Amazement, wonder – no harm done… (1.2.13-15) #StormTossed

PROSPERO                                         Be collected; No more amazement. Tell your piteous heart There’s no harm done. MIRANDA                                          O woe the day. PROSPERO                                                                 No harm! (1.2.13-15) Just a little fragment, this, Prospero’s first words in the play. The stichomythia, the line sharing, is important: yes, Prospero’s interrupting Miranda’s anguished response to the spectacle of the storm […]

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Enter Mariners, wet (1.1.50-68) #StormTossed

Enter Mariners, wet. MARINERS     All lost! To prayers, to prayers! All lost! BOATSWAIN  What, must our mouths be cold? GONZALO       The King and prince at prayers, let’s assist them, for our case is as theirs. SEBASTIAN    I’m out of patience. ANTONIO       We are merely cheated of our lives by drunkards. This wide-chopped rascal – would thou […]

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Get out of the way! (1.1.9-18) #StormTossed

Enter ALONSO, SEBASTIAN, ANTONIO, FERDINAND, GONZALO and others. ALONSO         Good boatswain, take care. Where’s the master? Play the men! BOATSWAIN  I pray now, keep below! 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 […]

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Storm warning! (1.1.1-8) #StormTossed

A tempestuous noise of thunder and lightning heard; enter a Shipmaster and a Boatswain. MASTER         Boatswain! BOATSWAIN  Here master. What cheer? MASTER         Good, speak to th’mariners. Fall to’t yarely or we run ourselves aground. Bestir, bestir!                                                                                 Exit. Enter Mariners. BOATSWAIN  Heigh, my hearts; cheerly, cheerly, my hearts! Yare! Yare! Take in the topsail. Tend to the master’s […]

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#StormTossed: a new #SlowShakespeare blog

Starting on 1 October 2019, I am writing about Shakespeare’s great, late play The Tempest every day, beginning at the beginning and writing about 5-10 lines of the text at a time. My focus is mostly on language and sometimes on performance, and  just seeing where it takes me! Follow @starcrossed2018 for new posts; most […]

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