I did upbraid her, and fall out with her : the Was wont to swell, like round and orient pearls, And think no more of this night's accidents, But first I will release the fairy queen. The. My hounds are bred out of the Spartan kind, So flew'd, so sanded; and their heads are hung With ears that sweep away the morning dew; Crook-knee'd, and dew-lap'd like Thessalian bulls ; Slow in pursuit, but match'd in mouth like Each under each. A cry more tuneable Judge, when you hear.-But, soft; what nymphs Ege. My lord, this is my daughter here And this, Lysander: this Demetrius is; I wonder of their being here together. [Touching her eyes with an herb. That Hermia should give answer of her choice? 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? Titania, music call; and strike more dead Puck. Now, when thou wak'st, with thine own Obe. Sound, music. [Still Muste.] Come, my queen, take hands with me, And rock the ground whereon those sleepers Now thou and I are new in amity; Puck. Fairy king, attend, and mark; Obe. Then, my queen, in silence sad, Ege. It is, my lord. The. Go, bid the huntsmen wake them with their horns. Horns, and shout within. DEMETRIUS, LY SANDER, HERMIA, and HELENA, wake and start up. The. Good-morrow, friends. Saint Valentine Begin these wood-birds but to couple now? [He and the rest kneel to THESEUS. The. I pray you all, stand up. I know you are two rival enemies; I came with Hernia hither: our intent Without the peril of the Athenian law. Ege. Enough, enough, my lord; you have I beg the law, the law upon his head.- Thereby to have defeated you and me : Dem. My lord, fair Helen told me of their Tita. Come, my lord; and in our flight, Of my consent that she should be your wife. Tell me how it came this night, That I sleeping here was found, With these mortals, on the ground. [Exeunt. [Horns sound within. Enter THESEUS, HIPPOLYTA, EGEUS, and train. The. Go, one of you, find out the forester ;- Hip. I was with Hercules, and Cadmus, once, When in a wood of Crete they bay'd the bear Of this their purpose hither to this wood; The. Fair lovers, you are fortunately met: For in the temple, by and by with us, As they go out, BOTTOM awakes. Bot. When my cue comes, call me, and I will answer :-my text is, Most fair Pyramus. Enter BOTTOM. Bot. Where are these lads ? where are these bearts ? Quin. Bottom! O most courageous day! 0 most happy hour! Bot. Masters, I am to discourse wonders: but ask me not what; for, if I tell you, I am no true Athenian. I will tell you every thing, right as it 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 bis part; for, the short and the long is, our play is preferred. In any case, let Thisby bave clean linen; and let not bim, that plays the lion, pare bis nails, for they shall hang out of the lion's claws. And, most dear actors, cat Bo oui as, nor garlick, for we are to utter sweet treats: and I do not doubt, but to hear them say, it is a sweet comedy. No more words: away; M, [Exeunt. away. ACT V. ment of THESEUS. Enter THESEUS, HIPPOLYTA, PHILOSTRATE, Hip. 'Tis strange, my Theseus, that these The. More strange than true. I never may believe -Hey, ho!-Peter Quince! Flute,' the bellows SCENE I.-The same.-A Room in the Apartmend r! Snout, the tinker! Starveling! God's my life stolen hence, and left me asleep! I have had a most rare vision. I bave 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 patched fool, if he will offer to say what methought I had. The eye of nian bath not heard, the ear of man bath not seen; inan's haud is not able to taste, his tongue to conceive, nor his heart to report, what my dream was. will get Peter Quince to write a ballad of this dream: It shall be called Bottom's Dreain, 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. These antique fables, nor these fairy toys And, as imagination bodies forth SCENE II.-Athens.-A Room in QUINCE's The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen Turus them to shapes, and gives to airy nothing House. Enter QUINCE, FLUTE, SNOUT, and STARVE LING. 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 marred; 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 bandycraft 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 bath he lost sixpence a day during his life; he could not have 'scaped sixpence a-day: an the duke had not given him sixpence a-day for playing Pyramus, I'll be hanged; he would have deserved it: sixpence a-day, in Pyramus, or nothing. A local habitation and a name. Hip. But all the story of the night told over, HELENA. To ease the anguish of a torturing hour? Call Philostrate. Philost. Here, mighty Theseus. I read as much, as from the rattling tongue The. Say, what abridgment have you for this In least, speak most, to my capacity. evening? to be sung, By an Athenian eunuch to the harp. We'll noue of that: that have I told my love, In glory of my kinsman Hercules. The riot of the tipsy Bacchanals, Of learning, late deceas'd in beggary. A tedious brief scene of young Pyramus, Which is as brief as I have known a play; The. What are they, that do play it? Which never laboured in their minds till now; And now have toil'd their unbreath'd me inories With this same play, against your nuptial. Philost. No, my noble lord, It is not for you: I have heard it over, The. I will bear that play; For never auy thing can be amiss, 60, ladies. But with good will. To show our simple skill, That is the true beginning of our end. Consider then, we come but in despite, We do not come as minding to content you, Our true intent is. All for your delight, We are not here. That you should here repent you, The actors are at hand; and, by their show, You shall know all, that you are like to bring them in :-and take your places," [Exit PHILOSTRATE. Hip. I love not to see wretchedness o'ercbarg'd, And duty in his service perishing. Hip. He says, they can do nothing in this kind. The. The kinder we, to give them thanks for nothing. Oer sport shall be, to take what they mistake: 42341 what poor duty cannot do, Noble respect takes it in might, not merit. Where I have come, great clerks have purposed To greet me with premeditated welconies; Where I have seen them shiver and look pale, Make periods in the midst of sentences, i brottle their practis'd accent in their fears, tnd, in conclusion, dumbly have broke off, Sot paying me a welcome: Trust me, sweet, Uit of this silence, yet, I pick'd a welcome; af in the modesty of fearful duty "Presenteth moonshine: for, if you will know, By moonshine did these lovers think no scoru "To meet at Ninus' tomb, there, there to Woo. "This grisly beast, which by name lion bight,; "The trusty Thisby, coming first by night, "Did scare away, or rather did affright: "And, as she fled, her mantle she did fall; "Which lion vile with bloody mouth did stain: Anon comes Pyramus, sweet youth, and tall, "And finds bis trusty Thisby's mantle slain: "Whereat with blade, with bloody blameful blade, "He bravely broach'd his boiling bloody breast; "And, Thisby tarrying in mulberry shade "His dagger drew, and died. For all the rest, "Let lion, moonshine, wall, and lovers twain, At large discourse, while here they do re 84 main." [Exeunt PROLOGUE, THISBE, LION, and MOONSHINE. The. I wonder, if the lion be to speak. Dem. No wonder, my lord: One lion may, when many asses do. Wall. In this same interlude, it doth be- "That I, one Snout by name, present a wall: "Did whisper often very secretly. "This loan, this rough-cast, and this stone doth show, "That I am that same wall; the truth is so: The. Would you desire lime and hair to speak Dem. It is the wittiest partition that ever I heard discourse, my lord. The. Pyramus draws near the wall: silence! Hi beard Th and t them. Hi not ti Th they men. and a Li "Ma "Th A "Fo Int T scien D e'er L T D carry goos T his It is [WALL holds up his fingers. liste "Thanks, courteous wall: Jove shield thee well for this! "But what see I? No Thisby do I see. M De Pyr. No, in truth, Sir, he should not. ceiving me, is Thisby's cue: she is to enter now, and I am to spy her through the wall. shall see, it will fall pat as I told you:-Yonder the she comes. it e This. "My love thou art my love, I think." grace; com "And like Limander am I trusty still." "I thank thee, moon, for shining now 80 For, by thy gracious, golden, glittering streams, "But stay;-O spite ! But mark;-Poor knight, "What dreadful dole is here ? "Eyes, do you see? "How can it be? "O dainty duck! O dear! " "Thy mantle good, "What, stain'd with blood? Approach, ye furies fell! "O fates! come, come; "Cut thread and thrum; "Quail, crush, conclude, and quell! +” The. This passion, and the death of a dear friend, would go near to make a man look Hip. Beshrew my heart, but I pity the sad. Enter THISBE. Hip. Methinks, she should not use a long one, for such a Pyramus: I hope, she will be brief. Dem. A mote will turn the balance, which Pyramus, which Thisbe, is the better. Lys. She hath spied him already with those sweet eyes. Dem. And thus she moans, videlicet.——— This. "Asleep, my love? "What, dead, my dove? "O Pyramus, arise, "6 Speak, speak. Quite dumb! "Must cover thy sweet eyes. " "This cherry nose, These yellow cowslip cheeks, "Are gone, are gone: Lovers, make moan! "His eyes were green as leeks. "O sisters three, "Come, come, to me, "With hands as pale as milk; "Lay them in gore, Since you bave shore "With shears his thread of silk. "Tongue, not a word :"Come, rusty sword; Dem. Ay, and wall too. Bot. No, I assure you; the wall is down that parted their fathers. Will it please you to see the epilogue, or to hear a Bergonrask dance between two of our company? The. No epilogue, 1 pray you; for your play needs no excuse. Never excuse; for when the players are all dead, there need none to be blamed. Marry, if he that writ it, had play'd Pyramus, and hanged himself in Thisbe's garter, it would have been a fine tragedy: and so it is, truly; and very notably discharged. But come, your Bergomask: let your epilogue [Here a dance of Clowns. The iron tongue of midnight hath told twelve :fear we shall out-sleep the coming morn, Lovers, to bed; 'tis almost fairy time. As much as we this might have overwatch'd. This palpable-gross play hath well beguil'd The heavy gait of night.-Sweet friends, to alone. bed. A fortnight hold we this solemnity, In ùightly revels, and new jollity. [Exeunt. SCENE 11.-Enter PUCK. That the graves, all gaping wide, By the triple Hecat's team, Enter OBERON and TITANIA, with their Train. Obe. Through this house give limmering light, By the dead and drowsy fire: Every elf, and fairy sprite, Hop as light as bird from brier; And this ditty, after me, Sing and dance it trippingly. Tita. First, rehearse this song by rote; To each word a warbling note, Hand in hand, with fairy grace, SONG, and DANCE. Obe. Now, until the break of day, And the blots of nature's band 1 Countenance. |