Re-enter LYSANDER. LYS. Where art thou, proud Demetrius ? speak thou now. PUCK. Here, villain; drawn 'and ready. Where art thou? Lys. I will be with thee straight." Thou runaway, thou coward, art thou fled ? 4 Speak! In some bush ? Where dost thou hide thy head? PUCK. Thou coward, art thou bragging to the stars, Telling the bushes that thou look'st for wars, And wilt not come ? Come, recreant; come, thou child; I'll whip thee with a rod: he is defiled That draws a sword on thee. DEM. 410 Yea, art thou there? PUCK. Follow my voice: we'll try no manhood here. Re-enter LYSANDER. [Exeunt. LYS. He goes before me and still dares me on: 1 With drawn sword. 3 Smoother. 6 Immediately, forthwith. Are you hidden in some bush ? "We'll not try our courage, fight, here. 6 In the first folio there is the stage direction "shifting places" against this line. Of this Furness says: "It is clear that Demetrius That' fallen am I in dark uneven way, And here will rest me. [Lies down.] Come, thou gentle day! For if but once thou show me thy grey light,' I'll find Demetrius, and revenge this spite. Re-enter PUCK and DEMETRIUS. [Sleeps. PUCK. Ho, ho, ho! Coward, why comest thou not? 421 DEM. Abide3 me, if thou darest; for well I wot1 Thou runn'st before me, shifting every place," And darest not stand, nor look me in the face. follows Puck's voice off the stage at line 413. To make Demetrius enter and fall asleep, and then Lysander enter and fall asleep, would have smacked of tameness in the repetition, and we should have had but little proof that the two men were really in bitter earnest. Whereas if Demetrius plunges into the darkness, and we lose sight of him in mad pursuit of Puck's voice, and then see Lysander enter, rush hither and thither, half frenzied, shifting his place every minute, then the conviction is forced on us that this is a fight to the death, and the somnolent power of Puck's charm in allaying the fury is heightened." For this and some other reasons, which do not seem so strong, Furness believes in the propriety of this stage direction at just this line. 1 So that. The gray of early morning. That is, at the break of day he will again track his enemy. 3 Wait for me. 4 Know. 5 Changing your position constantly. Pay dear for this. To measure out my length on this cold bed.' 430 [Lies down and sleeps. Re-enter HELENA. HEL. O weary night, O long and tedious night, 3 Abate thy hours! east, Shine comforts from the 4 That I may back to Athens by daylight, From these that my poor company detest: And sleep, that sometimes shuts up sorrow's eye," PUCK. [Lies down and sleeps. Thus to make poor females mad. Re-enter HERMIA. HER. Never so weary, never so in woe;* 7 Bedabbled with the dew, and torn with briers; 1 Weariness forces me to lie down on this cold bed. 2 When the day dawns expect me to find you out. 3 Shorten the duration of. 440 As Furness says, this word may be the object of shine, its subject, or, like O long and tedious night, in the vocative. In any case it seems to mean rays of light that shall be comforts, because they will show Demetrius his way. "See 11. 84-85 of this scene. "Shrewish, mischievous. The word here seems to have something of both its meanings, "grave" and "sad." 66 So weary as I have never been before; so woful as I have never been. PUCK. I can no further crawl, no further go; My legs can keep no pace with my desires. The man shall have his mare again, and all shall be well.' 1 That is, [Exit. "You will take delight in seeing her who formerly was the lady of your love." "Well known. The nicknames of Jack and Jill for any man and any woman are of great antiquity.-HALLIWELL. This seems to have been a proverbial expression, implying that all would be right in the end.-WRIGHT. ACT FOURTH. SCENE I.-The same. LYSANDER, DEMETRIUS, HELENA, and HERMIA, lying asleep. Enter TITANIA and BOTTOM; PEASEBLOSSOM, COBWEB, TITA. Come, sit thee down upon this flowery bed, And stick musk-roses in thy sleek smooth head, BOT. Where's Pease blossom? PEAS. Ready. BOT. Scratch my head, Peaseblossom. Where's Mounsieur Cobweb? COв. Ready. BOT. Mounsieur Cobweb, good mounsieur, get you your weapons in your hand, and kill me a red-hipped humble-bee on the top of a thistle; and, good mounsieur, bring me the honey-bag. Do not fret yourself too much in the action, mounsieur; and, good mounsieur, have a care the honey-bag break not; I would be loth to have you overflown with a honey-bag, signior. Where's Mounsieur Mustardseed? Mus. Ready. 5 3 17 BOT. Give me your neaf,1 Mounsieur Mustardseed. Pray you, leave your courtesy, good mounsieur. Mus. What's your will? 1 Lovely. 2 Fondle. Unwilling to have you flooded with the contents of. 4 Fist. .. 5 That is, Leave off your ceremonious treatment of me, put on your hat, be covered." |