Enter PROSPERO, FERDINAND, and MIRANDA. PRO. If I have too austerely punish'd you, Your compensation makes amends; for I Have given you here a thread of mine own life, Or that for which I live; whom once again I tender to thy hand. All thy vexations Were but my trials of thy love, and thou Hast strangely stood the test: here, afore Heaven, I ratify this my rich gift. O, Ferdinand, Do not smile at me that I boast her off, For thou shalt find she will outstrip all praise, And make it halt behind her! Worthily purchas'd, take my daughter: but As I hope mis-spelling, perhaps, of thred thread, which is oftentimes found in old writers. d-broom groves,-] Hanmer changes this to "brown groves,' as does Mr. Collier's annotator; and a more unhappy alteration can hardly be conceived, since it at once destroys the point of the allusion: yellow, the colour of the broom, being supposed especially congenial to the lass-lorn and dismissed bachelor. Thus Burton, in his " Anatomy of Melancholy," Part III. Sec. 2, "So long as we are wooers, and may kiss and coll at our pleasure, nothing is so sweet; we are in heaven, as we think: but when we are once tied, and have lost our liberty, marriage is an hell: give me my yellow hose again." JUN. Honour, riches, marriage-blessing, CER. Earth's increase, foison plenty, Barns and garners never empty; Scarcity and want shall shun you; FER. This is a most majestic vision, and PRO. Spirits, which by mine art I have from their confines call'd to enact My present fancies. FER. Let me live here ever; So rare a wonder, and a father wise,a [JUNO and CERES whisper, and send IRIS on PRO. Sweet now, silence! Juno and Ceres whisper seriously; There's something else to do: hush, and be mute, Or else our spell is marred. IRIS. You nymphs, call'd Naiads, of the wandering brooks, With your sedg'd crowns, and ever-harmless looks, (*) Old text, windring. a CER. Earth's increase, &c.] The prefix "Cer." to this part of the song is omitted by mistake in the old copies, and was first inserted by Theobald. b Spring come to you, at the farthest, Mr. Collier's annotator would alter this, strangely enough, to, "Rain come to you," &c. See the "Faiery Queen," B. III. C. 6, St. 42, "There is continuall spring, and harvest there See also Amos, c. ix. v. 13 :-"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed." e Harmonious charmingly :] Charmingly here imports magically, not delightfully. Enter certain Nymphs. You sun-burn'd sicklemen of August, weary, Come hither from the furrow, and be merry; Make holiday: your rye-straw hats put on, And these fresh nymphs encounter every one In country footing. Enter certain Reapers, properly habited; they join with the Nymphs in a graceful dance; towards the end whereof PROSPERO starts suddenly, and speaks; after which, to a strange, hollow, and confused noise, they heavily vanish. PRO. [Aside.] I had forgot that foul conspiracy Of the beast Caliban and his confederates, Against my life; the minute of their plot Is almost come.-[To the Spirits.] Well done;avoid!-no more! FER. This is strange: your father's in some passion That works him strongly. MIRA. Bear with my weakness; my old brain is troubled: In the ancient copies this reads,― "So rare a wondred Father, and a wise and it is usually altered to, "So rare a wonder'd father and a wife, It is pretty evident that Ferdinand expresses a compliment to father and daughter; and equally so that the lines were in tended to rhyme; with the very slight change we have ventured the passage fulfils both conditions. It is noteworthy that the same rhyme occurs in the opening stanza of our author's "Pas sionate Pilgrim," Spirit, We must prepare to meet with Caliban. ARI. Ay, my commander; when I presented I thought to have told thee of it; but I fear'd PRO. Say again, where didst thou leave these varlets? ARI. I told you, sir, they were red-hot with drinking; So full of valour that they smote the air ears, Advanc'd their eyelids, lifted up their noses I thank thee.] Steevens, rightly, we believe, considered these words to be in reply to the mutual wish of Ferdinand and Miranda, but wrongly, perhaps, altered them to, "I thank you.' Thee, however ungrammatical, appears to have been sometimes Tooth'd briers, sharp furzes, pricking goss, and thorns, Which enter'd their frail shins: at last I left them PRO. I go, I go. [Exit. ARI. Re-enter ARIEL, loaden with glistering apparel, &c. CAL. Pray you, tread softly, that the blind mole may not Hear a foot fall we now are near his cell. : (*) Old text, on them. used in a plural sense: thus, in "Hamlet," Act II. Sc. 2; the prince, addressing the players, says,-"I am glad to see thee well.' STE. Monster, your fairy, which you say is a harmless fairy, has done little better than played the Jack with us. TRIN. Monster, I do smell all horse-piss; at which my nose is in great indignation. STE. So is mine.-Do you hear, monster? If I should take a displeasure against you, look you,TRIN. Thou wert but a lost monster. CAL. Good my lord, give me thy favour still. Be patient, for the prize I'll bring thee to Shall hoodwink this mischance: therefore speak softly ; All's hush'd as midnight yet. TRIN. Ay, but to lose our bottles in the pool,STE. There is not only disgrace and dishonour in that, monster, but an infinite loss. |