But, my good lord, I wot not by what power-
But by some power it is- my love to Hermia,
Melted as the snow, seems to me now
As the remembrance of an idle gaud
Which in my childhood I did dote upon;
And all the faith, the virtue of my heart,
The object and the pleasure of mine eye,
Is only Helena. To her, my lord,
Was I betroth'd ere I saw Hermia.
But, like a sickness, did I loathe this food;
But, as in health, come to my natural taste,
Now I do wish it, love it, long for it,
And will for evermore be true to it.
THESEUS. Fair lovers, you are fortunately met;
Of this discourse we more will hear anon.
Egeus, I will overbear your will;
For in the temple, by and by, with us
These couples shall eternally be knit.
And, for the morning now is something worn,
Our purpos'd hunting shall be set aside.
Away with us to Athens, three and three;
We'll hold a feast in great solemnity.
Come, Hippolyta.
Exeunt THESEUS, HIPPOLYTA, EGEUS, and train
DEMETRIUS. These things seem small and undistinguishable,
Like far-off mountains turned into clouds.
HERMIA. Methinks I see these things with parted eye,
When every thing seems double.
HELENA. So methinks;
And I have found Demetrius like a jewel,
Mine own, and not mine own.
DEMETRIUS. Are you sure
That we are awake? It seems to me
That yet we sleep, we dream. Do not you think
The Duke was here, and bid us follow him?
HERMIA. Yea, and my father.
HELENA. And Hippolyta.
LYSANDER. And he did bid us follow to the temple.
DEMETRIUS. Why, then, we are awake; let's follow him;
And by the way let us recount our dreams. Exeunt
BOTTOM. [Awaking] When my cue comes, call me, and I will
answer. My
next is 'Most fair Pyramus.' Heigh-ho! Peter Quince! Flute,
the
bellows-mender! Snout, the tinker! Starveling! God's my life,
stol'n hence, and left me asleep! I have had a most rare
vision.
I have had a dream, past the wit of man to say what dream it
was.
Man is but an ass if he go about to expound this dream.
Methought
I was- there is no man can tell what. Methought I was, and
methought I had, but man is but a patch'd fool, if he will
offer
to say what methought I had. The eye of man hath not heard,
the
ear of man hath not seen, man's hand is not able to taste,
his
tongue to conceive, nor his heart to report, what my dream
was. I
will get Peter Quince to write a ballad of this dream. It
shall
be call'd 'Bottom's Dream,' because it hath no bottom; and I
will
sing it in the latter end of a play, before the Duke.
Peradventure, to make it the more gracious, I shall sing it
at
her death. Exit
SCENE II.
Athens. QUINCE'S house
Enter QUINCE, FLUTE, SNOUT, and STARVELING
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