As Alonso, Sebastian, and Antonio begin to regain their senses, Prospero removes his wizard robe and puts on articles of dress (line 84: “hat and rapier”) appropriate for his former position as the Duke of Milan.
While Prospero is dressing with the help of his airy spirit, Ariel sings a light song. Similarities to the fairy Puck (in A Midsummer Night’s Dream) are also suggested by the lyrics. Ariel sings that he is small enough to lie inside a cowslip (a type of flower) and to ride on the back of a bat (lines 88-91). In Shakespeare’s earlier comedy the fairies are also connected to cowslips (Midsummer Night’s Dream: Act II, Scene 1: 10-15), and Puck (also called Robin Goodfellow) describes himself as being small enough to hide inside a cup or bowl (II, 1: 47). Although, in medieval Celtic mythology, fairies or demons from the underworld were as large as humans, they began to shrink in size as belief in such creatures diminished. Shakespeare is one of the first writers to describe fairies as being diminutive in size. Of course, the real magic occurs in the imagination of the audience since boys or adult men would perform the parts of both Puck and Ariel.