Re-enter ARIEL, driving in CALIBAN, STEPHANO, and TRINCULO, in their stolen apparel. Steph. Every man shift for all the rest,41 and let no man take care for himself; for all is but fortune. - Coragio, bullymonster, coragio ! Trin. If these be true spies which I wear in my head, here's a goodly sight. Cal. O Setebos, these be brave spirits indeed! How fine my master is! I am afraid He will chastise me. Sebas. Ha, ha! What things are these, my Lord Antonio? Anto. Very like; one of them Is a plain fish, and, no doubt, marketable. Pros. Mark but the badges of these men, my lords, That could control the Moon, make flows and ebbs, 41 Stephano's tongue is rather tipsy still, and staggers into a misplacement of his words. He means "Let every man shift for himself." 42 Without has here the sense of beyond; a common usage in the Poet's time. So in A Midsummer-Night's Dream, iv. 1: "Where we might be without the peril of th' Athenian law." And in Jonson's Cynthia's Revels, i. 4: "O, now I apprehend you: your phrase was without me before." So that the meaning of the text is, "who could outdo the Moon in exercising the Moon's own command." Cal. I shall be pinch'd to death. Alon. Is not this Stephano, my drunken butler? Sebas. He is drunk now: where had he wine? Alon. And Trinculo is reeling ripe: where should they Find this grand liquor that hath gilded 43 'em?— How camest thou in this pickle? Trin. I have been in such a pickle since I saw you last, that, I fear me, will never out of my bones: I shall not fear fly-blowing.44 Sebas. Why, how now, Stephano ! Steph. O, touch me not! I am not Stephano. but a cramp. Pros. You'd be king o' the isle, sirrah? 45 Steph. I should have been a sore one, then. Alon. [Pointing to CAL.] This is as strange a thing as e'er I look'd on. Pros. He is as disproportion'd in his manners As in his shape. - Go, sirrah, to my cell; 48 The phrase being gilded was a trite one for being drunk; perhaps from the effect of liquor in colouring the face, but more likely because drinking puts one into golden altitudes. It has been suggested, also, that there is an allusion to the grand elixir of the alchemists, which was an ideal medicine for gilding a base metal in the sense of transmuting it into gold; as also for repairing health and prolonging life in man. This, too, is probable enough; for the Poet is fond of clustering various ideas round a single image. 44 Trinculo is playing rather deeply upon pickle; and one of the senses here intended is that of being pickled in salt or brine so as not to become tainted. Fly-blows are the maggot-eggs deposited by flies; and to fly-blow is to taint with such eggs. 45 A pun upon the different senses of sore, one of which is harsh, severe, or oppressive. The same equivoque occurs in 2 Henry the Sixth, iv. 7, where Dick proposes that Cade's mouth be the source of English law, and John remarks, aside,-"Mass, 'twill be a sore law, then; for he was thrust in the mouth with a spear, and 'tis not whole yet." Take with you your companions; as you look Cal. Ay, that I will; and I'll be wise hereafter, And worship this dull fool! Pros. Go to ; away! Alon. Hence, and bestow your luggage where you found it, Sebas. Or stole it, rather. [Exeunt CAL, STEPH., and TRIN. Pros. Sir, I invite your Highness and your train To my poor cell, where you shall take your rest For this one night; which, part of it, I'll waste With such discourse as, I not doubt, shall make it Go quick away, the story of my life, And the particular accidents gone by, Since I came to this isle: and in the morn I'll bring you to your ship, and so to Naples, Alon. And promise you calm seas, auspicious gales, chick, [Aside to ARI.] My Ariel, 46 That is, withdraw myself. The Poet has various instances of retire thus used as a transitive verb. That is thy charge: then to the elements Be free, and fare thou well! Please you, draw near. [Exeunt EPILOGUE. SPOKEN BY PROSPERO. Now my charms are all o'erthrown, Unless I be relieved by prayer ; As you from crimes would pardon'd be, 47 The Epilogue is supposed to be addressed to the theatrical audience, and the speaker here solicits their applause by the clapping of their hands. Noise was a breaker of enchantments and spells; hence the applause would release him from his bonds. CRITICAL NOTES. ACT I., SCENE I. Page 44. Blow, till thou burst thy wind, &c.—Steevens conjectured "Blow, till thou burst thee, wind." This accords with a similar passage in King Lear, iii. 2: "Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks!" See, however, foot-note 3. P. 45. Bring her to try wi' th' main-course. — In the original, "bring her to Try with Maine-course "; which leaves us in doubt as to how the clause should be punctuated. Mr. Grant White, at the suggestion of Mr. W. W. Story, prints "Bring her to: try wi' th' main-course "; and quotes the following from Lord Mulgrave, a sailor critic: "The gale increasing, the topmast is struck, to take the weight from aloft, make the ship drive less to leeward, and bear the mainsail, under which the ship is brought to." The likelihoods seem about evenly balanced between the two ways of printing the passage. Of the more recent editors, Collier, Staunton, Singer, and Dyce punctuate as in the text. See foot-note 9. P. 47. Ling, heath, broom, furze, any thing.-The original has "Long heath, Browne firrs." But it does not appear that there are or ever were any plants known as long heath and brown furze. The reading in the text is Hanmer's, and has the unqualified approval of Walker; who observes, "The balance requires it. Besides, what are long heath and brown furze?" See foot-note 17. |