The good counselor Gonzalo is also delighted at the way events have turned out, and he calls upon the “gods” to bless the fortunate couple (lines 204- 05). Gonzalo then contemplates and marvels at the way destiny has turned all of the sour events of the past into a much sweeter future:
O rejoice Beyond a common joy! And set it down With gold on lasting pillars: in one voyage Did Claribel her husband find at Tunis, And Ferdinand her brother found a wife
Where he himself was lost; Prospero his dukedom In a poor isle; and all of us ourselves,
When no man was his own. (209-16)
The last sentence refers to how Gonzalo, Alonso, and the others had lost their minds or senses (and, hence, they were not themselves). But in regaining their sanity, they found themselves. The line, though, has a second meaning: it also indicates that Alonso, Sebastian, and Antonio were not themselves because they had been consumed by ambition and other negative emotions. But now, after their experience on Prospero’s island, their reason has returned and has driven out the negative passions that had controlled them.
Soon Ariel returns, bringing with him the two chief mariners, the Master and the Boatswain. Through Ariel’s magic the ship has been repaired and restored as if it were new, but the Boatswain is unable to explain how it happened or how he and the Master of the ship were led to their king. Alonso is once again amazed, but Prospero promises to explain all of the mysteries at a later time.