b And waxen in their mirth, and neeze, and swear A merrier hour was never wafted there. But make room, fairy, here comes Oberon. Fai. And here my mistress:-'Would that he were gone! SCENE II. Enter Oberon, king of Fairies at one door with his train, and the queen at another with hers. Ob. Ill met by moon-light, proud Titania. Ob. Tarry, rash wanton; Am not I thy lord? d Ob. How can't thou thus, for fhame, Titania, Glance at my credit with Hippolita, Knowing I know thy love to Thefeus? с Didft thou not lead him through the glimmering night From Periguné, whom he ravifhed? And make him with fair Ægle break his faith, With Ariadne, and Antiopa? Queen. These are the forgeries of jealousy : And never, fince' that middle fummer's spring, By paved fountain, or by rushy brook, To dance our ringlets to the whistling wind, That they have over-borne their continents :— m 1 that middle fummer's fpring,]—the beginning of that midfummer, when our quarrel first commenced. i "As flaws congealed in the spring of day." HENRY IV, Part 2, Act IV, S. 4. K. Henry. nine-mens' morris]-a rural game, on a plot of ground, mark'd out in the form of a chefs-board, play'd with wooden pegs and stones, in which each party had nine men ;-or the place where the Morifco, or maurice-dance was wont to be performed by nine persons. quaint]-nice, exact, curious. buman mortals]-fo called to diftinguish mankind from fairies, a clafs of beings between men and fpirits. winter here;]-their accustomed winter, that feftivity with which it was wont to be celebrated-winter cheer. Pale in her anger, "washes all the air, P By their 'increase, now knows not which is which :And this fame progeny of evils comes From our debate, from our diffention We are their parents and original. Ob. Do you amend it then; it lies in you: Why should Titania crofs her Oberon ? I do but beg a little changeling boy, To be my henchman. Queen. Set your heart at rest, The fairy land buys not the child of me. washes]-impregnates with unwholfome moisture. diftemperature,]-irregularity, confufion, perturbation of the eleP chill, thin-hair'd. ments. a childing]-fruitful, bearing fruit. increafe,]-their feveral productions. goffip'd.]-chatted. Would Would imitate; and fail upon the land, If And see our moon-light revels, go with us; If not, shun me, and I will spare your haunts. [Exeunt Queen, and her train. Ob. Well, go thy way: thou shalt not from this grove, 'Till I torment thee for this injury.— My gentle Puck, come hither: Thou remember'st Since once I fat upon a promontory, And heard a "mermaid, on a dolphin's back, Puck. I remember. Ob. That very time I faw, (but thou could'ft not) Flying between the cold moon and the earth, Cupid all arm'd: a certain aim he took At a fair veftal, throned by the weft; mermaid]—a firen. Oh, train me not sweet mermaid with thy note." a fair veftal,]-these lines contain a fine compliment to Q. Elizabeth: fome of the preceding ones are fuppofed to point at Mary 2. of Scots, where the Dolphin's back may refer to her marriage with a Dauphin of France, and certain ftars to the Duke of Norfolk, &c. who fuffered on her account. C 3 And And loos'd his love-fhaft fmartly from his bow, * In maiden meditation, fancy-free. Yet mark'd I where the bolt of Cupid fell: It fell upon a little western flower,— Before, milk-white; now purple with love's wound,- Fetch me that flower; the herb I fhew'd thee once; Fetch me this herb; and be thou here again, Puck. I'll put a girdle round about the earth In forty minutes. Ob. Having once this juice, I'll watch Titania when she is afleep, And drop the liquor of it in her eyes : The next thing when the waking looks upon, She shall pursue it with the foul of love. (As I can take it with another herb) I'll make her render up her page to me. And I will over-hear their conference. * fancy-free.]-unaffected by love. [Exit. y I'll put a girdle &c.]-a phrafe expreffive of the fairy's quick despatch. the foul of love.]—the most ardent affection. Enter |