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Charles Kean [1857], Shakespeare's play of The Tempest, arranged for representation at the Princess's Theatre, with historical and explanatory notes, by Charles Kean, F.S.A., as first performed on Wednesday, July 1, 1857 (Printed by John K. Chapman and Co. [etc.], London) [word count] [S36100].
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Note return to page 1 Kean's characteristic nineteenth-century version of THE TEMPEST, acted at the Princess's Theatre in 1857, sacrifices dialogue to spectacle throughout, extensively cutting Shakespeare's verse to make way for the choreography and special effects (such as an antimasque of animals, a real storm and a final guest appearance of the restored ship) recorded by this souvenir edition.

Note return to page 2 For reference to Historical Authorities indicated by Letters, see end of each Act.

Note return to page 3 The kind indulgence of the public is requested should any lengthened delay take place between the acts, during the first representations of The Tempest. This appeal is made with greater confidence, when it is stated that the scenic appliances of the play are of a more extensive and complicated nature than have ever yet been attempted in any theatre in Europe; requiring the aid of above one hundred and forty operatives nightly, who (unseen by the audience) are engaged in working the machinery, and in carrying out the various effects.

Note return to page 4 1&lblank; more better] This ungrammatical expression is very frequent amongst our oldest writers.

Note return to page 5 2&lblank; full poor cell,] i. e., a cell in a great degree of poverty.

Note return to page 6 3Did never meddle with my thoughts.] i. e., mix with them. To meddle is often used with this sense by Chaucer.

Note return to page 7 4&lblank; in mine art.] The great magician had by his art foreseen that there should not be “so much perdition as an hair” among the whole crew. —Collier.

Note return to page 8 5Out three years old.] Quite three years old.

Note return to page 9 6So dry he was for sway] i. e., so thirsty.

Note return to page 10 7&lblank; In lieu o' the premises,—] In lieu of, means here, in consideration of—in exchange for.

Note return to page 11 8Fated to the practise,] Shakespeare constantly uses the word practise, to denote contrivance, artifice, or conspiracy. —Collier.

Note return to page 12 9To cry to the sea that roar'd to us,] The same idea occurs in The Winter's Tale, “How the poor souls roar'd, and the sea mock'd them.”

Note return to page 13 10Now my dear lady,] Fortune now my auspicious mistress.

Note return to page 14 11&lblank; I know thou can'st not choose.—] As the art of Prospero has brought this sleepiness upon Miranda.

Note return to page 15 12Perform'd to point] i. e., to the minutest article.

Note return to page 16 13Beak,] Forecastle.

Note return to page 17 14&lblank; the waist,] The part between the quarter-deck and the forecastle.

Note return to page 18 15&lblank; felt a fever of the mad,] i. e., not a soul but felt such a fever as madmen feel, when the frantic fit is upon them.

Note return to page 19 16&lblank; quit the vessel,] Quit is here used for quitted.

Note return to page 20 17On their sustaining garments not a blemish,] Enduring-garments, which bore, without being injured, the drenching of the sea.

Note return to page 21 18What is't thou can'st demand? My liberty.] The spirits or familiars attending on magicians were always supposed to be impatient of confinement.

Note return to page 22 19Sir, in Argier.] Argier is the ancient English name for Algiers.

Note return to page 23 20We cannot miss him:] i. e., we cannot do without him.

Note return to page 24 21&lblank; when?] An expression of great impatience, equivalent to “when will such a thing be done?”

Note return to page 25 22&lblank; My quaint Ariel,] Quaint means brisk, spruce, dexterous, from the French cointe.

Note return to page 26 23As wicked dew] Wicked, having baneful qualities—so Spencer says, wicked weed.

Note return to page 27 24&lblank; urchins] Urchins sometimes mean hedge-hogs, but it is probable that in this place they denote fairies or spirits.

Note return to page 28 25&lblank; for that vast of night that they may work,] So in Hamlet— “In the dead waste and middle of the night.”

Note return to page 29 26&lblank; Setebos,] Setebos, the supreme God of the Patagonians, is mentioned in Magellan's voyage as a frightful horned monster.

Note return to page 30 27They have chang'd eyes:] The mutual transposition of self-love, or transfer of personal identity, at sight of the beloved object.

Note return to page 31 28I fear, you have done yourself some wrong,] i.e., I fear that in asserting yourself to be King of Naples, you have uttered a falsehood, which is below your character, and consequently, injurious to your honor. So, in the Merry Wives of Windsor—“This is not well, Master Ford, this wrongs you.” —Steevens.

Note return to page 32 29He's gentle, and not fearful.] The probable meaning of this line is, “He's noble and not timorous—he will not tamely bear an insult.”

Note return to page 33 30My foot my tutor!] Shall my heel teach my head? Shall that which I tread upon give me law?

Note return to page 34 31&lblank; come from thy ward;] Desist from any hope of awing me by that posture of defence. —Johnson.

Note return to page 35 32My spirits, as in a dream, are all bound up.] Alluding to a common sensation in dreams, when we struggle, but with a total impuissance in our endeavors, to run, strike, &c. —Warburton.

Note return to page 36 36100001[A] (A) Lie there my art.] Sir Will Cecil, Lord Burleigh, Lord High Treasurer in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, when he put off his gown at night, used to say, Lie there, lord treasurer —Fuller's Holy State, p. 257.

Note return to page 37 36100002[B] (B) A rotten carcase of a boat, not rigg'd, Nor tackle, sail, nor mast;] In the British Museum there is a French copy of an ancient romance, entitled the Geste of King Horn. One might almost conclude that some English translation of it existed in Shakespeare's time, and that he had in the above passage imitated the following description of the boat, in which Horn and his companions were put by king Rodmund at the suggestion of Browans:—“Sir, said he, take one of your old boats, put into it these varlets whom I see here; let them have no oars to help them, sail nor rudder to put them in motion.” —Illustrations of Shakespeare, by Francis Douce.

Note return to page 38 36100003[C] (C) I flam'd amazement,] There is a meteor known to sailors, and called by the several names of the fire of Saint Helen, Saint Elm, Saint Herm, Saint Clare, Saint Peter, and Saint Nicholas. Whenever it appeared as a single flame it was supposed by the ancients to be Helena, the sister of Castor and Pollux, and in this state to bring ill luck, from the calamities which this lady is known to have caused in the Trojan war. When it came double it was called Castor and Pollux, and accounted a good omen. It has been described as a little blaze of fire, sometimes appearing by night on the tops of soldiers' lances, or at sea on masts and sailyards, whirling and leaping in a moment from one place to another. Some have said, but erroneously, that it never appears but after a tempest. It is also supposed to lead people to suicide by drowning. Shakespeare seems to have consulted Stephen Batman's Golden Booke of the leaden Goddes, who, speaking of Castor and Pollux, says “they were figured like two lampes or cresset lightes, one on the toppe of a maste, the other on the stemme or foreshippe.” He adds, that if the light first appears in the stem or foreship and ascends upwards, it is good luck; if either lights begin at the topmast, bowsprit, or foreship, and descend towards the sea, it is a sign of tempest. In taking therefore the latter position, Ariel had fulfilled the commands of Prospero to raise a storm. —Douce.

Note return to page 39 36100004[D] (D) And all the devils are here.] It is exceedingly probable that the outline of a considerable part of this play was borrowed from the voyage of Sir George Sommers to the Bermudas, in the year 1609, where he was shipwrecked. Several contemporary narratives of the above event were published, which Shakespeare might have consulted; and the conversation of the time might have furnished, or at least suggested, some particulars that are not to be found in any of the printed accounts. In 1610 Silvester Jourdan, an eyewitness, published A discovery of the Bermudas, otherwise called the ISLE OF DIVELS: By Sir Thomas Gates, Sir Geo, Sommers, and Captayne Newport, with divers others. Next followed Strachey's Proceedings of the English colonie in Virginia 1612, 4to, and some other pamphlets of less moment. From these accounts it appears that the Bermudas had never been inhabited, but regarded as under the influence of inchantment; though an edition to a subsequent edition of Jourdan's work gravely states that they are not inchanted; that Sommer's ship had been split between two rocks; that during his stay on the island several conspiracies had taken place; and that a sea-monster in shape like a man had been seen, who had been so called after the monstrous tempests that often happened at Bermuda. In Stowe's Annals we have also an account of Sommer's shipwreck, in which this important passage occurs: “Sir George Sommers sitting at the stearne, seeing the ship desperate of reliefe, looking every minute when the ship would sinke, hee espied land, which according to his and Captaine Newport's opinion, they judged it should be that dreadfull coast of the Bermodes, which iland were of all nations said and supposed to bee inchanted and inhabited with witches and devills, which grew by reason of accustomed monstrous thunder, storm and tempest, neere unto those ilands, also that for the whole coast is so wonderous dangerous of rockes, that few can approach them, but with unspeakable hazard of ship-wrack.” Now if some of these circumstances in the ship-wreck of Sir George Sommers be considered, it may possibly turn out that they are “the particular and recent event which determined Shakspeare to call his play The Tempest.” —Douce.

Note return to page 40 36100005[E] (E) Dost thou forget from what a torment I did free thee?] That the character and conduct of Prospero may be understood, something must be known of the system of enchantment, which supplied all the marvellous found in the romances of the middle ages. This system seems to be founded on the opinion that the fallen spirits, having different degrees of guilt, had different habitations allotted them at their expulsion, some being confined in hell, some (as Hooker, who delivers the opinion of our poet's age, expresses it, dispersed in air, some on earth, some in water, others in caves, dens, or minerals under the earth. Of these, some were more malignant and mischievous than others. The earthly spirits seem to have been thought the most depraved, and the aerial the less vitiated. Thus Prospero observes of Ariel: —Thou wast a spirit too delicate To act her earthy and abhorr'd commands. Over these spirits a power might be obtained by certain rites performed or charms learned. This power was called The Black Art, or Knowledge of Enchantment. The enchanter being (as King James observes in his Demonology) one who commands the devil, whereas the witch serves him. Those who thought best of this art, the existence of which was, I am afraid, believed very seriously, held, that certain sounds and characters had a physical power over spirits, and compelled their agency; others, who condemned the practice, which in reality was surely never practised, were of opinion, with more reason, that the power of charms arose only from compact, and was no more than the spirits voluntarily allowed them for the seduction of man. The art was held by all, though not equally criminal, yet unlawful, and therefore Casaubon, speaking of one who had commerce with spirits, blames him, though he imagines him one of the best kind, who dealt with them by way of command. Thus Prospero repents of his art in the last scene. The spirits were always considered as in some measure enslaved to the enchanter. at least for a time, as serving with unwillingness; therefore Ariel so often begs for liberty; and Caliban observes, that the spirits serve Prospero with no good will, but hate him rootedly.— Of these trifles enough. —Johnson.

Note return to page 41 36100006[F] (F) Enter Caliban.] In the British Museum is preserved a translation by John Florio (1603), of Montaigne's Essays, in which Shakespeare's autograph is inscribed, thereby affording probability that this identical volume was once the property of the great poet. The chapter on Canniballes affords undoubted evidence that Shakepeare was acquainted with the work, as a speech of Gonzalo's, act 2nd, scene 1st (omitted in representation), is almost literally copied from Montaigne's descriptions of a newly discovered country (chap. 30)—and it is not unlikely that (according to Dr. Farmer's opinion) by transposing the letters of the word Canibal, Shakespeare formed the name of Caliban.

Note return to page 42 1&lblank; delicate temperance.] Soft temperature.

Note return to page 43 2Ten leagues beyond man's life.] i.e., at a greater distance than the life of man is long enough to reach.

Note return to page 44 3&lblank; twenty consciences, That stand 'twixt me and Milan, candy'd be they, And melt, ere they molest.] Let twenty consciences be first congealed, and then dissolved, ere they molest me, or prevent me from executing my purpose. —Malone.

Note return to page 45 4&lblank; for aye] for ever.

Note return to page 46 5This ancient morsel,] This aged piece of a man—in allusion to Gonzalo.

Note return to page 47 6&lblank; to keep them living.] To preserve their lives.

Note return to page 48 7Why are you drawn?] Having your swords drawn.

Note return to page 49 8&lblank; that moe] Make mouths at me.

Note return to page 50 9&lblank; wound with adders,] Enwrapped by adders, wound or twisted about me.

Note return to page 51 10looks like a foul bombard] The word bombard means a large vessel for holding drink, as well as the piece of ordnance so called.

Note return to page 52 11Poor-John.] A coarse kind of fish, salted and dried. The fish itself is called also hake. —Nares's Glossary.

Note return to page 53 12Gaberdine;] The coarse frock, or outward garment of a peasant.

Note return to page 54 13I will not take too much for him;] Too much means, any sum, ever so much.

Note return to page 55 14I know it by thy trembling;] This tremor is always represented as the effect of being possessed by the devil.

Note return to page 56 15Cat;] Alluding to an old proverb, that good liquor will make a cat speak.

Note return to page 57 16Amen!] Means, stop your draught—come to a conclusion.

Note return to page 58 17I have no long spoon.] Alluding to the proverb, a long spoon to eat with the devil. It may be found in Chaucer.

Note return to page 59 18Siege] Stool.

Note return to page 60 19Moon-calf.] An inanimate shapeless mass.

Note return to page 61 20Hast thou not dropp'd from heaven?] The newly-discovered Indians of the island of St. Salvador, asked, by signs, whether Columbus and his companions were not come down from heaven.

Note return to page 62 21Well drawn, monster, in good, sooth.] Caliban has just had another draught from Stephano's bottle of “celestial liquor,” and Trinculo compliments him upon having taken so capital a “pull,” or “draw.”

Note return to page 63 22Sea-mells.] A species of sea-gulls.

Note return to page 64 23&lblank; Get a new man.] In allusion to Prospero, who must now find a new servant, as he (Caliban) is about to serve a new master.

Note return to page 65 36100007[A] (A) I was the man in the moon.] This is a very old superstition, founded, as Mr. Ritson has observed, on Numbers XV. 32. See Ancient songs, p. 34. So far the tradition is still preserved amongst nurses and schoolboys; but how the culprit came to be imprisoned in the moon, has not yet been accounted for. It should seem that he had not merely gathered sticks on the sabbath, but that he had stolen what he gathered, as appears from the following lines in Chaucer's Testament of Creseid, where the poet, describing the moon, informs us that she had “On her brest a chorie painted ful even Bearing a bush of thorns on his backe, Which for his theft might climb no ner the heven.” We are to suppose that he was doomed to perpetual confinement in this planet, and precluded from every possibility of inhabiting the mansions of the just. With the Italians, Cain appears to have been the offender, and he is alluded to in a very extraordinary manner by Dante, in the twentieth canto of the Inferno, where the moon is described by the periphrasis Caino e le spine. One of the commentators on that poet says, that this alludes to the popular opinion of Cain loaded with the bundle of faggots; but how he procured them we are not informed. The Jews have some Talmudical story that Jacob is in the moon, and they believe that his face is visible. The natives of Ceylon instead of a man, have placed a hare in the moon; and it is said to have got there in the following manner:—Their great Deity, Buddha, when a hermit on earth, lost himself one day in the forest. After wandering about in great distress he met a hare, who thus addressed him: “It is in my power to extricate you from your difficulty; take the path on your right hand, and it will lead you out of the forest.” “I am greatly obliged to you, Mr. Hare,” said Buddha, “but I am unfortunately very poor and very hungry, and have nothing to offer you in reward for your kindness.” “If you are hungry,” returned the hare, “I am again at your service; make a fire, kill me, roast me, and eat me.” Buddha made the fire, and the hare instantly jumped into it. Buddha now exerted his miraculous powers, snatched the animal from the flames, and threw him into the moon, where he has ever since remained. This is from the information of a learned and intelligent French gentleman, recently arrived from Ceylon, who adds that the Cingalese would often request of him to permit them to look for the hare through his telescope, and exclaim in raptures that they saw it. It is remarkable that the Chinese represent the moon by a rabbit pounding rice in a mortar. Their mythological moon Jut-ho is figured by a beautiful young woman with a double sphere behind her head, and a rabbit at her feet. The period of this animal's gestation is thirty days; may it not therefore typify the moon's revolution round the earth? —Douce.

Note return to page 66 1&lblank; but their labour delight in them sets off:] The same thought is in Macbeth—“The labour we delight in physicks pain.”

Note return to page 67 2hest] For behest, i. e., command.

Note return to page 68 3Of every creature's best.] A collection of the best things possessed by every other creature.

Note return to page 69 4&lblank; of what else i' the world,] i. e., of aught else; of whatever else there is in the world.

Note return to page 70 5&lblank; it seeks] i. e., my affection seeks.

Note return to page 71 6&lblank; to be your fellow] i. e., companion.

Note return to page 72 7&lblank; and board 'em:] a metaphor alluding to a chase at sea.

Note return to page 73 8&lblank; he's no standard.] Meaning, he is so much intoxicated, as not to be able to stand.

Note return to page 74 9What a py'd ninny's this?] In allusion to the party-coloured dress worn by Trinculo, the jester.

Note return to page 75 10Wezand] i. e., throat.

Note return to page 76 11Remember, first to possess his books;] In the old romances, the sorcerer is always furnished with a book, by reading certain parts of which he is enabled to summon to his aid whatever demons or spirits he has occasion to employ. When he is deprived of his book, his power ceases.

Note return to page 77 12&lblank; Will you troll the catch] Will you put about the song in a like jovial manner? —Nares.

Note return to page 78 13Art thou afeard?] To afear is an obsolete verb.

Note return to page 79 14By'r lakin,] The dimunitive of our lady; id. est., ladykin.

Note return to page 80 15Our frustrate search] Frustrate—frustrated.

Note return to page 81 16That hath to instrument this lower world,] id est., that makes use of this world, and everything in it, as its instruments to bring about its ends.

Note return to page 82 17And a clear life ensuing.] i. e, a miserable state, which nothing but contrition and amendment of life can avert.

Note return to page 83 18&lblank; it did bass my trespass.] It gave the bass notes to my trespass.

Note return to page 84 19&lblank; this ecstacy] Alienation of mind—madness—in this sense the word is now obsolete.

Note return to page 85 20Satyrs are described as always joining in the dances and revels of nymphs.

Note return to page 86 36100008[A] (A) Ariel rises like a Harpy.] Pantomimes were exhibited in France and Italy, and were known and instituted in this country. Flying, rising, and descending services were to be found at entertainments given by the Duke of Burgundy, &c., in 1453, and by the Grand Duke of Tuscany, in 1600, &c.

Note return to page 87 36100009[B] (B) Like poison given to work a great time after,] The natives of Africa have been supposed to be possessed of the secret how to temper poisons with such art as not to operate till several years after they were administered. Their drugs were then as certain in their effect as subtle in their preparation. So, in the celebrated libel called Leicester's Commonwealth: “I heard him once myselfe in publique act at Oxford, and that in presence of my Lord of Leicester, maintain that poyson might be so tempered and given, as it should not appear presently, and yet should kill the party afterwards at what time should be appointed.” —Steevens.

Note return to page 88 1&lblank; strangely stood the test:] Strangely is here used as a term of commendation.—“Thou hast wonderfully stood the test.”

Note return to page 89 2go, bring the rabble,] The crew of meaner spirits.

Note return to page 90 3&lblank; vanity of mine art;] i. e., illusion of mine art.

Note return to page 91 4Presently?] Now? at once?

Note return to page 92 5&lblank; with mop and mowe:] A colloquial corruption of mocks and mouths.

Note return to page 93 6No tongue;] Those who are present at incantations are obliged to be strictly silent, “else,” as we are afterwards told, “the spell is marred.” —Johnson.

Note return to page 94 7&lblank; with pioned and till'd brims,] Till'd refers to cultivation by “pioning” or digging. —Collier.

Note return to page 95 8My bosky acres,] Woody acres, or fields divided from each other by hedge-rows.

Note return to page 96 9&lblank; since they did plot The means, that dusky Dis my daughter got,] An allusion to her daughter Proserpine (Persephone), being carried off by Acidoneus (Pluto).

Note return to page 97 10&lblank; dusky Dis] Dis is contracted from Dives, a name sometimes given to Pluto.

Note return to page 98 11&lblank; a wonder'd father,] A father able to produce such wonders.

Note return to page 99 12&lblank; your crisp channels,] Crisp is sometimes used for curling or winding, but in the present instance the word may be understood to denote the curl raised by a breeze on the surface of the water.

Note return to page 100 13Earth's increase, and foison plenty;] The produce of the earth and (foison) plenty to the utmost abundance.

Note return to page 101 14&lblank; all which it inherit,] All who possess, who dwell upon it.

Note return to page 102 15faded,] Vanished.

Note return to page 103 16Leave not a rack behind:] Leave not a trace—leave not the smallest particle of a feathery cloud behind.

Note return to page 104 17Thy thoughts I cleave to:] To cleave to, is to unite with closely.

Note return to page 105 18&lblank; to meet with Caliban.] To counteract Caliban.

Note return to page 106 19For stale] Stale is a word in fowling, and is used to mean a bait or decoy to catch birds.

Note return to page 107 20Nurture can never stick;] Nurture is education.

Note return to page 108 21pard,] Leopard.

Note return to page 109 22that the blind mole may not hear a footfall:] The mole is supposed to possess the quality of hearing to a high degree.

Note return to page 110 23&lblank; play'd the Jack with us.] Jack with a lantern; has led us about like an ignis fatuus.

Note return to page 111 24&lblank; a frippery.] A frippery was a shop where old clothes were sold, and the person who kept one of these shops was called a fripper. Strype, in the Life of Stowe, says, that these frippers lived in Birchin-lane and Cornhill.

Note return to page 112 25&lblank; turn'd to barnacles,] The barnacle is a kind of shell fish, growing on a flexible stem, and adhering to loose timber, bottoms of ships, &c., anciently supposed to turn into a Solan goose. Whether the fish or the bird be meant in the above passage, is not clear. —Nares's Glossary.

Note return to page 113 26With foreheads villainous low.] Low foreheads were anciently reckoned amongst deformities. —Steevens.

Note return to page 114 36100010[A] (A) A Masque.] The ancient English pageants were shows exhibited on the reception of a prince, or any other solemnity of a similar kind. They were presented on occasional stages erected in the street. Originally they appear to have been nothing more than dumb shows; but before the time of our author, they had been enlivened by the introduction of speaking personages, who were characteristically habited. The speeches were sometimes in verse; and as the procession moved forward, the speakers, who constantly bore some allusion to the ceremony, either conversed together in the form of a dialogue, or addressed the noble person whose presence occasioned the celebrity. On these allegorical spectacles very costly ornaments were bestowed. When King James and his Queen passed from the Tower to Westminster, seven gates or arches were erected in different places, through which the procession passed. Over the first gate “was represented the true likeness of all the notable houses, Towers and steeples, within the citie of London.” “The sixt arche or gate of triumph was erected above the Conduit in Fleete-Streete, whereon the Globe of the world was seen to move, &c. At Temple-bar a seaventh arche or gate was erected, the fore-front whereof was proportioned in every respect like a Temple, being dedicated to Janus, &c. The citie of Westminster, and dutchy of Lancaster, at the Strand had erected the invention of a Rainbow, the moone, sunne, and starres, advanced between two Pyramides, &c.” Annals, p. 1429, edit. 1605. —Malone.

Note return to page 115 36100011[B] (B) Iris, is described by Homer in the Iliad as the messenger of the Gods, especially of Zeus and Hera (Jupiter and Juno). Iris appears to have been originally the personification of the rainbow: for this brilliant phenomenon in the skies, which vanishes as quickly as it appears, was regarded as the swift messenger of the Gods. Some poets describe Iris as the rainbow itself; but other writers represent the rainbow as only the road on which Iris travels. Iris is represented in works of art dressed in a long tunic, with wings attached to her shoulders, and carrying the Herald's staff in her left hand.

Note return to page 116 36100012[C] (C) Venus—amongst the Romans the goddess of love and beauty, and under the name of Aphrodite, one of the great divinities of the Greeks. Her worship was of Eastern origin; and probably introduced by the Phœnicians to the island of Cyprus, Cythera, and others, from whence it spread all over Greece. She appears to have been originally identical with Astarte, called by the Hebrews, Ashtoreth. The sparrow, the dove, the swan, and the swallow, are mentioned as drawing her chariot, or serving as her messengers.

Note return to page 117 36100013[D] (D) Cupid, son of Jupiter and Venus, a celebrated deity amongst the ancients—God of love and love itself—described as a lively ingenious youth, and represented as a winged infant, naked, armed with a bow, and quiver full of arrows.

Note return to page 118 36100014[E] (E) Eleusis, a town of Attica, situate N. W. of Athens. It possessed a magnificent temple of Demeter (Ceres), and it gave its name to the great festival of the Eleusinia, which was celebrated in honour of Demeter (Ceres) and her daughter Tersephone.

Note return to page 119 36100015[F] (F) Ceres, under the name of Demeter, one of the greatest divinities of the Greeks—was the goddess of the earth, and her name probably signified mother-earth. She was the protectress of agriculture, and of all the fruits of the earth. The Romans received from Sicily the worship of Demeter, to whom they gave the name of Ceres. In works of art, Demeter is represented wearing around her head a garland of corn-ears; and in her hand she held a sceptre of corn-ears or a poppy.

Note return to page 120 36100016[G] (G) Juno—this goddess was worshipped under the name of Juno at Rome, as the queen of heaven, but was called Hera by the Greeks. As Jupiter is the king of heaven and of the gods, so Juno is the queen or the female Jupiter. She is represented as adorned with a crown or diadem. A veil frequently hangs down the back of her head, to characterise her as the bride of Zeus (Jupiter); and the diadem, veil, sceptre, and peacock, are her ordinary attributes.

Note return to page 121 36100017[H] (H) The Graces, called Charities by the Greeks, were the personification of Grace and Beauty. They are usually described as three in number, and were the goddesses who enhanced the enjoyments of life by refinement and gentleness. They lent their grace and beauty to every thing that delighted and elevated gods and men, and were described as in the service of other divinities.

Note return to page 122 36100018[I] (I) Seasons (Horæ)—Originally the goddesses of the order of nature and the seasons, but in later times, the goddesses of order in general, and of justice. The course of the seasons is symbolically described as the dance of the Horæ. They bear a resemblance to, and are mentioned along with, the Graces, and both are frequently confounded or identified. They were the protectresses of youth, and gave to the state good laws, justice, and peace.

Note return to page 123 36100019[K] (K) Hymen, the god of marriage, was conceived as a handsome youth, and invoked in the hymeneal or bridal song. The Attic legends described him as a youth of such delicate beauty, that he might be taken for a girl. He is represented in works of art, carrying in his hand a bridal torch.

Note return to page 124 36100020[L] (L) Enter certain Nymphs.] The nymphs of fresh water, whether of rivers, lakes, brooks, or springs, were designated by the general name—Naiades. The early Greeks saw, in all the phenomena of nature, some manifestations of the Deity. Springs, rivers, grottoes, trees, and mountains, all seemed to them fraught with life, and all were only the visible embodiment of so many divine agents. The salutary and beneficent powers of nature were thus personified, and regarded as so many divinities. For Classical Authorities Vide Smith's Dictionary.

Note return to page 125 1&lblank; time goes upright with his carriage.] Time goes upright with his burden. Events move on rightly.

Note return to page 126 2How fares the king and his?] And his followers.

Note return to page 127 3&lblank; till your release.] Till you release them.

Note return to page 128 4&lblank; a touch,] A sensation.

Note return to page 129 5Ye elves] Fairies and elves are frequently in the poets mentioned together.

Note return to page 130 6I will discase me, and myself present As I was sometime Milan:] id est., I will take off this dress, and present myself as I was sometime since, the Duke of Milan.

Note return to page 131 7the ignorant fumes] i. e., fumes of ignorance.

Note return to page 132 8Whe'r] Whether.

Note return to page 133 9Thy dukedom I resign;] The Duchy of Milan being, through the treachery of Antonio, made feudatory to the crown of Naples, Alonso promises to resign his claim of sovereignty for the future. —Steevens.

Note return to page 134 10Some subtilties o' the isle,] This is a phrase adopted from ancient cookery and confectionery. When a dish was so contrived as to appear unlike what it really was, they called it a subtilty. Dragons, castles, trees, &c., made out of sugar, had the like denomination.

Note return to page 135 11I am woe for't, sir.] I am sorry for it. To be woe is often used by old writers to signify “to be sorry.”

Note return to page 136 12&lblank; Yare,] Ready,

Note return to page 137 13Coragio!] An exclamation of encouragement.

Note return to page 138 14&lblank; fly-blowing.] Such a pickle alludes to their being left by Ariel “in the filthy mantled pool;” and pickling preserves meat from fly-blowing.

Note return to page 139 15&lblank; but a cramp.] I am all over a cramp. Prospero having ordered Ariel “to shorten up their sinews with aged cramps.”

Note return to page 140 16With the help of your good hands.] By your applause, by clapping hands.—Noise being supposed to dissolve a spell.

Note return to page 141 17Unless I be reliev'd by prayer;] This is an allusion to the old stories told of the despair of necromancers in their last moments, and of the efficacy of the prayers of their friends for them. Warburton.

Note return to page 142 36100021[A] (A) Ye elves of hills.] The different species of the fairy tribe are called in the Northern languages ælfen, elfen, and alpen, words of remote and uncertain etymology. The Greek &gro;&grl;&grq;&gria;&gro;&grst;, felix, is not so plausible an original as the Teutonic helfen, juvare; because many of these supernatural beings were supposed to be of a mischievous nature, but all of them might very properly be invoked to assist mankind. Some of the northern nations regarded them as the souls of men who in this world had given themselves up to corporeal pleasures, and trespasses against human laws. It was conceived, therefore, that they were doomed to wander for a certain time about the earth, and to be bound in a kind of servitude to mortals. One of their occupations was that of protecting horses in the stable. See Olaus Magnus de gentibus septentrionalibus, lib. iii. cap. xi. It is probable that our fairy system is originally derived from the Fates, Fauns, Nymphs, Dryads, Deæ matres, &c., of the ancients, in like manner as other Pagan superstitions were corruptedly retained after the promulgation of Christianity. The general stock might have been augmented and improved by means of the crusades and other causes of intercourse with the nations of the East. —Douce.
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Charles Kean [1857], Shakespeare's play of The Tempest, arranged for representation at the Princess's Theatre, with historical and explanatory notes, by Charles Kean, F.S.A., as first performed on Wednesday, July 1, 1857 (Printed by John K. Chapman and Co. [etc.], London) [word count] [S36100].
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