At a fair vestal,' throned by the west;

And loosed his love-shaft smartly from his bow,
As it should pierce a hundred thousand hearts;
But I might see young Cupid's fiery shaft
Quenched in the chaste beams of the watery moon;
And the imperial vot'ress passed on,

In maiden meditation, fancy-free.2

Yet marked I where the bolt of Cupid fell.

It fell upon a little western flower,

Before, milk-white; now purple with love's wound, And maidens call it love-in-idleness.3

Fetch me that flower; the herb I showed thee once;
The juice of it, on sleeping eyelids laid,
Will make or man or woman madly dote
Upon the next live creature that it sees.
Fetch me this herb; and be thou here again,
Ere the leviathan can swim a league.

Puck. I'll put a girdle round about the earth In forty minutes. [Exit PUCK.

Obe.
Having once this juice,
I'll watch Titania when she is asleep,
And drop the liquor of it in her eyes.
The next thing then she waking looks upon.
(Be it on lion, bear, or wolf, or bull,
On meddling monkey, or on busy ape,)
She shall pursue it with the soul of love.
And ere I take this charm off from her sight,
(As I can take it with another herb,)
I'll make her render up her page to me.
But who comes here? I am invisible;
And I will overhear their conference.

1 It is well known that a compliment to Queen Elizabeth was intended in this very beautiful passage. Warburton has attempted to show, that by the mermaid, in the preceding lines, Mary Queen of Scots was intended. It is argued with his usual fanciful ingenuity, but will not bear the test of examination, and has been satisfactorily controverted. It appears to have been no uncommon practice to introduce a compliment to Elizabeth in the body of a play.

2 Exempt from the power of love.

3 The tricolored violet, commonly called pansies, or hearts' ease, is here meant; one or two of its petals are of a purple color. It has other fanciful and expressive names.

Enter DEMETRIUS, HELENA following him.

Dem. I love thee not, therefore pursue me not. Where is Lysander, and fair Hermia?

The one I'll slay, the other slayeth me.

Thou told'st me, they were stolen into this wood,
And here am I, and wood' within this wood,
Because I cannot meet with Hermia.
Hence, get thee gone, and follow me no more.

Hel. You draw me, you hard-hearted adamant;"
But yet you draw not iron, for my heart
Is true as steel. Leave you your power to draw,
And I shall have no power to follow you.

Dem. Do I entice you? Do I speak you fair?
Or rather, do I not in plainest truth
Tell you I do not, nor I cannot love you?

Hel. And even for that do I love you the more.
I am your spaniel; and, Demetrius,
The more you beat me, I will fawn on you.
Use me but as your spaniel, spurn me, strike me,
Neglect me, lose me; only give me leave,
Unworthy as I am, to follow you.
What worser place can I beg in your love,
(And yet a place of high respect with me,)
Than to be used as you do your dog?

Dem. Tempt not too much the hatred of my spirit ; For I am sick when I do look on thee.

Hel. And I am sick when I look not on you.

Dem. You do impeach 3 your modesty too much
To leave the city, and commit yourself
Into the hands of one that loves you not;
To trust the opportunity of night,

1 Mad, raving. Wud is the synonymous Scotch term.

2 "There is now a dayes a kind of adamant which draweth unto it fleshe, and the same so strongly, that it hath power to knit and tie together two mouthes of contrary persons, and draw the heart of a man out of his bodie without offending any part of him." Certaine Secrete Wonders of Nature, by Edward Fenton, 1569.

3 i. e. bring it into question.

And the ill counsel of a desert place,
With the rich worth of your virginity

Hel. Your virtue is my privilege for that.
It is not night when I do see your face;
Therefore I think I am not in the night:
Nor doth this wood lack worlds of company;
For you, in my respect, are all the world.
Then how can it be said, I am alone,
When all the world is here to look on me?

Dem. I'll run from thee, and hide me in the brakes, And leave thee to the mercy of wild beasts.

Hel. The wildest hath not such a heart as you.
Run when you will, the story shall be changed;
Apollo flies, and Daphne holds the chase.
The dove pursues the griffin; the mild hind
Makes speed to catch the tiger. Bootless speed!
When cowardice pursues, and valor flies.

Dem. I will not stay thy questions. Let me go;
Or, if thou follow me, do not believe
But I shall do thee mischief in the wood.

Hel. Ay, in the temple, in the town, the field,
You do me mischief. Fie, Demetrius!
Your wrongs do set a scandal on my sex.
We cannot fight for love, as men may do;
We should be wooed, and were not made to woo.
I'll follow thee, and make a heaven of hell,
To die upon the hand I love so well.

[Exeunt DEM. and HEL. Obe. Fare thee well, nymph. Ere he do leave this

grove,

Thou shalt fly him, and he shall seek thy love.

Re-enter PUCK.

Hast thou the flower there? Welcome, wanderer.
Puck. Ay, there it is.
Obe.
I pray thee, give it me.
I know a bank whereon the wild thyme blows,
Where ox-lips1 and the nodding violet grows;

1 The greater cowslip.

Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,
With sweet musk-roses, and with eglantine.
There sleeps Titania, some time of the night,
Lulled in these flowers with dances and delight;
And there the snake throws her enameled skin,
Weed wide enough to wrap a fairy in:

And with the juice of this I'll streak her eyes,

And make her full of hateful fantasies.

Take thou some of it, and seek through this grove.
A sweet Athenian lady is in love
With a disdainful youth: anoint his eyes;
But do it, when the next thing he espies
May be the lady. Thou shalt know the man
By the Athenian garments he hath on.
Effect it with some care, that he may prove
More fond on her, than she upon her love;
And look thou meet me ere the first cock crow.

Puck. Fear not, my lord, your servant shall do so.

[Exeunt.

SCENE III. Another Part of the Wood.

Enter TITANIA, with her Train.

Tita. Come, now a roundel,' and a fairy song, Then, for the third part of a minute, hence; Some, to kill cankers in the musk-rose buds; Some, war with rear-mice for their leathern wings, To make my small elves coats; and some, keep back The clamorous owl, that nightly hoots, and wonders At our quaint spirits.3 Sing me now asleep; Then to your offices, and let me rest.

SONG.

1 Fai. You spotted snakes, with double tongue, Thorny hedge-hogs, be not seen;

4

Newts, and blindworms,5 do no wrong ;
Come not near our fairy queen.

1 The roundel, or round, as its name implies, was a dance in a ring. 2 Bats. 3 Sports. 4 Efts.

5 Slow-worms.

CHORUS. Philomel, with melody,

Sing in our sweet lullaby;
Lulla, lulla, lullaby; lulla, lulla, lullaby ;
Never harm, nor spell nor charm,
Come our lovely lady nigh;
So, good night, with lullaby.

II.

2 Fai. Weaving spiders, come not here;

Hence, you long-legg'd spinners, hence.
Beetles black, approach not near;
Worm, nor snail, do no offence.

CHORUS. Philomel, with melody, &c.

1 Fai. Hence, away; now all is well. One, aloof, stand sentinel.

[Exeunt Fairies. TITANIA sleeps.

Enter OBERON.

Obe. What thou seest when thou dost wake, [Squeezes the flower on TITANIA's eyelids. Do it for thy true love take. Love, and languish for his sake. Be it ounce, or cat, or bear, Pard, or boar with bristled hair, In thy eye that shall appear When thou wak'st, it is thy dear. Wake, when some vile thing is near.

[Exit.

Enter LYSANDER and HERMIA.

Lys. Fair love, you faint with wandering in the wood;

And to speak troth, I have forgot our way;
We'll rest us, Hermia, if you think it good,
And tarry for the comfort of the day.

Her. Be it so, Lysander; find you out a bed,
For I upon this bank will rest my head.

VOL. II.

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