And make a vassal of him. Pro. So, slave; hence! [Exit CAL. Re-enter ARIEL invisible, playing and singing; FERDINAND following him. ARIEL'S SONG. Come unto these yellow sands, And then take hands: Court'sied when you have, and kiss'd, (The wild waves whist,) Foot it featly here and there; And, sweet sprites, the burden bear. Hark, hark! Fer. Where should this music be? i' th' air, or the earth? It sounds no more :—and sure, it waits upon [3] Ariel's lays, (which have been condemned by Gildon as trifling, and defended, not very successfully, by Dr. Warburton,) however seasonable and efficacious, must be allowed to be of no supernatural dignity or elegance; they express nothing great, nor reveal any thing above mortal discovery. The reason for which Ariel is introduced thus trifling is, that he and his companions are evidently of the fairy kind, an order of beings to which tradition has always ascribed a sort of diminutive agency, powerful but ludicrous, a humorous and frolic controlment of nature, well expressed by the songs of Ariel. JOHNSON. But doth suffer a sea-change Into something rich and strange. Hark! now I hear them,—ding-dong, bell. [Burden, ding-dong. Fer. 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. Pro. The fringed curtains of thine eye advance, And say what thou seest yond'. Mira. What is't? a spirit? Lord, how it looks about! Believe me, sir, Pro. 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 might'st call him A goodly person: He hath lost his fellows, And strays about to find them. Mira. I might call him A thing divine; for nothing natural I ever saw so noble. Pro. It goes on, [Aside. As my soul prompts it :-Spirit, fine spirit! I'll free thee Within two days for this. Fer. Most sure, the goddess On whom these airs attend!-Vouchsafe, my prayei Mira. No wonder, sir; But, certainly a maid. Fer. My language! heavens! I am the best of them that speak this speech, Pro. How! the best? What wert thou, if the king of Naples heard thee? Who, with mine eyes, ne'er since at ebb, beheld Mira. Alack, for mercy! Fer. Yes, faith, and all his lords; the duke of Milan, And his brave son, being twain. Pro. The duke of Milan, And his more braver daughter, could control thee, I fear you have done yourself some wrong: a word. That e'er I sigh'd for: pity move my father Fer. O, if a virgin, And your affection not gone forth, I'll make you Pro. Soft, sir; one word more. [Aside. They are both in either's power: but this swift business I must uneasy make, lest too light winning [Aside. Make the prize light.-One word more; I charge thee, The name thou own'st not; and hast put thyself From me, the lord on't. Fer. No, as I am a man. Mira. There's nothing ill can dwell in such a temple : If the ill spirit have so fair an house, Good things will strive to dwell with't. Pro. Follow me. Speak not you for him; he's a traitor Sea-water shalt thou drink, thy food shall be [To FERD.] -Come. The fresh-brook muscles, wither'd roots, and husks Fer. No; I will resist such entertainment, till Mine enemy has more power. Mira. O, dear father, Make not too rash a trial of him, for Pro What, I say, [He draws: My foot my tutor!--Put thy sword up, traitor; Who mak'st a shew, but dar'st 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. Mira. Beseech you, father! Pro. Hence; hang not on my garments. I'll be his surety. Pro. Silence: one word more Shall make me chide thee, if not hate thee. An advocate for an impostor? hush! What! Thou think'st, there are no more such shapes as he, And they to him are angels. Mira. My affections Are then most humble; I have no ambition To see a goodlier man. • Pro. Come on; obey: Thy nerves are in their infancy again, And have no vigour in them. Fer. So they are: My spirits, as in a dream, are all bound up. [TO FERD. The wreck of all my friends, or this man's threats, Pro. It works :- -Come on.- Hark, what thou else shalt do me. Mira. Be of comfort; My father's of a better nature, sir, -Follow me. [To FERD. and MIRA. [To ARIEL. Than he appears by speech; this is unwonted, Which now came from him. Pro. Thou shalt be as free As mountain winds: but then exactly do Ari. To th' syllable. Pro. Come, follow: Speak not for him. [Exeunt ACT II. SCENE I. Another part of the Island. Enter ALONSO, SEBASTIAN, ANTONIO, GONZALO, ADRIAN, FRANCISCO, and others. Gonzalo. 'BESEECH you, sir, be merry: you have cause Can speak like us: then wisely, good sir, weigh Alon. Pr'ythee, peace. Seb. He receives comfort like cold porridge. Seb. Look, he's winding up the watch of his wit; by and by it will strike. Gon. Sir, Seb. One: -Tell. Gon. When every grief is entertain'd, that's offer'd, Comes to the entertainer Seb. A dollar. Gon. Dolour comes to him, indeed; you have spoken truer than you purposed. Seb. You have taken it wiselier than I meant you should. Gon. Therefore, my lord, Ant. Fye, what a spendthrift is he of his tongue! Alon. I pr'ythee, spare. Gon. Well, I have done: But yet Seb. He will be talking. Ant. Which of them, he, or Adrian, for a good wager, first begins to crów? Seb. The old cock. Ant. The cockerel. Seb. Done The wager? Ant. A laughter. Seb. A match. |