If

TITA. Perchance, till after Thefeus' wedding-day.

you will patiently dance in our round,

And fee our moon-light revels, go with us;

If not, fhun me, and I will fpare your haunts.
OBE. Give me that boy, and I will go with thee.
TITA. Not for thy kingdom.-Fairies, away :
We shall chide down-right, if I longer stay.

[Exeunt TITANIA, and her train.

OBE. Well, go thy way: thou shalt not from this grove, Till I torment thee for this injury.

My gentle Puck, come hither: Thou remember'st
Since once I fat upon a promontory,

And heard a mermaid on a dolphin's back,
Uttering fuch dulcet and harmonious breath,
That the rude fea grew civil at her fong;
And certain ftars fhot madly from their spheres,
To hear the fea-maid's mufick.

Puck. I remember.

OBE. That very time I faw, (but thou could'ft not,) Flying between the cold moon and the earth, Cupid all arm'd: a certain aim he took

At a fair veftal, throned by the west;

And loos'd his love-shaft fmartly from his bow,
As it should pierce a hundred thousand hearts:
But I might fee young Cupid's fiery shaft
Quench'd in the chafte beams of the wat'ry moon;
And the imperial vot'refs paffed on,

In maiden meditation, fancy-free.

Yet mark'd 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-idlenefs.

Fetch me that flower; the herb I fhow'd thee once;

1

The juice of it on fleeping eye-lids laid,
Will make or man or woman madly dote
Upon the next live creature that it fees.
Fetch me this herb; and be thou here again,
Ere the leviathan can fwim a league.

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

OBE. Having once this juice,

I'll watch Titania when she is asleep,

[Exit PUCK.

And drop the liquor of it in her eyes:
The next thing then the 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 foul of love.
And ere I take this charm off from her fight,
(As I can take it with another herb,)

I'll make her render

up her page to me.

But who comes here? I am invifible;

And I will over-hear their conference.

Enter DEMETRIUS, HELENA following him.
DEM. I love thee not, therefore pursue me not.
Where is Lyfander, and fair Hermia?

The one I'll flay, the other flayeth me.

Thou told'st me, they were ftol'n 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 fteel: Leave you your power to draw,
And I shall have no power to follow you.

DEM. Do I entice you? Do I fpeak 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, lofe me; only give me leave,
Unworthy as I am, to follow you.

ufe

What worfer place can I beg in your love,
(And yet a place of high refpect with me,)
Than to be used as you
your dog?
DEM. Tempt not too much the hatred of
For I am fick, when I do look on thee.

my spirit;

HEL. And I am fick, when I look not on you.
DEM. You do impeach your modefty too much,
To leave the city, and commit yourself

Into the hands of one that loves you not;
To trust the opportunity of night,

And the ill counsel of a defert place,

With the rich worth of your virginity.

HEL. Your virtue is my privilege for that. It is not night, when I do fee

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 faid, 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 chang'd:
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 valour flies.
DEM. I will not ftay thy queftions; let me go:
Or, if thou follow me, do not believe

But I fhall 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 fet a scandal on my sex :
We cannot fight for love, as men may do;

We should be woo'd, and were not made to woo.
I'll follow thee, and make a heaven of hell,

To die upon the hand I love fo well.

[Exeunt DEM. and IIEL.

OBE. Fare thee well, nymph: ere he do leave this

grove,

Thou shalt fly him, and he fhall feek thy love.

Re-enter PUCK.

Haft thou the flower there? Welcome, wanderer.
Puck. Ay, there it is.

ОВЕ. І

pray thee, give it me.

I know a bank whereon the wild thyme blows,
Where ox-lips and the nodding violet grows;
Quite over-canopied with lush woodbine,
With fweet musk roses, and with eglantine:
There fleeps Titania, fome time of the night,
Lull'd in these flowers with dances and delight;
And there the fnake throws her enamel'd skin,
Weed wide enough to wrap a fairy in :
And with the juice of this I'll ftreak her eyes,
And make her full of hateful fantafies.

Take thou fome of it, and feek through this grove:

A fweet Athenian lady is in love

With a difdainful youth: anoint his eyes;

But do it, when the next thing he espies

May be the lady: Thou fhalt know the man
By the Athenian garments he hath on.
Effect it with fome care; that he may prove
More fond on her, than fhe upon her love :
And look thou meet me ere the firft cock crow.
Puck. Fear not, my lord, your fervant fhall do fo.
[Exeunt.

SCENE III. Another part of the Wood.

Enter TITANIA with her train.

TITA. Come, now a roundel, and a fairy fong;
Then, for the third part of a minute, hence:
Some, to kill cankers in the mufk-rofe buds;

Some, war with rear-mice for their leathern wings,
To make my fmall elves coats; and fome, keep back
The clamorous owl, that nightly hoots, and wonders
At our quaint fpirits: Sing me now asleep;
Then to your offices, and let me rest.

SONG.

1. FAI. You fpotted fnakes, with double tongue,
Thorny hedge-hogs, be not seen ;

Newts, and blind-worms, do no wrong;
Come not near our fairy queen:

Chorus.

Philomel, with melody,

Sing in our fweet 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. FA1. Weaving spiders, come not here ;
Hence, you long-legg'd fpinners, hence:

VOL. I.

LI