"Moon, take thy flight! "Now die, die, die, die, die." [Dies.-Exit Moonshine. Dem. No die, but an ace, for him; for he is but one. Lys. Less than an ace, man; for he is dead; he is nothing. The. With the help of a surgeon, he might yet recover, and prove an ass. Hip. How chance moonshine is gone, before Thisbe comes back and finds her lover? The. She will find him by star-light.-Here she comes; and her passion ends the play. Enter THISBE, Hip. Methinks, she should not use a long one, for such a Pyramus: I hope, she will be brief. Dem. A mote will turn the balance, which Pyramus, which Thisbe, is the better. Lys. She hath spied him already with those sweet eyes. Dem. And thus she moans, videlicet. The. Moonshine and lion are left to bury the dead. Dem. Ay, and wall too. Bot. No, I assure you; the wall is down that parted their fathers. Will it please you to see the epilogue, or to hear a Bergomask dance', between two of our company? The. No epilogue, I pray you; for your play needs no excuse. Never excuse; for when the players are all dead, there need none to be blamed. Marry, if he that writ it, had play'd Pyramus, and hanged himself in Thisbe's garter, it would have been a fine tragedy: and so it is, truly; and very notably discharged. But come, your Bergomask: let your epilogue alone. [Here a dance of Clowns. The iron tongue of midnight hath told twelve:Lovers, to bed; 'tis almost fairy time. + "lips," MALONE. 1 a Bergomask dance,] A dance after the manner of the peasants of Bergomasco, a country in Italy, belonging to the Venetians. I fear we shall out-sleep the coming morn, [Exeunt. 2 SCENE II. Enter PUCK. Puck. Now the hungry lion roars, Whilst the scritch-owl, scritching loud, That the graves, all gaping wide, By the triple Hecat's team, heavy gait - i. e. slow passage, progress. - fordone.] i. e. overcome. 4 I am sent, with broom, before, To sweep the dust behind the door.] Cleanliness is always necessary to invite the residence and the favour of the fairies. Enter OBERON and TITANIA, with their train. Obe. Through this house give glimmering light, Every elf, and fairy sprite, Hop as light as bird from brier; Sing, and dance it trippingly. Tita. First, rehearse this song by rote: To each word a warbling note, Hand in hand, with fairy grace, Will we sing, and bless this place. SONG, AND DANCE. Obe. Now, until the break of day, And the blots of nature's hand Shall upon their children be. With this field-dew consecrate, Every fairy take his gait ; And each several chamber bless, And the owner of it blest. 5 Nor mark prodigious,] Prodigious for portentous. take his gait;] i. e. take his way, or direct his steps. Ever shall in safety rest,"-MALONE. 7 Trip away; Make no stay; Meet me all by break of day. [Exeunt OBERON, TITANIA, and train. Puck. If we shadows have offended, Think but this, (and all is mended,) That you have but slumber'd here, So, good night unto you all. Give me your hands', if we be friends, And Robin shall restore amends. [Exit'. unearned luck,] i. e. if we have better fortune than we have deserved. 8 Now to 'scape the serpent's tongue,] That is, if we be dismissed without hisses. Give me your hands,] That is, clap your hands. Give us your applause. JOHNSON. 1 Wild and fantastical as this play is, all the parts in their various modes are well written, and give the kind of pleasure which the author designed. Fairies in his time were much in fashion; common tradition had made them familiar, and Spenser's poem had made them great. JOHNSON. Johnson's concluding observation on this play is not conceived with his usual judgment. There is no analogy or resemblance whatever between the Fairies of Spenser and those of Shakspeare. The Fairies of Spenser, as appears from his description of them in the second book of the Fairy Queen, canto x., were a race of mortals created by Prometheus, of the human size, shape, and affections, and subject to death. But those of Shakspeare, and of common tradition, as Johnson calls them, were a diminutive race of sportful beings, endowed with immortality and supernatural power, totally different from those of Spenser. M. MASON. |