University of Virginia Library

WALPURGIS-NIGHT'S DREAM;

OR OBERON AND TITANIA'S GOLDEN HIGHTIDE.

INTERMEZZO.

DIRECTOR OF THE THEATRE.
Here rest we where we ne'er have been;
The valiant sons of Mieding;
The Brocken serves us for a scene,
To play the fairy wedding.

HERALD.
The golden high-tide is it then,
When fifty years pass over;
But doubly golden is it when
All brawls and strifes they cover.

OBERON.
Ye spirits, who obey my law,
Be loyal now or never,
When Oberon and Titania
Anew are bound together.

PUCK.
Puck comes in first, and turns athwart,
His merry circles wheeling;
And hundreds more behind him dart,
Loud shouts of laughter pealing.

ARIEL.
Ariel commands the song,
And fills the air with rare tones;
Crooked imps he lures along,
But lures he eke the fair ones.

OBERON.
When man and wife begin to strive,
Let our example guide them!
To teach a pair in peace to live,
You only need divide them.

TITANIA.
When scolds the wife, and frets the man,
Then on the instant seize them;
Transport her South far as you can,
And to the Arctic seas him.

ORCHESTRA.
Tutti.
(Fortissimo.)
Snout of fly, and nose of gnat,
Lead on the band before us!
Frog and cricket, cat and bat,
Join merry in the chorus!

SOLO.
A soap-bell for a doodle-sack ,
The merry waters troubling!
Hear the snecke-snicke-snack,
From its snub-nose bubbling!

EMBRYO SPIRIT.
Legs of spider, paunch of toad,
And wings the little wight has;
And, though he has no head, yet he
His small poetic flight has.

A PAIR OF DANCERS.
With many a nimble pace and spring,
Through honey-dew and vapour,
Trips o'er the ground the little thing,
But higher cannot caper.

INQUISITIVE TRAVELLER.
Do I see a real thing,
Or is it all delusion?
Oberon, the fairy king,
Amid this wild confusion.

ORTHODOX.
Though neither tail nor claws are his,
'Tis true beyond all cavil,
As devils were the gods of Greece,
Must he too be a devil.

NORTHERN ARTIST.
The motley groups that here I see,
I must confess, confound me;
But, when I come from Italy,
My skill will more profound be.

PURIST.
Alas! that I should see it too!
Here we a riot rare have!
Of all the crew, there are but two,
That powder on their hair have.

YOUNG WITCH.
Your powder, like your petticoat
Suits hags that old and gray be
I set me plump on my he-goat,
And naked here display me.

MATRON.
To speak with such a shameless pack,
We have nor will nor leisure;
Soon may your flesh rot on your back,
And we look on with pleasure.

LEADER OF THE ORCHESTRA.
Snout of fly, and nose of gnat,
Sting not the naked beauty!
Frog and cricket, cat and bat,
Attend ye to your duty!

(to the one side.) WEATHERCOCK.
A goodly company! as sure
As I stand on the steeple;
With brides and bridegrooms swarms the moor,
The hopefulest of people!

(to the other side.) WEATHERCOCK.
And opes not suddenly the ground,
To swallow one and all up,
Then, with a jerk, I'll veer me round,
And straight to hell I'll gallop.

XENIEN.
We insects keep them all in awe,
With sharpest scissars shear we;
Old Nick, our worthy Squire Papa,
Here to salute appear we.

HENNINGS.
See! how around the banquet they
Jest merrily together;
The graceless crew have hearts, they say,
As good as any other.

MUSAGETES.
Among this witch and wizard crew,
I do delight to lose me;
Much less than when I lead the Mu-
Ses' choir, it doth confuse me.

CI-DEVANT GENIUS OF THE AGE.
The Brocken has a good broad back,
Come take me by the cue, Sir;
Like the High-Dutch Parnassus, it
Has room for me and you, Sir.

INQUISITIVE TRAVELLER.
Say, who is he so stiff that goes,
With stiff and measur'd paces?
He snuffs and snuffles with his nose,
“The Jesuits he traces.”

CRANE.
In muddy waters do I fish
As well as where it clear is,
And only for such cause as this
The pious man too here is.

WORLDLING.
O yes! the saints are wont, we know,
By every thing to profit;
They'll find their way to Blocksberg too
Though much they use to scoff it.

DANCER.
A sound of drums! a sound of men!
That wafted on the wind came!—
The weary bitterns, in the fen,
Are booming—never mind them!

DANCING-MASTER.
Lo! how they kick, and how they jump!
How well each figure shewn is!
Springs the crooked, hops the plump!
Each thinks him an Adonis!

A GOOD FELLOW.
How brawls the vile pedantic pack!
Within their breasts what ire hid!
But dance they all to the doodle-sack,
As the beasts to Orpheus' lyre did.

DOGMATIST.
I let no one bamboozle me,
With doubts and critic cavils;
The Devil sure must something be,
Else whence so many devils?

IDEALIST.
This time doth mighty phantasy
Too wildly overrule me;
If I am all that now I see,
I surely must a fool be!

REALIST.
That on the Brocken ghosts appear
Now scarce admits disputing;
Amid this hurly burly here
I've fairly lost my footing.

SUPERNATURALIST.
Into this swarming hellish brood
I come, without intrusion;
From evil spirits to the good,
It is a just conclusion.

SCEPTIC.
They chase the flame that flits about,
And deem them near their treasure;
Best rhymes with doubt this demon-rout,
And I look on with pleasure.

LEADER OF THE ORCHESTRA.
Snout of fly, and nose of gnat,
Ye stupid Dilettanti!
Frog and cricket, cat and bat,
Keep better time why can't ye?

NIMBLE SPIRITS.
Sansconci is hight the crew
On limber limbs that ply it;
When on our feet it will not do,
Then on our heads we try it.

AWKWARD SQUAD.
Time was, we bow'd and scrap'd our way
To smack at many a rare treat;
But now, we've danced our shoes away,
And walk upon our bare feet.

IGNES FATUI.
Though born but with the sultry ray,
This morn, in the morass all,
Yet now, amid the gallants gay,
We shine here and surpass all.

FALLING STAR.
From the ether's height I shot,
Where stars of meteor blaze be,
Here on the ground now lie I squat,
O! who will help to raise me?

PLUMP SPIRITS.
Make way! make way! a sturdy crew,
O'er brier and bramble jump we;
Spirits are we, Spirits too
Have limbs that thick and plump be.

PUCK.
Why tramp ye so majestical
As cub of river-horse is?
The plumpest spirit of you all
Stout Puck himself of course is.

ARIEL.
If loving nature's bounteous care
With pinions hath adorn'd ye,
Then tread my airy track to where
The heights of rosy morn be.

ORCHESTRA.
(pianissimo.)
Clouds and mists now disappear;
The stage and all together,
With one single puff of air
Is vanished into ether.