Old Chaucer doth of Topas tell,
Mad Rabelais of Pantagruel,
A later third of Dowsabel,
With
such poor trifles playing ;
Others the like have labored at,
Some of this thing and some of that,
And many of they know not what,
But
that they must be saying.
Another sort there be, that will
Be talking of the Fairies still,
10
Nor never can they have their fill,
As
they were wedded to them;
No tales of them their thirst can
slake,
So much delight therein they take,
And some strange thing they fain
would make,
Knew
they the way to do them.
Then since no Muse hath been so bold,
Or of the later, or the old,
Those elvish secrets to unfold,
Which
lie from others' reading,
20
My active Muse to light shall bring
The Court of that proud Fairy King,
And tell there of the revelling
:
Jove
prosper my proceeding !
And thou, Nymphidia, gentle Fay,
Which, meeting me upon the way,
These secrets didst to me bewray,
Which
now I am in telling ;
My pretty, light, fantastic maid,
I here invoke thee to my aid,
30
That I may speak what thou hast
said,
In
numbers smoothly swelling.
This palace standeth in the air,
By necromancy placed there,
That it no tempests needs to fear,
Which
way soe'er it blow it ;
And somewhat southward toward the
noon,
Whence lies a way up to the moon,
And thence the Fairy can as soon
Pass
to the earth below it.
40
The walls of spiders' legs are made
Well mortised and finely laid ;
He was the master of his trade
It
curiously that builded ;
The windows of the eyes of cats,
And for the roof, instead of slats,
Is covered with the skins of bats,
With
moonshine that are gilded.
Hence Oberon him sport to make,
Their rest when weary mortals take,
50
And none but only fairies wake,
Descendeth
for his pleasure ;
And Mab, his merry Queen, by night
Bestrides young folks that lie upright
(In elder times, the mare that hight),
Which
plagues them out of measure.
Hence shadows, seeming idle shapes
Of little frisking elves and apes
To earth do make their wanton scapes,
As
hope of pastime hastes them ;
60
Which maids think on the hearth
they see
When fires well-near consumed be,
There dancing hays by two and three,
Just
as their fancy casts them.
These make our girls their sluttery
rue,
By pinching them both black and
blue,
And put a penny in their shoe
The
house for cleanly sweeping ;
And in their courses make that round
In meadows and in marshes found,
70
Of them so called the Fairy Ground,
Of
which they have the keeping.
These when a child haps to be got
Which after proves an idiot
When folk perceive it thriveth not,
The
fault therein to smother,
Some silly, doting, brainless calf
That understands things by the half,
Say that the Fairy left this aulfe
And
took away the other.
80
But listen, and I shall you tell
A chance in Fairy that befell,
Which certainly may please some
well
In
love and arms delighting,
Of Oberon that jealous grew
Of one of his own Fairy crew,
Too well, he feared, his Queen that
knew,
His
love but ill requiting.
Pigwiggen was this Fairy Knight,
One wondrous gracious in the sight
90
Of fair Queen Mab, which day and
night
He
amorously observed ;
Which made King Oberon suspect
His service took too good effect,
His sauciness and often checkt,
And
could have wished him starved.
Pigwiggen gladly would commend
Some token to Queen Mab to send,
If sea or land could ought him lend
Were
worthy of her wearing ;
100
At length this lover doth devise
A bracelet made of emmets' eyes,
A thing he thought that she would
prize,
No
whit her state impairing.
And to the Queen a letter writes,
Which he most curiously indites,
Conjuring her by all the rites
Of
love, she would be pleased
To meet him, her true servant, where
They might, without suspect or fear,
110
Themselves to one another clear
And
have their poor hearts eased.
" At midnight the appointed hour,
And for the Queen a fitting bower,"
Quoth he, " is that fair cowslip
flower
On
Hipcut hill that bloweth :
In all your train there's not a
fay
That ever went to gather may
But she hath made it, in her way
;
The
tallest there that groweth."
120
When by Tom Thumb, a Fairy Page,
He sent it, and doth him engage
By promise of a mighty wage
It
secretly to carry ;
Which done, the Queen her maids
doth call,
And bids them to be ready all :
She would go see her summer hall,
She
could no longer tarry.
Her chariot ready straight is made,
Each thing therein is fitting laid,
130
That she by nothing might be stayed,
For
nought must her be letting ;
Four nimble gnats the horses were,
Their harnesses of gossamer,
Fly Cranion her charioteer
Upon
the coach-box getting.
Her chariot of a snail's fine shell,
Which for the colours did excel,
The fair Queen Mab becoming well,
So
lively was the limning ;
140
The seat the soft wool of the bee,
The cover, gallantly to see,
The wing of a pied butterflee ;
I
trow 't was simple trimming.
The wheels composed of crickets'
bones,
And daintily made for the nonce,
For fear of rattling on the stones
With
thistle-down they shod it;
For all her maidens much did fear
If Oberon had chanced to hear
150
That Mab his Queen should have been
there,
 He
would not have abode it.
She mounts her chariot with a trice,
Nor would she stay, for no advice,
Until her maids that were so nice
To
wait on her were fitted ;
But ran herself away alone,
Which when they heard, there was
not one
But hasted after to be gone,
As
she had been diswitted.
160
Hop and Mop and Drop so clear,
Pip and Trip and Skip that were
To Mab, their sovereign, ever dear,
Her
special maids of honour ;
Fib and Tib and Pink and Pin,
Tick and Quick and Jill and Jin,
Tit and Nit and Wap and Win,
The
train that wait upon her.
Upon a grasshopper they got
And, what with amble and with trot,
170
For hedge nor ditch they spared
not,
But
after her they hie them ;
A cobweb over them they throw,
To shield the wind if it should
blow,
Themselves they wisely could bestow
Lest
any should espy them.
But let us leave Queen Mab awhile,
(Through many a gate, o'er many
a stile,
That now had gotten by this wile),
Her
dear Pigwiggen kissing ;
180
And tell how Oberon doth fare,
Who grew as mad as any hare
When he had sought each place with
care
And
found his Queen was missing.
By grisly Pluto he doth swear,
He rent his clothes and tore his
hair,
And as he runneth here and there
An
acorn cup he greeteth,
Which soon he taketh by the stalk,
About his head he lets it walk,
190
Nor doth he any creature balk,
But
lays on all he meeteth.
The Tuscan poet doth advance
The frantic Paladin of France,
And those more ancient do enhance
Alcides
in his fury,
And others Ajax Telamon,
But to this time there hath been
none
So bedlam as our Oberon,
Of
which I dare assure ye.
200
And first encountering with a Wasp,
He in his arms the fly doth clasp
As though his breath he forth would
grasp,
Him
for Pigwiggen taking :
" Where is my wife, thou rogue?"
quoth he,
" Pigwiggen, she is come to thee
;
Restore her, or thou diest by me
!"
Whereat
the poor wasp quaking,
Cries, " Oberon, great Fairy King,
Content thee, I am no such thing:
210
I am a Wasp, behold my sting !"
At
which the Fairy started ;
When soon away the Wasp doth go,
Poor wretch, was never frighted
so ;
He thought his wings were much too
slow,
O'erjoyed
they so were parted.
He next upon a Glow-worm light
(You must suppose it now was night),
Which, for her hinder part was bright,
He
took to be a devil,
220
And furiously doth her assail
For carrying fire in her tail ;
He thrashed her rough coat with
his flail ;
The
mad King feared no evil.
"Oh !" quoth the Glow-worm, " hold
thy hand,
Thou puissant King of Fairy-land
!
Thy mighty strokes who may withstand
?
Hold,
or of life despair I !"
Together then herself doth roll,
And tumbling down into a hole,
230
She seemed as black as any coal
;
Which
vext away the Fairy.
From thence he ran into a hive :
Amongst the bees he letteth drive,
And down their combs begins to rive,
All
likely to have spoiled,
Which with their wax his face besmeared,
And with their honey daubed his
beard :
It would have made a man afeared
To
see how he was moiled.
240
A new adventure him betides ;
He met an Ant, which he bestrides,
And post thereon away he rides,
Which
with his haste doth stumble,
And came full over on her snout
;
Her heels so threw the dirt about,
For she by no means could get out,
But
over him doth tumble.
And being in this piteous case,
And all be-slurred head and face,
250
On runs he in this wild-goose chase,
As
here and there he rambles ;
Half blind, against a molehole hit,
And for a mountain taking it,
For all he was out of his wit
Yet
to the top he scrambles.
And being gotten to the top,
Yet there himself he could not stop,
But down on the other side doth
chop,
And
to the foot came rumbling ;
260
So that the grubs, therein that
bred,
Hearing such turmoil overhead,
Thought surely they had all been
dead ;
So
fearful was the jumbling.
And falling down into a lake,
Which him up to the neck doth take,
His fury somewhat it doth slake
;
He
calleth for a ferry ;
Where you may some recovery note,
What was his club he made his boat,
270
And in his oaken cup doth float,
As
safe as in a wherry.
Men talk of the adventures strange
Of Don Quishott, and of their change,
Through which he armed oft did range,
Of
Sancha Pancha's travel ;
But should a man tell everything
Done by this frantic Fairy King,
And them in lofty numbers sing,
It
well his wits might gravel.
280
Scarce set on shore, but therewithal
He meeteth Puck, which most men
call
Hobgoblin, and on him doth fall
With
words from frenzy spoken :
"Ho, ho," quoth Hob, " God save
thy grace!
Who drest thee in this piteous case?
He thus that spoiled my sovereign's
face,
I
would his neck were broken !"
This Puck seems but a dreaming dolt,
Still walking like a ragged colt,
290
And oft out of a bush doth bolt,
Of
purpose to deceive us ;
And leading us makes us to stray,
Long winter's nights, out of the
way ;
And when we stick in mire and clay,
Hob
doth with laughter leave us.
" Dear Puck," quoth he, " my wife
is gone :
As e'er thou lov'st King Oberon,
Let everything but this alone,
With
vengeance and pursue her ;
300
Bring her to me alive or dead,
Or that vile thief Pigwiggen's head
;
That villain hath defiled my bed,
He
to this folly drew her."
Quoth Puck, " My liege, I'll never
lin,
But I will thorough thick and thin,
Until at length I bring her in ;
My
dearest lord, ne'er doubt it.
Thorough brake, thorough briar,
Thorough muck, thorough mire,
310
Thorough water, thorough fire ;
And
thus goes Puck about it."
This thing Nymphidia overheard,
That on this mad king had a guard,
Not doubting of a great reward
For
first this business broaching ;
And through the air away doth go,
Swift as an arrow from the bow,
To let her sovereign Mab to know,
What
peril was approaching.
320
The Queen bound with Love's powerful'st
charm
Sat with Pigwiggen arm in arm ;
Her merry maids, that thought no
harm,
About
the room were skipping ;
A humble-bee, their minstrel, played,
Upon his hautboy, every maid
Fit for this revel was arrayed,
The
hornpipe neatly tripping.
In comes Nymphidia, and doth cry,
" My sovereign, for your safety
fly,
330
For there is danger but too nigh
;
I
posted to forewarn you :
The King hath sent Hobgoblin out,
To seek you all the fields about,
And of your safety you may doubt,
If
he but once discern you."
When like an uproar in a town,
Before them everything went down
;
Some tore a ruff, and some a gown,
'Gainst
one another justling ;
340
They flew about like chaff i' the
wind ;
For haste some left their masks
behind ;
Some could not stay their gloves
to find ;
There
never was such bustling.
Forth ran they, by a secret way,
Into a brake that near them lay
;
Yet much they doubted there to stay,
Lest
Hob should hap to find them ;
He had a sharp and piercing sight,
All one to him the day and night
;
350
And therefore were resolved by flight
To
leave this place behind them.
At length one chance to find a nut,
In the end of which a hole was cut,
Which lay upon a hazel root,
There
scattered by a suirrel
Which out the kernel gotten had
;
When quoth this Fay, " Dear Queen,
be glad ;
Let Oberon be ne'er so mad,
I'll
set you safe from peril.
360
" Come all into this nut," quoth
she,
" Come closely in ; be ruled by
me ;
Each one may here a chooser be,
For
room ye need not wrastle :
Nor need ye be together heapt ;"
Son one by one therein they crept,
And lying down they soundly slept,
And
safe as in a castle.
Nymphidia, that this while doth watch,
Perceived if Puck the Queen should
catch
370
That he should be her over-match,
Of
which she well bethought her ;
Found it must be some powerful charm,
The Queen against him that must
arm,
Or surely he would do her harm,
For
throughly he had sought her.
And listening if she aught could
hear,
That her might hinder, or might
fear,
But finding still the coast was
clear,
Nor
creature had descried her ;
380
Each circumstance and having scanned,
She came thereby to understand,
Puck would be with them out of hand
;
When
to her charms she hied her.
And first her fern-seed doth bestow,
The kernel of the mistletoe ;
And here and there as Puck should
go,
With
terror to affright him,
She nightshade straws to work him
ill,
Therewith her vervain and her dill,
390
That hindereth witches of their
will,
Of
purpose to despite him.
Then sprinkles she the juice of rue,
That groweth underneath the yew
;
With nine drops of the midnight
dew,
From
lunary distilling :
The molewarp's brain mixed therewithal
;
And with the same the pismire's
gall :
For she in nothing short would fall,
The
Fairy was so willing.
400
Then thrice under a briar doth creep,
Which at both ends was rooted deep,
And over it three times she leap
;
Her
magic much availing :
Then on Proserpina doth call,
And so upon her spell doth fall,
Which here to you repeat I shall,
Not
in one tittle failing.
" By the croaking of the frog,
By the howling of the dog,
410
By the crying of the hog
Against
the storm arising ;
By the evening curfew bell,
By the doleful dying knell,
O let this my direful spell,
Hob,
hinder thy surprising !
" By the mandrake's dreadful groans,
By the lubrican's sad moans,
By the noise of dead men's bones
In
charnel-houses rattling ;
420
By the hissing of the snake,
The rustling of the fire-drake,
I charge thee thou this place forsake,
Nor
of Queen Mab be prattling !
" By the whirlwind's hollow sound,
By the thunder's dreadful stound,
Yells of spirits underground.
I
charge thee not to fear us ;
By the screech-owl's dismal note,
By the black night-raven's throat,
430
I charge thee, Hob, to tear thy
coat
With
thorns, if thou come near us !"
Her spell thus spoke, she stept aside,
And in a chink herself doth hide,
To see thereof what would betide,
For
she doth only mind him :
When presently she Puck espies,
And well she marked his gloating
eyes,
How under every leaf he pries,
In
seeking still to find them.
440
But once the circle got within,
The charms to work do straight begin,
And he was caught as in a gin ;
For
as he thus was busy,
A pain he in his head-piece feels,
Against a stubbed tree he reels,
And up went poor Hobgoblin's heels
;
Alas
! his brain was dizzy !
At length upon his feet he gets,
Hobgoblin fumes, Hobgoblin frets
;
450
And as again he forward sets,
And
through the bushes scrambles,
A stump doth trip him in his pace
;
Down comes poor Hob upon his face,
And lamentably tore his case,
Amongst
the briars and brambles.
" A plague upon Queen Mab !" quoth
he,
" And all her maids where'er they
be :
I think the devil guided me,
To
seek her so provoked !"
460
When stumbling at a piece of wood,
He fell into a ditch of mud,
Where to the very chin he stood,
In
danger to be choked.
Now worse than e'er he was before,
Poor Puck doth yell, poor Puck doth
roar,
That waked Queen Mab, who doubted
sore
Some
treason had been wrought her :
Until Nymphidia told the Queen,
What she had done, what she had
seen,
470
Who then had well-near cracked her
spleen
With
very extreme laughter.
But leave we Hob to clamber out,
Queen Mab and all her Fairy rout,
And come again to have a bout
With
Oberon yet madding :
And with Pigwiggen now distraught,
Who much was troubled in his thought,
That he so long the Queen had sought,
And
through the fields was gadding.
480
And as he runs he still doth cry,
" King Oberon, I thee defy,
And dare thee here in arms to try,
For
my dear lady's honour :
For that she is a Queen right good,
In whose defence I'll shed my blood,
And that thou in this jealous mood
Hast
lain this slander on her."
And quickly arms him for the field,
A little cockle-shell his shield,
490
Which he could very bravely wield,
Yet
could it not be pierced :
His spear a bent both stiff and
strong,
And well-near of two inches long
:
The pile was of a horse-fly's tongue,
Whose
sharpness nought reversed.
And puts him on a coat of mail,
Which was of a fish's scale,
That when his foe should him assail,
No
point should be prevailing :
500
His rapier was a hornet's sting
;
It was a very dangerous thing,
For if he chanced to hurt the King,
It
would be long in healing.
His helmet was a beetle's head,
Most horrible and full of dread,
That able was to strike one dead,
Yet
did it well become him ;
And for a plume a horse's hair
Which, being tossed with the air,
510
Had force to strike his foe with
fear,
And
turn his weapon from him.
Himself he on an earwig set,
yet scarce he on his back could
get,
So oft and high he did curvet,
Ere
he himself could settle :
He made him turn, and stop, and
bound,
To gallop and to trot the round,
He scarce could stand on any ground,
He
was so full of mettle.
520
When soon he met with Tomalin,
One that a valiant knight had been,
And to King Oberon of kin ;
Quoth
he, " Thou manly Fairy,
Tell Oberon I come prepared,
Then bid him stand upon his guard
;
This hand his baseness shall reward,
Let
him be ne'er so wary.
" Say to him thus, that I defy
His slanders and his infamy,
530
And as a mortal enemy
Do
publicly proclaim him :
Withal that if I had mine own,
He should not wear the Fairy crown,
But with a vengeance should come
down,
Nor
we a king should name him."
This Tomalin could not abide
To hear his sovereign vilified ;
But to the Fairy Court him hied
(Full
furiously he posted),
540
With everything Pigwiggen said :
How title to the crown he laid,
And in what arms he was arrayed,
As
how himself he boasted.
'Twixt head and foot, from point
to point,
He told the arming of each joint,
In every piece how neat and quaint,
For
Tomalin could do it :
How fair he sat, how sure he rid,
As of the courser he bestrid,
550
How managed, and how well he did
;
The
King which listened to it,
Quoth he, " Go, Tomalin, with speed,
Provide me arms, provide my steed,
And everything that I shall need
;
By
thee I will be guided ;
To straight account call thou thy
wit ;
See there be wanting not a whit,
In everything see thou me fit,
Just
as my foe 's provided."
560
Soon flew this news through Fairy-land,
Which gave Queen Mab to understand
The combat that was then in hand
Betwixt
those men so mighty :
Which greatly she began to rue,
Perceiving that all Fairy knew,
The first occasion from her grew
Of
these affairs so weighty.
Wherefore attended with her maids,
Through fogs, and mists, and damps
she wades, 570
To Proserpine the Queen of Shades,
To
treat, that it would please her
The cause into her hands to take,
For ancient love and friendship's
sake,
And soon thereof an end to make,
Which
of much care would ease her.
A while there let we Mab alone,
And come we to King Oberon,
Who, armed to meet his foe, is gone,
For
proud Pigwiggen crying :
580
Who sought the Fairy King as fast,
And had so well his journeys cast,
That he arrived at the last,
His
puissant foe espying.
Stout Tomalin came with the King,
Tom Thumb doth on Pigwiggen bring,
That perfect were in everything
To
single fights belonging :
And therefore they themselves engage
To see them exercise their rage
590
With fair and comely equipage,
Not
one the other wronging.
So like in arms these champions were,
As they had been a very pair,
So that a man would almost swear
That
either had been either ;
Their furious steeds began to neigh,
That they were heard a mighty way
;
Their staves upon their rests they
lay ;
Yet,
ere they flew together,
600
Their seconds minister an oath,
Which was indifferent to them both,
That on their knightly faith and
troth
No
magic them supplied ;
And sought them that they had no
charms
Wherewith to work each other's harms,
But came with simple open arms
To
have their causes tried.
Together furiously they ran,
That to the ground came horse and
man,
610
The blood out of their helmets span,
So
sharp were their encounters ;
And thought they to the earth were
thrown,
Yet quickly they regained their
own,
Such nimbleness was never show,
They
were two gallant mounters.
Then in a second course again,
They forward came with might and
main,
Yet which had better of the twain,
The
seconds could not judge yet ;
620
Their shields were into pieces cleft,
Their helmets from their heads were
reft,
And to defend them nothing left,
These
champions would not budge yet.
Away from them their staves they
threw,
Their cruel swords they quickly
drew,
And freshly they the fight renew,
They
every stroke redoubled ;
Which made Proserpina take heed,
And make to them the greater speed,
630
For fear lest they too much should
bleed,
Which
wondrously her troubled.
When to the infernal Styx she goes,
She takes the fogs from thence that
rose,
And in a bag doth them enclose,
When
well she had them blended.
She hies her then to Lethe spring,
A bottle and thereof doth bring,
Wherewith she meant to work the
thing
Which
only she intended.
640
Now Proserpine with Mab is gone
Unto the place where Oberon
And proud Pigwiggen, one to one,
Both
to be slain were likely :
And there themselves they closely
hide,
Because they would not be espied
;
For Proserpine meant to decide
The
matter very quickly.
And suddenly unties the poke,
Which out of it sent such a smoke,
650
As ready was them all to choke,
So
grievous was the pother ;
So that the knights each other lost,
And stood as still as any post ;
Tom Thumb nor Tomalin could boast
Themselves
of any other.
But when the mist 'gan somewhat cease
Proserpina commandeth peace ;
And that a while they should release
Each
other of their peril ;
660
" Which here," quoth she, " I do
proclaim
To all in dreadful Pluto's name,
That as ye will eschew his blame,
You
let me hear the quarrel :
" But here yourselves you must engage
Somewhat to cool your spleenish
rage ;
Your grievous thirst and to assuage
That
first you drink this liquor,
Which shall your understanding clear,
As plainly shall to you appear ;
670
Those things from me that you shall
hear
Conceiving
much the quicker."
This Lethe water, you must know,
The memory destroyeth so,
That of our weal, or of our woe,
Is
all remembrance blotted ;
Of it nor can you ever think ;
For they no sooner took this drink,
But nought into their brains could
sink
Of
what had them besotted.
680
King Oberon forgotten had
That he for jealousy ran mad,
But of his Queen was wondrous glad,
And
asked how they came thither :
Pigwiggen likewise doth forget
That he Queen Mab had ever met,
Or that they were so hard beset,
When
they were found together.
Nor neither of them both had thought
That e'er they had each other sought,
690
Much less that they a combat fought,
But
such a dream were loathing :
Tom Thumb had got a little sup,
And Tomalin scarce kissed the cup,
Yet had their brains so sure locked
up,
that
they remembered nothing.
Queen Mab and her light maids, the
while,
Amongst themselves do closely smile,
To see the King caught with this
wile,
With
one another jesting :
700
And to the Fairy Court they went
With mickle joy and merriment,
Which thing was done with good intent,
And
thus I left them feasting.
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