"Be kind and courteous to this gentleman: Hop in his walks, and gambol in his eyes; Feed him with apricocks, and dewberries, With purple grapes, green figs, and mulberries. The honey-bags steal from the humble-bees, And for night-tapers crop their waxen thighs, And light them at the fiery glow-worm's eyes, To have my love to bed, and to arise; And pluck the wings from painted butterflies, To fan the moonbeams from his sleeping eyes. Nod to him, elves, and do him courtesies." The popular element in Shakespeare is closely interwoven with his love of nature. He has here plunged deep into folk-lore, seized upon the figments of peasant superstition as they survive in the old ballads, and mingled brownies and pixies with the delicate creations of artificial poetry, with Oberon, who is of French descent ("Auberon," from _l'aube du Jour_), and Titania, a name which Ovid gives in his _Metamorphoses_ (iii. 173) to Diana as the sister of the Titan Sol. _The Maydes Metamorphosis,_ a play attributed to Lyly, although not printed till 1600, may be older than _A Midsummer Night's Dream_. In that case Shakespeare may have found the germ of some of his fairy dialogue in the pretty fairy song which occurs in it. There is a marked similarity even in details of dialogue. For example, this conversation between Bottom and the fairies (iii. I) reminds us of Lyly[3]:-- "_Bot_. I cry your worship's mercy, heartily.--I beseech your worship's name. "_Cob_. Cobweb. "_Bot_. I shall desire you of more acquaintance, good Master Cobweb. If I cut my finger, I shall make bold with you. Your name, honest gentleman? "_Peas_. Pease-blossom. "_Bot_. I pray you, commend me to Mistress Squash, your mother, and to Master Peascod, your father. Good Master Pease-blossom, I shall desire you of more acquaintance too.--Your name, I beseech you, sir. "_Mus_. Mustard-seed. "_Bot_. Good Master Mustard-seed, I know your patience well: that same cowardly, giant-like oxbeef hath devoured many a gentleman of your house. I promise you, your kindred hath made my eyes water ere now. I desire you of more acquaintance, good Master Mustard-seed." The contrast between the rude artisans' prose and the poetry of the fairy world is exquisitely humorous, and has been frequently imitated in the nineteenth century: in Germany by Tieck; in Denmark by J. L. Heiberg, who has written no fewer than three imitations of _A Midsummer Night's Dream--The Elves, The Day of the Seven Sleepers_, and _The Nutcrackers_.