SCENE II.

Enter Puck.
Puck. Now the hungry lion roars,

And the wolf behowls the moon;
Whilst the heavy ploughman snores,

All with weary task foredone. Now the wasted brands do glow,

Whilst the screech-owl, screeching loud, Puts the wretch that lies in woe,

In remembrance of a shroud. Now it is the time of night,

That the graves all gaping wide, Every one lets forth his sprite,

In the church-way paths to glide ; And we fairies, that do run,

By the triple Hecat's team,
From the presence of the sun,

Following darkness like a dream,
Now are frolic. Not a mouse
Shall disturb this hallowed house ;
I am sent, with broom, before,
To sweep the dust behind the door.?

Enter OBERON and Titania, with their Train. Obe. Through this house give glimmering light,

By the dead and drowsy fire.
Every elf and fairy sprite,

Hop as light as bird from brier;
And this ditty after me,
Sing and dance it trippingly.

Tita. First, rehearse this song by rote.
To each word a warbling note,

Hand in hand, with fairy grace,
Will we sing, and bless this place.

od field-denis gate : bless,

SONG AND DANCE.
Obe. Now, until the break of day,
Through this house each fairy stray.
To the best bride-bed will we,
Which by us shall blessed be ; 1
And the issue, there create,
Ever shall be fortunate.
So shall all the couples three
Ever true in loving be.
And the blots of nature's hand
Shall not in their issue stand;
Never mole, hare-lip, nor scar,
Nor mark prodigious, such as are
Despised in nativity,
Shall upon their children be.-
With this field-dew consecrate,
Every fairy take his gate ; 3
And each several chamber bless,
Through this palace with sweet peace.
E’er shall it in safety rest,
And the owner of it blest.

Trip away;

Make no stay ;
Meet me all by break of day.

[ Exeunt OBERON, TITANIA, and Train Puck. If we shadows have offended,

Think but this, (and all is mended,)
That you have but slumbered here,
While these visions did appear,
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream.
Gentles, do not reprehend;
If you pardon, we will mend.

And, as I'm an honest Puck,
If we have unearned luck,
Now to 'scape the serpent's tongue,
We will make amends, ere long;
Else the Puck a liar call.
So, good night unto you all.
Give me your hands, if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends.

[Exit.

1 i. e. if we have better fortune than we have deserved.
? i. e. hisses.
3 Clap your hands; give us your applause.
VOL. II. 10

Wild and fantastical as this play is, all the parts, in their various modes, are well written, and give the kind of pleasure which the author designed. Fairies in his time were much in fashion; common tradition had made them familiar, and Spenser's poem had made them great.

Johnson.

Johnson's concluding observations on this play are not conceived with his usual judgment. There is no analogy or resemblance between the fáiries of Spenser and those of Shakspeare. The fairies of Spenser, as appears from his description of them in the second book of the Faerie Queene, canto x., were a race of mortals created by Prometheus, of the human size, shape, and affections, and subject to death. But those of Shakspeare, and of common tradition, as Johnson calls them, were a diminutive race of sportful beings, endowed with immortality and supernatural powers, totally different from those of Spenser.

M. Mason.

LOVE'S LABOR’S LOST.

PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

The novel upon which this comedy was founded has hitherto eluded the research of the commentators. Mr. Douce thinks it will prove to be of French extraction. “The Dramatis Personæ in a great measure demonstrate this, as well as a palpable Gallicism in Act iv. Sc. 1 : viz. the terming a letter a capon."

This is one of Shakspeare's early plays, and the author's youth is certainly perceivable, not only in the style and manner of the versification, but in the lavish superfluity displayed in the execution--the uninterrupted succession of quibbles, equivoques, and sallies of every description. 6 The sparks of wit fly about in such profusion that they form complete fireworks, and the dialogue for the most part resembles the bustling collision and banter of passing masks at a carnival.”* The scene in which the king and his coinpanions detect each other's breach of their mutual vow, is capitally contrived. The discovery of Biron's love-letter while rallying his friends, and the manner in which he extricates himself, by ridiculing the folly of the vow, are admirable.

The grotesque characters, don Adrian de Armado, Nathaniel the curate, and Holofernes, that prince of pedants, with the humors of Costard the clown, are well contrasted with the sprightly wit of the principal characters in the play. It has been observed that “ Biron and Rosaline suffer much in comparison with Benedick and Beatrice," and it must be confessed that there is some justice in the observation. Yet Biron, “that merry mad-cap lord,” is not overrated in Rosaline's admirable character of him

-“ A merrier man,
Within the limit of becoming mirth,
I never spent an hour's talk withal :
His eye begets occasion for his wit;
For every object that the one doth catch,
The other turns to a mirth-moving jest ;

So sweet and voluble is his discourse.” Shakspeare has only shown the inexhaustible powers of his mind, in improving on the admirable originals of his own creation, in a more mature age.

Malone placed the composition of this play first in 1591, afterwards in 1594. Dr. Drake thinks we may safely assign it to the earlier periode The first edition was printed in 1598.

Schlegel.