EPILOGUE.

SPOKEN BY PROSPERO.

Now my charms are all o'erthrown,
And what strength I have's mine own,
Which is most faint: now, 'tis true,
I must be here confined by you,
Or sent to Naples. Let me not,
Since I have my dukedom got,
And pardon'd the deceiver, dwell
In this bare island by your spell;
But release me from my bands
With the help of your good hands:
Gentle breath of yours my sails
Must fill, or else my project fails,
Which was to please. Now I want
Spirits to enforce, art to enchant;
And my ending is despair,
Unless I be relieved by prayer,
Which pierces so, that it assaults
Mercy itself, and frees all faults.
As you from crimes would pardon'd be,
Let your indulgence set me free.

EPILOGUE... PROSPERO.] ad

vancing, Capell.

1. Now] Now, now F3 F4.

3. now] and now Pope.
13. Now] For now Pope.

5

ΙΟ

15

20

NOTES.

NOTE I.

I. 1. 16. What cares these roarers. This grammatical inaccuracy, which escaped correction in the later folios, probably came from Shakespeare's pen. Similar cases occur frequently, especially when the verb precedes its nominative. For example, Tempest, IV. 1. 262, 'Lies at my mercy all mine enemies,' and Measure for Measure, II. 1. 22, 'What knows the laws, &c.' We correct it in those passages where the occurrence of a vulgarism would be likely to annoy the reader. In the mouth of a Boatswain it can offend no one. We therefore leave it.

NOTE II.

I. 1. 57–59. Mercy on us!-we split, &c. It may be doubtful whether the printer of the first folio intended these broken speeches to express 'a confused noise within.' Without question such was the author's meaning. Rowe, however, and subsequent editors, printed them as part of Gonzalo's speech. Capell was the first editor who gave the true arrangement.

NOTE III.

1. 2. 173. princesses. See Mr Sidney Walker's Shakespeare's Versification, p. 243 sqq. 'The plurals of substantives ending in s, in certain instances, in se, ss, ce, and sometimes ge,... are found without the usual addition of s or es, in pronunciation at least, although in many instances the plural affix is added in printing, where the metre shows that it is not to be pronounced.'

In this and other instances, we have thought it better to trust to the ear of the reader for the rhythm than to introduce an innovation in orthography which might perplex him as to the sense. The form 'princesses,' the use of which in Shakespeare's time was doubted by one of our correspondents, is found in the History of King Leir.

Rowe's reading 'princes' might be defended on the ground that the sentiment is general, and applicable to royal children of both sexes; or that Sir Philip Sidney, in the first book of the Arcadia, calls Pamela and Philoclea 'princes.'

NOTE IV.

I. 2. 298. The metre of this line, as well as of lines 301, 302, is defective, but as no mode of correction can be regarded as completely satisfactory we have in accordance with our custom left the lines as they are printed in the Folio. The defect, indeed, in the metre of line 298 has not been noticed except by Hanmer, who makes a line thus:

'Do so, and after two days I'll discharge thee.'

Possibly it ought to be printed thus:

'Do so; and

After two days

I will discharge thee.'

There is a broken line, also of four syllables, 253 of the same scene, another of seven, 235.

There is no reason to doubt that the words are as Shakespeare wrote them, for, although the action of the play terminates in less than four hours (I. 2. 240 and v. 1. 186), yet Ariel's ministry is not to end till the voyage to Naples shall be over. Prospero, too, repeats his promise, and marks his contentment by further shortening the time of servitude, 'within two days,' I. 2. 420. Possibly 'Invisible' (301) should have a line to itself. Words thus occupying a broken line acquire a marked emphasis.

But the truth is that in dialogue Shakespeare's language passes so rapidly from verse to prose and from prose to verse, sometimes even hovering, as it were, over the confines, being rhythmical rather than metrical, that all attempts to give regularity to the metre must be made with diffidence and received with doubt.

NOTE V.

I. 2. 376, 377:

Courtsied when you have and kiss'd
The wild waves whist.

This punctuation seems to be supported by what Ferdinand says (391, 392):

'The music crept by me upon the waters,

Allaying both their fury and my passion, &c.'

At the end of the stanza we have printed Hark, hark!... The watchdogs bark as that part of the burthen which 'sweet sprites bear.' The other part is borne by distant watch-dogs.

NOTE VI.

I. 2. 443. I fear you have done yourself some wrong. See this phrase used in a similar sense, Measure for Measure, 1. 11. 39.

NOTE VII.

II. I. 27. Which, of he or Adrian. 'Of' is found in the same construction, Midsummer Night's Dream, III. 2. 336,

'Now follow if thou darest to try whose right,
Of thine or mine, is most in Helena.'

NOTE VIII.

II. 1. 157. Of its own kind. There is no doubt, as Dr Guest has shewn, that 'it,' which is the reading of the 1st and 2nd folios, was commonly used as a genitive in Shakespeare's time, as it is still in some provincial dialects. 'Its,' however, was coming into use. One instance occurs in this play, I. 11. 95, 'in its contrary.'

II. I. 241.

NOTE IX.

she that from whom. Mr Spedding writes: 'The received emendation is not satisfactory to me. I would rather read, "She that-From whom? All were sea-swallow'd &c., i. e. from whom should she have note? The report from Naples will be that all were drowned. We shall be the only survivors." The break in the construction seems to me characteristic of the speaker. But you must read the whole speech to feel the effect.'

NOTE X.

II. 1. 249–251. All editors except Mr Staunton have printed in italics (or between inverted commas) only as far as 'Naples?,' but as 'keep' is printed with a small k in the folios, they seem to sanction the arrangement given in our text.

NOTE XI.

II. 1. 267. Ay, sir; where lies that? if 'twere a kibe. Mr Singer and Mr Dyce have changed "twere' to 'it were' for the sake of the But then the first part of the line must be read with a wrong emphasis. The proper emphasis clearly falls on the first, third, and fifth syllables, 'Aý, sir; where lies that?' See Preface.

metre.