William Shakespeare - The Complete Works/William Shakespeare - The Complete Works on CD-ROM.iso/library/line/mnd/mnd8.txt

Text File | 1994-05-22 | 5.3 KB | 165 lines

Act 4 Scene 1

The lovers sleep in the background, whilst Bottom
jokes with TitaniaÆs fairy attendants. Eventually he
and Titania also fall asleep, and Oberon has an
opportunity to take the spell off TitaniaÆs eyes. The
fairy characters then leave the human beings, who
are woken by the dukeÆs hunting party. The four
lovers have difficulty in remembering what has
happened. When they have all left the wood to
return to Athens, Bottom wakes up and tries to
recall the dream he has enjoyed.
2    amiable: loveable.
coy: pet.
13    fret: trouble.
15    be loath: hate.
16    overflown: swamped.
19     neaf: hand.
20    leave your curtsy: stop bowing to me.
21    whatÆs your will: what would you like ?
22    Cavaliery: BottomÆs attempt at the Italian
ôcavaliereö (=English ôcavalierö).
24    marvellous: unusually.
25    ass: fool (with obvious irony).
29    the tongs and the bones: crude musical
instruments; tongs were struck with a metal key
(rather like the modern triangle), and bones, were
held between the fingers and rattled.
31    peck: bundle (literally, a quarter of a
bushel).
provender: fodder.
32    bottle: truss, small bundle.
33    fellow: equal.
37    stir: disturb.
38    exposition: Bottom means ôdispositionö
(=desire).
39    wind: wrap.
40    all ways: in all directions.
41    woodbine: bindweed or convolvulus.
42    ivy: the ivy is said to be female because it
clings to, and is supported by, the elm tree.
43    barky fingers: branches covered with
bark.
46    dotage: obsession.
47    of late: recently.
48    favours: gifts of flowers.
49    upbraid: reproach.
50    rounded: encircled.
52    sometime: formerly.
53    orient: lustrous.
54    flowÆrets: little flowers.
57    mild terms: gentle language.
58    ask of her: ask her to give me.
59    straight: immediately.
65    other: others.
66    repair: return.
67    accidents: happenings.
68    fierce: extravagant.
70    wont: accustomed.
72    DianÆs bud: in Act 2, scene 1 Oberon
explains that he can remove the spell ôwith another
herbö (line 184). This was perhaps Artemisia, a
plant sacred to Diana, goddess of chastity, whose
Greek name was Artemis.
CupidÆs flower: see Act 2, scene 1 lines 155ff.
76    enamoured of: in love with.
77    pass: happen.
80    strike . . . sense: charm the senses of these
five people (the four lovers and Bottom) to a sleep
that is deeper than normal sleep.
85    rock the ground: i.e. as though the ground
were a cradle, and the lovers were sleeping infants.
86    amity: friendship.
87    solemnly: ceremoniously.
89    to: with.
94    sad: sober.
96    compass: encompass.
103    observation: ritual (to celebrate May
Day).
104    since . . . day: since it is still early in the
day (ôvawardö =earliest part).
106    uncouple: unleash; hounds are leashed
together in pairs, and trained to keep silent when
they are leashed.
107    Dispatch: see that it is done quickly.
108    will: will go.
109    From the top of the mountain they will
hear the cry of hounds combined with the echoes.
111    Crete and Sparta were both famous, in
classical times, for their breed of hounds. Cadmus
was founder of Thebes, long before the birth of
Hercules, the Greek super-man. No legend tells of
the hunting party that Hippolyta refers to.
112    bayed: brought to bay (i.e. drove the bear
into a position where it was forced to turn and face
the hounds).
114    chiding: the noise of angry hounds.
118    kind: breed.
119    flewed: with deep, hanging lips and
cheeks.
sanded: with sand-coloured markings.
121    dew-lapped: with folds of skin (dew-laps)
under their chins.
Thessalian: from Thessaly, a northern part of
ancient Greece.
123    cry: pack of hounds.
124    holla: the cry made by huntsmen in
response to the hounds.
cheered: encouraged.
126    soft: wait a minute.
nymphs: creatures of the woods.
130    of: at.
131    observe: perform.
132    our intent: what we intended to do.
133    in grace: to honour.
solemnity: celebration.
138    Saint Valentine: the patron saint of lovers;
his feast day (February 14) was traditionally the
birdsÆ wedding-day.
139    to couple: to form pairs.
141    rival enemies: enemies in rivalry (for
HermiaÆs love).
143    jealousy: suspicion.
144    by hate: by the side of one who hates you.
145    amazedly: in confusion.
152    Without: out of reach of.
156    defeated: deprived.
159    stealth: secret escape.
160    purpose hither: intention to come here.
162    in fancy: in her love.
163    wot: know.
166    idle: useless.
gaud: toy.
168    virtue: power.
171    ere: before.
172    like sickness: like a sick man.
173    come: returned.
177    anon: presently.
178    overbear: over-rule.
181    something worn: almost gone.
182    purposed: intended.
183    Three and three: three men and three
women.
184    solemnity: splendour.
188    parted eye: double vision (where the eyes
do not focus together).
198    cue: Bottom thinks he is still at the
rehearsal.
199    next: i.e. next cue.
204    go about: try.
expound: explain.
207    patched fool: professional jesters wore
multi-coloured suits which might look as though
they had been ôpatchedö .
208    The eye . . . dream was: BottomÆs
phrasing is influenced by his confused memory of
the first Epistle to the Corinthians, 2:9.
211    ballad: the sixteenth-century equivalent of
a newspaper: ballads telling of strange events were
sung to popular tunes.
213    no bottom: no foundation in reality.
214    per adventure: perhaps.
215    gracious: pleasing.
her: i.e. ThisbeÆs.