1

For difobedience to your father's will;

Or elfe to wed Demetrius, as he would;
Or on Diana's altar to protest

For aye aufterity and fingle life.

Dem. Relent, fweet Hermia, and, Lyfander, yield
Thy crazed title to my certain right.

Lyf. You have her father's love, Demetrius
Let me have Hermia's; do you marry him.

;

Ege. Scornful Lyfander! true, he hath my love;
And what is mine, my love fhall render him.
And she is mine, and all my right of her

3

I do eftate 3 'upon Demetrius.

Lyf. I am, my lord, as well deriv'd as he,
As well poffeft: my love is more than his:
My fortunes ev'ry way as fairly rank'd,
If not with vantage, as Demetrius':

And, which is more than all these boasts can be,
I am belov'd of beauteous Hermia.

Why should not I then profecute my right?
Demetrius (I'll avouch it to his head)
Made love to Nedar's daughter, Helena,
And won her foul; and fhe, fweet lady, doats,
Devoutly doats, doats in idolatry,

Upon this fpotted and inconftant man.

The. I must confefs that I have heard fo much,
And with Demetrius thought t' have spoke thereof;
But being over-full of self-affairs,

My mind did lofe it. But, Demetrius, come,
And come, Egeus; you fhall go with me;
I have fome private schooling for you both.
For you, fair Hermia, look you arm your felf
To fit your fancies to your father's will;
Or elfe the law of Athens yields you up
(Which by no means we may extenuate)
To death, or to a vow of fingle life.
Come, my Hippolita; what cheer, my love?
Demetrius, and Egeus, go along;

I must

I must employ you in fome business
Against our nuptials, and confer with you

Of fomething nearly that concerns your felves.
Ege. With duty and defire we follow you.

[Exeunt.

Lyf. How now, my love? why is your cheek fo pale? How chance the roses there do fade fo fast?

Her. Belike for want of rain, which I could well Beteem them from the tempeft of mine eyes.

Lyf. Hermia, for ought that ever I could read,
Could ever hear by tale or history,

The course of true love never did run smooth,
But either it was different in blood

Her. O crofs! too high, to be enthrall'd to love!
Lyf. Or elfe mifgraffed, in refpect of years
Her. O fpight! too old, to be engag'd to young!
Lyf. Or elfe it stood upon the choice of friends
Her. O hell! to chufe love by another's eye!..
Lyf. Or if there were a fympathy in choice,
War, death, or fickness did lay fiege to it;
Making it momentary as a found,

Swift as a fhadow, fhort as any dream,
Brief as the lightning in the collied night,
That (in a spleen) unfolds both heav'n and earth;
And ere a man hath power to fay, Behold!
The jaws of darknefs do devour it up;
So quick bright things come to confufion.

Her. If then true lovers have been ever croft,
It stands as an edict in destiny:

Then let us teach our tryal patience;

Because it is a customary cross,

As due to love, as thoughts and dreams and fighs,
Wishes and tears, poor fancy's followers!.

Ly. A good perfuafion; therefore hear me, Hermia: I have a widow-aunt, a dowager

Of

Of great revenue, and fhe hath no child;
From Athens is her house remov'd feven leagues,
And the refpects me as her only fon.

There, gentle Hermia, may I marry thee,
And to that place the fharp Athenian law
Cannot pursue us. If thou lov'ft me then,
Steal forth thy father's house to-morrow night;
And in the wood, a league without the town,
Where I did meet thee once with Helena
To do obfervance to the morn of May,
There will I ftay for thee.

Her. My good Lyfander,

I fwear to thee by Cupid's strongest bow,
By his best arrow with the golden head,
By the fimplicity of Venus doves,

By that which knitteth fouls, and profpers loves,
And by that fire which burn'd the Carthage Queen,
When the falfe Trojan under fail was feen;
By all the vows that ever men have broke,
In number more than ever women spoke;
In that fame place thou haft appointed me,
To-morrow truly will I meet with thee.

Lyf. Keep promise, love. Look, here comes Helena.

SCENE

Enter Helena.

III.

Her. God fpeed fair Helena! whither away?
Hel. Call you me fair? that fair again unfay,
Demetrius loves you, fair; O happy fair!

Your eyes are load-ftars, and your tongue's fweet air
More tuneable than lark to fhepherd's ear,

When wheat is green, when haw-thorn buds appear.
Sickness is catching: oh, were favour fo,
4/Your's would I catch, fair Hermia, ere I go;
My ear fhould catch your voice, my eye your eye,
My tongue fhould catch your tongue's fweet melody.

4 Your words I'd catch,

Were

[skill!

Were the world mine, Demetrius being bated,
The reft I'd give to be to you translated.
O teach me how you look, and with what art
You fway the motion of Demetrius' heart.
Her. I frown upon him, yet he loves me ftill:
Hel. Oh that your frowns would teach my smiles fuch
Her. I give him curfes, yet he gives me love.
Hel. Oh that my pray'rs could fuch affection move!
Her. The more I hate, the more he follows me.
Hel. The more I love, the more he hateth me.
Her. 'His fault, oh Helena, is none of mine.`
Hel. None but your beauty, would that fault were mine!
Her. Take comfort; he no more fhall fee my face,
Lyfander and my felf will fly this place.

Before the time I did Lyfander fee,
Seem'd Athens like a Paradife to me.

O then, what graces in my love do dwell,
That he hath turn'd a heaven into hell?
6

Lyf. Helen, to you our minds we will unfold;
To-morrow night, when Phabe doth behold
Her filver vifage in the wat'ry glass,

Decking with liquid pearl the bladed grafs,
(A time that lovers flights doth ftill conceal)
Through Athens' gate have we devis'd to steal.
Her. And in the wood, where often you and I
Upon faint primrose beds were wont to lye,
Emptying our bofoms of their counfels 7 'fweet;
There my Lyfander and my self shall
self shall meet,

And thence from Athens turn away our eyes,
To feek new friends and ftranger 'companies.
Farewel, fweet play-fellow; pray thou for us,
And good luck grant thee thy Demetrius !
Keep word, Lyfander, we must starve our fight

From lovers' food, 'till morrow deep midnight. [Ex. Her,
VOL. I.

G

Lyf.

Lyf. I will, my Hermia. Helena, adieu;

As you on him, Demetrius doat on you! [Exit Lyfander.
Hel. How happy fome, o'er other fome, can be!
Through Athens I am thought as fair as fhe.

But what of that? Demetrius thinks not fo:
He will not know, what all but he do know.
And as he errs, doating on Hermia's eyes,
So I, admiring of his qualities.

Things bafe and vile, holding no quantity,
Love can tranfpofe to form and dignity:

Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind,
And therefore is wing'd Cupid painted blind :
Nor hath love's mind of any judgment taste;
Wings and no eyes figure unheedy haste.
And therefore is love faid to be a child,
Because in choice he often is beguil❜d.

As waggish boys themselves in game forfwear,
So the boy Love is perjur'd every where.
For ere Demetrius look'd on Hermia's eyne,
He hail'd down oaths that he was only mine
And when this hail fome heat from Hermia felt,
So he diffolv'd, and fhowers of oaths did melt.
I will go tell him of fair Hermia's flight:
Then to the wood will he to-morrow night
Purfue her; and for this intelligence
If I have thanks, it is a dear expence.
But herein mean I to enrich my pain,
To have his fight thither, and back again.

[Exit.

Enter Quince, Snug, Bottom, Flute, Snowt, and Starveling.

Quin. TS all our company here?

Bot. You were beft to call them generally,

man by man, according to the fcrip.

Quin. Here is the fcrowl of every man's name, which

is