The Tempest

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

"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."

"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."

"Flout 'em and scout 'em, and scout 'em and flout 'em; Thought is free."

"He that dies pays all debts: I defy thee. Mercy upon us!"

"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."

"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."

"A kind Of excellent dumb discourse."

"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."

"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."

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

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"With foreheads villainous low."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"O, wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, That has such people in't!"

"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."

"I think we're supposed to identify with Prospero and Miranda, but I was disturbed by Ariel's servitude and Caliban's slavery; and even though Prospero eventually pardons Caliban, I had trouble with the play's relentless mockery of Caliban as a "savage.""

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