The Tempest

The Tempest

ACT V SCENE I	Before PROSPERO'S cell.
	Enter PROSPERO in his magic robes, and ARIEL
PROSPERO	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?
ARIEL	On the sixth hour; at which time, my lord,	5
	You said our work should cease.
PROSPERO	I did say so,
	When first I raised the tempest. Say, my spirit,
	How fares the king and's followers?
ARIEL	Confined together	10
	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;
	They cannot budge till your release. The king,
	His brother and yours, abide all three distracted	15
	And the remainder mourning over them,
	Brimful of sorrow and dismay; but chiefly
	Him that you term'd, sir, 'The good old lord Gonzalo;'
	His tears run down his beard, like winter's drops
	From eaves of reeds. Your charm so strongly works 'em	20
	That if you now beheld them, your affections
	Would become tender.
PROSPERO	Dost thou think so, spirit?
ARIEL	Mine would, sir, were I human.
PROSPERO	And mine shall.	25
	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,	30
	Yet with my nobler reason 'gaitist 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:	35
	My charms I'll break, their senses I'll restore,
	And they shall be themselves.
ARIEL	I'll fetch them, sir.
	Exit
PROSPERO	Ye elves of hills, brooks, standing lakes and groves,
	And ye that on the sands with printless foot	40
	Do chase the ebbing Neptune and do fly him
	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	45
	To hear the solemn curfew; by whose aid,
	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	50
	Have I given fire and rifted Jove's stout oak
	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	55
	By my so potent art. But this rough magic
	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,	60
	Bury it certain fathoms in the earth,
	And deeper than did ever plummet sound
	I'll drown my book.
	Solemn music
	Re-enter ARIEL before: then ALONSO, with afrantic gesture, attended by GONZALO;SEBASTIAN and ANTONIO in like manner,attended by ADRIAN and FRANCISCO they allenter the circle which PROSPERO had made,and there stand charmed; which PROSPEROobserving, speaks:
	A solemn air and the best comforter
	To an unsettled fancy cure thy brains,	65
	Now useless, boil'd within thy skull! There stand,
	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,	70
	And as the morning steals upon the night,
	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	75
	To him you follow'st! I will pay thy graces
	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 fort now, Sebastian. Flesh and blood,	80
	You, brother mine, that entertain'd ambition,
	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	85
	Begins to swell, and the approaching tide
	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:	90
	I will discase me, and myself present
	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;	95
	There I couch when owls do cry.
	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.	100
PROSPERO	Why, that's my dainty Ariel! I shall miss thee:
	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	105
	Being awake, enforce them to this place,
	And presently, I prithee.
ARIEL	I drink the air before me, and return
	Or ere your pulse twice beat.
	Exit
GONZALO	All torment, trouble, wonder and amazement	110
	Inhabits here: some heavenly power guide us
	Out of this fearful country!
PROSPERO	Behold, sir king,
	The wronged Duke of Milan, Prospero:
	For more assurance that a living prince	115
	Does now speak to thee, I embrace thy body;
	And to thee and thy company I bid
	A hearty welcome.
ALONSO	Whether thou best he or no,
	Or some enchanted trifle to abuse me,	120
	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,
	I fear, a madness held me: this must crave,
	An if this be at all, a most strange story.	125
	Thy dukedom I resign and do entreat
	Thou pardon me my wrongs. But how should Prospero
	Be living and be here?
PROSPERO	First, noble friend,
	Let me embrace thine age, whose honour cannot	130
	Be measured or confined.
GONZALO	Whether this be
	Or be not, I'll not swear.
PROSPERO	You do yet taste
	Some subtilties o' the isle, that will not let you	135
	Believe things certain. Welcome, my friends all!
	Aside to SEBASTIAN and ANTONIO
	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.	140
SEBASTIAN	Aside
PROSPERO	No.
	For you, most wicked sir, whom to call brother
	Would even infect my mouth, I do forgive
	Thy rankest fault; all of them; and require
	My dukedom of thee, which perforce, I know,	145
	Thou must restore.
ALONSO	If thou be'st Prospero,
	Give us particulars of thy preservation;
	How thou hast met us here, who three hours since
	Were wreck'd upon this shore; where I have lost--	150
	How sharp the point of this remembrance is!--
	My dear son Ferdinand.
PROSPERO	I am woe for't, sir.
ALONSO	Irreparable is the loss, and patience
	Says it is past her cure.	155
PROSPERO	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.
ALONSO	You the like loss!	160
PROSPERO	As great to me as late; and, supportable
	To make the dear loss, have I means much weaker
	Than you may call to comfort you, for I
	Have lost my daughter.
ALONSO	A daughter?	165
	O heavens, that they were living both in Naples,
	The king and queen there! that they were, I wish
	Myself were mudded in that oozy bed
	Where my son lies. When did you lose your daughter?
PROSPERO	In this last tempest. I perceive these lords	170
	At this encounter do so much admire
	That they devour their reason and scarce think
	Their eyes do offices of truth, their words
	Are natural breath: but, howsoe'er you have
	Been justled from your senses, know for certain	175
	That I am Prospero and that very duke
	Which was thrust forth of Milan, who most strangely
	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,	180
	Not a relation for a breakfast nor
	Befitting this first meeting. Welcome, sir;
	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,	185
	I will requite you with as good a thing;
	At least bring forth a wonder, to content ye
	As much as me my dukedom.
	Here PROSPERO discovers FERDINAND and MIRANDAplaying at chess
MIRANDA	Sweet lord, you play me false.
FERDINAND	No, my dear'st love,	190
	I would not for the world.
MIRANDA	Yes, for a score of kingdoms you should wrangle,
	And I would call it, fair play.
ALONSO	If this prove
	A vision of the Island, one dear son	195
	Shall I twice lose.
SEBASTIAN	A most high miracle!
FERDINAND	Though the seas threaten, they are merciful;
	I have cursed them without cause.
	Kneels
ALONSO	Now all the blessings	200
	Of a glad father compass thee about!
	Arise, and say how thou camest here.
MIRANDA	O, wonder!
	How many goodly creatures are there here!
	How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,	205
	That has such people in't!
PROSPERO	'Tis new to thee.
ALONSO	What is this maid with whom thou wast at play?
	Your eld'st acquaintance cannot be three hours:
	Is she the goddess that hath sever'd us,	210
	And brought us thus together?
FERDINAND	Sir, she is mortal;
	But by immortal Providence she's mine:
	I chose her when I could not ask my father
	For his advice, nor thought I had one. She	215
	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
	This lady makes him to me.	220
ALONSO	I am hers:
	But, O, how oddly will it sound that I
	Must ask my child forgiveness!
PROSPERO	There, sir, stop:
	Let us not burthen our remembrance with	225
	A heaviness that's gone.
GONZALO	I have inly wept,
	Or should have spoke ere this. Look down, you god,
	And on this couple drop a blessed crown!
	For it is you that have chalk'd forth the way	230
	Which brought us hither.
ALONSO	I say, Amen, Gonzalo!
GONZALO	Was Milan thrust from Milan, that his issue
	Should become kings of Naples? O, rejoice
	Beyond a common joy, and set it down	235
	With gold on lasting pillars: In one voyage
	Did Claribel her husband find at Tunis,
	And Ferdinand, her brother, found a wife
	Where he himself was lost, Prospero his dukedom
	In a poor isle and all of us ourselves	240
	When no man was his own.
ALONSO	To FERDINAND and MIRANDA
	Let grief and sorrow still embrace his heart
	That doth not wish you joy!
GONZALO	Be it so! Amen!
	Re-enter ARIEL, with the Master and Boatswainamazedly following
	O, look, sir, look, sir! here is more of us:	245
	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?
Boatswain	The best news is, that we have safely found	250
	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.
ARIEL	Aside to PROSPERO
	Have I done since I went.	255
PROSPERO	Aside to ARIEL
ALONSO	These are not natural events; they strengthen
	From strange to stranger. Say, how came you hither?
Boatswain	If I did think, sir, I were well awake,
	I'ld strive to tell you. We were dead of sleep,
	And--how we know not--all clapp'd under hatches;	260
	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;
	Where we, in all her trim, freshly beheld	265
	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.
ARIEL	Aside to PROSPERO
PROSPERO	Aside to ARIEL
ALONSO	This is as strange a maze as e'er men trod	270
	And there is in this business more than nature
	Was ever conduct of: some oracle
	Must rectify our knowledge.
PROSPERO	Sir, my liege,
	Do not infest your mind with beating on	275
	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
	And think of each thing well.	280
	Aside to ARIEL
	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	285
	Some few odd lads that you remember not.
	Re-enter ARIEL, driving in CALIBAN, STEPHANOand TRINCULO, in their stolen apparel
STEPHANO	Every man shift for all the rest, and
	let no man take care for himself; for all is
	but fortune. Coragio, bully-monster, coragio!
TRINCULO	If these be true spies which I wear in my head,	290
	here's a goodly sight.
CALIBAN	O Setebos, these be brave spirits indeed!
	How fine my master is! I am afraid
	He will chastise me.
SEBASTIAN	Ha, ha!	295
	What things are these, my lord Antonio?
	Will money buy 'em?
ANTONIO	Very like; one of them
	Is a plain fish, and, no doubt, marketable.
PROSPERO	Mark but the badges of these men, my lords,	300
	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,
	And deal in her command without her power.
	These three have robb'd me; and this demi-devil--	305
	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!
	Acknowledge mine.
CALIBAN	I shall be pinch'd to death.	310
ALONSO	Is not this Stephano, my drunken butler?
SEBASTIAN	He is drunk now: where had he wine?
ALONSO	And Trinculo is reeling ripe: where should they
	Find this grand liquor that hath gilded 'em?
	How camest thou in this pickle?	315
TRINCULO	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.
SEBASTIAN	Why, how now, Stephano!
STEPHANO	O, touch me not; I am not Stephano, but a cramp.	320
PROSPERO	You'ld be king o' the isle, sirrah?
STEPHANO	I should have been a sore one then.
ALONSO	This is a strange thing as e'er I look'd on.
	Pointing to Caliban
PROSPERO	He is as disproportion'd in his manners
	As in his shape. Go, sirrah, to my cell;	325
	Take with you your companions; as you look
	To have my pardon, trim it handsomely.
CALIBAN	Ay, that I will; and I'll be wise hereafter
	And seek for grace. What a thrice-double ass
	Was I, to take this drunkard for a god	330
	And worship this dull fool!
PROSPERO	Go to; away!
ALONSO	Hence, and bestow your luggage where you found it.
SEBASTIAN	Or stole it, rather.
	Exeunt CALIBAN, STEPHANO, and TRINCULO
PROSPERO	Sir, I invite your highness and your train	335
	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	340
	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	345
	Every third thought shall be my grave.
ALONSO	I long
	To hear the story of your life, which must
	Take the ear strangely.
PROSPERO	I'll deliver all;	350
	And promise you calm seas, auspicious gales
	And sail so expeditious that shall catch
	Your royal fleet far off.
	Aside to ARIEL
	My Ariel, chick,
	That is thy charge: then to the elements	355
	Be free, and fare thou well! Please you, draw near.
	Exeunt
	EPILOGUE
	SPOKEN BY PROSPERO
	Now my charms are all o'erthrown,
	And what strength I have's mine own,	360
	Which is most faint: now, 'tis true,
	I must be here confined by you,
	Or sent to Naples. Let me not,
	Since I have my dukedom got
	And pardon'd the deceiver, dwell	365
	In this bare island by your spell;
	But release me from my bands
	With the help of your good hands:
	Gentle breath of yours my sails
	Must fill, or else my project fails,	370
	Which was to please. Now I want
	Spirits to enforce, art to enchant,
	And my ending is despair,
	Unless I be relieved by prayer,
	Which pierces so that it assaults	375
	Mercy itself and frees all faults.
	As you from crimes would pardon'd be,
	Let your indulgence set me free.