When I come where he calls, then he is gone.
The villain is much lighter heel'd than I:

I follow'd fast, but faster he did fly;
That fallen am I in dark uneven way,

And here will rest me.

Come, thou gentle day!

For if but once thou show me thy grey light,
I'll find Demetrius, and revenge this spite.

Re-enter PUCK and DEMETRIUS.

[Lies down.

[Sleeps.

Puck. Ho! ho! ho 10! Coward, why com'st thou not? Dem. Abide me, if thou dar'st; for well I wot, Thou runn'st before me, shifting every place, And dar'st not stand, nor look me in the face. Where art thou now "1?

11

Puck.
Dem. Nay, then thou mock'st me.

Come hither: I am here.

this dear1,

If ever I thy face by day-light see:

Thou shalt 'by

Now, go thy way. Faintness constraineth me
To measure out my length on this cold bed.

By day's approach look to be visited.

Enter HELENA.

[Lies down and sleeps.

Hel. O weary night! O, long and tedious night! Abate thy hours: shine, comforts, from the east, That I may back to Athens, by day-light,

From these that my poor company detest.

10 Ho! ho! ho!] This is Puck's exclamation in the ballads and tracts relating to him, especially in "Robin Good-fellow, his Mad Pranks and Merry Jests," 1628, where it often occurs, when the Goblin is peculiarly pleased at the success of any of his tricks.

11 Where art thou Now?] The passage stands merely "Where art thou?" in all the modern editions; and Steevens observes, that, "for the sake of the measure, I suppose we ought to read,

'Where art thou now?" "

If any of the commentators had taken the trouble in this place to refer to Fisher's edition, 4to, 1598, he would have seen that "Where art thou now?" is the reading there. Roberts's 4to, and the folio, omit "now."

1 Thou shalt 'BY this dear,] See note 2, p. 432.

And sleep, that sometimes shuts up sorrow'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 she comes, curst and sad.
Cupid is a knavish lad,

Thus to make poor females mad.

Enter HERMIA.

[Sleeps.

Her. Never so weary, never so in woe, Bedabbled with the dew, and torn with briers: I can no farther crawl, no farther go;

My legs can keep no pace with my desires. Here will I rest me till the break of day. Heavens shield Lysander, if they mean a fray!

Puck. On the ground sleep sound:

I'll apply to your eye2,

Gentle lover, remedy.

[Lies down.

[Squeezing the juice on LYSANDER's eye.

When thou wak'st, thou tak'st

True delight in the sight

Of thy former lady's eye:

And the country proverb known,

That every man should take his own,

In your waking shall be shown:

Jack shall have Jill;

Nought shall go ill;

The man shall have his mare again,

And all shall be well 3.

[Exit PUCK.-DEM. HEL. &c. sleep*.

2

- To your eye,] All the old copies omit " to," which seems necessary to the sense. It has hitherto been introduced without notice.

3 And all shall be well.] This is the "country proverb" Puck alludes to; and it is to be found in nearly the same words among John Heywood's "Epigrams." See Halliwell's Introd. to M. N. D. p. 80.

Dem. Hel. &c. sleep.] The old stage-direction in the folio is, "They sleep all the Act," meaning that they are supposed to continue asleep during the interval between the third and fourth acts; and they are still sleeping at the

ACT IV. SCENE I.

The Same.

Enter TITANIA and BOTTOM'; Fairies attending:
OBERON behind unseen.

Tita. Come, sit thee down upon this flowery bed,
While I thy amiable cheeks do coy,

And stick musk-roses in thy sleek smooth head,
And kiss thy fair large ears, my gentle joy.

Bot. Where's Peas-blossom?

Peas. Ready.

Bot. Scratch my head, Peas-blossom.-Where's monsieur Cobweb?

Cob. Ready.

Bot. Monsieur Cobweb; good monsieur, get your weapons in your hand, and kill me a red-hipped humble-bee on the top of a thistle; and, good monsieur, bring me the honey-bag. Do not fret yourself too much in the action, monsieur; and, good monsieur, have a care the honey-bag break not: I would be loath to have you overflown with a honey-bag, signior Where's monsieur Mustard-seed?

Must. Ready.

Bot. Give me your neif', monsieur Mustard-seed. Pray you, leave your courtesy, good monsieur.

Must. What's your will?

Bot. Nothing, good monsieur, but to help cavalery

opening of the fourth act, until they are suddenly roused by the horns of Theseus' huntsmen.

5 Enter Titania and Bottom ;] In the old stage-direction, and in the prefixes, Bottom is merely called "clown."

6- do coy,] i. e. do stroke or caress.

7-neif,] i. e. fist. Ben Jonson has it neuf in his "Poetaster," A. iii. sc. 1. It is a north-country word.

Cobwebs to scratch. I must to the barber's, monsieur; for, methinks, I am marvellous hairy about the face, and I am such a tender ass, if my hair do but tickle me, I must scratch.

Tita. What, wilt thou hear some music, my sweet love?

Bot. I have a reasonable good ear in music: let's have the tongs and the bones".

Tita. Or, say, sweet love, what thou desir'st to eat. Bot. Truly, a peck of provender: I could munch your good dry oats. Methinks, I have a great desire to a bottle of hay fellow'.

good hay, sweet hay, hath no

Tita. I have a venturous fairy that shall seek

The squirrel's hoard, and fetch thee new nuts.

Bot. I had rather have a handful or two of dried peas. But, I pray you, let none of your people stir me: I have an exposition of sleep come upon me.

Tita. Sleep thou, and I will wind thee in my arms. Fairies, be gone, and be all ways away.

So doth the woodbine, the sweet honeysuckle,
Gently entwist: the female ivy so

Enrings the barky fingers of the elm.

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

Enter PUCK.

[They sleep.

Obe. [Advancing] Welcome, good Robin. Seest thou this sweet sight?

Her dotage now I do begin to pity;

- cavalery Cobweb-] "Without doubt," says Grey, "it should be cavalero Peas-blossom; as for cavalero Cobweb, he had just been dispatched upon a perilous adventure."

the tongs and the bones.] Such music seems to have been played out of sight at this desire from Bottom; for the folio has "Music-tongs-rural music," as a stage-direction. It is not found in the 4to. editions.

1 - good hay, sweet hay, hath no fellow.] This is consistent with the notion that Bottom really partakes of the nature of the ass: not so his declaration, “I must to the barber's," &c. He confuses his two conditions.

For meeting her of late behind the wood,
Seeking sweet savours for this hateful fool,
I did upbraid her, and fall out with her;
For she his hairy temples then had rounded
With coronet of fresh and fragrant flowers;
And that same dew, which sometime on the buds
Was wont to swell like round and orient pearls,
Stood now within the pretty flow'rets' eyes,
Like tears that did their own disgrace bewail.
When I had at my pleasure taunted her,
And she in mild terms begg'd my patience,
I then did ask of her her changeling child,
Which straight she gave me; and her fairy sent
To bear him to my bower in fairy land.
And now I have the boy, I will undo
This hateful imperfection of her eyes:
And, gentle Puck, take this transformed scalp
From off the head of this Athenian swain,
That he, awaking when the other 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 wast wont to be;

See, as thou wast wont to see:
Dian's bud o'er Cupid's flower

Hath such force and blessed power.

Now, my Titania! wake you, my sweet queen.
Tita. My Oberon! what visions have I seen!
Methought, I was enamour'd of an ass.

Obe. There lies your love.

Tita.

How came these things to pass?

O, how mine eyes do loath his visage now3!

2 Seeking sweet SAVOURS] Fisher's quarto alone reads favours for " savours." Either may be right, but "savours" seems preferable.

3-loath HIS visage now!] The reading of Fisher's 4to, which seems preferable to this of Roberts and the folio. In the next line this is warranted by both the 4tos.