Original Text |
Translated Text |
| Source: Folger Shakespeare Library |
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Enter Prospero in his magic robes, and Ariel. PROSPERO
Now does my project gather to a head.
My charms crack not, my spirits obey, and time
Goes upright with his carriage.—How’s the day? ARIEL
On the sixth hour, at which time, my lord,
You said our work should cease. 5 PROSPERO I did say so
When first I raised the tempest. Say, my spirit,
How fares the King and ’s followers? ARIEL Confined
together 10
In the same fashion as you gave in charge,
Just as you left them; all prisoners, sir,
In the line grove which weather-fends your cell.
They cannot budge till your release. The King,
His brother, and yours abide all three distracted, 15
And the remainder mourning over them,
Brimful of sorrow and dismay; but chiefly
Him that you termed, sir, the good old Lord
Gonzalo.
His tears runs down his beard like winter’s drops 20
From eaves of reeds. Your charm so strongly works
’em
That if you now beheld them, your affections
Would become tender. PROSPERO Dost thou think so, spirit? 25 ARIEL
Mine would, sir, were I human. | Prospero asks about King Alonso and his attendants. Ariel informs his master that the shipwrecked group is a pitiful sight: the three traitors (Alonso, Antonio, and Sebastian) are distracted and the rest are mourning. Ariel says Prospero's feelings toward the group would become tender at the sight. Even Ariel would cry...if he were human. |
PROSPERO And mine shall.
Hast 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 30
Passion as they, be kindlier moved than thou art?
Though with their high wrongs I am struck to th’
quick,
Yet with my nobler reason ’gainst my fury
Do I take part. The rarer action is 35
In virtue than in vengeance. They being penitent,
The sole drift of my purpose doth extend
Not a frown further. Go, release them, Ariel.
My charms I’ll break, their senses I’ll restore,
And they shall be themselves. 40 ARIEL I’ll fetch them, sir. He exits. Prospero draws a large circle on the stage with his staff. | Hearing Ariel speak so kindly, with mercy befitting a human, Prospero says he'll put his thirst for vengeance aside and be merciful. He sends Ariel to free the traitors and the rest of their crew from their confusion, and draws a magic circle with his staff (his big magical stick). |
PROSPERO
You elves of hills, brooks, standing lakes, and groves,
And you that on the sands with printless foot
Do chase the ebbing Neptune, and do fly him
When he comes back; you demi-puppets that 45
By moonshine do the green sour ringlets make,
Whereof the ewe not bites; and you whose pastime
Is to make midnight mushrumps, that rejoice
To hear the solemn curfew; by whose aid,
Weak masters though you be, I have bedimmed 50
The noontide sun, called forth the mutinous winds,
And ’twixt the green sea and the azured vault
Set roaring war; to the dread rattling thunder
Have I given fire, and rifted Jove’s stout oak
With his own bolt; the strong-based promontory 55
Have I made shake, and by the spurs plucked up
The pine and cedar; graves at my command
Have waked their sleepers, oped, and let ’em forth
By my so potent art. But this rough magic
I here abjure, and when I have required 60
Some heavenly music, which even now I do,
Prospero gestures with his staff.
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 sound 65
I’ll drown my book. Solemn music. Here enters Ariel before; then Alonso with a frantic
gesture, attended by Gonzalo; Sebastian and Antonio in
like manner attended by Adrian and Francisco. They all
enter the circle which Prospero had made, and there
stand charmed; which Prospero observing, speaks. A solemn air, and the best comforter
To an unsettled fancy, cure thy brains,
Now useless, boiled within thy skull. There stand,
For you are spell-stopped.— 70
Holy Gonzalo, honorable man,
Mine eyes, e’en sociable to the show of thine,
Fall fellowly drops.—The charm dissolves apace,
And as the morning steals upon the night,
Melting the darkness, so their rising senses 75
Begin to chase the ignorant fumes that mantle
Their clearer reason.—O good Gonzalo,
My true preserver and a loyal sir
To him thou follow’st, I will pay thy graces
Home, both in word and deed.—Most cruelly 80
Didst thou, Alonso, use me and my daughter.
Thy brother was a furtherer in the act.—
Thou art pinched for ’t now, Sebastian.—Flesh and
blood,
You, brother mine, that entertained ambition, 85
Expelled remorse and nature, whom, with Sebastian,
Whose inward pinches therefore are most strong,
Would here have killed your king, I do forgive thee,
Unnatural though thou art.—Their understanding
Begins to swell, and the approaching tide 90
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.—Ariel,
Fetch me the hat and rapier in my cell. Ariel exits and at once returns
with Prospero’s ducal robes. I will discase me and myself present 95
As I was sometime Milan.—Quickly, spirit,
Thou shalt ere long be free. | Ready for a big monologue? Ready or not, here it comes. Prospero first muses on all that he has done with his potent art of magic, and solemnly says that once this last task is done, he'll break his staff and bury it in the earth, and drown his book in the ocean. In other words, the guy is giving up his magic. At this point, Ariel arrives, dragging behind him a frantic Alonso, Gonzalo, Sebastian, and Antonio, with their attendant lords Adrian and Francisco. They all stand in Prospero's magic circle, charmed, as Prospero addresses each of them. He speaks to Gonzalo first, and tears up as he thanks him for being his "true preserver" and remaining so loyal to whomever he serves. Prospero then chides King Alonso for treating him and Miranda so poorly, and says Sebastian, too, suffers for wronging them. Finally, Prospero comes to his terrible brother Antonio. Prospero reveals that Antonio plotted with Sebastian to murder the King, but forgives them all. Prospero then notes that the group may not recognize him (which is kind of a bummer, as they don't know how gracious he's being, given how bad they were to him). Prospero then asks Ariel to bring his hat and sword, so they might know that the man before them is the old, genuine Duke of Milan. |
ARIEL sings, and helps to attire him. "Where the bee sucks, there suck I.
In a cowslip’s bell I lie.
There I couch when owls do cry. 100
On the bat’s back I do fly
After summer merrily.
Merrily, merrily shall I live now
Under the blossom that hangs on the bow." | As Ariel dresses Prospero, the airy spirit sings another pretty little song. |
PROSPERO
Why, that’s my dainty Ariel. I shall miss 105
Thee, but yet thou shalt have freedom. So, so, so.
To the King’s ship, invisible as thou art.
There shalt thou find the mariners asleep
Under the hatches. The master and the boatswain
Being awake, enforce them to this place, 110
And presently, I prithee. ARIEL
I drink the air before me, and return
Or ere your pulse twice beat. He exits. | Prospero notes, though he will miss Ariel, the spirit will surely soon have his freedom. All Ariel needs to do is bring the sleeping mariners (remember them?) from their ship to this spot. |
GONZALO
All torment, trouble, wonder, and amazement
Inhabits here. Some heavenly power guide us 115
Out of this fearful country! PROSPERO, to Alonso Behold, sir king,
The wrongèd Duke of Milan, Prospero.
For more assurance that a living prince
Does now speak to thee, I embrace thy body, 120
He embraces Alonso.
And to thee and thy company I bid
A hearty welcome. | Gonzalo and the others look on, unsure whether this is more enchantment, or if it's really Prospero before them. Prospero speaks to Alonso, identifies himself, and then gives Alonso a hug. |
ALONSO Whe’er thou be’st he or no,
Or some enchanted trifle to abuse me
(As late I have been) I not know. Thy pulse 125
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 entreat 130
Thou pardon me my wrongs. But how should
Prospero
Be living and be here? | Alonso, stunned, immediately returns Prospero's dukedom and asks for Prospero's forgiveness. Alonso also wants to know how Prospero survived and ended up on this island. |
PROSPERO, to Gonzalo First, noble friend,
Let me embrace thine age, whose honor cannot 135
Be measured or confined. GONZALO Whether this be
Or be not, I’ll not swear. | Prospero takes a moment to praise the honorable Gonzalo... |
PROSPERO You do yet taste
Some subtleties o’ th’ isle, that will not let you 140
Believe things certain. Welcome, my friends all.
Aside to Sebastian and Antonio. But you, my brace
of lords, were I so minded,
I here could pluck his Highness’ frown upon you
And justify you traitors. At this time 145
I will tell no tales. SEBASTIAN, aside The devil speaks in him. PROSPERO, aside to Sebastian No.
To Antonio. For you, most wicked sir, whom to
call brother 150
Would even infect my mouth, I do forgive
Thy rankest fault, all of them, and require
My dukedom of thee, which perforce I know
Thou must restore. | ... before turning to Antonio and Sebastian. Prospero says he could say some things about these two that would raise a couple of eyebrows, but out of the kindness of his heart, he will keep them to himself. The pair of traitors is not even a bit ashamed or sorry. Sebastian claims the Devil speaks in Prospero, but Prospero ignores this, and instead wholeheartedly forgives his traitorous brother Antonio. |
ALONSO If thou be’st Prospero, 155
Give us particulars of thy preservation,
How thou hast met us here, whom three hours since
Were wracked upon this shore, where I have lost—
How sharp the point of this remembrance is!—
My dear son Ferdinand. 160 PROSPERO I am woe for ’t, sir. ALONSO
Irreparable is the loss, and patience
Says it is past her cure. PROSPERO I rather think
You have not sought her help, of whose soft grace, 165
For the like loss, I have her sovereign aid
And rest myself content. ALONSO You the like loss? PROSPERO
As great to me as late, and supportable
To make the dear loss have I means much weaker 170
Than you may call to comfort you, for I
Have lost my daughter. | King Alonso brings up the loss of his son, Ferdinand, and Prospero says he understands how he feels because Prospero has lost his daughter. |
ALONSO A daughter?
O heavens, that they were living both in Naples,
The King and Queen there! That they were, I wish 175
Myself were mudded in that oozy bed
Where my son lies!—When did you lose your
daughter? PROSPERO
In this last tempest. I perceive these lords
At this encounter do so much admire 180
That they devour their reason, and scarce think
Their eyes do offices of truth, their words
Are natural breath.—But howsoe’er you have
Been justled from your senses, know for certain
That I am Prospero and that very duke 185
Which was thrust forth of Milan, who most
strangely
Upon this shore, where you were wracked, was
landed
To be the lord on ’t. No more yet of this. 190
For ’tis a chronicle of day by day,
Not a relation for a breakfast, nor
Befitting this first meeting. To Alonso. Welcome, sir.
This cell’s my court. Here have I few attendants,
And subjects none abroad. Pray you, look in. 195
My dukedom since you have given me again,
I will requite you with as good a thing,
At least bring forth a wonder to content you
As much as me my dukedom. | Alonso is beside himself. Oh, if only they and their children could all be back in Naples! He asks Prospero how he lost his daughter, and Prospero says she was also lost in the tempest. The story of how all of this came to be, however, is not the kind of thing that can be discussed over a single sitting, but over the course of long days. In the meantime, they can entertain themselves with other things. Perhaps, for instance, they'd like to take a look in Prospero's humble cell? |
Here Prospero discovers Ferdinand and Miranda,
playing at chess. MIRANDA, to Ferdinand
Sweet lord, you play me false. 200 FERDINAND No, my dearest love,
I would not for the world. MIRANDA
Yes, for a score of kingdoms you should wrangle,
And I would call it fair play. | Prospero draws back the curtain to his home and reveals Ferdinand and Miranda, who happen to be playing chess. (That's not a euphemism.) |
ALONSO If this prove 205
A vision of the island, one dear son
Shall I twice lose. SEBASTIAN A most high miracle! FERDINAND, seeing Alonso and coming forward
Though the seas threaten, they are merciful.
I have cursed them without cause. He kneels. 210 ALONSO Now, all the
blessings
Of a glad father compass thee about!
Arise, and say how thou cam’st here.
Ferdinand stands. MIRANDA, rising and coming forward O wonder! 215
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O, brave new world
That has such people in ’t! PROSPERO ’Tis new to thee. | Alonso and Ferdinand are pleasantly surprised to find each other alive, and Miranda, faced with so many dudes for the first time, declares what a "brave new world" this is for her. (The writer Aldous Huxley liked this so much that he chose the phrase "brave new world" as the title of his famous book.) |
ALONSO, to Ferdinand
What is this maid with whom thou wast at play? 220
Your eld’st acquaintance cannot be three hours.
Is she the goddess that hath severed us
And brought us thus together? FERDINAND Sir, she is mortal,
But by immortal providence she’s mine. 225
I chose her when I could not ask my father
For his advice, nor thought I had one. She
Is daughter to this famous Duke of Milan,
Of whom so often I have heard renown,
But never saw before, of whom I have 230
Received a second life; and second father
This lady makes him to me. ALONSO I am hers.
But, O, how oddly will it sound that I
Must ask my child forgiveness! 235 PROSPERO There, sir, stop.
Let us not burden our remembrances with
A heaviness that’s gone. | Alonso points out that Ferdinand can't have known the girl he's playing chess with for more than three hours, but hears the surprising news that the girl is his new daughter-in-law, three hours or no. |
GONZALO I have inly wept
Or should have spoke ere this. Look down, you 240
gods,
And on this couple drop a blessèd crown,
For it is you that have chalked forth the way
Which brought us hither. ALONSO I say “Amen,” Gonzalo. 245 GONZALO
Was Milan thrust from Milan, that his issue
Should become kings of Naples? O, rejoice
Beyond a common joy, and set it down
With gold on lasting pillars: in one voyage
Did Claribel her husband find at Tunis, 250
And Ferdinand, her brother, found a wife
Where he himself was lost; Prospero his dukedom
In a poor isle; and all of us ourselves
When no man was his own. ALONSO, to Ferdinand and Miranda Give me your 255
hands.
Let grief and sorrow still embrace his heart
That doth not wish you joy! | Gonzalo, Alonso, and all the other "good" guys are overjoyed with the news, and Gonzalo muses that they all, in their own ways, have found love in a hopeless place. |
GONZALO Be it so. Amen. Enter Ariel, with the Master and Boatswain
amazedly following. O, look, sir, look, sir, here is more of us. 260
I prophesied if a gallows were on land,
This fellow could not drown. Now, blasphemy,
That swear’st grace o’erboard, not an oath on
shore?
Hast thou no mouth by land? What is the news? 265 BOATSWAIN
The best news is that we have safely found
Our king and company. The next: our ship,
Which, but three glasses since, we gave out split,
Is tight and yare and bravely rigged as when
We first put out to sea. 270 | Ariel then enters on cue with the boatswain from the first scene, who happily announces that not only are all the sailors alive, but the ship is good as new. Like magic. |
ARIEL, aside to Prospero Sir, all this service
Have I done since I went. PROSPERO, aside to Ariel My tricksy spirit! ALONSO
These are not natural events. They strengthen
From strange to stranger.—Say, how came you 275
hither? BOATSWAIN
If I did think, sir, I were well awake,
I’d strive to tell you. We were dead of sleep
And—how, we know not—all clapped under
hatches, 280
Where, but even now, with strange and several
noises
Of roaring, shrieking, howling, jingling chains,
And more diversity of sounds, all horrible,
We were awaked, straightway at liberty, 285
Where we, in all her trim, freshly beheld
Our royal, good, and gallant ship, our master
Cap’ring to eye her. On a trice, so please you,
Even in a dream were we divided from them
And were brought moping hither. 290 ARIEL, aside to Prospero Was ’t well done? PROSPERO, aside to Ariel
Bravely, my diligence. Thou shalt be free. ALONSO
This is as strange a maze as e’er men trod,
And there is in this business more than nature
Was ever conduct of. Some oracle 295
Must rectify our knowledge. PROSPERO Sir, my liege,
Do not infest your mind with beating on
The strangeness of this business. At picked leisure,
Which shall be shortly, single I’ll resolve you, 300
Which to you shall seem probable, of every
These happened accidents; till when, be cheerful
And think of each thing well. Aside to Ariel.
Come hither, spirit;
Set Caliban and his companions free. 305
Untie the spell. Ariel exits. How fares my gracious
sir?
There are yet missing of your company
Some few odd lads that you remember not. | Alonso, meanwhile, thinks they should consult an oracle about how on earth all of this very strange stuff has happened, but Prospero tells him to relax. He assures Alonso that he'll explain everything eventually, and for now they should just enjoy the moment. He tells Ariel to free Caliban and his companions from the whole "being savagely hunted by hounds" spell, and reminds the King that there are still a few members of his entourage that are missing. |
Enter Ariel, driving in Caliban, Stephano, and Trinculo
in their stolen apparel. STEPHANO Every man shift for all the rest, and let no 310
man take care for himself, for all is but fortune.
Coraggio, bully monster, coraggio. TRINCULO If these be true spies which I wear in my
head, here’s a goodly sight. CALIBAN O Setebos, these be brave spirits indeed! How 315
fine my master is! I am afraid he will chastise me. SEBASTIAN Ha, ha!
What things are these, my Lord Antonio?
Will money buy ’em? ANTONIO Very like. One of them 320
Is a plain fish and no doubt marketable. | Stefano, Trinculo, and Caliban enter, the former two in Prospero's stolen clothes. Antonio and Sebastian mock them, with Antonio pointing out again that Caliban looks like some kind of fish-man. |
PROSPERO
Mark but the badges of these men, my lords,
Then say if they be true. This misshapen knave,
His mother was a witch, and one so strong
That could control the moon, make flows and ebbs, 325
And deal in her command without her power.
These three have robbed me, and this demi-devil,
For he’s a bastard one, had plotted with them
To take my life. Two of these fellows you
Must know and own. This thing of darkness I 330
Acknowledge mine. CALIBAN I shall be pinched to death. ALONSO
Is not this Stephano, my drunken butler? SEBASTIAN He is drunk now. Where had he wine? ALONSO
And Trinculo is reeling ripe. Where should they 335
Find this grand liquor that hath gilded ’em?
To Trinculo. How cam’st thou in this pickle? TRINCULO 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 flyblowing. 340 SEBASTIAN Why, how now, Stephano? STEPHANO O, touch me not! I am not Stephano, but a
cramp. PROSPERO You’d be king o’ the isle, sirrah? STEPHANO I should have been a sore one, then. 345 ALONSO, indicating Caliban
This is as strange a thing as e’er I looked on. | Alonso claims Stefano as his drunken butler, and Prospero claims Caliban as his own slave-begotten-of-a-witch-and-the-Devil. There's some punning on being in a pickle with the double meaning of being in trouble and being drunk. Clearly, both meanings apply to these goofballs. |
PROSPERO
He is as disproportioned in his manners
As in his shape. To Caliban. Go, sirrah, to my cell.
Take with you your companions. As you look
To have my pardon, trim it handsomely. 350 CALIBAN
Ay, that I will, and I’ll be wise hereafter
And seek for grace. What a thrice-double ass
Was I to take this drunkard for a god,
And worship this dull fool! PROSPERO Go to, away! 355 ALONSO, to Stephano and Trinculo
Hence, and bestow your luggage where you found it. SEBASTIAN Or stole it, rather. Caliban, Stephano, and Trinculo exit. | Prospero, in a merciful mood, demands that Caliban take his friends and go to work tidying up the cell, if he wants forgiveness. Caliban laments that he was, as we suspected, a "thrice-double ass" to take this drunkard Stephano for a god. The three exit to prepare Prospero's cell. |
PROSPERO
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 360
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, 365
Where I have hope to see the nuptial
Of these our dear-belovèd solemnized,
And thence retire me to my Milan, where
Every third thought shall be my grave. | Prospero invites Alonso and everyone back to his place, where they'll be treated to Prospero's long life story. He promises that in the morning they'll all go on the newly fixed ship to Naples. Once there, Prospero hopes to see the children married, and then head back to Milan, where he'll think about his death, which can't be too far off. |
ALONSO I long 370
To hear the story of your life, which must
Take the ear strangely. PROSPERO I’ll deliver all,
And promise you calm seas, auspicious gales,
And sail so expeditious that shall catch 375
Your royal fleet far off. Aside to Ariel. My Ariel,
chick,
That is thy charge. Then to the elements
Be free, and fare thou well.—Please you, draw near. They all exit. EPILOGUEspoken by Prospero. Now my charms are all o’erthrown,
And what strength I have ’s mine own,
Which is most faint. Now ’tis true
I must be here confined by you,
Or sent to Naples. Let me not, 5
Since I have my dukedom got
And pardoned the deceiver, dwell
In this bare island by your spell,
But release me from my bands
With the help of your good hands. 10
Gentle breath of yours my sails
Must fill, or else my project fails,
Which was to please. Now I want
Spirits to enforce, art to enchant,
And my ending is despair, 15
Unless I be relieved by prayer,
Which pierces so that it assaults
Mercy itself, and frees all faults.
As you from crimes would pardoned be,
Let your indulgence set me free. 20 He exits. | Alonso glosses over this happy little sentiment by saying he looks forward to Prospero's autobiography. Prospero promises tomorrow will bring them favorable weather, and he leaves Ariel the final task (yes, this is like, his sixth final task) of seeing to the weather. Once that's done, he says, the spirit is finally free. In the Folger edition, the rest of Act 5, Scene 1 is in the form of an Epilogue. In the Epilogue, Prospero speaks directly to the audience. He confides that now that he's retired from practicing magic, the only thing that can free him from the island prison and send him to Naples is the audience's applause and approval. In other words, the show's over folks. Let's hear it for the actors...and the playwright. P.S. Some literary critics think that this speech is Shakespeare the playwright's way of saying "so long" to the theater. If you want to know more about this, go to "Symbolism." |