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They cannot budge 'till your release. The king,
His brother, and yours, abide all three distracted;
And the remainder mourning over them,
Brim-full of forrow and dismay; but chiefly
He that you term'd the good old lord Gonzalo;
His tears run down his beard, like winter drops
From eaves of reeds: your charm so strongly works 'em,
That if you now beheld them, your affections
Would become tender.

Pro. Doft thou think so, spirit?

Ari. Mine would, fir, were I human.

Pro. And mine shall.

Haft thou, which art but air, a touch, a feeling
Of their afflictions, and shall not myself,
One of their kind, that relish all as sharply,
Passion'd as they, be kindlier mov'd than thou art?
Though with their high wrongs I am struck to th' quick,
Yet, with my nobler reason, 'gainft 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 shall be themselves.

Ari. I'll fetch them, fir.

[Exit.

SCENE II.

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

And ye, that on the fands with printless foot
Do chase the ebbing Neptune, and do fly him
When he comes back; you demi-puppets, that
By moon-fhine do the green four ringlets make,
Whereof the ewe not bites; and you, whose pastime
Is to make midnight mushrooms; that rejoice
To hear the folemn curfew; by whose aid

(Weak

9

(Weak minifters though 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 strong-bas'd promontory
Have I made shake, and by the spurs pluckt up
The pine, and cedar: graves, at my command,
Have wak'd their fleepers; op'd, and let 'em forth
By my fo potent art. But this rough magick
I here abjure; and, when I have requir'd
Some heav'nly musick, which ev'n now I do,
(To work mine end upon their senses that
This airy charm is for) I'll break my staff,
Bury it certain fathoms in the earth,
And deeper than did ever plummet found
I'll drown my book.

SCENE III.

[Solemn musick.

Here enters Ariel before; then Alonso with a frantick gesture, attended by Gonzalo. Sebastian and Anthonio in like manner, attended by Adrian and Francifco. They all enter the circle which Profpero had made, and there stand 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 stand,

For you are spell-stopt.

Holy Gonzalo, honourable man,

Mine eyes, ev'n sociable to th' fhew of thine,
Fall fellow-drops - The charm difssolves apace,
And as the morning steals upon the night,
Melting the darkness, fo their rising senses
Begin to chase the ign'rant fumes that mantle
Their clearer reafon. O my good Gonzalo,

My

My true preferver, and a loyal fir
To him thou follow'st; I will pay thy graces
Home both in word and deed.
Most cruelly
Didst thou, Alonso, use me and my daughter:
Thy brother was a furtherer in the act;

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

You, brother mine, that entertain'd ambition,

Expell'd remorse and nature; who with Sebastian
(Whose 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 shortly fill the reasonable shore,

That now lies foul and muddy. Not one of them

That yet looks on me, or would know me.

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As I was sometime Milan: quickly, spirit;

Thou shalt ere long be free.

Ariel fings, and helps to attire him.

Where the bee fucks, there lurk I;
In a cowslip's bell I lie :
There I couch when owls do cry.
On the bat's back I do fly

After fun-fet merrily.

Merrily, merrily, shall I live now,
Under the blossom 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.

Under the hatches; the master, and the boatswain,

To the king's ship, invisible as thou art ;

There shalt thou find the mariners afleep

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Ari. I drink the air before me, and return

Or ere your pulse twice beat.

[Exit.

Gon. All torment, trouble, wonder, and amazement

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Alon. Be'st thou he, or no,

Or some inchanted trifle, to abuse me

As late I have been, I not know; thy pulse
Beats as of flesh and blood; and since I saw thee

Th' affliction of my mind amends, with which

I fear a madness held me; this must crave

(An if this be at all) a most strange story:

Thy dukedom I resign, and do intreat

Thou pardon me my wrongs; but how should Prospero

Be living, and be here?

Pro. First, noble friend,

Let me embrace thine age, whose honour cannot

Be measur'd, or confin'd.

Gon. Whether this be,

Or be not, I'll not swear.

Pro. You do yet taste

Some fubtilties o'th' ifle, that will not let you
Believe things certain: welcome, my friends all.
But you, my brace of lords, were I fo minded,
I here could pluck his highness' frown upon you,
And justify you traitors; at this time

I'll tell no tales.

Seb. The devil speaks in him.

Pro. For you, most wicked fir, whom to call brother

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[To Anthonio.

Would

:"

Would even infect my mouth, I do forgive
Thy rankest faults; all of them; and require
My dukedom of thee, which, perforce, I know,

Thou must restore.

Alon. If thou be'st Profpero,

Give us particulars of thy preservation ;

How thou hast met us here, who, three hours since,
Were wreck'd upon this shore; where I have loft

(How sharp the point of this remembrance is!)

My dear fon Ferdinand.

Pro. I'm wo for't, fir.

Alon. Irreparable is the lofs; and patience

Says, it is past her cure.

Pro. I rather think,

You have not fought her help, of whose soft grace,
For the like loss, I have her sov'reign aid,

And reft myself content.

Alon. You the like loss ?

Pro. As great to me, as late; and, insupportable To make the dear lofs, have I means much weaker Than you may call to comfort you; for I

Have lost my only daughter.

Alon. Only daughter?

O heav'ns! that they were living both in Naples,
The king and queen there! that they were, I wish
Myself were mudded in that oozy bed
Where my fon lies. When did you lose your daughter?

Pro. In this last tempeft. I perceive, these lords
At this encounter do so much admire,
That they devour their reason, and scarce think
Their eyes do offices of truth, their words
Are natural breath: but, howsfoe'er you have
Been justled from your senses, know for certain
That I am Profpero, and that very duke
Which was thrust forth of Milan, who most strangely
Upon this shore, where you were wreck'd, was landed

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