Deserve a sweet look from Demetrius' eye,
But you must flout my insufficiency ?
Good troth you do me wrong, good footh you do,
In fuch difdainful manner me to woo:

But fare you well. Perforce I must confefs,
I thought you lord of more true gentleness:
Oh, that a lady of one man refus'd,

Should of another therefore be abus'd!

Ex

Lyf. She fees not Hermia; Hermia fleep thou there,

And never may'st thou come Lyfander near;
For as a furfeit of the sweetest things

The deepest loathing to a stomach brings;

Or

as the herefies that men do leave

Are hated most of those they did deceive;
So thou, my furfeit and my herefie,
Of all be hated, but the most of me;

And all my pow'rs address your love and might
To honour Helen, and to be her Knight.

[Exit.

Her. Help me, Lysander, help me, do thy best
To pluck this crawling ferpent from my breaft:
Ay me, for pity, what a dream was here?
Lyfander look how do I quake with fear;
Me-thought a ferpent eat my heart away,
And d you fate smiling at his cruel prey:
Lyfander! what remov'd? Lysander, lord!
What out of hearing, gone? no found, no word?
Alack where are you? speak, and if you hear,
Speak of all loves; I fwoon almost with fear.
No, then I well perceive you are not nigh,
Or death or you I'll find immediately.

d yet.

[Exit.

VOL. I.

H

ACT

ACT III. SCENE L

The Wood.

Enter Quince, Snug, Bottom, Flute, Snout and Starveling.

A

Truly humourous, and getmo thing
The Queen of Fairies lying afperaordinary

Воттом.

RE we all met?

20

Quin. Pat, pat; and here's a marvellous convenient place for our rehearsal. This green plot shall be our stage, this hauthorn-brake our tyring house, and we will do it in action, as we will do it before the Duke.

Bot. Peter Quince.

Quin. What say'st thou bully Bottom?

Bot. There are things in this comedy of Pyramus and Thisby, that will never please. First, Pyramus must draw a sword to kill himself, which the ladies cannot abide. How answer you that? Snout. By'rlaken, a parlous fear!

Star. I believe we must leave the killing out, when all is done.

Bot. Not a whit, I have a device to make all well; write me a prologue, and let the prologue seem to fay, we will do no harm with our fwords, and that Pyramus is not kill'd indeed; and for more better affurance tell them, that I Pyramus am not Pyramus but Bottom the weaver; this will put them out of fear.

Quin. Well, we will have such a prologue, and it hall be written in eight and fix.

Bot. No, make it two more; let it be written in eight and eight.

Snout. Will not the ladies be afraid of the lion? Star. I fear it, I promise you.

Bot. Masters, you ought to confider with your selves; to bring in, God shield us, a lion among ladies, is a most dreadful thing; for there is not a more fearful wild-fowl than your lion living; and we ought to look to it.

Snout. Therefore another prologue must tell he is not a lion.

Bot. Nay, you must name his name, and half his face must be seen through the lion's neck, and he himself must speak through, faying thus or to the same defect; ladies, or fair ladies, I would with you, or I would request you, or I would intreat you, not to fear, not to tremble; my life for yours; if you think I come hither as a lion, it were pity of my life; no, I am no such thing, I am a man as other men are; and there indeed let him name his name and tell them plainly he is Snug the joiner.

Quin. Well, it shall be fo; but there is two hard things, that is, to bring the moonlight into a chamber; for you know Pyramus and Thisby meet by moon-light.

Snug. Doth the moon shine that night we play our play Bot. A kalendar, a kalendar! look in the almanack; find out moon-shine, find out moon-shine. Quin. Yes, it doth shine that night.

Bot. Why then may you leave a casement of the great chamber window where we play open, and the moon may shine in at the casement.

Quin. Ay, or else one must come in with a buf of thorns and a lanthorn, and fay he comes to disfigure or to present the person of Moon-shine. Then there is another thing, we must have a wall in the great chamber, for Pyramus and Thisby (fays the sto ry) did talk through the chink of a wall.

H2

Snug,

Snug. You can never bring in a wall. What fay you, Bottom?

Bot. Some man or other must present Wall, and let him have fome plaster, or some lome, or fome rough-caft about him, to signify wall: Or let him hold his fingers thus; and through the cranny shall Pyramus and Thisby whifper.

Quin. If that may be, then all is well. Come, fit down every mother's fon, and rehearse your parts. Pyramus, you begin; when you have spoken your fpeech enter into that brake, and so every one according to his cue.

SCENE II.

Enter Puck.

Puck. What hempen home-spuns have we fwag-
gering here,

So near the cradle of the fairy Queen?
What, a play tow'rd? I'll be an auditor,
An actor too perhaps, if I see caufe.

Quin. Speak Pyramus; Thisby stand forth.

Pyr. Thisby, the flower of odious favour's sweet.

Quin. Odours, odours.

Pyr. Odours favours sweet,

So doth thy breath, my dearest Thisby dear:

But hark, a voice! stay thou but here a while,

And by and by I will to thee appear.

[Exit Pyr.

Puck. A stranger Pyramus than e'er plaid here! [Afide.
This. Must I speak now?

Quin. Ay marry muft you; for you must underftand he goes but to fee a noife that he heard, and is to come again.

This. Most radiant Pyramus, most lilly white of hue, Of colour like the red rose on triumphant bryer, ► Moft brisky Juvenile, and eke most lovely Jew, As true as trueft horfe, that yet would never tire, I'll meet thee, Pyramus, at Ninny's tomb.

2

Quin. Ninus tomb, man; why you must not speak that yet; that you answer to Pyramus; you speak all

your part at once, cues and all.

your cue is past; it is never tire.

Pyramus enter,

Enter Pyramus.

This. O, as true as trueft horse, that yet would never tire.

Pyr. If I were fair, Thisby, I were only thine. Quin O monstrous! O strange! we are haunted; pray masters, fly masters, help. [The Clowns exeunt. Puck. I'll follow you, I'll lead you about a round, Through bog, through bush, through brake, through bryer;

Sometimes a horse I'll be, sometimes a hound,
A hog, a headlefss bear, sometime a fire,
And neigh, and bark, and grunt, and roar, and burin,
Like horfe, hound, hog, bear, fire, at every turn. [Exit.

Enter Bottom with an Afs head.

Bot. Why do they run away? this is a knavery of them to make me afeard.

Enter Snowt.

Snowt. Ο Bottom, thou art chang'd; what do I fee on thee?

Bot. What do you see? you fee an afs-head of your own, do you?

Enter Quince.

Quin. Bless thee Bottom, bless thee, thou art tranf

lated.

[Exit.

Bot. I fee their knavery, this is to make an afs of me, to fright me if they could; but I will not ftir from this place, do what they can; I will walk up and down here, and I will fing, that they shall hear I am not afraid.

H 3

[Sings. The