If ever I thy face by day-light fee.

Now, go thy way; faintnefs conftraineth me
To measure out my length on this cold bed.
By day's approach look to be vifited.

SCENE

Enter Helena.

[Lyes down.

IX.

Hel. O weary night, O long and tedious night, Abate thy hours; fhine, comforts, from the East:

That I may back to Athens by day-light,

From thefe, that my poor company deteft;

And fleep, that fometimes fhuts up forrow's eye,
Steal me a while from mine own company.

Puck. Yet but three? come one more,
Two of both kinds make up four.
Here fhe comes, curft and fad:

Cupid is a knavish lad,

Thus to make poor females mad.

Enter Hermia.

Her. Never fo weary, never fo in woe,

[Sleeps.

Bedabbled with the dew, and torn with briers,

I can no further crawl, no further go;

My legs can keep. no pace with my defires :

Here will I reft me, 'till the break of day.

}

Heav'ns fhield Lyfander, if they mean a fray! [Lyes down.
Puck. On the ground
Sleep found,
I'll apply

To your eye,

Gentle lover, remedy.

[Squeezing the juice on Lyfander's eye.

When thou wak'st,

Thou tak❜ft

True delight

In the fight

Of thy former lady's eye;

'And the country proverb known,

That every man thould take his own,
In your waking shall be shown.
Jack fhall have Jill,

Naught fhall go ill,

The man fhall have his mare again, and all be well.

}

[Exit Puck.

[They fleep.

*ACT IV. SCENE I.

Continued, The Wood.

Enter Queen of the Fairies, Bottom, Fairies attending, and the King behind them.

Co

QUEEN.

3

YOME, fit thee down upon this flow'ry bed,
While I thy amiable cheeks do coy,
And stick musk roses in thy fleek, smooth'd head;
And kifs thy fair large ears, my gentle joy.

Bot. Where's Peafebloom?

Pease. Ready.

Bot. Scratch my head Peafebloom. Where's monfieur Cobweb?

Cob. Ready.

Bot. Monfieur Cobweb, good monfieur, get your weapons in your hand, and kill me a red-hipt humblebee on the top of a thistle; and, good monfieur, bring me the honey-bag. Do not fret yourfelf too much in the action, monfieur; and, good monfieur, have a 'care, the honey-bag break not; I fhould be loth to

* I fee no good reason why the fourth act should begin here when there feems no interruption of the action. In the old quartos of 1600 there is no divifion of acts, which feems to

have been afterwards arbitrarily
made in the first folio, and may
therefore be altered at pleasure.

3-do coy.] To coy is to footh.

L3

SKINNER.
have

have you over flown with a honey-bag, fignior. Where's monfieur Mustardfeed?

Muft. Ready.

Bot. Give me thy neife, monfieur Mustardfeed; pray you leave your curtefy, good monfieur.

Muft. What's your will?

Bot. Nothing, good monfieur, but to help Cavalero Cobweb to fcratch. I muft to the barber's, monfieur; for, methinks, I am marvellous hairy about the face. And I am fuch a tender afs, if my hair doth but tickle me, I muft fcratch.

Queen. What, wilt thou hear some musick, my sweet

[love? Bot. I have a reasonable good ear in mufick; let us have the tongs and the bones.

Rural Mufick, Tongs, &c.

Queen. Or fay, fweet love, what thou defir'st to eat. Bot. Truly, a peck of provender; I could munch your good dry oats. Methinks I have a great defire to a bottle of hay: good hay, fweet hay hath no

fellow.

Queen. I have a venturous Fairy that shall feek The squirrel's hoard, and fetch thee new nuts.

Bot. I had rather have a handful or two of dried peafe. But, I pray you, let none of your people stir me; I have an expofition of fleep come upon me.

Queen. Sleep thou, and I will wind thee in my arms; Fairies, be gone, and be all ways away: 4 So doth the woodbine, the fweet honey-fuckle, 5

Gently entwift; the female Ivy fo

Enrings the barky fingers of the Elm.

O, how I love thee! how I doat on thee!

Enter Puck.

Ob. Welcome, good Robin; feeft thou this fweet fight?

Her dotage now I do begin to pity;
For, meeting her of late behind the wood,
Seeking fweet* favours for this hateful fool,
I did upbraid her, and fall out with her:
For fhe his hairy temples then had rounded
With coronet of fresh and flagrant flowers;
And that fame dew, which fometimes on the buds
Was wont to fwell, like round and orient pearls,
Stood now within the pretty fouret's eyes,
Like tears that did their own difgrace bewail.
When I had at my pleasure taunted her,
And fhe in mild terms begg'd my patience,
I then did afk of her her changeling child,
Which strait she gave me, and her Fairy fent

Enrings the barky fingers of the the firft blunderer dropping the Elm.] What does the wood-p in writing the word maple, bine entwift? The boney-fuckle. which word thence became male. But the woodbine and honey-fuckle A following transcriber, for the were, till now, but two names fake of a little fenfe and measure, for one and the fame plant. Flo- thought fit to change this male rio, in his Italian Dictionary, in- into female; and then tacked it terprets Madre Selva by wood- as an epithet to Ivy, binde or bonnie-fuckle. We must therefore find a support for the woodbine as well as for the Ivy. Which is done by reading the lines thus,

So doth the woodbine, the fewest

Mr. Upton reads,

WARBURTON.

So doth the woodrine the feet boney-fuckle,

for bark of the wood. ShakeSpeare perhaps only meant fo, the leaves involve the flower, ufing woodbine for the plant and boney fuckle for the flower; or perhaps Shakespeare made a blunder. 1. Favours.

To bear him to my bower in Fairy-land.
And now I have the boy, I will undo
This hateful imperfection of her eye:
And, gentle Puck, take this transformed fcalp
From off the head of the Athenian fwain;
That he, awaking, when the others do,
May all to Athens back again repair;
And think no more of this night's accidents,
But as the fierce vexation of a dream.
But first, I will release the Fairy Queen;

Be, as thou waft wont to be;
See, as thou waft wont to fee:
Dian's bud o'er Cupid's flow'r

Hath fuch force and bleffed power. 6

Now, my Titania, wake you, my sweet Queen.
Queen. My Oberon! what vifions have I feen!
Methought, I was enamour'd of an ass.
Ob. There lies your love.

Queen. How came thefe things to pass?
Ch, how mine eyes do loath this vifage now!

Ob. Silence, a while-Robin, take off his head;

Titania, mufic call; and ftrike more dead

Than common fleep of all thefe five the fenfe. 7
Queen. Mufick, ho! mufick: fuch as charmeth

Лleep.

Still Mufick.

Puck. When thou awak'ft, with thine own fool's eyes peep.

6 Dian's Bud, or Cupid's flow'r.] Thus all the Editions. The ingenious Dr. Thirlby gave me the Correction, which I have inferted in the Text. THEOBALD.

7 Titania, Mufick call, and
Arike more dead
Than common Sleep. Of all
thefe fine the Senfe.] This

most certainly, is both corrupt in the Text, and Pointing. My Emendation needs no fuftification. The five, that lay afleep on the Stage, were, Demetrius, Lyfander, Hermia, Helena and Bottom.- -Dr. Thirlby likewife communicated this very Correction. THEOBALD.