A Midsummer Night's Dream Act 2 Scene 2
Another part of the wood.
The Original
Plain Modern English
Enter Titania, Queen of Fairies, with her train.
Titania
Come, now a roundel and a fairy song;
Then, for the third part of a minute, hence;
Some to kill cankers in the musk-rose buds,
Some war with rere-mice for their leathern wings,
To make my small elves coats, and some keep back
The clamorous owl that nightly hoots and wonders
At our quaint spirits. Sing me now asleep;
Then to your offices and let me rest.
Titania
Come — a circle dance and a fairy song.
Then, for twenty seconds, off with you:
some to kill the grubs in the musk-rose buds,
some to fight bats for their leathery wings
to make coats for my small elves, and some to hold off
the noisy owl that hoots every night in amazement
at our dainty spirits. Now sing me to sleep,
then go to your duties and let me rest.
The Fairies sing.
First Fairy
You spotted snakes with double tongue,
Thorny hedgehogs, be not seen;
Newts and blind-worms, do no wrong,
Come not near our fairy queen.
First Fairy
You spotted snakes with forked tongues,
prickly hedgehogs, keep out of sight.
Newts and slow-worms, do no harm;
don't come near our fairy queen.
Chorus
Philomel, with melody
Sing in our sweet lullaby;
Lulla, lulla, lullaby, lulla, lulla, lullaby:
Never harm,
Nor spell nor charm,
Come our lovely lady nigh;
So, good night, with lullaby.
Chorus
Nightingale, with your melody
join our sweet lullaby.
Lulla, lulla, lullaby; lulla, lulla, lullaby.
Let no harm,
no spell and no enchantment
come near our lovely lady.
So, good night, with a lullaby. (They post a guard against snakes and spiders. The danger is going to walk straight past it.)
First Fairy
Weaving spiders, come not here;
Hence, you long-legg'd spinners, hence!
Beetles black, approach not near;
Worm nor snail, do no offence.
First Fairy
Web-weaving spiders, stay away.
Off with you, long-legged crawlers!
Black beetles, don't come close.
Worms and snails, do no harm.
Second Fairy
Hence, away! now all is well:
One aloof stand sentinel.
Second Fairy
Off you go — all's well now.
One of you keep watch at a distance.
Exeunt Fairies. Titania sleeps. Enter Oberon, who squeezes the flower on Titania's eyelids.
Oberon
What thou seest when thou dost wake,
Do it for thy true-love take,
Love and languish for his sake:
Be it ounce, or cat, or bear,
Pard, or boar with bristled hair,
In thy eye that shall appear
When thou wakest, it is thy dear:
Wake when some vile thing is near.
Oberon
Whatever you see when you wake,
take it for your true love.
Love it and pine for it.
Whether it's a lynx, a wildcat, a bear,
a leopard or a bristly boar,
whatever appears before your eyes
when you wake, that's your darling.
Wake up when something vile is nearby.
Exit Oberon. Enter Lysander and Hermia.
Lysander
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.
Lysander
My love, you're worn out from wandering the wood.
And to be honest, I've forgotten the way.
We'll rest, Hermia, if you think that's best,
and wait for the comfort of daylight.
Hermia
Be it so, Lysander: find you out a bed;
For I upon this bank will rest my head.
Hermia
All right, Lysander. Find yourself a bed;
I'll rest my head on this bank.
Lysander
One turf shall serve as pillow for us both;
One heart, one bed, two bosoms and one troth.
Lysander
One patch of grass will do as a pillow for us both.
One heart, one bed, two bodies and one promise.
Hermia
Nay, good Lysander; for my sake, my dear,
Lie further off yet, do not lie so near.
Hermia
No, Lysander. For my sake, my dear,
lie further away. Don't lie so close.
Lysander
O, take the sense, sweet, of my innocence!
Love takes 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 bosoms interchained with an oath;
So then two bosoms and a single troth.
Then by your side no bed-room me deny;
For lying so, Hermia, I do not lie.
Lysander
Take my meaning as innocent, sweet!
Lovers understand each other properly.
I mean that my heart is bound to yours
so tightly we make one heart of the two.
Two bodies chained together by an oath —
so, two bodies and a single promise.
So don't refuse me a place beside you.
Lying there, Hermia, I'd be telling no lie. (A pun on 'lie.' He is chancing his arm and she knows exactly what he's doing.)
Hermia
Lysander riddles very prettily:
Now much beshrew my manners and my pride,
If Hermia meant to say Lysander lied.
But, gentle friend, for love and courtesy
Lie further off; in human modesty,
Such separation as may well be said
Becomes a virtuous bachelor and a maid,
So far be distant; and, good night, sweet friend:
Thy love ne'er alter till thy sweet life end!
Hermia
Lysander plays with words very neatly.
Curse my manners and my pride
if I meant to call Lysander a liar.
But, dear friend, out of love and courtesy,
lie further off. Out of ordinary decency,
keep the sort of distance that would be called
proper between an honourable bachelor and an unmarried girl.
Stay that far away. And good night, sweet friend.
May your love never change until your life ends.
Lysander
Amen, amen, to that fair prayer, say I;
And then end life when I end loyalty!
Here is my bed: sleep give thee all his rest!
Lysander
Amen, amen to that lovely prayer, say I —
and let my life end when my loyalty does!
Here's my bed. May sleep give you all its rest.
Hermia
With half that wish the wisher's eyes be press'd!
Hermia
And may half that wish close the wisher's eyes too.
They sleep. Enter Puck.
Puck
Through the forest have I gone.
But Athenian found I none,
On whose eyes I might approve
This flower's force in stirring love.
Night and silence.—Who is here?
Weeds of Athens he doth wear:
This is he, my master said,
Despised the Athenian maid;
And here the maiden, sleeping sound,
On the dank and dirty ground.
Pretty soul! she durst not lie
Near this lack-love, this kill-courtesy.
Churl, upon thy eyes I throw
All the power this charm doth owe.
When thou wakest, let love forbid
Sleep his seat on thy eyelid:
So awake when I am gone;
For I must now to Oberon.
Puck
I've been all through the forest,
but I've found no Athenian
on whose eyes I could test
this flower's power to stir up love.
Night and silence. — Who's this?
He's wearing Athenian clothes.
This is the man, my master said,
who scorned the Athenian girl.
And here's the girl, fast asleep
on the damp, dirty ground.
Poor thing — she didn't dare lie
near this loveless, ill-mannered brute. (He has the wrong man, the wrong woman, and a completely wrong reading of why she's lying apart.)
Boor — on your eyes I throw
all the power this charm possesses.
When you wake, let love forbid
sleep from settling on your eyelids.
So wake once I've gone —
I must get back to Oberon.
Exit. Enter Demetrius and Helena, running.
Helena
Stay, though thou kill me, sweet Demetrius.
Helena
Stop — even if you kill me, sweet Demetrius.
Demetrius
I charge thee, hence, and do not haunt me thus.
Demetrius
I order you — go away, and stop haunting me like this.
Helena
O, wilt thou darkling leave me? do not so.
Helena
Will you leave me here in the dark? Please don't.
Demetrius
Stay, on thy peril: I alone will go.
Demetrius
Stay here at your own risk. I'm going on alone.
Exit Demetrius.
Helena
O, I am out of breath in this fond chase!
The more my prayer, the lesser is my grace.
Happy is Hermia, wheresoe'er she lies;
For she hath blessed and attractive eyes.
How came her eyes so bright? Not with salt tears:
If so, my eyes are oftener wash'd than hers.
No, no, I am as ugly as a bear;
For beasts that meet me run away for fear:
Therefore no marvel though Demetrius
Do, as a monster fly my presence thus.
What wicked and dissembling glass of mine
Made me compare with Hermia's sphery eyne?
But who is here? Lysander! on the ground!
Dead? or asleep? I see no blood, no wound.
Lysander if you live, good sir, awake.
Helena
I'm out of breath from this foolish chase.
The more I beg, the less I'm given.
Hermia is lucky, wherever she is,
because she has blessed, magnetic eyes.
How did her eyes get so bright? Not from salt tears —
if that were it, mine are washed more often than hers.
No, no — I'm as ugly as a bear.
Animals that meet me run away in fright.
So it's no wonder Demetrius
runs from me as if I were a monster.
What wicked, lying mirror of mine
made me think I could compare with Hermia's starry eyes?
But who's this? Lysander — on the ground!
Dead, or asleep? I see no blood, no wound.
Lysander — if you're alive, sir, wake up.
Lysander
And run through fire I will for thy sweet sake.
Transparent Helena! Nature shows art,
That through thy bosom makes me see thy heart.
Where is Demetrius? O, how fit a word
Is that vile name to perish on my sword!
Lysander
(waking) And I'd run through fire for your sweet sake!
Radiant Helena! Nature works like an artist,
letting me see your heart right through your breast.
Where's Demetrius? What a fitting name
for something vile to die on my sword! (Ten seconds ago he was engaged to the woman asleep behind him.)
Helena
Do not say so, Lysander; say not so
What though he love your Hermia? Lord, what though?
Yet Hermia still loves you: then be content.
Helena
Don't say that, Lysander. Don't say it.
So what if he loves your Hermia? What of it?
Hermia still loves you — so be content.
Lysander
Content with Hermia! No; I do repent
The tedious minutes I with her have spent.
Not Hermia but Helena I love:
Who will not change a raven for a dove?
The will of man is by his reason sway'd;
And reason says you are the worthier maid.
Things growing are not ripe until their season
So I, being young, till now ripe not to reason;
And touching now the point of human skill,
Reason becomes the marshal to my will
And leads me to your eyes, where I o'erlook
Love's stories written in love's richest book.
Lysander
Content with Hermia? No — I regret
every tedious minute I spent with her.
It isn't Hermia I love, it's Helena.
Who wouldn't swap a raven for a dove?
A man's desires are governed by his reason,
and reason says you're the worthier girl.
Growing things aren't ripe until their season.
So I, being young, have only now ripened into reason.
And having now reached the height of human judgment,
reason takes command of my desires
and leads me to your eyes, where I read
love's stories written in love's finest book. (He is drugged, and he has produced a complete rational argument for it. That is the joke of the whole play.)
Helena
Wherefore was I to this keen mockery born?
When at your hands did I deserve this scorn?
Is't not enough, is't not enough, young man,
That I did never, no, nor never can,
Deserve a sweet look from Demetrius' eye,
But you must flout my insufficiency?
Good troth, you do me wrong, good sooth, you do,
In such disdainful manner me to woo.
But fare you well: perforce I must confess
I thought you lord of more true gentleness.
O, that a lady, of one man refused,
Should of another therefore be abus'd!
Helena
Why was I born to be mocked so cruelly?
What have I ever done to deserve this contempt from you?
Isn't it enough, young man — isn't it enough —
that I never have and never can
earn one kind look from Demetrius,
without you jeering at my inadequacy too?
Honestly, you're wronging me — truly, you are —
courting me in such a sneering way.
But goodbye. I have to admit
I thought you had better manners than this.
That a woman rejected by one man
should be mocked by another because of it!
Exit Helena.
Lysander
She sees not Hermia. Hermia, sleep thou there:
And never mayst thou come Lysander near!
For as a surfeit of the sweetest things
The deepest loathing to the stomach brings,
Or as the heresies that men do leave
Are hated most of those they did deceive,
So thou, my surfeit and my heresy,
Of all be hated, but the most of me!
And, all my powers, address your love and might
To honour Helen and to be her knight!
Lysander
She doesn't see Hermia. — Hermia, sleep on there,
and may you never come near Lysander again.
Just as too much of the sweetest things
brings the deepest disgust to the stomach,
or as the false beliefs men abandon
are hated most by those they fooled,
so you, my overindulgence and my false belief,
be hated by everyone — and most of all by me.
And all my powers, direct your love and strength
to honouring Helena and being her champion.
Exit Lysander.
Hermia
Help me, Lysander, help me! do thy best
To pluck this crawling serpent from my breast!
Ay me, for pity! what a dream was here!
Lysander, look how I do quake with fear:
Methought a serpent eat my heart away,
And you sate smiling at his cruel prey.
Lysander! what, removed? Lysander! lord!
What, out of hearing? gone? no sound, no word?
Alack, where are you speak, an if you hear;
Speak, of all loves! I swoon almost with fear.
No? then I well perceive you all not nigh
Either death or you I'll find immediately.
Hermia
(waking) Help me, Lysander, help me! Do your best
to pull this crawling snake off my chest!
Oh, mercy — what a dream that was!
Lysander, look how I'm shaking with fear.
I dreamed a snake was eating my heart away
and you sat smiling at its cruel feeding. (She dreams he watches her heart being eaten and smiles. He has just walked out on her. The dream is not wrong.)
Lysander! Gone? Lysander! My lord!
Out of earshot? Gone? No sound, no word?
Where are you? Speak, if you can hear me.
Speak, for love's sake! I'm almost fainting with fear.
No? Then I can tell you're nowhere near.
I'll find either you or death, right now.
Exit. — End of Act Two.