PRO. [aside.]
Honest Lord,
Thou hast said well; for some of you there present
Are worse than devils.
ALON.
I cannot too much muse
Such shapes, such gesture, and such sound, expressing
(Although they want the use of tongue) a kind
Of excellent dumb discourse.
PRO.
Praise in departing !2 [aside.
FRAN. They vanish'd strangely.
SEB.
No matter, since
40
They have left their viands behind; for we have stomachs.
Will't please you taste of what is here?
ALON.
GON. Faith, Sir, you need not fear.
boys,
Who would believe that there were mountaineers
Dew-lapp'd like bulls, whose throats had hanging at
them
Wallets of flesh? or that there were such men
Whose heads stood in their breasts? which now we find
1 puppet show.
2 praise not till the last.
Thunder and Lightning. Enter ARIEL like a Harpy, claps his wings upon the table, and, with a quaint device, the Banquet vanishes.
ARI. You are three men of sin, whom Destiny
(That hath to instrument this lower world
And what is in 't) the never-surfeited sea
Hath caus'd to belch up; yea, and on this Island
Where man doth not inhabit: you 'mongst men
Being most unfit to live. I have made you mad;
[Seeing ALON., SEB., etc., draw their swords.
And even with such like valour, men hang and drown
Their proper selves. You fools! I and my fellows
Are Ministers of Fate: the Elements,
Of whom your swords are temper'd, may as well
Wound the loud winds, or with bemock'd-at stabs
Kill the still-closing waters, as diminish
One dowle2 that's in my plume; my fellow Ministers
Are 'like-invulnerable: if you could hurt,
Your swords are now too massy for your strengths,
And will not be uplifted. But, remember
(For that's my business to you), that you
From Milan did supplant good Prospero;
Expos'd unto the sea (which hath requit3 it)
Him, and his innocent child: for which foul deed
The Powers, delaying, not forgetting, have
Incens'd the seas and shores, yea, all the creatures,
Against your peace. Thee, of thy son, Alonso,
They have bereft; and do pronounce by me,
Lingering perdition (worse than any death
Can be at once) shall step by step attend
You, and your ways; whose wrath to guard you
from
(Which here, in this most desolate Isle, else falls
1 insurer against accidents of travel.
2 film of down.
3 requited.
Upon your heads) is nothing, but heart-sorrow
And a clear1 life ensuing.
He vanishes in Thunder: then (to soft music) Enter the Shapes again, and dance (with mockes and mores) and carry out the Table.
PRO. [aside.] Bravely the figure of this Harpy hast thou
Perform'd, my Ariel; a grace it had, devouring!
my instruction hast thou nothing 'bated
In what thou hadst to say: so, with good life2
Of
And observation strange, my meaner Ministers
Their several kinds have done. My high charms work,
And these, mine enemies, are all knit up
In their distractions: they now are in my power;
And in these fits I leave them, whilst I visit
Young Ferdinand (whom they suppose is drown'd)
And his lov'd darling and mine. [Exit PROSPERO.
GON. I' the name of something holy, Sir, why stand you
In this strange stare?
ALON.
O, it is monstrous! monstrous !
Methought the Billows spoke, and told me of it;
The Winds did sing it to me; and the Thunder,
That deep and dreadful organ-pipe, pronounc'd
The name of Prosper; it did bass my trespass.
Therefore my son i' the ooze is bedded; and
I'll seek him deeper than e'er plummet sounded,
And with him there lie mudded.
SEB.
I'll fight their legions o'er.
ANT.
I'll be thy second.
[Exeunt SEB. and ANT.
GON. All three of them are desperate: their great guilt
(Like poison given to work a great time after)
Now 'gins to bite their spirits. I do beseech you,
That are of suppler joints, follow them swiftly,
And hinder them from what this ecstasy
May now provoke them to.
ADR.
[exit. But one fiend at a time,
ACT IV
SCENE I. Before PROSPERO'S Cell.
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 third of mine own life,
Or that for which I live; who once again
I tender to thy hand. All thy vexations
Do not smile at me, that I boast of her,
For thou shalt find she will outstrip all praise,
And make it halt behind her.
FER.
I do believe it
Against an oracle.
PRO. Then, as my gift, and thine own acquisition
Worthily purchas'd, take my daughter; but
If thou dost break her virgin knot before
All sanctimonious ceremonies may
With full and holy rite be minister'd,
No sweet aspersion shall the Heavens let fall
To make this contract grow; but barren Hate,
Sour-ey'd Disdain, and Discord, shall bestrew
The union of your bed with weeds so loathly,
That you shall hate it both: therefore, take heed,
As Hymen's lamp shall light you!
FER.
11
Were but my trials of thy love, and thou
Hast strangely1 stood the test: here, afore Heaven,
I ratify this my rich gift. O Ferdinand!
As I hope
For quiet days, fair issue, and long life,
With such love as 'tis now, the murkiest den,
The most opportune place, the strong'st suggestion
Our worser Genius can, shall never melt
Mine honour into lust, to take away
The edge of that day's celebration,
"
When I shall think, or Phoebus' steeds are founder'd, 30
Or Night's kept chain'd below.
T
1 rarely.
Each one, tripping on his toe,
Will be here with mop and mowe:1
Do
you love me, master? no?
PRO. Dearly, my delicate Ariel. Do not approach,
Till thou dost hear me call.
ARI.
Well, I conceive.
PRO. Look, thou be true; do not give dalliance
Too much the rein; the strongest oaths are straw
To the fire i' the blood: be more abstemious,
Or else, good night, your vow!
FER.
I warrant you, Sir:
The white-cold virgin snow upon my heart
Abates the ardour of my liver.
PRO.
Well.
Now come, my Ariel! bring a corollary2
Rather than want a Spirit: appear, and pertly.
No tongue! all eyes! be silent.
[Soft music.
A Masque. Enter IRIS.
IRIS. Ceres, most bounteous lady, thy rich leas
Of wheat, rye, barley, vetches, oats, and peas;
Thy turfy mountains, where live nibbling sheep,
1 gibber and grimace.
2 super.
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