial of him; for

He's gentle, and not fearful.

Pro. What, I say,

[He draws.

My foot my tutor

Put thy sword up, traitor ;

Who mak'st a shew, but dar'st not strike, thy conscience
Is so possess'd with guilt: come from thy ward;
For I can here disarm thee with this stick,

And make thy weapon drop.

Mira. Beseech you, father!

Pro. Hence; hang not on my garments.
Mira. Sir, have pity;

I'll be his surety.

Pro. Silence: one word more

Shall make me chide thee, if not hate thee. What! An advocate for an impostor? hush!

Thou think'st, there are no more such shapes as he, Having seen but him and Caliban: Foolish wench! To the most of men this is a Caliban,

And they to him are angels.

Mira. My affections

Are then most humble; I have no ambition

To see a goodlier man.

Pro. Come on; obey:

Thy nerves are in their infancy again,

And have no vigour in them.

Fer. So they are:

My spirits, as in a dream, are all bound up.

My father's loss, the weakness which I feel,

[TO FERD.

The wreck of all my friends, or this man's threats,
To whom I am subdued, are but light to me,

Might I but through my prison once a day
Behold this maid: all corners else o' the earth
Let liberty make use of; space enough

Have I in such a prison !

Pro. It works :

Come on.

Thou hast done well, fine Ariel !Follow me.[To FERD. and MIRA. [To ARIEL.] Hark, what thou else shalt do me. Mira. Be of comfort;

My father's of a better nature, sir,

Than he appears by speech; this is unwonted,
Which now came from him.

Pro. Thou shalt be as free

As mountain winds: but then exactly do
All points of my command.

Ari. To the syllable.

Pro. Come, follow :-Speak not for him.

[Exeunt,