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Shakespeare's Monologues

Trinculo

The Tempest: Act 2 Scene 2

Monologue

Scored Monologue

Number of syllables Scored text Meaning of beat
9 Here's neither bush nor shrub, to bear off [Beginning of beat 1] To examine
13 any weather at all, and another storm brewing;
10 I hear it sing i' the wind: yond same black
8 cloud, yond huge one; looks like a foul
10 bombard that would shed his liquor. If it
11 should thunder as it did before, I know not
10 where to hide my head: yond same cloud cannot [End of beat 1]
9 choose but fall by pailfuls. What have we [Beginning of beat 2] To ponder
11

here? a man or a fish? dead or alive? A fish:
12 he smells like a fish; a very ancient and fish-
10 like smell; a kind of not the newest Poor-
10 John. A strange fish! Were I in England now,
11 as once I was, and had but this fish painted,
12 not a holiday fool there but would give a piece
11 of silver: there would this monster make a man:
11 when they will not give a doit to relieve a lame
12 beggar, they will lazy out ten to see a dead
11 Indian. Legged like a man and his fins like
10 arms! Warm o' my troth! I do now let loose
13 my opinion; hold it no longer: this is no fish,
13 but an islander, that hath lately suffered by a
3 thunderbolt. [Thunder] [End of beat 2]
13 Alas, the storm is come again! my best way is to [Beginning of beat 3] To resolve
12 creep under his gaberdine; there is no other
13 shelter hereabouts: misery acquaints a man with
10 strange bed-fellows. I will here shroud till the
6 dregs of the storm be past. [End of beat 3 and monologue]

Each row of the following table represents one line of the monologue. The first column indicates the number of syllables in that line of text. The second column is the scored text, meaning that boldfaced text indicates where emphasis should be placed when performing the monologue. The third column represents a beat, or section, of the monologue. The third column is only used to indicate the beginning of a beat and its meaning, or the end of a beat. 

Definitions from David & Ben Crystal / Shakespeare's Words are under copyright, and may not be used without their express permission. All other definitions are from sources in the public domain.
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