Read A Midsummer Night's Dream Online

Authors: William Shakespeare

A Midsummer Night's Dream (9 page)

     The
ousel cock
114
so black of hue,

Sings

     With orange-tawny bill,

     The
throstle
116
with his note so true,

     The wren with little
quill
117
—

TITANIA
    What angel wakes me from my flow'ry bed?

Wakes

BOTTOM
    The finch, the sparrow and the lark,

Sings

     The
plain-song
120
cuckoo grey,

     Whose note full many a man doth mark,

     And
dares not answer nay
122
—

For, indeed,
who would set his wit to so foolish a bird
123
? Who

would
give a bird the lie
, though he cry ‘
cuckoo
124
' never so?

TITANIA
    I pray thee, gentle mortal, sing again:

Mine ear is much enamoured of thy note;

So is mine eye
enthrallèd
127
to thy shape:

And thy fair
virtue's
force
perforce
128
doth move me

On the first view to say, to swear, I love thee.

BOTTOM
    Methinks, mistress, you should have little reason for

that: and yet, to say the truth, reason and love keep little

company together nowadays; the more the pity that some

honest neighbours will not make them friends. Nay, I can

gleek
134
upon occasion.

TITANIA
    Thou art as wise as thou art beautiful.

BOTTOM
    Not so, neither: but if I had wit enough to get out of

this wood, I have enough to serve mine own
turn
137
.

TITANIA
    Out of this wood do not desire to go:

Thou shalt remain here, whether thou
wilt
139
or no.

I am a spirit of no common
rate
140
.

The summer
still
doth
tend upon
my
state
141
,

And I do love thee: therefore, go with me.

I'll give thee fairies to attend on thee,

And they shall fetch thee jewels from the
deep
144
,

And sing while thou on pressèd flowers dost sleep.

And I will purge thy mortal
grossness
146
so

That thou shalt like an airy spirit go.

Peaseblossom
, Cobweb,
Moth
148
, Mustardseed!

Enter four Fairies

PEASEBLOSSOM
    Ready.

COBWEB
    And I.

MOTH
    And I.

MUSTARDSEED
    And I.

ALL
    Where shall we go?

TITANIA
    Be kind and courteous to this gentleman.

Hop in his walks and gambol in his
eyes
155
,

Feed him with
apricocks
and
dewberries
156
,

With purple grapes, green figs, and mulberries.

The honey-bags steal from the
humble-bees
158
,

And for
night-tapers
159
crop their waxen thighs

And light them at the fiery glow-worm's eyes,

To have my love to bed and to
arise
161
.

And pluck the wings from painted butterflies

To fan the moonbeams from his sleeping eyes.

Nod to him, elves, and do him courtesies.

PEASEBLOSSOM
    Hail, mortal!

COBWEB
    Hail!

MOTH
    Hail!

MUSTARDSEED
    Hail!

BOTTOM
    I
cry your worship's mercy
169
, heartily;

To Cobweb

I beseech your worship's name.

COBWEB
    Cobweb.

BOTTOM
    I shall
desire you of more acquaintance
172
, good

Master Cobweb:
if I cut my finger, I shall make bold with
173

you.— Your name, honest gentleman?

PEASEBLOSSOM
    Peaseblossom.

BOTTOM
    I pray you commend me to Mistress
Squash
176
, your

mother, and to Master
Peascod
177
, your father. Good Master

Peaseblossom, I shall desire you of more acquaintance

too.— Your name, I beseech you, sir?

MUSTARDSEED
    Mustardseed.

BOTTOM
    Good Master Mustardseed, I know your
patience
181

well: that same cowardly, giant-like ox-beef hath devoured

many a gentleman of your house. I promise you, your

kindred hath
made my eyes water
184
ere now. I desire you of

more acquaintance, good Master Mustardseed.

TITANIA
    Come, wait upon him, lead him to my bower.

The moon methinks looks with a wat'ry eye,

And when she
weeps
188
, weeps every little flower,

Lamenting some
enforcèd
189
chastity.

Tie up my lover's tongue
190
, bring him silently.

Exeunt

[Act 3 Scene 2]

running scene 5

Enter King of Fairies
[
Oberon
]
alone

OBERON
    I wonder if Titania be awaked;

Then what it was that next came in her eye,

Which she must dote on
in extremity
3
.

Enter
[
Robin
]
Puck

Here comes my messenger.— How now, mad spirit?

What
night-rule
now about this
haunted
5
grove?

ROBIN
    My mistress with a monster is in love.

Near to her
close
7
and consecrated bower,

While she was in her
dull
8
and sleeping hour,

A crew of
patches
,
rude mechanicals
9
,

That work for bread upon Athenian stalls,

Were met together to rehearse a play

Intended for great Theseus' nuptial-day.

The shallowest thick-skin of that
barren sort
13
,

Who Pyramus presented in their sport,

Forsook
his
scene
15
and entered in a brake,

When I did him at this advantage take:

An ass's
noll
17
I fixèd on his head.

Anon his Thisbe must be answerèd,

And forth my
mimic
19
comes. When they him spy,

As wild geese that the creeping
fowler
20
eye,

Or
russet-pated choughs
,
many in sort
21
,

Rising and cawing at the gun's
report
22
,

Sever
themselves and madly
sweep
23
the sky,

So, at his sight, away his fellows fly.

And at our stamp here o'er and o'er one falls;

He ‘murder' cries and help from Athens calls.

Their sense thus weak, lost with their fears thus strong,

Made senseless things begin to do them wrong.

For briars and thorns at their apparel snatch,

Some sleeves, some hats, from
yielders
30
all things catch.

I led them on in this distracted fear,

And left sweet Pyramus translated there:

When in that moment, so it came to pass,

Titania waked and straightway loved an ass.

OBERON
    This falls out better than I could devise.

But hast thou yet
latched
36
the Athenian's eyes

With the love juice, as I did bid thee do?

ROBIN
    I took him sleeping — that is finished too —

And the Athenian woman by his side,

That, when he waked,
of force
40
she must be eyed.

Enter Demetrius and Hermia

OBERON
    Stand
close
41
. This is the same Athenian.

They stand
aside

ROBIN
    This is the woman, but not this the man.

DEMETRIUS
    O, why rebuke you him that loves you so?

Lay breath so bitter on your bitter foe.

HERMIA
    Now I but
chide
, but I should
use
45
thee worse,

For thou, I fear, hast given me cause to curse,

If thou hast slain Lysander in his sleep,

Being o'er shoes
48
in blood, plunge in the deep,

And kill me too.

The sun was not so
true
50
unto the day

As he to me. Would he have stol'n away

From sleeping Hermia? I'll believe as soon

This
whole
earth may be
bored
53
and that the moon

May through the
centre
54
creep, and so displease

Her brother's
noontide with
th'Antipodes
55
.

It cannot be but thou hast murdered him,

So should a murderer look, so
dead
57
, so grim.

DEMETRIUS
    So should the murdered look, and so should I,

Pierced through the heart with your stern cruelty:

Yet you, the murderer, looks as bright, as clear,

As yonder
Venus
in her glimm'ring
sphere
61
.

HERMIA
    What's this
to
62
my Lysander? Where is he?

Ah, good Demetrius, wilt thou give him me?

DEMETRIUS
    I'd rather give his carcass to my hounds.

HERMIA
    Out, dog! Out,
cur
65
! Thou driv'st me past the bounds

Of maiden's patience. Hast thou slain him, then?

Henceforth be never
numbered
67
among men.

O,
once
68
tell true, tell true even for my sake!

Durst
thou
a
69
looked upon him being awake?

And hast thou killed him sleeping? O
brave touch
70
!

Could not a
worm
71
, an adder, do so much?

An adder did it, for with
doubler
72
tongue

Than thine, thou serpent, never adder stung.

DEMETRIUS
    You
spend
your
passion
on a
misprised mood
74
.

I am not guilty of Lysander's blood,

Nor is he dead, for aught that I can tell.

HERMIA
    I pray thee tell me then that he is well.

DEMETRIUS
    An if I could, what should I get
therefor
78
?

HERMIA
    A privilege never to see me more;

And from thy hated presence part I so:

See me no more, whether he be dead or no.

Exit

DEMETRIUS
    There is no following her in this fierce
vein
82
:

Here therefore for a while I will remain.

So sorrow's heaviness doth
heavier
84
grow

For
85
debt that bankrupt sleep doth sorrow owe,

Which now in some slight measure it will pay,

If for
his tender
here I
make some stay
87
.

[
Demetrius
]
lies down
[
and sleeps
]

OBERON
    What hast thou done? Thou hast mistaken
quite
88

And laid the love juice on some true love's sight:

Of thy
misprision
90
must perforce ensue

Some true love turned, and not a false turned true.

ROBIN
    Then fate o'errules, that,
one man holding troth
92
,

A million fail,
confounding
oath
on
93
oath.

OBERON
    About the wood go swifter than the wind,

And Helena of Athens
look
95
thou find.

All
fancy-sick
she is and pale of
cheer
96
,

With
sighs of love, that costs the fresh blood dear
97
.

By some
illusion
98
see thou bring her here.

I'll charm his eyes
against
99
she doth appear.

ROBIN
    I go, I go, look how I go,

Swifter than arrow from the
Tartar's bow
101
.

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