Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare

Act 5 - Scene 1

Athens. The palace of THESEUS.

Philostrate : Here, mighty Theseus.

Theseus : Say, what abridgement have you for this evening? [p]What masque? what
music? How shall we beguile [p]The lazy time, if not with some
delight?

Philostrate : There is a brief how many sports are ripe: [p]Make choice of which
your highness will see first.

Theseus : [Reads] 'The battle with the Centaurs, to be sung [p]By an Athenian
eunuch to the harp.' [p]We'll none of that: that have I told my
love, [p]In glory of my kinsman Hercules. [p][Reads] [p]'The riot of
the tipsy Bacchanals, [p]Tearing the Thracian singer in their
rage.' [p]That is an old device; and it was play'd [p]When I from
Thebes came last a conqueror. [p][Reads] [p]'The thrice three Muses
mourning for the death [p]Of Learning, late deceased in
beggary.' [p]That is some satire, keen and critical, [p]Not sorting
with a nuptial ceremony. [p][Reads] [p]'A tedious brief scene of young
Pyramus [p]And his love Thisbe; very tragical mirth.' [p]Merry and
tragical! tedious and brief! [p]That is, hot ice and wondrous strange
snow. [p]How shall we find the concord of this discord?

Philostrate : A play there is, my lord, some ten words long, [p]Which is as brief as
I have known a play; [p]But by ten words, my lord, it is too
long, [p]Which makes it tedious; for in all the play [p]There is not
one word apt, one player fitted: [p]And tragical, my noble lord, it
is; [p]For Pyramus therein doth kill himself. [p]Which, when I saw
rehearsed, I must confess, [p]Made mine eyes water; but more merry
tears [p]The passion of loud laughter never shed.

Theseus : What are they that do play it?

Philostrate : Hard-handed men that work in Athens here, [p]Which never labour'd in
their minds till now, [p]And now have toil'd their unbreathed
memories [p]With this same play, against your nuptial.

Theseus : And we will hear it.

Philostrate : No, my noble lord; [p]It is not for you: I have heard it over, [p]And
it is nothing, nothing in the world; [p]Unless you can find sport in
their intents, [p]Extremely stretch'd and conn'd with cruel
pain, [p]To do you service.

Theseus : I will hear that play; [p]For never anything can be amiss, [p]When
simpleness and duty tender it. [p]Go, bring them in: and take your
places, ladies.

Hippolyta : I love not to see wretchedness o'er charged [p]And duty in his service
perishing.

Theseus : Why, gentle sweet, you shall see no such thing.

Hippolyta : He says they can do nothing in this kind.

Theseus : The kinder we, to give them thanks for nothing. [p]Our sport shall be
to take what they mistake: [p]And what poor duty cannot do, noble
respect [p]Takes it in might, not merit. [p]Where I have come, great
clerks have purposed [p]To greet me with premeditated
welcomes; [p]Where I have seen them shiver and look pale, [p]Make
periods in the midst of sentences, [p]Throttle their practised accent
in their fears [p]And in conclusion dumbly have broke off, [p]Not
paying me a welcome. Trust me, sweet, [p]Out of this silence yet I
pick'd a welcome; [p]And in the modesty of fearful duty [p]I read as
much as from the rattling tongue [p]Of saucy and audacious
eloquence. [p]Love, therefore, and tongue-tied simplicity [p]In least
speak most, to my capacity.

Philostrate : So please your grace, the Prologue is address'd.

Theseus : Let him approach.

Quince : If we offend, it is with our good will. [p]That you should think, we
come not to offend, [p]But with good will. To show our simple
skill, [p]That is the true beginning of our end. [p]Consider then we
come but in despite. [p]We do not come as minding to contest
you, [p]Our true intent is. All for your delight [p]We are not here.
That you should here repent you, [p]The actors are at hand and by
their show [p]You shall know all that you are like to know.

Theseus : This fellow doth not stand upon points.

Lysander : He hath rid his prologue like a rough colt; he knows [p]not the stop.
A good moral, my lord: it is not [p]enough to speak, but to speak
true.

Hippolyta : Indeed he hath played on his prologue like a child [p]on a recorder; a
sound, but not in government.

Theseus : His speech, was like a tangled chain; nothing [p]impaired, but all
disordered. Who is next?

Quince : Gentles, perchance you wonder at this show; [p]But wonder on, till
truth make all things plain. [p]This man is Pyramus, if you would
know; [p]This beauteous lady Thisby is certain. [p]This man, with lime
and rough-cast, doth present [p]Wall, that vile Wall which did these
lovers sunder; [p]And through Wall's chink, poor souls, they are
content [p]To whisper. At the which let no man wonder. [p]This man,
with lanthorn, dog, and bush of thorn, [p]Presenteth Moonshine; for,
if you will know, [p]By moonshine did these lovers think no
scorn [p]To meet at Ninus' tomb, there, there to woo. [p]This grisly
beast, which Lion hight by name, [p]The trusty Thisby, coming first by
night, [p]Did scare away, or rather did affright; [p]And, as she fled,
her mantle she did fall, [p]Which Lion vile with bloody mouth did
stain. [p]Anon comes Pyramus, sweet youth and tall, [p]And finds his
trusty Thisby's mantle slain: [p]Whereat, with blade, with bloody
blameful blade, [p]He bravely broach'd is boiling bloody
breast; [p]And Thisby, tarrying in mulberry shade, [p]His dagger drew,
and died. For all the rest, [p]Let Lion, Moonshine, Wall, and lovers
twain [p]At large discourse, while here they do remain.

Theseus : I wonder if the lion be to speak.

Demetrius : No wonder, my lord: one lion may, when many asses do.

Snout : In this same interlude it doth befall [p]That I, one Snout by name,
present a wall; [p]And such a wall, as I would have you think, [p]That
had in it a crannied hole or chink, [p]Through which the lovers,
Pyramus and Thisby, [p]Did whisper often very secretly. [p]This loam,
this rough-cast and this stone doth show [p]That I am that same wall;
the truth is so: [p]And this the cranny is, right and
sinister, [p]Through which the fearful lovers are to whisper.

Theseus : Would you desire lime and hair to speak better?

Demetrius : It is the wittiest partition that ever I heard [p]discourse, my lord.

Theseus : Pyramus draws near the wall: silence!

Bottom : O grim-look'd night! O night with hue so black! [p]O night, which ever
art when day is not! [p]O night, O night! alack, alack, alack, [p]I
fear my Thisby's promise is forgot! [p]And thou, O wall, O sweet, O
lovely wall, [p]That stand'st between her father's ground and
mine! [p]Thou wall, O wall, O sweet and lovely wall, [p]Show me thy
chink, to blink through with mine eyne! [p][Wall holds up his
fingers] [p]Thanks, courteous wall: Jove shield thee well for
this! [p]But what see I? No Thisby do I see. [p]O wicked wall, through
whom I see no bliss! [p]Cursed be thy stones for thus deceiving me!

Theseus : The wall, methinks, being sensible, should curse again.

Bottom : No, in truth, sir, he should not. 'Deceiving me' [p]is Thisby's cue:
she is to enter now, and I am to [p]spy her through the wall. You
shall see, it will [p]fall pat as I told you. Yonder she comes.

Hippolyta : 'Tis strange my Theseus, that these [p]lovers speak of.

Theseus : More strange than true: I never may believe [p]These antique fables,
nor these fairy toys. [p]Lovers and madmen have such seething
brains, [p]Such shaping fantasies, that apprehend [p]More than cool
reason ever comprehends. [p]The lunatic, the lover and the poet [p]Are
of imagination all compact: [p]One sees more devils than vast hell can
hold, [p]That is, the madman: the lover, all as frantic, [p]Sees
Helen's beauty in a brow of Egypt: [p]The poet's eye, in fine frenzy
rolling, [p]Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to
heaven; [p]And as imagination bodies forth [p]The forms of things
unknown, the poet's pen [p]Turns them to shapes and gives to airy
nothing [p]A local habitation and a name. [p]Such tricks hath strong
imagination, [p]That if it would but apprehend some joy, [p]It
comprehends some bringer of that joy; [p]Or in the night, imagining
some fear, [p]How easy is a bush supposed a bear!

Hippolyta : But all the story of the night told over, [p]And all their minds
transfigured so together, [p]More witnesseth than fancy's
images [p]And grows to something of great constancy; [p]But,
howsoever, strange and admirable.

Theseus : Here come the lovers, full of joy and mirth. [p][Enter LYSANDER,
DEMETRIUS, HERMIA, and HELENA] [p]Joy, gentle friends! joy and fresh
days of love [p]Accompany your hearts!

Lysander : More than to us [p]Wait in your royal walks, your board, your bed!

Theseus : Come now; what masques, what dances shall we have, [p]To wear away
this long age of three hours [p]Between our after-supper and
bed-time? [p]Where is our usual manager of mirth? [p]What revels are
in hand? Is there no play, [p]To ease the anguish of a torturing
hour? [p]Call Philostrate.

Flute : [as Thisbe] O wall, full often hast thou heard my moans, [p]For
parting my fair Pyramus and me! [p]My cherry lips have often kiss'd
thy stones, [p]Thy stones with lime and hair knit up in thee.

Bottom : I see a voice: now will I to the chink, [p]To spy an I can hear my
Thisby's face. Thisby!

Flute : [as Thisbe] My love thou art, my love I think.

Bottom : Think what thou wilt, I am thy lover's grace; [p]And, like Limander,
am I trusty still.

Flute : [as Thisbe] And I like Helen, till the Fates me kill.

Bottom : Not Shafalus to Procrus was so true.

Flute : [as Thisbe] As Shafalus to Procrus, I to you.

Bottom : O kiss me through the hole of this vile wall!

Flute : [as Thisbe] I kiss the wall's hole, not your lips at all.

Bottom : Wilt thou at Ninny's tomb meet me straightway?

Flute : [as Thisbe] 'Tide life, 'tide death, I come without delay.

Snout : [as Wall] Thus have I, Wall, my part discharged so; [p]And, being
done, thus Wall away doth go.

Theseus : Now is the mural down between the two neighbours.

Demetrius : No remedy, my lord, when walls are so wilful to hear [p]without
warning.

Hippolyta : This is the silliest stuff that ever I heard.

Theseus : The best in this kind are but shadows; and the worst [p]are no worse,
if imagination amend them.

Hippolyta : It must be your imagination then, and not theirs.

Theseus : If we imagine no worse of them than they of [p]themselves, they may
pass for excellent men. Here [p]come two noble beasts in, a man and a
lion.

Snug : [as Lion] You, ladies, you, whose gentle hearts do fear [p]The
smallest monstrous mouse that creeps on floor, [p]May now perchance
both quake and tremble here, [p]When lion rough in wildest rage doth
roar. [p]Then know that I, one Snug the joiner, am [p]A lion-fell, nor
else no lion's dam; [p]For, if I should as lion come in strife [p]Into
this place, 'twere pity on my life.

Theseus : A very gentle beast, of a good conscience.

Demetrius : The very best at a beast, my lord, that e'er I saw.

Lysander : This lion is a very fox for his valour.

Theseus : True; and a goose for his discretion.

Demetrius : Not so, my lord; for his valour cannot carry his [p]discretion; and
the fox carries the goose.

Theseus : His discretion, I am sure, cannot carry his valour; [p]for the goose
carries not the fox. It is well: [p]leave it to his discretion, and
let us listen to the moon.

Starveling : [as Moonshine] This lanthorn doth the horned moon present;--

Demetrius : He should have worn the horns on his head.

Theseus : He is no crescent, and his horns are [p]invisible within the
circumference.

Starveling : [as Moonshine] This lanthorn doth the horned moon present; [p]Myself
the man i' the moon do seem to be.

Theseus : This is the greatest error of all the rest: the man [p]should be put
into the lanthorn. How is it else the [p]man i' the moon?

Demetrius : He dares not come there for the candle; for, you [p]see, it is already
in snuff.

Hippolyta : I am aweary of this moon: would he would change!

Theseus : It appears, by his small light of discretion, that [p]he is in the
wane; but yet, in courtesy, in all [p]reason, we must stay the time.

Lysander : Proceed, Moon.

Starveling : [as Moonshine] All that I have to say, is, to tell you that
the [p]lanthorn is the moon; I, the man in the moon;
this [p]thorn-bush, my thorn-bush; and this dog, my dog.

Demetrius : Why, all these should be in the lanthorn; for all [p]these are in the
moon. But, silence! here comes Thisbe.

Flute : [as Thisbe] This is old Ninny's tomb. Where is my love?

Snug : [as Lion] [Roaring] Oh--

Demetrius : Well roared, Lion.

Theseus : Well run, Thisbe.

Hippolyta : Well shone, Moon. Truly, the moon shines with a [p]good grace.

Theseus : Well moused, Lion.

Lysander : And so the lion vanished.

Demetrius : And then came Pyramus.

Bottom : Sweet Moon, I thank thee for thy sunny beams; [p]I thank thee, Moon,
for shining now so bright; [p]For, by thy gracious, golden, glittering
gleams, [p]I trust to take of truest Thisby sight. [p]But stay, O
spite! [p]But mark, poor knight, [p]What dreadful dole is
here! [p]Eyes, do you see? [p]How can it be? [p]O dainty duck! O
dear! [p]Thy mantle good, [p]What, stain'd with blood! [p]Approach, ye
Furies fell! [p]O Fates, come, come, [p]Cut thread and
thrum; [p]Quail, crush, conclude, and quell!

Theseus : This passion, and the death of a dear friend, would [p]go near to make
a man look sad.

Hippolyta : Beshrew my heart, but I pity the man.

Bottom : O wherefore, Nature, didst thou lions frame? [p]Since lion vile hath
here deflower'd my dear: [p]Which is--no, no--which was the fairest
dame [p]That lived, that loved, that liked, that look'd [p]with
cheer. [p]Come, tears, confound; [p]Out, sword, and wound [p]The pap
of Pyramus; [p]Ay, that left pap, [p]Where heart doth hop: [p][Stabs
himself] [p]Thus die I, thus, thus, thus. [p]Now am I dead, [p]Now am
I fled; [p]My soul is in the sky: [p]Tongue, lose thy light; [p]Moon
take thy flight: [p][Exit Moonshine] [p]Now die, die, die, die, die.

Demetrius : No die, but an ace, for him; for he is but one.

Lysander : Less than an ace, man; for he is dead; he is nothing.

Theseus : With the help of a surgeon he might yet recover, and [p]prove an ass.

Hippolyta : How chance Moonshine is gone before Thisbe comes [p]back and finds her
lover?

Theseus : She will find him by starlight. Here she comes; and [p]her passion
ends the play.

Hippolyta : Methinks she should not use a long one for such a [p]Pyramus: I hope
she will be brief.

Demetrius : A mote will turn the balance, which Pyramus, which [p]Thisbe, is the
better; he for a man, God warrant us; [p]she for a woman, God bless
us.

Lysander : She hath spied him already with those sweet eyes.

Demetrius : And thus she means, videlicet:--

Flute : [as Thisbe] Asleep, my love? [p]What, dead, my dove? [p]O Pyramus,
arise! [p]Speak, speak. Quite dumb? [p]Dead, dead? A tomb [p]Must
cover thy sweet eyes. [p]These My lips, [p]This cherry nose, [p]These
yellow cowslip cheeks, [p]Are gone, are gone: [p]Lovers, make
moan: [p]His eyes were green as leeks. [p]O Sisters Three, [p]Come,
come to me, [p]With hands as pale as milk; [p]Lay them in
gore, [p]Since you have shore [p]With shears his thread of
silk. [p]Tongue, not a word: [p]Come, trusty sword; [p]Come, blade, my
breast imbrue: [p][Stabs herself] [p]And, farewell, friends; [p]Thus
Thisby ends: [p]Adieu, adieu, adieu.

Theseus : Moonshine and Lion are left to bury the dead.

Demetrius : Ay, and Wall too.

Bottom : [Starting up] No assure you; the wall is down that [p]parted their
fathers. Will it please you to see the [p]epilogue, or to hear a
Bergomask dance between two [p]of our company?

Theseus : No epilogue, I pray you; for your play needs no [p]excuse. Never
excuse; for when the players are all [p]dead, there needs none to be
blamed. Marry, if he [p]that writ it had played Pyramus and hanged
himself [p]in Thisbe's garter, it would have been a fine [p]tragedy:
and so it is, truly; and very notably [p]discharged. But come, your
Bergomask: let your [p]epilogue alone. [p][A dance] [p]The iron tongue
of midnight hath told twelve: [p]Lovers, to bed; 'tis almost fairy
time. [p]I fear we shall out-sleep the coming morn [p]As much as we
this night have overwatch'd. [p]This palpable-gross play hath well
beguiled [p]The heavy gait of night. Sweet friends, to bed. [p]A
fortnight hold we this solemnity, [p]In nightly revels and new
jollity.

Puck : Now the hungry lion roars, [p]And the wolf behowls the moon; [p]Whilst
the heavy ploughman snores, [p]All with weary task fordone. [p]Now the
wasted brands do glow, [p]Whilst the screech-owl, screeching
loud, [p]Puts the wretch that lies in woe [p]In remembrance of a
shroud. [p]Now it is the time of night [p]That the graves all gaping
wide, [p]Every one lets forth his sprite, [p]In the church-way paths
to glide: [p]And we fairies, that do run [p]By the triple Hecate's
team, [p]From the presence of the sun, [p]Following darkness like a
dream, [p]Now are frolic: not a mouse [p]Shall disturb this hallow'd
house: [p]I am sent with broom before, [p]To sweep the dust behind the
door.

Oberon : Through the house give gathering light, [p]By the dead and drowsy
fire: [p]Every elf and fairy sprite [p]Hop as light as bird from
brier; [p]And this ditty, after me, [p]Sing, and dance it trippingly.

Titania : First, rehearse your song by rote [p]To each word a warbling
note: [p]Hand in hand, with fairy grace, [p]Will we sing, and bless
this place.

Oberon : Now, until the break of day, [p]Through this house each fairy
stray. [p]To the best bride-bed will we, [p]Which by us shall blessed
be; [p]And the issue there create [p]Ever shall be fortunate. [p]So
shall all the couples three [p]Ever true in loving be; [p]And the
blots of Nature's hand [p]Shall not in their issue stand; [p]Never
mole, hare lip, nor scar, [p]Nor mark prodigious, such as
are [p]Despised in nativity, [p]Shall upon their children be. [p]With
this field-dew consecrate, [p]Every fairy take his gait; [p]And each
several chamber bless, [p]Through this palace, with sweet
peace; [p]And the owner of it blest [p]Ever shall in safety
rest. [p]Trip away; make no stay; [p]Meet me all by break of day.

Puck : If we shadows have offended, [p]Think but this, and all is
mended, [p]That you have but slumber'd here [p]While these visions did
appear. [p]And this weak and idle theme, [p]No more yielding but a
dream, [p]Gentles, do not reprehend: [p]if you pardon, we will
mend: [p]And, as I am an honest Puck, [p]If we have unearned
luck [p]Now to 'scape the serpent's tongue, [p]We will make amends ere
long; [p]Else the Puck a liar call; [p]So, good night unto you
all. [p]Give me your hands, if we be friends, [p]And Robin shall
restore amends.

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Next: Act 5 - Scene 1

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