A Midsommer nights Dreame.The nine mens Morris is fild vp with mud,And the queint Mazes in the wanton greene,For lacke of tread are vndistinguishable.The humane mortals want their winter heere,
[460]
No night is now with hymne or caroll blest;Therefore the Moone (the gouernesse of floods)Pale in her anger, washes all the aire;That Rheumaticke diseases doe abound.And through this distemperature, we see
[465]
The seasons alter; hoared headed frostsFall in the fresh lap of the crimson Rose,And on old
Hyems chinne and Icie crowne,
An odorous Chaplet of sweet Sommer budsIs as in mockry set. The Spring, the Sommer,
[470]
The childing Autumne, angry Winter changeTheir wonted Liueries, and the mazed world,By their increase, now knowes not which is which;And this same progeny of euills,Comes from our debate, from our dissention,
[475]
We are their parents and originall.Ober.Do you amend it then, it lies in you,Why should
Titania crosse her
Oberon?
I do but beg a little changeling boy,To be my Henchman.Qu.
[480]
Set your heart at rest,The Fairy land buyes not the childe of me,His mother was a Votresse of my Order,And in the spiced
Indian aire, by night
Full often hath she gossipt by my side,
[485]
And sat with me on
Neptunes yellow sands,
Marking th'embarked traders on the flood,When we haue laught to see the sailes conceiue,And grow big bellied with the wanton winde:Which she with pretty and with swimming gate,
[490]
Following (her wombe then rich with my yong squire)Would imitate, and saile vpon the Land,To fetch me trifles, and returne againe,As from a voyage, rich with merchandize.But she being mortall, of that boy did die,
[495]
And for her sake I doe reare vp her boy,And for her sake I will not part with him.Ob.How long within this wood intend you stay?Qu.Perchance till after
Theseus wedding day.
If you will patiently dance in our Round,
[500]
And see our Moone‑light reuels, goe with vs;If not, shun me and I will spare your haunts.Ob.Giue me that boy, and I will goe with thee.Qu.Not for thy Fairy Kingdome. Fairies away:We shall chide downe right, if I longer stay.Exeunt.Ob.
[505]
Wel, go thy way: thou shalt not from this groue,Till I torment thee for this iniury.My gentle
Pucke come hither; thou remembrest
Since once I sat vpon a promontory,And heard a Meare‑maide on a Dolphins backe,
[510]
Vttering such dulcet and harmonious breath,That the rude sea grew ciuill at her song,And certaine starres shot madly from their Spheares,To heare the Sea‑maids musicke.Puc.I remember.Ob.
[515]
That very time I say (but thou couldst not
)Flying betweene the cold Moone and the earth,Cupid all arm'd; a certaine aime he tooke
At a faire Vestall, throned by the West,And loos'd his loue‑shaft smartly from his bow,
[520]
As it should pierce a hundred thousand hearts,But I might see young
Cupids fiery shaft
Quencht in the chaste beames of the watry Moone;And the imperiall Votresse passed on,In maiden meditation, fancy free.
[525]
Yet markt I where the bolt of
Cupid fell.
It fell vpon a little westerne flower;Before, milke‑white; now purple with loues wound,And maidens call it, Loue in idlenesse.Fetch me that flower; the hearb I shew'd thee once,
[530]
The iuyce of it, on sleeping eye‑lids laid,Will make or man or woman madly doteVpon the next liue creature that it sees.Fetch me this hearbe, and be thou heere againe,Ere the
Leuiathan can swim a league.
Pucke.
[535]
Ile put a girdle about the earth, in forty mi
nutes.
Ober.Hauing once this iuyce,Ile watch
Titania, when she is asleepe,
And drop the liquor of it in her eyes:The next thing when she waking lookes vpon,
[540]
(Be it on Lyon, Beare, or Wolfe, or Bull,On medling Monkey, or on busie Ape)Shee shall pursue it, with the soule of loue.And ere I take this charme off from her sight,(As I can take it with another hearbe
)
[545]
Ile make her render vp her Page to me.But who comes heere? I am inuisible,And I will ouer‑heare their conference.Enter Demetrius, Helena
following him.
Deme.I loue thee not, therefore pursue me not,Where is
Lysander, and faire
Hermia?
[550]
The one Ile stay, the other stayeth me.Thou toldst me they were stolne into this wood;And heere am I, and wood within this wood,Because I cannot meet my
Hermia.
Hence, get thee gone, and follow me no more.Hel.
[555]
You draw me, you hard‑hearted Adamant,But yet you draw not Iron, for my heartIs true as steele. Leaue you your power to draw,And I shall haue no power to follow you.Deme.Do I entice you? do I speake you faire?
[560]
Or rather doe I not in plainest truth,Tell you I doe not, nor I cannot loue you?Hel.And euen for that doe I loue thee the more;I am your spaniell, and
Demetrius,
The more you beat me, I will fawne on you.
[565]
Vse me but as your spaniell; spurne me, strike me,Neglect me, lose me; onely giue me leaue(Vnworthy as I am) to follow you.What worser place can I beg in your loue,(And yet a place of high respect with me)
[570]
Then to be vsed as you doe your dogge.Dem.Tempt not too much the hatred of my spirit,For I am sicke when I do looke on thee.Hel.And I am sicke when I looke not on you.Dem.You doe impeach your modesty too much,
[575]
To leaue the Citty, and commit your selfeInto the hands of one that loues you not,To trust the opportunity of night,And the ill counsell of a desert place,With the rich worth of your virginity.Hel.
[580]
Your vertue is my priuiledge: for thatIt is not night when I doe see your face.Therefore I thinke I am not in the night,Nor doth this wood lacke worlds of company,N3For
Actus Secundus.
[Act 2, Scene 1]
Enter a Fairie at one doore, and Robin good
fellow at another.
Rob.
[360]
How now spirit, whether wander you?Fai.Ouer hil, ouer dale, through bush, through briar,Ouer parke, ouer pale, through flood, through fire,I do wander euerie where, swifter then y
e Moons sphere;
And I serue the Fairy Queene, to dew her orbs vpon the
(green.
[365]
The Cowslips tall, her pensioners bee,In their gold coats, spots you see,Those be Rubies, Fairie fauors,In those freckles, liue their sauors,I must go seeke some dew drops heere,
[370]
And hang a pearle in euery cowslips eare.Farewell thou Lob of spirits, Ile be gon,Our Queene and all her Elues come heere anon.Rob.The King doth keepe his Reuels here to night,Take heed the Queene come not within his sight,
[375]
For
Oberon is passing fell and wrath,
Because that she, as her attendant, hathA louely boy stolne from an Indian King,She neuer had so sweet a changeling,And iealous
Oberon would haue the childe
[380]
Knight of his traine, to trace the Forrests wilde.But she (perforce) with‑holds the loued boy,Crownes him with flowers, and makes him all her ioy.And now they neuer meete in groue, or greene,By fountaine cleere, or spangled star‑light sheene,
[385]
But they do square, that all their Elues for feareCreepe into Acorne cups and hide them there.Fai.Either I mistake your shape and making quite,Or else you are that shrew'd and knauish spiritCal'd Robin Good‑fellow. Are you not hee,
[390]
That frights the maidens of the Villagree,Skim milke, and sometimes labour in the querne,And bootlesse make the breathlesse huswife cherne,And sometime make the drinke to beare no barme,Misleade night‑wanderers, laughing at their harme,
[395]
Those that Hobgoblin call you, and sweet Pucke,You do their worke, and they shall haue good lucke.Are not you he?Rob.Thou speak'st aright;I am that merrie wanderer of the night:
[400]
I iest to
Oberon, and make him smile,
When I a fat and beane‑fed horse beguile,Neighing in likenesse of a silly foale,And sometime lurke I in a Gossips bole,In very likenesse of a roasted crab:
[405]
And when she drinkes, against her lips I bob,And on her withered dewlop poure the Ale.The wisest Aunt telling the saddest tale,Sometime for three‑foot stoole, mistaketh me,Then slip I from her bum, downe topples she,
[410]
And tailour cries, and fals into a coffe.And then the whole quire hold their hips, and loffe,And waxen in their mirth, and neeze, and sweare,A merrier houre vvas neuer wasted there.But roome Fairy, heere comes
Oberon.
Fair.
[415]
And heere my Mistris:Would that he vvere gone.Enter the King of Fairies at one doore with his traine,
and the Queene at another with hers.
Ob.Ill met by Moone‑light,Proud
Tytania.
Qu.What, iealous
Oberon? Fairy skip hence.
[420]
I haue forsworne his bed and companie.Ob.Tarrie rash Wanton; am not I thy Lord?Qu.Then I must be thy Lady: but I knowWhen thou vvast stolne away from Fairy Land,And in the shape of
Corin, sate all day,
[425]
Playing on pipes of Corne, and versing loueTo amorous
Phillida. Why art thou heere
Come from the farthest steepe of
India?
But that forsooth the bouncing
AmazonYour buskin'd Mistresse, and your Warrior loue,
[430]
To
Theseus must be Wedded; and you come,
To giue their bed ioy and prosperitie.Ob.How canst thou thus for shame
Tytania,
Glance at my credite, vvith
Hippolita?
Knowing I knovv thy loue to
Theseus?
[435]
Didst thou not leade him through the glimmering nightFrom
Peregenia, whom he rauished?
And make him vvith faire Eagles breake his faithWith
Ariadne, and
Atiopa?
Que.These are the forgeries of iealousie,
[440]
And neuer since the middle Summers springMet vve on hil, in dale, forrest, or mead,By paued fountaine, or by rushie brooke,Or in the beached margent of the sea,To dance our ringlets to the whistling Winde,
[445]
But vvith thy braules thou hast disturb'd our sport.Therefore the Windes, piping to vs in vaine,As in reuenge, haue suck'd vp from the seaContagious fogges: Which falling in the Land,Hath euerie petty Riuer made so proud,
[450]
That they haue ouer‑borne their Continents.The Oxe hath therefore stretch'd his yoake in vaine,The Ploughman lost his sweat, and the greene CorneHath rotted, ere his youth attain'd a beard:The fold stands empty in the drowned field,
[455]
And Crowes are fatted vvith the murrion flocke,The nine mens Morris is fild vp with mud,And the queint Mazes in the wanton greene,For lacke of tread are vndistinguishable.The humane mortals want their winter heere,
[460]
No night is now with hymne or caroll blest;Therefore the Moone (the gouernesse of floods)Pale in her anger, washes all the aire;That Rheumaticke diseases doe abound.And through this distemperature, we see
[465]
The seasons alter; hoared headed frostsFall in the fresh lap of the crimson Rose,And on old
Hyems chinne and Icie crowne,
An odorous Chaplet of sweet Sommer budsIs as in mockry set. The Spring, the Sommer,
[470]
The childing Autumne, angry Winter changeTheir wonted Liueries, and the mazed world,By their increase, now knowes not which is which;And this same progeny of euills,Comes from our debate, from our dissention,
[475]
We are their parents and originall.Ober.Do you amend it then, it lies in you,Why should
Titania crosse her
Oberon?
I do but beg a little changeling boy,To be my Henchman.Qu.
[480]
Set your heart at rest,The Fairy land buyes not the childe of me,His mother was a Votresse of my Order,And in the spiced
Indian aire, by night
Full often hath she gossipt by my side,
[485]
And sat with me on
Neptunes yellow sands,
Marking th'embarked traders on the flood,When we haue laught to see the sailes conceiue,And grow big bellied with the wanton winde:Which she with pretty and with swimming gate,
[490]
Following (her wombe then rich with my yong squire)Would imitate, and saile vpon the Land,To fetch me trifles, and returne againe,As from a voyage, rich with merchandize.But she being mortall, of that boy did die,
[495]
And for her sake I doe reare vp her boy,And for her sake I will not part with him.Ob.How long within this wood intend you stay?Qu.Perchance till after
Theseus wedding day.
If you will patiently dance in our Round,
[500]
And see our Moone‑light reuels, goe with vs;If not, shun me and I will spare your haunts.Ob.Giue me that boy, and I will goe with thee.Qu.Not for thy Fairy Kingdome. Fairies away:We shall chide downe right, if I longer stay.Exeunt.Ob.
[505]
Wel, go thy way: thou shalt not from this groue,Till I torment thee for this iniury.My gentle
Pucke come hither; thou remembrest
Since once I sat vpon a promontory,And heard a Meare‑maide on a Dolphins backe,
[510]
Vttering such dulcet and harmonious breath,That the rude sea grew ciuill at her song,And certaine starres shot madly from their Spheares,To heare the Sea‑maids musicke.Puc.I remember.Ob.
[515]
That very time I say (but thou couldst not
)Flying betweene the cold Moone and the earth,Cupid all arm'd; a certaine aime he tooke
At a faire Vestall, throned by the West,And loos'd his loue‑shaft smartly from his bow,
[520]
As it should pierce a hundred thousand hearts,But I might see young
Cupids fiery shaft
Quencht in the chaste beames of the watry Moone;And the imperiall Votresse passed on,In maiden meditation, fancy free.
[525]
Yet markt I where the bolt of
Cupid fell.
It fell vpon a little westerne flower;Before, milke‑white; now purple with loues wound,And maidens call it, Loue in idlenesse.Fetch me that flower; the hearb I shew'd thee once,
[530]
The iuyce of it, on sleeping eye‑lids laid,Will make or man or woman madly doteVpon the next liue creature that it sees.Fetch me this hearbe, and be thou heere againe,Ere the
Leuiathan can swim a league.
Pucke.
[535]
Ile put a girdle about the earth, in forty mi
nutes.
Ober.Hauing once this iuyce,Ile watch
Titania, when she is asleepe,
And drop the liquor of it in her eyes:The next thing when she waking lookes vpon,
[540]
(Be it on Lyon, Beare, or Wolfe, or Bull,On medling Monkey, or on busie Ape)Shee shall pursue it, with the soule of loue.And ere I take this charme off from her sight,(As I can take it with another hearbe
)
[545]
Ile make her render vp her Page to me.But who comes heere? I am inuisible,And I will ouer‑heare their conference.Enter Demetrius, Helena
following him.
Deme.I loue thee not, therefore pursue me not,Where is
Lysander, and faire
Hermia?
[550]
The one Ile stay, the other stayeth me.Thou toldst me they were stolne into this wood;And heere am I, and wood within this wood,Because I cannot meet my
Hermia.
Hence, get thee gone, and follow me no more.Hel.
[555]
You draw me, you hard‑hearted Adamant,But yet you draw not Iron, for my heartIs true as steele. Leaue you your power to draw,And I shall haue no power to follow you.Deme.Do I entice you? do I speake you faire?
[560]
Or rather doe I not in plainest truth,Tell you I doe not, nor I cannot loue you?Hel.And euen for that doe I loue thee the more;I am your spaniell, and
Demetrius,
The more you beat me, I will fawne on you.
[565]
Vse me but as your spaniell; spurne me, strike me,Neglect me, lose me; onely giue me leaue(Vnworthy as I am) to follow you.What worser place can I beg in your loue,(And yet a place of high respect with me)
[570]
Then to be vsed as you doe your dogge.Dem.Tempt not too much the hatred of my spirit,For I am sicke when I do looke on thee.Hel.And I am sicke when I looke not on you.Dem.You doe impeach your modesty too much,
[575]
To leaue the Citty, and commit your selfeInto the hands of one that loues you not,To trust the opportunity of night,And the ill counsell of a desert place,With the rich worth of your virginity.Hel.
[580]
Your vertue is my priuiledge: for thatIt is not night when I doe see your face.Therefore I thinke I am not in the night,Nor doth this wood lacke worlds of company,For you in my respect are
nllall the world.
[585]
Then how can it be said I am alone,When all the world is heere to looke on me?Dem.Ile run from thee, and hide me in the brakes,And leaue thee to the mercy of wilde beasts.Hel.The wildest hath not such a heart as you;
[590]
Runne when you will, the story shall be chang'd:Apollo flies, and
Daphne holds the chase;
The Doue pursues the Griffin, the milde HindeMakes speed to catch the Tyger. Bootlesse speede,When cowardise pursues, and valour flies.Demet.
[595]
I will not stay thy questions, let me go;Or if thou follow me, doe not beleeue,But I shall doe thee mischiefe in the wood.Hel.I, in the Temple, in the Towne, and FieldYou doe me mischiefe. Fye
Demetrius,
[600]
Your wrongs doe set a scandall on my sexe:We cannot fight for loue, as men may doe;We should be woo'd, and were not made to wooe.I follow thee, and make a heauen of hell,To die vpon the hand I loue so well.Exit.Ob.
[605]
Fare thee well Nymph, ere he do leaue this groue,Thou shalt flie him, and he shall seeke thy loue.Hast thou the flower there? Welcome wanderer.Enter Pucke.Puck.I, there it is.Ob.I pray thee giue it me.
[610]
I know a banke where the wilde time blowes,Where Oxslips and the nodding Violet growes,Quite ouer‑cannoped with luscious woodbine,With sweet muske roses, and with Eglantine;There sleepes
Tytania, sometime of the night,
[615]
Lul'd in these flowers, with dances and delight:And there the snake throwes her enammel'd skinne,Weed wide enough to rap a Fairy in.And with the iuyce of this Ile streake her eyes,And make her full of hatefull fantasies.
[620]
Take thou some of it, and seek through this groue;A sweet
Athenian Lady is in loue
With a disdainefull youth: annoint his eyes,But doe it when the next thing he espies,May be the Lady. Thou shalt know the man,
[625]
By the
Athenian garments he hath on.
Effect it with some care, that he may proueMore fond on her, then she vpon her loue;And looke thou meet me ere the first Cocke crow.Pu.Feare not my Lord, your seruant shall do so.Exit.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<div type="scene" n="1">
<head rend="italic center">Actus Secundus.</head>
<head type="supplied">[Act 2, Scene 1]</head>
<cb n="1"/>
<stage rend="italic center" type="entrance">Enter a Fairie at one doore, and Robin good
<lb/>fellow at another.</stage>
<sp who="#F-mnd-puc">
<speaker rend="italic">Rob.</speaker>
<l n="360">How now spirit, whether wander you?</l>
</sp>
<sp who="#F-mnd-fai">
<speaker rend="italic">Fai.</speaker>
<l n="361">Ouer hil, ouer dale, through bush, through briar,</l>
<l n="362">Ouer parke, ouer pale, through flood, through fire,</l>
<l n="363">I do wander euerie where, swifter then y<hi rend="superscript">e</hi>Moons sphere;</l>
<l n="364">And I serue the Fairy Queene, to dew her orbs vpon the
<lb rend="turnunder"/>(green.</l>
<l n="365">The Cowslips tall, her pensioners bee,</l>
<l n="366">In their gold coats, spots you see,</l>
<l n="367">Those be Rubies, Fairie fauors,</l>
<l n="368">In those freckles, liue their sauors,</l>
<l n="369">I must go seeke some dew drops heere,</l>
<l n="370">And hang a pearle in euery cowslips eare.</l>
<l n="371">Farewell thou Lob of spirits, Ile be gon,</l>
<l n="372">Our Queene and all her Elues come heere anon.</l>
</sp>
<sp who="#F-mnd-puc">
<speaker rend="italic">Rob.</speaker>
<l n="373">The King doth keepe his Reuels here to night,</l>
<l n="374">Take heed the Queene come not within his sight,</l>
<l n="375">For<hi rend="italic">Oberon</hi>is passing fell and wrath,</l>
<l n="376">Because that she, as her attendant, hath</l>
<l n="377">A louely boy stolne from an Indian King,</l>
<l n="378">She neuer had so sweet a changeling,</l>
<l n="379">And iealous<hi rend="italic">Oberon</hi>would haue the childe</l>
<l n="380">Knight of his traine, to trace the Forrests wilde.</l>
<l n="381">But she (perforce) with‑holds the loued boy,</l>
<l n="382">Crownes him with flowers, and makes him all her ioy.</l>
<l n="383">And now they neuer meete in groue, or greene,</l>
<l n="384">By fountaine cleere, or spangled star‑light sheene,</l>
<l n="385">But they do square, that all their Elues for feare</l>
<l n="386">Creepe into Acorne cups and hide them there.</l>
</sp>
<sp who="#F-mnd-fai">
<speaker rend="italic">Fai.</speaker>
<l n="387">Either I mistake your shape and making quite,</l>
<l n="388">Or else you are that shrew'd and knauish spirit</l>
<l n="389">Cal'd Robin Good‑fellow. Are you not hee,</l>
<l n="390">That frights the maidens of the Villagree,</l>
<l n="391">Skim milke, and sometimes labour in the querne,</l>
<l n="392">And bootlesse make the breathlesse huswife cherne,</l>
<l n="393">And sometime make the drinke to beare no barme,</l>
<cb n="2"/>
<l n="394">Misleade night‑wanderers, laughing at their harme,</l>
<l n="395">Those that Hobgoblin call you, and sweet Pucke,</l>
<l n="396">You do their worke, and they shall haue good lucke.</l>
<l n="397">Are not you he?</l>
</sp>
<sp who="#F-mnd-puc">
<speaker rend="italic">Rob.</speaker>
<l n="398">Thou speak'st aright;</l>
<l n="399">I am that merrie wanderer of the night:</l>
<l n="400">I iest to<hi rend="italic">Oberon</hi>, and make him smile,</l>
<l n="401">When I a fat and beane‑fed horse beguile,</l>
<l n="402">Neighing in likenesse of a silly foale,</l>
<l n="403">And sometime lurke I in a Gossips bole,</l>
<l n="404">In very likenesse of a roasted crab:</l>
<l n="405">And when she drinkes, against her lips I bob,</l>
<l n="406">And on her withered dewlop poure the Ale.</l>
<l n="407">The wisest Aunt telling the saddest tale,</l>
<l n="408">Sometime for three‑foot stoole, mistaketh me,</l>
<l n="409">Then slip I from her bum, downe topples she,</l>
<l n="410">And tailour cries, and fals into a coffe.</l>
<l n="411">And then the whole quire hold their hips, and loffe,</l>
<l n="412">And waxen in their mirth, and neeze, and sweare,</l>
<l n="413">A merrier houre vvas neuer wasted there.</l>
<l n="414">But roome Fairy, heere comes<hi rend="italic">Oberon</hi>.</l>
</sp>
<sp who="#F-mnd-fai">
<speaker rend="italic">Fair.</speaker>
<l n="415">And heere my Mistris:</l>
<l n="416">Would that he vvere gone.</l>
</sp>
<stage rend="italic center" type="entrance">Enter the King of Fairies at one doore with his traine,
<lb/>and the Queene at another with hers.</stage>
<sp who="#F-mnd-obe">
<speaker rend="italic">Ob.</speaker>
<l n="417">Ill met by Moone‑light,</l>
<l n="418">Proud<hi rend="italic">Tytania</hi>.</l>
</sp>
<sp who="#F-mnd-tit">
<speaker rend="italic">Qu.</speaker>
<l n="419">What, iealous<hi rend="italic">Oberon</hi>? Fairy skip hence.</l>
<l n="420">I haue forsworne his bed and companie.</l>
</sp>
<sp who="#F-mnd-obe">
<speaker rend="italic">Ob.</speaker>
<l n="421">Tarrie rash Wanton; am not I thy Lord?</l>
</sp>
<sp who="#F-mnd-tit">
<speaker rend="italic">Qu.</speaker>
<l n="422">Then I must be thy Lady: but I know</l>
<l n="423">When thou vvast stolne away from Fairy Land,</l>
<l n="424">And in the shape of<hi rend="italic">Corin</hi>, sate all day,</l>
<l n="425">Playing on pipes of Corne, and versing loue</l>
<l n="426">To amorous<hi rend="italic">Phillida</hi>. Why art thou heere</l>
<l n="427">Come from the farthest steepe of<hi rend="italic">India</hi>?</l>
<l n="428">But that forsooth the bouncing<hi rend="italic">Amazon</hi>
</l>
<l n="429">Your buskin'd Mistresse, and your Warrior loue,</l>
<l n="430">To<hi rend="italic">Theseus</hi>must be Wedded; and you come,</l>
<l n="431">To giue their bed ioy and prosperitie.</l>
</sp>
<sp who="#F-mnd-obe">
<speaker rend="italic">Ob.</speaker>
<l n="432">How canst thou thus for shame<hi rend="italic">Tytania</hi>,</l>
<l n="433">Glance at my credite, vvith<hi rend="italic">Hippolita</hi>?</l>
<l n="434">Knowing I knovv thy loue to<hi rend="italic">Theseus</hi>?</l>
<l n="435">Didst thou not leade him through the glimmering night</l>
<l n="436">From<hi rend="italic">Peregenia</hi>, whom he rauished?</l>
<l n="437">And make him vvith faire Eagles breake his faith</l>
<l n="438">With<hi rend="italic">Ariadne</hi>, and<hi rend="italic">Atiopa</hi>?</l>
</sp>
<sp who="#F-mnd-tit">
<speaker rend="italic">Que.</speaker>
<l n="439">These are the forgeries of iealousie,</l>
<l n="440">And neuer since the middle Summers spring</l>
<l n="441">Met vve on hil, in dale, forrest, or mead,</l>
<l n="442">By paued fountaine, or by rushie brooke,</l>
<l n="443">Or in the beached margent of the sea,</l>
<l n="444">To dance our ringlets to the whistling Winde,</l>
<l n="445">But vvith thy braules thou hast disturb'd our sport.</l>
<l n="446">Therefore the Windes, piping to vs in vaine,</l>
<l n="447">As in reuenge, haue suck'd vp from the sea</l>
<l n="448">Contagious fogges: Which falling in the Land,</l>
<l n="449">Hath euerie petty Riuer made so proud,</l>
<l n="450">That they haue ouer‑borne their Continents.</l>
<l n="451">The Oxe hath therefore stretch'd his yoake in vaine,</l>
<l n="452">The Ploughman lost his sweat, and the greene Corne</l>
<l n="453">Hath rotted, ere his youth attain'd a beard:</l>
<l n="454">The fold stands empty in the drowned field,</l>
<l n="455">And Crowes are fatted vvith the murrion flocke,</l>
<pb facs="FFimg:axc0169-0.jpg" n="149"/>
<cb n="1"/>
<l n="456">The nine mens Morris is fild vp with mud,</l>
<l n="457">And the queint Mazes in the wanton greene,</l>
<l n="458">For lacke of tread are vndistinguishable.</l>
<l n="459">The humane mortals want their winter heere,</l>
<l n="460">No night is now with hymne or caroll blest;</l>
<l n="461">Therefore the Moone (the gouernesse of floods)</l>
<l n="462">Pale in her anger, washes all the aire;</l>
<l n="463">That Rheumaticke diseases doe abound.</l>
<l n="464">And through this distemperature, we see</l>
<l n="465">The seasons alter; hoared headed frosts</l>
<l n="466">Fall in the fresh lap of the crimson Rose,</l>
<l n="467">And on old<hi rend="italic">Hyems</hi>chinne and Icie crowne,</l>
<l n="468">An odorous Chaplet of sweet Sommer buds</l>
<l n="469">Is as in mockry set. The Spring, the Sommer,</l>
<l n="470">The childing Autumne, angry Winter change</l>
<l n="471">Their wonted Liueries, and the mazed world,</l>
<l n="472">By their increase, now knowes not which is which;</l>
<l n="473">And this same progeny of euills,</l>
<l n="474">Comes from our debate, from our dissention,</l>
<l n="475">We are their parents and originall.</l>
</sp>
<sp who="#F-mnd-obe">
<speaker rend="italic">Ober.</speaker>
<l n="476">Do you amend it then, it lies in you,</l>
<l n="477">Why should<hi rend="italic">Titania</hi>crosse her<hi rend="italic">Oberon</hi>?</l>
<l n="478">I do but beg a little changeling boy,</l>
<l n="479">To be my Henchman.</l>
</sp>
<sp who="#F-mnd-tit">
<speaker rend="italic">Qu.</speaker>
<l n="480">Set your heart at rest,</l>
<l n="481">The Fairy land buyes not the childe of me,</l>
<l n="482">His mother was a Votresse of my Order,</l>
<l n="483">And in the spiced<hi rend="italic">Indian</hi>aire, by night</l>
<l n="484">Full often hath she gossipt by my side,</l>
<l n="485">And sat with me on<hi rend="italic">Neptunes</hi>yellow sands,</l>
<l n="486">Marking th'embarked traders on the flood,</l>
<l n="487">When we haue laught to see the sailes conceiue,</l>
<l n="488">And grow big bellied with the wanton winde:</l>
<l n="489">Which she with pretty and with swimming gate,</l>
<l n="490">Following (her wombe then rich with my yong squire)</l>
<l n="491">Would imitate, and saile vpon the Land,</l>
<l n="492">To fetch me trifles, and returne againe,</l>
<l n="493">As from a voyage, rich with merchandize.</l>
<l n="494">But she being mortall, of that boy did die,</l>
<l n="495">And for her sake I doe reare vp her boy,</l>
<l n="496">And for her sake I will not part with him.</l>
</sp>
<sp who="#F-mnd-obe">
<speaker rend="italic">Ob.</speaker>
<l n="497">How long within this wood intend you stay?</l>
</sp>
<sp who="#F-mnd-tit">
<speaker rend="italic">Qu.</speaker>
<l n="498">Perchance till after<hi rend="italic">Theseus</hi>wedding day.</l>
<l n="499">If you will patiently dance in our Round,</l>
<l n="500">And see our Moone‑light reuels, goe with vs;</l>
<l n="501">If not, shun me and I will spare your haunts.</l>
</sp>
<sp who="#F-mnd-obe">
<speaker rend="italic">Ob.</speaker>
<l n="502">Giue me that boy, and I will goe with thee.</l>
</sp>
<sp who="#F-mnd-tit">
<speaker rend="italic">Qu.</speaker>
<l n="503">Not for thy Fairy Kingdome. Fairies away:</l>
<l n="504">We shall chide downe right, if I longer stay.</l>
</sp>
<stage rend="italic rightJustified" type="exit">Exeunt.</stage>
<sp who="#F-mnd-obe">
<speaker rend="italic">Ob.</speaker>
<l n="505">Wel, go thy way: thou shalt not from this groue,</l>
<l n="506">Till I torment thee for this iniury.</l>
<l n="507">My gentle<hi rend="italic">Pucke</hi>come hither; thou remembrest</l>
<l n="508">Since once I sat vpon a promontory,</l>
<l n="509">And heard a Meare‑maide on a Dolphins backe,</l>
<l n="510">Vttering such dulcet and harmonious breath,</l>
<l n="511">That the rude sea grew ciuill at her song,</l>
<l n="512">And certaine starres shot madly from their Spheares,</l>
<l n="513">To heare the Sea‑maids musicke.</l>
</sp>
<sp who="#F-mnd-puc">
<speaker rend="italic">Puc.</speaker>
<l n="514">I remember.</l>
</sp>
<sp who="#F-mnd-obe">
<speaker rend="italic">Ob.</speaker>
<l n="515">That very time I say (but thou couldst not<hi rend="italic">)</hi>
</l>
<l n="516">Flying betweene the cold Moone and the earth,</l>
<l n="517">
<hi rend="italic">Cupid</hi>all arm'd; a certaine aime he tooke</l>
<l n="518">At a faire Vestall, throned by the West,</l>
<l n="519">And loos'd his loue‑shaft smartly from his bow,</l>
<l n="520">As it should pierce a hundred thousand hearts,</l>
<l n="521">But I might see young<hi rend="italic">Cupids</hi>fiery shaft</l>
<cb n="2"/>
<l n="522">Quencht in the chaste beames of the watry Moone;</l>
<l n="523">And the imperiall Votresse passed on,</l>
<l n="524">In maiden meditation, fancy free.</l>
<l n="525">Yet markt I where the bolt of<hi rend="italic">Cupid</hi>fell.</l>
<l n="526">It fell vpon a little westerne flower;</l>
<l n="527">Before, milke‑white; now purple with loues wound,</l>
<l n="528">And maidens call it, Loue in idlenesse.</l>
<l n="529">Fetch me that flower; the hearb I shew'd thee once,</l>
<l n="530">The iuyce of it, on sleeping eye‑lids laid,</l>
<l n="531">Will make or man or woman madly dote</l>
<l n="532">Vpon the next liue creature that it sees.</l>
<l n="533">Fetch me this hearbe, and be thou heere againe,</l>
<l n="534">Ere the<hi rend="italic">Leuiathan</hi>can swim a league.</l>
</sp>
<sp who="#F-mnd-puc">
<speaker rend="italic">Pucke.</speaker>
<l n="535">Ile put a girdle about the earth, in forty mi
<lb/>nutes.</l>
</sp>
<sp who="#F-mnd-obe">
<speaker rend="italic">Ober.</speaker>
<l n="536">Hauing once this iuyce,</l>
<l n="537">Ile watch<hi rend="italic">Titania</hi>, when she is asleepe,</l>
<l n="538">And drop the liquor of it in her eyes:</l>
<l n="539">The next thing when she waking lookes vpon,</l>
<l n="540">(Be it on Lyon, Beare, or Wolfe, or Bull,</l>
<l n="541">On medling Monkey, or on busie Ape)</l>
<l n="542">Shee shall pursue it, with the soule of loue.</l>
<l n="543">And ere I take this charme off from her sight,</l>
<l n="544">(As I can take it with another hearbe<hi rend="italic">)</hi>
</l>
<l n="545">Ile make her render vp her Page to me.</l>
<l n="546">But who comes heere? I am inuisible,</l>
<l n="547">And I will ouer‑heare their conference.</l>
</sp>
<stage rend="italic center" type="entrance">Enter Demetrius, Helena following him.</stage>
<sp who="#F-mnd-dem">
<speaker rend="italic">Deme.</speaker>
<l n="548">I loue thee not, therefore pursue me not,</l>
<l n="549">Where is<hi rend="italic">Lysander</hi>, and faire<hi rend="italic">Hermia</hi>?</l>
<l n="550">The one Ile stay, the other stayeth me.</l>
<l n="551">Thou toldst me they were stolne into this wood;</l>
<l n="552">And heere am I, and wood within this wood,</l>
<l n="553">Because I cannot meet my<hi rend="italic">Hermia</hi>.</l>
<l n="554">Hence, get thee gone, and follow me no more.</l>
</sp>
<sp who="#F-mnd-hel">
<speaker rend="italic">Hel.</speaker>
<l n="555">You draw me, you hard‑hearted Adamant,</l>
<l n="556">But yet you draw not Iron, for my heart</l>
<l n="557">Is true as steele. Leaue you your power to draw,</l>
<l n="558">And I shall haue no power to follow you.</l>
</sp>
<sp who="#F-mnd-dem">
<speaker rend="italic">Deme.</speaker>
<l n="559">Do I entice you? do I speake you faire?</l>
<l n="560">Or rather doe I not in plainest truth,</l>
<l n="561">Tell you I doe not, nor I cannot loue you?</l>
</sp>
<sp who="#F-mnd-hel">
<speaker rend="italic">Hel.</speaker>
<l n="562">And euen for that doe I loue thee the more;</l>
<l n="563">I am your spaniell, and<hi rend="italic">Demetrius</hi>,</l>
<l n="564">The more you beat me, I will fawne on you.</l>
<l n="565">Vse me but as your spaniell; spurne me, strike me,</l>
<l n="566">Neglect me, lose me; onely giue me leaue</l>
<l n="567">(Vnworthy as I am) to follow you.</l>
<l n="568">What worser place can I beg in your loue,</l>
<l n="569">(And yet a place of high respect with me)</l>
<l n="570">Then to be vsed as you doe your dogge.</l>
</sp>
<sp who="#F-mnd-dem">
<speaker rend="italic">Dem.</speaker>
<l n="571">Tempt not too much the hatred of my spirit,</l>
<l n="572">For I am sicke when I do looke on thee.</l>
</sp>
<sp who="#F-mnd-hel">
<speaker rend="italic">Hel.</speaker>
<l n="573">And I am sicke when I looke not on you.</l>
</sp>
<sp who="#F-mnd-dem">
<speaker rend="italic">Dem.</speaker>
<l n="574">You doe impeach your modesty too much,</l>
<l n="575">To leaue the Citty, and commit your selfe</l>
<l n="576">Into the hands of one that loues you not,</l>
<l n="577">To trust the opportunity of night,</l>
<l n="578">And the ill counsell of a desert place,</l>
<l n="579">With the rich worth of your virginity.</l>
</sp>
<sp who="#F-mnd-hel">
<speaker rend="italic">Hel.</speaker>
<l n="580">Your vertue is my priuiledge: for that</l>
<l n="581">It is not night when I doe see your face.</l>
<l n="582">Therefore I thinke I am not in the night,</l>
<l n="583">Nor doth this wood lacke worlds of company,</l>
<pb facs="FFimg:axc0170-0.jpg" n="150"/>
<cb n="1"/>
<l n="584">For you in my respect are<choice>
<orig>nll</orig>
<corr>all</corr>
</choice>the world.</l>
<l n="585">Then how can it be said I am alone,</l>
<l n="586">When all the world is heere to looke on me?</l>
</sp>
<sp who="#F-mnd-dem">
<speaker rend="italic">Dem.</speaker>
<l n="587">Ile run from thee, and hide me in the brakes,</l>
<l n="588">And leaue thee to the mercy of wilde beasts.</l>
</sp>
<sp who="#F-mnd-hel">
<speaker rend="italic">Hel.</speaker>
<l n="589">The wildest hath not such a heart as you;</l>
<l n="590">Runne when you will, the story shall be chang'd:</l>
<l n="591">
<hi rend="italic">Apollo</hi>flies, and<hi rend="italic">Daphne</hi>holds the chase;</l>
<l n="592">The Doue pursues the Griffin, the milde Hinde</l>
<l n="593">Makes speed to catch the Tyger. Bootlesse speede,</l>
<l n="594">When cowardise pursues, and valour flies.</l>
</sp>
<sp who="#F-mnd-dem">
<speaker rend="italic">Demet.</speaker>
<l n="595">I will not stay thy questions, let me go;</l>
<l n="596">Or if thou follow me, doe not beleeue,</l>
<l n="597">But I shall doe thee mischiefe in the wood.</l>
</sp>
<sp who="#F-mnd-hel">
<speaker rend="italic">Hel.</speaker>
<l n="598">I, in the Temple, in the Towne, and Field</l>
<l n="599">You doe me mischiefe. Fye<hi rend="italic">Demetrius</hi>,</l>
<l n="600">Your wrongs doe set a scandall on my sexe:</l>
<l n="601">We cannot fight for loue, as men may doe;</l>
<l n="602">We should be woo'd, and were not made to wooe.</l>
<l n="603">I follow thee, and make a heauen of hell,</l>
<l n="604">To die vpon the hand I loue so well.</l>
</sp>
<stage rend="italic rightJustified" type="exit">Exit.</stage>
<sp who="#F-mnd-obe">
<speaker rend="italic">Ob.</speaker>
<l n="605">Fare thee well Nymph, ere he do leaue this groue,</l>
<l n="606">Thou shalt flie him, and he shall seeke thy loue.</l>
<l n="607">Hast thou the flower there? Welcome wanderer.</l>
</sp>
<stage rend="italic center" type="entrance">Enter Pucke.</stage>
<sp who="#F-mnd-puc">
<speaker rend="italic">Puck.</speaker>
<l n="608">I, there it is.</l>
</sp>
<sp who="#F-mnd-obe">
<speaker rend="italic">Ob.</speaker>
<l n="609">I pray thee giue it me.</l>
<l n="610">I know a banke where the wilde time blowes,</l>
<l n="611">Where Oxslips and the nodding Violet growes,</l>
<l n="612">Quite ouer‑cannoped with luscious woodbine,</l>
<l n="613">With sweet muske roses, and with Eglantine;</l>
<l n="614">There sleepes<hi rend="italic">Tytania</hi>, sometime of the night,</l>
<l n="615">Lul'd in these flowers, with dances and delight:</l>
<l n="616">And there the snake throwes her enammel'd skinne,</l>
<l n="617">Weed wide enough to rap a Fairy in.</l>
<l n="618">And with the iuyce of this Ile streake her eyes,</l>
<l n="619">And make her full of hatefull fantasies.</l>
<l n="620">Take thou some of it, and seek through this groue;</l>
<l n="621">A sweet<hi rend="italic">Athenian</hi>Lady is in loue</l>
<l n="622">With a disdainefull youth: annoint his eyes,</l>
<l n="623">But doe it when the next thing he espies,</l>
<l n="624">May be the Lady. Thou shalt know the man,</l>
<l n="625">By the<hi rend="italic">Athenian</hi>garments he hath on.</l>
<l n="626">Effect it with some care, that he may proue</l>
<l n="627">More fond on her, then she vpon her loue;</l>
<l n="628">And looke thou meet me ere the first Cocke crow.</l>
</sp>
<sp who="#F-mnd-puc">
<speaker rend="italic">Pu.</speaker>
<l n="629">Feare not my Lord, your seruant shall do so.</l>
</sp>
<stage rend="italic rightJustified" type="exit">Exit.</stage>
</div>
