Where the bee sucks, there suck I;
In a cowslip’s bell I lie;
There I cough where owls do cry.
On the bat’s back I do fly
After summer merrily:
Merrily, merrily shall I live now,
Under the blossom that hangs on the bough.
– William Shakespeare
The Tempest, Act 5, Scene 1. Ariel’s last song, which he sings while helping to attire Prospero, as the sorcerer removes his wizard’s robes and dresses in his city clothes, in preparation for leaving his magic powers behind. Ariel sings of himself as a fairy drinking nector from flowers and creeping into the bell-shaped flowers of the cowslip. He also flies on the back of a bat chasing summer and fleeing winter, to live in perpetual sunshine and warmth. The song evokes a beautiful picture of nature, reflecting Ariel’s dream of freedom from service to Prospero.