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No Fear Shakespheare

The Tempest

William Shakespeare

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Act 5, Scene 1

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Enter PROSPERO in his magic robes and ARIEL
PROSPERO enters in his magic robes, with ARIEL.



PROSPERO
Now does my project gather to a head.
My charms crack not, my spirits obey, and time
Goes upright with his carriage. How’s the day?
 PROSPERO
My plans are almost at their climax. My spells are working well, my spirits are obeying me, and everything is right on schedule. What time is it?


5		 ARIEL
On the sixth hour, at which time, my lord,
You said our work should cease.
 ARIEL
It’s after six o'clock, my lord, when you said our work would be finished.



PROSPERO
     I did say so
When first I raised the tempest. Say, my spirit,
How fares the king and ’s followers?
 PROSPERO
That’s what I said when I first conjured the tempest. Tell me, spirit, how’s the king and his entourage?




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 ARIEL
      Confined together
In the same fashion as you gave in charge,
Just as you left them, all prisoners, sir,
In the line grove which weather-fends your cell.
They cannot budge till your release. The king,
His brother, and yours, abide all three distracted,
And the remainder mourning over them,
Brimful of sorrow and dismay. But chiefly
Him that you termed, sir, “the good old Lord Gonzalo,”
His tears run down his beard like winter’s drops
From eaves of reeds. Your charm so strongly works 'em
That if you now beheld them, your affections
Would become tender.
 ARIEL
All cooped up together, just as you ordered, all imprisoned in the grove of linden trees that protects your room from bad weather. They can’t move till you release them. The king, his brother, and your brother are all waiting there in a crazed state of mind, and the rest are grieving over them, sad and astonished. “Good old lord Gonzalo,” as you call him, is saddest of all, with tears running down his beard. Your magic spell has such an effect on them that if you saw them now, you’d feel sorry for them.

PROSPERO
    Dost thou think so, spirit?
 PROSPERO
Do you think so, spirit?

20		 ARIEL
Mine would, sir, were I human.
 ARIEL
I’d feel sorry for them, if I were human.
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