If thou art Dun, we'll draw thee from the mire,
Of—save your reverence—love, wherein thou stick'st
Up to the ears. Come, we burn daylight, ho!
Rom. Nay, that's not so.
Mer. I mean, sir, in delay 44
We waste our lights in vain, light lights by day.
Take our good meaning, for our judgment sits
Five times in that ere once in our five wits.
Rom. And we mean well in going to this masque; 48
But 'tis no wit to go.
Mer. Why, may one ask?
Rom. I dream'd a dream to-night.
Mer. And so did I.
Rom. Well, what was yours?
Mer. That dreamers often lie.
Rom. In bed asleep, while they do dream things true. 52
Mer. O! then, I see, Queen Mab hath been with you.
Ben. Queen Mab! What's she?
Mer. She is the fairies' midwife, and she comes
In shape no bigger than an agate-stone 56
On the fore-finger of an alderman,
Drawn with a team of little atomies
Over men's noses as they lie asleep:
Her waggon-spokes made of long spinners' legs;
The cover, of the wings of grasshoppers; 61
Her traces, of the smallest spider's web;
Her collars, of the moonshine's watery beams;
Her whip, of cricket's bone; the lash, of film; 64
42 save your reverence; cf. n.
45 lights; cf. n.
49 wit: good sense
50 to-night: last night
55 fairies' midwife: the fairy who brings dreams to birth
56 agate-stone; cf. n.
58 atomies: tiny beings
60 spinners': spiders'
64 film: gossamer thread
