Dem. O, why rebuke you him that loves you so? Lay breath so bitter on your bitter foe.

Her. Now I but chide, but I should use thee worse, For thou, I fear, has given me cause to curse. If thou hast slain Lysander in his sleep, Being o'er shoes in blood, plunge in the deep, And kill me too.

The sun was not so true unto the day,

As he to me: Would he have stolen away
From sleeping Hermia? I'll believe as soon,
This whole earth may be bored; and that the moon
May through the centre creep, and so displease
Her brother's noon-tide with the Antipodes.
It cannot be, but thou hast murder'd him;
So should a murderer look; so dead, so grim.

Dem. So should the murder'd look, and so should I
Pierced through the heart with your stern cruelty,
Yet you, the murderer, look as bright, as clear,
As youder Venus in her glimmering sphere.
Her. What's this to my Lysander? Where is he?
Ah, good Demetrius, wilt thou give him me?
Dem. I had rather give his carcase to my hounds.
Her. Out, dog! out, cur! thou drivʼst me past the
bounds

Of maiden's patience. Hast thou slain him then?
Henceforth be never number'd among men!
O! once tell true, tell true, even for my sake!
Durst thou have look'd upon him, being awake,
And hast thou kill'd him sleeping? O brave touch*!
Could not a worm, an adder, do so much?
An adder did it; for with a doubler tongue
Than thine, thou serpent, never adder stung.
Dem. You spend your passion on a misprised
I am not guilty of Lysander's blood;
Nor is he dead, for aught that I can tell.

mood:

[Exit.

Her. I pray thee, tell me then that he is well. Dem. An if I could, what should I get therefore? Her. A privilege uever to see me more.And from thy hated presence part I so: See me no more, whether he be dead or no. Dem. There is no following her in this fierce vein: Here, therefore, for a while I will remain. So sorrow's heaviness doth heavier grow For debt that bankrupt sleep doth sorrow owe; Which now in some slight measure it will pay, If for his tender here I make some stay. [Lies down. Obe. What hast thou done? Thou hast mistaken quite,

And laid the love-juice on some true-love's sight: Of thy misprision must perforce ensue

Some true love turn'd, and not a false turn'd true. Puck. Then fate o'er-rules; that, one man holding troth,

A million fail, confounding oath on oath.

Obe. About the wood go swifter than the wind,
And Helena of Athens look thou find :
All fancy-sick she is, and pale of cheer
With sighs of love, that cost the fresh blood dear:
By some illusion see thou bring her here;
I'll charm his eyes, against she do appear.
Puck. I go, I go; look, how I go;
Swifter than arrow from the Tartar's bow.

Obe. Flower of this purple dye,
Hit with Cupid's archery,

Sink in apple of his eye!
When his love he doth espy,
Let her shine as gloriously
As the Venus of the sky,-
When thou wak'st, if she be by,
Beg of her for remedy.

Re-enter PUCK.

Puck. Captain of our fairy band,
Helena is here at hand;
And the youth, mistook by me,
Pleading for a lover's fee;
Shall we their fond pageant see?
Lord, what fools these mortals be!

Obe. Stand aside; the noise they make,

Will cause Demetrius to awake.

Puck. Then will two, at once, woo one;

That must needs be sport alone:

And those things do best please me,

That befal preposterously.

Enter LYSANDER and HELENA.

Look, when I vow, I weep; and vows so born,
In their nativity all truth appears.
How can these things in me seem scorn to you,
Bearing the badge of faith, to prove them.true?

Hel. You do advance your cunning more and more.
When truth kills truth, O devilish-holy fray!
These vows are Hermia's; Will you give her o'er?
Weigh oath with oath, and you will nothing weigh:
Your vows to her and me, put in two scales,
Will even weigh; and both as light as tales.

Lys. I had no judgment, when to her I swore.
Hel. Nor none, in my mind, now you give her o'er.
Lys. Demetrius loves her, and he loves not you.
Dem. [Awaking.] O Helen, goddess, nymph, per-
fect, divine!

To what, my love, shall I compare thine eyne?
Crystal is muddy. O, how ripe in show
Thy lips, those kissing cherries, tempting grow!
That pure congealed white, high Taurus' snow,
Fann'd with the eastern wind, turns to a crow,
When thou hold'st up thy hand: O let me kiss
This princess of pure white, this seal of bliss!
Hel. O spite! O hell! I see you all are bent
To set against me for your merriment.
If you were civil, and knew courtesy,
You would not do me thus much injury.
Can you not hate me, as I know you do,
But you must join, in souls *, to mock me too?
If you were men, as men you are in show,
You would not use a gentle lady so;

To vow, and swear, and superpraise my parts,
When, I am sure, you hate me with your hearts.
You both are rivals, and love Hermia;
And now both rivals, to mock Helena:
A trim exploit, a manly enterprise,
To conjure tears up in a poor maid's eyes,
With your derision! None of noble sort+,
Would so offend a virgin; and extort

A poor soul's patience, all to make you sport.
Lys. You are unkind, Demetrius; be not so;
For you love Hermia; this you know, I know:
And here, with all good will, with all my heart,
In Hermia's love I yield you up my part;
And yours of Helena to me bequeath,
Whom I do love, and will do to my death.
Hel. Never did mockers waste more idle breath.
Dem. Lysander, keep thy Hermia; I will none:
If e'er I loved her, all that love is gone.
My heart with her but, as guest-wise, sojourn'd;
And now to Helen is it home return'd,
There to remain.

Lys. Helen, it is not so.

Dem. Desparage not the faith thou dost not know, Lest, to thy peril, thou aby it dear t.Look, where thy love comes; yonder is thy dear,

Enter HERMIA.

know,

The hate I bear thee made me leave thee so?
Her. You speak not as you think; it cannot be.
Hel. Lo, she is one of this confederacy!
Now I perceive they have conjoin'd, all three,
To fashion this false sport in spite of me.
Injurious Hermia! most ungrateful maid!
Have you conspired, have you with these contrived
To bait me with this foul derision?

Is all the counsel that we too have shared,
The sisters' vows, the hours that we have spent,
When we have chid the hasty footed time
For parting us,-0, and is all forgot?

scorn?

Scorn and derision never come in tears:

We, Hermia, like two artificial || gods,

Have with our neelds* created both one flower,
Both on one sampler, sitting on one cushion,
Both warbling of one song, both in one key;
As if our hands, our sides, voices, and minds,
Had been incorporate. So we grew together,
Like to a double cherry, seeming parted;
But yet a union in partition,

Two lovely berries moulded on one stem:
So, with two seeming bodies, but one heart;
Two of the first, like coats in heraldry,

Due but to one, aud crowned with one crest.
And will you rent our ancient love asunder,
To join with men in scorning your poor friend?
It is not friendly, 'tis not maidenly:
Our sex, as well as I, may chide you for it;
Though I alone do feel the injury.

Her. I am amazed at your passionate words:
I scorn you not; it seems that you scorn me.
Hel. Have you not set Lysander, as in scorn,
To follow me, and praise my eyes and face?
And made your other love, Demetrius,
(Who even but now did spurn me with his foot,)
To call me goddess, nymph, divine, and rare,
Precious, celestial? Wherefore speaks he this
To her he hates? And wherefore doth Lysander
Deny your love, so rich within his sout
And tender me, forsooth, affection;
But by your setting on, by your consent?
What though I be not so in grace as you,
So hung upon with love, so fortunate;
But miserable most, to love unloved?
This you should pity, rather than despise.
Her. I understand not what you mean by this.
Hel. Ay, do, perséver, counterfeit sad looks,
Make mows upon me when I turn my back;
Wink at each other; hold the sweet jest up:
This sport, well carried, shall be chronicled.
If you have any pity, grace or manners,
You would not make me such an argument.
But, fare ye well: 'tis partly mine own fault;
Which death, or absence, soon shall remedy.
Lys. Stay, gentle Helena; hear my excuse;
My love, my life, my soul, fair Helena!
Hel. O excellent!

Her. Sweet, do not scorn her so.

Dem. If she cannot entreat, I can compel.

Lys. Thou canst compel no more than she entreat; Thy threats have no more strength, than her weak

prayers.

Helen, I love thee; by my life, I do;

I swear by that which I will lose for thee,
To prove him false, that says I love thee not.
Dem. I say, I love thee more than he can do.
Lys. If thou say so, withdraw, and prove it too.
Dem. Quick, come,-

Her. Lysander, whereto tends all this?
Lys. Away, you Ethiop!

Dem. No, no, Sir:-He will

Seem to break loose; take on, as you would follow; But yet come not: you are a tame man, go!

Lys. Hang off, thou cat, thou burr: vile thing, let loose;

Or I will shake thee from me, like a serpent. Her. Why are you grown so rude? What change is this,

Sweet love?

Lys. Thy love? Out, tawny Tartar, out!
Out, loathed medicine! Hated potion, hence!
Her. Do you not jest?

Hel. Yes, sooth; and so do you.

Lys. Demetrius, I will keep my word with thee. Dem. I would, I had your bond: for, I perceive, A weak bond holds you; I'll not trust your word." Lys. What, should I hurt her, strike her, kill her dead?

Although I hate her, I'll not harm her so.

Her. What, can you do me greater harm, than hate?

Hate me! Wherefore? O me! what news, my love?
Am not I Hermia? Are not you Lysander?
I am as fair now, as I was erewhile.

Since night, you loved me; yet, since night, you left me:

Why, then you left me,-0, the gods forbid !-
In earnest, shall I say ?

Lys. Ay, by my life;

And never did desire to see thee more.

Therefore, be out of hope, of question, doubt,
Be certain, nothing truer; 'tis no jest,
That I do hate thee, and love Helena.

men,

Speak,

Let her not hurt me: I was never curst +;

I have no gift at all in shrewishness,

I am a right maid for my cowardice;

Let her not strike me: you perhaps may think,
Because she's something lower than myself,
That I can match her.

Her. Lower! hark, again.

Hel. Good Hermia, do not be so bitter with me. I evermore did love you, Hermia,

Did ever keep your councils, never wrong'd you; Save that in love unto Demetrius,

I told him of your stealth unto this wood:

He follow'd you; for love, I follow'd him.

But he hath chid me hence; and threaten'd me
To strike me, spurn re, nay, to kill me too;
And now, so you will let me quiet go,
To Athens will I bear my folly back,
And follow you no further: let me go:
You see how simple and how fond I am,

Her. Why get you gone: Who is't that hinders you?

Hel. A foolish heart, that I leave here behind. Her. What, with Lysander?

Hel. With Demetrius.

Lys. Be not afraid; she shall not harm thee fielena.

Dem. No, Sir; she shall not, though you take her part.

Hel. 0, when she's angry, she is keen and shrewd:

She was a vixen when she went to school;
And though she be but little, she is fierce.

Her. Little again? Nothing but low and little?—
Why will you suffer her to flout me thus ?
Let me come to her.

Lys. Get you gone, you dwarf;

You minimus, of hind'ring knot-grass § made;
You bead, you acorn.

Dem. You are too oficious,

In her behalf that scorns your services.
Let her alone; speak not of Helena;
Take not her part: for if tl:ou dost intend {}
Never so little show of love to her,
Thou shalt aby it.

Lys. Now she holds me not;

Now follow, if thou dar'st, to try whose right, Or thine or mine, is most in Helena. Dem. Follow? Nay I'll go with thee, cheek by jole. [Exeunt Lys. and Dem. Her. You, mistress, all this coil is 'long of you: Nay, go not back.

Hel. I will not trust you, I;

(Exit.

Nor longer stay in your curst company.
Your hands, than mine, are quicker for a fray;
My legs are longer though, to run away,
Her. I am amazed, and know not what to say.
[Exit, pursuing Helena,
Obe. This is thy negligence: still thou mistak'st,
Or else commit'st thy knaveries wilfully.
Puck. Believe me, king of shadows, I mistook,
Did not you tell me, I should know the man
By the Athenian garments he had on?
And so far blameless proves my enterprise,
That I have 'nointed an Athenian's eyes:
And so far am I glad it so did sort ¶
As this their jangling I esteem a sport.

113

Obe. Thou seest, these lovers seek a place to fight;

Hie therefore, Robin, overcast the night;
The starry welkin cover then anon
With drooping fog, as black as Acheron :
And lead these testy rivals so astray,
As one come not within another's way.
Like to Lysander some time frame thy tongue,
Then stir Demetrius up with bitter wrong;
And sometime rail thou like Demetrius;
And from each other look thou lead them thus,
'Till o'er their brows death-counterfeiting sleep
With leaden legs and batty wings doth creep:
Then crush this herb into Lysander's eye,
Whose liquor hath this virtuous property,
To take from thence all error, with his might,
And make his eye-balls roll with wonted sight.
When they next wake, all this derision
Shall seem a dream and fruitless vision;
And back to Athens shall the lovers wendt,
With league, whose date till death shall never

end.

Whiles I in this affair do thee employ,
I'll to my queen, and beg her Indian boy;
And then I will her charmed eye release

From monster's view: and all things shall be

there,

Troop home to church-yards: damned spirits all,
That in cross-ways and floods have burial,
Already to their wormy beds are gone;

For fear lest day should look their shames upon,
They wilfully themselves exile from light,
And must for aye consort with black brow'd night.
Obe. But we are spirits of another sort:

I with the morning's love ‡ have oft made sport;
And, like a forester, the groves may tread,
Even till the eastern gate, all fiery red,
Opening on Neptune with fair blessed beams,
Turns into yellow gold his salt-green streams.
But, notwithstanding, haste; make no delay:

We may effect this business yet ere day. [Exit Obe.
Puck. Up and down, up and down;

I will lead them up and down:

I am fear'd in field and town;
Goblin lead them up and down.

Here comes one.

Enter LYSANDER.

Re-enter PUCK and DEMETRIUS.

Puck. Ho, ho! Ho, ho! Coward, why com'st thou not?

Dem Abide me, if thou dar'st; for well I wot, Thou runn'st before me, shifting every place; And dar'st not stand, nor look ne in the face. Where art thou?

Puck. Come hither; I am here.

Dem. Nay, then thou mock'st me. Thou shalt buy this dear,

If ever I thy face by day-light see:

Now go thy way. Faintness constraineth me
To measure out my length on this cold bed.-
By day's approach look to be visited.
[Lies down and sleeps.

Enter HELENA.

Hel. O weary night, O long and tedious night, Abate thy hours; shine comforts, from the east; That I may back to Athens, by day-light,

From these that my poor company detest:And, sleep, that sometime shuts up sorrow's eye, Steal me a while from mine own company. [Sleep s. Puck. Yet but three? Come one more; Two of both kinds makes up four. Here she comes, curst and sad :Cupid is a knavish lad,

Thus to make poor females mad.

Enter HERMIA.

Her. Never so weary, never so in woe,

Bedabbled with the dew, and torn with briers;

I can no further crawl, no further go;

My legs can keep no pace with my desires. Here will I rest me, till the break of day. Heavens shield Lysander, if they mean a fray! [Lies down.

Puck. On the ground Sleep sound:

I'll apply

To your eye,

Gentle lover, remedy.

[Squeezing the juice on Lysander's eye.
When thou wak'st,
Thou tak'st

True delight

In the sight

Of thy former lady's eye:

And the country proverb known,

That every man should take his own,

In your waking shall be shewn:

Jack shall have Jill;

Nought shall go ill;

man shall have his mare again, and all shall be well, [Exit Puck.-Dem. Hel. &c. sleep.

ACT IV.

SCENE 1.-The same.

Enter TITANIA and BOTTOM, FAIRIES attending; OBERON behind unseen.

Tita. Come sit thee down upon this flowery bed, While I thy amiable cheeks do coy,

And stick musk-roses in thy sleek smooth head, And kiss thy fair large ears, my gentle joy. Bot. Where's Peas-blossom?

Peas. Ready.

Bot. Scratch my head, Peas-blossom.-Where's monsieur Cobweb?

Cob. Ready.

Bot. Monsieur Cobweb; good monsieur, get your weapons in your hand, and kill me a red-hipp'd humble-bee on the top of a thistle; and, good monsieur, bring me the honey-bag. Do not fret yourself too much in the action, monsieur; and good monsieur, have a care the honey-bag, break not; I would be loth to have you overflown with a honey-bag, signior.-Where's monsieur Mustardseed?

Must. Ready.

Bot. Give me your nieft, monsieur Mustard-seed Pray you, leave your courtesy, good monsieur. Must. What's your will?

Bot. Nothing, good monsieur, but to help cavalero Cobweb to scratch. I must to the barber's, monsieur; for, methinks, I am marvellous hairy about the face: and I am such a tender ass, if my hair do but tickle me, I must scratch.

Tita. What wilt thou hear some music, my sweet love?

Bot. I have a reasonable good ear in music : let us have the tongs and the bones.

Tita. Or, say, sweet love, what thou desir'st to eat. Bot. Truly, a peck of provender; I could munch your good dry oats. Methinks, I have a great desire to a bottle of hay: good hay, sweet hay, hath no fellow.

Tita. I have a venturous fairy that shall seek The squirrel's hoard, and fetch thee new nuts. Bot. I had rather have a handful, or two, of dried peas. But, I pray you, let none of your people stir me; I have an exposition of sleep come upon me.

Tita. Sleep thou, and I will wind thee in my

arms.

Fairies, be gone, and be all ways away.

So doth the woodbine, the sweet honeysuckle,
Gently entwist,-the female ivy so

Enrings the barky fingers of the elm.
O, how I love thee! how I dote on thee!

OBERON advances.-Enter PUCK. Obe. Welcome, good Robin.

sweet sight?

are these?

Her dotage now I do begin to pity.
For meeting her of late, behind the wood,
Seeking sweet savours for this hateful fool,
I did upbraid her, and fall out with her :
For she his hairy temples then had rounded
With coronet of fresh and fragrant flowers;
And that same dew which sometime on the buds
Was wont to swell, like round and orient pearls,
Stood now within the pretty flourets' eyes
Like tears, that did their own disgrace bewail.
When I had, at my pleasure, taunted her,
And she, in mild terms, begg'd my patience,
I then did ask of her her changeling child;"
Which straight she gave me, and her fairy sent
To bear him to my bower in fairy land.
And now I have the boy, I will undo
This hateful imperfection of her eyes.
And, gentle Puck, take this transformed scalp
From off the head of this Athenian swain;
That he awaking when the other do,
May all to Athens back again repair;
And think no more of this night's accidents,
But as the fierce vexation of a dream.
But first I will release the fairy queen.
Be, as thou wast wont to be;

This Helena, old Nedar's Helena;

I wonder of their being here together.
The. No doubt, they rose up early, to observe
The rite of May; and, hearing our intent,
Came here in grace of our solemnity.-
But, speak, Egeus; is not this the day

That Hermia should give answer of her choice ?
Ege. It is, my lord.

The. Go, bid the huntsmen wake them with their horns.

Horns and shout within, DEMETRIUS, LYSANDER,
HERMIA, and HELENA wake and start up.
The. Good-morrow, friends. Saint Valentine is
past;

Begin these wood-birds but to couple now?
Lys. Pardon, my lord.

(He and the rest kneel to Theseus.

See, as thou wast wont to see:
Dian's bud o'er cupid's flower
Hath such force and blessed power.

Now, my Titania; wake you, my sweet queen.
Tita. My Oberon! what visions have I seen!
Methought, I was enamour'd of an ass.

Obe. There lies your love.

Tita. How came these things to pass? O, how mine eyes do loath his visage now! Obe. Silence, a while.-Robin, take off this head. Titania, music call; and strike more dead Than common sleep, of all these five the sense. Tita. Music, hof music; such as charmeth sleep. Puck. Now, when thou wak'st, with thine own fool's eyes peep.

Obe. Sound, music. [Still music.] Come, my queen, take hands with me,

And rock the ground whereon these sleepers be.
Now thou and I are new in amity:

And will, to-morrow midnight, solemnly,
Dance in duke Theseus' house triumphantly,
And bless it to all fair posterity:

There shall the pairs of faithful lovers be
Wedded, with Theseus, all in jollity.

Puck. Fairy king attend and mark;
I do hear the morning lark.

Obe. Then, my queen, in silence sad,
Trip we after the night's shade;
We the globe can compass soon,
Swifter than the wand'ring moon.

Tita. Come, my lord; and in our flig...,
Tell me how it came this night,
That I sleeping here was found,
With these mortals on the ground.

[Exeunt.

[Horns sound within.

And now I do bethink me, so it is ;)

I came with Hermia hither: our intent
Was, to be gone from Athens, where we might be
Without the peril of the Athenian law.

Ege. Enough, enough, my lord; you have enough;
I beg the law, the law, upon this head.-
They would have stolen away, they would, De
metrius,

Thereby to have defeated you and me:
You, of your wife; and me, of my consent;
Of my consent that she should be your wife.
Dem. My lord, fair Helen told me of their stealth,
Of this their purpose hither, to this wood;
And I in fury hither follow'd them;
Fair Helena in fancy following me.
But, my good lord, I wot not by what power,
(But by some power it is,) my love to Hermia,
Melted as doth the snow, seems to me now
As the remembrance of an idle gawd,
Which in my childhood I did dote upon:
And all the faith, the virtue of my heart,
The object and the pleasure of mine eye,
Is only Helena. To her, my lord,
Was I betroth'd ere I saw Hermia:
But, like in sickness, did I loath this food:
But, as in health, come to my natural taste,
Now do I wish it, love it, long for it,
And will for evermore be true to it.

The. Fair lovers, you are fortunately met:
Of this discourse we more will hear anon.-
Egeus, I will overbear your will;

For in the temple, by and by with us,
These couples shall eternally be knit
And, for the morning now is something worn
Our purposed hunting shall be set aside.

Away with us, to Athens: three and three,
We'll hold a feast in great solemnity.-
Come, Hippolyta.

[Exeunt Theseus, Hippolyta, Egeus, and Train. Dem. These things seem small, and undistinguishable,

Like far-off mountains turned into clouds.

eat no onions, nor garlick, for we are to utter sweet breath; and I do not doubt but to hear them say, it is a sweet comedy. No more words; away; go, away. [Exeunt.

ACT V.

Hel. So methinks:

And I have found Demetrius like a jewel,

Mine own,

and not mine own.

Dem. It seems to me,

That yet we sleep, we dream.-Do not you think,
The duke was here, and bid us follow him?
Her. Yea; and my father.

Hel. And Hippolyta.

Lys. And he did bid us follow to the temple. Dem. Why then, we are awake: let's follow him; And, by the way, let us recount our dreams. [Exeunt.

As they go out, BOTTOM awakes

Bot. When my cue comes, call me, and I will answer :-My next is, Most fair Pyramus.-Hey, ho-Peter Quince! Flute, the bellows-mender! Snout, the tinker! Starveling! God's my life! stolen hence, and left me asleep! I have had a most rare vision. I have had a dream,-past the wit of man to say what dream it was: Man is but an ass, if he go about to expound this dream. Methought I was-there is no man can tell what. Methought I was, and methought I had.-But man is but a patch'd fool, if he will offer to say what methought I had. The eye of man hath not heard, the ear of man hath not seen; man's hand is not able to taste, his tongue to conceive, nor his heart to report, what my dream was. I will get Peter Quince to write a ballad of this dream: it shall be called Bottom's Dream, because it hath no bottom; and I will sing it in the latter end of a play, before the duke peradventure, to make it the more gracious, I shall sing it at her death. [Exit.

SCENE II.-Athens.-A Room in QUINCE's House. Enter QUINCE, FLUTE, SNOUT, and STARVELING. Quin. Have you sent to Bottom's house? Is he come home yet?

Star. He cannot be heard of. Out of doubt, he is transported.

Flu. If he come not, then the play is marr'd; it goes not forward, doth it?

Quin. It is not possible: you have not a man in all Athens, able to discharge Pyramus, but he. Flu. No; he hath simply the best wit of any handycraft man in Athens.

Quin. Yea, and the best person too: and he is a very paramour for a sweet voice.

Flu. You must say, paragon: a paramour is, God bless us! a thing of nought.

Enter SNUG.

Snug. Masters, the duke is coming from the temple, and there is two or three lords and ladies more married: if our sport had gone forward, we had all been made men.

Flu. O sweet bully Bottom! Thus hath he lost six-pence a-day during his life; he could not have 'scaped six-pence a-day: an the duke had not given him six-pence a-day for playing Pyramus, I'll be hang'd; he would have deserved it: six-pence a-day, in Pyramus, or nothing.

fell out.

Quin. Let us hear, sweet Bottom. Bot. Not a word of me. All that I will tell you, is, that the duke hath dined: get your apparel together; good strings to your beards, new ribbons to your pumps; meet presently at the palace; every man look o'er his part; for, the short and the long is, our play is preferr'd. In any case, let Thisby have clean linen; and let not hiin, that plays the lion, pare his nails, for they shall hang out for the lion's claws. And, most dear actors,

of THESEUS.

Enter THESEUS, HIPPOLYTA, PHILOSTRATE, Lords, and Attendants.

Hip. 'Tis strange, my Theseus, that these lovers speak of.

The. More strange than true. I never may believe
These antique fables, nor these fairy toys.
Lovers, and madmen, have such seething brains,
Such shaping fantasies, that apprehend
More than cool reason ever comprehends.
The lunatic, the lover, and the poet,
Are of imagination all compact*!
One sees more devils than vast hell can hold;
That is, the madman: the lover, all as frantic,
Sees Helen's beauty in a brow of Egypt:
The poet's eye, in a fine frenzy rolling,
Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to
heaven;
And, as imagination bodies forth
The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen
Turns them to shapes, and gives to airy nothings
A local habitation, and a name.
Such tricks hath strong imagination;
That, if it would but apprehend some joy,
It comprehends some bringer of that joy:
Or, in the night, imagining some fear,
How easy is a bush supposed a bear!

Hip. But all the story of the night told over,
And all their minds transfigured so together,
More witnesseth than fancy's images,
And grows to something of great constancy;
But, howsoever, strange, and admirable.

Enter LYSANDER, DEMETRIUS, HERMIA, and
HELENA.

The. Here come the lovers full of joy and mirth.Joy, gentle friends! joy, and fresh days of love, Accompany your hearts!

Lys. More than to us

Wait on your royal walks, your board, your bed! The. Come now; what masks, what dances shall

we have,

To wear away this long age of three hours,
Between our after-supper, and bed-time?
Where is our usual manager of mirth?
What revels are in hand? Is there no play,
To ease the anguish of a torturing hour f
Call Philostrate.

Philost. Here, mighty Theseus.

The. Say, what abridgment have you for this evening?

What mask? What music? How shall we beguile The lazy time, if not with some delight?

Philost. There is a brief, how many sports are

ripe;

Make choice of which your highness will see first. [Giving a paper.

The. reads.] The battle with the Centaurs, to be sung
By an Athenian eunuch to the harp.
We'll none of that: that have I told my love,
In glory of my kinsman Hercules.

The riot of the tipsy Bacchanals,
Tearing the Thracian singer in their rage.
That is an old device; and it was play'd
When I from Thebes came last a conqueror.
The thrice three Muses mourning for the death
That is some satire, keen, and critical,
Of learning, late deceased in beggary.
Not sorting with a nuptial ceremony.

A tedious brief scene of young Pyramus.
And his love Thisbe; very trugical mirth,
Merry and tragical? Tedious and brief?
That is, hot ice, and wonderous strange snow.
How shall we find the concord of this discord?
Philost. A play there is, my lord, some ten words
Which is as brief as I have known a play
long;
Which makes it tedious: for in all the play,
But by ten words, my lord, it is too long;
There is not one word apt, one player fitted.
And tragical, my noble lord, it is;

Are made of mere imagination