If Make mows upon me when I turn my back; Hel. O excellent! Her. Sweet, do not scorn her so. Dem. If she cannot entreat, I can compel. Lys. Thou canst compel no more than she entreat; Thy threats have no more strength than her weak prayers. Helen, I love thee; by my life, I do. I swear by that which I will lose for thee, Her. Lysander, whereto tends all this? Lys. Away, you Ethiop! Dem. No, no, he'll-Sir,3 Seem to break loose; take on as you would follow; But yet come not. You are a tame man, go! Lys. Hang off, thou cat, thou burr. Vile thing, let loose; Or I will shake thee from me like a serpent. Her. Why are you grown so rude? What change is this, Sweet love? Lys. Thy love! Out, tawny Tartar, out! Out, loathed medicine! Hated potion, hence' 1 Make mouths 2 i. e. such a subject of light merriment. 3 This arrangement of the text is Malone's, who thus explains it:-The words he'll are not in the folio, and sir is not in the quarto. Demetrius, I suppose, would say, No, no, he'll not have the resolution to disengage himself from Hermia. But turning to Lysander, he addresses him ironically: "Sir, seem to break loose," &c. Her. Do you not jest? Hel. Yes, 'sooth; and so do you. Lys. Demetrius, I will keep my word with thee. Dem. I would I had your bond; for, I perceive, I'll not trust your word. Lys. What, should I hurt her, strike her, kill her dead? A weak bond holds you. Although I hate her, I'll not harm her so Her. What, can you do me greater harm than hate? Hate me! Wherefore? O me! What news, my love? Am not I Hermia? Are not you Lysander? I am as fair now as I was erewhile. Since night you loved me; yet since night you left me: Why, then you left me,-O, the gods forbid!— Lys. Ay, by my life; And never did desire to see thee more. Therefore, be out of hope, of question, doubt, That I do hate thee, and love Helena. Her. O me, you juggler! you canker-blossom! 1 You thief of love! What, have you come by night, And stolen my love's heart from him? Hel. No touch of bashfulness? What, will you tear Her. Puppet! Why so? game. Now I perceive that she hath made compare Between our statures; she hath urged her height, Her height, forsooth, she hath prevailed with him.— 1 A worm that preys on the leaves or buds of flowers. How low am I? I am not yet so low, But that my nails can reach unto thine eyes. Hel. I pray you, though you mock me, gentlemen, Let her not hurt me. I was never curst; I have no gift at all in shrewishness; I am a right maid for my cowardice; Let her not strike me. You, perhaps, may think, That I can match her. Her. Lower! Hark, again. Hel. Good Hermia, do not be so bitter with me. Did ever keep your counsels, never wronged you; I told him of your stealth unto this wood. Her. Why, get you gone. Who is't that hinders you? Hel. A foolish heart that I leave here behind. Hel. With Demetrius. Lys. Be not afraid; she shall not harm thee, Helena. Dem. No, sir; she shall not, though you take her part. Hel. O, when she's angry, she is keen and shrewd. She was a vixen, when she went to school; And, though she be but little, she is fierce. Her. Little again? Nothing but low and little?— Why will you suffer her to flout me thus? Let me come to her.. Lys. Get you gone, you dwarf; 1 i. e. froward, cross. 2 Foolish. You minimus of hind'ring knot-grass1 made; Dem. You are too officious In her behalf that scorns your services. Take not her part; for if thou dost intend Thou shalt aby it.3 Lys. Now she holds me not. Now follow if thou dar'st, to try whose right, Or thine, or mine, is most in Helena. Dem. Follow? Nay, I'll go with thee cheek by jole. [Exeunt Lys. and DEM. Her. You, mistress, all this coil is 'long of I will not trust you, I; you. Nor longer stay in your curst company. [Exit. Her. I am amazed, and know not what to say. [Exit, pursuing HELENA. Obe. This is thy negligence; still thou mistak'st, Or else committ'st thy knaveries wilfully. Puck. Believe me, king of shadows, I mistook. As this their jangling I esteem a sport. Obe. Thou see'st, these lovers seek a place to fight. Hie, therefore, Robin, overcast the night; The starry welkin cover thou anon 1 Anciently knot-grass was believed to prevent the growth of children. 2 Pretend. 3 Aby it, for abide it, i. e. pay dearly for it, rue it. 4 Chance, fall out; from sort (French). Like to Lysander sometime frame thy tongue, From monster's view, and all things shall be peace. At whose approach, ghosts, wandering here and there, For fear lest day should look their shames upon, And must for aye consort with black-browed night. I with the Morning's love have oft made sport; 1 So in Cymbeline, Act ii. Sc. 11 : "Swift, swift, ye dragons of the night." See note on that passage. 2 The ghosts of self-murderers, who are buried in cross-roads; and of those who, being drowned, were condemned (according to the opinion of the ancients) to wander for a hundred years, as the rites of sepulture had never been regularly bestowed on their bodies. 3 Cephalus, the mighty hunter, and paramour of Aurora, was here prob ably meant |