SCENE II. Enter OBERON, at one door, with his Train, and TITANIA, at another, with hers. Obe. Ill met by moon-light, proud Titania. Obe. Tarry, rash wanton. Am not I thy lord? Obe. How canst thou thus, for shame, Titania, Knowing I know thy love to Theseus ? Didst thou not lead him through the glimmering night From Perigenia, whom he ravished? And make him with fair Ægle break his faith, Tita. These are the forgeries of jealousy ; To dance our ringlets to the whistling wind, 1 See the Life of Theseus in North's Translation of Plutarch. Egle, Ariadne, and Antiopa, were all, at different times, mistresses to Theseus. The name of Perigune is translated by North Perigouna. 2 Spring seems to be here used for beginning. The spring of day is used for the dawn of day in K. Henry IV. Part II. As in revenge, have sucked up from the sea 4 Their wonted liveries; and the 'mazed world, From our debate, from our dissension. We are their parents and original. Obe. Do you amend it, then; it lies in you. i. e. paltry. The folio reads petty. 2 A rural game, played by making holes in the ground in the angles and sides of a square, and placing stones or other things upon them, according to certain rules. These figures are called nine men's morris, or merrils, because each party playing has nine men: they were generally cut upon turf, and were, consequently, choked up with mud in rainy seasons 3 Theobald proposed to read "their winter cheer." 4 Autumn producing flowers unseasonably upon those of summer. Set your heart at rest, Tita. To fetch me trifles, and return again, Obe. How long within this wood intend you stay? away. [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 And heard a mermaid, on a dolphin's back, And certain stars shot madly from their spheres, Puck. I remember. Obe. That very time I saw, (but thou could'st 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, In maiden meditation, fancy-free.2 Yet marked I where the bolt of Cupid fell. Before, milk-white; now purple with love's wound, Fetch me that flower; the herb I showed thee once; Puck. I'll put a girdle round about the earth [Exit PUCK. Obe. 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. 1 It is well known that a compliment to Queen Elizabeth was intended in this very beautiful passage. Warburton has attempted to show, that by the mermaid, in the preceding lines, Mary Queen of Scots was intended. It is argued with his usual fanciful ingenuity, but will not bear the test of examination, and has been satisfactorily controverted. It appears to have been no uncommon practice to introduce a compliment to Elizabeth in the body of a play. 2 Exempt from the power of love. 3 The tricolored violet, commonly called pansies, or hearts' ease, is here meant; one or two of its petals are of a purple color. It has other fanciful and expressive names. 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 wood, Hence, get thee gone, and follow me no more. Hel. You draw me, you hard-hearted adamant; Is true as steel. Leave you your power to draw, Dem. Do I entice you? Do I speak you fair? Tell you I do not, nor I cannot love you? I am your spaniel; and, Demetrius, you the more. The more you beat me, I will fawn on you. 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 do your dog? 2 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. Into the hands of one that loves you not; 1 Mad, raving. Wud is the synonymous Scotch term. 2 "There is now a dayes a kind of adamant which draweth unto it fleshe, and the same so strongly, that it hath power to knit and tie together two mouthes of contrary persons, and draw the heart of a man out of his bodie without offending any part of him." Certaine Secrete Wonders of Nature, by Edward Fenton, 1569. 3 i. e. bring it into question. |