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Go back to [["The Fire Sermon" Annotations]] Act 1, Scene 2 SCENE II. The island. Before PROSPERO'S cell. :Enter PROSPERO and MIRANDA MIRANDA :If by your art, my dearest father, you have :Put the wild waters in this roar, allay them. :The sky, it seems, would pour down stinking pitch, :But that the sea, mounting to the welkin's cheek, :Dashes the fire out. O, I have suffered :With those that I saw suffer: a brave vessel, :Who had, no doubt, some noble creature in her, :Dash'd all to pieces. O, the cry did knock :Against my very heart. Poor souls, they perish'd. :Had I been any god of power, I would :Have sunk the sea within the earth or ere :It should the good ship so have swallow'd and :The fraughting souls within her. PROSPERO :Be collected: :No more amazement: tell your piteous heart :There's no harm done. MIRANDA :O, woe the day! PROSPERO :No harm. :I have done nothing but in care of thee, :Of thee, my dear one, thee, my daughter, who :Art ignorant of what thou art, nought knowing :Of whence I am, nor that I am more better :Than Prospero, master of a full poor cell, :And thy no greater father. MIRANDA :More to know :Did never meddle with my thoughts. PROSPERO :'Tis time :I should inform thee farther. Lend thy hand, :And pluck my magic garment from me. So: :Lays down his mantle :Lie there, my art. Wipe thou thine eyes; have comfort. :The direful spectacle of the wreck, which touch'd :The very virtue of compassion in thee, :I have with such provision in mine art :So safely ordered that there is no soul-- :No, not so much perdition as an hair :Betid to any creature in the vessel :Which thou heard'st cry, which thou saw'st sink. Sit down; :For thou must now know farther. MIRANDA :You have often :Begun to tell me what I am, but stopp'd :And left me to a bootless inquisition, :Concluding 'Stay: not yet.' PROSPERO :The hour's now come; :The very minute bids thee ope thine ear; :Obey and be attentive. Canst thou remember :A time before we came unto this cell? :I do not think thou canst, for then thou wast not :Out three years old. MIRANDA :Certainly, sir, I can. PROSPERO :By what? by any other house or person? :Of any thing the image tell me that :Hath kept with thy remembrance. MIRANDA :'Tis far off :And rather like a dream than an assurance :That my remembrance warrants. Had I not :Four or five women once that tended me? PROSPERO :Thou hadst, and more, Miranda. But how is it :That this lives in thy mind? What seest thou else :In the dark backward and abysm of time? :If thou remember'st aught ere thou camest here, :How thou camest here thou mayst. MIRANDA :But that I do not. PROSPERO :Twelve year since, Miranda, twelve year since, :Thy father was the Duke of Milan and :A prince of power. MIRANDA :Sir, are not you my father? PROSPERO :Thy mother was a piece of virtue, and :She said thou wast my daughter; and thy father :Was Duke of Milan; and thou his only heir :And princess no worse issued. MIRANDA :O the heavens! :What foul play had we, that we came from thence? :Or blessed was't we did? PROSPERO :Both, both, my girl: :By foul play, as thou say'st, were we heaved thence, :But blessedly holp hither. MIRANDA :O, my heart bleeds :To think o' the teen that I have turn'd you to, :Which is from my remembrance! Please you, farther. PROSPERO :My brother and thy uncle, call'd Antonio-- :I pray thee, mark me--that a brother should :Be so perfidious!--he whom next thyself :Of all the world I loved and to him put :The manage of my state; as at that time :Through all the signories it was the first :And Prospero the prime duke, being so reputed :In dignity, and for the liberal arts :Without a parallel; those being all my study, :The government I cast upon my brother :And to my state grew stranger, being transported :And rapt in secret studies. Thy false uncle-- :Dost thou attend me? MIRANDA :Sir, most heedfully. PROSPERO :Being once perfected how to grant suits, :How to deny them, who to advance and who :To trash for over-topping, new created :The creatures that were mine, I say, or changed 'em, :Or else new form'd 'em; having both the key :Of officer and office, set all hearts i' the state :To what tune pleased his ear; that now he was :The ivy which had hid my princely trunk, :And suck'd my verdure out on't. Thou attend'st not. MIRANDA :O, good sir, I do. PROSPERO :I pray thee, mark me. :I, thus neglecting worldly ends, all dedicated :To closeness and the bettering of my mind :With that which, but by being so retired, :O'er-prized all popular rate, in my false brother :Awaked an evil nature; and my trust, :Like a good parent, did beget of him :A falsehood in its contrary as great :As my trust was; which had indeed no limit, :A confidence sans bound. He being thus lorded, :Not only with what my revenue yielded, :But what my power might else exact, like one :Who having into truth, by telling of it, :Made such a sinner of his memory, :To credit his own lie, he did believe :He was indeed the duke; out o' the substitution :And executing the outward face of royalty, :With all prerogative: hence his ambition growing-- :Dost thou hear? MIRANDA :Your tale, sir, would cure deafness. PROSPERO :To have no screen between this part he play'd :And him he play'd it for, he needs will be :Absolute Milan. Me, poor man, my library :Was dukedom large enough: of temporal royalties :He thinks me now incapable; confederates-- :So dry he was for sway--wi' the King of Naples :To give him annual tribute, do him homage, :Subject his coronet to his crown and bend :The dukedom yet unbow'd--alas, poor Milan!-- :To most ignoble stooping. MIRANDA :O the heavens! PROSPERO :Mark his condition and the event; then tell me :If this might be a brother. MIRANDA :I should sin :To think but nobly of my grandmother: :Good wombs have borne bad sons. PROSPERO :Now the condition. :The King of Naples, being an enemy :To me inveterate, hearkens my brother's suit; :Which was, that he, in lieu o' the premises :Of homage and I know not how much tribute, :Should presently extirpate me and mine :Out of the dukedom and confer fair Milan :With all the honours on my brother: whereon, :A treacherous army levied, one midnight :Fated to the purpose did Antonio open :The gates of Milan, and, i' the dead of darkness, :The ministers for the purpose hurried thence :Me and thy crying self. MIRANDA :Alack, for pity! :I, not remembering how I cried out then, :Will cry it o'er again: it is a hint :That wrings mine eyes to't. PROSPERO :Hear a little further :And then I'll bring thee to the present business :Which now's upon's; without the which this story :Were most impertinent. MIRANDA :Wherefore did they not :That hour destroy us? PROSPERO :Well demanded, wench: :My tale provokes that question. Dear, they durst not, :So dear the love my people bore me, nor set :A mark so bloody on the business, but :With colours fairer painted their foul ends. :In few, they hurried us aboard a bark, :Bore us some leagues to sea; where they prepared :A rotten carcass of a boat, not rigg'd, :Nor tackle, sail, nor mast; the very rats :Instinctively had quit it: there they hoist us, :To cry to the sea that roar'd to us, to sigh :To the winds whose pity, sighing back again, :Did us but loving wrong. MIRANDA :Alack, what trouble :Was I then to you! PROSPERO :O, a cherubim :Thou wast that did preserve me. Thou didst smile. :Infused with a fortitude from heaven, :When I have deck'd the sea with drops full salt, :Under my burthen groan'd; which raised in me :An undergoing stomach, to bear up :Against what should ensue. MIRANDA :How came we ashore? PROSPERO :By Providence divine. :Some food we had and some fresh water that :A noble Neapolitan, Gonzalo, :Out of his charity, being then appointed :Master of this design, did give us, with :Rich garments, linens, stuffs and necessaries, :Which since have steaded much; so, of his gentleness, :Knowing I loved my books, he furnish'd me :From mine own library with volumes that :I prize above my dukedom. MIRANDA :Would I might :But ever see that man! PROSPERO :Now I arise: :Resumes his mantle :Sit still, and hear the last of our sea-sorrow. :Here in this island we arrived; and here :Have I, thy schoolmaster, made thee more profit :Than other princesses can that have more time :For vainer hours and tutors not so careful. MIRANDA :Heavens thank you for't! And now, I pray you, sir, :For still 'tis beating in my mind, your reason :For raising this sea-storm? PROSPERO :Know thus far forth. :By accident most strange, bountiful Fortune, :Now my dear lady, hath mine enemies :Brought to this shore; and by my prescience :I find my zenith doth depend upon :A most auspicious star, whose influence :If now I court not but omit, my fortunes :Will ever after droop. Here cease more questions: :Thou art inclined to sleep; 'tis a good dulness, :And give it way: I know thou canst not choose. :MIRANDA sleeps :Come away, servant, come. I am ready now. :Approach, my Ariel, come. :Enter ARIEL ARIEL :All hail, great master! grave sir, hail! I come :To answer thy best pleasure; be't to fly, :To swim, to dive into the fire, to ride :On the curl'd clouds, to thy strong bidding task :Ariel and all his quality. PROSPERO :Hast thou, spirit, :Perform'd to point the tempest that I bade thee? ARIEL :To every article. :I boarded the king's ship; now on the beak, :Now in the waist, the deck, in every cabin, :I flamed amazement: sometime I'ld divide, :And burn in many places; on the topmast, :The yards and bowsprit, would I flame distinctly, :Then meet and join. Jove's lightnings, the precursors :O' the dreadful thunder-claps, more momentary :And sight-outrunning were not; the fire and cracks :Of sulphurous roaring the most mighty Neptune :Seem to besiege and make his bold waves tremble, :Yea, his dread trident shake. PROSPERO :My brave spirit! :Who was so firm, so constant, that this coil :Would not infect his reason? ARIEL :Not a soul :But felt a fever of the mad and play'd :Some tricks of desperation. All but mariners :Plunged in the foaming brine and quit the vessel, :Then all afire with me: the king's son, Ferdinand, :With hair up-staring,--then like reeds, not hair,-- :Was the first man that leap'd; cried, 'Hell is empty :And all the devils are here.' PROSPERO :Why that's my spirit! :But was not this nigh shore? ARIEL :Close by, my master. PROSPERO :But are they, Ariel, safe? ARIEL :Not a hair perish'd; :On their sustaining garments not a blemish, :But fresher than before: and, as thou badest me, :In troops I have dispersed them 'bout the isle. :The king's son have I landed by himself; :Whom I left cooling of the air with sighs :In an odd angle of the isle and sitting, :His arms in this sad knot. PROSPERO :Of the king's ship :The mariners say how thou hast disposed :And all the rest o' the fleet. ARIEL :Safely in harbour :Is the king's ship; in the deep nook, where once :Thou call'dst me up at midnight to fetch dew :From the still-vex'd Bermoothes, there she's hid: :The mariners all under hatches stow'd; :Who, with a charm join'd to their suffer'd labour, :I have left asleep; and for the rest o' the fleet :Which I dispersed, they all have met again :And are upon the Mediterranean flote, :Bound sadly home for Naples, :Supposing that they saw the king's ship wreck'd :And his great person perish. PROSPERO :Ariel, thy charge :Exactly is perform'd: but there's more work. :What is the time o' the day? ARIEL :Past the mid season. PROSPERO :At least two glasses. The time 'twixt six and now :Must by us both be spent most preciously. ARIEL :Is there more toil? Since thou dost give me pains, :Let me remember thee what thou hast promised, :Which is not yet perform'd me. PROSPERO :How now? moody? :What is't thou canst demand? ARIEL :My liberty. PROSPERO :Before the time be out? no more! ARIEL :I prithee, :Remember I have done thee worthy service; :Told thee no lies, made thee no mistakings, served :Without or grudge or grumblings: thou didst promise :To bate me a full year. PROSPERO :Dost thou forget :From what a torment I did free thee? ARIEL :No. PROSPERO :Thou dost, and think'st it much to tread the ooze :Of the salt deep, :To run upon the sharp wind of the north, :To do me business in the veins o' the earth :When it is baked with frost. ARIEL :I do not, sir. PROSPERO :Thou liest, malignant thing! Hast thou forgot :The foul witch Sycorax, who with age and envy :Was grown into a hoop? hast thou forgot her? ARIEL :No, sir. PROSPERO :Thou hast. Where was she born? speak; tell me. ARIEL :Sir, in Argier. PROSPERO :O, was she so? I must :Once in a month recount what thou hast been, :Which thou forget'st. This damn'd witch Sycorax, :For mischiefs manifold and sorceries terrible :To enter human hearing, from Argier, :Thou know'st, was banish'd: for one thing she did :They would not take her life. Is not this true? ARIEL :Ay, sir. PROSPERO :This blue-eyed hag was hither brought with child :And here was left by the sailors. Thou, my slave, :As thou report'st thyself, wast then her servant; :And, for thou wast a spirit too delicate :To act her earthy and abhorr'd commands, :Refusing her grand hests, she did confine thee, :By help of her more potent ministers :And in her most unmitigable rage, :Into a cloven pine; within which rift :Imprison'd thou didst painfully remain :A dozen years; within which space she died :And left thee there; where thou didst vent thy groans :As fast as mill-wheels strike. Then was this island-- :Save for the son that she did litter here, :A freckled whelp hag-born--not honour'd with :A human shape. ARIEL :Yes, Caliban her son. PROSPERO :Dull thing, I say so; he, that Caliban :Whom now I keep in service. Thou best know'st :What torment I did find thee in; thy groans :Did make wolves howl and penetrate the breasts :Of ever angry bears: it was a torment :To lay upon the damn'd, which Sycorax :Could not again undo: it was mine art, :When I arrived and heard thee, that made gape :The pine and let thee out. ARIEL :I thank thee, master. PROSPERO :If thou more murmur'st, I will rend an oak :And peg thee in his knotty entrails till :Thou hast howl'd away twelve winters. ARIEL :Pardon, master; :I will be correspondent to command :And do my spiriting gently. PROSPERO :Do so, and after two days :I will discharge thee. ARIEL :That's my noble master! :What shall I do? say what; what shall I do? PROSPERO :Go make thyself like a nymph o' the sea: be subject :To no sight but thine and mine, invisible :To every eyeball else. Go take this shape :And hither come in't: go, hence with diligence! :Exit ARIEL :Awake, dear heart, awake! thou hast slept well; Awake! MIRANDA :The strangeness of your story put :Heaviness in me. PROSPERO :Shake it off. Come on; :We'll visit Caliban my slave, who never :Yields us kind answer. MIRANDA :'Tis a villain, sir, :I do not love to look on. PROSPERO :But, as 'tis, :We cannot miss him: he does make our fire, :Fetch in our wood and serves in offices :That profit us. What, ho! slave! Caliban! :Thou earth, thou! speak. CALIBAN :[Within] There's wood enough within. PROSPERO :Come forth, I say! there's other business for thee: :Come, thou tortoise! when? :Re-enter ARIEL like a water-nymph :Fine apparition! My quaint Ariel, :Hark in thine ear. ARIEL :My lord it shall be done. :Exit PROSPERO :Thou poisonous slave, got by the devil himself :Upon thy wicked dam, come forth! :Enter CALIBAN CALIBAN :As wicked dew as e'er my mother brush'd :With raven's feather from unwholesome fen :Drop on you both! a south-west blow on ye :And blister you all o'er! PROSPERO :For this, be sure, to-night thou shalt have cramps, :Side-stitches that shall pen thy breath up; urchins :Shall, for that vast of night that they may work, :All exercise on thee; thou shalt be pinch'd :As thick as honeycomb, each pinch more stinging :Than bees that made 'em. CALIBAN :I must eat my dinner. :This island's mine, by Sycorax my mother, :Which thou takest from me. When thou camest first, :Thou strokedst me and madest much of me, wouldst give me :Water with berries in't, and teach me how :To name the bigger light, and how the less, :That burn by day and night: and then I loved thee :And show'd thee all the qualities o' the isle, :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 o' the island. PROSPERO :Thou most lying slave, :Whom stripes may move, not kindness! I have used thee, :Filth as thou art, with human care, and lodged thee :In mine own cell, till thou didst seek to violate :The honour of my child. CALIBAN :O ho, O ho! would't had been done! :Thou didst prevent me; I had peopled else :This isle with Calibans. PROSPERO :Abhorred slave, :Which any print of goodness wilt 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, :Though thou didst learn, had that in't which :good natures :Could not abide to be with; therefore wast thou :Deservedly confined into this rock, :Who hadst deserved more than a prison. CALIBAN :You taught me language; and my profit on't :Is, I know how to curse. The red plague rid you :For learning me your language! PROSPERO :Hag-seed, hence! :Fetch us in fuel; and be quick, thou'rt best, :To answer other business. Shrug'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. CALIBAN :No, pray thee. :Aside :I must obey: his art is of such power, :It would control my dam's god, Setebos, :and make a vassal of him. PROSPERO :So, slave; hence! :Exit CALIBAN :Re-enter ARIEL, invisible, playing and singing; FERDINAND following :ARIEL'S song. :Come unto these yellow sands, :And then take hands: :Courtsied when you have and kiss'd :The wild waves whist, :Foot it featly here and there; :And, sweet sprites, the burthen bear. :Hark, hark! :Burthen [dispersedly, within :The watch-dogs bark! :Burthen Bow-wow :Hark, hark! I hear :The strain of strutting chanticleer :Cry, Cock-a-diddle-dow. FERDINAND :Where should this music be? i' the air or the earth? :It sounds no more: and sure, it waits upon :Some god o' 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; :Of his bones are coral made; :Those are pearls that were his eyes: :Nothing of him that doth fade :But doth suffer a sea-change :Into something rich and strange. :Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell :Burthen Ding-dong :Hark! now I hear them,--Ding-dong, bell. FERDINAND :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. PROSPERO :The fringed curtains of thine eye advance :And say what thou seest yond. MIRANDA :What is't? a spirit? :Lord, how it looks about! Believe me, sir, :It carries a brave form. But 'tis a spirit. PROSPERO :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 'em. MIRANDA :I might call him :A thing divine, for nothing natural :I ever saw so noble. PROSPERO :[Aside] It goes on, I see, :As my soul prompts it. Spirit, fine spirit! I'll free thee :Within two days for this. FERDINAND :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! :If you be maid or no? MIRANDA :No wonder, sir; :But certainly a maid. FERDINAND :My language! heavens! :I am the best of them that speak this speech, :Were I but where 'tis spoken. PROSPERO :How? the best? :What wert thou, if the King of Naples heard thee? FERDINAND :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, never since at ebb, beheld :The king my father wreck'd. MIRANDA :Alack, for mercy! FERDINAND :Yes, faith, and all his lords; the Duke of Milan :And his brave son being twain. PROSPERO :[Aside] The Duke of Milan :And his more braver daughter could control thee, :If now 'twere fit to do't. At the first sight :They have changed eyes. Delicate Ariel, :I'll set thee free for this. :To FERDINAND :A word, good sir; :I fear you have done yourself some wrong: a word. MIRANDA :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 inclined my way! FERDINAND :O, if a virgin, :And your affection not gone forth, I'll make you :The queen of Naples. PROSPERO :Soft, sir! one word more. :Aside :They are both in either's powers; but this swift business :I must uneasy make, lest too light winning :Make the prize light. :To FERDINAND :One word more; I charge thee :That thou attend me: thou dost here usurp :The name thou owest not; and hast put thyself :Upon this island as a spy, to win it :From me, the lord on't. FERDINAND :No, as I am a man. MIRANDA :There's nothing ill can dwell in such a temple: :If the ill spirit have so fair a house, :Good things will strive to dwell with't. PROSPERO :Follow me. :Speak not you for him; he's a traitor. Come; :I'll manacle thy neck and feet together: :Sea-water shalt thou drink; thy food shall be :The fresh-brook muscles, wither'd roots and husks :Wherein the acorn cradled. Follow. FERDINAND :No; :I will resist such entertainment till :Mine enemy has more power. :Draws, and is charmed from moving MIRANDA :O dear father, :Make not too rash a trial of him, for :He's gentle and not fearful. PROSPERO :What? I say, :My foot my tutor? Put thy sword up, traitor; :Who makest a show but darest 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. MIRANDA :Beseech you, father. PROSPERO :Hence! hang not on my garments. MIRANDA :Sir, have pity; :I'll be his surety. PROSPERO :Silence! one word more :Shall make me chide thee, if not hate thee. What! :An advocate for an imposter! hush! :Thou think'st there is 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. MIRANDA :My affections :Are then most humble; I have no ambition :To see a goodlier man. PROSPERO :Come on; obey: :Thy nerves are in their infancy again :And have no vigour in them. FERDINAND :So they are; :My spirits, as in a dream, are all bound up. :My father's loss, the weakness which I feel, :The wreck of all my friends, nor 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. PROSPERO :[Aside] It works. :To FERDINAND :Come on. :Thou hast done well, fine Ariel! :To FERDINAND :Follow me. :To ARIEL :Hark what thou else shalt do me. MIRANDA :Be of comfort; :My father's of a better nature, sir, :Than he appears by speech: this is unwonted :Which now came from him. PROSPERO :Thou shalt be free :As mountain winds: but then exactly do :All points of my command. ARIEL :To the syllable. PROSPERO :Come, follow. Speak not for him. :Exeunt
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