The Tempest contains many images of the sea that evoke the senses of sight, sound, and touch. In Act 1, Scene 2, Miranda begs Prospero to stop the storm:
If by your art, my dearest father, you have
Put the wild waters in this roar, allay them.
The sky, it seems, would pour down stinking pitch,
But that the sea, mounting to the welkin's cheek,
Dashes the fire out.
Here, Miranda tries to evoke the violence of the storm by describing how "wild" the sea looks. She also uses auditory imagery to describe its sound, talking about the "roar" of the water. Finally, she describes the storm's terrible smell of "stinking pitch."
In the same scene, Prospero accuses Ariel of being ungrateful. Ariel has just demanded his freedom, but Prospero reminds him of how he must stay and repay his debt:
Thou dost, and think'st it much to tread the ooze
Of the salt deep,
To run upon the sharp wind of the north,
To do me business in the veins o' the earth
When it is baked with frost.
Prospero still wants Ariel to "do [him] business" by bending the elements to his will. Soon after their discussion, Ariel strives to fulfill Prospero's wishes and sings a song to Ferdinand with striking imagery of a drowned father:
Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell.
The visual imagery of coral bones and pearl eyes creates a fantastic picture of Ferdinand's father drowning at sea. Despite Ferdinand's belief that he is dead, Alonso is alive and well. But Ariel's powerful song deceives Ferdinand into believing that he will never see him again.
Ariel employs not only visual imagery but also alliteration; the repetition of the /s/ and /f/ sounds enhances Ariel's song. Throughout the play, characters employ this kind of evocative language along with vivid imagery to draw the audience further into the plot. This demonstrates both the power and the enticing magic of language itself.
