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, Because I cannot meet my Hermia.
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: Ufe me but as your spaniel, spurn 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; To truft the opportunity of night,
And the ill counsel of a defert place,
With the rich worth of your virginity.
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 refpect, 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 such a heart as you. Run when you will, the story fhall 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 purfues, and valour flies.
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 mifchief. Fie, Demetrius!
Your wrongs do fet a scandal on my fex: 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.
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.
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 fweet mufk-rofes, and with eglantine:
There sleeps Titania, fome time of the night, Lull'd in these 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 grove: 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.
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,
ox-lips]—the larger cowslips. Weed]-a garment.
rear-mice]-bats.
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.
You Spotted Snakes, with double tongue, Thorny bedge-bogs, be not feen; Newts, and blind-worms, do no wrong; Come not near our fairy queen :
Singing her fweet lullaby ;
Lulla, lulla, lullaby; lulla, lulla, lullaby :
Never barm, nor spell nor charm,
Come our lovely lady nigh;
So, good night, with lullaby.
Weaving Spiders, come not here; Hence, you long-legg'd fpiders, hence : Beetles black, approach not near; Worm, nor fnail, do no offence.
Ob. What thou feeft, when thou doft 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.
Lys. Fair love, you faint with wandering in the wood And, to speak troth, I have forgot our way: We'll reft 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 reft my head.
Lys. 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 fo 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 P 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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