But how is it that this lives in thy mind

Two themes that stick in my mind when reading the tempest are unveiling and remembrance. The unveiling centers around Prospero and his cape….but this is not just any cape, t’is a magical cape! Remembrance encompasses each and every one of the characters (Miranda sticks out for me though).

In these next lines, Prospero is recalling the past, Miranda’s history, to help her remember but also to see how much of it she still remembers.
MIRANDA
“You have often
Begun to tell me what I am, but stopped
And left me to a bootless inquisition,
Concluding, ‘Stay. Not yet.’”
PROSPERO
“The hour’s now come.
The very minute bids thee ope thine ear.
Obey and be attentive. Canst thou remember
A time before we came unto this cell?
I do not think thou canst, for then thou wast not
Out three years old.”
MIRANDA
“Certainly, sir, I can.”
PROSPERO
“By what? By any other house or person?
Of anything the image tell me that
Hath kept with thy remembrance.”

As Miranda recalls her takers, the muses, and a few other things, Prospero replies:
“But how is it
That this lives in thy mind? What seest thou else
In the dark backward and abysm of time?
If thou rememberest aught ere thou camest here,
How thou camest here thou mayst.”

The power of remembrance is so strong but it is interesting how we think that things happened though they really may not have. Remembrance and imagination can be tied together so tightly, also becoming dangerous for a person. The passage that I quoted above from The Tempest sent shivers through me. My memory is so great and so horrible. I can never remember what I should, but always remember what I wish I could rid from my mind. “In the dark backward and abysm of time”, I find myself constantly looking at the past, recalling memories stored in the darkness. It is as if they lurk behind this veil that one could label with many words: sorrow, love, pain, and misery. I long to unveil them and hopefully be free of them, but there is always another “vale” for them to hide behind. They transform rapidly. Remembrance. The past. I carry it with me, allowing it to weigh me down.