The fairies An opera |
 | 1. |
| 1. |
| 2. | SCENE II. |
| 3. |
| 4. |
| 5. |
| 6. |
| 7. |
| 2. |
| 1. |
| 2. |
| 3. |
| 4. |
| 5. |
| 6. |
| 7. |
| 8. |
| 3. |
| 1. |
| 2. |
| 3. |
| 4. |
| 5. |
| 6. |
| 7. |
| 8. |
 | The fairies |  |
SCENE II.
Enter Egeus, Hermia, Lysander, and Demetrius.EGEUS.
Happy be Theseus, our renowned Duke.
THESEUS.
Thanks, good Egeus.
EGEUS.
Full of vexation, come I with complaint
Against my child, my daughter Hermia.
Stand forth, Demetrius; my noble lord,
This man hath my consent to marry her.
9
This man hath witch'd the bosom of my child;
With cunning hath he filch'd my daughter's heart,
Turn'd her obedience, to stubborn harshness.
Therefore do I claim the Athenian law.
As she is mine I may dispose of her:
Which shall be either to Demetrius,
Or to her grave.
THESEUS.
What say you, Hermia? be advis'd, fair maid,
To you your father should be as a God;
One that compos'd your beauties.
HERMIA.
I would my father look'd but with my eyes.
THESEUS.
Rather your eyes must with his judgment look.
HERMIA.
I do beseech your grace, that I may know
The worst of it if I refuse Demetrius.
THESEUS.
Either to die the death, or to abjure
For ever the society of men.
For aye to be in shady cloister mew'd,
To live a barren sister all your life,
Chanting faint hymns to the cold fruitless moon.
10
To undergo such maiden pilgrimage!
But earthlier happy is the rose distill'd,
Than that, which, withering on the virgin thorn,
Grows, lives, and dies, in single blessedness.
HERMIA.
So will I grow, so live, so die, my Lord,
Ere I will yield my virgin patent up
Unto his lordship, to whose unwish'd yoke
My soul consents not to give sovereignty.
AIR.
With mean disguise let others nature hide,
And mimick virtue with the paint of art;
I scorn the cheat of reason's foolish pride,
And boast the graceful weakness of my heart;
The more I think, the more I feel my pain,
And learn the more each heav'nly charm to prize,
While fools, too light for passion, safe remain,
And dull sensation keeps the stupid wise.
And mimick virtue with the paint of art;
I scorn the cheat of reason's foolish pride,
And boast the graceful weakness of my heart;
The more I think, the more I feel my pain,
And learn the more each heav'nly charm to prize,
While fools, too light for passion, safe remain,
And dull sensation keeps the stupid wise.
THESEUS.
Take time to pause, and by the next new moon,
The sealing day betwixt my love and me,
Upon that day either prepare to die,
For disobedience to your father's will;
Or else to wed Demetrius, as he would;
11
For aye, austerity, and single life.
EGEUS.
Hermia is mine, and all my right of her
I do estate unto Demetrius.
LYSANDER.
Demetrius (I'll avouch it to his head,)
Made love to Nedar's daughter Helena,
And won her soul, and she, sweet lady, doats,
Devoutly doats, doats in idolatry,
Upon this spotted and inconstant man.
THESEUS.
I must confess that I have heard so much—
But come, Egeus, and Demetrius come,
I have some private schooling for you both:
Of this no more—Let not these jars untune
Our hearts, high-strung to harmony and love.
AIR and CHORUS.
Joy alone shall employ us,
No griefs shall annoy us,
No sighs the sad heart shall betray;
Let the vaulted roof ring,
Let the full chorus sing,
Blest Theseus and Hippolita!
[Exeunt.
| The fairies | |