Her dotage now I do begin to pity. [Touching her eyes with an herb. See, as thou wast wont to see: Dian's bud" o'er Cupid's flower Hath such force and blessed power. Now, my 5 This was the phraseology of the time. So in K. Henry IV. Part I. and unbound the rest, and then came in the other.' 6 Dian's bud is the bud of the Agnus Castus, or Chaste Tree. 'The vertue of this hearbe is, that he will kepe man and woman chaste, Macer's Herbal, by Lynacre, b. 1. no date. Cupid's flower is the Viola tricolor, or Love in Idleness. ! 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? O, how mine eyes do loathe his visage now! Obe. Silence, awhile.-Robin, take off this head.Titania, musick call; and strike more dead Than common sleep, of all these five the sense. Tita. Musick, ho! musick: such as charmeth sleep. Puck. Now, when thou wak'st, with thine own fool's eyes peep. Obe. Sound, musick. [Still musick.] Come, my take hands with me, queen, And rock the ground whereon these sleepers be. Now thou and I are new in amity; And will, to-morrow midnight, solemnly, There shall the pairs of faithful lovers be Puck. Fairy king, attend and mark; Obe. Then, my queen, in silence sad', Tita. Come, my lord; and in our flight, [Exeunt. [Horns sound within. 7 Sad here signifies only grave, serious. Enter THESEUS, HIPPOLYTA, EGEUS, and train. The. Go, one of you, find out the forester ;- Despatch, I say, and find the forester. We will, fair queen, up to the mountain's top, Of hounds and echo in conjunction. Hip. I was with Hercules, and Cadmus, once, When in a wood of Crete they bay'd the bear With hounds of Sparta: never did I hear Such gallant chiding 10; for, besides the groves, The skies, the fountains, every region near Seem'd all one mutual cry: I never heard So musical a discord, such sweet thunder. The. My hounds are bred out of the Spartan kind, So flew'd 11, so sanded 12; and their heads are hung With ears that sweep away the morning dew; Crook-knee'd, and dew-lapp'd like Thessalian bulls; Slow in pursuit, but match'd in mouth like bells, Each under each. A cry more tuneable Was never holla'd to, nor cheer'd with horn, 8 i. e. the honours due to the morning of May. So in a former scene to do observance to a morn of May.' 9 Forepart. 10 Chiding means here the cry of hounds. To chide is used sometimes for to sound, or make a noise without any reference to scolding. So in K. Henry VIII.: As doth a rock against the chiding flood.' And in the 22d Book of Drayton's Polyolbion : 11 The flews are the large chaps of a deep-mouthed hound. 12 Sanded means of a sandy colour, which is one of the true denotements of a blood-hound. In Crete, in Sparta, nor in Thessaly: Judge, when you hear.-But, soft; what nymphs are these? Ege. My lord, this is my daughter here asleep: And this, Lysander; this Demetrius is; This Helena, old Nedar's Helena: I wonder of their being here together. The. No doubt, they rose up early, to observe The rite of May; and, hearing our intent, Came here in grace of our solemnity.But, speak, Egeus; is not this the day That Hermia should give answer of her choice? Ege. It is, my lord. The. Go, bid the huntsmen wake them with their horns. Horns, and shout within. DEMETRIUS, LYSANDER, Begin these wood-birds but to couple now? The. [He and the rest kneel to THESEus. I pray you all, stand up. I know you are two rival enemies; How comes this gentle concord in the world, I came with Hermia hither: our intent Ege. Enough, enough, my lord; you have enough: I beg the law, the law, upon his head.- You, of and me: my consent; Of my consent that she should be your wife. power Dem. My lord, fair Helen told me of their stealth, Of this their purpose hither, to this wood; And I in fury hither followed them; Fair Helena in fancy 13 following me. But, my good lord, I wot not by what (But by some power it is), my love to Hermia, Melted as doth the snow, seems to me now As the remembrance of an idle gawd 14, Which in my childhood I did dote upon: And all the faith, the virtue of my heart, The object, and the pleasure of mine eye, Is only Helena. To her, my lord, Was I betroth'd ere I saw Hermia: But, like in sickness, did I loathe this food: But, as in health, come to my natural taste, Now do I wish it, love it, long for it, And will for evermore be true to it. The. Fair lovers, you are fortunately met: For in the temple, by and by with us, [Exeunt THE. HIP. EGE. and train. 13 Fancy is here love or affection, and is opposed to fury. So in Shakspeare's Venus and Adonis: 'A martial man to be soft fancy's slave.' Some now call that which a man takes particular delight in, his fancy. 14 Toy. |