Title



Prospero's Speech, when he relinquishes his power at the end of The Tempest and leaves his island forever:

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 confined by you,
Or sent to Naples. Let me not,
Since I have my dukedom got
And pardoned 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 relieved by prayer,
Which pierces so that it assaults
Mercy itself and frees all faults.
As you from crimes would pardoned be,
Let your indulgence set me free.

Picture is of Patrick Stewart as Prospero in a production of The Tempest I saw in the outdoor theater in Central Park 23 years ago. During the whole play a real storm was gathering overhead. And as he gave his final speech , for which they cut his microphone, so that he spoke only with his own fragile voice, real lightning flashed overhead and the winds whipped everything around. And then rain began to pour as they took their bows.

Comments

  1. Pete SegretiNovember 8, 2018 at 9:00 PM

    I still can't decide if I liked the in or out of character speech more from that session.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Maxime GolubchikNovember 8, 2018 at 9:41 PM

    I though you meant our Patrick Stuart and was really confused.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nick KuntzNovember 9, 2018 at 7:01 AM

    That is an amazing story.

    ReplyDelete

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