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The Complete Works of William Shakespeare - Israel Gollancz William Shakespeare [1204]

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my master is! I am afraid

He will chastise me.

SEBASTIAN.

Ha, ha!

What things are these, my lord Antonio?

Will money buy'em?

ANTONIO.

Very like; one of them

Is a plain fish, and no doubt marketable.

PROSPERO.

Mark but the badges of these men, my lords,

Then say if they be true. This mis-shapen knave-

His mother was a witch, and one so strong

That could control the moon, make flows and ebbs,

And deal in her command without her power.

These three have robb'd me; and this demi-devil-

For he's a bastard one-had plotted with them

To take my life. Two of these fellows you

Must know and own; this thing of darkness I

Acknowledge mine.

CALIBAN.

I shall be pinch'd to death.

ALONSO.

Is not this Stephano, my drunken butler?

SEBASTIAN.

He is drunk now; where had he wine?

ALONSO.

And Trinculo is reeling ripe; where should they

Find this grand liquor that hath gilded 'em?

How cam'st thou in this pickle?

TRINCULO.

I have been in such a pickle since I saw you

last that, I fear me, will never out of my bones. I

shall not fear fly-blowing.

SEBASTIAN.

Why, how now, Stephano!

STEPHANO.

O, touch me not; I am not Stephano, but a cramp.

PROSPERO.

You'd be king o' the isle, sirrah?

STEPHANO.

I should have been a sore one, then.

ALONSO.

[Pointing to CALIBAN] This is as strange a thing

as e'er I look'd on.

PROSPERO.

He is as disproportioned in his manners

As in his shape. Go, sirrah, to my cell;

Take with you your companions; as you look

To have my pardon, trim it handsomely.

CALIBAN.

Ay, that I will; and I'll be wise hereafter,

And seek for grace. What a thrice-double ass

Was I to take this drunkard for a god,

And worship this dull fool!

PROSPERO.

Go to; away!

ALONSO.

Hence, and bestow your luggage where you found it.

SEBASTIAN.

Or stole it, rather.

Exeunt CALIBAN, STEPHANO, and TRINCULO

PROSPERO.

Sir, I invite your Highness and your train

To my poor cell, where you shall take your rest

For this one night; which, part of it, I'll waste

With such discourse as, I not doubt, shall make it

Go quick away-the story of my life,

And the particular accidents gone by

Since I came to this isle. And in the morn

I'll bring you to your ship, and so to Naples,

Where I have hope to see the nuptial

Of these our dear-belov'd solemnized,

And thence retire me to my Milan, where

Every third thought shall be my grave.

ALONSO.

I long

To hear the story of your life, which must

Take the ear strangely.

PROSPERO.

I'll deliver all;

And promise you calm seas, auspicious gales,

And sail so expeditious that shall catch

Your royal fleet far off. [Aside to ARIEL] My Ariel,

chick,

That is thy charge. Then to the elements

Be free, and fare thou well!-Please you, draw near.

Exeunt

EPILOGUE

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 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.

HENRY VIII


OR

ALL IS TRUE

This late history play is believed to be a collaboration between Shakespeare and John Fletcher, based on the life of the prominent King of England. An alternative title, All is True, is recorded in contemporary documents, and the title Henry VIII did not appear until the play's publication in the First Folio of 1623. During a performance of Henry VIII at the Globe Theatre in 1613, a cannon shot ignited the theatre's thatched roof, burning the original building to the ground. It was rebuilt soon after.

As with most of his history plays, Shakespeare

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