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With the four lovers still asleep onstage, enter
Titania, Queen of Fairies, and Bottom and Fairies,
and Oberon, the King, behind them unseen by those
onstage.
TITANIA
Come, sit thee down upon this flow’ry bed,
While I thy amiable cheeks do coy,
And stick muskroses in thy sleek smooth head,
And kiss thy fair large ears, my gentle joy.
BOTTOM Where’s Peaseblossom?
PEASEBLOSSOM Ready.
BOTTOM Scratch my head, Peaseblossom. Where’s
Monsieur Cobweb?
COBWEB Ready.
BOTTOM Monsieur Cobweb, good monsieur, get you
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. Cobweb exits. Where’s Monsieur
Mustardseed?
MUSTARDSEED Ready.
BOTTOM Give me your neaf, Monsieur Mustardseed.
Pray you, leave your courtesy, good monsieur.
MUSTARDSEED What’s your will?
BOTTOM Nothing, good monsieur, but to help Cavalery
Cobweb to scratch. I must to the barber’s,
monsieur, for methinks I am marvels hairy about
the face. And I am such a tender ass, if my hair do
but tickle me, I must scratch.
TITANIA
What, wilt thou hear some music, my sweet love?
BOTTOM I have a reasonable good ear in music. Let’s
have the tongs and the bones.
TITANIA
Or say, sweet love, what thou desirest to eat.
BOTTOM Truly, a peck of provender. I could munch
your good dry oats. Methinks I have a great desire
to a bottle of hay. Good hay, sweet hay, hath no
fellow.
TITANIA
I have a venturous fairy that shall seek
The squirrel’s hoard and fetch thee new nuts.
BOTTOM 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.
TITANIA
Sleep thou, and I will wind thee in my arms.—
Fairies, begone, and be all ways away.
Fairies exit.
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!
Bottom and Titania sleep.
Enter Robin Goodfellow.
OBERON
Welcome, good Robin. Seest thou this sweet sight?
Her dotage now I do begin to pity.
For, meeting her of late behind the wood,
Seeking sweet favors 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 flouriets’ eyes,
Like tears that did their own disgrace bewail.
When I had at my pleasure taunted her,
And she in mild terms begged 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 Fairyland.
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.
He applies the nectar to her eyes.
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.
TITANIA, waking
My Oberon, what visions have I seen!
Methought I was enamored of an ass.
OBERON
There lies your love.
TITANIA How came these things to pass?
O, how mine eyes do loathe his visage now!
OBERON
Silence awhile.—Robin, take off this head.—
Titania, music call; and strike more dead
Than common sleep of all these five the sense.
TITANIA
Music, ho, music such as charmeth sleep!
ROBIN, removing the ass-head from Bottom
Now, when thou wak’st, with thine own fool’s eyes
peep.
OBERON
Sound music. Music.
Come, my queen, take hands with me,
And rock the ground whereon these sleepers be.
Titania and Oberon dance.
Now thou and I are new in amity,
And will tomorrow midnight solemnly
Dance in Duke Theseus’ house triumphantly,
And bless it to all fair prosperity.
There shall the pairs of faithful lovers be
Wedded, with Theseus, all in jollity.
ROBIN
Fairy king, attend and mark.
I do hear the morning lark.
OBERON
Then, my queen, in silence sad
Trip we after night’s shade.
We the globe can compass soon,
Swifter than the wand’ring moon.
TITANIA
Come, my lord, and in our flight
Tell me how it came this night
That I sleeping here was found
With these mortals on the ground.
Oberon, Robin, and Titania exit.
Wind horn. Enter Theseus and all his train,
Hippolyta, Egeus.
THESEUS
Go, one of you, find out the Forester.
For now our observation is performed,
And, since we have the vaward of the day,
My love shall hear the music of my hounds.
Uncouple in the western valley; let them go.
Dispatch, I say, and find the Forester.
A Servant exits.
We will, fair queen, up to the mountain’s top
And mark the musical confusion
Of hounds and echo in conjunction.
HIPPOLYTA
I was with Hercules and Cadmus once,
When in a wood of Crete they bayed the bear
With hounds of Sparta. Never did I hear
Such gallant chiding, for, besides the groves,
The skies, the fountains, every region near
Seemed all one mutual cry. I never heard
So musical a discord, such sweet thunder.
THESEUS
My hounds are bred out of the Spartan kind,
So flewed, so sanded; and their heads are hung
With ears that sweep away the morning dew;
Crook-kneed, and dewlapped like Thessalian bulls;
Slow in pursuit, but matched in mouth like bells,
Each under each. A cry more tunable
Was never holloed to, nor cheered with horn,
In Crete, in Sparta, nor in Thessaly.
Judge when you hear.—But soft! What nymphs are
these?
EGEUS
My lord, this is my daughter here asleep,
And this Lysander; this Demetrius is,
This Helena, old Nedar’s Helena.
I wonder of their being here together.
THESEUS
No doubt they rose up early to observe
The rite of May, and hearing our intent,
Came here in grace of our solemnity.
But speak, Egeus. Is not this the day
That Hermia should give answer of her choice?
EGEUS It is, my lord.
THESEUS
Go, bid the huntsmen wake them with their horns.
A Servant exits.
Shout within. Wind horns. They all start up.
THESEUS
Good morrow, friends. Saint Valentine is past.
Begin these woodbirds but to couple now?
Demetrius, Helena, Hermia, and Lysander kneel.
LYSANDER