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TEMPEST.

VOL. I.

The Tempest and The Midsummer Night's Dream are the nobleft efforts of that fublime and amazing imagination peculiar to Shakspeare, which foars above the bounds of nature without forfaking fenfe; or, more properly, carries nature along with him beyond her established limits. Fletcher feems particularly to have admired these two plays, and hath wrote two in imitation of them, The Sea Voyage and The faithful Shepberdefs. But when he prefumes to break a lance with Shakspeare, and write in emulation of him, as he does in The Falfe One, which is the rival of Antony and Cleopatra, he is not fo fuccefsful. After him, Sir John Suckling and Milton catched the brightest fire of their imagination from these two plays; which shines fantastically indeed in The Goblins, but much more nobly and ferenely in The Mafk at Ludlow Castle.

WARBURTON.

No one has hitherto been lucky enough to discover the romance on which Shakspeare may be fuppofed to have founded this play, the beauties of which could not secure it from the criticism of Ben Jonson, whofe malignity appears to have been more than equal to his wit. In the induction to Bartholomew Fair, he fays: "If there be never a fervant "monster in the fair, who can help it, he fays, nor a neft of antiques ? "He is loth to make nature afraid in his plays, like thofe that beget "Tales, Tempefts, and fuch like drolleries." STEEVENS.

I was informed by the late Mr. Collins of Chichester, that Shakspeare's Tempeft, for which no origin is yet affigned, was formed on a romance called Aurelio and Ifabella, printed in Italian, Spanish, French, and Englih, in 1588. But though this information has not proved true on examination, an useful conclufion may be drawn from it, that Shakspeare's ftory is fomewhere to be found in an Italian novel, at least that the story preceded Shakspeare. Mr. Collins had fearched this fubject with no lefs fidelity than judgement and induftry; but his memory failing in his laft calamitous indifpofition, he probably gave me the name of one novel for another. I remember he added a circumstance, which may lead to a difcovery, that the principal character of the romance, answering to Shakspeare's Profpero, was a chemical necromancer, who had bound a fpirit like Ariel to obey his call, and perform his fervices. It was a common pretence of dealers in the occult fciences to have a demon at command. At least Aurelio, or Orelio, was probably one of the names of this romance, the production and multiplicity of gold being the grand object of alchemy. Taken at large, the magical part of the Tempest is founded on that fort of philofophy which was practifed by John Dee and his affociates, and has been called the Roficrucian. The name Ariel came from the Talmudiftick myfteries with which the learned Jews had infected this Science. T. WARTON.

Mr. Theobald tells us, that The Tempest must have been written after 1609, because the Bermuda iflands, which are mentioned in it, were unknown to the English until that year; but this is a mistake. He might have seen in Hackluyt, 1600, folio, a description of Bermuda, by Henry May, who was shipwrecked there in 1593.

It was, however, one of our author's laft works. In 1598 he played a part in the original Every Man in bis Humour. Two of the character are Prospero and Stephano. Here Ben Jonson taught him the pronuncia. tion of the latter word, which is always right in The Tempeft.

"Is not this Stephano, my drunken butler ?”

And always wrong in his earlier play, The Merchant of Venice, which had been on the stage at least two or three years before its publication in 1600. "My friend Stephano, fignify, I pray you,” &c.

So little did Mr. Capell know of his author, when he idly fup pofed his school literature might perhaps have been lost by the diffipation of youth, or the bufy fcene of public life! FARMER.

This play must have been written before 1614, when Jonfon fneers at it in his Bartbolomew Fair. In the latter plays of Shakspeare, he has lefs of pun and quibble than in his early ones. In The Merchant of Ve nice, he exprefsly declares against them. This perhaps might be one cri. terion to discover the dates of his plays. BLACKSTONE.

See Mr. Malone's attempt to ascertain the order of Shakspeare's plays. STEEVENS.

PERSONS REPRESENTED.

Alonfo, king of Naples.

Sebaftian, his brother.

Profpero, the rightful duke of Milan,
Antonio, his brother, the ufurping duke of Milan.
Ferdinand, fon to the king of Naples.

Gonzalo, an honeft old counsellor of Naples.
Adrian,

Francifco,

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lords.

Caliban, a favage and deformed flave.
Trinculo, a jefter.

Stephano, a drunken butler.

Mafter of a fhip, Boatswain, and Mars,

Miranda, daughter to Profpero.

Ariel, an airy fpirit.

Iris,

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Other Spirits attending on Prospero.

SCENE, the fea, with a fhip; afterwards an uninhabi ted island.

Stefans. hath bin used in rest for

a man's bellie panch,

mawe on

panch, craver

on gut. Stad. Dich. by John Floris_ in voc.

ACT I. SCENE I.

On a Ship at Sea.

A Storm with Thunder and Lightning.

Enter a Ship-mafter and a Boatswain,

Mafter, Boatfwain,

Boats. Here, mafter: What cheer ?*

Maft, Good: Speak to the mariners fall to't yarely, or wern ourfelves aground: beftir, bestir.

Enter Mariners.

[Exite

Boats. Heigh, my hearts; cheerly, cheerly, my hearts; , yare: Take in the top-fail; Tend to the master's /whittle.-Blow, till thou burst thy wind, if room enough! Enter ALON, SEBASTIAN, ANTONIO, FERDINAND, GONZALO, and others.

Alon. Good Boatfwain, have care. Where's the mafter? Play the men3/

Boats. I pray now, keep below.

Ant. Where is the mafter, boatfwain ?

Boats. Do you not hear him? You mar our labour; Keep your cabins: you do affift the ftorm.'

Gan. Nay, good, be patient.

Boats. When the fea is. Hence! What care these roarers for the name of king? To cabin: filence: trouble us not. Gon. Good; yet remember whom thou haft aboard.

fall to't yarely,

B 3

Boats

i. e. readily, nimbly. Our author is frequent in his ufe of this word. STEEVENS.

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Here it is applied as a fea-term, and in other parts of the scene. So he ufes the adjective, Act V. fc. v. "Our thip is tight and yare." And in one of the Henries" yare are our hips." To this day the failors fay,,"fit yare to the helm." T. WARTON.

3 Play the men.] i, e. act`with spirit, behave like men.

STEEVENS

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