On this day in 1611 Shakespeare’s the Tempest played for the first time at the Whitehall Palace in London. Some say his masterwork. Certainly my favorite of his plays.
As Caliban sings to us
Be not afeard. The isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometimes voices
That, if I then had waked after long sleep,
Will make me sleep again; and then, in dreaming,
The clouds methought would open, and show riches
Ready to drop upon me, that when I waked,
I cried to dream again.
The great dream itself, dreaming reality…
Something I find worth recalling on this feast of all saints…
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In