What’s this to my Lysander? Where is he? Ah, good Demetrius, wilt thou give him me?

O Helen, goddess, nymph, perfect, divine! To what, my love, shall I compare thine eyne?

You are unkind, Demetrius; be not so; For you love Hermia; this you know I know. And here, with all good will, with all my heart, 165In Hermia’s love I yield you up my part; And yours of Helena to me bequeath, Whom I do love, and will do till my death.

You speak not as you think. It cannot be.

A privilege never to see me more. 80And from thy hated presence part I so: See me no more, whether he be dead or no.

And if I could, what should I get therefore?

And kill me too.

If thou hast slain Lysander in his sleep,

I took him sleeping (that is finish’d too) And the Athenian woman by his side; 40That when he wak’d, of force she must be ey’d.

My mistress with a monster is in love.

I wonder if Titania be awak’d; Then what it was that next came in her eye, Which she must dote on in extremity.

Be kind and courteous to this gentleman, 145Hop in his walks and gambol in his eyes; Feed him with apricocks and dewberries, With purple grapes, green figs, and mulberries; The honey-bags steal from the humble-bees, And for night-tapers crop their waxen thighs, 150And light them at the fiery glow-worm’s eyes, To have my love to bed and to arise; And pluck the wings from painted butterflies, To fan the moonbeams from his sleeping eyes. Nod to him, elves, and do him courtesies.

l give thee fairies to attend on thee; And they shall fetch thee jewels from the deep, And sing while thou on pressed flowers dost sleep. 140And I will purge thy mortal grossness so,

The summer still doth tend upon my state; And I do love thee; therefore go with me.

Thou art as wise as thou art beautiful.

Awaking. What angel wakes me from my flow’ry bed?

PUCK I’ll follow you, I’ll lead you about a round, Through bog, through bush, through brake, through brier: Sometime a horse I’ll be, sometime a hound, 95A hog, a headless bear, sometime a fire, And neigh, and bark, and grunt, and roar, and burn, Like horse, hound, hog, bear, fire, at every turn.

A stranger Pyramus than e’er played here.

Enter Puck, behind

What say you, Bottom?

“Ladies,” or  “Fair ladies, I would wish you,” or “I would request you,”  35or “I would entreat you, not to fear, not to tremble: my  life for yours. If you think I come hither as a lion, it were  pity of my life. No! I am no such thing; I am a man as  other men are”; and there indeed let him name his name, and tell them plainly he is Snug the joiner.

This  will put them out of fear.

No; make it two more; let it be written in eight and eight

There are things in this comedy of Pyramus and Thisbe  that will never please. First, Pyramus must draw a sword to  10kill himself; which the ladies cannot abide. How answer  you that?

But fare you well; perforce I must confess I thought you lord of more true gentleness.

No, no; I am as ugly as a bear; 95For beasts that meet me run away for fear

Where is Demetrius? O, how fit a word Is that vile name to perish on my sword!

What thou seest when thou dost wake, Do it for thy true-love take; Love and languish for his sake. 30Be it ounce, or cat, or bear,

By the Athenian garments he hath on.

Apollo flies, and Daphne holds the chase; The dove pursues the griffin; the mild hind Makes speed to catch the tiger—bootless speed, When cowardice pursues and valor flies.

ou do impeach your modesty too much, 215To leave the city and commit yourself Into the hands of one that loves you not;

I am your spaniel; and, Demetrius, The more you beat me, I will fawn on you. 205Use me but as your spaniel; spurn me, strike me, Neglect me, lose me; only give me leave,

Do I entice you? Do I speak you fair? 200Or rather do I not in plainest truth Tell you I do not nor I cannot love you?

I am invisible, And I will overhear their conference.

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

Fetch me that flow’r; the herb I showed thee once. 170The juice of it on sleeping eyelids laid Will make or man or woman madly dote Upon the next live creature that it sees. Fetch me this herb, and be thou here again Ere the leviathan can swim a league.

Following (her womb then rich with my young squire) Would imitate, and sail upon the land

Do you amend it then; it lies in you. Why should Titania cross her Oberon? 120I do but beg a little changeling boy, To be my henchman.

Therefore the moon (the governess of floods), Pale in her anger, washes all the air,

How canst thou thus for shame, Titania, 75Glance at my credit with Hippolyta,

And then the whole quire hold their hips and loff, And waxen in their mirth, and neeze, and swear A merrier hour was never wasted there.

I jest to Oberon and make him smile

That frights the maidens of the villagery, Skim milk, and sometimes labor in the quern, And bootless make the breathless huswife churn, And sometime make the drink to bear no barm, Mislead night-wanderers, laughing at their harm? 40Those that Hobgoblin call you, and sweet Puck, You do their work, and they shall have good luck. Are not you he?

And jealous Oberon would have the child 25Knight of his train, to trace the forests wild;

I do wander every where, Swifter than the moon’s sphere; And I serve the Fairy Queen, To dew her orbs upon the green.

Enough; hold, or cut bow-strings.

meet me in the palace  wood, a mile without the town, by moonlight; there will  we rehearse

What beard were I best to play it  in?

I will roar  you as gently as any sucking dove

And I may hide my face, let me play Thisbe too

Take comfort; he no more shall see my face; Lysander and myself will fly this place. Before the time I did Lysander see,

Sickness is catching; O, were favor so, Yours would I catch, fair Hermia, ere I go; My ear should catch your voice, my eye your eye, My tongue should catch your tongue’s sweet melody.

Tomorrow truly will I meet with thee.

If then true lovers have been ever cross’d, It stands as an edict in destiny. Then let us teach our trial patience

O spite! Too old to be engag’d to young.