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Scene I

On a ship at sea. A tempestuous noise of thunder and lightning heard.

[Enter a Master and a Boatswain]

MASTER:

Boatswain!

BOATS:

Here, Master. What cheer?

MASTER:

Good, speak to the mariners. Fall to't, yarely,
or we run ourselves aground. Bestir

Exit

Enter Mariners

BOATS:

Heigh, my hearts! Cheerly, cheerly, my hearts! Yare,(5)
yare! Take in the topsail. Tend to the Master's whistle!
Blow, till thou burst thy wind, if room enough!

[Enter Alonso, Sebastian, Antonio, Ferdinand, Gonzalo, and others]

ALONSO:

Good Boatswain, have care. Where's the Master?
[To the Mariners] Play the men!

BOATS:

I pray now, keep below.

ANTONIO:

Where is the Master, Boatswain?(10)

BOATS:

Do you not hear him? You mar our labour. Keep your
cabins: you do assist the storm.

GONZ:

Nay, good, be patient.

BOATS:

When the sea is. Hence! What cares these roarers for the
name of the king? To cabin: silence! Trouble us not.(15)

GONZ:

Good, yet remember whom thou has aboard.

BOATS:

None that I more love than myself. You are a counsellor;
if you can command these elements to silence, and work
the peace of the present, we will not hand a rope more;
use your authority. If you cannot, give thanks you have(20)
lived so long, and make yourself ready in your cabin for
the mischance of the hour, if it so hap. [To the Mariners]
Cheerly, good hearts! [To Gonzalo] Out of our way, I say!

Exit

GONZ:

I have great comfort from this fellow. Methinks he hath
no drowning mark upon him; his complexion is perfect(25)
gallows. Stand fast, good Fate, to his hanging. Make
the rope of his destiny our cable, for our own doth little
advantage. If he be not born to be hanged, our case is
miserable.

[Exeunt]

[Enter Boatswain]

BOATS:

Down with the topmast! Yare! Lower, lower! Bring(30)
her to try with main-course! [A cry within] A plague
upon this howling! They are louder than the weather
or our office.

[Enter Sebastian, Antonio, and Gonzalo]

Yet again! What do you here? Shall we give o'er and
drown? Have you a mind to sink?(35)

SEBAST:

A pox o’ your throat, you bawling, blasphemous,
incharitable dog!

BOATS:

Work you, then.

ANTONIO:

Hang, cur, hang, you whoreson, insolent noise-
maker! We are less(40)
afraid to be drowned than thou art.

GONZ:

I'll warrant him for drowning, though the ship
were no stronger than a nutshell and as leaky as an
unstanched wench.

BOATS:

Lay her a-hold, a-hold! Set her two courses! Off to(45)
sea again; lay her off!

[Enter Mariners wet]

MARINERS:

All lost! To prayers, to prayers! All lost!

[Exeunt Mariners]

BOATS:

What, must our mouths be cold?

GONZ:

The king and prince at prayers! Let's assist them,
For our case is theirs.(50)

SEBAST:

I'm out of patience.

ANTONIO:

We are merely cheated of our lives by drunkards.
This wide-chopped rascal—would thou mightst lie
drowning
The washing of ten tides!(55)

GONZ:

He'll be hanged yet,
Though every drop of water swear against it,
And gape at wid'st to glut him.

[A confused noise within]

MARINERS:

‘Mercy on us!’—‘We split, we split!’—‘Farewell, my
wife and children!’—‘Farewell, brother!’—‘We split, we(60)
split, we split!’

[Exit Boatswain]

ANTONIO:

Let's all sink wi'th’ King.

SEBAST:

Let's take leave of him.

[Exeunt Antonio and Sebastian]

GONZ:

Now would I give a thousand furlongs of sea for an acre
of barren ground—long heath, brown furze, anything. The(65)
wills above be done, but I would fain die a dry death.

[Exeunt]

• ‘Good, you're here.’
• right away, quickly
• ‘get up,’ ’arise’
• hearties; mates
• Taking in the topsail reduces the sail's surface area and decreases the wind's ability to push the ship closer to the island.
• Listen; Pay attention
• There are two possibilities in interpreting this use of direct address: One is that the Boatswain is speaking directly to the storm, telling it to be as forceful as it can, so long as there is ample room for the ship to maneuver and take the powerful blows of the storm without hitting any reefs or rocks. The other is that the Boatswain is simply telling a mariner to blow on the whistle as loudly as possible.
• ‘Act like men!’
• to damage; spoil
• ‘Good man’
• Roarers is a term the Boatswain uses in reference to the passengers; however, the term also refers to the rough, stormy waves, in which case it would be an example of personification.
• Gonzalo is a member of the king's council, but this title also refers to someone who persuades or advises.
• handle
• A birthmark in a specific position was believed to predict a person's death through drowning. A well-known proverb in Shakespeare's time was, “He that is born to be hanged will never be drowned.”
• referring to an anchor cable, even though their anchor is of little help in a fierce thunderstorm
• has little use
• Lowering the topmast decreases the top weight of the ship and makes it more stable.
• The men want to attempt sailing the ship at an angle into the wind. With this technique, they are hoping that the ship will be pushed away from the island.
• the other passengers
• work
• up: over (to the weather)
• a disease (usually smallpox)
• verbally abusive; insulting to God
• coward; dog
• a son of a whore
• arrogant
• Gonzalo guarantees the Boatswain will not drown.
• even if
• freely flowing
• This command refers to setting the foresail and the mainsail, which will help in keeping the ship as close to the wind as possible.
• “…get the ship out to sea!”
• A well-known proverb, “to be cold in the mouth” meant “to be dead” however, other critics interpret the lines to suggest that the mariners warm their cold mouths with liquor.
• completely; utterly
• big mouthed
• Antonio is alluding to the punishment for pirates, which was to be hanged during low tide and left until three tides had passed.
• widest so as to swallow
• measures of distance; a furlong is one-eighth of a mile
• Gonzalo is referring to various shrubs that are all hardy enough to flourish even in poor soil. He would rather be on land, even land barely able to sustain life, than at sea.