Journeys Through Bookland Volume Viii Part 44

_Re-enter ARIEL: after him, 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 has made, and there stand charmed; which PROSPERO observing, speaks._

A solemn air, as the best comforter To an unsettled fancy, cure the brains, Now useless, boil'd[453-12] within the skull!--There stand, For you are spell-stopp'd.-- Holy Gonzalo, honourable man, Mine eyes, even sociable to[453-13] the show of thine, Fall fellowly drops.[453-14]--The charm dissolves apace; And as the morning steals upon the night, Melting the darkness, so their rising senses[453-15]

Begin to chase the ignorant fumes that mantle[453-16]

Their clearer reason.--O thou good Gonzalo, My true preserver, and a loyal sir To him thou follow'st! I will pay thy graces Home[453-17] both in word and deed.--Most cruelly Didst thou, Alonso, use me and my daughter: Thy brother was a furtherer in the act:-- Thou'rt pinch'd for't now, Sebastian.--Flesh and blood, You, brother mine, that entertain'd ambition Expell'd remorse[453-18] and nature;[453-19] who, with Sebastian,-- Whose inward pinches therefore are most strong,-- Would here have kill'd your King; I do forgive thee, Unnatural though thou art,--Their understanding Begins to swell; and the approaching tide Will shortly fill the reasonable sh.o.r.e,[454-20]

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:-- [_Exit ARIEL._ I will discase me,[454-21] and myself present As I was sometime Milan:[454-22]--quickly, spirit; Thou shalt ere long be free.

_ARIEL re-enters, singing, and helps to attire PROSPERO._

_Ari._ Where the bee sucks, there suck I: In a cowslip's bell I lie,-- There I couch: when owls do cry, On the bat's back I do fly After Summer, merrily.[454-23]

Merrily, merrily shall I live now Under the blossom that hangs on the bough.

_Pros._ Why, that's my dainty Ariel! I shall miss 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 awaked, enforce them to this place, And presently, I pr'ythee.

[Ill.u.s.tration: WHERE THE BEE SUCKS, THERE SUCK I]

_Ari._ I drink the air before me,[456-24] and return Or e'er your pulse twice beat. [_Exit ARIEL._

_Gonza._ All torment, trouble, wonder, and amazement Inhabit here: some heavenly power guide us Out of this fearful country!

_Pros._ Behold, sir King, The wronged Duke of Milan, Prospero: For more a.s.surance that a living prince Does now speak to thee, I embrace thy body; And to thee and thy company I bid A hearty welcome.

_Alon._ Wher[456-25] thou be'st he or no, Or some enchanted trifle[456-26] to abuse me, As late I have been, I not know: thy pulse 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[456-27]--a most strange story.

Thy dukedom I resign and do entreat Thou pardon me my wrongs.[456-28] But how should Prospero Be living and be here?

_Pros._ First, n.o.ble friend,[456-29]

Let me embrace thine age, whose honour cannot Be measured or confined.

_Gonza._ Whether this be Or be not, I'll not swear.

_Pros._ You do yet taste Some subtilties[457-30] o' the isle, that will not let you Believe things certain.--Welcome, my friends all:-- [_Aside to SEBAS. and ANTO._] But you, my brace of lords, were I so minded, I here could pluck his Highness' frown upon you, And justify you traitors:[457-31] at this time I'll tell no tales.

_Sebas._ [_Aside to ANTO._] The Devil speaks in him.

_Pros._ Now, For you, most wicked sir, whom to call brother 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.

_Alon._ If thou be'st Prospero, Give us particulars of thy preservation; How thou hast met us here, who three hours since Were wreck'd upon this sh.o.r.e; where I have lost-- How sharp the point of this remembrance is!-- My dear son Ferdinand.

_Pros._ I'm woe[457-32] for't, sir.

_Alon._ Irreparable is the loss; and patience Says it is past her cure.

_Pros._ I rather think You have not sought her help; of whose soft grace, For the like loss I have her sovereign aid, And rest myself content.

_Alon._ You the like loss!

_Pros._ As great to me, as late;[458-33] and, portable To make the dear loss, have I means much weaker Than you may call to comfort you; for I Have lost my daughter.

_Alon._ A daughter!

O Heavens, that they were living both in Naples, The King and Queen there! that they were, I wish Myself were mudded in that oozy bed Where my son lies. When did you lose your daughter?

_Pros._ In this last tempest. I perceive, these lords At this encounter do so much admire,[458-34]

That they devour their reason, and scarce think Their eyes do offices of truth, these words Are natural breath:[458-35] but, howsoe'er you have Been justled from your senses, know for certain That I am Prospero, and that very Duke Which was thrust forth of Milan; who most strangely Upon this sh.o.r.e, where you were wreck'd, was landed To be the lord on't. No more yet[458-36] of this; For 'tis a chronicle of day by day,[458-37]

Not a relation for a breakfast, nor Befitting this first meeting. Welcome, sir; This cell's my Court: here have I few attendants, And subjects none abroad: pray you, look in.

My dukedom since you've given me again, I will requite you with as good a thing; At least bring forth a wonder to content ye As much as me my dukedom.

_The entrance of the Cell opens, and discovers FERDINAND and MIRANDA playing at chess._

_Mira._ Sweet lord, you play me false.[459-38]

_Ferd._ No, my dear'st love, I would not for the world.

_Mira._ Yes, for a score of kingdoms you should wrangle,[459-39]

And I would call it fair play.

_Alon._ If this prove A vision of the island, one dear son Shall I twice lose.[459-40]

_Sebas._ A most high miracle!

_Ferd._ Though the seas threaten, they are merciful!

I've cursed them without cause. [_Kneels to ALON._

_Alon._ Now all the blessings Of the glad father compa.s.s thee about!

Arise, and say how thou earnest here.

_Mira._ O, wonder!

How many goodly creatures are there here!

How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, That has such people in't!

_Pros._ 'Tis new to thee.

_Alon._ What is this maid with whom thou wast at play?

Your eld'st acquaintance cannot be three hours: Is she the G.o.ddess that hath sever'd us, And brought us thus together?

_Ferd._ Sir, she's mortal; But by immortal Providence she's mine: 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 Received a second life; and second father This lady makes him to me.[460-41]

_Alon._ I am hers: But, O, how oddly will it sound that I Must ask my child forgiveness!

_Pros._ There, sir, stop: Let us not burden our remembrance with A heaviness that's gone.

_Gonza._ I've inly wept, Or should have spoke ere this.--Look down, you G.o.ds, And on this couple drop a blessed crown!

For it is you that have chalk'd forth the way Which brought us. .h.i.ther.

_Alon._ I say, Amen, Gonzalo!

[Ill.u.s.tration: LOOK DOWN, YOU G.o.dS, ON THIS COUPLE]

_Gonza._ 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; 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.[462-42]