Ob. That very time I saw, (but thou couldst 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,

And loos'd his love-shaft fmartly from his bow,
As it should pierce a hundred thousand hearts:
But I might fee young Cupid's fiery fhaft
Quench'd in the chafte beams of the watery moon,
And the imperial votress passed on,

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,➡

The quarrels between Mary and Elizabeth had the fame cause, and the fame iffue.

------on a dolphin's back,]

This evidently marks out that diftinguishing circumftance of Mary's fortune, her marriage with the dauphin of France, fon of Henry !I.

Uttering fuch dulcet and harmonious breath,].

This alludes to her great abilities of genius and learning, which rendered her the moft accomplished princefs of her age. The French writers tell us, that, while fhe was in that court, the pronounced a Latin oration in the great hall of the Louvre, with so much grace and eloquence, as filled the whole court with admiration.

That the rude fea grew civil at her fong ;]

By the 'rude fea' is meant Scotland encircled with the ocean; which rofe up in arms against the regent, while fhe was in France. But her return home presently quieted thofe diforders: and had not her ftrange ill conduc afterwards more violently inflamed them, the might have paffed her whole life in peace. There is the greater juftnefs and beauty in this image, as the vulgar opinion is, that the mermaid always fings in ftorms.

And certain ftars fhot madly from their spheres
To hear the fea-maid's mufic.]

Thus concludes the defcription, with that remarkable circumftance of this unhappy lady's fate, the deftruction fhe brought upon feveral of the English nobility, whom the drew in to fupport her caufe. This, in the boldeft expreffion of the fublime, the poet images by certain ftars shooting madly from their fpheres': By which he meant the earls of Northumberland and Weftmorland, who fell in her quarrel; and principally the great duke of Norfolk, whofe projected marriage with her was attended with fuch fatal confequences. Here again the reader may obferve a peculiar juftnefs in the imagery. The vulgar opinion being that the mermaid allured men to deftruction by her fongs. To which opinion Shakespeare alludes in his Comedy of Errors,

ten.

"O train me not, fweet mermaid, with thy note,
To drown me in thy fifter's flood of tears."

On the whole, it is the nobleft and juftet allegory that was ever writThe laying it in fairy land, and out of nature, is in the character of the speaker. And on thefe occafions Shakespeare always excels himself. He is borne away by the magic of his enthufiafim, and hurries his reader along with him into thefe ancient regions of poetry, by that power of verfe, which we may well think to be like what,

“ -------------Olim Fauni Vatefque canebant."

WARB,

And maidens call it love-in-idlenefs.[9]

Fetch me that flower; the herb I fhew'd thee once;
The juice of it on fleeping eye-lids laid,
Will make or man or woman madly dote
Upon the next live creature that it fees.
Fetch me this herb; and be thou here again,
Ere the leviathan can fwim a league.

Puck. I'll put a girdle round about the earth
In forty minutes.

Ob. Having once this juice,

I'll watch Titania when the is asleep,

And drop the liquor of it in her eyes:

The next thing then the waking looks upon,
(Be it on licn, bear, or wolf, or bull,
On meddling monkey, or on bufy ape,)
She fhall purfue it with the foul of love.
And ere I take this charm off from her fight,.
(As I can take it with another herb)
I'll make her render up her page to me.
But who comes here? I am invifible ;[1]
And I will over-hear their conference.

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..

[Exit

Thou told'ft me, they were ftol'n into this wood;;
And here am I, and wode[2] 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 fteel: Leave you your power to draw,
And I fhall have no power to follow you.

Dem. Do I entice you? Do I speak you fair?

(9) And maidens call it love-in-idlenefs.] This is as fine a metamorphofis as any in Ovid: With a much better moral, intimating that irregular love has only power when people are idle, or not well employed. WARB. It is fcarce neceffary to mention that love-in-idleness' is a flower. STE. (1) I thought proper here to obferve, that, as Oberon and Puck his attendant, may be frequently obferved to fpeak, when there is no mention of their entering; they are defigned by the poet to be fuppofed on the ftage during the greateft part of the remainder of the play; and to mix, as they pleafe, as fpirits, with the other actors; and embroil the plot, by their interpofition, without being feen, or heard, but when to their own purpofe..

(2) Wood, or mad, wild, raving. POPE.

THEO.

?

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 fpaniel, fpurn me, ftrike me,
Neglect me, lofe 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 ufed as you use your dog?

Dem. Tempt not too much the hatred of my spirit ; For I am fick when I do look on you.

Hel. And I am fick, when I look not on you. Dem. You do impeach your modefty too much, To leave the city, and commit yourself

Into the hands of one that loves you not;
To trust 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 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 beafts.

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 purfues the griffin; the mild hind Makes speed to catch the tyger :-Bootlefs fpeed! When cowardice pursues, and valour flies.

Dem. I will not ftay thy questions; let me go; Or, if thou follow me, do not believe

But I fhall do thee mifchief in the wood.

Hel. Ay, in the temple, in the town, the field,
You do me mifchief. Fie, Demetrius !
Your wrongs do fet a fcandal on my fex:
We cannot fight for love, as men may do ;

We fhould 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.

[Exe.

Ob. Fare thee well, nymph: ere he doth leave this

grove,

Thou shalt fly him, and he shall feek thy love.-
Haft thou the flower there? Welcome, wanderer.
Re-enter PUCK.

Puck. Ay, there it is.

Ob. I pray thee, give it me.

I know a bank whereon the wild thyme blows,
Where ox-lips and the nodding violet grows;
Quite over-canopy'd with the luscious woodbine,
With fweet mufk-rofes and with eglantine;
There fleeps Titania, fometime of the night,
Lull'd in these flowers, with dances and delight;
And there the fnake 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 difdainful 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 of her, than the upon her love:

And, look, thou meet me ere the firft cock crow.

Puck. Fear not, my lord, your fervant shall do so. [Exe.

SCENE III.

Another part of the Wood. Enter Queen of Fairies with her Train.

Queen. Come, now a roundel,[3] and a fairy song ; Then, for the third part of a minute, hence [4]

(3) A 'roundel' is a dance in a ring. GRAY.

(4) Dr. Warburton reads,-'for the third part of the midnight.'-The perfons employed are Fairies, to whom the third part of a minute might not be fo fhort a time to do fuch work in. The critics might as well have objected to the epithet tall,' which the fairy gives to the 'cowflip.' But Shakefpcare, throughout the play, has preferved the proportions of other things in refpect of thefe tiny beings; compared with whofe fize a cowhip might be tall, and to whofe powers of execution, a minute might be equivalent to an age. STEEV.

Some, to kill cankers in the mufk-rose buds;
Some, war with rear-mice for their leathern wings,
To make my fmall 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.

Firft Fairy.

You Spotted Snakes, with double tongues,
Thorny bedge-bogs, be not feen;
Newts and blind-worms, do no wrong;
Come not near our fairy queen.

Chorus. Philomel, with melody,

Sing in your fweet lullaby;

Lulla, lulla, lullaby; lulla, lulla, lullaby ;
Never harm, 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 fpinners, bence!
Beetles black, approach not near;
Worm, nor fnail, do no offence.

Chorus. Philomel, with melody, Sc.

I Fai. Hence, away; now all is well: One, aloof, ftand fentinel, [Exe. Fairies. Queen fleeps,

Enter OBERON.

Ob. What thou feeft, when thou doft wake,

[Squeezes the flower on her eyelids.

Do it for thy true love take;
Love, and languish for his fake:
Be it ounce,[5] or cat, or bear,
Pard, or boar with briftled hair,
In thy eye that shall appear
When thou wak'ft, it is thy dear;
Wake, when fome vile thing is near.

} [Exit

Enter LYSANDER and HERMIA.

OBERON.

Lyf. Fair love, you faint with wandering in the wood; And, to speak troth, I have forgot our way:

[5] The ounce is a small tiger, or tiger-cat, JOHNS. VOL. II. R