Original: Ye elves of hills, brooks, standing lakes and groves,
Modern: You elves who live in the hills, streams, ponds and forests,

Original: And ye that on the sands with printless foot
Modern: And you spirits who run across the sand without leaving footprints

Original: Do chase the ebbing Neptune and do fly him
Modern: Chasing the ocean waves as they go out and running from them

Original: When he comes back; you demi-puppets that
Modern: When they come back in; you tiny creatures that

Original: By moonshine do the green sour ringlets make,
Modern: Create those bitter fairy rings in the grass by moonlight,

Original: Whereof the ewe not bites, and you whose pastime
Modern: Which sheep won’t eat, and you spirits whose hobby

Original: Is to make midnight mushrooms, that rejoice
Modern: Is growing mushrooms at midnight, and who are happy

Original: To hear the solemn curfew; by whose aid,
Modern: To hear the evening bell; with your help,

Original: Weak masters though ye be, I have bedimm’d
Modern: Even though you are weak helpers, I have darkened

Original: The noontide sun, call’d forth the mutinous winds,
Modern: The sun at noon, summoned rebellious winds,

Original: And ‘twixt the green sea and the azured vault
Modern: And between the green ocean and the blue sky

Original: Set roaring war: to the dread rattling thunder
Modern: Started a roaring battle: I’ve given fire to the terrifying thunder

Original: Have I given fire and rifted Jove’s stout oak
Modern: And split Jupiter’s mighty oak tree

Original: With his own bolt; the strong-based promontory
Modern: With his own lightning bolt; I’ve made solid cliffs

Original: Have I made shake and by the spurs pluck’d up
Modern: Shake and torn up by the roots

Original: The pine and cedar: graves at my command
Modern: Pine and cedar trees: graves have obeyed my commands,

Original: Have waked their sleepers, oped, and let ‘em forth
Modern: Woken up their dead, opened up, and released them

Original: By my so potent art. But this rough magic
Modern: Through my powerful magic. But I’m giving up this harsh magic

Original: I here abjure, and, when I have required
Modern: Right here and now, and after I’ve requested

Original: Some heavenly music, which even now I do,
Modern: Some divine music, which I’m doing right now,

Original: To work mine end upon their senses that
Modern: To cast my final spell on the senses of those people

Original: This airy charm is for, I’ll break my staff,
Modern: This magical spell is meant for, I’ll break my magic staff,

Original: Bury it certain fathoms in the earth,
Modern: Bury it many feet deep in the ground,

Original: And deeper than did ever plummet sound
Modern: And deeper than any weight has ever been measured

Original: I’ll drown my book.
Modern: I’ll sink my book of spells.

In Act V, Scene 1 of “The Tempest,” Prospero appears in his magic robes with Ariel, who reports that the shipwrecked nobles remain confined and tormented as commanded. Ariel describes how Alonso, Sebastian, Antonio, and the others are trapped in a lime grove, with Alonso, Sebastian, and Antonio driven to madness while Gonzalo weeps for them. When Ariel suggests that Prospero would feel pity if he were human, Prospero decides to forgive his enemies rather than continue their punishment. He renounces his magic, breaks his staff, and drowns his book, then sends Ariel to fetch the captive nobles and release them from their spell.

As the nobles enter the magic circle Prospero has drawn, he gradually reveals himself to each of them, beginning with Gonzalo, whom he embraces warmly. Alonso is astounded to see Prospero alive and immediately repents for his past wrongs, restoring Prospero’s dukedom. Prospero then reveals Ferdinand playing chess with Miranda, leading to a joyful reunion between father and son and Alonso’s amazement at seeing Miranda, whom he initially takes for a goddess. The scene concludes with the entrance of the Boatswain and Master, who report that their ship has been mysteriously restored, followed by Ariel bringing in Caliban, Stephano, and Trinculo in their stolen garments. After settling matters with all parties, Prospero invites everyone to spend the night in his cell before departing the island, and privately instructs Ariel to ensure calm seas for their journey before granting the spirit his long-promised freedom.

The Tempest opens with a violent storm at sea that shipwrecks a vessel carrying Alonso, King of Naples, his son Ferdinand, his brother Sebastian, Antonio (the usurping Duke of Milan), the counselor Gonzalo, and others. The tempest has been conjured by Prospero, the rightful Duke of Milan, who lives in exile on an island with his daughter Miranda. Twelve years earlier, Prospero was overthrown by his brother Antonio with the help of Alonso, and set adrift at sea with the infant Miranda. They survived and reached this island, where Prospero has spent years studying magic and commanding the spirit Ariel, whom he freed from imprisonment in a tree.

The shipwreck separates the survivors into different groups across the island. Ferdinand becomes separated from the others and encounters Miranda, with whom he immediately falls in love, though Prospero tests the young man by enslaving him temporarily. Meanwhile, Antonio and Sebastian plot to murder Alonso and Gonzalo while they sleep, but Ariel awakens Gonzalo just in time. Another group, including the drunken butler Stephano and jester Trinculo, meets Caliban, Prospero’s reluctant servant who is the island’s original inhabitant. Caliban persuades them to help him kill Prospero and take control of the island.

Prospero orchestrates a series of magical interventions: he presents a banquet to Alonso’s group that vanishes when they try to eat, and Ariel appears as a harpy to remind them of their crimes against Prospero. Ariel also disrupts Caliban’s murder plot by leading the conspirators into a stinking pond and then tormenting them with spirits disguised as hunting dogs. Ferdinand proves his love for Miranda by completing the tasks Prospero sets him, and Prospero gives his blessing to their betrothal, celebrating with a masque of spirits.

In the final act, Prospero reveals himself to all the castaways, forgives his enemies, and renounces his magic, breaking his staff and freeing Ariel. Alonso repents his past actions and restores Prospero to his dukedom. Ferdinand and Miranda’s engagement is celebrated, Caliban acknowledges Prospero’s authority and promises to be wise hereafter, and Prospero prepares to return to Milan. The play concludes with Prospero’s epilogue, in which he asks the audience to free him with their applause, as he has freed Ariel.