And with the juice of this I'll streak her eyes,
And make her full of hateful fantasies.

Take thou some of it, and seek through this grove:
A sweet Athenian lady is in love

With a disdainful youth: anoint his eyes;
But do it, when the next thing he espies
May be the lady: thou shalt know the man
By the Athenian garments he hath on.
Effect it with some care; that he may prove
More fond on her, than she upon her love:
And look thou meet me ere the first cock crow.
Puck. Fear not, my lord, your servant shall do so.

[Exeunt, R.

SCENE III.-Another Part of the Wood.—Titania's Bower, L., decorated with Flowers-the Duke's Oak. c.

TITANIA and her Train discovered.

Tit. (c.) Come, now a roundel, and a fairy song; Then, for the third part of a minute, hence; Some, to kill cankers in the musk-rose buds; Some, war with rear-mice for their leathern wings, To make my small elves coats; and some, keep back The clamorous owl, that nightly hoots, and wonders At our quaint spirits: sing me now asleep; Then to your offices, and let me rest.

[Goes to bower and lies down, R. U. E.

First Fai. You spotted snakes, with double tongue, Thorny hedgehogs, be not seen;

Cho.

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

Philomel, with melody,

Sing in our sweet lullaby;

Lulla, lulla, lullaby; lulla, lulla, lullaby :
Never harm, nor spell, nor charm,
Come our lovely lady nigh:

So, good night, with lullaby.

Second F. Weaving spiders, come not here;

Cho.

Hence, you long-legg'd spinners, hence:
Beetles black, approach not near;
Worm, nor snail, do no offence.

Philomel, with melody, &c.

First F. Hence, away; now all is well:

One, aloof, stand sentinel.

[Exeunt Fairies, R. and L. U. F.-Titania sleeps.

Enter OBERON, L. S. E., and crosses to Titania who sleeps on the Bank, R. U. E.

Obe. What thou seest when thou dost wake,

[Squeezes the flower on Titania's eyelids.

Do it for thy true love take;

Love, and languish for his sake:
Be it ounce, or cat, or bear,
Pard, or boar with bristled hair,
In thy eye that shall appear
When thou wak'st, it is thy dear;

Wake, when some vile thing is near. [Exit, R. U. E.
Enter LYSANDER and HERMIA, R.-Stage partly dark.
Lys. Fair love, you faint with wand'ring in the wood;
And, to speak troth, I have forgot our way;
We'll rest us, Hermia, if you think it good.
And tarry for the comfort of the day.
Her. Be it so, Lysander; find you out a bed,
For I upon this bank will rest my head.

[Reclines on bank, L. U. E. 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,
Lie further off yet; do not lie so near.

Lys. O, take the sense, sweet, of my innocence!
Love takes the meaning, in love's conference.
I mean, that my heart unto your's is knit,
So that but one heart we can make of it:
Two bosoms interchained with an oath;
So then, two bosoms and a single troth.
Then by your side no bed-room me deny ;
For, lying so, Hermia, I do not lie.

Her. Lysander riddles very prettily:
Now much beshrew my manners and my pride,
If Hermia meant to say, Lysander lied.
But gentle friend, for love and courtesy
Lie further off; in human modesty,
Such separation as may well be said
Becomes a virtuous bachelor, and a maid;

So far be distant; and good night, sweet friend:
Thy love ne'er alter, till thy sweet life end!

Lys. Amen, amen, to that fair prayer, say I And then end life, when I end loyalty!

Here is my bed; [Reclines on bank, R. S. E.] sleep give thee all his rest!

Her. With half that wish the wisher's eyes be press'd! [They sleep.

Enter PUCK, L.

Puck. Through the forest have I gone,
But Athenian found I none,

On whose eyes I might approve
This flower's force in stirring love.
Night and silence! who is here?
Weeds of Athens he doth wear:
This is he, my master said,
Despised the Athenian maid;
And here the maiden, sleeping sound
On the dank and dirty ground.
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:

[Dropping the juice in Lysander's eye.

When thou wak'st, let love forbid

Sleep his seat on thy eyelid.

So awake, when I am gone;

For I must now to Oberon.

Enter DEMETRIUS and HELENA, running R.

[Aside.

Hel. Stay, though thou kill me, sweet Demetrius. Dem. I charge thee, hence, and do not haunt me thus. Hel. O, wilt thou darkling leave me? do not so.

Dem. Stay, on thy peril; I alone will go.

[Exit Demetrius, L. Hel. O, I am out of breath in this fond chase!

The more my prayer, the lesser is my grace.
Happy is Hermia, wheresoe'r she lies;
For she hath blessed and attractive eyes.

How came her eyes so bright? Not with salt tears;
If so, my eyes are oftener wash'd than hers.

No, no, I am as ugly as a bear;

For beasts that meet me run away for fear:
Therefore, no narvel, though Demetrius
Do, as a monster fly my presence thus.

]
What wicked and dissembling glass of mine
Made me compare with Hermia's sphery eyne?
But who is here?-Lysander! on the ground!
Dead? or asleep? I see no blood, no wound:
Lysander, if you live, good sir, awake.

Lys. [Wakes.] And run through fire I will, for thy sweet sake,

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
The tedious minutes I with her have spent.
Not Hermia, but Helena, I love,-

Who will not change a raven for a dove?
The will of man is by his reason sway'd;
And reason says you are the worthier maid.
Things growing are not ripe until their season;
So I, being young, till now ripe not to reason
And touching now the point of human skill,
Reason becomes the marshal to my will,
And leads me to your eyes; where I o'erlook
Love's stories, written in love's richest book.

Hel. Wherefore was I to this keen mockery born? When, at your hands, did I deserve this scorn?

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,
In such disdainful manner me to woo.

But fare you well: perforce I must confess,
I thought you lord of more true gentleness.
O, that a lady, of one man refus'd,

Should, of another, therefore be abus'd!

[Exit, R.

Lys. She sees not Hermia,-Hermia, sleep thou there;

And never may'st thou come Lysander near!

For, as a surfeit of the sweetest things
The deepest loathing to the stomach brings;
Or, as the heresies, that men do leave,
Are hated most of those they did deceive';

So thou, my surfeit, and my heresy,

Of all be hated; but the most of me!

And all my powers, address your love and might,
To honour Helen, and to be her knight!

[Exit, R.

Her. [Waking, and rising.] Help me, Lysander, help

me! do thy best,

To pluck this crawling serpent from my breast!
Ah me, for pity! what a dream was here!
Lysander, look how I do quake with fear:
Methought a serpent eat my heart away,
And you sat smiling at his cruel prey :-
Lysander! what, remov'd? Lysander! lord!
What out of hearing? gone? no sound, no word?
Alack, where are you? speak, an if you hear;
Speak, of all loves; I swoon almost with fear.
No?-then I well perceive you are not nigh:
Either death, or you, I'll find immediately.

END OF ACT II.

[Exit, L.

ACT III.

SCENE I.-The Wood, Bower, and Duke's Oak-The Queen of Fairies lying asleep on a Bank, R. U. E. Enter QUINCE, SNUG, BOTTOM, FLUTE, SNOUT, and STARVELING, L. U. E.

Bot. (R. C.) Are we all met?

Qui. Pat, pat; and here's a marvellous convenient place for our rehearsal: this green plot shall be our stage, this hawthorn brake our tyring house; and we will do it in action, as we will do it before the duke. Bot. Peter Quince

Quin. (c.) What say'st thou, bully Bottom?

Bot. There are things in this comedy of Pyramus and Thisby that will never please. First, Pyramus must draw a sword to kill himself; which the ladies cannot abide. How answer you that?

Sno. By'rlakin, a parlous fear.

Sta. I believe we must leave the killing out, when all is done.

Bot. Not a whit, I have a device to make all well. Write me a prologue: and let the prologue seem to say, we