1.1 Location: a ship at sea Boatswain ship’s chief officer
2 cheer news/encouragement
3 Good good fellow/good, you’re there yarely swiftly
4 Bestir be active
5 hearts hearties Cheerly heartily, willingly yare quick Take…topsail reducing the sail lessens the force of the wind pushing the ship toward land
6 Tend pay attention to Blow…enough blow until you burst, as long as we have enough rock-free sea to maneuver in
8 have take Play the act like
11 mar ruin
14 Hence be gone roarers waves/riotous people
17 counsellor adviser/member of the king’s council
18 work…present calm the current events
19 hand handle
21 hap happen
23 he…gallows “he that is born to be hanged shall never be drowned” (proverbial)
24 mark ominous indicator
25 rope of his destiny i.e., the hangman’s noose cable anchor rope
27 Down…topmast reduce the height of the ship’s main mast (to increase stability) to…course i.e., as near as possible to a standstill
29 our office we are as we undertake our work
30 o’er up
32 pox plague
34 cur dog
36 warrant…drowning guarantee he will not drown
37 unstanched promiscuous/sexually unsatisfied/menstruating freely
38 Lay her ahold keep the ship steady by sailing close to the wind Set…to raise both foresail and mainsail in order to drive the ship into open sea
40 must…cold i.e., must we die/must our prayers be ineffective
43 merely completely wide-chopped loudmouthed/with mouth wide open
44 ten tides pirates were hanged on the shore where their bodies remained during three tides
45 hanged yet i.e., will survive to be hanged on land
47 at wid’st wide open glut swallow
48 We split the ship is splitting apart/we are shipwrecked
52 furlong 220 yards acre furlong
53 long heath heather brown furze withered gorse
54 fain rather
1.2 Location: the rest of the play is set in various parts of Prospero’s island Prospero from Latin for “to cause to succeed”; in Italian and Spanish means “fortunate, prosperous” Miranda from Latin for “to wonder, marvel”; means “she who is admired”
1 art skill, magic, learning
2 allay calm
3 pitch black substance obtained from boiling tar
4 welkin’s sky’s
5 fire lightning
6 brave splendid
11 or ere before
13 fraughting souls those constituting the freight (cargo)
14 collected calm, composed
15 amazement fear/wonder
22 whence I am where I am from more better of a higher rank
23 full poor cell very humble dwelling, often that of a hermit or monk
24 no greater father no more important a father than this cell suggests
25 More to know desire to know more
26 meddle with mingle with/intrude upon
33 provision foresight
35 perdition loss, damage
36 Betid happened
41 bootless inquisition useless inquiry
44 ope open
48 Out fully
52 Hath…remembrance remains in your memory
54 assurance certainty
55 warrants guarantees
56 tended cared for/waited upon
59 backward past period abysm abyss, gulf
60 aught anything
67 piece exemplar, image
70 no worse issued (you are) of no less noble birth
73 blessèd fortunate
76 holp helped
78 o’th’teen of the trouble turned you to caused you
79 from absent from
81 mark pay attention to
82 perfidious treacherous
84 manage management
85 signories domains/governing bodies of Italian states
86 prime foremost
87 liberal arts seven scholastic disciplines: grammar, logic, rhetoric, music, astronomy, geometry, arithmetic
90 state country/role as duke stranger estranged transported And rapt absorbed and enraptured
94 perfected skilled (in) suits petitions, requests
96 trash for over-topping rein in for being overly ambitious new…mine promoted or gave new positions to Prospero’s officials (creatures)
97 changed ’em substituted others for them/altered their duties
98 new formed ’em created new positions/changed their allegiances key control (plays on senses of “musical key” and “tuning key”)
100 that so that
101 ivy…trunk the rapid growth of ivy on a tree’s trunk can choke or poison the tree
102 verdure sap/vitality/power
105 worldly ends i.e., state or governmental duties
106 closeness solitude
107 but only retired secluded, secret
108 O’er-prized…rate outstripped the people’s understanding/was too precious for the people to value
110 good parent “good parents breed bad children” (proverbial) beget of breed in
111 falsehood…contrary deception that, in its opposing nature, was
113 sans without lorded made lord
115 else exact otherwise demand one…lie i.e., one who has lied so frequently that he has made his memory false (a sinner) by coming to believe in his own lies
116 into unto it i.e., the lie
119 out o’th’substitution as a result of having usurped me
120 th’outward face the appearance
124 screen separation/obstacle
125 him i.e., himself; Antonio benefits from playing the role of duke
126 Absolute Milan wholly the Duke of Milan and wielding absolute power
127 temporal royalties practical concerns of state
128 Confederates (he) conspires
129 dry thirsty, desperate sway power
130 tribute payment of an agreed sum
131 Subject…crown subject himself to Alonso, the king (a duke wore a coronet)
132 yet as yet
135 condition pact/disposition event outcome
136 If…brother if this might be the action of a brother/if I might be the brother to such a man
138 but anything but
142 inveterate long-standing hearkens listens to
143 he i.e., the King of Naples in…homage in return for the conditions of allegiance/servility
144 tribute money
145 presently extirpate immediately uproot
151 ministers agents thence away
155 hint experience/occasion
160 impertinent irrelevant
164 durst dared
167 painted dressed up, disguised
168 few brief barque small ship
170 butt barrel
172 hoist launched
175 loving wrong i.e., although they blew us to sea, the winds pitied us
178 cherubin angel
181 decked covered/adorned drops full salt i.e., tears
182 which i.e., Miranda’s smile
183 undergoing stomach courage to endure
190 design plan
191 stuffs equipment, provisions
192 steaded much been very useful gentleness nobleness
196 Would I wish
199 Sit still remain seated
201 more profit benefit far more
203 vainer more idle careful caring/painstaking
209 my dear lady i.e., Fortune
210 prescience foresight/visionary power
211 zenith peak of fortune (literally, highest point of the heavens)
212 influence power/invisible substance supposed to stream from stars and affect one’s destiny
213 omit ignore
215 dullness sleepiness
216 it way in to it
218 Ariel as well as having connotations of “airiness,” the name is Hebrew for “lion of God”; also the name of a magical spirit in various occult texts; perhaps evocative of the archangel Uriel
219 Grave learned, respected, dignified
222 task instruct
223 quality skills/other spirits
225 to point in every respect
227 beak prow
228 waist middle
229 flamed amazement appeared as a terrifying fire
231 yards crossbars on masts bowsprit long pole that holds a sail
232 Jove’s…thunderclaps thunder and lightning were the chief weapons of the king of the gods
234 sight-outrunning quicker than the eye can follow
235 Neptune Roman god of the sea
237 trident three-pronged spear, carried by Neptune
239 coil turmoil
242 of the mad such as mad people suffer played…desperation displayed symptoms of despair, recklessness
245 all afire i.e., the ship caught fire
246 up-staring standing on end
250 nigh near
254 sustaining necessary/buoyant
256 troops groups
258 cooling of cooling
259 angle nook, corner
260 sad knot i.e., folded, a sign of melancholy
266 dew a common ingredient of magic potions
267 still-vexed Bermudas the Bermuda islands were famed for fearful storms
268 under hatches i.e., below deck
269 charm spell suffered labour i.e., the tiring work performed during the storm
272 float sea
279 mid season noon
280 two glasses two hourglasses (so it is about 2 p.m.)
281 preciously valuably
282 pains work, effort
283 remember remind
285 Moody ill-humored/stubborn/willful
288 time be out fixed period of service is over
292 or either
293 bate me deduct from my term of service
297 tread…deep walk on the muddy sand of the ocean floor
304 Sycorax name of uncertain origin, possibly derived from Greek sus (“pig”) and korax (“raven”), animals associated with witchcraft
305 hoop i.e., bent posture
308 Algiers seaport capital of Algeria, in North Africa
314 for…life probably meaning that Sycorax was pregnant and therefore could not be executed
317 blue-eyed with dark circles under the eyes or with blue eyelids, thought to be a sign of pregnancy hag witch with child pregnant
320 for because delicate fine in quality/ethereal
321 earthy coarse/of the earth
322 hests commands
323 ministers assistants
324 unmitigable impossible to assuage
325 cloven cleft, split
329 As…strike as often as each blade of a waterwheel hits the water
330 litter give birth to (term applied to animals)
331 whelp puppy, son of a bitch hag-born born of a witch
333 Caliban anagram of “can[n]ibal”; perhaps derived from the Romany word caulibon (“dark thing”)
334 Dull thing may refer to Ariel or Caliban
335 in service as a servant
337 wolves…bears i.e., even moved fierce beasts
341 gape open
344 murmur’st complain rend tear apart
345 peg fasten entrails innards (literally, intestines)
348 correspondent responsive, obedient
349 spriting magical actions of a sprite (spirit) gently quietly, tamely
351 discharge free
360 Heaviness sleepiness
364 villain base, lowborn/wicked person
366 miss do without
367 offices duties
369 earth earthy thing/low creature/piece of dirt
373 quaint ingenious/elegant
376 got conceived
377 dam mother
379 fen swampy ground
380 southwest winds from the southwest were thought to bring damp, disease-ridden air
383 urchins hedgehogs/spirits in hedgehog form
384 vast expanse/long period
385 exercise work
386 As…honeycomb i.e., as many times as there are cells in a honeycomb/so that you resemble a honeycomb
387 Than than the ’em i.e., honeycombs
392 berries possibly grapes to make a mild wine, or juniper berries, which would create a kind of gin
393 bigger…less i.e., the sun and moon
396 brine-pits pools of salt water
397 charms spells
398 light alight
400 sty pen up, confine
401 hard rock cave
404 stripes lashes of a whip kindness goodwill/natural feeling/kinship used treated
405 humane human/benevolent
406 violate…child i.e., rape Miranda
409 I…else otherwise I would have populated
412 print imprint, image
413 capable…ill only susceptible to evil/able to perform any kind of evil
418 race innate disposition
422 more more punishment
424 red-plague red sores were caused by, amongst other diseases, the plague rid destroy
425 learning teaching
426 Hag-seed offspring of a witch
427 thou’rt best you would be better off
430 rack torture old cramps plentiful cramps/cramps of old age/cramps similar to those Caliban has experienced previously
435 Setebos a Patagonian god mentioned in sixteenth-century travel narratives
436 vassal servant, slave
441 whist (become) silent
442 Foot it featly dance skillfully
445 burden chorus, refrain
449 strain song chanticleer rooster
452 waits upon attends/anticipates
454 the for the
456 passion acute grief
460 fathom five five fathoms (thirty feet) deep
463 fade decompose
464 suffer undergo
466 knell funeral bell
469 ditty song/lyrics does remember recalls/commemorates
470 mortal human (plays on the sense of “deathly”)
471 owes owns
472 fringèd curtains i.e., eyelids advance open
473 yond yonder, over there
476 brave handsome, noble, splendid
478 gallant fashionable, handsome young man
479 but except that something somewhat
480 canker infection, corruption
481 goodly handsome, fine
484 natural human
487 prompts directs, urges, wills
490 airs Ariel’s songs Vouchsafe grant (that)
491 remain live
493 bear me behave
494 wonder plays on the Latin root of Miranda’s name (“mirandus”—i.e., “wonderful”)
495 maid human/a virgin, unmarried
499 best i.e., highest in rank (a king, assuming his father is drowned)
500 where i.e., Naples
503 single thing solitary/a bachelor/one and the same person (as the King of Naples)
504 He i.e., as I am now king and hear my own grief
506 ebb low tide (i.e., without tears)
510 son Antonio’s son is never mentioned again; perhaps Shakespeare forgot or cut the part, neglecting this reference twain separated
512 control challenge/govern
514 changed eyes gazed at one another, exchanged loving looks Delicate fine/ethereal
516 done…wrong i.e., spoken falsely in your claim to be king
517 ungently harshly/discourteously
522 your…forth you have not fallen in love with or betrothed yourself to someone else
524 Soft wait a moment
525 either’s each other’s
526 uneasy difficult light easy, but in next line sense shifts to “less valuable/unchaste”
527 charge command
528 attend listen to, take heed of
529 ow’st not do not own
531 on’t of it (the island)
533 temple i.e., Ferdinand’s body
540 fresh-brook mussels inedible freshwater mussels
543 entertainment treatment/hospitality
547 gentle noble/courteous fearful frightening
549 foot i.e., inferior body part (proverbial: “do not make the foot the head”)
551 ward defensive posture
557 surety guarantor
559 chide scold/punish
561 shapes i.e., men
563 To compared to
569 nerves sinews, muscles
570 vigour strength
572 spirits vital powers/senses
576 through i.e., from
577 all corners else everywhere else
582 do me do for me
585 unwonted uncharacteristic
588 then i.e., if that is to be the case
3 much beyond far outweighs hint circumstance, occasion
5 masters…merchant officers of some merchant ship
8 weigh balance
10 peace possibly Sebastian puns on “peas” by introducing porridge, a vegetable stew
12 visitor charitable visitor offering comfort or advice
13 wit intelligence
15 tell count (the strokes)
16 entertained received
17 dollar a large silver coin (playing on the sense of entertainer as “performer”)
18 Dolour sorrow purposed intended
19 wiselier more profoundly/wittily
22 spare desist
25 crow i.e., speak
27 cockerel young cock/young man
28 wager bet, stake
29 A laughter “he wins that laughs” (proverbial); may also play on the sense of “the whole number of eggs laid by a hen before she is ready to sit”
31 desert deserted
32 Ha…paid most editors assume that the speakers of these two lines should be reversed, so that Antonio wins the bet and laughs, then Sebastian replies that the laugh pays off the debt; but it could be that Sebastian laughs in response to Adrian’s words (seems deserted? – of course it’s deserted) and that by doing so he has paid off the bet
38 subtle refined temperance moderate climate (Antonio’s response treats Temperance as the name of a woman)
39 delicate pleasure-seeking, voluptuous
40 subtle crafty, sexually experienced learnedly delivered uttered authoritatively
43 fen bog, marshland
45 save except
47 lusty of vigorous growth
48 tawny yellowish brown
49 eye tinge
52 rarity exceptional nature credit belief
53 vouched acknowledged
55 new-dyed brand new
58 pocket up conceal
60 Afric Africa Tunis North African city, now the capital of Tunisia
63 Dido’s Dido, Queen of Carthage, was the widow of Sychaeus, but was famed for her love affair with Aeneas; she committed suicide when he left her; there may also be a lewd pun on the slang term “dido” (genitals/dildo)
64 How…in? Antonio contests the reference to an abandoned woman as a widow
65 “widower Aeneas” Aeneas had been married to Creusa, who died in the sack of Troy
66 study of examine, meditate on
68 This…Carthage Tunis was about ten miles from Carthage and became the most important city in the region after Carthage fell
71 miraculous harp in Greek mythology, Amphion’s music caused the walls of Thebes to rebuild themselves
76 kernels pips
81 rarest most splendid/beautiful
82 Bate disregard
83 Ay, widow Dido if there is a missing speech prefix, this could be a cynical interjection from Sebastian
84 doublet close-fitting jacket in a sort to some extent
85 sort perhaps a reference to the drawing of lots or to the “sorting” offish for market
88 stomach appetite/inclination sense disposition
90 rate opinion
96 surges waves
100 oared rowed
101 lusty vigorous
102 wave-worn basis the eroded base of the cliff rising from the shore
103 As as if
108 loose release, turn loose (as one would an animal)
110 Who probably applies to Alonso’s eye, but possibly to Claribel wet the grief weep
112 importuned pleaded with
114 loathness loathing, repulsion
115 which…bow which half of the scales should sink
120 dear’st most precious/significant part (i.e., Ferdinand)
123 time i.e., appropriate time
126 chirurgeonly surgeon-like
131 plantation opportunity for colonization (Antonio plays on the sense of “planting”)
132 nettle-seed…mallows common wild plants/weeds
135 want lack
136 by…things implement the opposite to what is usual
137 traffic trade, commerce
139 Letters scholarship, learning
140 use of service practice of having servants succession inheritance
141 Bourn land boundary tilth farmed land
148 in common communal
150 pike spear engine device/machinery/weapon
152 foison plenty
157 golden age in classical mythology, the earliest of ages, when life was idyllic
160 mark hear, observe
162 minister occasion provide an opportunity (for laughter)
163 sensible responsive, sensitive nimble agile, swift to respond use are accustomed
169 An…flat-long if it had not been delivered with the flat side of the sword (rather than the sharp edge)
170 metal puns on “mettle” (constitution, courage)
171 sphere position in the heavens five weeks i.e., rather than the usual four, which ought to be long enough
172 a-batfowling catching roosting birds/swindling
174 warrant assure adventure…weakly risk my sound judgment for such a slight cause
175 heavy drowsy
181 omit reject, ignore it i.e., sleep
192 as as if
196 occasion speaks opportunity speaks to
199 waking awake
208 wink’st shut your eyes (i.e., refuse to see what is in front of you)
210 distinctly meaningfully, clearly
212 custom usual self
213 heed you heed
214 Trebles thee o’er makes you three times greater
215 standing water not ebbing or flowing (i.e., open to ideas/idle)
218 Hereditary sloth natural laziness/my position as younger brother to a king
220 If…it if only you realized that your mockery reveals your intentions/if only you realized that despite your mockery you harbor genuine desires
222 invest clothe, adorn Ebbing declining
225 say on speak more, go on
226 setting look/fixed appearance
227 matter of importance
228 throes…yield gives you much pain to bring forth
230 lord i.e., Gonzalo remembrance memory
231 of…memory as little remembered
232 earthed dead and buried
233 spirit of expert at, epitome of only Professes (as an adviser) makes it his sole vocation
241 high a hope i.e., of gaining the crown
242 Ambition…there ambition itself could not glimpse it and doubt that there is anything to achieve/ambition itself could not ordinarily proceed a fraction further without fear of discovery
249 leagues a league was about three miles man’s life a lifetime’s journey
250 note communication/information post messenger
252 from whom i.e., returning from whose wedding
253 cast vomited up
255 Whereof…prologue in relation to which all that has gone before is only a prelude to what is to come
256 discharge performance/management
257 stuff notion/rubbish
260 space distance
261 cubit about twenty inches (the length of the forearm)
263 Measure us back travel back over us (i.e., retrace her steps) Keep remain
264 wake i.e., to his opportunity
267 he i.e., Alonso prate prattle
269 make…chat train a jackdaw to be as profound
270 bore…do shared my intention/were of my way of thinking/were resolved like me
274 content liking
275 Tender value, regard
277 supplant overthrow
279 garments i.e., his duke’s robes
280 feater with a better fit
281 fellows companions, equals men servants
283 kibe chilblain, blister
284 put me to force me to wear
285 deity i.e., conscience
286 candied made of ice, crystallized
292 perpetual wink endless sleep aye ever
293 morsel piece of flesh/scrap
294 Should not must not be allowed to
296 tell…hour declare it is whatever time we require/agree to any business that we propose
301 tribute annual sum payable by Antonio to Naples in return for receiving Alonso’s help in deposing Prospero
304 rear raise
309 project plan
312 time opportunity
319 ghastly full of fear
334 verily certain
2 flats plain, swampy ground
3 inch-meal inch by inch
4 nor neither pinch torment
5 urchin-shows goblin apparitions
6 firebrand will-o’-the-wisp, moving light
9 mow grimace, make faces
13 wound wound round cloven split Trinculo perhaps from the Italian trincare (“to drink eagerly”)
14 Lo look
17 mind notice
18 bear off ward off
20 bombard leather wine jug
24 poor-John dried hake, a fish mainly eaten by the poor
25 fish painted i.e., on a sign to attract passersby
26 make a man make a man rich/be taken for a man
27 doit trifling sum (a small Dutch coin)
28 dead Indian American Indians were sometimes displayed to the paying public Legged with legs
29 let loose take back
31 gaberdine coarse-textured cloak
33 shroud shelter
36 scurvy wretched, disagreeable
38 swabber sailor who washes the deck
42 tang sting
44 savour smell
45 tailor…itch she would let a tailor (proverbially lecherous) have sex with her (itch may suggest venereal disease)
49 the matter happening
50 Ind India
51 proper normal/fine four legs Stephano sees the legs of both Trinculo and Caliban and adapts a common proverb
52 give ground yield
53 at’nostrils through his nostrils
56 ague sickness, shaking, fever
57 relief refreshment, sustenance recover revive
58 neat’s leather cowhide
60 after in the manner of
62 I…him i.e., no price can be too high for him
64 anon shortly
66 Come…ways come on/come here
67 language…cat “ale will make a cat speak” (proverbial) shake cast off
68 chaps jaws
72 delicate extraordinary/ingeniously made/delightful
74 detract slander
78 long spoon “he should have a long spoon that sups with the devil” (proverbial)
81 lesser legs presumably Trinculo has shorter legs than Caliban
83 siege excrement (Stephano pulls Trinculo out from between Caliban’s legs) moon-calf monstrosity, misshapen creature, idiot (born under the moon’s influence) vent discharge/fart
85 overblown blown over
89 an if if
92 butt of sack barrel of Spanish white wine
99 kiss the book alludes to kissing the Bible to confirm an oath, and to the phrase “kiss the cup” (i.e., “have another drink”)
100 goose simpleton; also suggests drunken giddiness
105 when time was once
107 adore worship mistress i.e., Miranda
108 dog…bush in folklore, the man in the moon had been banished there with his dog after he illegally gathered kindling (his bush) on a Sunday
110 new contents i.e., more wine
111 good light i.e., the sun shallow gullible, naive
112 drawn drunk
113 sooth truth
116 perfidious treacherous
120 puppy-headed stupid
123 in drink drunk
128 crabs crab apples
129 pignuts edible roots, earth chestnuts
130 marmoset small monkey filberts hazelnuts
131 scamels of uncertain meaning; perhaps error for “seamews” (seagulls) or “shamois” (goat); a fish or shellfish has also been suggested, but rock and young go better with the goatish sense
137 for i.e., to trap
138 firing firewood
139 trencher wooden plate
142 high-day holiday
1 sports activities, pastimes painful arduous their…off the pleasure derived from the task is enhanced by the hard work/pleasure in undertaking the task removes the sense of effort
2 baseness contemptible work
4 mean lowly
6 quickens enlivens
8 crabbed irritable, churlish
11 sore injunction severe command
12 baseness…executor such a lowly task has never had such a performer
13 forget forget to work
15 Most busy least being busy seems like being at leisure, thanks to sweet thoughts of Miranda
18 enjoined bound
20 weep by releasing drops of moisture or resin
24 discharge carry out
33 become be fitting for
37 infected with love
38 visitation visit (plays on senses of “bout of plague” and “charitable visit to the poor”)
41 by nearby
45 hest command
47 top epitome, pinnacle
50 bondage slavery
51 diligent attentive
54 owed owned
55 put…foil thwarted it/disputed it (as in a swordfight)
60 glass mirror
61 friend lover
62 how…abroad what people look like in the world
63 skilless ignorant modesty virtue, chastity
64 dower dowry
68 precepts instructions, orders
70 condition social rank
74 flesh-fly fly that lays its eggs in dead flesh blow contaminate/deposit eggs in/swell
81 kind event favorable outcome
82 hollowly insincerely
83 boded intended mischief misfortune, harm
84 what whatever
88 Fair excellent, pleasing
89 rare special, profound
90 that which breeds that which develops/their children
94 to want for lack of
96 Hence, bashful cunning away with timid devices/coy artfulness
99 maid virgin/servant fellow spouse
102 mistress sweetheart
106 As…freedom as slavery embraces freedom
109 thousand i.e., farewells
111 surprised delightfully bewildered/taken unawares withal by it my…more nothing could make me rejoice more
114 appertaining relevant to this
1 Tell not me presumably to stop drinking out finished
2 bear up stay standing/approach board ’em get on board/attack (i.e., “drink up”)
4 brained furnished with a brain/drunk
6 set drunkenly fixed/glazed (Trinculo plays on the sense of “placed”)
9 tail may play on the sense of “penis” or “bottom”
11 recover reach five…leagues about 100 miles off and on more or less standard ensign or flag-bearer (puns on the sense of “person capable of standing”)
13 list wish
14 run i.e., away from battle
15 go walk lie lie down/deceive
18 valiant worthy/courageous
19 case fit state, state of readiness justle jostle
20 deboshed debauched, corrupted
21 monstrous huge/unnatural/befitting a monster
24 natural simpleton, idiot (plays on the sense of “normal, naturally formed”)
26 if…tree i.e., you’ll be hanged like a mutineer
30 marry by the Virgin Mary (a mild oath) stand stand still/listen/remain upright
32 cunning art, skill, craft
36 tale may pun on “tail,” especially if Trinculo has just kicked Caliban in the backside
37 supplant uproot (plays on the sense of “usurp”)
39 Mum be quiet
43 this thing i.e., Trinculo
46 compassed accomplished
47 party person in question
48 yield him thee deliver him to you
51 pied multicolored (refers to a jester’s clothing) patch fool/clown/rogue
55 freshes freshwater streams
57 turn…o’doors banish any feelings of mercy stockfish dried cod; Stephano threatens to beat Trinculo as fish is beaten before cooking; he may also imply that he will take Trinculo’s drink away
62 give…lie accuse me of lying/insult me
64 murrain plague (literally, disease affecting cattle and sheep)
67 forward go on
68 enough thoroughly
72 brain murder, dash out his brains
74 paunch stab in the stomach
75 weasand windpipe
77 sot idiot/drunkard
79 rootedly deep-seatedly
80 utensils instruments of magic or alchemy/household goods
81 deck withal decorate/furnish with
84 nonpareil unsurpassed, one without equal
89 become befit/grace
90 brood offspring
92 ’save our graces God save us viceroys deputy rulers
102 jocund joyful troll sing merrily catch musical round
103 while-ere a while ago
104 reason anything within reason
106 flout…’em insult them and mock them tabor small drum
111 picture of Nobody i.e., someone invisible
113 take’t…list take it as you will/do as you wish
120 twangling resonant/twanging
130 by and by soon/immediately story scheme
133 this taborer drummer (i.e., Ariel) lays it on i.e., bangs the drum with energy
1 By’r lakin by our Ladykin (i.e., the Virgin Mary)
2 maze network of tracks, labyrinth
3 forth-rights and meanders straight and winding paths
6 attached seized
8 put off cast off
9 for my flatterer to be my indulgent, flattering courtier
11 frustrate fruitless/frustrated
13 for because of repulse setback forgo give up
17 oppressed worn down travail labor/traveling
23 keepers protecting spirits
24 drollery puppet show/comic entertainment/humorous picture
26 phoenix mythical Arabian bird that was consumed by fire every 500 years, then resurrected from the ashes
29 want credit lack credibility
35 certes certainly
36 monstrous unnatural/unusual
38 generation race
43 muse wonder at
47 Praise in departing keep your praise until the occasion is over (proverbial)
48 strangely surprisingly/unnaturally
50 viands food stomachs appetites
54 mountaineers mountain dwellers
55 Dewlapped with folds of loose skin around the throat
56 Wallets sagging bags
58 putter-out…one brokers offered the traveler five times an initial sum deposited if he returned safely from his journey with proof that he had reached his destination putter-out broker/traveler
60 stand to come forward/begin eating
61 Although even if (it is to be) harpy mythical monster with a woman’s face and body and a bird’s wings and claws; sometimes agents of divine vengeance quaint device ingenious mechanism/contrivance
65 to instrument at its disposal/as its agent lower world i.e., the sublunar, mortal world
66 never-surfeited never satisfied, hungry
70 suchlike valour insane fearlessness
71 proper selves themselves
72 elements…tempered i.e., fire and earth from which your swords are forged (tempered); these two elements are powerless against the other two (winds and waters)
74 bemocked-at scorned
75 still-closing waters ever-united/self-healing
76 dowl small feather plume plumage
77 like equally
78 massy heavy
80 business purpose
82 requit repaid/avenged
88 perdition ruin (with connotations of “damnation”)
90 whose…ensuing i.e., to guard yourselves from the anger of the powers, which will otherwise befall you on this deserted island, you must live a faultless life of profound repentance mocks and mows jeering expressions/grimaces and pouts
95 devouring all-consuming (or possibly Ariel has eaten part of the banquet)
96 bated omitted
97 So likewise good life great realism/much liveliness
98 observation strange particular, careful attention meaner lower ranking
99 several kinds various/individual roles high elevated, sophisticated, powerful
100 knit up tied up, entangled
101 distractions agitation, temporary madness
102 fits attacks, turmoil
108 billows great waves
111 bass pronounce in a deep, resonant voice trespass wrong, crime
112 ooze muddy sand on the seabed
113 plummet instrument used to measure the depth of water sounded sank
114 mudded buried in mud
115 But…o’er as long as they come one at a time I’ll fight whole armies of devilish spirits
117 second supporter/backup fighter in a duel
120 spirits faculties, vital powers
122 ecstasy frenzy
1 austerely severely
2 compensation i.e., Miranda
3 third i.e., a very important part (possibly Miranda is a third of Prospero’s age; or she shares his life with his dukedom and his art)
5 tender offer/betroth vexations afflictions
7 strangely admirably, exceptionally
8 ratify formally approve
9 her of of her
11 halt proceed lamely
12 gainst even in the face of
14 purchased obtained/won
16 sanctimonious holy
18 sweet aspersion fragrant shower
20 bestrew cover
21 loathly loathsome
23 Hymen in Greek and Roman mythology, the god of marriage (represented by a young man carrying a lamp)
25 fair issue beautiful children
27 strong’st…can most powerful temptation/influence that our bad angel (worser genius) can exert on us
31 or either Phoebus the sun god, whose horse-drawn chariot carried the sun across the heavens foundered lame
39 rabble i.e., crowd of more lowly spirits
43 vanity trifling/dazzling display
45 presently immediately
46 with a twink in the wink of an eye
50 mop and mow grimace and pout
54 conceive understand
55 true faithful dalliance frivolity, amorous conversation
57 th’fire i’th’blood passion, lust
58 goodnight farewell to
61 liver thought to be the seat of sexual desire
63 a corollary an extra (spirit)
64 pertly briskly Iris rainbow goddess and messenger of the gods
66 Ceres goddess of the harvest and the earth leas fields
67 vetches coarse crops, often dried for animal feed
68 turfy grassy
69 meads meadows thatched with stover covered with hay, winter animal feed
70 pionèd…brims alluding to the agrarian practice of cutting and laying hedges to border or enclose pasture pionèd dug, trenched twillèd interwoven, plaited branches brims hedges, borders
71 spongy rainy, damp hest command betrims trims with dew or rain/adorns with blossom
72 cold modest, chaste crowns coronets of flowers broom-groves groves of broom (a yellow-flowered shrub)
73 dismissèd rejected
74 lass-lorn forsaken, bereft of a sweetheart poll-clipped pollarded, pruned
75 sea-marge coast
76 air take the air queen o’th’sky i.e., Juno
77 wat’ry arch rainbow
78 these i.e., the landscape described above
80 sport make merry peacocks the sacred birds of Juno who drew her carriage amain swiftly
83 wife of Jupiter Juno, married to the king of the gods
84 saffron orange-red
85 Diffusest honey drops scatters sweet rain/dew
86 bow rainbow
87 bosky bushy, full of thickets unshrubbed down bare, undulating hills
88 proud splendid
91 donation gift, favor estate bestow
94 Venus…son Cupid was son to Venus, goddess of love
96 means that manner in which dusky Dis dark Pluto, the rich god of the underworld; aided by Venus and Cupid, he kidnapped Ceres’s daughter Proserpine who was forced to spend half of every year with him
97 blind boy’s Cupid, god of love, was blind scandaled disgraceful
98 forsworn rejected
101 Paphos city in Cyprus, home to the cult of Venus
102 Dove-drawn doves, the birds of love, pull Venus’s chariot
103 wanton mischievous/lascivious
104 bed-right i.e., sex
105 Hymen’s…lighted symbolizing the completion of the marriage ceremony
106 Mars’ hot minion i.e., lustful Venus, lover to the god of war
107 waspish-headed peevish, spiteful and, literally, one who stings (with arrows)
108 sparrows proverbially lecherous birds
109 be…out behave in all respects like a boy not a god
111 gait bearing, movement
112 bounteous generous
113 twain couple
116 increasing children/fruitfulness
117 still always
119 foison abundance
120 garners granaries
123 Spring…harvest may spring arrive as soon as the autumn harvest is over (so there is no winter)
128 charmingly enchantingly/melodiously/pleasingly be bold take the liberty, venture
132 present fancies immediate imaginings/whims
134 wondered to be wondered at, extraordinary
137 seriously importantly/solemnly
140 Naiads water nymphs windring winding and wandering
141 sedged made from sedge, a coarse grassy plant growing by rivers
142 crisp channels rippling streams
144 temperate gentle/abstemious
145 be…late come quickly/arrive before the couple make love
146 sicklemen harvesters (a sickle is a hooked knife used for reaping)
147 furrow i.e., fields (literally, groove made by a plough)
150 country footing rustic dance properly habited appropriately clad (i.e., in their harvesting clothes) heavily slowly, sadly/suddenly
154 Avoid be gone
155 passion agitation, turmoil
158 distempered disturbed, ill-humored
159 movèd sort distressed state
161 revels (courtly) entertainment/masque
162 foretold you told you earlier
164 baseless without a foundation/illusory fabric building/structure
166 globe world (puns on the Globe theater)
167 all i.e., all those, all the people it i.e., the globe
168 pageant spectacle/scene
169 rack shred of cloud, fragment of mist (perhaps with play on “wrack”—i.e., wreck)
171 rounded completed/surrounded (perhaps with play on “crowned”)
174 cell humble dwelling
178 with a thought quickly, as swiftly as I think of you
179 cleave to adhere to, respond rapidly to
184 varlets rogues
185 red-hot fired up/red in the face
186 smote struck
188 bending turning, proceeding
190 unbacked colts untrained, unbroken young horses
191 Advanced opened
192 As as if
193 lowing mooing
194 Toothed prickly briars…thorns all types of thorny, coarse shrubs
196 filthy-mantled covered with scum or rotting weeds
197 that so that lake…feet i.e., being stirred up, the lake stank even more foully than their feet
200 Thy…still i.e., remain invisible
201 trumpery fancy garments, worthless finery
202 stale bait
206 Humanely as a human/benevolently lost wasted on him/corrupted by him
208 cankers decays, becomes malignant
209 roaring moaning, wailing line clothes-line/lind (i.e., lime tree) glistering glittering
210 that so that even
212 fairy i.e., Ariel
213 played…with tricked/played the knave
218 lost ruined, destitute
221 hoodwink this mischance cover up this misfortune
228 fetch off retrieve o’er ears up to my ears (in the stinking lake)
231 mischief evil, wrongdoing
233 aye ever
235 King…peer allusion to a popular ballad (“King Stephen was a worthy peer”) about kings and their clothing
238 frippery secondhand clothes shop
241 dropsy disease in which the body accumulates fluid
242 luggage trappings, encumbrances
245 Make…stuff transform we ourselves into extraordinary material
246 Mistress line i.e., the clothesline/tree jerkin close-fitting jacket
247 under the line off the clothesline or tree/at the equator, or metaphorically, genitals, and thus bald from either a sailor’s fever or syphilis hair many jerkins were made from animal fur and cured (i.e., “hairless”) leather
249 line and level methodically an’t like if it please
252 pass of pate witty thrust
253 lime birdlime, a sticky substance spread on branches to snare birds
255 barnacles sea creatures/type of goose (hence connotations of stupidity, as with apes)
256 villainous villainously/vilely (playing on “villain,” a servant or lowly person)
257 lay to your use hogshead large cask diverse various
261 Mountain…Tyrant the names of the spirits as hounds, all of which imply their powerful personalities
264 grind torment/crush
265 dry convulsions painful cramps shorten up contract
266 agèd cramps pains of old age pinch-spotted bruised from pinches
267 pard leopard/panther cat o’mountain wild cat
272 air at freedom freedom of the air (i.e., be released) a little short time
1 project plan (with associations of “alchemical experiment”) gather…head come to fruition/begin to boil (a vital stage in alchemy)
2 crack not do not fail/do not overboil Time…carriage Time walks more easily with his burden
3 How’s the day? What time is it?
10 gave in charge instructed
12 line-grove grove of lime trees weather-fends shelters
14 abide remain distracted distressed/maddened
17 termed called
18 winter’s…reeds winter rain from thatched roofs
20 affections feelings
27 relish…Passion feel the force of emotion/suffering as acutely
28 kindlier moved affected with more compassion
29 high extreme th’quick most tender part
31 take part join forces rarer more unusual/profound
32 than rather than
33 drift aim
38 standing still/stagnant
39 with printless foot leaving no trace
40 fly flee
41 demi-puppets tiny creatures
42 sour ringlets fairy rings, darker circles of grass supposedly caused by fairies dancing
43 ewe not bites sheep will not eat the grass because it is sour
44 midnight mushrooms mushrooms that grow overnight; toadstools were particularly associated with fairies
45 solemn curfew nine o’clock bell; after the evening curfew, the spirits were free until dawn
46 masters ministers/magicians bedimmed eclipsed/clouded over
48 azured vault blue sky
49 roaring war i.e., caused a storm
50 fire i.e., lightning rifted split oak a tree particularly associated with the king of the gods
51 strong-based promontory sturdy headland
52 spurs i.e., roots
54 oped opened
55 rough violent/imperfect
56 abjure solemnly reject required summoned
58 end purpose
60 certain a certain number of fathoms a fathom was about six feet
61 plummet instrument used to measure the depth of water sound penetrate frantic mad
63 air melody
64 fancy imagination
65 boil that boil
66 spell-stopped motionless, arrested by the spell
68 sociable sympathetic show sight (Gonzalo is weeping)
69 Fall fellowly let fall compassionate apace swiftly
71 rising awakening
72 ignorant dull/befuddled mantle cloak
74 true honest
75 follow’st serve pay…Home repay the debt in full
78 furtherer enabler
80 entertain court/welcome
81 remorse and nature pity and kinship
82 inward pinches inner turmoil/tortures of conscience
85 the…shore i.e., their awakening senses begin to move them toward understanding
89 hat and rapier signs of a gentleman rapier sword
90 discase undress/change costume
91 As…Milan as I looked when I was Duke of Milan
94 cowslip’s bell the bell-shaped petals that form the flower
95 couch rest/conceal myself
105 enforce urge/drive
106 presently immediately
107 drink the air i.e., devour the way, travel quickly
108 Or ere before
111 fearful terrifying/awe-inspiring
119 trifle illusion, trick abuse deceive/harm
122 amends improves
124 be at all is even real
125 Thy…resign Alonso gives up his claims over Milan, a tributary state to Naples
131 be…not is or is not real
134 subtleties illusions, magical contrivances (plays on sense of “sugar confections”)
136 brace pair
138 you you as
144 rankest most grievous
145 perforce of necessity
153 woe sorry
158 the like asimilar sovereign excellent/healing
159 content satisfied/resigned
161 as late recent supportable…weaker I have far fewer means at my disposal with which to make my grief bearable
167 That i.e., were it necessary in order for that to be the case
171 do…admire are so astonished
172 devour their reason their reason is consumed think…truth believe their eyes
173 their…breath they are speechless
175 justled jostled
179 on’t of it
180 chronicle…day a narrative to be told over many days/one day at a time
181 relation report
184 abroad elsewhere
186 requite repay/respond to
187 wonder puns on Miranda’s name
189 play me false are cheating
192 a score twenty wrangle wage war
197 miracle continues wordplay on Miranda’s name
201 compass encircle
204 goodly splendid, worthy
209 eld’st oldest, longest
215 one i.e., a living father
217 renown report/honor
221 hers i.e., her father (in-law)
226 heaviness grief/weight
227 inly inwardly
230 chalked forth marked out
233 Milan…Milan i.e., the Duke of Milan (Prospero)…the dukedom
243 still always his heart the heart of anyone who
248 blasphemy…shore i.e., the Boatswain, who curses freely on his ship, is uncharacteristically silent
253 glasses hourglasses (i.e., three hours) gave out reported
254 tight and yare efficient and seaworthy
258 tricksy cleverly playful
263 clapped under hatches shut up below deck
264 several various
267 at liberty i.e., released from below deck
268 trim finery/clothes
270 Cap’ring leaping/dancing On a trice instantly
272 moping dazed, bewildered
277 conduct guide/director
280 beating dwelling
281 picked leisure a chosen moment of free time
282 be shortly single soon be undivided (referring to leisure)
283 Which…probable in a manner that will convince you
284 happened accidents events that have taken place
285 well easily/cheerfully
290 shift look out for
291 fortune chance, fate Coraggio “have courage” (Italian) bully gallant/my old mate
292 spies i.e., eyes
299 like likely One…fish presumably Caliban
301 badges livery
302 true legitimate/honest
305 And…power could adopt some of the moon’s power without its authority/could operate beyond the reach of the moon’s power
307 bastard illegitimate/hybrid
314 reeling ripe drunk and staggering
315 gilded flushed/enlivened
316 pickle trouble/inebriation/state of being preserved in liquor
317 will…bones (the alcohol) will never leave my body
318 fly-blowing decay (the blowfly lays eggs in dead flesh)
320 cramp i.e., doubled-up from either the pinches of Ariel’s torment or drunkenness
321 sirrah sir (contemptuous)
322 sore aching/dreadful
324 manners behavior/moral conduct
327 trim it handsomely adorn the cell beautifully
329 grace mercy, direction thrice-double sixfold (three times two)
337 waste pass away
340 accidents events
344 solemnized marked with ceremony
346 Every third thought i.e., I will frequently meditate on death, as a good Christian should
349 Take…strangely be an extraordinary, captivating thing to hear
352 expeditious swift catch catch up with
355 draw near probably an invitation to the others to approach his cell, but the phrase also means “attend,” thus preparing the audience for the epilogue
356 charms…o’erthrown my magic is relinquished (o’erthrown plays on the sense of “usurped”)
359 you the audience
364 bands bonds
365 hands i.e., in applause
366 Gentle breath kind words/cries of approval
368 want lack
371 prayer approbation and forgiveness
372 pierces…assaults penetrates so deeply that it moves
375 indulgence approval (playing on the Catholic sense of “official release from sin”)