Dem. I will not stay thy questions; let me gos
Or if thou follow me, do not believe,
But I shall do thee mischief in the wood.

Hel. Ay, in the temple, in the town, the field,
You do me mischief. Fie, Demetrius,
Your wrongs do set a scandal on my sex:
We cannot fight for love, as men may do;
We shou'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 so well. [Excunt,

S Ç E N E IV. : Ob. Fare thee well, nymph; ere he doth leave this

grove,
Thou shalt fly him, and he shall seek thy love.
Hast thou the Aow'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 luscious woodbine,
With sweet musk-roses, and with eglantine.
There sleeps Titania, fome time of the night,
Lull'd in these flow'rs with dances and delight ;
And there the snake throws her enammel'd skin,
Weed wide enough to wrap a fairy in:
And with the juice of this l'll streak her eyes,
And make her full of hateful fantasies.
Take thou some of it, and seek through this grove;
A sweet Athenian lady is in love
With a disdainful youth ; anoint his eyes ;
But do it, when the next thing he espies
May be the lady. Thou shalt know the Man,
By the Athenian garments he hath on,

Effect

Effect it with some care, that he may prove
More fond of her, than the upon her love;
And, look, you meet me ere the first cock crow.
Puck. Fear not, my lord, your servant shall do so,

(Exeunt.
SCENE V.
Enter Queen of Fairies, with ber train.
Queen. Come, now a roundel, and a Fairy song:
Then, for the third part of the midnight, hence;
Some to kill cankers in the musk-rose buds,
Some war with rear-mice for their leathern wings,
To make my small elves coats; and some keep back
The clamorous owl, that nightly hoots, and wonders
At : our queint sports. Sing me now alleep:
Then to your Offices, and let me rest.

Fairies sing.
You spotted snakes with double tongue,

Thorny bedgehogs, be not seen;
Newts and blind worms, do no wrong ;

Come not near our fairy Queen.
Philomel, with melody,
Sing in your sweet 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 Should read third part of THE MIDNIGHT. The common reading is nonsense. Possibly Shakespear might have used the French word Minuit.

•

8 - our queine s PIRIT 8.-] We should read SPORT S.

2 Fairy. Weaving Spiders come not here ; Hence, you long-leg'd spinners, bence :

Beetles black, approach not near, Worm, nor snail, do no offence, Philomel with melody, &c.

..! Fairy. Hence, away ; now all is well : One, aloof, stand Centinel.

[Exeunt Fairies. The Queen peeps.

Enter Oberon. Ob. What thou seest, when thou doft wake, Do it for thy true love take: Love and languish for his fake ; Be it ounce, or cat, or bear, Pard, or boar with bristled hair, In thy eye that shall appear, When thou wak'st, it is thy dear; Wake, when some vile thing is near. [Exit Oberon.

S CE N E VI.

Enter Lysander and Hermia. Lyf. Fair love, you faint with wandring in the wood; And, to speak troth, I have forgot our way : We'll rest us, Hermia, if thou think it good, And tarry for the comfort of the day.

Her. Be't so, Lysander ; find you out a bed, For I upon this bank will rest my head.

Lyf. One turf shall serve as pillow for us both, One heart, one bed, two bosoms, and one troth.

Her. Nay, good Lysander ; for my fake, my dear, Lye further off yet, do not lye so near.

Lys.

Lyf. : O take the sense, sweet, of my conference;'
Love takes the meaning, in love's innocence;
I mean, that my heart unto yours is knit ;
So that but one heart can you make of it :
Two bosoms, interchained with an oath ;
So then two bosoms, and a single troth :
Then, by your side no będ-room me deny;
For lying so, Hermia, I do not lye.

Her. Lysander riddles very prettily ;
Now much beshrew my manners, and my pride,
If Hermia meant to say, Lyfander ly’d.
But, gentle friend, for love and curtefie
Lye further off ; in human modesty,
Such separation, as, may well be said,
Becomes a virtuous batchelor and a maid,
So far be distant ; and good night, sweet friend;
Thy love ne'er alter, till thy sweet life end !

Lyf. Amen, amen, to that fair prayer, fay I;
And then end life, when I end loyalty !
Here is my bed; sleep give thee all his reft !
Her. With half that wish the wisher's eyes be prest!

[They feep. Enter Puck. Puck. Through the forest have I gone, But Atbenian found I none, On whose eyes I might approve This flower's force in stirring love :

Night

90 take the sense, fweet, of my innocence;

Love takes the meaning in love's conference.] Here, by fome mischance or other, Innocence and Conference have been jombled into one another's places, and thereby deprived a very senable reply of all kind of meaning. Rellore each to its right place and che sense will be this ; when ne had interpreted his words to an evil meaning, he replies,

O take the sense, Sweet, of my conference; j. l. judge of my meaning by the drift of my whole speech,

and

Night and filence! who is here?
Weeds of Atbens he doth wear;
This is he, my master said,
Despised the Athenian maid,
And here the maiden Neeping sound
On the dank and dirty ground.
Pretty soul! The durft not lye
Near to this lack-love kill-curtesie.
Churl, upon thy eyes I throw
All the pow'r this charm doth owe:
When thou wak’lt, let love forbid
Sleep his scat on thy eye-lid ;
So awake, when I am gone :
For I must now to Oberon.

[Exit.

S CE NE VII.

Enter Demetrius and Helena running: Hel. Stay, tho' thou kill me, sweet Demetrius ! Dem. I charge thee, hence, and do not haunt me

thus. Hel. O, wilt thou darkling leave me? do not fo. Dem. Stay, on thy peril; i alone will go.

[Exit Demetrius. Hel. O, I am out of breath in this fond chace ; The more my prayer, the lefser is my grace. Happy is Hermia, wherefoe'er the lies; For she hath blessed, and attractive, eyes. How came her eyes so bright? not with salt tears ; If so, my eyes are oftner wash'd than hers :

and do not pervert the sense of an ambiguous word to a meaning quite foreign to the discourse. Besides, says he,

Love takes the meaning in love's innocence. i. e. The innocence of your love inay teach you to discover the innocence of mine. These are the fentiments, which were quite loft in this aukward transpofition.

No,