And when she weeps, weeps every little flower, Tie up my lover's tongue, bring him silently. [Exeunt SCENE II. Another part of the Wood. Enter OBERON. Obe. I wonder, if Titania be awak'd; Then, what it was that next came in her eye, Which she must dote on in extremity. Enter PUCK. Here comes my messenger. -How now, mad spirit? What night-rule' now about this haunted grove ? Night-rule is such rule as is apt to govern in the night; that is, revelry. H. Patch was sometimes used for fool, probably because of the " motley gear worn by professed fools, Thus, in The Comedy of Errors, Act iii. sc. 1: "Mome, malt-horse, capon, coxcomb, idiot, patch! Either get thee from the door, or sit down at the hatch." Richardson, however, says the word, applied to a person, means one who wears or assumes false or deceitful appearances; a rogue, a knave; and hence, contemptuously, any low or despised character." H. An ass's nowl3 I fixed on his head; And forth my mimic comes: When they him spy, And, at our stamp, here o'er and o'er one falls; Their sense, thus weak, lost with their fears, thus strong, Made senseless things begin to do them wrong: I led them on in this distracted fear, And left sweet Pyramus translated there : 5 Puck. I took him sleeping, that is finish'd too, And the Athenian woman by his side; 'That, when he wak'd, of force she must be cy'd. Enter DEMETRIUS and HERMIA. Obe. Stand close: this is the same Athenian. • A head. 4 Sort, both here and eight lines above, means company. H. Latch'd or letch'd, licked or smeared over; lecher, Fr. Stee vens says that, in the North, it signifies to infect. Dem. O. why rebuke you him that loves you so? Lay breath so bitter on your bitter foe. Her. Now I but chide, but I should use thee worse; For thou, I fear, hast given me cause to curse. If thou hast slain Lysander in his sleep, Being o'er shoes in blood, plunge in the deep, And kill me too. The sun was not so true unto the day, As he to me: Would he have stol'n away I'll believe as soon, This whole earth may be bor'd; and that the moon Dem. So should the murder'd look; and so should I, Her. What's this to my Lysander? Where is he? Ah! good Demetrius, wilt thou give him me? Dem. I had rather give his carcass to my hounds. Her. Out, dog! out, cur! thou driv'st me past the bounds Of maiden's patience. Hast thou slain him then? Dem. You spend your passion on a mispris'd mood: " I am not guilty of Lysander's blood; Nor is he dead, for aught that I can tell. Her. I pray thee, tell me, then, that he is well. Dem. And, if I could, what should I get therefore? Her. A privilege, never to see me more. And from thy hated presence part I so: 8 - See me no more, whether he be dead or no. [Exit. [Lies down. Obe. What hast thou done? thou hast mistaken quite, And laid the love-juice on some true-love's sight: Of thy misprision must perforce ensue Some true-love turn'd, and not a false turn'd true. Puck. Then fate o'er-rules; that, one man holding troth, A million fail, confounding oath on oath. Obe. About the wood go swifter than the wind, And Helena of Athens look thou find : All fancy-sick she is, and pale of cheer With sighs of love, that cost the fresh blood dear: 10 7 That is, in a mistaken manner. On was sometimes used licentiously for in. 8 So was here supplied by Pope, and has been universally received. H. 9 Cheer is from the old French chère, which Cotgrave thus explains: "The face, visage, countenance, favour, looks, aspect." Hence it naturally came to mean that which affects the face, o gives it expression. H. 10 So, in Henry VI., we have "blood-consuming," "blood By some illusion see thou bring her here; Obe. Flower of this purple dye, Hit with Cupid's archery, Sink in apple of his eye. Re-enter PUCK. Puck. Captain of our fairy band, And the youth, mistook by me, Shall we their fond pageant see? Lord, what fools these mortals be! [Exit Obe. Stand aside: the noise they make Puck. Then will two at once woo one; 11 And those things do best please me, Enter LYSANDER and HELENA. Lys. Why should you think that I should woo in scorn? Scorn and derision never come in tears: drinking," and "blood-sucking sighs;" all alluding to the ancient supposition, that every sigh was indulged at the expense of a drop of blood. 11 That is, so good that none other will seem sport in compar ison. H. |