Which she, with pretty and with swimming gait Following, her womb then rich with my young squire

Would imitate, and sail upon the land
To fetch me trifles, and return again,
As from a voyage, rich with merchandise.
But she, being mortal, of that boy did die;
And for her sake I do rear up her boy,
And for her sake I will not part with him.

Obe. How long within this wood intend you stay?

Tita. Perchance, till after Theseus' weddingday.

If you will patiently dance in our round,

And see our moonlight revels, go with us;
If not, shun me, and I will spare your haunts.
Qbe. Give me that boy, and I will go with thee.
Tita. Not for thy fairy kingdom.-Fairies,
away!

We shall chide downright, if I longer stay.

[Exit TITANIA, with 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 sat upon a promontory,

And heard a mermaid on a dolphin's back
Uttering such dulcet and harmonious breath,
That the rude sea grew civil at her song,
And certain stars shot madly from their spheres,
To hear the sea-maid's music,

Puck.

I remember.

Obe. That very time I saw-but thou couldst

not

Flying between the cold moon and the earth,
Cupid all armed; a certain aim he took
At a fair vestal throned by the west,

And loosed his love-shaft smartly from his bow
As it should pierce a hundred thousand hearts :
But I might see young Cupid's fiery shaft
Quenched in the chaste beams of the watery moon,
And the imperial votaress passed on,

In maiden meditation, fancy-free.

Yet marked 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-idleness.

Fetch me that flower; the herb I showed thee

once :

The juice of it, on sleeping eyelids laid,
Will make or man or woman madly dote
Upon the next live creature that it sees.

Fetch me this herb; and be thou here again
Ere the leviathan can swim 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,

And drop the liquor of it in her eyes.

[Exit

The next thing then she 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 soul of love.
And ere I take this charm off from her sight-
As I can take it with another herb-

I'll make her render up her page to me.
But who comes here? I am invisible;

And I will overhear their conference.

Enter DEMETRIUS, HELENA following him

Dem. I love thee not, therefore pursue me not. Where is Lysander and fair Hermia?

The one I'll slay, the other slayeth me.

Thou toldst me, they were stol'n into this wood; And here am I, and wode within this wood Because I cannot meet my 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 steel: leave you your power to draw,
And I shall have no power to follow you.

Dem. Do I entice you? do I speak 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, lose me; only give me leave, Unworthy as I am, to follow you.

What worser place can I beg in your love,—

And yet a place of high respect with me,—
Than to be used as you use your dog?

Dem. Tempt not too much the hatred of my

spirit,

For I am sick when I do look on thee.

Hel. And I am sick when I look not on you.
Dem. You do impeach your modesty 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 desert place

With the rich worth of your virginity.

Hel. Your virtue is my privilege for that.

It is not night when I do see 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 said 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 changed,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 stay thy questions: let me go; Or, if thou follow me, do not believe

But I shall 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 set a scandal on my sex.
We cannot fight for love, as men may do;

We should be wooed, and were not made to woo.
I'll follow thee, and make a heaven of hell,
To die upon the hand I love so well.

[Exeunt DEMETRIUS and HELENA