William Shakespeare: The Complete Works 2nd Edition (199 page)

Read William Shakespeare: The Complete Works 2nd Edition Online

Authors: William Shakespeare

Tags: #Drama, #Literary Criticism, #Shakespeare

BOOK: William Shakespeare: The Complete Works 2nd Edition
4.94Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
 
SNUG (
as 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 as 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, and 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 discretion, and the fox carries the goose.
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.
STARVELING (
as Moonshine
) This lantern doth the hornèd moon present.
DEMETRIUS He should have worn the horns on his head.
THESEUS He is no crescent, and his horns are invisible within the circumference.
STARVELING (
as Moonshine
)
This lantern doth the hornèd moon present.
Myself the man i’th’ moon do seem to be.
THESEUS This is the greatest error of all the rest—the man should be put into the lantern. How is it else the man i’th’ 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.
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.
STARVELING All that I have to say is to tell you that the lantern is the moon, I the man i’th’ moon, this thorn bush my thorn bush, and this dog my dog.
DEMETRIUS Why, all these should be in the lantern, for all these are in the moon. But silence; here comes Thisbe.
Enter Flute as Thisbe
 
FLUTE (
as Thisbe
)
This is old Ninny’s tomb. Where is my love?
SNUG (
as Lion
) O.
Lion roars. Thisbe drops her mantle and runs off
 
DEMETRIUS Well roared, Lion.
THESEUS Well run, Thisbe.
HIPPOLYTA Well shone, Moon.—Truly, the moon shines with a good grace.
Lion worries Thisbe’s mantle
 
THESEUS Well moused, Lion.
DEMETRIUS And then came Pyramus.
⌈
Enter
Bottom as
Pyramus
⌉
 
LYSANDER And so the lion vanished. ⌈
Exit Lion
⌉
BOTTOM (as Pyramus)
Sweet moon, I thank thee for thy sunny beams.
I thank thee, moon, for shining now so bright;
For by thy gracious, golden, glittering gleams
I trust to take of truest Thisbe sight.
But stay, O spite!
But mark, poor knight,
What dreadful dole is here?
Eyes, do you see?
How can it be?
O dainty duck, O dear!
Thy mantle good,
What, stained with blood?
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 go near to make a man look sad.
HIPPOLYTA Beshrew my heart, but I pity the man.
BOTTOM (
as Pyramus
)
O wherefore, nature, didst thou lions frame,
Since lion vile hath here deflowered my dear?—
Which is—no, no, which was—the fairest dame
That lived, that loved, that liked, that looked, with
cheer.
Come tears, confound;
Out sword, and wound
The pap of Pyramus.
Ay, that left pap,
Where heart doth hop.
Thus die I: thus, thus, thus.
He stabs himself
Now am I dead,
Now am I fled,
My soul is in the sky.
Tongue, lose thy light;
Moon, take thy flight. ⌈
Exit Moonshine
⌉
Now die, die, die, die, die. He dies
 
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 prove an ass.
HIPPOLYTA How chance Moonshine is gone before Thisbe comes back and finds her lover?
THESEUS She will find him by starlight.
⌈
Enter Flute as Thisbe
⌉
 
Here she comes, and her passion ends the play.
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 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:
FLUTE (
as Thisbe
)
Asleep, my love?
What, dead, my dove?
O Pyramus, arise.
Speak, speak. Quite dumb?
Dead, dead? A tomb
Must cover thy sweet eyes.
These lily lips,
This cherry nose,
These yellow cowslip cheeks
Are gone, are gone.
Lovers, make moan.
His eyes were green as leeks.
O sisters three,
Come, come to me
With hands as pale as milk.
Lay them in gore,
Since you have shore
With shears his thread of silk.
Tongue, not a word.
Come, trusty sword,
Come, blade, my breast imbrue.
She stabs herself
And farewell friends,
Thus Thisbe ends.
Adieu, adieu, adieu.
She dies
 
THESEUS Moonshine and Lion are left to bury the dead.
DEMETRIUS Ay, and Wall too.
⌈BOTTOM⌉ No, I assure you, the wall is down that parted their fathers. Will it please you to see the epilogue or to hear a bergamask dance between two of our company?
THESEUS No epilogue, I pray you; for your play needs no 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 bergamask. Let your epilogue alone.
⌈
Bottom
and
Flute
⌉
dance a bergamask, then exeunt
The iron tongue of midnight hath told twelve. Lovers, to bed; ’tis almost fairy time. I fear we shall outsleep the coming morn As much as we this night have overwatched. 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
5.2
Enter Robin Goodfellow with a broom
 
ROBIN
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
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,
Every one lets forth his sprite
In the churchway 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,
Now are frolic. Not a mouse
Shall disturb this hallowed house.
I am sent with broom before
To sweep the dust behind the door.
 
Enter Oberon and Titania, King and Queen of Fairies, with all their train
 
OBERON
Through the house give glimmering light.
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.
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.
⌈
The song. The fairies 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 blessèd be,
And the issue there create
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.
Never mole, harelip, nor scar,
Nor mark prodigious such as are
Despised in nativity
Shall upon their children be.
With this field-dew consecrate
Every fairy take his gait
And each several chamber bless
Through this palace with sweet peace;
And the owner of it blessed
Ever shall in safety rest.
Trip away, make no stay,
Meet me all by break of day.
Exeunt all but Robin
 
Epilogue
ROBIN
If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended:
That you have but slumbered here,
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.
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.
So, good night unto you all.
Give me your hands, if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends.
ADDITIONAL PASSAGES
 
An unusual quantity and kind of mislineation in the first edition has persuaded most scholars that the text at the beginning of 5.1 was revised, with new material written in the margins. We here offer a reconstruction of the passage as originally drafted, which can be compared with 5.1.1―86 of the edited text.
5.1
Enter Theseus
,
Hippolyta
,
and Philostrate
 
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 mad men have such seething brains.
One sees more devils than vast hell can hold: 5
That is the madman. The lover, all as frantic,
Sees Helen’s beauty in a brow of Egypt.
Such tricks hath strong imagination
That if it would but apprehend some joy
It comprehends some bringer of that joy; 10
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,
More witnesseth than fancy’s images, 15
And grows to something of great constancy;
But howsoever, strange and admirable.
Enter the lovers: Lysander, Demetrius, Hermia, and Helena
 
THESEUS
Here come the lovers, full of joy and mirth.
Come now, what masques, what dances shall we
have
To ease the anguish of a torturing hour? 20
Call Philostrate.
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. 25
Make choice of which your highness will see first.
THESEUS
‘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. 30
‘The riot of the tipsy Bacchanals
Tearing the Thracian singer in their rage.’
That is an old device, and it was played
When I from Thebes came last a conquerer.
‘The thrice-three Muses mourning for the death 35
Of learning, late deceased in beggary.’
That is some satire, keen and critical,
Not sorting with a nuptial ceremony.
‘A tedious brief scene of young Pyramus
And his love Thisby.’ ’Tedious’
and
‘brief’? 40
PHILOSTRATE
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. 45

Other books

Eat Your Heart Out by Katie Boland
Framed by Lynda La Plante
Mazurka by Campbell Armstrong