A Midsummer Night's Dream — Act 5, Scene 1

original text and modern English, side by side

Athens. An Apartment in the Palace of Theseus · Hippolyta, Theseus, Lysander, Philostrate, Demetrius, Wall, Pyramus, Thisbe, Lion, Moonshine, Moon, Bottom, Puck, Oberon, Titania

At the palace, Theseus dismisses the lovers' account of the night as the work of imagination, but Hippolyta notes that all four minds were changed the same way. The three newly married couples watch Quince's company butcher "Pyramus and Thisbe," heckling the speaking Wall, the apologetic Lion and the disputed Man in the Moon until the two comic suicides are done. After the mortals go to bed, Oberon and Titania lead the fairies through the house to bless the marriages, and Puck ends the play by inviting the audience to treat it all as a dream.

Enter Theseus, Hippolyta, Philostrate, Lords and Attendants.

Hippolyta

’Tis strange, my Theseus, that these lovers speak of.

It's a strange story, my Theseus, the one these lovers tell.

Theseus

More strange than true.

I never may believe

These antique fables, nor these fairy toys.

I'll never believe these old fables or these fairy fantasies.

Lovers and madmen have such seething brains,

Such shaping fantasies, that apprehend

More than cool reason ever comprehends.

Lovers and madmen have such boiling brains, such inventive imaginations, that they perceive far more than cool reason can ever account for.

The lunatic, the lover, and the poet

Are of imagination all compact:

The lunatic, the lover and the poet are made entirely of imagination.

One sees more devils than vast hell can hold;

That is the madman:

One sees more devils than all of hell could hold — that's the madman.

the lover, all as frantic,

Sees Helen’s beauty in a brow of Egypt:

The lover, just as frantic, sees the face of Helen of Troy in a gypsy's dark features.

The poet’s eye, in a fine frenzy rolling,

Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven;

The poet's eye, rolling in a fine frenzy, flicks from heaven to earth and earth to heaven,

And as imagination bodies forth

The forms of things unknown, the poet’s pen

Turns them to shapes, and gives to airy nothing

A local habitation and a name.

and as imagination gives body to things that don't exist, the poet's pen turns them into shapes and gives to airy nothing a fixed address and a name.

Such tricks hath strong imagination,

That if it would but apprehend some joy,

It comprehends some bringer of that joy.

That's the trick strong imagination plays: if it so much as expects some joy, it invents a bringer of that joy.

Or in the night, imagining some fear,

How easy is a bush supposed a bear?

Or at night, imagining something frightening — how easily a bush becomes a bear.

Hippolyta

But all the story of the night told over,

And all their minds transfigur’d so together,

More witnesseth than fancy’s images,

But the whole story of the night, told all the way through, and the fact that all their minds were transformed together, adds up to more than fantasy's inventions.

And grows to something of great constancy;

But, howsoever, strange and admirable.

It grows into something solid and consistent — strange, certainly, and remarkable, but real.

Enter lovers: Lysander, Demetrius, Hermia and Helena.

Theseus

Here come the lovers, full of joy and mirth.

Here come the lovers, full of joy and high spirits.

Joy, gentle friends, joy and fresh days of love

Accompany your hearts!

Joy to you, dear friends — joy and fresh days of love go with your hearts.

Lysander

More than to us

Wait in your royal walks, your board, your bed!

And may even more of it attend your royal walks, your table and your bed.

Theseus

Come now; what masques, what dances shall we have,

To wear away this long age of three hours

Between our after-supper and bed-time?

Now then — what masques, what dances shall we have to pass the endless three hours between supper and bedtime?

Where is our usual manager of mirth?

Where's our usual master of revels?

What revels are in hand?

What entertainments are ready?

Is there no play

To ease the anguish of a torturing hour?

Is there no play to relieve the agony of a slow hour?

Call Philostrate.

Send for Philostrate.

Philostrate

Here, mighty Theseus.

Theseus

Say, what abridgment have you for this evening?

Tell me, what have you got to shorten the evening?

What masque? What music?

What masque, what music?

How shall we beguile

The lazy time, if not with some delight?

How shall we cheat this idle time, if not with some amusement?

Philostrate

There is a brief how many sports are ripe.

Here's a list of the entertainments that are ready.

Make choice of which your Highness will see first.

Your Highness can choose which to see first.

Giving a paper.

Reads

Theseus

‘The battle with the Centaurs, to be sung

By an Athenian eunuch to the harp.’

"The battle with the Centaurs, to be sung by an Athenian eunuch to the harp."

We’ll none of that.

We'll have none of that

That have I told my love

In glory of my kinsman Hercules.

— I've already told my love that story, in honour of my kinsman Hercules.

‘The riot of the tipsy Bacchanals,

Tearing the Thracian singer in their rage?’

"The riot of the drunken Bacchantes, tearing the Thracian singer apart in their fury."

That is an old device, and it was play’d

When I from Thebes came last a conqueror.

That's an old piece, and it was performed when I last came home from Thebes as a conqueror.

‘The thrice three Muses mourning for the death

Of learning, late deceas’d in beggary.’

"The nine Muses mourning the death of learning, lately deceased in poverty."

That is some satire, keen and critical,

Not sorting with a nuptial ceremony.

That's satire, sharp and biting; it doesn't suit a wedding.

‘A tedious brief scene of young Pyramus

And his love Thisbe; very tragical mirth.’

"A tedious brief scene of young Pyramus and his love Thisbe: very tragical mirth."

Merry and tragical?

Merry and tragic?

Tedious and brief?

That is hot ice and wondrous strange snow.

That's hot ice, that's remarkably strange snow.

How shall we find the concord of this discord?

How are we to find the harmony in that contradiction?

Philostrate

A play there is, my lord, some ten words long,

Which is as brief as I have known a play;

There is a play, my lord, about ten words long — the shortest play I've ever come across.

But by ten words, my lord, it is too long,

Which makes it tedious.

But it's ten words too long, which is what makes it tedious,

For in all the play

There is not one word apt, one player fitted.

because in the whole play there isn't one word that fits or one actor suited to his role.

And tragical, my noble lord, it is.

For Pyramus therein doth kill himself,

And tragic it certainly is, my noble lord, because Pyramus kills himself in it.

Which, when I saw rehears’d, I must confess,

Made mine eyes water;

I have to confess that when I watched the rehearsal it made my eyes water

but more merry tears

The passion of loud laughter never shed.

— but no fit of loud laughter ever produced merrier tears.

Theseus

What are they that do play it?

Who are these people who perform it?

Philostrate

Hard-handed men that work in Athens here,

Which never labour’d in their minds till now;

Rough-handed men who work here in Athens and have never used their minds until now.

And now have toil’d their unbreath’d memories

With this same play against your nuptial.

And now they've strained their unexercised memories with this play for your wedding.

Theseus

And we will hear it.

Then we'll hear it.

Philostrate

No, my noble lord,

It is not for you:

No, my noble lord, it isn't for you.

I have heard it over,

And it is nothing, nothing in the world;

Unless you can find sport in their intents,

Extremely stretch’d and conn’d with cruel pain

To do you service.

I've listened to the whole thing, and it's nothing — nothing whatsoever — unless you can find amusement in their intentions, stretched to breaking point and learned by heart at cruel effort, all to serve you.

Theseus

I will hear that play;

I will hear that play.

For never anything can be amiss

When simpleness and duty tender it.

Nothing can ever be wrong when simple people offer it out of duty.

Go, bring them in:

Go and bring them in.

and take your places, ladies.

Ladies, take your seats.

Exit Philostrate.

Hippolyta

I love not to see wretchedness o’ercharged,

And duty in his service perishing.

I don't enjoy watching poor wretches struggle under a task too big for them, and devotion collapse in the attempt.

Theseus

Why, gentle sweet, you shall see no such thing.

My sweet, you'll see nothing of the sort.

Hippolyta

He says they can do nothing in this kind.

He says they can't do this kind of thing at all.

Theseus

The kinder we, to give them thanks for nothing.

Then it's all the kinder of us to thank them for nothing.

Our sport shall be to take what they mistake:

Our sport will be to make something of what they get wrong.

And what poor duty cannot do, noble respect

Takes it in might, not merit.

Where honest effort falls short, generous respect takes the intention for the achievement.

Where I have come, great clerks have purposed

To greet me with premeditated welcomes;

In places I've visited, great scholars have prepared elaborate speeches of welcome

Where I have seen them shiver and look pale,

Make periods in the midst of sentences,

Throttle their practis’d accent in their fears,

And, in conclusion, dumbly have broke off,

Not paying me a welcome.

— and I've watched them shiver and turn pale, stop dead in the middle of sentences, choke on their rehearsed delivery out of nerves, and finally break off in silence without ever welcoming me at all.

Trust me, sweet,

Out of this silence yet I pick’d a welcome;

And in the modesty of fearful duty

I read as much as from the rattling tongue

Of saucy and audacious eloquence.

Believe me, my love, out of that silence I still picked out a welcome, and I read as much in the modesty of frightened devotion as in the rattling tongue of bold, self-assured eloquence.

Love, therefore, and tongue-tied simplicity

In least speak most to my capacity.

So affection and tongue-tied simplicity, in my judgment, say most when they say least.

Enter Philostrate.

Philostrate

So please your grace, the Prologue is address’d.

If it please your grace, the Prologue is ready.

Theseus

Let him approach.

Let him come in.

Flourish of trumpets. Enter the Prologue.

Theseus

PROLOGUE

If we offend, it is with our good will.

PROLOGUE: If we offend, we do it with good will.

That you should think, we come not to offend,

But with good will.

That you should think we come not to offend, but with good will.

To show our simple skill,

That is the true beginning of our end.

To show our humble skill, that is the true beginning of our end.

Consider then, we come but in despite.

Consider then, we come in spite of you.

We do not come, as minding to content you,

We do not come intending to please you.

Our true intent is.

Our true intention is.

All for your delight

We are not here.

All for your delight we are not here.

That you should here repent you,

The actors are at hand, and, by their show,

You shall know all that you are like to know.

That you should regret coming here, the actors are standing by, and from their performance you shall learn everything you are likely to learn.

Theseus

This fellow doth not stand upon points.

This fellow pays no attention to his punctuation.

Lysander

He hath rid his prologue like a rough colt;

He's ridden his prologue like an unbroken colt

he knows not the stop.

— he doesn't know how to stop.

good moral, my lord: it is not enough to speak, but to speak true.

A good moral there, my lord: it isn't enough to speak, you have to speak sense.

Hippolyta

Indeed he hath played on this prologue like a child on a recorder; a

sound, but not in government.

He really has played on this prologue like a child on a recorder: a sound, certainly, but not under control.

Theseus

His speech was like a tangled chain; nothing impaired, but all

disordered.

His speech was like a tangled chain — nothing missing from it, but everything in the wrong order.

Who is next?

Who's next?

Enter Pyramus and Thisbe, Wall, Moonshine and Lion as in dumb show.

Theseus

PROLOGUE

Gentles, perchance you wonder at this show;

PROLOGUE: Ladies and gentlemen, perhaps this show puzzles you.

But wonder on, till truth make all things plain.

Go on being puzzled until the truth makes it all plain.

This man is Pyramus, if you would know;

This beauteous lady Thisbe is certain.

This man is Pyramus, in case you want to know, and this beautiful lady is certainly Thisbe.

This man, with lime and rough-cast, doth present

Wall, that vile wall which did these lovers sunder;

And through Wall’s chink, poor souls, they are content

To whisper, at the which let no man wonder.

This man, covered in plaster and rough-cast, represents Wall — that vile wall which kept these lovers apart — and through Wall's crack the poor souls are content to whisper, which nobody should find surprising.

This man, with lantern, dog, and bush of thorn,

Presenteth Moonshine, for, if you will know,

By moonshine did these lovers think no scorn

To meet at Ninus’ tomb, there, there to woo.

This man with the lantern, the dog and the bundle of thorns represents Moonshine, because — if you want to know — it was by moonlight that these lovers didn't mind meeting at Ninus's tomb to do their courting.

This grisly beast (which Lion hight by name)

The trusty Thisbe, coming first by night,

Did scare away, or rather did affright;

This ghastly beast, whose name is Lion, frightened away — or rather terrified — the faithful Thisbe when she arrived first by night;

And as she fled, her mantle she did fall;

Which Lion vile with bloody mouth did stain.

and as she fled she dropped her cloak, which vile Lion stained with his bloody mouth.

Anon comes Pyramus, sweet youth, and tall,

And finds his trusty Thisbe’s mantle slain;

Then along comes Pyramus, sweet handsome youth, and finds his faithful Thisbe's cloak murdered.

Whereat with blade, with bloody blameful blade,

He bravely broach’d his boiling bloody breast;

At which, with a blade — a bloody, guilty blade — he bravely stabbed his boiling bloody breast.

And Thisbe, tarrying in mulberry shade,

His dagger drew, and died.

And Thisbe, waiting in the mulberry shade, drew his dagger and died.

For all the rest,

Let Lion, Moonshine, Wall, and lovers twain,

At large discourse while here they do remain.

As for everything else, let Lion, Moonshine, Wall and the two lovers explain it at length while they're here.

Exeunt Prologue, Pyramus, Thisbe, Lion and Moonshine.

Theseus

I wonder if the lion be to speak.

I wonder whether the lion is supposed to speak.

Demetrius

No wonder, my lord.

Nothing to wonder at, my lord.

One lion may, when many asses do.

One lion may speak, when so many asses do.

Wall

In this same interlude it doth befall

That I, one Snout by name, present a wall:

In this same play it so happens that I — Snout by name — represent a wall.

And such a wall as I would have you think

That had in it a crannied hole or chink,

Through which the lovers, Pyramus and Thisbe,

Did whisper often very secretly.

And a wall of such a kind, I'd like you to think, as had a cracked hole or chink in it, through which the lovers Pyramus and Thisbe often whispered in secret.

This loam, this rough-cast, and this stone, doth show

That I am that same wall; the truth is so:

This clay, this rough-cast and this stone show that I am that same wall — that's the truth of it.

And this the cranny is, right and sinister,

Through which the fearful lovers are to whisper.

And this is the crack, on the right and on the left, through which the frightened lovers are to whisper.

Theseus

Would you desire lime and hair to speak better?

Could you ask plaster and horsehair to speak any better?

Demetrius

It is the wittiest partition that ever I heard discourse, my lord.

It's the wittiest partition I've ever heard hold forth, my lord.

Theseus

Pyramus draws near the wall;

Pyramus is approaching the wall.

silence.

Quiet.

Enter Pyramus.

Pyramus

O grim-look’d night!

O grim-faced night!

O night with hue so black!

O night of such a black hue!

O night, which ever art when day is not!

O night, which is always there when day is not!

O night, O night, alack, alack, alack,

I fear my Thisbe’s promise is forgot!

O night, O night, alas, alas, alas, I fear my Thisbe has forgotten her promise.

And thou, O wall, O sweet, O lovely wall,

That stand’st between her father’s ground and mine;

And you, O wall, O sweet, O lovely wall, that stands between her father's land and mine

Thou wall, O wall, O sweet and lovely wall,

Show me thy chink, to blink through with mine eyne.

— you wall, O wall, O sweet and lovely wall, show me your crack, so I may squint through it with my eyes.

Wall holds up his fingers.

Pyramus

Thanks, courteous wall: Jove shield thee well for this!

Thank you, courteous wall — may Jove reward you for it.

But what see I?

But what do I see?

No Thisbe do I see.

O wicked wall, through whom I see no bliss,

Curs’d be thy stones for thus deceiving me!

O wicked wall, through whom I see no happiness, cursed be your stones for deceiving me like this.

Theseus

The wall, methinks, being sensible, should curse again.

I'd have thought the wall, being able to feel, ought to curse him back.

Pyramus

No, in truth, sir, he should not.

No, truly, sir, he shouldn't.

‘Deceiving me’ is Thisbe’s cue:

"Deceiving me" is Thisbe's cue.

she

is to enter now, and I am to spy her through the wall.

She's to come in now, and I'm to spot her through the wall.

You shall see it

will fall pat as I told you.

You'll see it works out exactly as I told you.

Yonder she comes.

Here she comes.

Enter Thisbe.

Thisbe

O wall, full often hast thou heard my moans,

For parting my fair Pyramus and me.

O wall, how often you have heard my groans for keeping my handsome Pyramus and me apart.

My cherry lips have often kiss’d thy stones,

Thy stones with lime and hair knit up in thee.

My cherry lips have often kissed your stones — your stones bound together with lime and horsehair.

Pyramus

I see a voice;

I see a voice.

now will I to the chink,

To spy an I can hear my Thisbe’s face.

Now I'll go to the crack and see whether I can hear my Thisbe's face.

Thisbe?

Thisbe

My love thou art, my love I think.

My love you are, my love I think.

Pyramus

Think what thou wilt, I am thy lover’s grace;

Think what you like, I am your lover's darling

And like Limander am I trusty still.

— and like Limander, I'm still faithful.

Thisbe

And I like Helen, till the fates me kill.

And I'm like Helen, until the fates strike me down.

Pyramus

Not Shafalus to Procrus was so true.

Not even Cephalus was so true to Procris.

Thisbe

As Shafalus to Procrus, I to you.

As Cephalus was to Procris, so am I to you.

Pyramus

O kiss me through the hole of this vile wall.

O kiss me through the hole in this vile wall.

Thisbe

I kiss the wall’s hole, not your lips at all.

I'm kissing the wall's hole, not your lips at all.

Pyramus

Wilt thou at Ninny’s tomb meet me straightway?

Will you meet me at Ninny's tomb right away?

Thisbe

’Tide life, ’tide death, I come without delay.

Come life, come death, I'll be there without delay.

Wall

Thus have I, Wall, my part discharged so;

And, being done, thus Wall away doth go.

So I, Wall, have played my part — and now that it's done, Wall walks away.

Exeunt Wall, Pyramus and Thisbe.

Theseus

Now is the mural down between the two neighbours.

So now the wall between the two neighbours is down.

Demetrius

No remedy, my lord, when walls are so wilful to hear without warning.

No help for it, my lord, when walls are so headstrong as to listen without permission.

Hippolyta

This is the silliest stuff that ever I heard.

This is the silliest thing I've ever heard.

Theseus

The best in this kind are but shadows; and the worst are no worse, if

imagination amend them.

The best in this line of work are only shadows, and the worst are no worse — so long as imagination fills them out.

Hippolyta

It must be your imagination then, and not theirs.

Then it has to be your imagination doing the work, not theirs.

Theseus

If we imagine no worse of them than they of themselves, they may pass

for excellent men.

If we think no worse of them than they think of themselves, they may pass for excellent men.

Here come two noble beasts in, a man and a lion.

Here come two noble beasts: a man and a lion.

Enter Lion and Moonshine.

Lion

You, ladies, you, whose gentle hearts do fear

The smallest monstrous mouse that creeps on floor,

May now, perchance, both quake and tremble here,

When lion rough in wildest rage doth roar.

You ladies, you whose gentle hearts are frightened by the smallest monstrous mouse that creeps across a floor, may now perhaps quake and tremble here, when a rough lion roars in his wildest rage.

Then know that I, one Snug the joiner, am

A lion fell, nor else no lion’s dam;

So let it be known that I, one Snug the joiner, am a fierce lion — and not a lioness either.

For if I should as lion come in strife

Into this place, ’twere pity on my life.

For if I came in here as a lion looking for a fight, my life wouldn't be worth much.

Theseus

A very gentle beast, and of a good conscience.

A very gentle beast, and one with a good conscience.

Demetrius

The very best at a beast, my lord, that e’er I saw.

The very best beast, my lord, that I ever saw.

Lysander

This lion is a very fox for his valour.

For courage, this lion is a complete fox.

Theseus

True; and a goose for his discretion.

True — and for discretion, a goose.

Demetrius

Not so, my lord, for his valour cannot carry his discretion, and the

fox carries the goose.

Not so, my lord. His courage can't carry his discretion, whereas the fox does carry off the goose.

Theseus

His discretion, I am sure, cannot carry his valour; for the goose

carries not the fox.

And his discretion certainly can't carry his courage, since the goose doesn't carry off the fox.

It is well;

Well, never mind

leave it to his discretion, and let us

listen to the moon.

— leave it to his discretion, and let's listen to the moon.

Moonshine

This lanthorn doth the hornèd moon present.

This lantern represents the horned moon.

Demetrius

He should have worn the horns on his head.

Theseus

He is no crescent, and his horns are invisible within the

circumference.

He's not a crescent, so his horns must be invisible somewhere inside the circle.

Moonshine

This lanthorn doth the hornèd moon present;

This lantern represents the horned moon.

Myself the man i’ the moon do seem to be.

I myself appear to be the man in the moon.

Theseus

This is the greatest error of all the rest;

That's the biggest mistake of the lot.

the man should be put into

the lantern.

The man ought to be put inside the lantern

How is it else the man i’ the moon?

— how else is he the man in the moon?

Demetrius

He dares not come there for the candle,

He doesn't dare go in there because of the candle.

for you see, it is already in

snuff.

As you can see, it's already smoking.

Hippolyta

I am aweary of this moon.

I'm tired of this moon.

Would he would change!

I wish he would change.

Theseus

It appears by his small light of discretion that he is in the wane;

Judging by the feeble light of his discretion, he's on the wane.

but

yet, in courtesy, in all reason, we must stay the time.

But out of courtesy, and in all fairness, we have to sit it out.

Lysander

Proceed, Moon.

Carry on, Moon.

Moon

All that I have to say, is to tell you that the lantern is the moon; I

the man i’ the moon; this thorn-bush my thorn-bush; and this dog my

dog.

All I have to say is this: the lantern is the moon, I'm the man in the moon, this thorn-bush is my thorn-bush, and this dog is my dog.

Demetrius

Why, all these should be in the lantern, for all these are in the moon.

Well, all of that ought to be in the lantern, since all of it is in the moon.

But silence; here comes Thisbe.

But quiet — here comes Thisbe.

Enter Thisbe.

Thisbe

This is old Ninny’s tomb.

This is old Ninny's tomb.

Where is my love?

Lion

Oh!

The Lion roars, Thisbe runs off.

Demetrius

Well roared, Lion.

Theseus

Well run, Thisbe.

Hippolyta

Well shone, Moon.

Truly, the moon shines with a good grace.

Truly, the moon shines very gracefully.

The Lion tears Thisbe’s mantle, and exit.

Theseus

Well moused, Lion.

Well pounced, Lion.

Demetrius

And then came Pyramus.

And then Pyramus arrived.

Lysander

And so the lion vanished.

And so the lion disappeared.

Enter Pyramus.

Pyramus

Sweet Moon, I thank thee for thy sunny beams;

Sweet Moon, thank you for your sunny beams.

I thank thee, Moon, for shining now so bright;

For, by thy gracious golden, glittering gleams,

I trust to take of truest Thisbe sight.

Thank you, Moon, for shining so brightly now, because by your gracious golden glittering gleams I trust I shall catch sight of the truest Thisbe.

But stay!

But wait!

O spite!

O horror!

But mark, poor knight,

What dreadful dole is here!

But look, poor knight, what dreadful grief is here!

Eyes, do you see?

Eyes, can you see?

How can it be?

How can this be?

O dainty duck! O dear!

Thy mantle good,

What, stained with blood?

Your good cloak — what, stained with blood?

Approach, ye Furies fell!

Come, you cruel Furies!

O Fates, come, come;

Cut thread and thrum;

O Fates, come, come, cut the thread and the loose ends.

Quail, rush, conclude, and quell!

Crush, hurry, finish and kill!

Theseus

This passion, and the death of a dear friend, would go near to make a

man look sad.

That much passion — plus a dear friend actually dying — would come close to making a man look sad.

Hippolyta

Beshrew my heart, but I pity the man.

Curse my heart, but I do feel sorry for the man.

Pyramus

O wherefore, Nature, didst thou lions frame,

Since lion vile hath here deflower’d my dear?

O why, Nature, did you make lions, since a vile lion has ravished my darling here?

Which is—no, no—which was the fairest dame

That liv’d, that lov’d, that lik’d, that look’d with cheer.

Who is — no, no — who was the loveliest lady that ever lived, that ever loved, that ever liked, that ever looked cheerful.

Come, tears, confound!

Come, tears, destroy me!

Out, sword, and wound

The pap of Pyramus;

Ay, that left pap,

Where heart doth hop:

Out, sword, and wound the breast of Pyramus — yes, that left breast, where the heart goes hop.

Thus die I, thus, thus, thus.

So I die, thus, thus, thus.

Now am I dead,

Now I am dead.

Now am I fled;

Now I have fled.

My soul is in the sky.

Tongue, lose thy light!

Tongue, put out your light!

Moon, take thy flight!

Moon, take your flight!

Now die, die, die, die, die.

Dies. Exit Moonshine.

Demetrius

No die, but an ace, for him; for he is but one.

With no dice, only a single spot for him — since he's only one.

Lysander

Less than an ace, man;

Less than one spot, man.

for he is dead, he is nothing.

He's dead; he's nothing.

Theseus

With the help of a surgeon he might yet recover and prove an ass.

With a surgeon's help he might yet recover and turn out to be an ass.

Hippolyta

How chance Moonshine is gone before Thisbe comes back and finds her

lover?

How is it that Moonshine has gone before Thisbe comes back and finds her lover?

Theseus

She will find him by starlight.

She'll find him by starlight.

Enter Thisbe.

Theseus

Here she comes, and her passion ends the play.

Here she comes, and her big speech ends the play.

Hippolyta

Methinks she should not use a long one for such a Pyramus.

I shouldn't think she'd need a long one for a Pyramus like that.

I hope she

will be brief.

I hope she'll be brief.

Demetrius

A mote will turn the balance, which Pyramus, which Thisbe, is the

better: he for a man, God warrant us; she for a woman, God bless us!

A speck of dust would tip the scales between which is better, Pyramus or Thisbe: him as a man, God help us, and her as a woman, God bless us.

Lysander

She hath spied him already with those sweet eyes.

She's spotted him already with those sweet eyes.

Demetrius

And thus she means, _videlicet_—

And so she laments, to wit —

Thisbe

Asleep, my love?

What, dead, my dove?

O Pyramus, arise,

O Pyramus, get up!

Speak, speak.

Quite dumb?

Completely dumb?

Dead, dead?

A tomb

Must cover thy sweet eyes.

A tomb must cover your sweet eyes.

These lily lips,

This cherry nose,

These yellow cowslip cheeks,

Are gone, are gone!

These lily lips, this cherry nose, these yellow cowslip cheeks, are gone, are gone!

Lovers, make moan;

His eyes were green as leeks.

Lovers, weep — his eyes were as green as leeks.

O Sisters Three,

Come, come to me,

With hands as pale as milk;

O you three Sisters, come, come to me with hands as pale as milk.

Lay them in gore,

Since you have shore

With shears his thread of silk.

Dip them in gore, since you have cut his silken thread with your shears.

Tongue, not a word:

Tongue, not a word.

Come, trusty sword,

Come, blade, my breast imbrue;

Come, trusty sword; come, blade, and drench my breast.

And farewell, friends.

Thus Thisbe ends.

So Thisbe ends.

Adieu, adieu, adieu.

Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye.

Dies.

Theseus

Moonshine and Lion are left to bury the dead.

Demetrius

Ay, and Wall too.

Yes, and Wall too.

Bottom

No, I assure you; the wall is down that parted their fathers.

No, I assure you — the wall that separated their fathers is down.

Will it

please you to see the epilogue, or to hear a Bergomask dance between

two of our company?

Would you like to see the epilogue, or hear a rustic dance performed by two of our company?

Theseus

No epilogue, I pray you;

No epilogue, please.

for your play needs no excuse. Never excuse;

for when the players are all dead there need none to be blamed.

Your play needs no apology — never apologize, because when all the actors are dead there's nobody left to blame.

Marry,

if he that writ it had played Pyramus, and hanged himself in Thisbe’s

garter, it would have been a fine tragedy; and so it is, truly; and

very notably discharged.

Honestly, if the man who wrote it had played Pyramus and hanged himself in Thisbe's garter, it would have made a fine tragedy — and so it is, truly, and very notably performed.

But come, your Bergomask;

But come on, let's have your dance.

let your epilogue

alone.

Forget the epilogue.

Here a dance of Clowns.

Theseus

The iron tongue of midnight hath told twelve.

Midnight's iron tongue has struck twelve.

Lovers, to bed; ’tis almost fairy time.

Lovers, off to bed — it's nearly the fairies' hour.

I fear we shall outsleep the coming morn

As much as we this night have overwatch’d.

I suspect we'll oversleep tomorrow morning by exactly as much as we've stayed up tonight.

This palpable-gross play hath well beguil’d

The heavy gait of night.

This gloriously crude play has done a good job of shortening night's heavy crawl.

Sweet friends, to bed.

A fortnight hold we this solemnity

In nightly revels and new jollity.

We'll keep this celebration up for a fortnight, with revels every night and fresh entertainment.

Exeunt.

Enter Puck.

Puck

Now the hungry lion roars,

And the wolf behowls the moon;

Whilst the heavy ploughman snores,

All with weary task fordone.

Now the hungry lion roars and the wolf howls at the moon, while the exhausted ploughman snores, worn out by his day's labour.

Now the wasted brands do glow,

Whilst the screech-owl, screeching loud,

Puts the wretch that lies in woe

In remembrance of a shroud.

Now the burnt-down logs glow, while the screech-owl, shrieking loudly, reminds the man lying in misery of his own shroud.

Now it is the time of night

That the graves, all gaping wide,

Every one lets forth his sprite,

In the church-way paths to glide.

Now is the hour of night when every grave gapes open and lets its ghost out to glide along the churchyard paths.

And we fairies, that do run

By the triple Hecate’s team

From the presence of the sun,

Following darkness like a dream,

Now are frolic;

And we fairies, who run in the train of triple Hecate, fleeing the sun and following darkness like a dream, are merry now.

not a mouse

Shall disturb this hallow’d house.

Not a mouse shall disturb this blessed house.

I am sent with broom before,

To sweep the dust behind the door.

I've been sent ahead with a broom to sweep the dust from behind the door.

Enter Oberon and Titania with their Train.

Oberon

Through the house give glimmering light,

By the dead and drowsy fire.

Through the house give off a glimmering light from 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.

Every elf and fairy spirit hop as lightly as a bird off a briar, and sing and dance this song after me, nimbly.

Titania

First rehearse your song by rote,

To each word a warbling note;

First run through the tune by heart, a warbling note for every word.

Hand in hand, with fairy grace,

Will we sing, and bless this place.

Then hand in hand, with fairy grace, we'll sing and bless this place.

Song and Dance.

Oberon

Now, until the break of day,

Through this house each fairy stray.

Now, until daybreak, let every fairy wander through this house.

To the best bride-bed will we,

Which by us shall blessèd be;

And the issue there create

Ever shall be fortunate.

We'll go to the finest bridal bed and bless it, so that the children conceived there will always be fortunate.

So shall all the couples three

Ever true in loving be;

And the blots of Nature’s hand

Shall not in their issue stand:

Never mole, hare-lip, nor scar,

Nor mark prodigious, such as are

Despised in nativity,

Shall upon their children be.

All three couples shall be faithful in love forever, and the flaws Nature's hand leaves behind shall not appear in their children: no mole, no harelip, no scar, no ominous birthmark of the kind people despise in a newborn, shall be found on any child of theirs.

With this field-dew consecrate,

Every fairy take his gait,

And each several chamber bless,

Through this palace, with sweet peace;

With this consecrated field-dew, let every fairy go his own way and bless each separate room throughout this palace with sweet peace.

And the owner of it blest.

Ever shall it in safety rest,

And let the owner of the house be blessed, and let it rest safe forever.

Trip away. Make no stay;

Meet me all by break of day.

Off you go, no lingering — all of you meet me at daybreak.

Exeunt Oberon, Titania and Train.

Puck

If we shadows have offended,

Think but this, and all is mended,

That you have but slumber’d here

While these visions did appear.

If we shadows have given offence, just think of it this way and everything is put right: that you were only dozing here while these visions appeared to you.

And this weak and idle theme,

No more yielding but a dream,

Gentles, do not reprehend.

And this feeble, trivial piece, which produced no more than a dream — don't condemn it, ladies and gentlemen.

If you pardon, we will mend.

If you forgive us, we'll do better.

And, as I am an honest Puck,

If we have unearnèd luck

Now to ’scape the serpent’s tongue,

We will make amends ere long;

And, as I'm an honest Puck, if we're lucky enough to escape the hiss of the audience this time, we'll make it up to you before long

Else the Puck a liar call.

— or else call Puck a liar.

So, good night unto you all.

So, good night to you all.

Give me your hands, if we be friends,

And Robin shall restore amends.

Give me your applause, if we're friends, and Robin will make it up to you.

Exit.

A Midsummer Night's Dream Act 5, Scene 1 summary

Who appears in this scene

Hippolyta, Theseus, Lysander, Philostrate, Demetrius, Wall, Pyramus, Thisbe, Lion, Moonshine, Moon, Bottom, Puck, Oberon, Titania — Athens. An Apartment in the Palace of Theseus.

Famous lines in A Midsummer Night's Dream Act 5, Scene 1, explained

“The lunatic, the lover, and the poet / Are of imagination all compact:” (line 7): Theseus groups the madman, the lover and the poet together as people made entirely of imagination, all of them seeing things that reason cannot verify. He means it as a put-down of the lovers' story, but the speech is the play's fullest description of how imagination works, and Shakespeare has just spent four acts proving the fairies real. The irony is that Theseus, the play's voice of reason, is standing in a palace that is about to be blessed by the very fairies he says don't exist.
“And as imagination bodies forth / The forms of things unknown, the poet’s pen / Turns them to shapes, and gives to airy nothing / A local habitation and a name.” (line 14): This is Shakespeare's most famous account of what writers actually do: imagination produces things that have no existence, and the pen gives them a place and a name so other people can see them too. Coming in a play full of fairies and a man with an ass's head, it reads as a quiet statement of the author's own method. It is one of the most quoted descriptions of creative work in English.
“The best in this kind are but shadows; and the worst are no worse, if / imagination amend them.” (line 209): Theseus defends the mechanicals by saying all actors are only shadows — even the finest — so the audience's imagination is what makes any performance work. It is a generous thing to say about a terrible play, and it prepares the ground for Puck's epilogue, which asks Shakespeare's own audience for exactly the same indulgence. "Shadows" is also the word Oberon uses for the fairies, tying the players, the spirits and the play itself together.
“If we shadows have offended, / Think but this, and all is mended, / That you have but slumber’d here / While these visions did appear.” (line 401): Puck's closing speech tells the audience that if the play displeased them, they can simply decide they dreamed it. It is a conventional request for applause turned into the play's final argument: dreams and theatre work the same way, and both depend on the audience agreeing to believe. The lines send everyone home holding the same uncertainty the four lovers woke up with, which is precisely the effect Shakespeare wanted.

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About this translation: the original text follows the public-domain Project Gutenberg Globe edition; the modern English translation was written in-house for Polytranslator and is reviewed on an ongoing basis (last revised August 2026). Free to print and photocopy for classroom use. Cite as: “A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 5, Scene 1. Polytranslator side-by-side translation, polytranslator.com/shakespeare/midsummer-nights-dream/act-5-scene-1.”

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