William Shakespeare - The Complete Works/William Shakespeare - The Complete Works on CD-ROM.iso/library/line/mnd/mnd6.txt

Text File | 1994-05-22 | 11.3 KB | 355 lines

Act 3 Scene 2

Oberon discovers RobinÆs mistake. He has put the
love-juice on the wrong manÆs eyes. Demetrius is
still in love with Hermia, but Lysander (through
the effect of the juice) has fallen in love with
Helena. Hermia is searching for Lysander. She
leaves Demetrius, who falls asleep, giving Oberon
the opportunity to put love-juice on his eyes. When
Demetrius wakes and sees Helena, he declares his
passion for her. The four lovers all join in a
quarrel, and the men are preparing to fight a duel.
But Oberon instructs Robin to mislead them, so
that they cannot harm each other.
1    be awaked: has woken up.
2    eye: sight.
3    in extremity: excessively.
5    night-rule: business of the night.
7    close: secret.
8    dull: drowsy.
9    patches: clowns.
rude: rough.
mechanicals: workmen.
10    stalls: shops in the market.
13    shallowest: most stupid.
thick-skin: numskull (person incapable of sensitive
feelings).
barren: unimaginative.
sort: crowd.
14    Who . . . presented: who acted the part of
Pyramus.
15    Forsook his scene: left the stage.
brake: bush.
17    nole: headpiece.
18    Anon: presently.
19    mimic: comedian.
20    fowler: hunter.
eye: perceive.
21    russet-pated choughs: grey-headed
jackdaws.
many in sort: in a large flock.
23    Sever: separate.
24    at his sight: at the sight of him.
25    at our stamp: when I gave the signal (by
stamping on the ground).
26    He: one man.
27    lost with: conquered by.
28    senseless things: inanimate objects.
wrong: injury.
30    from . . . catch: everything steals from
those who surrender.
32    translated: transformed.
36    latched: moistened.
38    took: caught.
40    That: so that.
of force: necessarily.
eyed: seen.
41    close: hidden.
44    Lay breath: use words.
48    Since you have already stepped into blood
(as into shallow water), go on into the depths.
53    A hole could be drilled through the solid
(ôwholeö) earth so that the moon could creep
through the middle and shine at midday in the
Antipodes, thus annoying (disturbing) her brother,
the sun.
54    displease: disturb.
Her brother: the sun.
57    dead: deadly.
61    Venus: the planet.
sphere: orbit.
62    to: to do with.
67    numbered . . . men: counted as a man.
68    once tell true: speak the truth once and for
all.
69    Durst: dare.
71    worm: snake.
72    adder: the adder has a forked tongue, the
emblem of deceit.
74    spend: waste.
on . . . mood: in a mistaken anger.
76    aught: anything.
78    An if: if indeed.
therefor: for that.
81    wheÆr: whether.
82    no following: no point in following.
vein: temper.
84    The fatigue (ôheavinessö) caused by
sorrow becomes worse through lack of sleep ù
which is caused by sorrow.
85    Although Sleep is unable to recompense
Demetrius fully (because it is ôbankruptö), it will
pay a little (ôsome slight measureö) of the debt it
owes him [i.e. the sleep he has lost through
sorrow] if he will wait (ômake some stayö) for
what it has to offer (ôtenderö).
88    quite: completely.
89    true love: true lover.
90    misprision: mistake.
perforce: inevitably.
91    true love turned: true love turned false.
92    If so, then fate takes charge, so that whilst
one man keeps his word (holds troth), a million
break (ôfailö) their promises, breaking one vow
after another.
96    fancy-sick: love-sick.
cheer: complexion.
97    The Elizabethans believed that every sigh
wasted a drop of blood.
98    illusion: trick.
99    against . . . appear: in preparation for
when she comes.
101    Tartar. The Tartars were notorious
warriors (from central Asia), who fought with
bows and arrows.
102    dye: colour.
104    apple: pupil.
108    by: near.
109    remedy: cure (for loveÆs wound).
113    loverÆs fee: return (repayment) of love.
114    fond: foolish.
pageant: exhibition.
118    at once: at the same time.
119    That in itself (ôaloneö) is bound to be
amusing.
121    befall: happen.
preposterously: extraordinarily.
124    vows . . . appears: vows which are born
(first spoken) in tears show from their birth that
they are genuine.
126    How can my qualities (e.g. his love)
appear despicable (ôscornö) since they bear my
tears, which are like badges (worn by servants, or
members of a society, to indicate their loyalty).
128    advance: display.
129    truth kills truth: the true love that
Lysander swears to Helena destroys the other true
love that he swore to Hermia. The fight (ôfrayö)
between the two truths is both ôdevilishö (because
truth is being destroyed) and ôholyö (because truth
is the victor).
130    give her oÆer: renounce your love for here.
131    Weigh . . . oath: balance the oaths sworn
to Hermia against those that he is swearing to
Helena.
nothing weigh: ôthere will be no difference
between the weightsö; and also ôthere is no weight
(=value) in
the oaths.ö
133    tales: fictions, falsehoods.
139    eyne: eyes.
140    show: appearance.
142    Taurus: a mountain range in Asia Minor.
145    princess . . . white: sovereign whiteness.
seal: if Helena gives him her hand as a token of
marriage, it will seal (=make official) his
happiness.
146    bent: determined.
147    set against: attack.
151    in souls: in intention.
152    show: appearance.
154    superpraise: praise with superlatives.
parts: qualities.
158    trim: fine.
160    sort: birth.
161    extort: torment .
169    idle: useless.
170    I will none: I will have nothing to do with
her.
172    My heart was only visiting her, like a
guest.
176    aby it dear: pay dearly for it.
178    that . . . takes: that deprives the sight of its
ability.
179    Makes the ear quicker to catch sounds.
180     When the sense of sight is damaged, the
hearing, in compensation, is made twice as strong.
183    thy sound: the sound of your voice.
185    press: urge.
187    bide: stay.
188    engilds: lights up.
189    yon: yonder.
oes: orbs; the ôoes and eyes of lightö are the stars.
191    bare: felt towards.
194    conjoined: joined together.
195    in spite: to vex.
196    Injurious: insulting.
197    contrived: plotted.
198    bait: torment (Helena sees herself as the
bear which was baited with dogs to provide
entertainment).
199    counsel: confidences.
200    sistersÆ vows: promises to be sisters to
each other.
201    chid: reproached.
204    artificial gods: gods with skill in creative
art.
205    needle: the word was often pronounced
ôneeleö.
206    sampler: piece of embroidery.
209    incorporate: of a single body.
211    Still joined together, although separate.
213    with . . . heart: apparently with two
bodies, but with one heart.
214    Helena uses a complicated image from
heraldry to describe her relationship with Hermia.
Medieval knights carried on their shields different
devices by which they could easily be identified;
these were called ôcoats of armsö (ôcoats in
heraldryö), and were later adopted by noble
families, universities, schools, and other
institutions. When a knight married a lady of noble
family, his coat of arms was combined with hers to
make a new coat, usually in the shape of a shield.
Above the shield was placed (ôcrownedö is the
technical term) a ôcrestö (such as a plume or
helmet) to signify the union. Soon after he wrote
this play, Shakespeare was granted his own coat of
arms.
215    Due but to one: belonging only to one.
216    rend: tear.
ancient: former.
asunder: apart.
226    even but now: very recently.
228    Wherefore: for what reason?
230    your love: his love for you.
231    tender: offer.
forsooth: indeed.
232    setting on: incitement.
233    grace: favour.
238    persever: carry on (stressed persever).
sad looks: solemn faces.
239    Make mouths upon: pull faces at.
240    hold . . . up: keep up the game.
241    carried: performed.
chronicled: recorded as history.
243    argument: object of ridicule.
256    withdraw: come outside.
prove it: i.e. by fighting a duel.
257    whereto . . . this: what does this mean ?
258    Ethiope: Lysander intends to insult
Hermia because of her dark complexion.
259    take on: pretend.
260    tame: spiritless.
261    burr: the prickly seed-head of the burdock
plant: it catches on clothes and is very difficult to
shake off.
264    tawny Tartar: Lysander again insults
Hermia for the colour of her skin, and also for the
fiery temper which he associates with the Tartars
(see note to line 101).
266    sooth: indeed.
268    bond: signed contract; in the next line
Demetrius uses another sense of the word.
269    bond: chain (i.e. HermiaÆs arms).
273    what news: what does this mean.
275    erewhile: a short time ago.
276    Since night: since night fell.
278    In earnest: seriously (not as a joke) .
283    juggler: trickster.
canker-blossom: worm that eats away the flower
(or perhaps ôworm-eaten flowerö).
291    compare: comparison.
292    urged her height: argued that her height
makes her attractive.
297    painted: Hermia implies that HelenaÆs
complexion is the result of cosmetics (generally
disapproved of by the Elizabethans).
maypole: a tall pole, erected on the village green
for the traditional May dances.
301    curst: bad-tempered.
302    shrewishness: quarrelling.
303    right: true.
309    counsels: secrets.
311    stealth: secret flight.
313    chid me hence: ordered me to go away
from here.
315    so: provided that.
quiet: peacefully.
318    fond: foolish.
324    shrewd: malicious.
325    vixen: the female fox is noted for its sharp
attacks.
326    but: only.
328    flout: mock.
329    minimus: the smallest of all creatures.
knot-grass: a low-growing weed with creeping
stems.
331    officious: interfering.
334    if . . . her: if you pretend to show the least
sign of love for her.
336    aby it: pay for it.
337    try: make trial (in a duel).
339    cheek by jowl: cheek by cheek (not one
behind the other).
340    coil: trouble.
long of: on account of.
342    curst: bad-tempered.
343    fray: fight.
346    still thou mistakÆst: you are always
making mistakes.
353    sort: happen.
354    jangling: quarrelling.
esteem a sport: consider a joke.
356    Hie: go.
overcast: cover with clouds.
357    welkin: sky.
anon: at once.
358    Acheron: a black river in the classical
underworld.
359    testy: irritable.
361    frame thy tongue: make your voice sound.
362    stir. . . up: provoke.
363    rail: insult.
365    death-counterfeiting sleep: sleep that
looks like death.
366    batty: bat-like.
368    virtuous property: powerful quality.
369    his might: its strength.
370    wonted: accustomed.
371    derision: delusion.
372    fruitless: meaningless.
373    wend: return.
374    league: union.
whose . . . end: which will last as long as they live.
376    IÆll to: IÆll go to.
380    full: very.
381    AuroraÆs harbinger: the morning star
(Phosphor) which heralded the approach of dawn
(the goddess Aurora).
382    Robin distinguishes two kinds of ghost ù
those who merely wander away from the
churchyards where their bodies are buried, and
those who are damned because they are the spirits
of men who committed suicide. The bodies of
suicides were not buried in consecrated ground,
but either remained in the rivers (ôfloodsö) where
they had drowned themselves, or else were interred
where two roads crossed (ôcross-waysö). Since the
suicides deliberately (ôwilfullyö) deprived
themselves of life (ôlightö), they are now
condemned to keep company (ôconsortö) only with
the night.
390    morning: Aurora.
393    Neptune: god of the ocean.
396    effect: complete.
403    drawn: with sword drawn.
404    straight: straightaway, immediately.
plainer: smoother.
408    bragging: boasting.
410    recreant: coward.
411    defilÆd: dishonoured.
413    try no manhood: make no test of courage.