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? Tit. Perchance, till after Theseus' wedding-day. 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.

Obe. Give me that boy, and I will go with thee.

Tit. Not for thy fairy kingdom.-Fairies, away : We shall chide downright, if I longer stay.

[Exeunt Titania, and 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, (hut thou couldst not) Flying between the cold moon and the earth, Cupid all arm’d: a certain aim he took

1

At a fair vestal, throned by the west ;
And loosed his love-shaft smartly from his brow,
As it should pierce a hundred thousand hearts :
But I might see young Cupid's fiery shaft
Quench'd in the chaste beams of the watery moon;
And the imperial votaress passed on,
In maiden meditation, fancy-free.?
Yet mark'd 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 show'd 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.

[Erit Puck. Obe.

Having once this juice,
I'll watch Titania when she is asleep,
And drop the liquor of it in her eyes :
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,

i Queen Elizabeth.

? Exempt from love.

(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 told’st me, they were stolen into this woud,
And here am I, and wood1 within this woud,
Because I cannot meet with 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)

1 Mad, raving.

Than to be used as you do 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 1 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 valor flies.

Dem. I will not stay thy questions : let me go :

| Bring into question.

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, and 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 woo'd, and were not made to woo,
I'll follow thee, and make a heaven of hell,
To die upon 1 the hand I love so well.

[Exeunt Dem. and Hel. Obe. Fare thee well, nymph: ere he do leave this

grove, Thou shalt fly him, and he shall seek thy love.

Re-enter PUCK.
Hast thou the flower there? Welcome, wanderer.

Puck. Ay, there it is.
Obe.

I pray thee, give it me.
I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,
Where ox-lips 2 and the nodding violet grows;
Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,
With sweet musk-roses, and with eglantine :
There sleeps Titania, some time of the night,
Lull'd in these flowers with dances and delight;
And there the snake throws her enamel'd skin,
Weed wide enough to wrap a fairy in :
And with the juice of this I'll streak her eyes,
And make her full of hateful fantasies.

1 By.

2 The ox-lip is the greater cowslip.

SHAK.

ITI.