SHAKESPEARE AND PSYCHOGNOSIS 23 1 



ness, nor no sound that the earth owes: I hear it now above me." It is precisely at 

 this point that Prospero says, 



"The fringed curtains of thine eye advance, 

 And say what thou seest yond." 

 At this moment Miranda and Ferdinand fall in love, and thus the mortal is linked 

 to the spiritual in the very center of the plot. Ariel has roused in Ferdinand a pro- 

 found spiritual craving, and, as his eyes fall upon Miranda, he exclaims: "Most 

 sure the goddess on whom these airs attend!" It is in this that natural magic is 

 seen to be seated.' Prospero thanks Ariel for his service in bringing Ferdinand in 

 this way: Prospero here controls human life at its fountain: 

 "Spirit, fine spirit, I'll free thee 

 Within two days for this." 



Prospero attaches very serious importance to the high romantic art of the fantastica' 

 spirit, and its influence upon this pair of children. "Miranda is fifteen, and Ferdi- 

 nand presumably not much older." He afterwards exclaims again: "Delicate Ariel, 

 I'll set thee free for this." As if in some mysterious way the freeing of the spirit 

 depended upon the success of true love, and true love depended upon the labors of 

 the spirit.^ 



At the close of the scene Ariel receives a new command, which he promises to 

 obey to the syllable. 



It appears from the scene that, though Ariel is a spirit, his character is firmly out- 

 lined by words, actions, and descriptive narration. He possesses powers over the 

 elements of physical nature far transcending those of science as known to Shakes- 

 peare, or even as known today. He exercises these powers, as far as can be learned) 

 immediately, not mediately. This is his peculiar gift as a spirit. He prefers play 

 to labor, and has no initiative in useful effort, but in mimicry or play he shows pleasur- 

 able activity; restraint makes him moody and low-spirited. What he agrees to do 

 he does satisfactorily in every respect; but it seems he would do anything else with 

 equal exactness, if Prospero commanded it. Uncontrolled, he would play, like Puck- 

 As far as his story extends, he has been a servant or a prisoner. When the service 

 was too distasteful, he rebelled, to his cost. It was through learning that he became 

 . comparatively free. He therefore owes it to learning to lend his powers to its further 

 needs. There is danger of a worse fate if he refuses, which is a course within his 

 choice. 



His power extends to his own form, which he can change or render invisible. 



His songs are marked by two distinct characteristics — the pure love of mere 

 beauty — as music, dancing, landscape, joyous playfulness; and the note of remote- 



'Cf. Kipling's "To the true Romance." 



" The pedagogy that aims at modifying environment leaves the raw material of education to chance. The 

 control of selection by science, however impossible at present, can alone bring the evolution of man within the 

 control of knowledge. 



