Pro. Look, thou be true; do not give dalliance Too much the rein; the strongest oaths are ftraw To th' fire i'th' blood: be more abftemious, Or elfe, good-night, your vow! Fer. I warrant you, Sir; The white, cold, virgin-fnow upon my heart Pro. Well. Now come, my Ariel; 5 bring a corollary, SCENE [To Ferdinand. [Soft Mufick. III. A MAS QU E. Enter Iris. Iris. Ceres, moft bounteous lady, thy rich leas Of wheat, rye, barley, fetches, oats, and pease; Thy turfy mountains, where live nibling sheep, And flat meads thatch'd with ftover, them to keep; Thy banks with pionied, and tulip'd brims, Which fpungy April at thy heft betrims, To make cold nymphs chafte crowns; and thy (a) brown groves, Whose fhadow the difmiffed batchelor loves, Where 5 bring a corollary,] Corollarium fignifies what we call fupernumerary, or, what is more than just fufficient. The word has here a fingular propriety and elegance. For corollaria were, amongst the Romans, the little gifts given to the people when Plays were exhibited to them at their public feftivals; and corolla crowns given to those Actors who pleased more than ordinary. 6 Thy POLE CLIPT vineyard, And thy fea-marge fleril, and rocky-hard.] Gildon who has made what he calls a Gloffary on Shakespear, faysPole-clipt clipt [(a) brown groves, Oxford Edit. vulg. broom groves.] Where thou thyself do'ft air; the Queen o' th' sky, Whose wat❜ry arch and meffenger am I, Bids thee leave thefe; and with her Sov❜reign Grace, To come and sport; her peacocks fly amain: Enter Ceres. Cer. Hail, many-colour'd meffenger, that ne'er Who, with thy faffron wings, upon my flowers On the blefs'd lovers. Cer. Tell me, heavenly bow, If Venus or her fon, as thou do'ft know, Iris. Of her fociety Be not afraid; I met her deity clipt in the head. What he had in his head is not worth inquiring Clipt here fignifies embraced: but pole-clipt is a corrupt reading. It founded well, because vines are fupported by Poles, to fay pole clipt vineyard. And found was what the PlayerEditors only attended to. But a little fenfe might have taught them that vines could not be called pole-clipt, tho' Poles might be called vine-clipt. Shakespear wrote Thy PALE-CLIPT Vineyard. i. e. the vineyard inclofed or fenced with Pales, in oppofition to the wide and open fea-marge or coaft. Rocky bard fhould be read with an hyphen. It is one of the epithets to feaas hard as a rock. marge. Cutting Cutting the clouds towards Paphos, and her fon Her wafpifh-headed fon has broke his arrows; Cer. High Queen of state, Great Juno, comes; I know her by her gate. [Juno defcends, and enters. Jun. How does my bounteous fifter? go with me To bless this twain, that they may profp❜rous be, And honour'd in their iffue. Jun. Honour, riches, marriage-bleffing, Cer. Earth's increafe, and foyfon-plenty, Fer. This is a most majestick vifion, and To think these spirits? 7 This is a moft majeflick vifion, and Pro Harmonious CHARMINGLY.] What was intended to be here commended was, r. The vifion of the Goddeffes. 2. Their Songs. The vifion is commended in thefe Words, This is a meft majeftic vifion. But for the fongs,we are put off with this nonfenfe VOL. I. F Pro. Spirits, which by mine art I have from their confines call'd to enact Fer. Let me live here ever; So rare a wonder'd father, and a wife, Pro. Sweet now, filence: There's fomething elfe to do; hufh, and be mute, Or else our spell is marr❜d. Juno and Ceres whisper, and fend Iris on imployment. Iris. You nymphs, call'd Nayads, of the winding brooks, With your fedg'd crowns, and ever-harmlefs looks, Enter certain Nymphs. You fun-burn'd ficklemen, of Auguft weary, nonfenfe and harmonious Charmingly. To reftore Senfe, and the other part of the commendation, we muft needs read and Harmonious charming LAY S, And then both the vifions and the fongs will have their due praifes. The word charming cannot with propriety be applied to any thing bat mufic and poetry, because these were fuppofed to operate, as charms. In our Author's time the word was generally fo applied, tho' it be now ufed ridiculously on every object of pleasure. SCENE Enter certain reapers, properly habited; they join with the nymphs in a graceful dance; towards the end whereof, Profpero ftarts fuddenly, and speaks; after which, to a strange, hollow and confused noise, they vanish heavily. Pro. I had forgot that foul confpiracy Of the beaft Caliban, and his confed' rates, Well done, avoid; no more. Fer. This is most strange; your father's in fome paffion That works him ftrongly. Mir. Never 'till this day Saw I him touch'd with anger fo diftemper❜d. Thefe our Actors, As I foretold you, were all spirits, and And like the bafelefs Fabric of THEIR VISION, • Are Leave not a Rack behind-] In this reading, all fublunary things, on account of their fleeting existence, are compared to the mask of fpirits, which, at the beck of Profper, vanished fuddenly away. But then there is a wretched tautology in the lines, And like the bafelefs Fabric &c. And like this unfubftantial Pageant &c. Not to mention the aukward expreffion of [their Vifion], which Mr. Theobald, upon what Authority I know not, hath changed into [this Vifion]. I fuppofe to make the expreffion a little more natural. I would read, And like the bafelefs Fabric of TH' AIR VISIONS. |