Would imitate; and fail upon the land,
To fetch me trifles, and return again,
As from a voyage, rich with merchandize.
But fhe, being mortal, of that boy did die;
And, for her fake, I do rear up her boy;
And, for her fake, I will not part with him.
Ob. How long within this wood intend you stay?
Queen. Perchance, till after Thefeus' wedding-day.
If you will patiently dance in our round,

And see our moon-light revels, go with us;
If not, shun me, and I will spare your haunts.
Ob. Give me that boy, and I will go with thee.
Queen. Not for thy fairy kingdom.-Fairies, away:
We fhall chide down-right, if I longer stay.

[Exeunt Queen, and her train.

Ob. 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

Since once I fat upon a promontory,

And heard a " mermaid, on a dolphin's back,
Uttering fuch dulcet and harmonious breath,
That the rude fea grew civil at her fong;
And certain stars fhot madly from their spheres,
To hear the fea-maid's mufick.

Puck. I remember.

Ob. That very time I faw, (but thou could'st not) Flying between the cold moon and the earth,

Cupid all arm'd a certain aim he took

At a fair veftal, throned by the weft;

" mermaid]—a firen.

Oh, train me not sweet mermaid with thy note."
COMEDY OF ERRORS, A&t III, S. 2. S. Ant.

"a fair veftal,]-thefe lines contain a fine compliment to 2. Elizabeth: fome of the preceding ones are fuppofed to point at Mary 2 of Scots, where the Dolphin's back may refer to her marriage with a Dauphin of France, and certain ftars to the Duke of Norfolk, &c. who fuffered on her account,

And loos'd his love-fhaft fmartly from his bow,
As it should pierce a hundred thousand hearts:
But I might fee young Cupid's fiery shaft
Quench'd in the chafte beams of the watery moon;
And the imperial votress paffed on,

In maiden meditation, fancy-free.

Yet mark'd I where the bolt of Cupid fell:
It fell upon a little western flower,-

Before, milk-white; now purple with love's wound,-
And maidens call it, love-in-idleness.

Fetch me that flower; the herb I fhew'd thee once;
The juice of it, on fleeping eye-lids laid,
Will make or man or woman madly doat
Upon the next live creature that it fees.

Fetch me this herb; and be thou here again,
Ere the leviathan can fwim a league.

Puck. I'll put a girdle round about the earth In forty minutes.

Ob. Having once this juice,

I'll watch Titania when she is asleep,
And drop the liquor of it in her eyes:

The next thing when the waking looks upon,
(Be it on lion, bear, or wolf, or bull,
On meddling monkey, or on bufy ape)
She shall purfue it with the foul of love.
And ere I take this charm off from her fight,
(As I can take it with another herb)
I'll make her render up her page to me.
But who comes here? I am invisible
And I will over-hear their conference.

*fancy-free.]-unaffected by love.

;

[Exit.

y I'll put a girdle &c.]-a phrafe expreffive of the fairy's quick dethe foul of love.]-the moft ardent affection.

fpatch.

Enter

Enter Demetrius, Helena following him.

Dem. I love thee not, therefore pursue me not. Where is Lyfander, and fair Hermia?

The one I'll flay, the other flayeth me.

Thou told'ft me, they were ftoln unto this wood;
And here am I, and wood within this wood,

Hermia.

Because I cannot meet my
Hence, get thee gone, and follow me no more.
Hel. You draw me, you hard-hearted adamant;
But yet you draw not iron, for my heart
Is true as fteel: Leave you your power to draw,
And I shall have no power to follow you.

Dem. Do I entice you? Do I speak you fair?
Or, rather, do I not in plainest truth

Tell you—I do not, nor I cannot love you?
Hel. And even for that do I love you the more.
I am your spaniel; and, Demetrius,

The more you beat me, I will fawn on you:
Use me but as your spaniel, fpurn me, ftrike me,
Neglect me, lofe me; only give me leave,
Unworthy as I am, to follow you.
What worfer place can I beg in your love,
(And yet a place of high respect with me)
Than to be used as you use your dog?

Dem. Tempt not too much the hatred of my fpirit;

For I am fick, when I do look on thee.

Hel. And I am fick, when I look not on you.

Dem. You do impeach your modesty too much,
To leave the city, and commit yourself

Into the hands of one that loves you not;
To trust the opportunity of night,

And the ill counsel of a defert place,

10

With the rich worth of your virginity.

d

Hel. Your virtue is my privilege for that.
It is not night, when I do fee your face,
Therefore I think I am not in the night:
Nor doth this wood lack worlds of company;
in my respect, are all the world:

For you,
Then how can it be faid, I am alone,

When all the world is here to look on me?

Dem. I'll run from thee, and hide me in the brakes,

And leave thee to the mercy of wild beasts.

Hel. The wildest hath not fuch a heart as you.
Run when you will, the ftory fhall be chang'd:
Apollo flies, and Daphne holds the chafe ;
The dove pursues the griffin; the mild hind
Makes speed to catch the tyger: Bootless speed!
When cowardice pursues, and valour flies.

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 mifchief. Fie, Demetrius !
Your wrongs do fet a scandal on my sex:

We cannot fight for love, as men may do;

We fhou'd be woo'd, and were not made to woo.
I'll follow thee, and make a heaven of hell,

To die upon the hand I love fo well.

[Exeunt.

Ob. Fare thee well, nymph: ere he do leave this grove,

Thou shalt fly him, and he fhall feek thy love.-
Haft thou the flower there? Welcome, wanderer.

I know a bank whereon the wild thyme blows,
Where fox-lips and the nodding violet grows;
Quite over-canopy'd with luscious woodbine,
With fweet mufk-rofes, and with eglantine:

There fleeps Titania, fome time of the night,
Lull'd in these flowers with dances and delight;
And there the fnake throws her enamel'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 disdainful 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 it with fome care; that he may prove
More fond on her, than fhe upon her love:
And look thou meet me ere the firft cock crow.
Puck. Fear not, my lord, your fervant fhall do fo.

SCENE III.

Another part of the Wood.

Enter the queen of Fairies, with her train.

[Exeunt.

Queen. Come, now a roundel, and a fairy song; Then, for the third part of a minute, hence:

Some, to kill cankers in the musk-rose buds;

Some, war with * rear-mice for their leathern wings,

fox-lips]-the larger cowflips.

Weed]-a garment.

* rear-mice]-bats.

lub, luxuriant.

i a roundel,]-a dance in a ring.

To