Enter Demetrius, Helena following him.
Dem. I love thee not, therefore pursue me not.
Where is Lyfander, and fair Hermia?
The one I'll flay, the other flayeth me.
Thou told'ft me, they were ftoln unto this wood;
And here am I, and wood within this wood,
e
Hermia.
Because I cannot meet my
Hence, get thee gone, and follow me no more.
Hel. You draw me, you hard-hearted adamant;
But yet you draw not iron, for my heart
Is true as steel: Leave you your power to draw,
And I shall have no power to follow you.
Dem. Do I entice you? Do I fpeak you fair?
Or, rather, do I not in plainest truth
Tell you I do not, nor I cannot love you?
Hel. And even for that do I love you the more.
I am your spaniel; and, Demetrius,
The more you beat me, I will fawn on you:
Use me but as your spaniel, fpurn me, strike me,
Neglect me, lose me; only give me leave,
Unworthy as I am, to follow you.
What worfer place can I beg in your love,
(And yet a place of high respect with me)
Than to be used as you use your dog?
Dem. Tempt not too much the hatred of my spirit;
For I am fick, when I do look on thee.
Hel. And I am fick, when I look not on you.
Dem. You do impeach your modesty too much, To leave the city, and commit yourself
Into the hands of one that loves you not;
With the rich worth of your virginity.
d
Hel. Your virtue is my privilege for that.
It is not night, when I do fee your face,
Therefore I think I am not in the night:
Nor doth this wood lack worlds of company;
For you, in my respect, are all the world:
Then how can it be faid, I am alone,
When all the world is here to look on me?
Dem. I'll run from thee, and hide me in the brakes,
And leave thee to the mercy of wild beasts.
Hel. The wildeft hath not fuch a heart as you.
Run when you will, the story shall be chang'd:
Apollo flies, and Daphne holds the chafe;
The dove pursues the griffin; the mild hind
Makes speed to catch the tyger: Bootless speed!
When cowardice pursues, and valour flies.
C
Dem. I will not stay thy questions; let me go: Or, if thou follow me, do not believe
But I fhall do thee mischief in the wood.
Hel. Ay, in the temple, in the town, the field,
You do me mischief. Fie, Demetrius !
Your wrongs do fet a scandal on my sex:
We cannot fight for love, as men may do;
We fhou'd be woo'd, and were not made to woo.
I'll follow thee, and make a heaven of hell,
To die upon the hand I love fo well.
[Exeunt.
Ob. Fare thee well, nymph: ere he do leave this grove, Thou shalt fly him, and he shall seek thy love.Haft thou the flower there? Welcome, wanderer.
Re-enter Puck.
I know a bank whereon the wild thyme blows,
Where 'ox-lips and the nodding violet grows;
Quite over-canopy'd with & luscious woodbine,
With sweet musk-rofes, and with eglantine:
There sleeps Titania, fome time of the night,
Lull'd in thefe flowers with dances and delight;
And there the snake throws her enamel'd skin,
Weed wide enough to wrap a fairy in:
And with the juice of this I'll ftreak her eyes,
And make her full of hateful fantafies.
Take thou fome of it, and feek through this
A fweet Athenian lady is in love
With a disdainful youth: anoint his eyes;
But do it, when the next thing he efpies
May be the lady: Thou shalt know the man
By the Athenian garments he hath on.
Effect it with fome care; that he may prove
More fond on her, than fhe upon her love:
And look thou meet me ere the first cock crow.
Puck. Fear not, my lord, your fervant fhall do fo.
[Exeunt.
SCENE III.
Another part of the Wood.
Enter the queen of Fairies, with her train.
Queen. Come, now a roundel, and a fairy fong;
Then, for the third part of a minute, hence:
Some, to kill cankers in the mufk-rose buds;
Some, war with rear-mice for their leathern wings,
fox-lips]-the larger cowflips.
Weed]-a garment.
krear-mice-bats.
slub, luxuriant.
i a roundel,]-a dance in a ring.
To make my small elves coats; and fome, keep back
The clamorous owl, that nightly hoots, and wonders
At our quaint 'fpirits: Sing me now asleep;
Then to your offices, and let me rest.
First Fairy.
You Spotted Snakes, with double tongue,
Thorny hedge-bogs, be not seen;
Newts, and blind-worms, do no wrong;
Come not near our fairy queen :
Chorus.
Philomel, with melody,
Singing ber fweet lullaby;
Lulla, lulla, lullaby; lulla, lulla, lullaby :
Never barm, nor spell nor charm,
Come our lovely lady nigh;
So, good night, with lullaby.
Second Fairy.
Weaving Spiders, come not here;
Hence, you long-legg'd fpiders, bence:
Beetles black, approach not near ;
Worm, nor fnail, do no offence.
Chorus,
Philomel, with melody, &c.
First Fairy.
Hence, away; now all is well:
One, aloof, ftand fentinel.
[Exeunt Fairies. The Queen fleeps.
TM Sing in your.
Enter Oberon.
Ob. What thou seest, when thou dost wake, [Squeezes the flower on her eye-lids.
Do it for thy true love take;
Love, and languish for his fake:
Be it ounce, or cat, or bear,
Pard, or boar with bristled hair,
In thy eye that shall appear
When thou wak❜ft, it is thy dear;
Wake, when fome vile thing is near.
Enter Lyfander and Hermia.
Ly. Fair love, you faint with wandering in the wood; And, to speak troth, I have forgot our way; We'll rest us, Hermia, if you think it good, And tarry for the comfort of the day. Her. Be it fo, Lyfander: find you out a bed, For I upon this bank will rest my head.
Lyf. One turf fhall ferve as pillow for us both; One heart, one bed, two bofoms, and one troth.
Her. Nay, good Lyfander; for my fake, my dear,
Lye further off yet, do not lye so near.
Lyf. O, take the fenfe, fweet, of my innocence;
Love take the meaning, in love's conference.
I mean, that my heart unto yours is knit;
So that but one heart we can make of it:
Two bofoms interchained with an oath;
So then, two bofoms, and a single troth.
Then, by your fide no bed-room me deny;
For, lying fo, Hermia, I do not lie.
Her. Lyfander, riddles very prettily:
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