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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;

43 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
To have my pardon, trim it handsomely.

Cal. 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!

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,
Where I have hope to see the nuptial
Of these our dear-beloved solemnized ;
And thence retire me 46 to my Milan, where
Every third thought shall be my grave.

Alon.

To hear the story of your life, which must
Take the ear strangely.

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I long

And promise you calm seas, auspicious gales,

And sail so expeditious, that shall catch

Your royal fleet far off.

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,
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,
Since have my dukedom got,
And pardon'd the deceiver, dwell
In this bare island by your spell ;
But release me from my bands,
With the help of your good hands.47
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,
Unless I be relieved by prayer;
Which pierces so, that it assaults
Mercy itself, and frees all faults.

As you from crimes would pardon'd be,
Let your indulgence set me free.

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.

ACT I., SCENE I.

P. 48.

A brave vessel,

Who had no doubt some noble creatures in her.- So Theobald and Collier's second folio: the original has creature instead of crea

tures.

P. 50. I have with such prevision in mine art. -The old text has provision. The change is from Collier's second folio, and accords with what Ariel says in ii. I: "My master through his art foresees the danger that you, his friend, are in."

P. 51.

And thy father

Was Duke of Milan; thou his only heir,

A princess, - -no worse issued. The old text reads "and his onely heire"; the and being evidently repeated by mistake from the preceding line. Steevens made the correction. The original also has "And Princesse; no worse Issued." Corrected by Pope. The old copies have various instances of and thus misprinted for a. So in King Henry VIII., ii. 4: “On the debating And Marriage 'twixt the Duke of Orleance and Our daughter Mary."

P. 53. The ivy which had hid my princely trunk,

And suck'd the verdure out on't. - The original reads "Suck'd my verdure"; the my being probably repeated by mistake from the preceding line.

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To credit his own lie. - The old copies read "having into truth, by telling of it." This reading, with unto substituted for into, is commonly explained by making it refer to lie in the second line after. But is this, or was it ever, a legitimate English construction? Collier's second folio substitutes to untruth for into truth; rather plausibly, at first sight. But the meaning in that case would be, "having made his

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