Puck. I remember.

Ob. That very time I faw, but thou cou'dft not, Flying between the cold moon and the earth, 3 Cupid alarm'd: a certain aim he took At a fair Veltal, throned by the weft, And loos'd his love-fhaft fmartly from his bow, As it fhould pierce a hundred thousand hearts; But I might fee young Cupid's fiery shaft Quench'd in the chafte beams of the wat'ry 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; 5 And maidens call it Love in idleness.

On the whole, it is the nobleft and jufteft allegory that was ever written. The laying it in fairy land, and out of nature, is in the character of the fpeaker. And on thefe occafions Shakespear always excels himfelf. He is born away by the magic of his enthufiafm, and hurries his reader along with him into these ancient regions of poetry, by that power of Verfe, which we may well fancy to be like what,

Olim Fauni Vatefque canebant.

3 Cupid ALL ARM'D:] Surely this prefents us with a very unclaffical Image. In ancient books and monuments we never fee Cupid armed with more than his bow and arrows; and with these we find him furnished in all humours. These too are the only arms he had occafion for in the present action; a more illuftrious one than any his friends, the claffic poets, ever employed him in. I would read therefore

Cupid ALARM'D.

The change, I make, is fo fmall, and the beauty it gives the thought, fo great, that, I think, we are not to hefitate upon it. For how great an addition is it to the compliment on this virgin Queen's celibacy, that it alarmed the power of love. As if his empire was in danger, when the Imperial Votrefs had declared herself for a fingle life: So great an influence would her example have amongst her fex. Queen Elizabeth could not but be pleafed with the delicacy of this compliment.

4 A compliment to Queen Elizabeth.

Mr. Pope.

5 And maidens call it Love in idleness.] This is as fine a metamorphofis as any in Ovid: With a much better moral, intie mating that irregular love has only power when people are idle, or not well employed.

VOL. I.

I 2

Fetch

Fetch me that flow'r; the herb I fhew'd thee once;
The juice of it, on sleeping 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 he is asleep,
And drop the liquor of it in her eyes:

The next thing which fhe waking looks upon,
(Be it on lyon, bear, or wolf, or bull,
On medling monkey, or on bufie ape)
She fhall purfue it with the foul of love:
And ere I take this charm from off 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.

SCEN E III.

[Exit.

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 (a) flayeth me.
Thou told'ft me, they were ftoll'n into this wood;
And here am I, and wood within this wood;
Because I cannot meet my Hermia.

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 pow'r to draw,
And I fhall have no pow'r to follow you.

Mr. Pope..

6 Wood, or mad, wild, raving.
[(a) Slay, faseth. Dr. Thirlby.-Vulg. fay, fayeth.]

Dem.

Dem. Do I entice you? do I fpeak you fair?
Or rather do I not in plainest truth
Tell you, I do not, nor I cannot, love you?

Hel. And ev'n for that do I love thee the more;
I am your spaniel; and, Demetrius,

The more you beat me, I will fawn on you:
Ufe 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 refpect with me)
Than to be used, as you use your dog?

Dem. Tempt not too much the hatred of my spirit ; 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 your felf
Into the hands of one that loves you not;
To trust the opportunity of night,
And the ill counfel of a defart place,
With the rich worth of your virginity.

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;
For you in my refpect are all the world.
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 wildeft hath not fuch a heart as you;
Run when you will, the ftory fhall be chang'd:
Apollo flies, and Daphne holds the chase;
The dove purfues the griffin; the mild hind
Makes speed to catch the tyger. Bootlefs speed!
When cowardife purfues, and valour Aies.

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 fcandal 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 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 thefe 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 firft 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-rofe 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 fports. Sing me now asleep:
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.

8 our queint SPIRITS.-] We should read s PORTS.