ACT 1
Scene 1
A tempestuous noise of thunder and lightning heard.
Enter a Shipmaster and a Boatswain.
MASTER
Boatswain!
BOATSWAIN
Here, master. What cheer?
MASTER
Good, speak to th' mariners. Fall to 't yarely,
or we run ourselves aground. Bestir, bestir!
He exits.
Enter Mariners.
BOATSWAIN
Heigh, my hearts! Cheerly, cheerly, my [5]
hearts! Yare, yare! Take in the topsail. Tend to th'
Master's whistle.--Blow till thou burst thy wind, if
room enough!
Enter Alonso, Sebastian, Antonio, Ferdinand,
Gonzalo, and others.
ALONSO
Good boatswain, have care. Where's the Master?
Play the men. [10]
BOATSWAIN
I pray now, keep below.
ANTONIO
Where is the Master, boatswain?
BOATSWAIN
Do you not hear him? You mar our labor.
Keep your cabins. You do assist the storm.
GONZALO
Nay, good, be patient. [15]
BOATSWAIN
When the sea is. Hence! What cares these

The Shipwreck, a Mediterannean seascape. Voyagers struggle for survival, on ship and overboard.
Engraving by Abraham Casembrot (1573-1670?) © The Trustees of the British Museum.