58. Old cramps. "Old" is frequently used by Shakespeare in the sense of excessive abounding; as, "old abusing," "old coil," "old utis," &c.

59. Achès. This word was formerly pronounced as a dissyllable, especially where the rhythm demanded it. When used as a verb, it was generally spelt with a "k," and sounded hard, as a monosyllable.

60. Setebos. The name found in books of travel, in Shakespeare's time, for a demon-deity.

61. Court'sied when you have and kiss'd. Both these pleasant observances were customary at the commencement of

But certainly a maid. Fer.

No wonder, sir;

My language! heavens!— I am the best of them that speak this speech, Were I but where 'tis spoken.

Pros. How! the best? What wert thou, if the King of Naples heard thee? Fer. A single thing, as I am now, that wonders To hear thee speak of Naples. He does hear me ; And, that he does, I weep: myself am Naples; Who with mine eyes, ne'er since at ebb, beheld The king, my father, wreck'd. Mir.

Alack, for mercy!

Fer. Yes, faith, and all his lords; the Duke of

Milan,

And his brave son, being twain.

Pros. [Aside] The Duke of Milan, And his more braver daughter, could control thee, If now 'twere fit to do't.-At the first sight

dances, in "the good old times of merry England." The next line seems to mean-" The waves hush'd to silence the while.' 62. Of his bones are coral made. The false grammatical concord in this line is one of many that we shall have to notice, where the preceding noun ends with "s." Such licence was, in Shakespeare's time, allowable.

63. The earth owes. "Owe was formerly used for own possess. See "the name thou ow'st not," a few speeches farther on.

64. Control. Confute; bring a contrary account. Bacon uses the word in precisely this sense.

And make thy weapon drop.

Mir.

Beseech you, father! Pros. Hence! hang not on my garments. Mir.

un

I'll be his surety.

Pros.

Sir, have pity:

Silence! one word more

My spirits, as in a dream, are all bound up.
My father's loss, the weakness which I feel,
The wreck of all my friends, nor this man's
threats,

To whom I am subdued, are but light to me,
Might I but through my prison once a day
Behold this maid: all corners else o' th' earth
Let liberty make use of; space enough
Have I in such a prison.

[To Ari.] Hark, what thou else shalt do me.
Mir.
Be of comfort:

My father's of a better nature, sir,
Than he appears by speech: this is unwonted
Which now came from him.

mild, and not to be dreaded'), we think, from the context of the whole passage, that she is intended to say-'He's of a noble nature, and not timid;' "gentle" being often used to express good blood, good birth, exalted quality. 67. Ward. Posture of defence.

68. This stick. Prospero's magic wand.

Gon. Dolour comes to him, indeed: you have spoken truer than you purposed.

Seb. You have taken it wiselier than I meant you should:

Gon. Therefore, my lord,—

Seb. So, you're paid.

Adr. Uninhabitable, and almost inaccessible,Seb. Yet,

Adr. Yet,

Ant. He could not miss it.

Adr. It must needs be of subtle, tender, and delicate temperance.

Ant. Temperance was a delicate wench.

Seb. Ay, and a subtle; as he most learnedly delivered.

Adr. The air breathes upon us here most sweetly.

Seb. As if it had lungs, and rotten ones.
Ant. Or as 'twere perfumed by a fen.
Gon. Here is everything advantageous to life.
Ant. True; save means to live.

Seb.

Of that there's none, or little.

Gon. How lush and lusty the grass looks! how green!

Ant.

The ground, indeed, is tawny,

Seb.

With an eyes of green in't.

Ant. He misses not much.

Seb. No; he doth but mistake the truth totally.

Gon. But the rarity of it is,—which is indeed almost beyond credit,

Seb. As many vouched rarities are.

Gon. That our garments, being, as they were, drenched in the sea, hold, notwithstanding, their freshness and glosses; being rather new dyed, than

Gon.

Well, I have done: but yet

Seb. He will be talking.

Ant. Which, of he or Adrian,2 for a good wager,

first begins to crow?

Seb. The old cock.

Ant. The cockrel.

Seb. Done. The wager?

Ant. A laughter.

Seb. A match.

Adr. Though this island seem to be desert,—

Ant. Ha, ha, ha!3

line is used, the first time, for a merchant vessel (as we now say merchantman), and the se ond time for the merchant himself. 2. Which, of he or Adrian. This form of phrase is found again in "Midsummer Night's Dream," iii. 2:-"Whose right, of thine or mine, is most in Helena.'

3. Ha, ha, ha! In the Folio, the prefixes to these two So, you're paid. speeches were transposed. Antonio laughs in triumph, and

Ant. If but one of his pockets could speak, would it not say, he lies?

Seb. Ay, or very falsely pocket up his report. Gon. Methinks, our garments are now as fresh as when we put them on first in Afric, at the marriage of the king's fair daughter Claribel to the King of Tunis.

Seb. 'Twas a sweet marriage, and we prosper well in our return.

Adr. Tunis was never graced before with such a paragon to their queen.

Gon. Not since Widow Dido's time.

Sebastian retorts :-"You are paid the proposed stake,-'a laughter.'"

4. Temperance. Used here for temperature. There is also allusion to one of the Christian names given to girls in Puritan times: Prudence, Hope, Faith, Charity, Temperance, &c. 5. Lush. Luxuriant, full of sap.

6. Eye. Frequently used for a touch of colour, a tint, a slight hue.

7. Widow Dido. Elissa, surnamed Dido, stabbed herself

Seb. He hath raised the wall, and houses too. Ant. What impossible matter will he make easy

next?

Seb. I think he will carry this island home in his pocket, and give it his son for an apple.

Ant. And, sowing the kernels of it in the sea, bring forth more islands.

Gon. [To Adr.] Ay."

Ant. Why, in good time.

Gon. [To Alon.] Sir, we were talking, that our garments seem now as fresh, as when we were at Tunis at the marriage of your daughter, who is now queen.

Ant. And the rarest that e'er came there.
Seb. Bate, I beseech you, Widow Dido.
Ant.

Oh! Widow Dido; ay, Widow Dido. Gon. Is not, sir, my doublet as fresh as the first day I wore it? I mean, in a sort.

Ant. That sort was well fished for.

Gon. When I wore it at your daughter's marriage?

Alon. You cram these words into mine ears against

The stomach of my sense.

Would I had never

daughter,

I fear, for ever: Milan and Naples have
More widows in them, of this business' making,
Than we bring men to comfort them; the fault's
Your own.

Alon. So is the dearest of the loss.13

Gon. My lord Sebastian,

The truth you speak doth lack some gentleness,
And time to speak it in; you rub the sore,
When you should bring the plaster.
Seb.
Ant. And most chirurgeonly.
Gon. It is foul weather in us all, good sir,
When you are cloudy.

Seb.

Ant.

Very well.

14

Foul weather!

Very foul. Gon. Had I plantation of this isle, my lord,— He'd sow't with nettle-seed.

Ant.
Seb.
Or docks, or mallows.
Gon. And were the king on't, what would I do ?
Seb. 'Scape being drunk, for want of wine,
Gon. I' the commonwealth's I would by con-

traries

Execute all things; for no kind of traffic Would I admit; no name of magistrate ;

10. In my rate. According to my reckoning, or belief. 11. Who hath cause to wet the grief on't. "Who" has been explained here to refer to "eye," as writers of Shakespeare's time often used "who" for "which," and "which" for who." But we take "who" here to refer to "she," and the meaning of the passage to be this :-"She is banish'd who hath cause to weep the grief of this marriage."

12. Weigh'd, &c. Debated, sway'd alternately by aversion from the match and filial duty, which way she would decide. 13. Dearest of the loss. "Dear" and dearest" were sometimes used for "dire" and "direst."

14. Chirurgeonly. Surgeon-like. French, chirurgien.

15. I the commonwealth, &c. There is a remarkably parallel passage to this speech in Florio's translation of Montaigne's