Then thrice under a brier doth creep,
Which at both ends was rooted deep,
And over it three times she leapt,
Her magic much availing:

Then on Proserpina doth call,
And so upon her spell doth fall,
Which here to you repeat I shall,
Not in one tittle failing.

"By the croaking of the frog;
By the howling of the dog;
By the crying of the hog

Against the storm arising;
By the evening curfeu-bell;
By the doleful dying knell;
O let this my direful spell,

Hob, hinder thy surprising.

"By the mandrakes dreadful groans;
By the Lubricans sad moans;

By the noise of dead men's bones
In charnel-houses rattling;

By the hissing of the snake,
The rustling of the fire-drake,
I charge thee this place forsake,

Nor of queen Mab be prattling.
"By the whirlwind's hollow sound,
By the thunder's dreadful stound,
Yells of spirits under ground,

I charge thee not to fear us :
By the scritch-owl's dismal note,
By the black night-raven's throat,
I charge thee, Hob, to tear thy coat

With thorns, if thou come near us,"

Her spell thus spoke, she stept aside,
And in a chink herself doth hide,
To see thereof what would betide,
For she doth only mind him:

When presently she Puck espies,
And well she mark'd his gloating eyes,
How under every leaf he pries,
In seeking still to find them.

But once the circle got within,
The charms to work do straight begin,
And he was caught as in a gin:
For as he thus was busy,

A pain he in his head-piece feels,
Against a stubbed tree he reels,
And up went poor Hobgoblin's heels:
Alas! his brain was dizzy.

At length upon his feet he gets,
Hobgoblin fumes, Hobgoblin frets,
And as again he forward sets,

And through the bushes scrambles, A stump doth trip him in his pace, Down comes poor Hob upon his face, And lamentably tore his case

Amongst the briers and brambles.

Plague upon queen Mab," quoth he, "And all her maids, where'er they be ;

I think the devil guided me,

To seek her, so provoked.”

When stumbling at a piece of wood,

He fell into a ditch of mud,

Where to the very chin he stood,

In danger to be choked.

Now worse than e'er he was before,
Poor Puck doth yell, poor Puck doth`roar,
That wak'd queen Mab, who doubted sore
Some treason had been wrought her:

Until Nymphidia told the queen

What she had done, what she had seen,
Who then had well near crack'd her spleen
With very extreme laughter.

But leave we Hob to clamber out,
Queen Mab and all her fairy rout,
And come again to have a bout
With Oberon yet madding:
And with Pigwiggen now distraught,
Who much was troubled in his thought,
That he so long the queen had sought,

And through the fields was gadding.

And as he runs, he still doth cry,
"King Oberon, I thee defy,

And dare thee here in arms to try,
For my dear lady's honour:

For that she is a queen right good,
In whose defence I'll shed my blood,
And that thou in this jealous mood

Hast laid this slander on her."

And quickly arms him for the field,
A little cockle-shell his shield,
Which he could very bravely wield,
Yet could it not be pierced :
His spear a bent both stiff and strong,
And well near of two inches long:
The pile was of a horsefly's tongue,

Whose sharpness naught reversed.

And puts him on a coat of mail,
Which was of a fish's scale,

That when his foe should him assail,
No point should be prevailing.

His rapier was a hornet's sting,
It was a very dangerous thing;
For if he chanc'd to hurt the king,
It would be long in healing.

His helmet was a beetle's head,
Most horrible and full of dread,
That able was to strike one dead,

Yet it did well become him:
And for a plume, a horse's hair,
Which being tossed by the air,
Had force to strike his foe with fear,
And turn his weapon from him.

Himself he on an earwig set,

Yet scarce he on his back could get,
So oft and high he did curvet,

Ere he himself could settle :

He made him turn, and stop, and bound,
To gallop, and to trot the round,
He scarce could stand on any ground,
He was so full of mettle.

When soon he met with Tomalin,
One that a valiant knight had been,
And to great Oberon of kin :

Quoth he, "Thou manly fairy,

Tell Oberon I come prepar'd,
Then bid him stand upon his guard;
This hand his baseness shall reward,
Let him be ne'er so wary.

"Say to him thus, that I defy His slanders and his infamy, And as a mortal enemy

Do publicly proclaim him:

Withal, that if I had mine own,
He should not wear the fairy crown,
But with a vengeance should come down;
Nor we a king should name him."

This Tomalin could not abide,
To hear his sovereign villify'd;
But to the fairy court him hy'd,
Full furiously he posted,
With ev'ry thing Pigwiggen said;
How title to the crown he laid,
And in what arms he was array'd,
And how himself he boasted.

'Twixt head and foot, from point to point,
He told the arming of each joint,
In every piece how neat and quaint;
For Tomalin could do it:

How fair he sat, how sure he rid;
As of the courser he bestrid,
How manag'd, and how well he did.
The king, which listen'd to it,

Quoth he, "Go, Tomalin, with speed,
Provide me arms, provide my steed,
And every thing that I shall need,
By thee I will be guided :

To straight account call thou thy wit,
See there be wanting not a whit,
In ev'ry thing see thou me fit,
Just as my foe's provided."