Table of Contents

ACT 5 SCENE 1 Setting:Athens. The palace of THESEUS.

[ Enter THESEUS, HIPPOLYTA, PHILOSTRATE, Lords and Attendants ]

HIPPOLYTA	Tis strange my Theseus, that these
	lovers speak of.
THESEUS	More strange than true: I never may believe
	These antique fables, nor these fairy toys.
	Lovers and madmen have such seething brains,	5
	Such shaping fantasies, that apprehend
	More than cool reason ever comprehends.
	The lunatic, the lover and the poet
	Are of imagination all compact:
	One sees more devils than vast hell can hold,	10
	That is, the madman: the lover, all as frantic,
	Sees Helen's beauty in a brow of Egypt:
	The poet's eye, in fine frenzy rolling,
	Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven;
	And as imagination bodies forth	15
	The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen
	Turns them to shapes and gives to airy nothing
	A local habitation and a name.
	Such tricks hath strong imagination,
	That if it would but apprehend some joy,	20
	It comprehends some bringer of that joy;
	Or in the night, imagining some fear,
	How easy is a bush supposed a bear!
HIPPOLYTA	But all the story of the night told over,
	And all their minds transfigured so together,	25
	More witnesseth than fancy's images
	And grows to something of great constancy;
	But, howsoever, strange and admirable.
THESEUS	Here come the lovers, full of joy and mirth.

[Enter LYSANDER, DEMETRIUS, HERMIA, and HELENA]

	Joy, gentle friends! joy and fresh days of love	30
	Accompany your hearts!
LYSANDER	More than to us
	Wait in your royal walks, your board, your bed!
THESEUS	Come now; what masques, what dances shall we have,
	To wear away this long age of three hours	35
	Between our after–supper and bed–time?
	Where is our usual manager of mirth?
	What revels are in hand? Is there no play,
	To ease the anguish of a torturing hour?
	Call Philostrate.	40
PHILOSTRATE	Here, mighty Theseus.
THESEUS	Say, what abridgement have you for this evening?
	What masque? what music? How shall we beguile
	The lazy time, if not with some delight?
PHILOSTRATE	There is a brief how many sports are ripe:	45
	Make choice of which your highness will see first.
[Giving a paper]
THESEUS	[Reads] 'The battle with the Centaurs, to be sung
	By an Athenian eunuch to the harp.'
	We'll none of that: that have I told my love,
	In glory of my kinsman Hercules.	50
[Reads]
	The riot of the tipsy Bacchanals,
	Tearing the Thracian singer in their rage.'
	That is an old device; and it was play'd
	When I from Thebes came last a conqueror.
[Reads]
	The thrice three Muses mourning for the death	55
	Of Learning, late deceased in beggary.'
	That is some satire, keen and critical,
	Not sorting with a nuptial ceremony.
[Reads]
	A tedious brief scene of young Pyramus
	And his love Thisbe; very tragical mirth.'	60
	Merry and tragical! tedious and brief!
	That is, hot ice and wondrous strange snow.
	How shall we find the concord of this discord?
PHILOSTRATE	A play there is, my lord, some ten words long,
	Which is as brief as I have known a play;	65
	But by ten words, my lord, it is too long,
	Which makes it tedious; for in all the play
	There is not one word apt, one player fitted:
	And tragical, my noble lord, it is;
	For Pyramus therein doth kill himself.	70
	Which, when I saw rehearsed, I must confess,
	Made mine eyes water; but more merry tears
	The passion of loud laughter never shed.
THESEUS	What are they that do play it?
PHILOSTRATE	Hard–handed men that work in Athens here,	75
	Which never labour'd in their minds till now,
	And now have toil'd their unbreathed memories
	With this same play, against your nuptial.
THESEUS	And we will hear it.
PHILOSTRATE	No, my noble lord;	80
	It is not for you: I have heard it over,
	And it is nothing, nothing in the world;
	Unless you can find sport in their intents,
	Extremely stretch'd and conn'd with cruel pain,
	To do you service.	85
THESEUS	I will hear that play;
	For never anything can be amiss,
	When simpleness and duty tender it.
	Go, bring them in: and take your places, ladies.
	[Exit PHILOSTRATE]
HIPPOLYTA	I love not to see wretchedness o'er charged	90
	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.
	Our sport shall be to take what they mistake:	95
	And what poor duty cannot do, noble respect
	Takes it in might, not merit.
	Where I have come, great clerks have purposed
	To greet me with premeditated welcomes;
	Where I have seen them shiver and look pale,	100
	Make periods in the midst of sentences,
	Throttle their practised accent in their fears
	And in conclusion dumbly have broke off,
	Not paying me a welcome. Trust me, sweet,
	Out of this silence yet I pick'd a welcome;	105
	And in the modesty of fearful duty
	I read as much as from the rattling tongue
	Of saucy and audacious eloquence.
	Love, therefore, and tongue–tied simplicity
	In least speak most, to my capacity.	110

[Re–enter PHILOSTRATE]

PHILOSTRATE	So please your grace, the Prologue is address'd.
THESEUS	Let him approach.

[Flourish of trumpets][Enter QUINCE for the Prologue]

Prologue	If we offend, it is with our good will.
	That you should think, we come not to offend,
	But with good will. To show our simple skill,	115
	That is the true beginning of our end.
	Consider then we come but in despite.
	We do not come as minding to contest you,
	Our true intent is. All for your delight
	We are not here. That you should here repent you,	120
	The actors are at hand and by their show
	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
	not the stop. A good moral, my lord: it is not	125
	enough to speak, but to speak true.
HIPPOLYTA	Indeed he hath played on his prologue like a child
	on a recorder; a sound, but not in government.
THESEUS	His speech, was like a tangled chain; nothing
	impaired, but all disordered. Who is next?	130

[Enter Pyramus and Thisbe, Wall, Moonshine, and Lion]

Prologue	Gentles, perchance you wonder at this show;
	But wonder on, till truth make all things plain.
	This man is Pyramus, if you would know;
	This beauteous lady Thisby is certain.
	This man, with lime and rough–cast, doth present	135
	Wall, that vile Wall which did these lovers sunder;
	And through Wall's chink, poor souls, they are content
	To whisper. At the which let no man wonder.
	This man, with lanthorn, dog, and bush of thorn,
	Presenteth Moonshine; for, if you will know,	140
	By moonshine did these lovers think no scorn
	To meet at Ninus' tomb, there, there to woo.
	This grisly beast, which Lion hight by name,
	The trusty Thisby, coming first by night,
	Did scare away, or rather did affright;	145
	And, as she fled, her mantle she did fall,
	Which Lion vile with bloody mouth did stain.
	Anon comes Pyramus, sweet youth and tall,
	And finds his trusty Thisby's mantle slain:
	Whereat, with blade, with bloody blameful blade,	150
	He bravely broach'd is boiling bloody breast;
	And Thisby, tarrying in mulberry shade,
	His dagger drew, and died. For all the rest,
	Let Lion, Moonshine, Wall, and lovers twain
	At large discourse, while here they do remain.	155

[Exeunt Prologue, Thisbe, Lion, and Moonshine]

THESEUS	I wonder if the lion be to speak.
DEMETRIUS	No wonder, my lord: one lion may, when many asses do.
Wall	In this same interlude it doth befall
	That I, one Snout by name, present a wall;
	And such a wall, as I would have you think,	160
	That had in it a crannied hole or chink,
	Through which the lovers, Pyramus and Thisby,
	Did whisper often very secretly.
	This loam, this rough–cast and this stone doth show
	That I am that same wall; the truth is so:	165
	And this the cranny is, right and sinister,
	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
	discourse, my lord.	170
	[Enter Pyramus]
THESEUS	Pyramus draws near the wall: silence!
Pyramus	O grim–look'd night! O night with hue so black!
	O night, which ever art when day is not!
	O night, O night! alack, alack, alack,
	I fear my Thisby's promise is forgot!	175
	And thou, O wall, O sweet, O lovely wall,
	That stand'st between her father's ground and mine!
	Thou wall, O wall, O sweet and lovely wall,
	Show me thy chink, to blink through with mine eyne!

[Wall holds up his fingers]

	Thanks, courteous wall: Jove shield thee well for this!	180
	But what see I? No Thisby do I see.
	O wicked wall, through whom I see no bliss!
	Cursed be thy stones for thus deceiving me!
THESEUS	The wall, methinks, being sensible, should curse again.
Pyramus	No, in truth, sir, he should not. 'Deceiving me'	185
	is Thisby's cue: she is to enter now, and I am to
	spy her through the wall. You shall see, it will
	fall pat as I told you. Yonder she comes.
	[Enter Thisbe]
Thisbe	O wall, full often hast thou heard my moans,
	For parting my fair Pyramus and me!	190
	My cherry lips have often kiss'd thy stones,
	Thy stones with lime and hair knit up in thee.
Pyramus	I see a voice: now will I to the chink,
	To spy an I can hear my Thisby's face. Thisby!
Thisbe	My love thou art, my love I think.	195
Pyramus	Think what thou wilt, I am thy lover's grace;
	And, like Limander, am I trusty still.
Thisbe	And I like Helen, till the Fates me kill.
Pyramus	Not Shafalus to Procrus was so true.
Thisbe	As Shafalus to Procrus, I to you.	200
Pyramus	O kiss me through the hole of this vile wall!
Thisbe	I kiss the wall's hole, not your lips at all.
Pyramus	Wilt thou at Ninny's tomb meet me straightway?
Thisbe	Tide life, 'tide death, I come without delay.

[Exeunt Pyramus and Thisbe]

Wall	Thus have I, Wall, my part discharged so;	205
	And, being done, thus Wall away doth go.
[Exit]
THESEUS	Now is the mural down between the two neighbours.
DEMETRIUS	No remedy, my lord, when walls are so wilful to hear
	without warning.
HIPPOLYTA	This is the silliest stuff that ever I heard.	210
THESEUS	The best in this kind are but shadows; and the worst
	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
	themselves, they may pass for excellent men. Here	215
	come two noble beasts in, a man and a lion.

[Enter Lion and Moonshine]

Lion	You, ladies, you, whose gentle hearts do fear
	The smallest monstrous mouse that creeps on floor,
	May now perchance both quake and tremble here,
	When lion rough in wildest rage doth roar.	220
	Then know that I, one Snug the joiner, am
	A lion–fell, nor else no lion's dam;
	For, if I should as lion come in strife
	Into this place, 'twere pity on my life.
THESEUS	A very gentle beast, of a good conscience.	225
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
	discretion; and the fox carries the goose.	230
THESEUS	His discretion, I am sure, cannot carry his valour;
	for the goose carries not the fox. It is well:
	leave it to his discretion, and let us listen to the moon.
Moonshine	This lanthorn doth the horned moon present;––
DEMETRIUS	He should have worn the horns on his head.	235
THESEUS	He is no crescent, and his horns are
	invisible within the circumference.
Moonshine	This lanthorn doth the horned moon present;
	Myself the man i' the moon do seem to be.
THESEUS	This is the greatest error of all the rest: the man	240
	should be put into the lanthorn. How is it else the
	man i' the moon?
DEMETRIUS	He dares not come there for the candle; for, you
	see, it is already in snuff.
HIPPOLYTA	I am aweary of this moon: would he would change!	245
THESEUS	It appears, by his small light of discretion, that
	he is in the wane; but yet, in courtesy, in all
	reason, we must stay the time.
LYSANDER	Proceed, Moon.
Moonshine	All that I have to say, is, to tell you that the	250
	lanthorn is the moon; I, the man in the moon; this
	thorn–bush, my thorn–bush; and this dog, my dog.
DEMETRIUS	Why, all these should be in the lanthorn; for all
	these are in the moon. But, silence! here comes Thisbe.
[Enter Thisbe]
Thisbe	This is old Ninny's tomb. Where is my love?	255
Lion	[Roaring] Oh––
[Thisbe runs off]
DEMETRIUS	Well roared, Lion.
THESEUS	Well run, Thisbe.
HIPPOLYTA	Well shone, Moon. Truly, the moon shines with a
	good grace.	260

[The Lion shakes Thisbe's mantle, and exit]

THESEUS	Well moused, Lion.
LYSANDER	And so the lion vanished.
DEMETRIUS	And then came Pyramus.
[Enter Pyramus]
Pyramus	Sweet Moon, I thank thee for thy sunny beams;
	I thank thee, Moon, for shining now so bright;	265
	For, by thy gracious, golden, glittering gleams,
	I trust to take of truest Thisby sight.
	But stay, O spite!
	But mark, poor knight,
	What dreadful dole is here!	270
	Eyes, do you see?
	How can it be?
	O dainty duck! O dear!
	Thy mantle good,
	What, stain'd with blood!	275
	Approach, ye Furies fell!
	O Fates, come, come,
	Cut thread and thrum;
	Quail, crush, conclude, and quell!
THESEUS	This passion, and the death of a dear friend, would	280
	go near to make a man look sad.
HIPPOLYTA	Beshrew my heart, but I pity the man.
Pyramus	O wherefore, Nature, didst thou lions frame?
	Since lion vile hath here deflower'd my dear:
	Which is––no, no––which was the fairest dame	285
	That lived, that loved, that liked, that look'd
	with cheer.
	Come, tears, confound;
	Out, sword, and wound
	The pap of Pyramus;	290
	Ay, that left pap,
	Where heart doth hop:
	[Stabs himself]
	Thus die I, thus, thus, thus.
	Now am I dead,
	Now am I fled;	295
	My soul is in the sky:
	Tongue, lose thy light;
	Moon take thy flight:
	[Exit Moonshine]
	Now die, die, die, die, die.
	[Dies]
DEMETRIUS	No die, but an ace, for him; for he is but one.	300
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
	prove an ass.
HIPPOLYTA	How chance Moonshine is gone before Thisbe comes
	back and finds her lover?	305
THESEUS	She will find him by starlight. Here she comes; and
	her passion ends the play.
	[Re–enter Thisbe]
HIPPOLYTA	Methinks she should not use a long one for such a
	Pyramus: I hope she will be brief.
DEMETRIUS	A mote will turn the balance, which Pyramus, which	310
	Thisbe, is the better; he for a man, God warrant us;
	she for a woman, God bless us.
LYSANDER	She hath spied him already with those sweet eyes.
DEMETRIUS	And thus she means, videlicet:––
Thisbe	Asleep, my love?	315
	What, dead, my dove?
	O Pyramus, arise!
	Speak, speak. Quite dumb?
	Dead, dead? A tomb
	Must cover thy sweet eyes.	320
	These My lips,
	This cherry nose,
	These yellow cowslip cheeks,
	Are gone, are gone:
	Lovers, make moan:	325
	His eyes were green as leeks.
	O Sisters Three,
	Come, come to me,
	With hands as pale as milk;
	Lay them in gore,	330
	Since you have shore
	With shears his thread of silk.
	Tongue, not a word:
	Come, trusty sword;
	Come, blade, my breast imbrue:	335
[Stabs herself]
	And, farewell, friends;
	Thus Thisby ends:
	Adieu, adieu, adieu.
[Dies]
THESEUS	Moonshine and Lion are left to bury the dead.
DEMETRIUS	Ay, and Wall too.	340
BOTTOM	[Starting up] No 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?
THESEUS	No epilogue, I pray you; for your play needs no	345
	excuse. Never excuse; for when the players are all
	dead, there needs none to be blamed. Marry, if he
	that writ it had played Pyramus and hanged himself
	in Thisbe's garter, it would have been a fine
	tragedy: and so it is, truly; and very notably	350
	discharged. But come, your Bergomask: let your
	epilogue alone.
[A dance]
	The iron tongue of midnight hath told twelve:
	Lovers, to bed; 'tis almost fairy time.
	I fear we shall out–sleep the coming morn	355
	As much as we this night have overwatch'd.
	This palpable–gross play hath well beguiled
	The heavy gait of night. Sweet friends, to bed.
	A fortnight hold we this solemnity,
	In nightly revels and new jollity.	360
	[Exeunt]
	[Enter PUCK]
PUCK	Now the hungry lion roars,
	And the wolf behowls the moon;
	Whilst the heavy ploughman snores,
	All with weary task fordone.
	Now the wasted brands do glow,	365
	Whilst the screech–owl, screeching loud,
	Puts the wretch that lies in woe
	In remembrance of a shroud.
	Now it is the time of night
	That the graves all gaping wide,	370
	Every one lets forth his sprite,
	In the church–way paths to glide:
	And we fairies, that do run
	By the triple Hecate's team,
	From the presence of the sun,	375
	Following darkness like a dream,
	Now are frolic: not a mouse
	Shall disturb this hallow'd house:
	I am sent with broom before,
	To sweep the dust behind the door.	380

[Enter OBERON and TITANIA with their train]

OBERON	Through the house give gathering light,
	By the dead and drowsy fire:
	Every elf and fairy sprite
	Hop as light as bird from brier;
	And this ditty, after me,	385
	Sing, and dance it trippingly.
TITANIA	First, rehearse your song by rote
	To each word a warbling note:
	Hand in hand, with fairy grace,
	Will we sing, and bless this place.	390
[Song and dance]
OBERON	Now, until the break of day,
	Through this house each fairy stray.
	To the best bride–bed will we,
	Which by us shall blessed be;
	And the issue there create	395
	Ever shall be fortunate.
	So shall all the couples three
	Ever true in loving be;
	And the blots of Nature's hand
	Shall not in their issue stand;	400
	Never mole, hare lip, nor scar,
	Nor mark prodigious, such as are
	Despised in nativity,
	Shall upon their children be.
	With this field–dew consecrate,	405
	Every fairy take his gait;
	And each several chamber bless,
	Through this palace, with sweet peace;
	And the owner of it blest
	Ever shall in safety rest.	410
	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	415
	While these visions did appear.
	And this weak and idle theme,
	No more yielding but a dream,
	Gentles, do not reprehend:
	if you pardon, we will mend:	420
	And, as I am an honest Puck,
	If we have unearned luck
	Now to 'scape the serpent's tongue,
	We will make amends ere long;
	Else the Puck a liar call;	425
	So, good night unto you all.
	Give me your hands, if we be friends,
	And Robin shall restore amends.