Original: I told you, sir, they were red-hot with drinking;
Modern: I told you, sir, they were burning hot from drinking so much;

Original: So fun of valour that they smote the air
Modern: So full of drunken courage that they hit the air

Original: For breathing in their faces; beat the ground
Modern: For daring to blow on their faces; they beat the ground

Original: For kissing of their feet; yet always bending
Modern: For touching their feet; but they kept moving

Original: Towards their project. Then I beat my tabour;
Modern: Toward their goal. Then I played my small drum;

Original: At which, like unback’d colts, they prick’d their ears,
Modern: At this sound, like wild young horses, they perked up their ears,

Original: Advanced their eyelids, lifted up their noses
Modern: Opened their eyes wide, raised their noses

Original: As they smelt music: so I charm’d their ears
Modern: As if they could smell the music: I enchanted their hearing

Original: That calf-like they my lowing follow’d through
Modern: So that like baby cows they followed my cow-like sounds through

Original: Tooth’d briers, sharp furzes, pricking goss and thorns,
Modern: Thorny bushes, sharp shrubs, prickly gorse and thorns,

Original: Which entered their frail shins: at last I left them
Modern: Which scratched up their weak legs: finally I left them

Original: I’ the filthy-mantled pool beyond your cell,
Modern: In the scum-covered pond beyond your cave,

Original: There dancing up to the chins, that the foul lake
Modern: There dancing up to their chins, so that the dirty lake

Original: O’erstunk their feet.
Modern: Smelled worse than their feet.

In Act IV, Scene 1 of “The Tempest,” Prospero presents a magical masque to celebrate the betrothal of Ferdinand and Miranda. The scene opens with Prospero giving his blessing to the young couple’s engagement, though he sternly warns Ferdinand about maintaining Miranda’s chastity until their wedding. Prospero then summons Ariel to orchestrate a spectacular entertainment featuring the goddesses Iris, Ceres, and Juno, who appear as spirits to bless the union with promises of prosperity, abundance, and marital harmony. The masque includes dancing spirits representing reapers and nymphs, creating an elaborate celestial celebration that delights Ferdinand and Miranda.

The magical performance is abruptly interrupted when Prospero suddenly remembers Caliban’s plot against his life, which he had arranged with Stephano and Trinculo. His agitation causes the spirits to vanish instantly, leaving Ferdinand and Miranda confused by the sudden change. Prospero delivers his famous speech about the insubstantial nature of the pageant and how “we are such stuff as dreams are made on,” before dismissing the young couple so he can deal with the conspiracy. The scene concludes with Prospero and Ariel preparing to confront Caliban and his confederates, with Ariel reporting on their drunken progress toward Prospero’s cell and their distraction by the fine clothing he has hung out as a trap.

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.