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ACT V. SCENE I.

Before the Cell.

Enter Profpero in his magic Robes, and Ariel.

PROSPERO.

OW does my project gather to a head;
My charms crack not; my fpirits obey, and

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time

Goes upright with his carriage: how's the day?
Ari. On the fixth hour, at which time, my lord,
You faid, your work should cease.

Pro. I did fay fo,

When first I rais'd the tempeft; say, my spirit,
How fares the King and's followers?

Ari. Confin'd

In the fame fashion as you gave in charge;
Just as you left them, all prifoners, Sir,

In the Lime-Grove which weather-fends your cell.
They cannot budge, 'till you releafe. The King,
His brother, and yours, abide all three distracted;
And the remainder mourning over them,
Brim full of forrow and difmay; but, chiefly,
Him that you term'd the good old lord Gonzalo,
His tears run down his beard, like winter drops
From eaves of reeds; your charm fo ftrongly works
'em,

That if you now beheld them, your affections

Would become tender.

Pro. Do'st thou think fo, fpirit?

Ari. Mine would, Sir, were I human.

Pro. And mine fball.

Haft thou, which art but air, a touch, a feeling
Of their afflictions, and fhall not myself,

One

One of their kind, that relish all as sharply,
Paffion as they, be kindlier mov'd than thou art ?
Thot with their high wrongs I am ftruck to th' quick,
Yet, with my nobler reafon, 'gainst my fury
Do I take part; the rarer action is

In virtue than in vengeance; they being penitent,
The fole drift of my purpose doth extend

Not a frown further; go, release them, Ariel;
My charms I'll break, their fenfes I'll restore,
And they fhall be themselves.

Ari. I'll fetch them, Sir,

SCENE II.

[Exit.

Pro. Ye elves of hills, brooks, standing lakes and

groves,

And ye, that on the fands with printless foot.
Do chace the ebbing Neptune; and do fly him,
When he comes back; you demy-puppets, that
By moon-fhine do the green four ringlets make,
Whereof the ewe not bites; and you, whofe paftimé
Is to make midnight mushrooms, that rejoice
To hear the folemn curfew; by whofe aid
(Weak mafters tho' ye be) I have be-dimm'd
The noon-tide fun, call'd forth the mutinous winds,
And 'twixt the green fea and the azur'd vault
Set roaring war to the dread ratling thunder
Have I giv'n fire, and rifted Jove's stout oak
With his own bolt: the frong-bas'd promontory
Have I made fhake, and by the fpurs pluckt up
The pine and cedar: graves at my command
Have wak'd their fleepers; op'd, and let them forth
By my fo potent art. But this rough magick
I here abjure; and when have requir'd
Some heavenly mufick, which even now I do,
To work mine end upon their fenfes, that..
This airy charin is for; I'll break my staff:
Bury it certain fathoms in the earth ;

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And,

And, deeper than did ever plummet found,

I'll drown my book.

[Solemn mufick,

I

SCENE III.

Here enters Ariel before; then Alonfo with a frantick gefture, attended by Gonzalo.

Sebaftian and An

thonio in like manner, attended by Adrian and Francifco. They all enter the circle which Profpero bad made, and there ftand charm'd; which Profpero obServing, Speaks.

A folemn air, and the best comforter
To an unfettled fancy, cure thy brains

Now useless, boil'd within thy skull! There ftand,
For you are spell stopt.

Holy Gonzalo, honourable man,

Mine eyes, ev'n fociable to th' fhew of thine,
Fall fellowly drops.- The charm diffolves apace;
And as the morning fteals upon the night,
Melting the darknefs; fo their rifing fenfes
Begin to chace the ign'rant fumes, that mantle
Their clearer reafon. O my good Gonzalo,
My true preferver, and a loyal Sir

To him thou follow'it; I will pay thy graces
Home both in word and deed.

Moft cruelly
Didft thou, Alonso, ufe me and my daughter :

Thy brother was a furtherer in the A&t;

Thou'rt pinch'd for't now, Sebaftian.-Flesh and blood

Your brother mine, that entertain❜d ambition,
Expell'd remorse and nature; who with Sebaftian,
Whofe inward pinches therefore are most strong,
Would here have kill'd your King; I do forgive thee,
Unnat'ral though thou art. Their understanding
Begins to fwell, and the approaching tide
Will fhortly fill the reasonable fhore,

That now lies foul and muddy. Not one of them,

That

That yet looks on me, or would know me-Ariel, Fetch me the hat and rapier in my cell;

I will dif-cafe me, and myself prefent,

[Exit Ariel, and returns immediately. Quickly, Spirit;

As I was fometime, Milan.

Thou shalt e'er long be free.

Ariel fings, and helps to attire him.

Where the bee fucks, there fuck I;
In a cowflip's bell I lie:

There I couch, when owls do cry.

On the bat's back I do fy,

After Summer, merrily. 7

Merrily, merrily, fhall I live now,

Under the bloffom, that hangs on the bough.

Pro. Why, that's my dainty Ariel; I shall miss thee; But yet thou shalt have freedom. So, fo, fo.-—-—-—-—--

7 After Summer, merrily.] This is the reading of all the Editions. Yet Mr. Theobald has fubftituted Sun-fet, becaule Ariel talks of riding on the Bat in this expedition. An idle fancy. That circumstance is given only to defgn the time of night in which fairies travel. One would think the confideration of the circumftances fhould have fet him right. Ariel was a fpirit of great delicacy, bound by the charms of Profpero, to a constant attendance on his occafions. So that he was confined to the land Winter and Summer. But the roughness of Winter is reprefented by Shakespear as difagreeable to fairies, and fuch like delicate fpirits, who on this account confantly follow Summer. Was not this then the most agreeable circumitance of Ariel's new reco

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To the King's fhip, invifible as thou art;
There fhalt thou find the mariners asleep
Under the hatches; the master and the boatswain,
Being awake, enforce them to this place;

And prefently, I pr'ythee.

Ari. I drink the air before me, and return Or e'er your pulse twice beat.

[Exit.

Gon. All torment, trouble, wonder, and amaze

ment

Inhabits here; fome heav'nly power guide us
Out of this fearful country!

Pro. Behold, Sir King,

The wronged Duke of Milan, Profpero:
For more affurance than a living Prince
Does now speak to thee, I embrace thy body;
And to thee and thy company I bid
A hearty welcome.

Alon. Be'ft thou he or no,

Or fome inchanted trifle to abuse me,

As late I have been, I not know; thy pulfe

Beats, as of flesh and blood; and fince I faw thee,
Th' affliction of my mind amends, with which,
I fear, a madness held 'me; this muft crave
(And if this be at all) a moft ftrange ftory.
Thy Dukedom I refign, and do intreat,

Thou pardon me my wrongs. But how fhould Pref pero

Be living and be here?

Pro. First, noble friend,

Let me embrace thine age, whofe honour cannot
Be measur'd or confin'd.

Gon. Whether this be,

Or be not, I'll not fwear.
Pro. You do yet tafte

Some fubtilties o' th' ifle, that will not let you
Believe things certain: welcome, my friends all.

8 To drink the air is an expreffi:n of fwiftnefs of the fame

kind as to devour the way in Henry IV.

But

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