Bottom.
[Sings]
The finch, the sparrow and the lark,
- The plain-song cuckoo gray,
Whose note full many a man doth mark,
- And dares not answer nay;—
for, indeed, who would set his wit to so foolish a bird? who would give a bird the lie, though he cry ‘cuckoo’ never so?
Titania.
I pray thee, gentle mortal, sing again:
Mine ear is much enamour’d of thy note;
So is mine eye enthralled to thy shape;
And thy fair virtue’s force perforce doth move me
On the first view to say, to swear, I love thee.
Bottom.
Methinks, mistress, you should have little reason for that: and yet, to say the truth, reason and love keep little company together now-a-days; the more the pity that some honest neighbours will not make them friends. Nay, I can gleek upon occasion.
Titania.
Thou art as wise as thou art beautiful.
Bottom.
Not so, neither: but if I had wit enough to get out of this wood, I have enough to serve mine own turn.
