Thereby to have defeated you and me:

You, of your wife; and me, of my confent;

Of

my consent that she should be your wife.

Dem. My lord, fair Helen told me of their stealth,
Of this their purpose hither, to this wood;
And I in fury hither follow'd them;

Fair Helena in fancy following me.

But, my good lord, I wot not by what power,
(But by some power it is) my love to Hermia,
Melted as is the fnow, feems to me now
As the remembrance of an idle gawd,
Which in my childhood I did doat upon :
And all the faith, the virtue of my heart,
The object and the pleasure of mine eye,
Is only Helena. To her, my lord,

Was I betroth'd ere I faw Hermia:

с

But, like a fickness, did I loath this food:
But, as in health, come to my natural taste,
Now do I wish it, love it, long for it,
And will for evermore be true to it.

The. Fair lovers, you are fortunately met :
Of this difcourfe we fhall hear more anon.-
Egeus, I will over-bear your will;
For in the temple, by and by with us,
These couples fhall eternally be knit.

And, for the morning now is something worn,

Our purpos'd hunting fhall be set aside.-
Away, with us, to Athens: Three and three,

We'll hold a feast in great folemnity,

Come my Hippolita. [Exe. Thefeus, Hippolita, and train. Ly. These things feem fmall, and undistinguishable, Like far-off mountains turned into clouds.

b in fancy]-from motives of affection. a fickness,]-a perfon fick.

d turned into]-the form of; almost loft in.

Her.

Her. Methinks I see these things with parted eye, When every thing feems double.

Hel. So methinks:

And I have found Demetrius like a jewel,
Mine own, and not mine own.

Dem. But are you fure

That we are well awake?-it seems to me,
That yet we fleep, we dream.-Do not you think,
The duke was here, and bid us follow him?

Her. Yea, and my father.

Hel. And Hippolita.

Lyf. And he did bid us follow to the temple.

Dem. Why then, we are awake: let's follow him; And, by the way, let us recount our dreams.

As they go out, Bottom awakes.

[Exeunt.

Bot. When my cue comes, call me, and I will answer: -my next is, Moft fair Pyramus Hey, ho!-Peter Quince! Flute, the bellows-mender! Snout the tinker! Starveling! God's my life! ftol'n hence, and left me afleep! I have had a moft rare vifion. I have had a dream,-past the wit of man to fay what dream it was: Man is but an afs, if he go about to expound this dream. Methought I was there is no man can tell what. Methought I was, and methought I had,-But man is but a patch'd fool, if he will offer to say what methought I had. The eye of man hath not heard, the ear of man hath not feen; man's hand is not able to tafte, his tongue to conceive, nor his heart to report, what my dream was. I will get Peter Quince to write a ballad of this dream: it fhall be call'd Bottom's Dream, because it hath no bottom; and I will

e like a jewel,]-long loft, and fo unexpectedly recovered, that I can fcarcely credit my own good fortune-discovered by accident, and therefore of doubtful title-gemell-an actor of a double part.

a patch'd fool.]-one of the party-colour'd tribe.

g

fing it in the latter end of the play, before the duke : Peradventure, to make it the more gracious, I fhall fing it after death.

[Exit.

SCENE II.

Athens. Quince's Houfe.

Enter Quince, Flute, Snout, and Starveling.

Quin. Have you fent to Bottom's houfe? is he come home yet?

Star. He cannot be heard of. Out of doubt, he is trans ported.

Flu. If he come not, then the play is marr'd; It goes not forward, doth it?

Quin. It is not poffible: you have not a man in all Athens, able to discharge Pyramus, but he.

Flu. No; he hath fimply the best wit of any handycraft man in Athens.

Quin. Yea, and the best perfon too: and he is a very paramour, for a sweet voice.

Flu. You must say, 'paragon: a paramour is, God bless us! a thing of nought.

Enter Snug.

Snug. Masters, the duke is coming from the temple, and there is two or three lords and ladies more married: if our sport had gone forward, we had all been made men. Flu. O fweet bully Bottom! Thus hath he loft fix-pence a-day during his life; he could not have 'scaped fix-pence

% a play.
paragon:]-pattern of excellence.

i

made men.]-well provided for, our fortunes had been made.
"There would this monfter make a man.'
TEMPEST, A& II, S. 2. Trin.
a day :

a day: an the duke had not given him fix-pence a day for playing Pyramus, I'll be hang'd; he would have deferv'd it fix-pence a-day, in Pyramus, or nothing.

Enter Bottom.

Bot. Where are thefe lads? where are these hearts? Quin. Bottom! O moft courageous day! O most happy hour!

Bot. Masters, I am to difcourfe wonders: but ask me not what; for, if I tell you, I am no true Athenian. I will tell you every thing, right as it fell out.

Quin. Let us hear, fweet Bottom.

All that I will tell you, is,
Get your apparel together;

m

Bot. Not a word of me. that the duke hath dined: good strings to your 'beards, new ribbons to your pumps; meet presently at the palace; every man look o'er his part; for, the fhort and the long is, our play " is preferr'd. In any case, let Thisby have clean linen; and let not him, that plays the lion, pare his nails, for they fhall hang out for the lion's claws. And, most dear actors, eat no onions, nor garlick, for we are to utter fweet breath; and I do not doubt but to hear them say, it is a fweet comedy. No more words; away; go, away. [Exeunt.

ACT V.

SCENE I.

The Palace.

Enter Thefeus, Hippolita, Egeus, Philoftrate, Lords, &c.

Hip. 'Tis ftrange, my Thefeus, that thefe lovers speak of.
The. More strange than true. I never may believe

1 beards,]-falfe ones, in which they were to perform their parts.
mis preferr'd.]-given in, put upon the brief, or lift of the day's fports.

These

These antique fables, nor these fairy toys.
Lovers, and madmen, have fuch " feething brains,
Such fhaping fantafies, that apprehend
More than cool reafon ever comprehends.

The lunatic, the lover, and the poet,
Are of imagination all compact:

One fees more devils than vaft hell can hold;

That is, the madman: the lover, all as frantick,

Sees Helen's beauty in a brow of Egypt :

The poet's eye, in a fine frenzy rolling,

Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven;
And, as imagination bodies forth

The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen
Turns them to shapes, and gives to airy nothing
A local habitation, and a name.

Such tricks hath ftrong imagination;

That, if it would but apprehend fome joy,
It comprehends fome bringer of that joy;
Or, in the night, imagining fome fear,
How easy is a bufh fuppos'd a bear?

Hip. But all the story of the night told over,
And all their minds transfigur'd so together,
More witneffeth than fancy's images,

And grows to fomething of great conftancy;
But, howfoever, ftrange, and admirable.

Enter Lyfander, Demetrius, Hermia, and Helena.

The. Here come the lovers, full of joy and mirth.Joy, gentle friends! joy, and fresh days of love, Accompany your hearts!

Ly. More than to us

Wait on your royal walks, your board, your bed!

"feething brains,]-warm ideas, enthufiaftic notions. • compact:]-made up. P conftancy;]-confiftency.

The.