Enter LYSANDER, DEMETRIUS, HERMIA, and The. Here come the lovers, full of joy and mirth. Joy, gentle friends! joy, and fresh days of love, Lys. More than to us To wear away this long age of three hours, Philost. Here, mighty Theseus. evening? we What mask? what music? How shall beguile Philost. There is a brief, how many sports are For never any thing can be amiss, Hip. I love not to see wretchedness o'ercharg'd, The. Why, gentle sweet, you shall see no such thing. Hip. He says they can do nothing in this kind. Our sport shall be, to take what they mistake: Make choice of which your highness will see first. sung By an Athenian eunuch to the harp. We'll none of that: that have I told my love, Tearing the Thracian singer in their rage. Philost. A play there is, my lord, some ten words long; Which is as brief as I have known a play; The. What are they that do play it? Which never labour'd in their minds till now; The. And we will hear it. No, my noble lord, It is not for you: I have heard it over, I will hear that play; 1 Steevens thought, that by abridgment was meant a dramatic performance which crowds the events of years into a few hours. Surely the context seems to require a different explanation; an abridgment appears to mean some pastime to shorten the tedious evening. 2 Short account. 3 This may be an allusion to Spenser's poem: 'The Tears of the Muses on the Neglect and Contempt of Learning; first printed in 1591. 4 It is thought that Shakspeare alludes here to certain good hearted men of Coventry, who petitioned that they mought renew their old storial shew' before the Queen at Kenilworth: where the poet himself may have Deen present, as he was then twelve years old. 5 1. e. unexercised, unpractised. The. Let him approach. (Flourish of trumpets." Prol. If we offend, it is with our good will. We do not come as minding to content you, We are not here. That you should here repent you. The. This fellow doth not stand upon points. Hip. Indeed he hath played on this prologue like a child on a recorder; 10 a sound, but not in government,11 The. His speech was like a tangled chain; nothing impaired, but all disordered. Who is next? Enter PYRAMUS and THISBE, Wall, Moonshine, and Lion, as in dumb show. Prol. "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 "Wall, that vile wall which did these lovers sun der: content "And through wall's chink, poor souls, they are "To whisper; at the which let no man wonder. "This man, with lantern, dog, and bush of thorr "Presenteth moon-shine; for, if you will know, "By moon-shine did these lovers think no scorn 6 Intents may be put for the object of their attention. To intend and to attend were anciently synonymous. 7 The sense of this passage appears to be :-"What dutifulness tries to perform without ability, regardful ge. nerosity receives with complacency; estimating it, not by the actual merit, but according to the power or might of the humble but zealous performers." 8 Ready. 9 Anciently the prologue entered after the third sounding of the trumpets, or, as we should now say, after the third music. 10 A kind of flageolet. To record anciently signified to modulate; perhaps the name arose from birds being taught to record by it. 11 i. e. not regularly, according to the time. "To meet at Ninus' tomb, there, there to woo. "This grisly beast, which by name lion hight, "The trusty Thisby, coming first by night, "Did scare away, or rather did affright; "And, as she fled, her mantle she did fall; "Which lion vile with bloody mouth did stain: "Anon comes Pyramus, swee youth, and tall, "And finds his trusty Thisby's mantle slain: "Whereat with blade, with bloody blameful blade, "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, moon-shine, wall, and lovers twain, "At large discourse, while here they do remain." [Ereunt Prol. 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: "And such a wall, as I would have you think, "That had in it a cranny'd 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 : Dem. It is the wittiest partition that ever I heard discourse, my lord. The. Pyramus draws near the wall: silence! This. "I kiss the wall's hole, not your lips at all." Pyr. "Wilt thou at Ninny's tomb meet me straightway?" This. "Tide life, tide death, I come without delay." Wall. "Thus have I, wall, my part discharged so; "And, being done, thus wall away doth go.' [Ezeunt Wall, PYRAMUS, and THISBE. The. Now is the mural down between the two neighbours. 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 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 moon and a lion. Enter Lion and Moonshine. Lion. "You, ladies, you, whose gentle hearts do fear Pyr. "O grim-look'd night! O night with hue I saw. 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!"And thou, O wall, O sweet, O lovely wall, Lys. This lion is a very fox for his valour. "That stand'st between her father's ground and valour; for the goose carries not the fox. It is 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! "But what see I? No Thisby do I see. "O wicked wall, through whom I see no bliss: "Curst be thy stones for thus deceiving me!" The. The wall, methinks, being sensible, should curse 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. " And like Limander am I trusty still." This. "And I like Helen, till the fates me kill." well: leave it to his discretion, and let us listen to the moon. Moon. "This lantern doth the horned moon pre sent:" Dem. He should have worn the horns on his head. The. He is no crescent, and his horns are invisible within the circumference. Moon. "This lantern doth the horned moon "Myself the man i'the'moon do seem to be." 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! 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 lantern 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 they are in the moon. But silence; here comes Thisbe. Enter THISBE. This. "This is old Ninny's tomb: Where is my [The Lion roars. -THISBE runs off. wall." 1 Called. 2 Limander and Helen, blunderingly for Leander and Hero, as Shafatus and Procrus for Cephalus and Pro cris. 3 This alludes to the proverb, Walls have ears. A wall between almost any two neighbours would soon be down, were it to exercise this faculty without previous warning. 4 The old copies read, a man, &c. The emendation is by Theobald. 5 An equivoque. Snuff signifies both the cinder of a candle and hasty anger. "I thank thee, moon, for shining now so bright. "For, by thy gracious, golden, glittering streams, "I trust to taste of truest Thisby's sight. "But stay; -0 spite! "But mark; -Poor knight, "Eyes do you see? "O dainty duck! O dear! "Quail, crush, conclude, and quell!"4 Hip. Beshrew my heart, but I pity the man. frame? 1 To mouse, according to Malone, signified to mammock, to tear in pieces, as a cat tears a mouse. 2 Dr. Farmer thought this was written in ridicule of a passage in Damon and Pythias, by Richard Edwards, 1582; Ye furies, all at once And present pangues of death; 3 Thrum is the end or extremity of a weaver's warp. 5 Countenance. 6 The character of Theseus throughout this play is more exalted in its humanity than in its greatness. Though some sensible observations on life and animated descriptions fall from him, as it is said of lago, Dem. And thus she moans, videlicet. This. "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 brows, "This cherry nose, "These yellow cowslip cheeks, "With hands as pale as milk; "Since you have shore "With shears his thread of silk. "Tongue, not a word :- "Come, blade, my breast imbrue: "And farewell, friends ;- "Adieu, adieu, adieu." [Dres. The. Moonshine and lion are left to bury the dead. Bot. No, I assure you; the wall is down that parted their fathers. Will it please you to see the epilogue, or to hear a Burgomask dance, between two of our company? The. 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 play'd Pyramus, and hanged himself with Thisbe's garter, it would have been a fine tragedy: and so it is, truly; and very notably discharged. But come, your Bergomask: let your epilogue alone. [Here a dance of Clowns. The iron tongue of midnight hath told twelve:Lovers, to bed; 'tis almost fairy time. I fear we shall outsleep the coming morn, SCENE II. Enter PuCK. [Exeunı, Puck. Now the hungry lion roars, In remembrance of a shroud. Now it is the time of night, You shall taste him more as a soldier than as a wit, though with little success; as in support of his preten which is a distinction he is here striving to deserve, sions he never rises higher than a pun, and frequently sinks as low as a quibble. 7 The old copies read means, which had anciently the same signification as moans. Theobald made the alteration. 8 The old copies read lips instead of brows. The alteration was made for the sake of the rhyme by Theobald. 9 A rustic dance framed in imitation of the people of Bergamasco (a province in the state of Venice,) whc and dialect than any other people of Italy. The lingua are ridiculed as being more clownish in their manners rustica of the buffoons, in the old Italian comedies, is an imitation of their jargon. 10 i. e. slow passage, progress. 11 Overcome. Enter OBERON and TITANIA, with their Train. Obe. Through this 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. Tita. First, rehearse this song by rote: To each word a warbling note, Will we sing, and bless this place. SONG AND DANCE. Obe. Now, until the break of day, Shall upon their children be.- And each several chamber bless, E'er shall it in safety rest, And the owner of it blest. 1 Cleanliness is always necessary to invite the residence or favour of the Fairies. 2 Milton perhaps had this picture in his thoughts: 'And glowing embers through the room Teach night to counterfeit a gloom.' 3 This ceremony was in old times used at all marriages. Mr. Douce has given the formula from the Manual for the use of Salisbury. We may observe on this strange ceremony, that the purity of modern times stands not in need of these holy aspersions to lull the senses and dissipate the illusions of the devil. The Trip away; Meet me all by break of day. [Exeunt ORERON, TITANIA, and Train. Puck. If we shadows have offended, Think but this (and all is mended,) [Exit. WILD and fantastical as this play is, all the parts in their various modes are well written, and give the kind of pleasure which the author designed. Fairies in his time were much in fashion; common tradition had made them familiar, and Spenser's poem had made them great. JOHNSON. JOHNSON'S concluding observations on this play are not conceived with his usual judginent. There is no analogy or resemblance between the Falries of Spenser and those of Shakspeare. The Fairies of Spenser, as appears from his description of them in the second book of the Faerie Queene, canto x. were a race of mortals created by Prometheus, of the human size, shape, and affections, and subject to death. But those of Shakspeare, and of common tradition, as Johnson calls them, were a diminutive race of sportful beings, endowed with immortality and supernatural powers, totally different from those of Spenser. M. MASON. married couple would no doubt rejoice when the benediction was ended. LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST. PRELIMINARY REMARKS. THE novel upon which this comedy was founded has | The grotesque characters, Don Adrian de Armado, hitherto eluded the research of the commentators. Mr. Douce thinks it will prove to be of French extraction. The Dramatis Personæ in a great measure demonstrate this, as well as a palpable Gallicism in Act iv. Sc. 1: viz. the terming a letter a capon. This is one of Shakspeare's early plays, and the author's youth is certainly perceivable, not only in the style and manner of the versification, but in the lavish superfluity displayed in the execution: the uninterrupted succession of quibbles, equivoques, and sallies of every description. 'The sparks of wit fly about in such profusion that they form complete fireworks, and the dialogue for the most part resembles the bustling collision and banter of passing masks at a carnival.* The scene in which the king and his companions detect cach other's breach of their mutual vow, is capitally contrived. The discovery of Biron's love-letter while rallying his friends, and the manner in which he extricates himself, by ridiculing the folly of the vow, are admirable. * Schlegel. Nathaniel the curate, and Holofernes, that prince of pe- A merrier man, Shakspeare has only shown the inexhaustible powers Malone placed the composition of this play first in 1591, afterwards in 1594. Dr. Drake thinks we may safely assign it to the earlier period. The first edition was printed in 1598. ACT I. SCENE I. Navarre. A Park with a Palace in it. King. Your oath is pass'd to pass away from these. -Enter the King, BIRON, LONGAVILLE, and I only swore, to study with your grace, DUMAIN. King. Let fame, that all hunt after in their lives, Therefore, brave conquerors!-for so you are, You three, Biron, Dumain, and Longaville, Your oaths are past, and now subscribe your names; Biron. I can but say their protestation over, 1 Berowne in all the old editions. Biron. Let me say no, my liege, an if you please, And stay here in your court for three years' space. What is the end of study? let me know. King. Why, that to know, which else we should not know. Biron. Things hid and barr'd, you mean, from common sense? King. Ay, that is study's god-like recompense. Or, having sworn too hard-a-keeping oath, Biron. Why, all delights are vain; but that most vain, To seek the light of truth: while truth the while By fixing it upon a fairer eye; Who dazzling so, that eye shall be his heed, Than those that walk, and wot not what they are. reading! King. How well he's read, to reason against Dum. Proceeded well, to stop all good proceeding! 5 The meaning is: that when he dazzles, that is, has 2 i. e. with all these companions. He may be sup- his eye made weak, by fixing his eye upon a fairer eye, posed to point to the king, Biron, &c. 3 Dishonestly, treacherously. 4 The whole sense of this gingling declamation is self blind. only this, that a man by too close study may read him that fairer eye shall be his heed or guide, his lode-star, and give him light that was blinded by it. 6 That is, too much knowledge gives no real solution of doubts, but merely fame, or a name, a thing which every godfather can give. |