Dem. I will not stay thy questions; let me go: Or if thou follow me, do not believe,

But I fhall 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 fet a scandal on my fex: We cannot fight for love, as men may do; We fhou'd be woo'd, and were not made to woo. I follow thee, and make a heav'n of hell; To die upon the hand, I love fo well,

SCENE

[Exeunt

IV.

Ob. Fare thee well, nymph; ere he doth leave this

grove,

Thou fhalt fly him, and he shall seek thy love.
Haft thou the flow'r there? welcome, wanderer.
Enter Puck

Puck. Ay, there it is.

Ob. I pray thee, give it me;

I know a bank whereon the wild thyme blows,
Where ox-lip and the nodding violet grows,
O'er-canopy'd with lufcious woodbine,
With fweet musk-rofes, and with eglantine.
There fleeps Titania, fome time of the night,
Lull'd in these flow'rs with dances and delight;
And there the fnake throws her enammel'd skin,
Weed wide enough to wrap a fairy in:

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

Take thou fome of it, and feek through this grove

A fweet Athenian lady is in love

With a difdainful youth; anoint his eyes;
But do it, when the next thing he efpies
May be the lady. Thou fhalt know the Man,
By the Athenian garments he hath on.

Effect

Effect it with fome care, that he may prove
More fond of her, than fhe upon her love;
And, look, you meet me ere the first cock crow.
Puck. Fear not, my lord, your fervant fhall do fo.

SCENE

V.

Enter Queen of Fairies, with her train.

[Exeunt.

Queen. Come, now a roundel, and a Fairy fong: Then, for the third part of the midnight, 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 fome keep back
The clamorous owl, that nightly hoots, and wonders
At our queint sports. Sing me now asleep;

8

Then to your Offices, and let me rest.

Fairies fing.

You spotted fnakes with double tongue,
Thorny hedgehogs, be not feen;
Newts and blind worms, do no wrong ;

Come not near our fairy Queen.

Philomel, with melody,

Sing in your fweet lullaby;

Lulla, lulla, lullaby; lulla, lulla, lullaby:

Never barm, nor spell, nor charm,

Come our lovely lady nigh;

So good night with lullaby.

7 Then, for the third part of A MINUTE, hence ;] We fhould read third part of THE MIDNIGHT. The common reading is nonfenfe. Poffibly Shakespear might have used the

French word Minuit.

— our queint s PIRITS.-] We should read S PORTS.

2 Fairy.

Weaving Spiders come not here; Hence, you long-leg'd spinners, hence : Beetles black, approach not near, Worm, nor fnail, do no offence, Philomel with melody, &c.

1 Fairy.

Hence, away; now all is well:

One, aloof, ftand Centinel.

[Exeunt Fairies. The Queen fleeps.

Enter Oberon.

Ob. What thou feeft, when thou doft wake,

Do it for thy true love take:
Love and languifh for his fake;
Be it ounce, or cat, or bear,
Pard, or boar with bristled hair,
In thy eye that shall appear,
When thou wak'ft, it is thy dear;
Wake, when fome vile thing is near.

SCENE

[Exit Oberon

VI.

Enter Lyfander and Hermia.

Lys. Fair love, you faint with wandring in the wood; And, to speak troth, I have forgot our way: We'll reft us, Hermia, if thou think it good, And tarry for the comfort of the day.

Her. Be't fo, Lyfander; find you out a bed,

For I upon this bank will reft my head.

Lyf. One turf fhall ferve as pillow for us both, One heart, one bed, two bofoms, and one troth. Her. Nay, good Lyfander; for my fake, my dear, Lye further off yet, do not lye fo near.

Lyf.

Lys. O take the fenfe, fweet, of my conference; 9 Love takes the meaning, in love's innocence;

I mean, that my heart unto yours is knit ;
So that but one heart can you make of it:
Two bofoms, interchained with an oath ;
So then two bofoms, and a single troth:
Then, by your fide no bed-room me deny;
For lying fo, Hermia, I do not lye.

Her. Lyfander riddles very prettily;
Now much befhrew my manners, and my pride,
If Hermia meant to fay, Lyfander ly'd.
But, gentle friend, for love and curtefie
Lye further off; in human modefty,
Such feparation, as, may well be faid,
Becomes a virtuous batchelor and a maid,
So far be diftant; and good night, sweet friend;
Thy love ne'er alter, till thy fweet life end!
Lys. Amen, amen, to that fair prayer, say I;
And then end life, when I end loyalty!
Here is my bed; fleep give thee all his reft!

Her. With half that with the wisher's eyes be preft!

90 take the fenfe, fweet, of my innocence;

Love takes the meaning in love's conference.] Here,

by fome mifchance or other, Innocence and Conference have been jumbled into one another's places, and thereby deprived a very fenfible reply of all kind of meaning.

place and the fense will be this;

Restore each to its right

when she had interpreted

his words to an evil meaning, he replies,

O take the fenfe, fweet, of my conference;

i. e. judge of my meaning by the drift of my whole fpeech,

and

Night and filence! who is here?
Weeds of Athens he doth wear;
This is he, my mafter faid,
Defpifed the Athenian maid,

And here the maiden fleeping found
On the dank and dirty ground.
Pretty foul! fhe durft not lye
Near to this lack-love kill-curtefie.
Churl, upon thy eyes I throw
All the pow'r this charm doth owe:
When thou wak'ft, let love forbid
Sleep his feat on thy eye-lid;
So awake, when I am gone:

For I must now to Oberon.

SCENE
E NE

VII.

Enter Demetrius and Helena running:

[Exit.

Hel. Stay, tho' 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 fo. Dem. Stay, on thy peril; i alone will go. [Exit Demetrius. Hel. O, I am out of breath in this fond chace; The more my prayer, the leffer is my grace. Happy is Hermia, wherefoe'er fhe lies; For the hath bleffed, and attractive, eyes. How came her eyes fo bright? not with falt tears; If so, my eyes are oftner wafh'd than hers:

and do not pervert the fense of an ambiguous word to a meaning quite foreign to the difcourfe. Befides, fays he,

Love takes the meaning in love's innocence.

i. e. The innocence of your love may teach you to discover the innocence of mine. These are the fentiments, which were quite loft in this aukward tranfpofition.

No,