Original: O, I am out of breath in this fond chase!
Modern: Oh, I’m completely exhausted from this foolish pursuit!

Original: The more my prayer, the lesser is my grace.
Modern: The more I beg for love, the less attractive I become.

Original: Happy is Hermia, wheresoe’er she lies;
Modern: Hermia is lucky wherever she is right now;

Original: For she hath blessed and attractive eyes.
Modern: Because she has beautiful and captivating eyes.

Original: How came her eyes so bright? Not with salt tears:
Modern: How did her eyes become so bright? Not from crying:

Original: If so, my eyes are oftener wash’d than hers.
Modern: If that were the case, my eyes are washed with tears more often than hers.

Original: No, no, I am as ugly as a bear;
Modern: No, no, I’m as ugly as a bear;

Original: For beasts that meet me run away for fear:
Modern: Because even wild animals run away in fear when they see me:

Original: Therefore no marvel though Demetrius
Modern: So it’s no wonder that Demetrius

Original: Do, as a monster fly my presence thus.
Modern: Runs away from me like I’m a monster.

Original: What wicked and dissembling glass of mine
Modern: What evil and lying mirror of mine

Original: Made me compare with Hermia’s sphery eyne?
Modern: Made me think I could compare to Hermia’s star-like eyes?

Original: But who is here? Lysander! on the ground!
Modern: But who is this? Lysander! lying on the ground!

Original: Dead? or asleep? I see no blood, no wound.
Modern: Is he dead or just sleeping? I don’t see any blood or injuries.

Original: Lysander if you live, good sir, awake.
Modern: Lysander, if you’re alive, please wake up, sir.

In Act II, Scene ii of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Titania enters with her fairy train and prepares to rest in a bower. Her fairies sing her to sleep with a lullaby that serves as a protective charm, warding off various creatures like snakes, hedgehogs, newts, and spiders that might disturb her slumber. Once Titania falls asleep, the fairies depart to attend to their nightly duties, leaving their queen unguarded in the forest glade.

Oberon then enters and discovers the sleeping Titania. He applies the magical love juice from the flower struck by Cupid’s arrow to her eyelids, casting a spell that will cause her to fall in love with the first creature she sees upon waking. Oberon speaks an incantation over her, declaring that whether she awakens to see a lynx, bear, wolf, bull, or mischievous monkey, she will pursue that creature with the intensity of passionate love. After completing this enchantment, Oberon exits, leaving Titania to sleep under the spell’s influence while the magical flower’s power takes hold.

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.