| If by your art, my dearest father, you havePut the wild waters in this roar, allay them.The sky, it seems, would pour down stinking pitch,But that the sea, mounting to th’ welkin’s cheek,Dashes the fire out. Oh, I have sufferedWith those that I saw suffer. A brave vesselWho had, no doubt, some noble creature in herDashed all to pieces. Oh, the cry did knockAgainst my very heart! Poor souls, they perished.Had I been any god of power, I wouldHave sunk the sea within the earth or ereIt should the good ship so have swallowed andThe fraughting souls within her. | Said by: Miranda Said to: ProsperoMeans: If you made this storm, please stop. People are suffering and I am suffering with them. |
| The government I cast upon my brotherAnd to my state grew stranger, being transportedAnd rapt in secret studies. | Said by: ProsperoSaid to: MirandaMeans: Gave power to brother so he could have time to study magic |
| Your tale, sir, would cure deafness. | Said by: MirandaSaid to: Prospero |
| A noble Neapolitan, Gonzalo,Out of his charity, who being then appointedMaster of this design, did give us, withRich garments, linens, stuffs, and necessaries | By: ProsperoTo: MirandaMeans: Gonzalo helped them by giving them supplies. |
| All hail, great master! Grave sir, hail! I comeTo answer thy best pleasure, be ‘t to fly,To swim, to dive into the fire, to rideOn the curled clouds. To thy strong bidding, taskAriel and all his quality. | By: ArielTo: Prospero |
| I prithee,Remember I have done thee worthy service,Told thee no lies, made thee no mistakings, servedWithout or grudge or grumblings. Thou didst promiseTo bate me a full year. | By: ArielTo: ProsperoMeans: Remember that I’ve been good and you said you’d take a year off my sentence. |
| This blue-eyed hag was hither brought with childAnd here was left by th’ sailors. | By: ProsperoTo: Ariel |
| Pardon, master.I will be correspondent to commandAnd do my spiriting gently. | ArielProspero |
| As wicked dew as e’er my mother brushedWith raven’s feather from unwholesome fenDrop on you both! A southwest blow on yeAnd blister you all o’er! | CalibanProspero |
| When thou camest first,Thou strok’st me and made much of me, wouldst give meWater with berries in ‘t, and teach me howTo name the bigger light, and how the less,That burn by day and night. And then I loved theeAnd showed thee all the qualities o’ th’ isle, | CalibanProspero |
| In mine own cell till thou didst seek to violateThe honor of my child | ProsperoCaliban |
| You taught me language, and my profit on’t is I know how to curse | CalibanProspero |
| Sitting on a bank,Weeping again the king my father’s wrack,This music crept by me upon the waters | Ferdinand |
| My language! Heavens,I am the best of them that speak this speech,Were I but where ’tis spoken. | FerdinandMiranda |
| They are both in either’s powers, but this swift businessI must uneasy make lest too light winningMake the prize light. | Prospero |
| Beseech you, sir, be merry. You have cause,So have we all, of joy, for our escapeIs much beyond our loss | GonzaloAlonso |
| Sir, you may thank yourself for this great loss,That would not bless our Europe with your daughter,But rather loose her to an African, | SebastianAlonso |
| I’ th’ commonwealth I would by contrariesExecute all things. For no kind of trafficWould I admit. No name of magistrate.Letters should not be known. Riches, poverty,And use of service—none. Contract, succession,Bourn, bound of land, tilth, vineyard—none.No use of metal, corn, or wine, or oil.No occupation. All men idle, all.And women too, but innocent and pure.No sovereignty— | GonzaloAlonso, Antonio, Sebastian, Adrian, and Francisco |
| y strong imagination sees a crownDropping upon thy head. | AntonioSebastian |
| What stuff is this? How say you?’Tis true, my brother’s daughter’s Queen of Tunis,So is she heir of Naples | SebastianAntonio |
| Thy case, dear friend,Shall be my precedent. As thou got’st Milan,I’ll come by Naples | SebastianAntonio |
| Alas, the storm is come again! My best way is to creep under his gaberdine. There is no other shelter hereabouts. Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows. I will here shroud till the dregs of the storm be past | Trinculo |
| I’ll swear upon that bottle to be thy true subject, for the liquor is not earthly. | CalibanStephano |
| I had rather crack my sinews, break my back,Than you should such dishonor undergoWhile I sit lazy by. | FerdinandMirandaI would rather strain all my muscles instead of sitting to the side while you worked |
| Poor worm, thou art infected! | Prospero |
| I, beyond all limit of what else i’th’ world, do love, prize, and honour you. | FerdinandMiranda |
| I am your wife, if you will marry me. If not, I’ll die your maid: to be your fellow you may deny me, but I’ll be your servant whether you will or not. | MirandaFerdinandIf you won’t marry me, then I will be your servant. I will die your servant whether you want me to or not. |
| There thou mayst brain him, having first seized his books, or with a log, batter his skull, or paunch him with a stake, or cut his wezand with thy knife. | CalibanStephano and Trinculo |
| Be not afeard. The isle is full of noises,Sounds, and sweet airs that give delight and hurt not.Sometimes a thousand twangling instrumentsWill hum about mine ears, and sometime voicesThat, if I then had waked after long sleep,Will make me sleep again. And then, in dreaming,The clouds methought would open and show richesReady to drop upon me, that when I wakedI cried to dream again. | CalibanStephano and Trinculo |
| But remember—For that’s my business to you—that you threeFrom Milan did supplant good Prospero,Exposed unto the sea, which hath requit it,Him and his innocent child. For which foul deedThe powers—delaying, not forgetting—haveIncensed the seas and shores, yea, all the creatures,Against your peace | ArielAlonso, Sebastian, Antonio, Gonzalo, Adrian, and FranciscoMotive |
| But remember—For that’s my business to you—that you threeFrom Milan did supplant good Prospero,Exposed unto the sea, which hath requit it,Him and his innocent child. For which foul deedThe powers—delaying, not forgetting—haveIncensed the seas and shores, yea, all the creatures,Against your peace | AlonsoSuicide |
| We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep. | ProsperoFerdinand and MirandaOur life is like a dream and on either side is death. |
| So I charmed their earsThat, calflike, they my lowing followed throughToothed briers, sharp furzes, pricking gorse, and thorns,Which entered their frail shins. At last I left themI’ th’ filthy-mantled pool beyond your cell,There dancing up to th’ chins, that the foul lakeO’erstunk their feet | ArielProspero |
| O King Stephano! O peer! O worthy Stephano! Look what a wardrobe here is for thee! | TrinculoStephano |
| I will have none on’t. We shall lose our time, and all be turned to barnacles, or to apes with foreheads villanous low. | CalibanTrinculo and Stephano |
| Your charm so strongly works ’emThat if you now beheld them, your affectionsWould become tender. | ArielProspero |
| But this rough magic I here abjure. | Prosperogiving up magic |
| O good Gonzalo,My true preserver and a loyal sir To him you follow’st, I will pay thy gracesHome both in word and deed | ProsperoI’ll pay you back for saving me |
| I here could pluck his highness’ frown upon you and justify you traitors. At this time I will tell no tales. | ProsperoSebastian and Antonio |
| I have lost my daughter | ProsperoAlonso |
| How many goodly creatures are there here!How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,That has such people in ‘t! | MirandaEverybody |
| There, sir, stop.Let us not burden our remembrances withA heaviness that’s gone. | ProsperoForgive and forget |
| Was Milan thrust from Milan, that his issueShould become kings of Naples? O, rejoiceBeyond a common joy, and set it downWith gold on lasting pillars. In one voyageDid Claribel her husband find at Tunis;And Ferdinand, her brother, found a wifeWhere he himself was lost; Prospero, his dukedomIn a poor isle; and all of us, ourselvesWhen no man was his own | GonzaloHeirs will be king of Naples. Ferdinand was “lost” and found his wife. Prospero regained his dukedom. |
| Sir, my liege,Do not infest your mind with beating onThe strangeness of this business | ProsperoAlonsoDon’t worry about it |
| We were dead of sleep, And- how we know not- all clapped under hatches | BoatswainAlonso |
| Two of these fellows you must know and own. This thing of darkness I acknowledge mine | ProsperoAlonso and company |
| He is as disproportioned in his manners as in his shape | ProsperoAlonso and company |
| Ay, that I will. And I’ll be wise hereafterAnd seek for grace. What a thrice-double assWas I, to take this drunkard for a godAnd worship this dull fool! | CalibanProspero |
| Then to the elements be free and fare thou well | ProsperoArielBe free!!!!!!!! |
| Now my charms are all o’erthrown,And what strength I have’s mine own,Which is most faint | Epilogue Now my spells are all broken,And the only power I have is my own,Which is very weak |
| Let me not,Since I have my dukedom gotAnd pardoned the deceiver, dwellIn this bare island by your spell,But release me from my bandsWith the help of your good hands | EpiloguePlease don’tKeep me here on this desert islandWith your magic spells. Release meSo I can return to my dukedomWith your help |
The Tempest Quotes
July 2, 2019