Seb. A o' pox your throat! you bawling, blasphemous, incharitable dog! Boats. Work you, then. Ant. Hang, cur, hang! you whoreson, insolent noise-maker, we are less afraid to be drowned than thou art. Gon. I'll warrant him from drowning; though the ship were no stronger than a nut-shell, and as leaky as an unstanched wench." Boats. Lay her a-hold, a-hold:" set her two courses; off to sea again, lay her off. 8 Enter Mariners wet. Mar. All lost! to prayers, to prayers! all lost! Boats. What, must our mouths be cold? Exeunt. Gon. The king and prince at prayers! let us assist them, For our case is as theirs. Seb. I am out of patience. Ant. We are merely cheated of our lives by drunkards. This wide-chapped rascal ;-'Would, thou might'st iie drowning, The washing of ten tides! Gon. He'll be hanged yet; Though every drop of water swear against it, And gape at wid'st to glut him.' a Ship in a Storme: "Let us lie at Trie with our main course; that is, to hale the tacke aboord, the sheat close aft, the boling set up, and the helme tied close aboord." STEEVENS. 6 an unstanched wench.] Unstanched, perhaps incontinent. Lay her a-hold, a-hold :] i. e. bring her to lie as near the wind as she can, in order to keep clear of the land, and get her out to sea. 8 - Set her two courses; off to sea again,] The courses are the main-sail and fore-sail. 9-merely-] In this place, signifies absolutely. STEEVENS. -to glut him.] Shakspeare probably wrote, t'englut him, to [A confused noise within.] Mercy on us! We split, we split!-Farewell, my wife and children! Farewell, brother! We split, we split, we split!Ant. Let's all sink with the king. Seb. Let's take leave of him. [Exit. [Exit. Gon. Now would I give a thousand furlongs of sea for an acre of barren ground; long heath, brown furze, any thing: The wills above be done! but I would fain die a dry death. [Exit. SCENE II. The island: before the cell of Prospero. Mira. If by your art, my dearest father, you have With those that I saw suffer! a brave vessel swallow him. In this signification englut from engloutir, Fr. occurs frequently. Yet Milton writes glutted offal for swallowed, .. and therefore perhaps the present text may stand. 2 Mercy on us! &c. Farewell, brother! &c.] It is probable, that the lines succeeding the confused noise within should be considered as spoken by no determinate characters. 3 an acre of barren ground; long heath, brown furze, &c.] Sir T. Hanmer reads-ling, heath, broom, furze.-Perhaps rightly, though he has been charged with tautology. 4 creatures in her,]. The old copy reads-creature; but the preceding as well as subsequent words of Miranda seem to demand the emendation suggested first by Theobald. or e'er-] i. c. before. It should the good ship so have swallowed, and Pro. Be collected; No more amazement: tell your piteous heart, Mir. Pro. O, woe the day! No harm. I have done nothing but in care of thee, Mira. poor cell,s More to know Did never meddle with my thoughts." "Tis time Pro. I should inform thee further. Lend thy hand, And pluck my magic garment from me.—So; [Lays down his mantle. Lie there my art.-Wipe thou thine eyes; have comfort. The direful spectacle of the wreck, which touch'd I have with such provision in mine art "Pro. No harm.] Perhaps Shakspeare wrote, O, woe the day! no harm? To which Prospero properly answers: I have done nothing but in care of thee. JOHNSON. 7 more better-] This, ungrammatical expression is very frequent among our oldest writers. — full poor cell,] i. e. a cell in a great degree of poverty. 9 Did never meddle with my thoughts.] i. e. mix with them. To meddle, means, also, to interfere, to trouble, to busy itself. virtue of compassion-] Virtue; the most efficacious part, as The virtue of a plant is in the extract. 1 2 no soul- Such interruptions are not uncommon to Shakspeare. He sometimes begins a sentence, and, before he concludes it, entirely changes its construction, because another, No, not so much perdition as an hair, Which thou heard'st cry, which thou saw'st sink. For thou must now know further. You have often Mira. Pro. The hour's now come; The very minute bids thee ope thine ear; Obey, and be attentive. Can'st thou remember I do not think thou can'st; for then thou wast not Mira. Certainly, sir, I can. Pro. By what? by any other house, or person? Of any thing the image tell me, that Hath kept with thy remembrance. Mira. "Tis far off, And rather like a dream than an assurance Pro. Thou hadst, and more, Miranda: But how is it, That this lives in thy mind? What see'st thou else If thou remember'st ought, ere thou cam'st here, Mira. But that I do not. more forcible, occurs. As this change frequently happens in conversation, it may be suffered to pass uncensured in the language of the stage. STEEVENS. 3 Out three years old.] i. e. Quite three years old. 4 abysin of time?] i. e. Abyss. This method of spelling the word is common to other antient writers. They took it from the French abysme, now written abime. Pro. Twelve years since, Miranda, twelve years since, Thy father was the duke of Milan, and A prince of power. Mira. Sir, are not you my father? She said thou wast my daughter; and thy father A princess; no worse issued." Mira. O, the heavens! What foul play had we, that we came from thence? Or blessed was't, we did? Pro. Both, both, my girl; By foul play, as thou say'st, were we heav'd thence; Mira. I ther. Please you fur Pro. My brother, and thy uncle, call'd An tonio, pray thee, mark me,-that a brother should 5 Twelve years since, Miranda, twelve years since,] Years, in the first instance, is used as a dissyllable, in the second as a monosyllable; a licence not peculiar to the prosody of Shakspeare. 6A princess;-no worse issued.] The old copy reads " And princess." For the trivial change in the text I am answerable. Issued is descended. STEEVENS. 7-teen- is sorrow, grief, trouble. |