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20th may 2004Prospero: Poor worm, thou art infected! This visitation shows it. He means his daughter, who is falling in love with Ferdinand: the notes in the Arden edition point you to the OED: Worm, n.: A human being likened to a worm or reptile as an object of contempt, scorn, or pity; an abject, miserable creature. With qualification expressing tenderness, playfulness, or commiseration: A human being, 'creature'. Obs. (In 16th c. esp. loving worm.) Which reminds you of Steinbeck's friend Ed Ricketts, who admired worms of all kinds and found them so desirable that, searching around for a pet name for a girl he loved, he called her "Wormy." She was a little huffy until she realized that he was using not the adjective but the diminutive of the noun. His use of this word meant that he found her pretty, interesting, and desirable. But still it always sounded to the girl like an adjective.
Plus the words worm and tempest bring to mind Blake's invisible worm in the howling storm, a rather less sympathetic creature.
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