Original: Through the forest have I gone.
Modern: I’ve been wandering through the forest.

Original: But Athenian found I none,
Modern: But I haven’t found any Athenian

Original: On whose eyes I might approve
Modern: On whose eyes I could test

Original: This flower’s force in stirring love.
Modern: This flower’s power to create love.

Original: Night and silence..Who is here?
Modern: It’s quiet and dark… Who’s this?

Original: Weeds of Athens he doth wear:
Modern: He’s wearing clothes from Athens:

Original: This is he, my master said,
Modern: This must be the one my master told me about,

Original: Despised the Athenian maid;
Modern: Who rejected the Athenian girl;

Original: And here the maiden, sleeping sound,
Modern: And here’s the girl, fast asleep,

Original: On the dank and dirty ground.
Modern: On the cold and dirty ground.

Original: Pretty soul! she durst not lie
Modern: Poor thing! She didn’t dare to sleep

Original: Near this lack-love, this kill-courtesy.
Modern: Close to this unloving, rude man.

Original: Churl, upon thy eyes I throw
Modern: You rude fool, on your eyes I place

Original: All the power this charm doth owe.
Modern: All the magic power this spell possesses.

Original: When thou wakest, let love forbid
Modern: When you wake up, let love prevent

Original: Sleep his seat on thy eyelid:
Modern: Sleep from settling on your eyelids:

Original: So awake when I am gone;
Modern: So stay awake after I leave;

Original: For I must now to Oberon.
Modern: Because I have to go back to Oberon now.

In Act II, Scene 2 of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Titania, Queen of the Fairies, enters with her fairy attendants and prepares to rest in a bower within the enchanted forest. She commands her fairies to sing her to sleep while performing their nightly duties of protecting flowers from harmful creatures and maintaining the natural world. The fairies comply with a lullaby that asks various threats - spotted snakes, hedgehogs, newts, and spiders - to stay away from their queen, creating a protective charm around her sleeping place. After Titania falls asleep, the fairies depart to carry out their assigned tasks.

Oberon then enters and approaches the sleeping Titania, applying the magical love potion made from the juice of the flower called “love-in-idleness” to her eyelids. He speaks an incantation declaring that when she awakens, she will fall desperately in love with the first creature she sees, whether it be a lion, bear, wolf, bull, monkey, or ape. Oberon exits, leaving Titania under the spell’s influence. Soon after, Lysander and Hermia arrive, having lost their way while fleeing Athens. Exhausted from their journey through the forest, they decide to rest for the night, with Hermia insisting they sleep apart to maintain her honor, despite Lysander’s protests about their planned marriage.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream follows multiple interconnected plots that unfold over the course of a single midsummer night in Athens and the nearby enchanted forest. The play opens with Duke Theseus of Athens preparing to marry Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons. Meanwhile, Egeus brings his daughter Hermia before Theseus, demanding she marry Demetrius according to his wishes. Hermia refuses because she loves Lysander, and Theseus gives her until his wedding day to decide between marrying Demetrius, becoming a nun, or facing death. Hermia and Lysander plan to elope by meeting in the forest, and they confide in Hermia’s friend Helena, who is desperately in love with Demetrius despite his rejection of her.

In the forest, the fairy king Oberon and queen Titania are feuding over custody of a changeling boy. Oberon instructs his mischievous servant Puck to fetch a magical flower whose juice, when applied to sleeping eyes, makes the person fall in love with the first creature they see upon waking. Oberon plans to use this on Titania to humiliate her into giving up the boy, and he also orders Puck to help Helena by making Demetrius fall in love with her. However, Puck mistakenly applies the juice to Lysander’s eyes instead, causing him to fall in love with Helena when he awakens. Meanwhile, a group of Athenian craftsmen rehearsing a play in the forest becomes entangled in the magical chaos when Puck transforms their leader Bottom’s head into that of a donkey, and the enchanted Titania falls in love with him.

The romantic confusion deepens when Oberon discovers Puck’s error and applies the love juice to Demetrius’s eyes as well, causing both young men to pursue Helena, who believes they are mocking her. Hermia becomes confused and angry when Lysander rejects her for Helena. Oberon orders Puck to separate the four lovers and fix the situation. After obtaining the changeling boy from the distracted Titania, Oberon releases her from the spell and restores Bottom to his normal form. Puck leads the exhausted lovers through the forest until they fall asleep, then applies an antidote to Lysander’s eyes so he will love Hermia again upon waking. Theseus discovers the four lovers in the forest the next morning, and since Demetrius now truly loves Helena, the duke overrules Egeus and declares a triple wedding. The play concludes with the three couples’ wedding celebration, where the craftsmen perform their comically inept play, followed by the fairies blessing the palace and its inhabitants.