Chapter XXIV: Act V

SCENE I. _Athens. The palace of_ THESEUS.

_Enter_ THESEUS, HIPPOLYTA, PHILOSTRATE, Lords, _and_ Attendants.

_Hip._ ’Tis strange, my Theseus, that these lovers speak of.

_The._ More strange than true: I never may believe These antique fables, nor these fairy toys. Lovers and madmen have such seething brains, Such shaping fantasies, that apprehend 5 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, That is, the madman: the lover, all as frantic, 10 Sees Helen’s beauty in a brow of Egypt: The poet’s eye, in a fine frenzy rolling, Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven; And as imagination bodies forth The forms of things unknown, the poet’s pen 15 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, It comprehends some bringer of that joy; 20 Or in the night, imagining some fear, How easy is a bush supposed a bear!

_Hip._ But all the story of the night told over, And all their minds transfigured so together, More witnesseth than fancy’s images, 25 And grows to something of great constancy; But, howsoever, strange and admirable.

_The._ Here come the lovers, full of joy and mirth.

_Enter_ LYSANDER, DEMETRIUS, HERMIA, _and_ HELENA.

Joy, gentle friends! joy and fresh days of love Accompany your hearts!

_Lys._ More than to us 30 Wait in your royal walks, your board, your bed!

_The._ Come now; what masques, what dances shall we have, To wear away this long age of three hours Between our after-supper and bed-time? Where is our usual manager of mirth? 35 What revels are in hand? Is there no play, To ease the anguish of a torturing hour? Call Philostrate.

_Phil._ Here, mighty Theseus.

_The._ Say, what abridgement have you for this evening? What masque? what music? How shall we beguile 40 The lazy time, if not with some delight?

_Phil._ There is a brief how many sports are ripe: Make choice of which your highness will see first.

[_Giving a paper._

_The._ [_reads_] The battle with the Centaurs, to be sung By an Athenian eunuch to the harp. 45 We’ll none of that: that have I told my love, In glory of my kinsman Hercules. [_Reads_] The riot of the tipsy Bacchanals, Tearing the Thracian singer in their rage. That is an old device; and it was play’d 50 When I from Thebes came last a conqueror. [_Reads_] The thrice three Muses mourning for the death Of Learning, late deceased in beggary. That is some satire, keen and critical, Not sorting with a nuptial ceremony. 55 [_Reads_] A tedious brief scene of young Pyramus And his love Thisbe; very tragical mirth. Merry and tragical! tedious and brief! That is, hot ice and wondrous strange snow. How shall we find the concord of this discord? 60

_Phil._ A play there is, my lord, some ten words long, Which is as brief as I have known a play; 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: 65 And tragical, my noble lord, it is; For Pyramus therein doth kill himself. Which, when I saw rehearsed, I must confess, Made mine eyes water; but more merry tears The passion of loud laughter never shed. 70

_The._ What are they that do play it?

_Phil._ Hard-handed men, that work in Athens here, Which never labour’d in their minds till now; And now have toil’d their unbreathed memories With this same play, against your nuptial. 75

_The._ And we will hear it.

_Phil._ No, my noble lord; 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, 80 To do you service.

_The._ I will hear that play; For never any thing can be amiss, When simpleness and duty tender it. Go, bring them in: and take your places, ladies.

[_Exit Philostrate._

_Hip._ I love not to see wretchedness o’ercharged, 85 And duty in his service perishing.

_The._ Why, gentle sweet, you shall see no such thing.

_Hip._ He says they can do nothing in this kind.

_The._ The kinder we, to give them thanks for nothing. Our sport shall be to take what they mistake: 90 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, 95 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; 100 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. 105

_Re-enter_ PHILOSTRATE.

_Phil._ So please your Grace, the Prologue is address’d.

_The._ Let him approach. [_Flourish of trumpets._

_Enter_ QUINCE _for the_ Prologue.

_Pro._ 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, 110 That is the true beginning of our end. Consider, then, we come but in despite. We do not come as minding to content you, Our true intent is. All for your delight, We are not here. That you should here repent you, 115 The actors are at hand; and, by their show, You shall know all, that you are like to know.

_The._ This fellow doth not stand upon points.

_Lys._ He hath rid his prologue like a rough colt; he knows not the stop. A good moral, my lord: it is not 120 enough to speak, but to speak true.

_Hip._ Indeed he hath played on his prologue like a child on a recorder; a sound, but not in government.

_The._ His speech was like a tangled chain; nothing impaired, but all disordered. Who is next? 125

_Enter_ PYRAMUS _and_ THISBE, WALL, MOONSHINE, _and_ LION.

_Pro._ 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 130 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, 135 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; 140 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, 145 He bravely broach’d his 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. 150

[_Exeunt Prologue, Thisbe, Lion, and Moonshine._

_The._ I wonder if the lion be to speak.

_Dem._ 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; 155 And such a wall, as I would have you think, 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 160 That I am that same wall; the truth is so: And this the cranny is, right and sinister, Through which the fearful lovers are to whisper.

_The._ Would you desire lime and hair to speak better?

_Dem._ It is the wittiest partition that ever I heard discourse, 165 my lord.

_The._ Pyramus draws near the wall: silence!

_Enter_ PYRAMUS.

_Pyr._ 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, 170 I fear my Thisby’s promise is forgot! And them, 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! 175 [_Wall holds up his fingers._ Thanks, courteous wall: Jove shield thee well for this! 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!

_The._ The wall, methinks, being sensible, should curse 180 again.

_Pyr._ No, in truth, sir, he should not. ‘Deceiving me’ 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. 185

_Enter_ THISBE.

_This._ O wall, full often hast thou heard my moans, For parting my fair Pyramus and me! My cherry lips have often kiss’d thy stones, Thy stones with lime and hair knit up in thee.

_Pyr._ I see a voice: now will I to the chink, 190 To spy an I can hear my Thisby’s face. Thisby!

_This._ My love thou art, my love I think.

_Pyr._ Think what thou wilt, I am thy lover’s grace; And, like Limander, am I trusty still. 195

_This._ And I like Helen, till the Fates me kill.

_Pyr._ Not Shafalus to Procrus was so true.

_This._ As Shafalus to Procrus, I to you.

_Pyr._ O, kiss me through the hole of this vile wall!

_This._ I kiss the wall’s hole, not your lips at all. 200

_Pyr._ Wilt thou at Ninny’s tomb meet me straightway?

_This._ ‘Tide life, ’tide death, I come without delay.

[_Exeunt Pyramus and Thisbe._

_Wall._ Thus have I, wall, my part discharged so; And, being done, thus wall away doth go. [_Exit._

_The._ Now is the mural down between the two neighbours. 205

_Dem._ No remedy, my lord, when walls are so wilful to hear without warning.

_Hip._ This is the silliest stuff that ever I heard.

_The._ The best in this kind are but shadows; and the 210 worst are no worse, if imagination amend them.

_Hip._ It must be your imagination then, and not theirs.

_The._ If we imagine no worse of them than they of themselves, they may pass for excellent men. Here come two noble beasts in a man and a lion. 215

_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. Then know that I, one Snug the joiner, am 220 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.

_The._ A very gentle beast, and of a good conscience.

_Dem._ The very best at a beast, my lord, that e’er I saw. 225

_Lys._ This lion is a very fox for his valour.

_The._ True; and a goose for his discretion.

_Dem._ Not so, my lord; for his valour cannot carry his discretion; and the fox carries the goose.

_The._ His discretion, I am sure, cannot carry his valour; 230 for the goose carries not the fox. It is well: leave it to his discretion, and let us listen to the moon.

_Moon._ This lanthorn doth the horned moon present;—

_Dem._ He should have worn the horns on his head.

_The._ He is no crescent, and his horns are invisible 235 within the circumference.

_Moon._ This lanthorn doth the horned moon present; Myself the man i’ the moon do seem to be.

_The._ This is the greatest error of all the rest: the man should be put into the lantern. How is it else the man i’ 240 the moon?

_Dem._ He dares not come there for the candle; for, you see, it is already in snuff.

_Hip._ I am aweary of this moon: would he would change! 245

_The._ 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.

_Lys._ Proceed, Moon.

_Moon._ 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.

_Dem._ Why, all these should be in the lantern; for all these are in the moon. But, silence! here comes Thisbe.

_Enter_ THISBE.

_This._ This is old Ninny’s tomb. Where is my love? 255

_Lion._ [_Roaring_] Oh—— [_Thisbe runs off._

_Dem._ Well roared, Lion.

_The._ Well run, Thisbe.

_Hip._ Well shone, Moon. Truly, the moon shines with a good grace. [_The Lion shakes Thisbe’s mantle, and exit._ 260

_The._ Well moused, Lion.

_Dem._ And then came Pyramus.

_Lys._ And so the lion vanished.

_Enter_ PYRAMUS.

_Pyr._ 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!

_The._ This passion, and the death of a dear friend, 280 would go near to make a man look sad.

_Hip._ Beshrew my heart, but I pity the man.

_Pyr._ 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;
Ay, that left pap, 290
Where heart doth hop: [_Stabs himself._
Thus die I, thus, thus, thus.
Now am I dead,
Now am I fled;
My soul is in the sky: 295
Tongue, lose thy light;
Moon, take thy flight: [_Exit Moonshine._
Now die, die, die, die, die. [_Dies._

_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. 300

_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? 305

_The._ She will find him by starlight. Here she comes; and her passion ends the play.

_Re-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, 310 which Thisbe, is the better; he for a man, God warrant us; she for a woman, God bless us.

_Lys._ She hath spied him already with those sweet eyes.

_Dem._ And thus she means, videlicet:—

_This._ 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 lily 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: [_Stabs herself._ 335
And, farewell, friends;
Thus Thisby ends:
Adieu, adieu, adieu. [_Dies._

_The._ Moonshine and Lion are left to bury the dead.

_Dem._ Ay, and Wall too. 340

_Bot._ [_Starting up_] 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 345 excuse. Never excuse; for when the players are all dead, there need 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 discharged. But, come, your Bergomask: let 350 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, As much as we this night have overwatch’d. 355 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. [_Exeunt._

_Enter_ PUCK.

_Puck._ Now the hungry lion roars, 360 And the wolf behowls the moon; Whilst the heavy ploughman snores, All with weary task fordone. Now the wasted brands do glow, Whilst the screech-owl, screeching loud, 365 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, Every one lets forth his sprite, 370 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, Following darkness like a dream, 375 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.

_Enter_ OBERON _and_ TITANIA _with their train_.

_Obe._ Through the house give glimmering light, 380 By the dead and drowsy fire: Every elf and fairy sprite Hop as light as bird from brier; And this ditty, after me, Sing, and dance it trippingly. 385

_Tita._ 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.

[_Song and dance._

_Obe._ Now, until the break of day, 390 Through this house each fairy stray. To the best bride-bed will we, Which by us shall blessed be; And the issue there create Ever shall be fortunate. 395 So shall all the couples three Ever true in loving be; And the blots of Nature’s hand Shall not in their issue stand; Never mole, hare lip, nor scar, 400 Nor mark prodigious, such as are Despised in nativity, Shall upon their children be. With this field-dew consecrate, Every fairy take his gait; 405 And each several chamber bless, Through this palace, with sweet peace, Ever shall in safety rest, And the owner of it blest. Trip away; make no stay; 410 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, While these visions did appear. 415 And this weak and idle theme, No more yielding but a dream, Gentles, do not reprehend: If you pardon, we will mend. And, as I am an honest Puck, 420 If we have unearned luck Now to scape the serpent’s tongue, We will make amends ere long; Else the Puck a liar call: So, good night unto you all. 425 Give me your hands, if we be friends, And Robin shall restore amends. [_Exit._

~~~~~ Linenotes: _A Midsummer-Night’s Dream_, V, 1.

Enter...] see note (VIII).

5, 6: _apprehend More than_] Theobald. _apprehend more Than_ Qq Ff.

5–8: Printed in Q1 as three lines, ending _more...lunatic...compact._

6: _cool_] _cooler_ Pope.

10: _That is, the madman:_] _The madman. While_ Pope.

12, 13: Q1 ends these lines with _glance...and as_, Q2 F1 with _glance...heaven_.

14–18: These five lines printed as four in Qq Ff, ending _things...shapes...habitation...imagination._

16: _shapes_] _shape_ Pope.

_airy_] Q2. _ayery_ Q1. _aire_ F1 F3. _ayre_ F2. _air_ F4.

19: _if it would_] _if he would_ Rowe (ed. 2).

21: _Or_] _So_ Hanmer.

21, 22: _Or...bear!_] Grant White conjectures that these lines are interpolated.

29: _days of love_] F2 F3 F4. _days Of love_ Qq F1.

30, 31: _More......bed!_] Printed as prose in Qq F1, as verse first in Q2.

31: _Wait in_] _Wait on_ Rowe.

33, 34: The lines end _between...manager_ in Q1. Corrected in Q2.

34: _our_] Ff. _or_ Qq.

38: _Philostrate_] Qq. _Egeus_ Ff.

38, 42, 61: Phil.] Qq. Ege. Ff.

42: _There_] _Here_ Anon. ap. Halliwell conj.

_ripe_] Q1. _rife_ Q2 Ff.

43: [Giving a paper.] Theobald.

44: The. [reads] The. Qq. Lys. Ff. See note (IX).

_Centaurs_] _centaur_ F4.

58–60: Printed as prose in Qq Ff.

59: _That is...snow_] omitted by Pope.

_ice_] _Ise_ Q1.

_and wondrous strange snow_] _and wond’rous scorching snow_
Hanmer. _a wondrous strange shew_ Warburton. _and wondrous
strange black snow_ Capell (Upton conj.). _and wonderous strong
snow_ Mason conj. _and wondrous seething snow_ Collier (Collier
MS.). _and wondrous swarthy snow_ Staunton conj. _and wondrous
staining snow_ Nicholson conj.

61: _there is_] _it is_ Hanmer. _this is_ Collier (Collier MS.).

66–70: Qq F1 end the lines _Pyramus,...saw...water...laughter...shed._ Corrected in F2.

75: _nuptial_] Qq F1. _nuptials_ F2 F3 F4.

76, 77: Qq Ff end these lines _hear it...heard._ Corrected by Rowe (ed. 2).

79: Johnson supposes a line to be lost after _intents_.

80: _conn’d_] _penn’d_ Kenrick conj.

81, 82: _I...thing_] As one line in Qq Ff. Corrected by Rowe (ed. 2).

91: _poor duty_] _poor willing duty_ Theobald. _poor duty meaning_ Spedding conj.

_do_] _do aright_ Seymour conj. _do, yet would_ Coleridge conj.

91, 92: _noble respect Takes_] _Noble respect takes_ Theobald.

92: _it in might, not_] _not in might, but_ Johnson conj. _it in mind, not_ Spedding conj.

105: Re-enter...] Enter... Theobald. Enter Philomon. Pope.

106: Phil.] Qq. Egeus. Ff.

107: Flourish of trumpets.] Flor. Trum. Ff. om. Qq.

108: SCENE II. Pope.

Enter Quince for the Prologue] Rowe. Enter the Prologue. Qq.
Enter the Prologue. Quince. F1 F2. Enter Prologue. Quince. F3
F4.

114–117: Pope alters the punctuation here.

118: _points_] _his points_ Collier (Collier MS.).

120: _A good_] Dem. _A good_ Edd. conj.

122: _his_] Ff. _this_ Qq.

123: _a recorder_] Qq F1. _the recorder_ F2 F3 F4.

124: _chain_] _skein_ Anon. conj.

125: _next_] Qq F1. _the next_ F2 F3 F4.

125: [Tawyer with a trumpet before them. Ff. See note (X).

Enter...] Enter... as in dumb show. Capell.

130: _lime_] _loam_ Capell conj. MS.

131: _that_] Qq F1. _the_ F2 F3 F4.

138: _grisly_] _grizy_ F1.

_Lion hight by name_] _by name Lion hight_ Theobald.

139: Malone conjectures that a line has been lost after _night._

141: _did fall_] _let fall_ Pope.

144: _trusty_] Qq. om. F1. _gentle_ F2 F3 F4.

147: _And Thisby, tarrying_] Qq Ff. _And, Thisby tarrying_ Malone.

_in_] _in the_ F3 F4.

150: [Exeunt...] Exit Lyon, Thisby, and Moonshine. Qq (after line 153). Exit all but Wall. Ff (which repeat the stage direction of Qq).

155: _Snout_] Ff. _Flute_ Qq.

158: _Pyramus_] _Pyr’mus_ Theobald.

_Thisby_] _This-be_ Theobald.

160: _loam_] F3 F4. _lome_ Qq. _loame_ F1 F2. _lime_ Reed. See note (XI).

172: _O sweet, O_] Qq. _thou sweet and_ Ff. _O sweet and_ Pope.

173: _stand’st_] Q1. _stands_ Q2 Ff.

175: [Wall...fingers.] Capell.

183: _now_] Qq. om. Ff.

184: _it will fall pat...comes_ Enter Thisbe.] Qq. _it will fall._ [Enter Thisbie.] _Pat...comes_ Ff.

189: _hair_] _hayire_ Q1.

_up in thee_] Ff. _now againe_ Qq.

190: _see_] Qq F1. _heare_ F2 F3 F4.

191: _hear_] Qq F1. _see_ F2 F3 F4.

193: _love thou art, my love_] Qq Ff. _love! thou art, my love_, Theobald.

195: _Limander_] _Limandea_ Pope.

196: _I_] Qq F2. om. F1 F3 F4.

202: [Exeunt P. and T.] Dyce.

204: [Exit.] Exit Clow. Ff. om. Qq. [Exeunt Wall, P. and T. Capell.

205: The.] Duk. Qq Ff.

_mural down_] Pope (ed. 2). _Moon used_ Qq. _morall downe_ Ff.
_mure all down_ Hanmer. _wall down_ Collier MS.

208: _hear_] _rear_ Hanmer (Warburton). _disappear_ Heath conj.

209: Hip.] Dutch. Qq Ff.

_ever_] Q1. _ere_ Q2 Ff.

214: _come_] Qq. _com_ F1. _comes_ F2 F3 F4.

215: _beasts in, a man_] Rowe (ed. 2). _beasts, in a man_ Qq Ff. _beasts_—_in a moon_ Theobald conj. _beasts in, a moon-calf_ Farmer conj. _beasts in, a man in a lion_ Jackson conj.

210: _one_] Ff. _as_ Qq.

221: _A lion-fell_] Singer. _A lion fell_ Qq Ff. _No lion fell_ Rowe. _A lion’s fell_ Dyce (Barron Field conj.).

223: _on_] Qq. _of_ Ff. _o’_ Capell conj. MS.

_my_] _your_ Collier MS.

232: _listen_] Q1. _hearken_ Q2 Ff.

_moon_] _man_ Anon. conj.

235: _no_] _not_ Collier (Collier MS.).

238: _do_] Qq. _doth_ Ff.

244: _aweary_] Q1. _weary_ Q2 Ff.

246: _his_] _this_ Pope.

253, 254: _for all these_] Q1. _for they_ Q2 Ff.

255: _old...tomb_] _ould...tumbe_ Q1.

_Where is_] _wher’s_ Q2.

256: [The Lion roares, Thisby runs off. Ff. om. Qq.

260: _a_] om. Rowe (ed. 1).

[The Lion......exit.] Capell. om. Ff Qq.

261: _moused_] _mouz’d_ Qq Ff. _mouth’d_ Rowe.

262, 263: _And then...vanished_] _and so...And then the moon vanishes_ Steevens (Farmer conj.). Mr Spedding conjectures that these lines should be transposed.

266: _gleams_] Staunton (Knight conj.). _streams_ F2 F3 F4. _beames_ Qq F1.

267: _take_] Qq. _taste_ Ff.

_Thisby_] Qq. _Thisbies_ Ff.

273: _dear_] _deare_ Qq. _Deere_ F1 F2. _Deer_ F3 F4.

276: _ye_] Qq. _you_ Ff.

280, 281: Printed as verse in Ff, ending _friend...sad._

280: _and_] _on_ Collier MS.

284: _dear_] _deare_ Qq. _deere_ F1 F2. _Deer_ F3 F4.

291: [Stabs himself.] om. Qq Ff.

296: _Tongue_] _Sun_ Halliwell conj.

_lose_] Q2 Ff. _loose_ Q1.

297: [Exit M.] Capell. om. Qq Ff.

298: [Dies.] Capell. om. Qq Ff.

303: _and prove_] Q2 Ff. _and yet prove_ Q1.

304: _Moonshine_] _the Moon-shine_ F3 F4.

_before Thisbe_] Rowe. _before? Thisby_ Qq Ff.

310: _mote_] Steevens (Heath conj.). _moth_ Qq Ff.

311, 312: _he for a man...God bless us_] Qq. omitted in Ff.

311: _warrant_] _warnd_ Qq.

314: _means_] Qq Ff. _moans_ Theobald.

320: _thy_] _my_ F3 F4.

321, 322: _These...nose_] _These lips lily, This nose cherry_ Farmer conj. _This lily lip, This cherry tip_ Collier (Collier MS.).

321: _lips_] _brows_ Theobald.

322: _nose_] _nip_ Grant White conj.

330: _Lay_] _Love_ Theobald.

332: _his_] _this_ F3 F4.

335: [Stabs herself.] om. Qq Ff.

341: Bot.] Ff. Lyon. Qq.

[Starting up] Capell.

347: _need_] _be_ Capell conj.

_Marry_] _Mary_ Q1.

348: _hanged_] Qq. _hung_ Ff.

351: [A dance.] A dance and exeunt clowns. Capell. om. Qq Ff. Here a dance of clowns. Rowe.

360: SCENE II. Capell. SCENE III. Pope.

_lion_] Rowe. _lions_ Qq Ff.

361: _behowls_] Theobald (Warburton). _beholds_ Qq Ff.

363: _fordone_] _foredoone_ Q1. _foredone_ Q2 Ff.

365: _screech-owl_] _scriech-owle_ Q1. _scritch-owle_ Q2 Ff.

371: _church-way_] _churchyard_ Poole’s Eng. Parnassus.

379: Enter...] Enter King and Queene of Fairies with all their traine. Q1. Enter... with their traine. Q2 Ff.

380: _Through_] _Though_ Grant White.

_the_] _this_ Warburton.

_the house give_] _this house in_ Johnson conj.

386: _your_] Q1. _this_ Q2 Ff.

389: [Song and dance.] Capell.

390–411: Given to _Oberon_ in Qq. Called _The Song_ in Ff and printed in italics. Restored to _Oberon_ by Johnson. See note (XII).

403, 404: _be. With...consecrate,_] Qq Ff. _be, With...consecrate._ Collier MS.

408: _Ever shall in safety_] Qq Ff. _Ever shall it safely_ Rowe (ed. 2). _E’er shall it in safety_ Malone. See note (XIII).

408, 409: These lines are transposed by Staunton.

410: _away;_] _away, then_ Hanmer.

411: Exeunt...] Capell. om. Qq Ff.

415: _these_] _this_ Q2.

420: _I am_] _I’m_ Capell.

_an_] om. F3 F4.
~~~~~

NOTES.

NOTE I.

I. 2. 45. It may be questioned whether the true reading is not ‘thisne, thisne;’ that is, ‘in this manner,’ a meaning which ‘thissen’ has in several dialects. See Halliwell’s _Arch. Dict._ ‘So-ne’ is used in the same way in Suffolk.

NOTE II.

III. 1. 2. Capell appears to have considered the reading ‘marvailes’ of Q1 as representing the vulgar pronunciation of ‘marvellous,’ and he therefore printed it ‘marvels,’ as in IV. 1. 23.

NOTE III.

III. 2. 257, 258. In this obscure passage we have thought it best to retain substantially the reading of the Quartos. The Folios, though they alter it, do not remove the difficulty, and we must conclude that some words, perhaps a whole line, have fallen out of the text.

NOTE IV.

III 2. 337. We retain the reading of the old copies in preference to Theobald’s plausible conjecture. A similar construction occurs in The Tempest, II. 1. 27, ‘which, of he or Adrian, for a good wager, first begins to crow?’

NOTE V.

III. 2. 204. Although Pope’s reading of this line was followed by all editors down to Capell it is rendered extremely improbable by the occurrence of the word ‘Have’ at the beginning of the line in all the old copies, and could only have been suggested by what Pope considered the exigencies of the metre. ‘Needles’ may have been pronounced, as Steevens writes it, ‘neelds;’ but, if not, the line is harmonious enough.

NOTE VI.

IV. 1. 1. Johnson says, ‘I see no good reason why the fourth Act should begin here when there seems no interruption of the action;’ but he does not alter the arrangement of the Folios, which, in the absence of any good reason to the contrary, we also follow.

NOTE VII.

IV. 1. 8, &c. We have retained throughout this scene the spelling of the old copies ‘Mounsieur,’ as representing a pronunciation more appropriate to Bottom, like ‘Cavalery’ a few lines lower down. We are aware, however, that the word was generally so spelt.

NOTE VIII.

V. 1. In the Folios the stage direction is ‘Enter Theseus, Hippolita, Egeus and his Lords,’ and the speeches which properly belong to Philostrate as master of the revels are assigned to Egeus, with the exception of that beginning ‘No, my noble lord, &c.’ In line 38 the Quartos correctly read ‘Philostrate’ where the Folios have ‘Egeus.’ The confusion may have arisen, as Mr Grant White suggests, from the two parts having been originally played by the same actor.

NOTE IX.

V. 1. 44–60. We have followed the Quartos in assigning this speech to Theseus alone. In the Folios Lysander is represented as reading the ‘brief’ and Theseus as commenting upon it. Theobald first restored the arrangement of the Quartos.

NOTE X.

V. 1. 125. The stage direction of the Folios is ‘Tawyer with a trumpet before them,’ Tawyer being generally understood to be the name of the trumpeter; but Mr Collier, on the strength of a note in the corrected Folio ‘Enter Presenter,’ interprets ‘Tawyer’ as the name of the actor who filled the part of Presenter and introduced the characters of the play.

NOTE XI.

V. 1. 160. In the Variorum edition of 1821 ‘lime’ is given as the reading of the Folios, and ‘lome’ of the Quartos, the fact being that F1 F2 read ‘loame,’ and F3 F4 ‘loam.’

NOTE XII.

V. 1. 390–411. This speech, which in the Folios is made ‘The Song,’ was restored by Johnson to Oberon, following the Quartos. He adds, ‘But where then is the song?—I am afraid it is gone after many other things of greater value. The truth is that two songs are lost. The series of the scene is this: after the speech of Puck, Oberon enters, and calls his fairies to a song, which song is apparently wanting in all the copies. Next Titania leads another song which is indeed lost like the former, though the editors have endeavoured to find it. Then Oberon dismisses his fairies to the despatch of the ceremonies. The songs, I suppose, were lost, because they were not inserted in the players’ parts, from which the drama was printed.’

NOTE XIII.

V. 1. 408, 409. The difficulty in these two lines is at once removed by transposing them, as was suggested by C. R. W. a correspondent in the Illustrated London News. Mr Staunton was at one time inclined to think that ‘Ever shall’ was a corruption of ‘Every hall,’ but he now adheres to the solution above given. Malone incorrectly attributes to Pope the reading which he himself adopts, ‘E’er shall it in safety rest,’ Pope’s reading being ‘Ever shall in safety rest’ as in Rowe’s second edition.

THE MERCHANT OF VENICE.

DRAMATIS PERSONÆ[1]

The DUKE OF VENICE. The PRINCE OF MOROCCO[2], suitor to Portia. The PRINCE OF ARRAGON, ” ” ANTONIO, a merchant of Venice. BASSANIO, his friend, suitor likewise to Portia. SALANIO, friend to Antonio and Bassanio. SALARINO, ” ” ” GRATIANO, ” ” ” SALERIO[3], ” ” ” LORENZO, in love with Jessica. SHYLOCK, a rich Jew. TUBAL, a Jew, his friend. LAUNCELOT GOBBO, the clown, servant to Shylock. OLD GOBBO, father to Launcelot. LEONARDO, servant to Bassanio. BALTHASAR[4], servant to Portia. STEPHANO, ” ”

PORTIA, a rich heiress. NERISSA, her waiting-maid. JESSICA, daughter to Shylock.

Magnificoes of Venice, Officers of the Court of Justice, Gaoler, Servants to Portia, and other Attendants.

SCENE[5]—_Partly at Venice, and partly at Belmont, the seat of Portia, on the Continent._

~~~~~ Footnotes:

1: DRAMATIS PERSONÆ] First given in Q3. See note (I).

2: THE......MOROCCO] Morochus, a Prince. Q3 Q4. Morochius, a Moorish Prince. Rowe.

3: SALERIO] See note (IX).

4: BALTHASAR] Theobald, om. Q3 Q4.

5: SCENE...] Rowe. ~~~~~

THE MERCHANT OF VENICE.