TRIN. I have been in fuch a pickle, fince I faw you laft, that, I fear me, will never out of my bones: I fhall not fear fly-blowing. SEB. Why, how now, Stephano? STE. O, touch me not; lam not Stephano, but a cramp." PRO. You'd be king of the ifle, firrah? STE. I fhould have been a fore one then.' on. 3 ALON. This is as flrange a thing as e'er I lock'd [Pointing to CALIBAN. PRO. He is as difproportion'd in his manners, As in his fhape:-Go, firrah, to my cell; Take with you your companions; as you look To have my pardon, trim it handfomely. CAL. Ay, that I will; and I'll be wife hereafter, And feek for grace: What a thrice-double afs Was I, to take this drunkard for a god, And worship this dull fool? 8 fly-blowing.] This pickle alludes to their plunge into the flinking pool; pickling preferves meat from fly-blowing. 9 STEEVENS. but a cramp. ] i. e. I am all over a cramp. Profpero had ordered Ariel to fhorten up their finews with aged cramps. Touch me not alludes to the forenefs occafioned by them. In his next fpeech Stephano confirms this meaning by a quibble on the word fore. STEEVENS. 2 I should have been a fore one then.] The fame quibble occurs afterwards in the Second Part of K. Henry VI: “ Mafs, 'twill be fore law then, for he was thruft in the mouth with a spear, and 'tis not whole yet." Stephano alfo alludes to the fores about him. STEEVENS. 3 This is as frange a thing as e'er I look'd on.] The old copy, difregarding metre, reads "This is a strange thing as e'er I look'd on." For the repetition of the conjun&ion-as, &c. I am answerable STEEVENS. ALON. Hence, and beftow your luggage where you found it. SEB. Or ftole it, rather. [Exeunt CAL. STE. TRIN. FRO. Sir, I invite your highness, and your train, To my poor cell: where you fhall take your reft For this one night; which (part of it) I'll wafte With fuch difcourfe, as, I not doubt, fhall make it Go quick away: the ftory of my life, And the particular accidents, gone by, Since I came to this ifle: And in the morn, I'll bring you to your fhip, and so to Naples; Where I have hope to fee the nuptial Of these our dear-beloved folemniz'd; And thence retire me to my Milan, where Every third thought fhall be my grave. ALON. I long To hear the ftory of your life, which must Take the ear strangely. PRO. I'll deliver all; And promise you calm seas, auspicious gales, Your royal fleet far off.-My Ariel;-chick,- Be free, and fare thou well!-[Afide.] Pleafe you, draw near. [Exeunt. EPILOGUE. SPOKEN BY PROSPER O. NOW my charms are all o'erthrown, Unless I be reliev'd by prayer;^ 3 With the help of your good hands.] By your applaufe, by clapping hands. JOHNSON. Noife was fuppofed to diffolve a fpell. So twice before in this play: Unless I be reliev'd by prayer ;] This alludes to the old ftories told of the defpair of necromancers in their laft moments, and of the efficacy of the prayers of their friends for them. WARBURTON. Which pierces fo, that it affaults As you from crimes would pardon'd be, Let your indulgence fet me free." It is obferved of The Tempest, that its plan is regular; this the author of The Revifal thinks, what I think too, an accidental effect of the ftory, not intended or regarded by our author. But, whatever might be Shakspeare's intention in forming or adopting the plot, he has made it inftrumental to the production of many characters, diverfified with boundless invention, and preferved with profound fkill in nature, extensive knowledge of opinions, and accurate obfervation of life. In a single drama are here exhibited princes, courtiers, and failors, all speaking in their real characters. There is the agency of airy spirits, and of an earthly goblin. The operations of magick, the tumults of a ftorm, the adventures of a defert ifland, the native effufion of untaught affection, the punishment of guilt, and the final happiness of the pair for whom our paffions and reafon are equally interested. JOHNSON. |