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Or on Diana's altar to protest

For aye aufterity and fingle life.

Dem. Relent, fweet Hermia; and, Lyfander, yield Thy crazed title to my certain right.

Lys. You have her father's love, Demetrius ;

Let me have Hermia's; do

you marry him.
Ege. Scornful Lyfander ! true, he hath my love;
And what is mine, my love fhall render him.
And she is mine, and all my right of her

I do estate upon Demetrius.

Lyf. I am, my lord, as well deriv'd as he,
As well poffeft: my love is more than his :
My fortunes ev'ry way as fairly rank'd,
If not with vantage, as Demetrius':

And, which is more than all these boasts can be,

I am belov'd of beauteous Hermia.

Why should not I then profecute my right?
Demetrius (I'll avouch it to his head)
Made love to Nedar's daughter, Helena,
And won her foul; and fhe, fweet lady, dotes,
Devoutly dotes, dotes in idolatry,

Upon this spotted and inconftant man.

The. I must confess that I have heard fo much,
And with Demetrius thought t' have spoke thereof;
But, being over-full of felf-affairs,

My mind did lose it. But, Demetrius, come;
And come, Egeus; you fhall with me;

go

I have some private schooling for you both.
For you, fair Hermia, look, you arm yourself
To fit your fancies to your father's will;
Or elfe the law of Athens yields you up
(Which by no means we may extenuate)
To death, or to a vow of fingle life.
Come, my Hippolita; what cheer, my love?
Demetrius, and Egeus, go along;

I must employ you in fome business

Against

Against our nuptials, and confer with you
Of something nearly that concerns yourselves.
Ege. With duty and defire we follow you.

SCENE

II.

Manent Lyfander and Hermia.

[Exeunt.

Lyf. How now, my love? why is your cheek fo pale? How chance the roses there do fade fo faft?

Her. Belike, for want of rain, which I could well Beteem them from the tempeft of mine eyes.

Lyf. Hermia, for ought that euer I could read,
Could ever hear by tale or history,

The course of true love never did run fmooth;
But either it was different in blood

Her. O cross! too high, to be enthrall'd to love!
Lyf. Or elfe mifgraffed, in respect of years
Her. O fpight! too old, to be engag'd to young!
Lyf. Or elfe it ftood upon the choice of friends
Her. O hell! to choose love by another's eye!
Lyf. Or, if there were a fympathy in choice,
War, death, or fickness, did lay fiege to it;
Making it momentary as a sound,

Swift as a fhadow, fhort as any dream,
Brief as the lightning in the collied night,

That, in a spleen, unfolds both heav'n and earth;
And ere a man hath power to fay, behold!
The jaws of darkness do devour it up:

So quick bright things come to confufion.

Her. If then true lovers have been ever croft,

It stands as an edict in destiny:

Then let us teach our trial patience;

Because it is a customary cross,

As due to love, as thoughts, and dreams, and fighs,

Wishes, and tears, poor fancy's followers!

Lyf. A good perfuafion; therefore hear me, Hermia:

VOL. I.

L

I have

I have a widow-aunt, a dowager

Of great revenue, and fhe hath no child;
From Athens is her house remov'd feven leagues,
And she respects me as her only fon.

There, gentle Hermia, may I marry thee,
And to that place the fharp Athenian law
Cannot pursue us. If thou lov'ft me then,
Steal forth thy father's house to-morrow night;
And, in the wood, a league without the town,
Where I did meet thee once with Helena
To do obfervance to the morn of May,
There will I stay for thee.

Her. My good Lyfander,

I fwear to thee, by Cupid's strongest bow,
By his best arrow with the golden head,

By the fimplicity of Venus' doves,

By that which knitteth fouls, and profpers loves,
And by that fire which burn'd the Carthage queen,
When the falfe Trojan under fail was feen;

By all the vows that ever men have broke,
In number' more than ever women spoke;
In that fame place thou haft appointed me,
To-morrow truly will I meet with thee.

Lyf. Keep promife, love. Look, here comes Helena.

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Her. God fpeed, fair Helena! whither away?
Hel. Call you me fair? that fair again unfay:
Demetrius loves you, fair; o happy fair!

Your eyes are load-stars, and your tongue's fweet air
More tuneable than lark to fhepherd's ear,

When wheat is green, when haw-thorn buds appear.
Sickness is catching: oh, were favour so,
Your's would I catch, fair Hermia, ere I go;

My

My ear should catch your voice, my eye your eye,
My tongue should catch your tongue's fweet melody.
Were the world mine, Demetrius being bated,
The rest I'd give to be to you tranflated.
O teach me how you look, and with what art
You fway the motion of Demetrius' heart.

Her. I frown upon him, yet he loves me ftill.

Hel. O, that your frowns would teach my smiles such skill!
Her. I give him curses, yet he gives me love.

Hel. O, that my pray'rs could fuch affection move!
Her. The more I hate, the more he follows me.
Hel. The more I love, the more he hateth me.

Her. His fault, o Helena, is none of mine.

Hel. None but your beauty; would, that fault were mine! Her. Take comfort; he no more fhall fee my face;

Lyfander and myself will fly this place.

Before the time I did Lyfander see,

Seem'd Athens like a paradife to me.

O then, what graces in my love do dwell,

That he hath turn'd a heaven into hell?

Lyf. Helen, to you our minds we will unfold;
To-morrow night, when Phebe doth behold
Her filver vifage in the wat'ry glass,

Decking with liquid pearl the bladed grass
(A time that lovers flights doth still conceal)
Through Athens' gate have we devis'd to steal.

Her. And in the wood, where often you and I
Upon faint primrose beds were wont to lye,
Emptying our bofoms of their counfels fweet;
There my Lyfander and myself shall meet ;
And thence from Athens turn away our eyes,
To feek new friends, and ftranger companies.
Farewel, fweet play-fellow; pray thou for us,
And good luck grant thee thy Demetrius !
Keep word, Lyfander, we muft ftarve our fight

From lovers' food, 'till morrow deep midnight. [Exit Hermia.

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Lyf. I will, my Hermia. Helena, adieu;

As you on him, Demetrius dote on you!

[Exit Lyfander.

Hel. How happy fome, o'er other fome, can be!
Through Athens I am thought as fair as fhe.
But what of that? Demetrius thinks not fo:
He will not know, what all but he do know.
And as he errs, doting on Hermia's eyes,
So I, admiring of his qualities.

Things base and vile, holding no quantity,
Love can transpose to form and dignity :

Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind
And therefore is wing'd Cupid painted blind:
Nor hath love's mind of any judgment taste;
Wings and no eyes figure unheedy hafte.
And therefore is love faid to be a child,
Because in choice he often is beguil'd.
As waggish boys themselves in game forfwear,
So the boy love is perjur'd every where.
For ere Demetrius look'd on Hermia's eyne,
He hail'd down oaths that he was only mine;
And when this hail fome heat from Hermia felt,
So he diffolv'd, and fhowers of oaths did melt.
I will go tell him of fair Hermia's flight:
Then to the wood will he, to-morrow night,
Purfue her; and for this intelligence
If I have thanks, it is a dear expence.
But herein mean I to enrich my pain,
To have his fight thither, and back again.

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[Exit.

SCENE IV.

Enter Quince, Snug, Bottom, Flute, Snowt, and Starveling.

S all our company here?

Quin. Is

Bot. You were beft to call them generally, man by man, according to the fcrip.

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