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Athenian. I will tell you every thing, right as it and the long is, our play is preferr'd. In any case,

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let Thisby have clean linen; and let not him, that plays the lion, pare his nails, for they shall hang out for the lion's claws. And, most dear actors, eat no onions nor garlick, for we are to utter sweet breath; and I do not doubt but to hear them say, it is a sweet comedy. No more words; [Exeunt. away; go, away..

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Hip. "TIS strange, my Theseus, that these lovers speak of.

[lieve

The. More strange than true. I never may be-
These antique fables, nor these fairy toys.
Lovers and madmen have such seething brains,
Such shaping fantasies, that apprehend
More than cool reason ever comprehends.
The lunatick, the lover, and the poet,
Are of imagination all compact':

One sees more devils than vast hell can hold;
That is, the madman: the lover, all as frantick,
Sees Helen's beauty in a brow of Egypt:
The poet's eye, in a fine frenzy rolling, [heaven;|
Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to
And, as imagination bodies forth

The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen
Turns them to shapes, and gives to airy nothing
A local habitation and a name.
Such tricks hath strong imagination;
That, if it would but apprehend some joy,
It comprehends some bringer of that joy;
Or, in the night imagining some fear,
How easy is a bush suppos'd a bear?

Hip. But all the story of the night told over,
And all their minds transfigur'd so together,
More witnesseth than fancy's images,

And grows to something of great constancy2:
But, howsoever, strange, and admirable.

Enter Lysander, Demetrius, Hermia, & Helena.
The. Here come the lovers, full of joy and

mirth.

Joy, gentle friends! joy, and fresh days of love,
Accompany your hearts!

Lys. More than to us

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To ease the anguish of a torturing hour?
Call Philostrate.

Philost. Here, mighty Theseus. [evening?
The. Say, what abridgment' have you for this
What mask? what musick? How shall we beguile
The lazy time, if not with some delight?

Philost. There is a brief, how many sports are

ripe;

Make choice of which your highness will see first. [Giving a paper.

The. [reads.]" The battle of the Centaurs, to be sung

"By an Athenian eunuch to the harp." 30 We'll none of that: that I have told my love, In glory of my kinsman Hercules.

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Wait on your royal walks, your board, your bed! 55
The. Come now; what masks, what dances
shall we have,

To wear away this long age of three hours,
Between our after-supper, and bed time?
Where is our usual manager of mirth?
What revels are in hand? Is there no play,

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The riot of the tipsy Bacchanals,

Tearing the Thracian singer in their rage.
That is an old device; and it was play'd
When I from Thebes came last a conqueror.
"The thrice three Muses mourning for the

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Of learning, late deceas'd in beggary."[death
That is some satire, keen and critical',
Not sorting with a nuptial ceremony.

"A tedious brief scene of young Pyramus
"And his love Thisbe; very tragical mirth.”
Merry and tragical? Tedious and brief?
That is, hot ice, and wonderous strange snow.
How shall we find the concòrd of this discord?
Philost. A play there is, my lord, some ten

words long;

Which is as brief as I have known a play;
But by ten words, my lord, it is too long;
Which makes it tedious: for in all the play
There is not one word apt, one player fitted.
And tragical, my noble lord it is;

For Pyramus therein doth kill himself.
Which, when I saw rehears'd, I must confess,
Made mine eyes water; but more merry tears
The passion of loud laughter never shed.

[here,

The. What are they, that do play it?
Philost. Hard-handed men, that work in Athens
Which never labour'd in their minds 'till now;
And now have toil'd their unbreath'd' memories
60 With this same play, against your nuptial.
The. And we will hear it.

1i. e. made up. 2j. e. consistency. 3 By abridgment Shakspeare here means a dramatick per

formance. i. e. a short account.

Meaning, criticising, censuring. That is, unexercised

memories.

Philost

Philost. No, my noble lord,

It is not for you: I have heard it over,
And it is nothing, nothing in the world;
Unless you can find sport in their intents',

Extremely stretch'd, and conn'd with cruel pain, 5
To do you service.

The. I will hear that play:

For never any thing can be amiss,
When simpleness and duty tender it.

[dies.

Go, bring them in ;-and take your places, la-10
[Exit Philost.
Hip. I love not to see wretchedness o'ercharg'd,
And duty in his service perishing,
The. Why, gentle sweet, you shall see no such
thing.

Hip. He says, they can do nothing in this kind.
The. The kinder we, to give them thanks for
nothing.

Our sport shall be, to take what they mistake:
And what poor duty cannot do,

Noble respect takes it in might', not merit.
Where I have come, great clerks have purposed
To greet me with premeditated welcomes;
Where I have seen them shiver, and look pale,
Make periods in the midst of sentences,
Throttle their practis'd accent in their fears,
And, in conclusion, dumbly have broke off,
Not paying me a welcome: Trust me, sweet,
Out of this silence, yet, I pick'd a welcome;
And in the modesty of fearful duty

I read as much, as from the rattling tongue
Of saucy and audacious eloquence.
Love, therefore, and tongue-ty'd simplicity,
In least, speak most, to my capacity.

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"pent you,

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Enter Pyramus and Thisbe, Wall, Moonshine, and Lion, as in dumb show.

Prol. "Gentles, perchance, you wonder at "this show;

"But wonder on, till truth make all things plain. "This man is Pyramus, if you would know; "This beauteous lady Thisby is, certain. "This man,with lime and rough-cast,doth present "Wall, that vile wall which did those lovers "sunder:

"And through wall's chink, poor souls, they are " content

"To whisper; at which let no man wonder. "This man with lanthorn, dog, and bush of thorn, "Presenteth moon-shine: for, if you will know, "By moon-shine did these lovers think no scorn "To meet at Ninus' tomb, there, there to woo. "This grisly beast, which by name lion hight, "The trusty Thisby, coming first by night, 20" Did scare away, or rather did affright: "And, as she fled, her mantle she did fall;

"Which lion vile with bloody mouth did stain: "Anon comes Pyramus, sweet youth, and tall, "And finds his trusty Thisby's mantle slain : 25 Whereat,with blade, with bloody blameful blade, "He bravely broach'd his boiling bloody breast; "And Thisby, tarrying in mulberry shade,

"His dagger drew, and died. For all the rest, "Let lion, moon-shine, wall, and lovers twain, 30" At large discourse, while here they do remain." [Exeunt all but Wall. lion be to speak. my lord: one lion may,

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The. I wonder, if the Dem. No wonder, when many asses do.

Wall. "In this same interlude, it doth befall, "That I, one Snout by name, present a wall: "And such a wall, as I would have you think, "That had in it a cranny'd hole, or chink,

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Through which the lovers, Pyramus and Thisby, 40" Did whisper often very secretly.

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"The actors are at hand; and by their show,
“You shall know all, that you are like to know."|
The. This fellow doth not stand upon points.
Lys. He hath rid his prologue like a rough colt;
he knows not the stop. A good moral, my lord:55)
It is not enough to speak, but to speak true.

Hip. Indeed he hath play'd on this prologue, like a child on a recorder: a sound, but not in government'.

The. His speech was like a tangled chain: no-60 thing impair'd, but all disordered. Who is next?

[shew

"This lome, this rough-cast, and this stone, doth
"That I am that same wall; the truth is so:
"And this the cranny is, right and sinister, [per."
"Through which the fearful lovers are to whis-
The. Would you desire lime and hair to speak

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"O grim-look'd night! O night with hu "so black!

"O night, which ever art, when day is not! "O night, O night, alack, alack, alack,

"I tear my Thisby's promise is forgot!"And thou, O wall, O sweet, O lovely wall, "That stand'st between her father's ground

" and mine:

"Thou wall, O wall, O sweet and lovely wall,
"Shew me thy chink to blink through with
"mine eyne,

'Intents here means the object of their attention. 2 In might, is probably an elliptical expression for what might have been. i. e. ready. A kind of flute. Meaning, not regularly. Q "Thanks,

"Thanks, courteous wall: Jove shield thee well "for this!

“But what see I? No Thisby do I see. "O wicked wall, through whom I see no bliss: "Curst be thy stones for thus deceiving me!" 5 The. The wall, methinks, being sensible, should curse again.

Pyr. No, in truth, sir, he should not. Deceiv ing me, is Thisby's cue; she is to enter now, and I am to spy her through the wall. You shall see, it will fall pat as I told you: Yonder she comes. Enter Thisby.

This. "O wall, full often hast thou heard my

moans,

"For parting my fair Pyramus and me: "My cherry lips have often kiss'd thy stones; "Thy stones with lime and hair knit up in thee." Pyr. “I see a voice: now will I to the chink, "To spy an I can hear my Thisby's face. "Thisby!

This. My love! thou art my love, I think." Pyr. "Think what thou wilt, I am thy lover's "grace;

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The.A very gentle beast, and of a good conscience. Dem. The very best at a beast, my lord, that e'er I saw.

Lys. This lion is a very fox for his valour. The. True; and a goose for his discretion. Dem. Not so, my lord: for his valour cannot carry his discretion; and the fox carries the goose. The. His di-cretion, I am sure, cannot carry It This valour; for the goose carries not the fox. is well: leave it to his discretion, and let us listen the moon.

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"And like Limander am I trusty still." [hill." 5
This." And I like Helen, till the fates me
Pyr. "Not Shafalus to Procrus was so true."
This. "As Shafalus to Procrus, I to you."
Pyr.
"O, kiss me through the hole of this
"vile wall."
[all."
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This. "I kiss the wall's hole, not your lips at
Pyr. "Wilt thou at Ninny's tomb meet me
"straightway?"
This. "Tide life, tide death, I come without

"delay."
[so:
Wall. "Thus have I, wall, my part discharged
"And, being done, thus wall away doth go."
[Exeunt Wall, Pyramus, and Thisbe.
The. Now is the mural down between the two
neighbours.

Dem. No remedy, my lord, when walls are so wilful to hear without warning.

Hip. This is the silliest stuff that ever I heard. The. The best in this kind are but shadows: and the worst are no worse, if imagination amend them.

Hip. It must be your imagination then, and not theirs.

The. If we imagine no worse of them, than they of themselves, they may pass for excellent men. Here come two noble beasts in, a moon and a lion.

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Moon. "This lanthorn doth the horned moon [head.

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present:"

Dm. He should have worn the horns on his The. He is no crescent, and his horns are invisible within the circumference.

Moon. "This lanthorn doth the horned moon

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"Myself the man i' th' moon do seem to be." The. This is the greatest error of all the rest: the man should be put into the lanthorn; How is it else the man i' the moon?

Dem. He dares not come there for the candle: for, you see, it is already in snuff'. Hip. I am a-weary of this moon. would change!

Would, he

The. It appears, by his small light of discretion, that he is in the wane: but yet, in courtesy, in all reason, we must stay the time.

Lys. Proceed, moon.

Moon. All that I have to say is, to tell you, that the lanthorn is the moon; I, the man in the moon; this thorn-bush, my thorn-bush; and this dog, my dog.

Dem. Why all these should be in the lanthorn; for they are in the moon. But, silence; here comes Thisbe.

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-Truly, the moon

Hip. Well shone, moon.-
shines with a good grace.
The. Well mous'd, lion.
Dem. And then came Pyramus.
Lys. And so the lion vanish'd.

"The smallest monstrous mouse that creeps on 55" May now, perchance, both quake and tremble

"here,

"When lion rough in wildest rage doth roar. "Then know, that I, as Snug the joiner, am "A lion fell, nor else no lion's dam: "For if I should as lion come in strife "Into this place, 'twere pity on my life.”

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"How can it be?

"O dainty duck! O dear!

Snuff signifies both the cinder of a candle, and hasty anger.

"Thy

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Approach, ye furies-fell!

"O fates! come, come;

"Cut thread and thrum';

«Quail, crush, conclude and quell'!”

The. This passion, and the death of a dear friend,| would go near to make a man look sad.

Hip. Beshrew my heart, but I pity the man. Pyr. "O, wherefore, nature, didst thou lions 10 "frame?

"Since lion vile hath here deflower'd my dear: "Which is no, no-which was the fairest dame, “That liv'd, that lov'd, that lik’d, that look'd, "with cheer.

"Come tears, comfound;
"Out sword, and wound

"The pap of Pyramus:
"Av, that left pap,
"Where heart doth hop:-
"Thus die I, thus, thus, thus.
"Now am I dead,
"Now am I fled;
"My soul is in the sky:

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Tongue, lose thy light! "Moon take thy flight! "Now die, die, die, die, die.

[Dies. Exit Moonshine. Dem. No die, but an ace for him; for he is but

one.

Lys. Less than an ace, man; for he is dead: he is nothing.

The. With the help of a surgeon he might yet recover, and prove an ass.

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Dem. Ay, and wall too.

Bot. No, I assure you; the wall is down that parted their fathers. Will it please you to see the epilogue, or to hear a Bergomask dance', between two of our company.

20 The. No epilogue, I pray you; for your play
needs no excuse. Never excuse; for when the
players are all dead, there needs none to be
blamed. Marry, if he that writ it, had play'd
Pyramus, and hang'd himself in Thisbe's garter,
25 it would have been a fine tragedy: and so it is,
truly; and very notably discharg'd. But come,
your Bergomask: let your epilogue alone.
[Here a Dance of Clowns.

The iron tongue of midnight hath told twelve;30 Lovers, to bed; 'tis almost fairy time.

Hip. How chance the moonshine is gone, be-35 fore Thisbe comes back and finds her lover? The. She will find him by star-light.

Enter Thisbe.

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I fear, we shall out-sleep the coming morn,
As much as we this night have overwatch'd.
This palpable-gross play hath well beguil'd
The heavy gait of night.-Sweet friends, to bed.
A fortnight hold we this solemnity,
In nightly revels, and new jollity.

SCENE II.
Enter Puck.

[Exeunt.

Puck. Now the hungry lion roars,
And the wolf beholds the moon;
Whilst the heavy ploughman snores,
All with weary task fordone".
Now the wasted-brands do glow,

Whilst the scritch-owl, scritching loud,

Puts the wretch, that lies in woe,

In remembrance of a shroud.
Now it is the time of night,

That the graves all gaping wide,
Every one lets forth his sprite,
In the church-way paths to glide
And we fairies, that do run
By the triple Hecate's team,
From the presence of the sun,
Following darkness like a dream,
Now are trolick; not a mouse
Shall disturb this hallow'd house:

1 Thrum is the end or extremity of a weaver's warp; it is popularly used for very coarse yarn. 2 To quell is to murther, to destroy.

3

That is, a dance alter the manner of the peasants of Ber

gomasco, a country in Italy belonging to the Venetians. * i. e. Passage, progress. i. e. Over

come.

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Ob. Through this house give glimmering light, By the dead and drowsy fire:

Every elf, and fairy sprite,

Hop as light as bird from brier;
And this ditty, after me,

Sing and dance it trippingly.

Tit. First, rehearse this song by rote:
To each word a warbling note,
Hand in hand, with fairy grace,
Will we sing, and bless this place.
SONG and DANCE.

b. Now, until the break of day,
Through this house each fairy stray.
To the best bride-bed will we,
Which by us shall blessed be;
And the issue, there create,
Ever shall be fortunate.
So shall all the couples three
Ever true in loving be :

And the blots of nature's hand

Shall not in their issue stand;

Never mole, hare-lip, nor scar,
Nor mark prodigious', such as are

'i. e. portentous.

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Trip away;

Make no stay;

Meet me all by break of day.

[Exeunt King, Queen, and Train. Puck. If we shadows have offended, Think but this, (and all is mended) That you have but slumber'd here, While these visions did appear: And this weak and idle theme, No more yielding but a dream, Gentles, do not reprehend; If you pardon, we will mend. And, as I'm an honest Puck, If we have unearned luck

Now to 'scape the serpent's tongue,

We will make amends, ere long:

Else the Puck a liar call,

So, good night unto you all.

Give me your hands, if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends. [Erit

2 i. e. take his way."

MERCHANT

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