ACT II

SCENE I. A wood near Athens.

Enter, from opposite sides, a Fairy, and PUCK

PUCK:

1

How now, spirit! whither wander you?

The term spirit is used to denote members of the fairy world, specifically referring to supernatural beings.

Fairy:

2

Over hill, over dale,

These short rhyming lines suggest a song. This text was later set to music by Ralph Vaughan Williams.

3

Thorough bush, thorough brier,

Thorough in Shakespeare is an old English variant meaning through.

4

Over park, over pale,

Pale here means a wooden strip forming part of a fence.

5

Thorough flood, thorough fire,

6

I do wander everywhere,

7

Swifter than the moon's sphere,

The moon serves as an image throughout the play, and in this case, the Fairy stating that she is “swifter than the moon’s sphere” may mean that she will have to work quickly to get all of her work done before the moon is gone, or perhaps may mean that she will not fall for the tricks of the moon that the mortal characters will. Read more about the symbolism of the moon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream here.

8

And I serve the fairy queen,

9

To dew her orbs upon the green.

This refers to Fairy Rings, which are rings of lush green grass that expand outward. Folklore in the time period said the rings were caused by fairies, and the servant fairy had to water them for the queen.

10

The cowslips tall her pensioners be:

Cowslips are a flower frequently found in rural England in spring. Her description of them as “tall” indicates her small stature as a fairy.

11

In their gold coats spots you see,

12

Those be rubies, fairy favours,

13

In those freckles live their savours:

14

I must go seek some dewdrops here

15

And hang a pearl in every cowslip's ear.

The idea that pearls were made of dew came from a widely believed, but incorrect theory from first century naturalist and philosopher Pliny.

16

Farewell, thou lob of spirits, I'll be gone:

Lob means a dull and uncouth person; a lout.

17

Our queen and all our elves come here anon.

Anon means “right away.”

PUCK:

18

The king doth keep his revels here to-night:

19

Take heed the queen come not within his sight,

20

For Oberon is passing fell and wrath,

21

Because that she as her attendant hath

22

A lovely boy, stolen from an Indian king,

The Indian boy is referenced directly six times in the play, but never seen. He likely represents colonialism, with Titania and Oberon seeing the exotic boy as a commodity.

23

She never had so sweet a changeling,

Changeling would be pronounced in three syllables here. The IPA is: tʃe:InʤəlIŋ

24

And jealous Oberon would have the child

25

Knight of his train, to trace the forests wild,

26

But she perforce withholds the loved boy,

Perforce means by force of circumstances or of necessity.

27

Crowns him with flowers and makes him all her joy:

28

And now they never meet in grove or green,

29

By fountain clear, or spangled starlight sheen,

30

But, they do square, that all their elves for fear

Square means to quarrel.

31

Creep into acorn-cups and hide them there.

Fairy:

32

Either I mistake your shape and making quite,

33

Or else you are that shrewd and knavish sprite

Shrewd and Knavish means artful, crafty, and dishonest.

34

Call'd Robin Goodfellow: are not you he

Robin Goodfellow is a traditional character that appears in a lot of literature. He is mischevious but not malicious.

35

That frights the maidens of the villagery,

36

Skim milk, and sometimes labour in the quern

Farm women in this time period had to churn milk into butter and use a stone hand mill called a quern to grind grain into flour. This line implies Puck miscievously interferes with both of these daily tasks by skimming the fat off of the milk, making it impossible to turn into butter, and by playing tricks with the quern.

37

And bootless make the breathless housewife churn,

Here, bootless means fruitlessly or unprofitably.

38

And sometime make the drink to bear no barm,

Barm is the foam on top of a fermenting liquid, such as beer.

39

Mislead night-wanderers, laughing at their harm?

40

Those that Hobgoblin call you and sweet Puck,

A Hobgoblin is a house-elf with mischievous intentions.

41

You do their work, and they shall have good luck:

42

Are not you he?

PUCK:

43

Thou speak'st aright,

44

I am that merry wanderer of the night.

45

I jest to Oberon and make him smile

46

When I a fat and bean-fed horse beguile,

47

Neighing in likeness of a filly foal:

A filly foal is a baby female horse.

48

And sometime lurk I in a gossip's bowl,

A gossip’s bowl usually held caudle, a drink similar to modern eggnog. The bowls may also have been used as birthing bows, getting its name from women being present in the birth room.

49

In very likeness of a roasted crab,

Crab is referring to a crab apple, that might float in the caudle found in the gossip’s bowl.

50

And when she drinks, against her lips I bob

51

And on her wither'd dewlap pour the ale.

Dewlap refers to a flap of skin on the throat.

52

The wisest aunt, telling the saddest tale,

53

Sometime for three-foot stool mistaketh me,

54

Then slip I from her bum, down topples she,

55

And 'tailor' cries, and falls into a cough,

Crying tailor may be similar to yelling “my buttocks!” and is exclaimed by someone when falling backwards.

56

And then the whole quire hold their hips and laugh,

57

And waxen in their mirth and neeze and swear

58

A merrier hour was never wasted there.

59

But, room, fairy! here comes Oberon.

Fairy:

60

And here my mistress. Would that he were gone!

StageDirection:

60

Enter, from one side, OBERON, with his train, from the other, TITANIA, with hers

OBERON:

61

Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania.

TITANIA:

62

What, jealous Oberon! Fairies, skip hence:

63

I have forsworn his bed and company.

OBERON:

64

Tarry, rash wanton: am not I thy lord?

A loose translation of Tarry, rash wanton might be “Hang on, you reckless skank!”

TITANIA:

65

Then I must be thy lady: but I know

66

When thou hast stolen away from fairy land,

67

And in the shape of Corin sat all day,

Corin and Phillida are common names for a shepherd and his shepherdess. Titania is accusing Oberon of cheating with mortal women.

68

Playing on pipes of corn and versing love

69

To amorous Phillida. Why art thou here,

70

Come from the farthest Steppe of India?

71

But that, forsooth, the bouncing Amazon,

Forsooth means “in truth” and often implies contempt or doubt

72

Your buskin'd mistress and your warrior love,

Buskined refers to wearing buskins, which are extravagant hunting boots.

73

To Theseus must be wedded, and you come

74

To give their bed joy and prosperity.

OBERON:

75

How canst thou thus for shame, Titania,

76

Glance at my credit with Hippolyta,

77

Knowing I know thy love to Theseus?

78

Didst thou not lead him through the glimmering night

79

From Perigenia, whom he ravished?

Perigenia is five syllables. The pronunciation audio can be found here. The phonetic transcription for pronunciation is: ,pɛ:ɚrə’dʒInijə

80

And make him with fair AEgle break his faith,

Aegle is a nymph that Theseus abandoned Ariadne for. Pronunciation of her name can be found here.

81

With Ariadne and Antiopa?

Ariadne helped Theseus in his quest to slay the Minotaur, and they fell in love and eloped. He later abandoned her for Aegle. Pronunciation of Ariadne can be found here.. Antiopa was another lover of Theseus’, with whom he had a son, but he also later abandoned. Pronunciation of Antiopa can be found here.

TITANIA:

82

These are the forgeries of jealousy:

83

And never, since the middle summer's spring,

84

Met we on hill, in dale, forest or mead,

85

By paved fountain or by rushy brook,

Rushy means covered with rush.

86

Or in the beached margent of the sea,

Margent is an archaic word for margin, or edge.

87

To dance our ringlets to the whistling wind,

88

But with thy brawls thou hast disturb'd our sport.

89

Therefore the winds, piping to us in vain,

90

As in revenge, have suck'd up from the sea

Titania’s description of the out-of-control weather indicates the time period in which this was written, as the period referred to as The Little Ice Age was well underway.

91

Contagious fogs, which falling in the land

92

Have every pelting river made so proud

In this instance, pelting means insignificant.

93

That they have overborne their continents:

94

The ox hath therefore stretch'd his yoke in vain,

95

The ploughman lost his sweat, and the green corn

96

Hath rotted ere his youth attain'd a beard,

97

The fold stands empty in the drowned field,

Drowned should be pronounced in two syllables here to create regular rhythm with the iambic pentameter.

98

And crows are fatted with the murrion flock,

Murrain flock refers to the sheep that died from infectious disease.

99

The nine men's morris is fill'd up with mud,

Nine Men’s Morris is a strategy game that would have had the pattern outlined in the soil.

100

And the quaint mazes in the wanton green

Wanton green here refers to luxurious grass. Oberon used the term wanton previously in this scene to negatively describe Titania, and now Titania uses it here in a positive way with the suggestion of growth and abundance.

101

For lack of tread are undistinguishable:

102

The human mortals want their winter here,

103

No night is now with hymn or carol blest:

104

Therefore the moon, the governess of floods,

105

Pale in her anger, washes all the air,

106

That rheumatic diseases do abound:

Rheumatic diseases refers to diseases with watery discharge.

107

And thorough this distemperature we see

108

The seasons alter: hoary-headed frosts

Hoary-headed refers to having gray or white hair from age

109

Far in the fresh lap of the crimson rose,

110

And on old Hiems' thin and icy crown

This is a personification of Hiems, the coldest season of the year

111

An odorous chaplet of sweet summer buds

112

Is, as in mockery, set: the spring, the summer,

113

The childing autumn, angry winter, change

114

Their wonted liveries, and the mazed world,

Wonted Liveries refers to accustomed attire

115

By their increase, now knows not which is which:

116

And this same progeny of evils comes

117

From our debate, from our dissension,

Dissension would be pronounced as four syllables.

118

We are their parents and original.

OBERON:

119

Do you amend it then, it lies in you:

120

Why should Titania cross her Oberon?

121

I do but beg a little changeling boy,

122

To be my henchman.

TITANIA:

123

Set your heart at rest:

124

The fairy land buys not the child of me.

125

His mother was a votaress of my order:

Votaress would be pronounced in two syllables here, and is a woman who is a devoted follower or admirer, known as a votary

126

And, in the spiced Indian air, by night,

127

Full often hath she gossip'd by my side,

128

And sat with me on Neptune's yellow sands,

Neptune is the god of the sea

129

Marking the embarked traders on the flood,

130

When we have laugh'd to see the sails conceive

131

And grow big-bellied with the wanton wind,

132

Which she, with pretty and with swimming gait

133

Following,--her womb then rich with my young squire,--

134

Would imitate, and sail upon the land,

135

To fetch me trifles, and return again,

136

As from a voyage, rich with merchandise.

137

But she, being mortal, of that boy did die,

Approximately one percent of women died in childbirth during this time period, making death by childbirth a stadard trope for mortality.

138

And for her sake do I rear up her boy,

139

And for her sake I will not part with him.

OBERON:

140

How long within this wood intend you stay?

TITANIA:

141

Perchance till after Theseus' wedding-day.

142

If you will patiently dance in our round

143

And see our moonlight revels, go with us,

144

If not, shun me, and I will spare your haunts.

In this occurence, spare means avoid

OBERON:

145

Give me that boy, and I will go with thee.

TITANIA:

146

Not for thy fairy kingdom. Fairies, away!

147

We shall chide downright, if I longer stay.

Exit TITANIA with her train

OBERON:

148

Well, go thy way: thou shalt not from this grove

149

Till I torment thee for this injury.

150

My gentle Puck, come hither. Thou rememberest

151

Since once I sat upon a promontory,

152

And heard a mermaid on a dolphin's back

153

Uttering such dulcet and harmonious breath

154

That the rude sea grew civil at her song

155

And certain stars shot madly from their spheres,

156

To hear the sea-maid's music.

PUCK:

157

I remember.

OBERON:

158

That very time I saw, but thou couldst not,

159

Flying between the cold moon and the earth,

160

Cupid all arm'd: a certain aim he took

161

At a fair vestal throned by the west,

Vestal means virgin, and in this instance is likely an allusion to Queen Elizabeth.

162

And loosed his love-shaft smartly from his bow,

163

As it should pierce a hundred thousand hearts,

164

But I might see young Cupid's fiery shaft

165

Quench'd in the chaste beams of the watery moon,

Watery should be pronounced in two syllables. The watery moon is a reference to the goddess of the moon, Diana.

166

And the imperial votaress passed on,

167

In maiden meditation, fancy-free.

168

Yet mark'd I where the bolt of Cupid fell:

169

It fell upon a little western flower,

170

Before milk-white, now purple with love's wound,

171

And maidens call it love-in-idleness.

Love in idleness refers to the pansy.

172

Fetch me that flower, the herb I shew'd thee once:

173

The juice of it on sleeping eye-lids laid

174

Will make or man or woman madly dote

175

Upon the next live creature that it sees.

176

Fetch me this herb, and be thou here again

177

Ere the leviathan can swim a league.

The leviathan is a biblical sea serpent, depicted in a drawing here.

PUCK:

178

I'll put a girdle round about the earth

179

In forty minutes.

Exit

OBERON:

180

Having once this juice,

181

I'll watch Titania when she is asleep,

182

And drop the liquor of it in her eyes.

183

The next thing then she waking looks upon,

184

Be it on lion, bear, or wolf, or bull,

185

On meddling monkey, or on busy ape,

186

She shall pursue it with the soul of love:

Soul of love refers to the deepest or purest love, by using soul to mean the quintessence

187

And ere I take this charm from off her sight,

188

As I can take it with another herb,

189

I'll make her render up her page to me.

190

But who comes here? I am invisible,

191

And I will overhear their conference.

Enter DEMETRIUS, HELENA, following him

DEMETRIUS:

192

I love thee not, therefore pursue me not.

193

Where is Lysander and fair Hermia?

194

The one I'll slay, the other slayeth me.

Stay means cause to stop or pause, so he is saying he’ll cause Lysander to stop because Demetrius believes he is in love with Hermia, and Hermia causes him to stop in order to woo her.

195

Thou told'st me they were stolen unto this wood,

196

And here am I, and wode within this wood,

197

Because I cannot meet my Hermia.

198

Hence, get thee gone, and follow me no more.

HELENA:

199

You draw me, you hard-hearted adamant,

Adamant is referring to a naturally occurring magnet. Helena is pointing out her attraction to Demetrius like a piece of metal to a magnet.

200

But yet you draw not iron, for my heart

Steel is stronger and more trustworthy than iron.

201

Is true as steel: leave you your power to draw,

202

And I shall have no power to follow you.

DEMETRIUS:

203

Do I entice you? do I speak you fair?

Speak you fair means speak with kindness.

204

Or, rather, do I not in plainest truth

205

Tell you, I do not, nor I cannot love you?

HELENA:

206

And even for that do I love you the more.

207

I am your spaniel, and, Demetrius,

This is Helena’s lowest point of groveling, asking Demetrius to treat her like a dog that he beats, and telling him that the more he beats her, the more she will love him.. Staging often includes Helena crawling on the floor after Demetrius.

208

The more you beat me, I will fawn on you:

209

Use me but as your spaniel, spurn me, strike me,

210

Neglect me, lose me, only give me leave,

Loose and Lose in this time period were interchangable spelling variants for both meanings that are distinguished by the spelling difference now. Either definition works here.

211

Unworthy as I am, to follow you.

212

What worser place can I beg in your love,--

213

And yet a place of high respect with me,--

214

Than to be used as you use your dog?

DEMETRIUS:

215

Tempt not too much the hatred of my spirit,

216

For I am sick when I do look on thee.

HELENA:

217

And I am sick when I look not on you.

DEMETRIUS:

218

You do impeach your modesty too much,

Impeach means to call into question.

219

To leave the city and commit yourself

220

Into the hands of one that loves you not,

221

To trust the opportunity of night

222

And the ill counsel of a desert place

Ill counsel of a desert place refers to the temptation of being alone.

223

With the rich worth of your virginity.

HELENA:

224

Your virtue is my privilege: for that

225

It is not night when I do see your face,

226

Therefore I think I am not in the night,

227

Nor doth this wood lack worlds of company,

228

For you in my respect are all the world:

229

Then how can it be said I am alone,

230

When all the world is here to look on me?

DEMETRIUS:

231

I'll run from thee and hide me in the brakes,

232

And leave thee to the mercy of wild beasts.

HELENA:

233

The wildest hath not such a heart as you.

234

Run when you will, the story shall be changed:

235

Apollo flies, and Daphne holds the chase,

A suggestion of reversal of the Greek myth of Apollo and Daphne, a story in which the nymph Daphne asked to be turned into a tree to escape the god Apollo, who insistently pursued her.

236

The dove pursues the griffin, the mild hind

The Griffin is a mythological creature that is half lion, half eagle, as seen in this painting.

237

Makes speed to catch the tiger, bootless speed,

Bootless speed refers to futile speed that cannot reach its target.

238

When cowardice pursues and valour flies.

DEMETRIUS:

239

I will not stay thy questions, let me go:

240

Or, if thou follow me, do not believe

241

But I shall do thee mischief in the wood.

Mischeif here means serious harm or injury.

HELENA:

242

Ay, in the temple, in the town, the field,

243

You do me mischief. Fie, Demetrius!

244

Your wrongs do set a scandal on my sex:

245

We cannot fight for love, as men may do,

246

We should be wood and were not made to woo.

Exit DEMETRIUS

HELENA:

247

I'll follow thee and make a heaven of hell,

248

To die upon the hand I love so well.

Exit

OBERON:

249

Fare thee well, nymph: ere he do leave this grove,

250

Thou shalt fly him and he shall seek thy love.

Re-enter PUCK

OBERON:

251

Hast thou the flower there? Welcome, wanderer.

PUCK:

252

Ay, there it is.

OBERON:

253

I pray thee, give it me.

There is no need to attempt to regulate the iambic pentameter here. The short and irregular lines suggest a song. The rhythm returns to iambic pentameter after the first five lines of this soliloquy.

254

I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,

This text was set to music for SATB choir by Richard Ewer in 2020.

255

Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,

256

Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,

Woodbineis a type of climbing plant. Sometimes it is honeysuckle, or other times it is convolvulus woodbine.

257

With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine:

Eglantine is a wild rose.

258

There sleeps Titania sometime of the night,

259

Lull'd in these flowers with dances and delight,

260

And there the snake throws her enamell'd skin,

261

Weed wide enough to wrap a fairy in:

262

And with the juice of this I'll streak her eyes,

263

And make her full of hateful fantasies.

264

Take thou some of it, and seek through this grove:

265

A sweet Athenian lady is in love

266

With a disdainful youth: anoint his eyes,

267

But do it when the next thing he espies

268

May be the lady: thou shalt know the man

269

By the Athenian garments he hath on.

270

Effect it with some care, that he may prove

271

More fond on her than she upon her love:

272

And look thou meet me ere the first cock crow.

PUCK:

273

Fear not, my lord, your servant shall do so.

Exeunt