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Rich garments, linens, stuffs, and necessaries,
Which since have steaded much; so, of his gentleness,
Knowing I lov'd my books, he furnish'd me,

From my own library, with volumes, that

I prize above my dukedom.

Mira.

But ever see that man!

Pro.

'Would I might

Now I arise: 8.

Sit still, and hear the last of our sea-sorrow.

Here in this island we arriv'd; and here

Have I, thy school-master, made thee more profit
Than other princes can, that have more time
For vainer hours, and tutors not so careful.

disputed phrases be brought to their test before they are admitted; for I utterly refuse to accept the jargon of theatres and the mistakes of printers, as the idiom or grammar of the age, in which Shakspeare wrote. Every gross departure from literary rules may be countenanced, if we are permitted to draw examples from vitiated pages; and our readers, as often as they meet with restorations, founded on such authorities, may justly exclaim with Othello," Chaos is come again." Steevens.

8 Now I arise:] Why does Prospero arise? Or, if he does it to ease himself by change of posture, why need he interrupt his narrative to tell his daughter of it? Perhaps these words belong to Miranda, and we should read:

Mir. 'Would I might

But ever see that man!-Now I arise.

Pro. Sit still, and hear the last of our sea-sorrow.

Prospero, in p. 15, had directed his daughter to sit down, and learn the whole of this history; having previously by some magical charm disposed her to fall asleep. He is watching the progress of this charm; and in the mean time tells her a long story, often asking her whether her attention be still awake. The story being ended (as Miranda supposes) with their coming on shore, and partaking of the conveniences provided for them by the loyal humanity of Gonzalo, she therefore first expresses a wish to see the good old man, and then observes that she may now arise, as the story is done. Prospero, surprised that his charm does not yet work, bids her sit still; and then enters on fresh matter to amuse the time, telling her (what she knew before) that he had been her tutor, &c. But soon perceiving her drowsiness coming on, he breaks off abruptly, and leaves her still sitting to her slumbers. Blackstone.

As the words" now I arise"-may signify, "now I rise in my narration,"" now my story heightens in its consequence," I have left the passage in question undisturbed. We still say, that the interest of a drama rises or declines. Steevens.

Mira. Heavens thank you for't! And now, you, sir,

(For still 'tis beating in my mind,) your reason For raising this sea-storm?

Pro.

I pray

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,1 my fortunes
Will ever after droop.-Here cease more questions;
Thou art inclin'd to sleep; 'tis a good dulness,
And give it way; I know thou can'st not choose.—

[Miranda sleeps. Come away, servant, come: I am ready now; Approach, my Ariel; come.

Enter ARIEL.

Ari. All hail, great master! grave sir, hail! I come To answer thy best pleasure; be't to fly,3

9 Now my dear lady,] i. e. now my auspicious mistress. Steevens. 1 I find my zenith doth depend upon

A most auspicious star; whose influence

If now I court not, but omit, &c.] So, in Julius Cæsar:
"There is a tide in the affairs of man,

"Which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
"Omitted, all the voyage of their life
"Is bound in shallows and in miseries."

Malone.

2- 'tis a good dulness,] Dr. Warburton rightly observes, that this sleepiness, which Prospero by his art had brought upon Miranda, and of which he knew not how soon the effect would begin, makes him question her so often whether she is attentive to his story. Johnson.

3 All hail, great master! grave sir, hail! I come

To answer thy best pleasure; be't to fly, &c.] Imitated by

Fletcher in The Faithful Shepherdess :

"tell me sweetest,

"What new service now is meetest

"For the satyre; shall I stray

"In the middle ayre, and stay

"The failing racke, or nimbly take

"Hold by the moone, and gently make
"Suit to the pale queene of night,
"For a beame to give thee light?
"Shall I dive into the sea,

To swim, to dive into the fire, to ride

On the curl'd clouds; to thy strong bidding, task
Ariel, and all his quality."

Pro.

Hast thou, spirit,

Perform'd to point the tempest that I bade thee?
Ari. To every article.

I boarded the king's ship; now on the beak,"
Now in the waist, the deck, in every cabin,
I flam'd amazement: Sometimes, I'd divide,
And burn in many places; on the top-mast,
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 out-running were not: The fire and cracks
Of sulphurous roaring, the most mighty Neptune
Seem'd to besiege, and make his bold waves tremble,

5

9

"And bring thee coral, making way
"Through the rising waves," &c.

Henley.

4 On the curl'd clouds;] So, in Timon-Crisp heaven. Steevens. and all his quality.] i. e. all his confederates, all who are of the same profession. So, in Hamlet:

"Come give us a taste of your quality." See notes on this passage, Act II. sc. ii. Steevens.

6 Perform'd to point-] i. e. to the minutest article; a literal translation of the French phrase-a point. So, in the Chances, by Beaumont and Fletcher:

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"To point, sir."

Thus, in Chapman's version of the second book of Homer's Odyssey, we have

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every due

• Perform'd to full :-."

Steevens.

7 — now on the beak,] The beak was a strong pointed body at the head of the ancient gallies; it is used here for the forecastle, or the boltsprit. Johnson.

So in Philemon Holland's translation of the 2d chapter of the 32d book of Pliny's Natural History:- -"our goodly, tall and proud ships, so well armed in the beake-head with yron pikes," &c. Steevens.

8 Now in the waist,] The part between the quarter-deck and the forecastle. Johnson.

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O' the dreadful thunder-claps,] So, in King Lear:

""Vant couriers of oak-cleaving thunderbolts." Steevens

Yea, his dread trident shake.1

Pro.
Who was so firm, so constant,
Would not infect his reason ?

Ari.

My brave spirit!
that this coil

Not a soul

But felt a fever of the mad,2 and play'd

Some tricks of desperation: All, but mariners,
Plung'd in the foaming brine, and quit the vessel,3
Then all a-fire 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.

Pro.

But was not this nigh shore?
Ari.

Why, that's my spirit!

Close by, my master.

Not a hair perish'd;

Pro. But are they, Ariel, safe?
Ari.

On their sustaining garments not a blemish,

1 Yea, his dread trident shake.] Lest the metre should appear defective, it is necessary to apprize the reader, that, in Warwickshire and other midland counties, shake is still pronounced by the common people as if it was written shaake, a dissyllable.

Farmer.

The word shake is so printed in Golding's version of the 9th book of Ovid's Metamorphoses, edit. 1575:

“ Hee quaak’t and shaak't and looked pale,” &c. Steevens. 2 But felt a fever of the mad,] If it be at all necessary to explain the meaning, it is this: Not a soul but felt such a fever, as madmen feel, when the frantic fit is upon them. Steevens.

3 and quit the vessel,] Quit is, I think, here used for quit, ted. So, in K. Lear:

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'Twas he inform'd against him,

"And quit the house on purpose, that their punishment
"Might have the freer course."

So, in King Henry VI. P. I. lift, for lifted:

"He ne'er lift up his hand, but conquered." Malone.

sustaining] i. e. their garments that bore them up and supported them. Thus, in Chapman's translation of the eleventh Iliad:

"Who fell, and crawled upon the earth with his sustaining palmes."

Again, in K. Lear, Act IV. sc. iv.

"In our sustaining corn."

Again, in Hamlet:

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“And, mermaid-like, a while they bore her up."

But fresher than before: And, as thou bad'st me,
In troops I have dispers'd 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.

Pro.

Of the king's ship,

The mariners, say, how thou hast dispos'd,
And all the rest o' the fleet?

Ari.

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,5 there she's hid:

Mr. M. Mason, however, observes that "the word sustaining, in this place, does not mean supporting, but enduring; and by their sustaining garments, Ariel means their garments which bore, without being injured, the drenching of the sea." Steevens.

5 From the still-vex'd Bermoothes,] Fletcher, in his Women Pleased, says, "The devil should think of purchasing that egg-shell to victual out a witch for the Bermoothes." Smith, in his account of these islands, p. 172, says, "that the Bermudas were so fearful to the world, that many called them The Isle of Devils.-P. 174. —to all seamen no less terrible than an inchanted den of furies." And no wonder, for the clime was extremely subject to storms and hurricanes; and the islands were surrounded with scattered rocks lying shallowly hid under the surface of the water. Warburton.

The epithet, bere applied to the Bermudas, will be best understood by those who have seen the chafing of the sea over the rugged rocks by which they are surrounded, and which render access to them so dangerous. It was in our poet's time the current opinion, that Bermudas was inhabited by monsters, and devils.-Setebos, the god of Caliban's dam, was an American devil, worshipped by the giants of Patagonia. Henley.

Again, in Decker's If this be not a good Play, the Devil is in it, 1612: "Sir, if you have made me tell a lye, they'll send me on a voyage to the island of Hogs and Devils, the Bermudas. Steevens.

The opinion that Bermudas was haunted with evil spirits continued so late as the civil wars. In a little piece of Sir John Berkinghead's intitled, Two Centuries of Paul's Church-yard, una cum indice expurgatorio, &c. 12°, in page 62, under the title Cases of Conscience, is this:

"34. Whether Bermudas and the Parliament-house lie under one planet, seeing both are haunted with devils." Percy.

Bermudas was, on this account, the cant name for some privileg ed place, in which the cheats and riotous bullies of Shakspeare's time assembled. So, in The Devil is an Ass, by Ben Jonson: keeps he still your quarter

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"In the Bermudas?

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