In William Shakespeare's Tempest, Act IV, Prospero says,
You do look, my son, in a moved sort, As if you were dismay'd: be cheerful, sir. Our revels now are ended. These our actors, As I foretold you, were all spirits and Are melted into air, into thin air: And, like the baseless fabric of this vision, The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces, The solemn temples, the great globe itself, Yea all which it inherit, shall dissolve And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff As dreams are made on, and our little life Is rounded with a sleep. Sir, I am vex'd; Bear with my weakness; my, brain is troubled: Be not disturb'd with my infirmity: If you be pleased, retire into my cell And there repose: a turn or two I'll walk, To still my beating mind.
How perfectly wonderful to see and hear the context of this one line, Ruth: "We are such stuff As dreams are made on, and our little life
ReplyDeleteIs rounded with a sleep." Happy Memorial Day weekend!
After so many centuries, his words continue to stun the unsuspecting mind, both in insight and artistry. I suppose he will never have a peer.
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