Page:Romeo and Juliet (1917) Yale.djvu/34

22 Her waggoner, a small grey-coated gnat,

Not half so big as a round little worm

Prick'd from the lazy finger of a maid;

Her chariot is an empty hazel-nut,

Made by the joiner squirrel or old grub,

Time out o' mind the fairies' coach-makers.

And in this state she gallops night by night

Through lovers' brains, and then they dream of love

O'er courtiers' knees, that dream on curtsies straight;

O'er lawyers' fingers, who straight dream on fees;

O'er ladies' lips, who straight on kisses dream;

Which oft the angry Mab with blisters plagues,

Because their breaths with sweetmeats tainted are.

Sometimes she gallops o'er a courtier's nose,

And then dreams he of smelling out a suit;

And sometimes comes she with a tithe-pig's tail,

Tickling a parson's nose as a' lies asleep,

Then he dreams of another benefice;

Sometimes she driveth o'er a soldier's neck,

And then dreams he of cutting foreign throats,

Of breaches, ambuscadoes, Spanish blades,

Of healths five fathom deep; and then anon

Drums in his ear, at which he starts and wakes;

And, being thus frighted, swears a prayer or two,

And sleeps again. This is that very Mab

That plats the manes of horses in the night;

And bakes the elf-locks in foul sluttish hairs,

Which once untangled much misfortune bodes;

This is the hag, when maids lie on their backs,

 65 waggoner: coachman

66 worm; cf. n.

79 suit: petition for royal favor

80 tithe-pig's: pig paid as tithe due the church

85 breaches: gaps made in fortifications

ambuscadoes: ambushes

86 healths: draughts of liquor

anon: presently

90 plats the manes; cf. n.

91 elf-locks: tangled masses of hair 