The Tempest

The Tempest (ca. 1610-1612) is a play by William Shakespeare that explores many themes, including magic, betrayal, revenge, and family. Though often listed as the first of Shakespeare's comedies, it deals with both tragic and comic themes, and modern criticism has created a category of romance for this and others of Shakespeare's late plays.

See also:

Tempest (1982); a very loose adaptation of the story.

• Antonio: Where is the master, boatswain?
  Boatswain: Do you not hear him? You mar our labour: keep your cabins; you do assist the storm.
  Gonzalo: Nay, good, be patient.
  Boatswain: When the sea is. Hence! What cares these roarers for the name of king? To cabin! silence! Trouble us not.
  Gonzalo: Good, yet remember whom thou hast aboard.
  Boatswain: None that I more love than myself. You are counsellor; — if you can command these elements to silence, and work the peace of the present, we will not hand a rope more. Use your authority; if you cannot, give thanks you have liv'd so long, and make yourself ready in your cabin for the mischance of the hour, if it so hap.
  • Scene i

• I have great comfort from this fellow. Methinks he hath no drowning mark upon him; his complexion is perfect gallows.
  • Gonzalo, scene i

• A pox o' your throat, you bawling, blasphemous,
  incharitable dog!
  • Sebastian, scene i

• All lost! to prayers, to prayers! All lost!
  • Mariners, scene i

• Now would I give a thousand furlongs of sea for an acre of barren ground — long heath, brown furze, anything. The wills above be done, but I would fain die a dry death.
  • Gonzalo, scene i

• Miranda: If by your art, my dearest father, you have
  Put the wild waters in this roar, allay them.
  The sky, it seems, would pour down stinking pitch,
  But that the sea, mounting to the welkin's cheek,
  Dashes the fire out. O, I have suffered
  With those that I saw suffer! A brave vessel,
  Who had, no doubt, some noble creatures in her,
  Dash'd all to pieces! O, the cry did knock
  Against my very heart! Poor souls, they perish'd!
  Had I been any god of power, I would
  Have sunk the sea within the earth, or e'er
  It should the good ship so have swallow'd, and
  The fraughting souls within her.
  Prospero: Be collected;
  No more amazement; tell your piteous heart
  There's no harm done.
  Miranda: O, woe the day!
  Prospero: No harm.
  I have done nothing but in care of thee —
  Of thee, my dear one! thee, my daughter.
  • Scene ii

• Miranda: You have often
  Begun to tell me what I am; but stopp'd,
  And left me to a bootless inquisition,
  Concluding, Stay; not yet.
  Prospero: The hour's now come;
  The very minute bids thee ope thine ear.
  • Scene ii

• What see'st thou else
  In the dark backward and abysm of time?
  • Prospero, scene ii

• The government I cast upon my brother,
  And to my state grew stranger, being transported
  And rapt in secret studies.
  • Prospero, scene ii

• I, thus neglecting worldly ends, all dedicated
  To closeness, and the bettering of my mind
  • Prospero, scene ii

• Like one
  Who having unto truth, by telling of it,
  Made such a sinner of his memory,
  To credit his own lie.
  • Prospero, scene ii

• My library
  Was dukedom large enough.
  • Prospero, scene ii

• Knowing I lov’d my books, he furnish’d me,
  From mine own library, with volumes that
  I prize above my dukedom.
  • Prospero, scene ii

• Know thus far forth:
  By accident most strange, bountiful Fortune —
  Now my dear lady — hath mine enemies
  Brought to this shore; and by my prescience
  I find my zenith doth depend upon
  A most auspicious star, whose influence
  If now I court not, but omit, my fortunes
  Will ever after droop.
  • Prospero, scene ii

• All hail, great master! grave sir, hail! I come
  To answer thy best pleasure; be't to fly,
  To swim, to dive into the fire, to ride
  On the curl'd clouds. To thy strong bidding task
  Ariel, and all his quality.
  • Ariel, scene ii

• Ferdinand,
  With hair up-staring, — then like reeds, not hair, —
  was the first man that leapt; cried Hell is empty,
  And all the devils are here.
  • Ariel, scene ii

• From the still-vex'd Bermoothes.
  • Ariel, scene ii

• I will be correspondent to command,
  And do my spriting gently.
  • Ariel, scene ii

• Caliban: As wicked dew as e'er my mother brush'd
  With raven's feather from unwholesome fen,
  Drop on you both! a south-west blow on ye,
  And blister you all o'er!
  Prospero: For this, be sure, to-night thou shalt have cramps,
  Side-stitches that shall pen thy breath up; urchins
  Shall, for that vast of night that they may work,
  All exercise on thee; thou shalt be pinch'd
  As thick as honeycomb, each pinch more stinging
  Than bees that made 'em.
  • Scene ii

• This island's mine, by Sycorax my mother,
  Which thou tak'st from me. When thou cam'st first,
  Thou strok'st me and made much of me, wouldst give me
  Water with berries in't, and teach me how
  To name the bigger light, and how the less,
  That burn by day and night; and then I lov'd thee,
  And show'd thee all the qualities o' the isle,
  The fresh springs, brine-pits, barren place and fertile.
  Curs'd be I that did so! All the charms
  Of Sycorax, toads, beetles, bats, light on you!
  For I am all the subjects that you have,
  Which first was mine own king.
  • Caliban, scene ii

• You taught me language, and my profit on't
  Is, I know how to curse. The red plague rid you,
  For learning me your language!
  • Caliban, scene ii

• If thou neglect'st, or dost unwillingly
  What I command, I'll rack thee with old cramps,
  Fill all thy bones with aches, make thee roar,
  That beasts shall tremble at thy din.
  • Prospero, scene ii

• Come unto these yellow sands,
  And then take hands;
  Curt'sied when you have and kiss'd,
  The wild waves whist,
  Foot it featly here and there,
  And, sweet sprites, the burden bear.
  • Ariel, scene ii

• Full fathom five thy father lies;
  Of his bones are coral made;
  Those are pearls that were his eyes;
  Nothing of him that doth fade,
  But doth suffer a sea-change
  Into something rich and strange.
  Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell:
  Ding-dong.
  Hark! now I hear them — Ding-dong, bell.
  • Ariel, scene ii

• The fringed curtains of thine eye advance,
  And say what thou seest yond.
  • Prospero, scene ii

• This
  Is the third man that e'er I saw; the first
  That e'er I sigh'd for.
  • Miranda, scene ii

• There’s nothing ill can dwell in such a temple:
  If the ill spirit have so fair a house,
  Good things will strive to dwell with ’t.
  • Miranda, scene ii

• 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 subdu'd, 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.
  • Ferdinand, scene ii

• Gonzalo: Here is everything advantageous to life.
  Antonio: True; save means to live.
  • Scene i

• Alonso: You cram these words into mine ears against
  The stomach of my sense. Would I had never
  Married my daughter there! for, coming thence,
  My son is lost; and, in my rate, she too,
  Who is so far from Italy remov'd
  I ne'er again shall see her. O thou mine heir
  Of Naples and of Milan, what strange fish
  Hath made his meal on thee?
  Francesco: Sir, he may live:
  I saw him beat the surges under him,
  And ride upon their backs; he trod the water,
  Whose enmity he flung aside, and breasted
  The surge most swol'n that met him; his bold head
  'Bove the contentious waves he kept, and oar'd
  Himself with his good arms in lusty stroke
  To the shore, that o'er his wave-worn basis bow'd,
  As stooping to relieve him; I not doubt
  He came alive to land.
  • Scene i

• Sebastian: Well, I am standing water.
  Antonio: I'll teach you how to flow.
  • Scene i

• We all were sea-swallow'd, though some cast again:
  And, by that destiny, to perform an act,
  Whereof what's past is prologue, what to come
  In yours and my discharge.
  • Antonio, scene i, QOTD 2008·04·23 Sound file

• Ay, sir; where lies that? If ’twere a kibe,
  ’Twould put me to my slipper; but I feel not
  This deity in my bosom. Twenty consciences,
  That stand ’twixt me and Milan, candied be they,
  And melt ere they molest! Here lies your brother,
  No better than the earth he lies upon,
  If he were that which now he’s like—that’s dead,
  Whom I with this obedient steel, three inches of it,
  Can lay to bed forever; whiles you, doing thus,
  To the perpetual wink for aye might put
  This ancient morsel, this Sir Prudence, who
  Should not upbraid our course.
  • Antonio, (II.i, lines 302-313)

• They will take suggestion as a cat laps milk.
  • Antonio, (II.i, line 315)

• Thy case, dear friend,
  Shall be my precedent; as thou got'st Milan,
  I'll come by Naples. Draw thy sword: one stroke
  Shall free thee from the tribute which thou payest;
  And I the king shall love thee.
  • Sebastian, (II.i, lines 317-321)

• While you here do snoring lie,
  Open-ey'd Conspiracy
  His time doth take.
  If of life you keep a care,
  Shake off slumber, and beware.
  Awake, awake!
  • Ariel, scene i

• All the infections that the sun sucks up
  From bogs, fens, flats, on Prosper fall, and make him
  By inch-meal a disease! His spirits hear me,
  And yet I needs must curse; but they'll nor pinch,
  Fright me with urchin-shows, pitch me i' the mire,
  Nor lead me, like a firebrand, in the dark
  Out of my way, unless he bid 'em; but
  For every trifle are they set upon me;
  Sometime like apes, that moe and chatter at me,
  And after, bite me; then like hedgehogs, which
  Lie tumbling in my barefoot way, and mount
  Their pricks at my footfall; sometime am I
  All wound with adders, who, with cloven tongues,
  Do hiss me into madness.
  • Caliban, scene ii

• A very ancient and fish-like smell.
  • Trinculo, scene ii

• Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows.
  • Trinculo, scene ii

• The master, the swabber, the boatswain, and I,
  The gunner, and his mate,
  Lov'd Mall, Meg, and Marian, and Margery,
  But none of us car'd for Kate;
  For she had a tongue with a tang,
  Would cry to a sailor Go hang!
  She lov'd not the savour of tar nor of pitch,
  Yet a tailor might scratch her where'er she did itch.
  Then to sea, boys, and let her go hang!
  This is a scurvy tune too; but here's my comfort. [Drinks]
  • Stephano, scene ii

• Stephano: Here; swear then how thou escapedst.
  Trinculo: Swam ashore man, like a duck; I can swim like a duck, I'll be sworn.
  Stephano: Here, kiss the book. Though thou canst swim like a duck, thou art made like a goose.
  • Scene ii

• Caliban: Hast thou not dropp'd from heaven?
  Stephano: Out o' th' moon, I do assure thee; I was the Man i' th' Moon, when time was.
  Caliban: I have seen thee in her, and I do adore thee.
  My mistress show'd me thee, and thy dog and thy bush.
  • Scene ii

• I prithee, be my god.
  • Caliban, scene ii

• There be some sports are painful, and their labour
  Delight in them sets off; some kinds of baseness
  Are nobly undergone; and most poor matters
  Point to rich ends. This my mean task
  Would be as heavy to me as odious, but
  The mistress which I serve quickens what's dead,
  And makes my labours pleasures.
  • Ferdinand, scene i

• Full many a lady
  I have ey'd with best regard; and many a time
  The harmony of their tongues hath into bondage
  Brought my too diligent ear; for several virtues
  Have I lik'd several women, never any
  With so full soul, but some defect in her
  Did quarrel with the noblest grace she ow'd,
  And put it to the foil; but you, O you,
  So perfect and so peerless, are created
  Of every creature's best!
  • Ferdinand, scene i

• Miranda: Do you love me?
  Ferdinand: O heaven! O earth! Bear witness to this sound,
  And crown what I confess with kind event,
  If I speak true! If hollowly, invert
  What best is boded me to mischief! I,
  Beyond all limit of what else i' the world
  Do love, prize, honour you.
  • Scene i

• Ferdinand: Wherefore weep you?
  Miranda: At mine unworthiness, that dare not offer
  What I desire to give, and much less take
  What I shall die to want.
  • Scene i

• 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 no.
  • Miranda, scene i

• Ferdinand: Here ’s my hand.
  Miranda: And mine, with my heart in ’t.
  • Scene i

• Servant-monster! the folly of this island! They say there's but five upon this isle: we are three of them; if th' other two be brain'd like us, the state totters.
  • Trinculo, scene ii

• How does thy honour? Let me lick thy shoe.
  I'll not serve him, he is not valiant.
  • Caliban, scene ii

• Ariel: Thou liest.
  Caliban: Thou liest, thou jesting monkey, thou: I would my
  valiant monster would destroy thee: I do not lie.
  Stephano: Trinculo, if you trouble him any more in's tale, by this hand, I will supplant some of your teeth.
  • Scene ii

• Why, as I told thee, 'tis a custom with him
  I' the afternoon to sleep; there thou mayst brain him,
  Having first seiz'd his books; or with a log
  Batter his skull, or paunch him with a stake,
  Or cut his wezand with thy knife. Remember,
  First to possess his books; for without them
  He's but a sot, as I am, nor hath not
  One spirit to command: they all do hate him,
  As rootedly as I — burn but his books.
  • Caliban, scene ii

• Flout 'em and scout 'em, and scout 'em and flout 'em;
  Thought is free.
  • Stephano, scene ii

• He that dies pays all debts: I defy thee. Mercy upon us!
  • Stephano, scene ii

• Be not afeard. The isle is full of noises,
  Sounds, and sweet airs, that give delight, and hurt not.
  Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
  Will hum about mine ears; and sometimes voices,
  That, if I then had wak'd after long sleep,
  Will make me sleep again; and then, in dreaming,
  The clouds methought would open and show riches
  Ready to drop upon me, that, when I wak'd,
  I cried to dream again.
  • Caliban, scene ii

• Alonso: Give us kind keepers, heavens! What were these?
  Sebastian: A living drollery. Now I will believe
  That there are unicorns; that in Arabia
  There is one tree, the phoenix' throne, one phoenix
  At this hour reigning there.
  Antonio: I'll believe both;
  And what does else want credit, come to me,
  And I'll be sworn 'tis true; travellers ne'er did lie,
  Though fools at home condemn 'em.
  • Scene iii

• A kind
  Of excellent dumb discourse.
  • Alonso, scene iii

• You are three men of sin, whom Destiny, —
  That hath to instrument this lower world
  And what is in't, —the never-surfeited sea
  Hath caus'd to belch up you; and on this island
  Where man doth not inhabit, you 'mongst men
  Being most unfit to live. I have made you mad;
  And even with such-like valour, men hang and drown
  Their proper selves.
  [Alonso, Sebastian, etc., draw their swords]
  You fools! I and my fellows
  Are ministers of Fate; the elements,
  Of whom your swords are temper'd may as well
  Wound the loud winds, or with bemock'd-at stabs
  Kill the still-closing waters, as diminish
  One dowle that's in my plume.
  • Ariel, scene iii

• O, it is monstrous, monstrous!
  Methought the billows spoke, and told me of it;
  The winds did sing it to me; and the thunder,
  That deep and dreadful organ-pipe, pronounc'd
  The name of Prospero; it did bass my trespass.
  Therefore my son i' the ooze is bedded; and,
  I'll seek him deeper than e'er plummet sounded,
  And with him there lie mudded.
  • Alonso, scene iii

• The strongest oaths are straw
  To th' fire i' the blood. Be more abstemious,
  Or else good night your vow!
  • Prospero, scene i

• Ceres: Hail, many-coloured messenger, that ne'er
  Dost disobey the wife of Jupiter;
  Who, with thy saffron wings, upon my flow'rs
  Diffusest honey drops, refreshing show'rs;
  And with each end of thy blue bow dost crown
  My bosky acres and my unshrubb'd down,
  Rich scarf to my proud earth; — why hath thy Queen
  Summon'd me hither to this short-grass'd green?
  Iris: A contract of true love to celebrate,
  And some donation freely to estate
  On the blest lovers.
  • Scene i

• Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
  As I foretold you, were all spirits, and
  Are melted into air, into thin air;
  And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,
  The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces,
  The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
  Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve,
  And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
  Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
  As dreams are made on; and our little life
  Is rounded with a sleep.
  • Prospero, scene i

• Pray you, tread softly, that the blind mole may not
  Hear a foot fall; we now are near his cell.
  • Caliban, scene i

• Trinculo: Ay, but to lose our bottles in the pool —
  Stephano: There is not only disgrace and dishonor in that, monster, but an infinite loss.
  • scene i

• With foreheads villainous low.
  • Caliban, scene i

• Though with their high wrongs I am struck to the quick,
  Yet, with my nobler reason 'gainst my fury
  Do I take part; the rarer action is
  In virtue than in vengeance.
  • Prospero, scene i

• Ye elves of hills, brooks, standing lakes, and groves;
  And ye that on the sands with printless foot
  Do chase the ebbing Neptune, and do fly him
  When he comes back; you demi-puppets that
  By moonshine do the green sour ringlets make,
  Whereof the ewe not bites; and you whose pastime
  Is to make midnight mushrooms, that rejoice
  To hear the solemn curfew; by whose aid —
  Weak masters though ye be — I have be-dimm'd
  The noontide sun, call'd forth the mutinous winds,
  And 'twixt the green sea and the azur'd vault
  Set roaring war. To the dread rattling thunder
  Have I given fire, and rifted Jove's stout oak
  With his own bolt; the strong-bas'd promontory
  Have I made shake, and by the spurs pluck'd up
  The pine and cedar. Graves at my command,
  Have wak'd their sleepers, op'd, and let 'em forth,
  By my so potent art. But this rough magic
  I here abjure; and, when I have requir'd
  Some heavenly music — which even now I do, —
  To work mine end upon their senses that
  This airy charm is for, I'll break my staff,
  Bury it certain fathoms in the earth,
  And, deeper than did ever plummet sound,
  I'll drown my book.
  • Prospero, scene i

• 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.
  Merrily, merrily, shall I live now,
  Under the blossom that hangs on the bough.
  • Ariel, scene i

• O, wonder!
  How many goodly creatures are there here!
  How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,
  That has such people in't!
  • Miranda, scene i
  • It is this statement by Miranda which provided Aldous Huxley the title of his dystopian novel, Brave New World, in which "The Savage" quotes this passage.

• 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 confin'd 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 reliev'd 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.
  • Prospero

• The Tempest at Project Gutenberg
• Lesson plans for The Tempest at Web English Teacher
• The Tempest quotes analyzed; study guide with themes, character analyses, summary, teaching guide