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, To die upon the hand I love so well. [Exeunt DEM. and HEL. Ob. 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. Ob. I pray thee, give it me. I know a bank whereon the wild thyme blows, And with the juice of this I'll streak her eyes, Take thou some of it, and seek through this grove : With a disdainful youth: anoint his eyes; [5] The oxlip is the greater cowslip. STEEVENS. [6]-the man-had on.] I desire no surer evidence to prove that the broad Scotch pronunciation once prevailed in England, than such a rhyme as the first of these words affords to the second. STEEV. SCENE III. Another part of the Wood. Enter TITANIA, with her Train. Tita. Come, now a roundel, and a fairy song; Some, war with rear-mice for their leathern wings,9 SONG. 1 Fai. You spotted snakes, with double tongue,' Thorny hedge-hogs, be not seen; I Newts, and blind-worms, do no wrong ;2 Chorus. Philomel, with melody, Sing in our sweet lullaby; Lulla, lulla, lullaby; lulla, lulla, lullaby : II. 2 Fai. Weaving spiders, come not here; Hence, you long-legg'd spinners, hence : Chorus. Philomel, with melody, &c. [8] Dr. Warburton reads :-for the third part of the midnight.-But the persons employed are fairies, to whom the third part of a minute might not be a very short time to do such work in. The critick might as well have objected to the epithet tall, which the fairy bestows on the cowslip. But Shakspeare, through the play, has preserved the proportion of other things in respect of these tiny beings, compared with whose size, a cowslip might be tall, and to whose powers of execution, a minute might be equivalent to an age. STEEVENS. [9] A rere-mouse is a bat, a mouse that raises itself from the ground by the aid of wings. STEEVENS. [1] By both these terms, I suppose, our author means-forked; as the tongues of snakes are sometimes represented in ancient tapestry and paintings, and, it may be added, are so in nature. STEEVENS. [2] The net is the eft, the blind-worm is the Cecilia or slow-worm. They are both ingredients in the cauldron of Macbeth. See Macbeth Act IV. sc. i. STEEVENS. 1 Fai. Hence, away; now all is well : [Exeunt Fairies. Enter OBERON. TITANIA sleeps. Obe. What thou seest, when thou dost wake, Love, and languish for his sake: When thou wak'st, it is thy dear; Wake, when some vile thing is near. Enter LYSANDER and HERMIA. [Exit. Lys. Fair love, you faint with wandering in the wood; We'll rest us, Hermia, if you think it good, Her. Be it so, Lysander: find you out a bed, For I upon this bank will rest my head. Lys. One turf shall serve as pillow for us both; One heart, one bed, two bosoms, and one troth. Her. Nay, good Lysander; for my sake, my dear, Lys. O, take the sense, sweet, of my innocence; Her. Lysander riddles very prettily :- [2] The ounce is a small tiger, or tiger-cat. JOHNSON. [3] The idea is exactly similar to that of St. Paul: "Love thinketh no evil.", HENLEY. [4] This word, of which the etymology is not exactly known, implies a sinister wish, and means the same as if she had said "now ill befall my manners," &c. STEEVENS. See Minsheu's etymology of it, which seems to be an imprecation or wish of such evil to one, as the venomous biting of the shrew-mouse. TOLLET. But, gentle friend, for love and courtesy, Here is my bed: Sleep give thee all his rest! Her. With half that wish the wisher's eyes be press'd! [They sleep. Enter PUCK. Puck. Through the forest have I gone, And here the maiden, sleeping sound, Pretty soul! she durst not lie Near this lack-love, kill-courtesy. Churl, upon thy eyes I throw All the power this charm doth owe : [Exit. Enter DEMETRIUS and HELENA, running. Hel. Stay, though thou kill me, sweet Demetrius. The more my prayer, the lesser is my grace. [Exit. How came her eyes so bright? Not with salt tears: No, no, I am as ugly as a bear; For beasts, that meet me, run away for fear: Therefore, no marvel, though Demetrius What wicked and dissembling glass of mine Lys. And run through fire I will, for thy sweet sake. [Waking. Transparent Helena! Nature here shows art, That through thy bosom makes me see thy heart. -Where is Demetrius? O, how fit a word Is that vile name, to perish on my sword! Hel. Do not say so, Lysander; say not so: What though he love your Hermia? Lord, what though? Yet Hermia still loves you: then be content. Lys. Content with Hermia? No: I do repent Hel. Wherefore was I to this keen mockery born? Is't not enough, is't not enough, young man, That I did never, no, nor never can, Deserve a sweet look from Demetrius' eye, But you must flout my insufficiency? Good troth, you do me wrong, good sooth, you do, But fare you well: perforce I must confess, O, that a lady, of one man refus'd, Should, of another, therefore be abus'd! [Exit. Lys. She sees not Hermia :-Hermia, sleep thou there; [5] That is, My will now follows reason. JOHNSON. [6] Gentleness is equivalent to what, in modern language, we should call the spirit of a gentleman. PERCY. |