Enter Caliban.
12 From William Shakespeare’s The Tempest [1611], Act 1, Scene 2
PROSPERO, to Caliban
Thou poisonous slave, got by the devil himself [383]
Upon thy wicked dam, come forth!
Thou poisonous slave, got by the devil himself [383]
Upon thy wicked dam, come forth!
CALIBAN
As wicked dew as e’er my mother brushed [385]
With raven’s feather from unwholesome fen
Drop on you both. A southwest blow on you
And blister you all o’er.
As wicked dew as e’er my mother brushed [385]
With raven’s feather from unwholesome fen
Drop on you both. A southwest blow on you
And blister you all o’er.
PROSPERO
For this, be sure, tonight thou shalt have cramps,
Side-stitches that shall pen thy breath up. Urchins [390]
Shall forth at vast of night that they may work
All exercise on thee. Thou shalt be pinched
As thick as honeycomb, each pinch more stinging
Than bees that made ’em.
For this, be sure, tonight thou shalt have cramps,
Side-stitches that shall pen thy breath up. Urchins [390]
Shall forth at vast of night that they may work
All exercise on thee. Thou shalt be pinched
As thick as honeycomb, each pinch more stinging
Than bees that made ’em.
CALIBAN
I must eat my dinner. [395]
This island’s mine by Sycorax, my mother,
Which thou tak’st from me. When thou cam’st first,
Thou strok’st me and made much of me, wouldst
give me
Water with berries in ’t, and teach me how [400]
To name the bigger light and how the less,
That burn by day and night. And then I loved thee,
And showed thee all the qualities o’ th’ isle,
The fresh springs, brine pits, barren place and
fertile. [405]
Cursed be I that did so! All the charms
Of Sycorax, toads, beetles, bats, light on you,
For I am all the subjects that you have,
Which first was mine own king; and here you sty me
In this hard rock, whiles you do keep from me [410]
The rest o’ th’ island.
This island’s mine by Sycorax, my mother,
Which thou tak’st from me. When thou cam’st first,
Thou strok’st me and made much of me, wouldst
give me
Water with berries in ’t, and teach me how [400]
To name the bigger light and how the less,
That burn by day and night. And then I loved thee,
And showed thee all the qualities o’ th’ isle,
The fresh springs, brine pits, barren place and
fertile. [405]
Cursed be I that did so! All the charms
Of Sycorax, toads, beetles, bats, light on you,
For I am all the subjects that you have,
Which first was mine own king; and here you sty me
In this hard rock, whiles you do keep from me [410]
The rest o’ th’ island.
PROSPERO
Thou most lying slave,
Whom stripes may move, not kindness, I have used
thee,
Filth as thou art, with humane care, and lodged [415]
thee
In mine own cell, till thou didst seek to violate
The honor of my child.
CALIBAN
O ho, O ho! Would ’t had been done!
Thou didst prevent me. I had peopled else [420]
This isle with Calibans.
Whom stripes may move, not kindness, I have used
thee,
Filth as thou art, with humane care, and lodged [415]
thee
In mine own cell, till thou didst seek to violate
The honor of my child.
CALIBAN
O ho, O ho! Would ’t had been done!
Thou didst prevent me. I had peopled else [420]
This isle with Calibans.
MIRANDA
Abhorrèd slave,
Which any print of goodness wilt not take,
Being capable of all ill! I pitied thee,
Took pains to make thee speak, taught thee each [425]
hour
One thing or other. When thou didst not, savage,
Know thine own meaning, but wouldst gabble like
A thing most brutish, I endowed thy purposes
With words that made them known. But thy vile [430]
race,
Though thou didst learn, had that in ’t which good
natures
Could not abide to be with. Therefore wast thou
Deservedly confined into this rock, [435]
Who hadst deserved more than a prison.
Which any print of goodness wilt not take,
Being capable of all ill! I pitied thee,
Took pains to make thee speak, taught thee each [425]
hour
One thing or other. When thou didst not, savage,
Know thine own meaning, but wouldst gabble like
A thing most brutish, I endowed thy purposes
With words that made them known. But thy vile [430]
race,
Though thou didst learn, had that in ’t which good
natures
Could not abide to be with. Therefore wast thou
Deservedly confined into this rock, [435]
Who hadst deserved more than a prison.
CALIBAN
You taught me language, and my profit on ’t
Is I know how to curse. The red plague rid you
For learning me your language!
You taught me language, and my profit on ’t
Is I know how to curse. The red plague rid you
For learning me your language!
PROSPERO
Hagseed, hence! [440]
Fetch us in fuel; and be quick, thou ’rt best,
To answer other business. Shrugg’st thou, malice?
If thou neglect’st or dost unwillingly
What I command, I’ll rack thee with old cramps,
Fill all thy bones with aches, make thee roar. [445]
That beasts shall tremble at thy din.
Fetch us in fuel; and be quick, thou ’rt best,
To answer other business. Shrugg’st thou, malice?
If thou neglect’st or dost unwillingly
What I command, I’ll rack thee with old cramps,
Fill all thy bones with aches, make thee roar. [445]
That beasts shall tremble at thy din.
CALIBAN
No, pray thee.
Aside. I must obey. His art is of such power
It would control my dam’s god, Setebos,
And make a vassal of him. [450]
Aside. I must obey. His art is of such power
It would control my dam’s god, Setebos,
And make a vassal of him. [450]
PROSPERO
So, slave, hence.
Caliban exits.
Caliban exits.
*********
From: Shakespeare, William. The Tempest from The Folger Shakespeare. Ed. Barbara Mowat, Paul Werstine, Michael Poston, and Rebecca Niles. Folger Shakespeare Library, January 16, 2023. https://shakespeare.folger.edu/shakespeares-works/the-tempest/entire-play/#
Want more background info?
“Synopsis and Overview of Shakespeare’s The Tempest.” Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, January 16, 2023. https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/explore-shakespeare/shakespedia/shakespeares-plays/tempest/
“Dates and Sources.” The Royal Shakespeare Company, January 16, 2023.