51, 52. lie drowning The washing of ten tides. Pirates, in the time of Elizabeth, were hanged on the shore at low-water mark, and left till three tides had washed over them. Antonio declares that for the Boatswain three tide-washings are not enough—he deserves ten.

60. long heath, brown furze. The reading of the Ff. has been altered by Hanmer to ling, heath, broom, furze, on the ground that the epithets long and brown are stiff and out of place here. In support of the Ff. reading Furness quotes a passage from Lyte's Herbal (1576): "There is in this countrie two kindes of Heath, one of which beareth his flowers alongst the stemmes, and is called long Heath. The other bearing his flowers in tutteys or tuftes at the toppes of the branches, the which is called smal Heath." Lyte further speaks of heath growing on mountains that be "drie, hungrie, and barren", and of furze being found "in untoyled places by the way-sides". Furness therefore thinks that "the names of both plants were suggested by the word 'barren' in Gonzalo's wish for "an acre of barren ground", and in calling the furze 'brown' an additional hue of desolation is imparted by suggesting that the acre is so barren that even the weeds on it are dried up and discoloured".

61. The wills above, the will of the Powers above.

Scene 2.

With this scene we enter the domain of enchantment, and in lines 1-374 we have, for the most part, a sketch of the ancient history of the wonderful island. As has been mentioned in the Introduction (§ 20), The Tempest, being practically in the form of a Classical drama, requires an equivalent for the Classical Prologue, which explains to the audience the events that have produced the crisis with which the play is concerned. Prospero's conversations with Miranda, Ariel, and Caliban fulfil this function admirably. They are models of lucid narrative, heightened by the fresh and vivid touches which dialogue imparts.

1-13. Miranda's opening speech forms a skilful mode of transition from the preceding scene. It describes the storm, not as experienced on sea, but as witnessed from the land, and suggests that instead of being a natural outbreak of elemental fury, it is due to the influence of Prospero's art.

I. your...you. Throughout this dialogue Miranda invariably addresses her father in the 2nd person plural of respect, while he, except in line 17, speaks to her in the 2nd person singular of affection.

5-13. These lines give us the key to Miranda's character, in which tenderness and simple faith in good are throughout the leading notes. Notice her description of the vessel as 'brave' and 'good', and her instinctive confidence that it carried 'noble creatures'.

7. Who follows a neuter antecedent when it is personified, as here, in her'.

II. or ere. The phrase is really pleonastic. Or represents E.E. ær, 'before'. As this meaning of or died out, it seems to have been combined with ere for the sake of emphasis. Cf. Abbott, § 131.

13. fraughting souls, the souls who composed the fraught or freight.

14. piteous, pitying.

15. O, woe the day! Miranda, when she speaks these words, supposes not that the crew has escaped, but that her father counts their destruction 'no harm'.

19. Of whence. For this redundant phrase cf. Abbott, § 179. more better. The double comparative is frequently used by Shakespeare. Cf. Abbott, § II.

20. full, completely.

25. Lie there, my art. Steevens quotes in illustration Fuller's anecdote about Lord Burleigh, Elizabeth's Lord Treasurer, who, "when he put off his gown at night, used to say, 'Lie there, Lord Treasurer' Voss aptly notices that "Shakespeare here very skilfully separates Prospero, the man, from Prospero, the magician. A magician, devoted body and soul to his art, can claim but little of our sympathy. But Prospero's magic resides only in his mantle, staff, and book. Prospero himself remains akin to us.” 26. wreck. The Ff. here, and in lines 389, 413, 487, read wracke, which gives a far finer rhythm.

27. The very virtue of compassion, the very essence of compassion.

29-31. no soul...vessel. There is no necessity to alter the reading of the Ff.; the sense is clear, though grammatically there is an anacoluthon. Prospero begins to declare that no soul on board has been lost, but, before completing the sentence, he breaks off into the more emphatic assertion that not so much harm as a hair has befallen any one.

31. Betid, happened. For other examples of the omission of ed in the past indicative and past participle after d and t cf. Abbott, §§ 341 and 342.

32. Which...which. The first which refers to 'creature', the second to 'vessel'.

35. inquisition, inquiry.

41. Out, completely.

50. backward. For a similar example of an adverb used as a noun cf. Sonnet cxxviii. :

"To kiss the tender inward of thy hand".

53. Twelve year. For the use of the noun in the singular cf. 2 Henry IV., iii. 2. 224: "That's fifty-five year ago". Walker, Abbott, and Wright assert that the first year in this line is to be pro

nounced as a dissyllable, because it is more emphatic than the second. But the preferable scansion is that of Coleridge, Guest, and Furness: "Twelve year | since, | Miran | da, twelve | year since".

The emphasis at the beginning of the line is not on year but on twelve, and this is indicated by the speaker's voice pausing on the word. Cf. Prosody, § 2.

56. piece, a perfect specimen.

57-59. This is the reading of the Ff., with the omission of a semicolon after princess, and is to be interpreted: 'Thy father was Duke of Milan, and his only heir and princess had no meaner descent than this'. Many editors adopt Pope's conjecture of a princess instead of and princess, but it is unnecessary.

63, 64. It is characteristic of Miranda that she does not mourn over the loss of her royal position, but merely over the sorrow that, as she thinks, she has caused her father during his wanderings.

65. from. For this use of from in the sense of 'away from', 'apart from', cf. Abbott, § 158.

Please you, if it please you.

66-87. Prospero's speech here contains a complicated series of anacolutha. He begins with the intention of saying, 'My brother received the government of my state from me, whilst I was engaged in the study of liberal arts'. He first inserts the short parenthesis, "I pray thee...perfidious", and then takes up the subject of the sentence again in "he" (1. 68); this is followed by the involved series of relatival clauses, "whom next thyself... Without a parallel" (11. 68-74); at the end of these Prospero has forgotten the beginning of his sentence, and starts a fresh main sentence in which 'I' is subject, and "brother" is reintroduced as the accusative after "cast upon". Finally, in l. 77, "Thy false uncle" takes up again the original subject, "My brother and thy uncle", and finds its verb in "created" in 1. 81.

70. as at that time, then. For this use of as, corresponding to the German als in alsdann, cf. the Collect for Christmas-day: “Almighty God Who hast given us Thy only-begotten Son to take our nature upon Him, and as at this time to be born of a pure Virgin". Cf. too Chaucer's Legende of Goode Women, 1491: "Us nedeth trewely Nothing as now".

80. who. For other examples of the use of the relative in the nominative where we should expect the accusative, cf. Abbott, § 274. 81. trash for over-topping, a mixture of metaphors from hunting and gardening. To trash is to fasten a weight on the neck of a dog to prevent him outrunning his companions. Cf. Othello, ii. I. 312, 313:

"If this poor trash of Venice, whom I trash

For his quick hunting".

Overtopping is used of a tree that grows higher than its companions. Cf. Antony and Cleopatra, iv. 12. 23, 24: "this pine is bark'd, That overtopp'd them all ".

82, 83. or... Or, either...or.

83. key. There is probably a play on two senses of the word: (1) the keys of office, (2) the key for tuning a musical instrument. The latter signification suggests the words that follow.

85. that, so that.

87. on 't, of it.

go. closeness, secrecy, retirement.

91, 92. By what, except that it involved such retirement, surpassed in value all popular estimation.'

94, 95. This alludes to the proverb that a father above the common rate of men has usually a son below it.

95. in its contrary, in its opposite nature. Wright mentions that there are ten instances in Shakespeare's works of this form of the neuter possessive pronoun. It does not occur in the Authorized Version of the Bible, 1611.

97. lorded, raised to the dignity of a lord.

98. revenue: accented on the second syllable.

99-102. like one...own lie. The general meaning of this passage is clear: 'Like one who, by repeating a lie, has made his memory such a sinner against truth that he has come to believe his own invention'. (Malone compares Bacon's account of Perkin Warbeck in his History of Henry VII.: "Nay himself, with long and continual counterfeiting, and with oft telling a lie, was turned by habit almost into the thing he seemed to be, and from a liar to a believer".) The construction, however, presents great difficulty. If the reading of the Ff. be retained, as in the present text, there is much plausibility in Philpott's interpretation: Who having, by telling of it, credited his own lie into truth, making thereby a sinner of his memory'. This sentence would naturally have run, 'Who having into truth, by telling of it, credited his own lie'; but the words "made such a sinner of his memory", which should have been parenthetical, attracted 'credited' into 'to credit', to suit themselves. Furnivall ingeniously suggests that 'having into truth' means 'cutting into, attacking truth'; the passage would then run: 'like one who, garbling truth by repetition of this garbled version, made such a sinner', &c. Most critics adopt Warburton's emendation, 'unto truth', which depends on 'sinner' in the following line, but it is very doubtful whether the change is necessary.

103. out o' the substitution, by reason of being my deputy. 104. executing the outward face of royalty, performing the external duties of a king.

107-109. 'To have no overshadowing barrier between the rôle that he was playing, and the actual office of Duke, he was determined to become complete sovereign of Milan.'

109. Me, for me.

For omission of the preposition before the

indirect object cf. Abbott, § 201.

112. dry, thirsty.

117. his condition and the event, the terms he made, and the consequences.

118. might, here used in the sense of could. For other instances cf. Abbott, § 312.

119. but nobly, otherwise than nobly.

122. hearkens, listens to.

125. presently, immediately. 128. levied, being levied.

129. Fated, suited by destiny.

134. Will cry it. The it here is probably used indefinitely, as in 1. 379: "Foot it featly ". It may, however, possibly stand for "my crying" understood from the previous line.

134, 135. a hint That wrings mine eyes to 't, a theme that forces tears from my eyes. For this use of hint cf. ii. I. 3, 4: “Our hint of woe Is common

137. the which. This use of the before which is frequent in Shakespeare. "The question may arise why the is attached to which and not to who....The answer is that who is considered definite already, and stands for a noun, while which is considered an indefinite adjective; just as in French we have 'lequel' and not 'lequi'." Abbott, § 270.

144. In few, i.e. words.

146. butt. This, the reading of the first three Ff., is, without doubt, the right one. Had Shakespeare written "boat" (as Rowe conjectured) it would not have been corrupted into the more unusual word. It is evident, however, that butt cannot here have its modern meaning of 'cask', as there would be no sense in the words, 'not rigg'd, Nor tackle, sail, nor mast". Brinsley Nicholson suggests that it is a nautical term, borrowed by Shakespeare from an Italian original to give local colouring to the tale, and that it may be a version of Botto, a sort of sloop with very rounded ribs, very little run, and flattish bottom.

66

147. tackle, ropes. See Glossary.

148. have. For a similar change from past to present tense see 1. 205.

quit...hoist. See note on betid, line 31.

155. deck'd. This word, as used here, is probably connected