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Rich scarf to my proud Earth ;— why hath thy Queen
Summon'd me hither, to this short-grass'd green?
Iris. A contract of true love to celebrate;

And some donation freely to estate

On the bless'd lovers.

Cer.

Tell me, heavenly Bow,

If Venus or her son, as thou dost know,

Do now attend the Queen? Since they did plot
The means that dusky Dis my daughter got,17
Her and her blind boy's scandal'd company

I have forsworn.

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Be not afraid I met her deity

Cutting the clouds towards Paphos, 18 and her son
Dove-drawn with her. Here thought they to have done
Some wanton charm upon this man and maid,

Whose vows are, that no bed-right shall be paid
Till Hymen's torch be lighted: but in vain;
Mars's hot minion is return'd again; 19

Her waspish-headed son has broke his arrows,
Swears he will shoot no more, but play with sparrows,
And be a boy right out.

I know each lane, and every alley green,
Dingle, or bushy dell of this wild wood,
And every bosky bourn from side to side.

17 The means whereby Pluto caught and carried off Proserpina, Proserpina was the daughter of Jupiter and Ceres: Dis, King of dusky Hades, fell so deep in love with her, that he must needs seize her, vi et armis, and spirit her away to Hades, to be his Queen.

18 A city in Cyprus, where Venus had a favourite country-seat.

19 Has gone back to Paphos. Minion is darling or favourite, and refers to Venus. In what follows the meaning is, that Cupid is so chagrined and mortified at being thus baffled, that he is determined to give up his business, and act the love-god no more, but be a mere boy, or a boy outright

Cer.

High'st Queen of state,20

Great Juno comes; I know her by her gait.21

Enter JUNO.

Juno. How does my bounteous sister? Go with me To bless this twain, that they may prosperous be,

And honour'd in their issue.

SONG.

Juno. Honour, riches, marriage-blessing,

Long continuance, and increasing,
Hourly joys be still upon you!

Juno sings her blessings on you.

Cer. Earth's increase, and foison plenty,22
Barns and garners never empty;
Vines with clustering bunches growing;
Plants with goodly burden bowing;
Spring come to you at the farthest
In the very end of harvest! 23

Scarcity and want shall shun you;

Ceres' blessing so is on you.

20 "High'st Queen of state" is the same as Queen of highest state, or Queen above all other queens. State for throne, or chair of state. So the word was often used.- The Poet has many similar inversions.

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21 Juno was distinguished by her walk, as the gods and goddesses generally were. So in Pericles, v. I: "In pace another Juno."

22" Foison plenty" is, strictly speaking, redundant or tautological, as both words mean the same. But plenty is used as an adjective, - plentiful or overflowing. See page 82, note 24.

23"May your new Spring come, at the latest, as soon as the harvest of the old one is over!" This explanation is sustained, as Staunton points out, by Amos, ix. 13: "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the ploughman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth the seed." Also, in The Faerie Queen, iii. 6, 42:

There is continuall Spring, and harvest there
Continuall, both meeting in one time.

Ferd. This is a most majestic vision, and Harmonious charmingly.24 May I be bold To think these spirits?

Pros.

Spirits, which by mine art

I have from their confines call'd to enact

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Juno and Ceres whisper seriously;

There's something else to do: hush, and be mute,

Or else our spell is marr'd.26

Iris. You nymphs, call'd Naiads, of the winding brooks, With your sedge crowns and ever-harmless looks,

Leave your crisp channels,27 and on this green land

24 That is, charmingly harmonious. See note 20, above." So bold as to think." See page 54, note 28.

25" So rare-wonder'd a father" is the prose order of the words. The Poet has several such inversions for metre's sake. So in King John, iv. 1: "For putting on so new a fashion'd robe." So new-fashion'd a robe. The meaning in the text is, so rarely-wonderful a father; and the force of " so rare a wonder'd" extends over wife. Shakespeare has many instances of the ending -ed used in the same way; as in Macbeth, iii. 4: "You have broke the good meeting with most admired disorder." Admired for admirable, and in the sense of wonderful.

26 It was supposed that any noise or disturbance would upset or disconcert "the might of magic spells."

27 Crisp is curled, from the curl made by a breeze on the surface of the water. The transference of an epithet to an associated object, as of crisp from the water to the channel in this instance, is one of Shakespeare's favourite traits of style. So in Romeo and Juliet, iii. 5, when the lovers see tokens of the dawn that is to sever them, Romeo says," what envious streaks do lace the severing clouds in yonder east."

Answer our summons; Juno does command:
Come, temperate nymphs, and help to celebrate
A contract of true love; be not too late.
Enter certain Nymphs.

You sun-burn'd sicklemen, of August weary,
Come hither from the furrow, and be merry :
Make holiday; your rye-straw hats put on,
And these fresh nymphs encounter every one
In country footing.

Enter certain Reapers, properly habited: they join with the
Nymphs in a graceful dance; towards the end whereof
PROSPERO starts suddenly, and speaks; after which, to
a strange, hollow, and confused noise, they heavily vanish.
Pros. [Aside.] I had forgot that foul conspiracy
Of the beast Caliban and his confederates

Against my life: the minute of their plot

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[To the Spirits.] Well done; avoid; 28

Ferd. This is most strange: your father's in some passion That works him strongly.

Mira.

Never till this day

Saw I him touch'd with anger so distemper'd.

Pros. You do, my son, look in a movèd sort,29

As if you were dismay'd: be cheerful, sir.
Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits, and
Are melted into air, into thin air :

And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,

28 Vacate or make void the place; that is to say, be gone.

29 Here, as often, sort is manner or way. So in Coriolanus, i. 3: "I pray

you, daughter, express yourself in a more comfortable sort."

The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit,30 shall dissolve,
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,31
Leave not a rack 32 behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.33 Sir, I am vex'd;

Bear with my weakness; my old brain is troubled :
Be not disturb'd with my infirmity :

If you be pleased, retire into my cell,

And there repose: a turn or two I'll walk,

To still my beating mind.

Ferd.

Mira.}

We wish you peace.

Pros. [To ARIEL.] Come with a thought!— I thank ye.34 [Exeunt FERD. and MIRA.]— Ariel, come !

Re-enter ARIEL.

Ari. Thy thoughts I cleave to: what's thy pleasure?
Pros.

We must prepare to meet with 35 Caliban.

Spirit,

30 All who possess it. Such is often the meaning of inherit. So in the divine beatitude, "Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth." 31 Faded, from the Latin vado, is the same as vanished.

32 Rack was used of the highest, and therefore lightest or thinnest clouds. So in Bacon's Silva Silvarum: "The winds in the upper region (which move the clouds above, which we call the rack, and are not perceived below) pass without noise." See, also, Hamlet, page 118, note 77.- The word rack is from reek, that is, vapour or smoke. See Critical Notes.

Rounded is

33 On for of. Still used so, especially in colloquial speech. finished, rounded off. The sleep here meant is the sleep of death; as in Hamlet's soliloquy: "To die, to sleep; no more."

34 “I thank ye" is addressed to Ferdinand and Miranda, in return for their "We wish you peace."

35 To meet with was anciently the same as to counteract or oppose. So in

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