Original: I pray thee, give it me.
Modern: Please, give it to me.

Original: I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,
Modern: I know a hillside where wild thyme flowers grow,

Original: Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,
Modern: Where oxlips and violets that bob their heads grow,

Original: Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,
Modern: Completely covered over with rich honeysuckle vines,

Original: With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine:
Modern: Along with fragrant musk roses and sweet briar roses:

Original: There sleeps Titania sometime of the night,
Modern: That’s where Titania sleeps for part of the night,

Original: Lull’d in these flowers with dances and delight;
Modern: Soothed to sleep among these flowers after dancing and enjoying herself;

Original: And there the snake throws her enamell’d skin,
Modern: And there snakes shed their shiny, colorful skin,

Original: Weed wide enough to wrap a fairy in:
Modern: A garment large enough to wrap a fairy in:

Original: And with the juice of this I’ll streak her eyes,
Modern: And with the juice of this flower I’ll smear her eyelids,

Original: And make her full of hateful fantasies.
Modern: And make her have horrible delusions.

Original: Take thou some of it, and seek through this grove:
Modern: You take some of it, and search through this forest:

Original: A sweet Athenian lady is in love
Modern: A lovely Athenian lady is in love

Original: With a disdainful youth: anoint his eyes;
Modern: With a scornful young man: put this on his eyes;

Original: But do it when the next thing he espies
Modern: But do it so that the next thing he sees

Original: May be the lady: thou shalt know the man
Modern: Will be the lady: you’ll recognize the man

Original: By the Athenian garments he hath on.
Modern: By the Athenian clothes he’s wearing.

Original: Effect it with some care, that he may prove
Modern: Do this carefully, so that he may turn out to be

Original: More fond on her than she upon her love:
Modern: More in love with her than she is with him:

Original: And look thou meet me ere the first cock crow.
Modern: And make sure you meet me before the rooster crows at dawn.

In Act 2, Scene 1, line 258 and following of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Oberon observes Demetrius entering the forest pursued by Helena, who desperately follows him despite his harsh rejections. Demetrius tells Helena repeatedly that he does not and cannot love her, and that he loves Hermia instead. He warns Helena that she is putting herself in danger by following him alone into the woods, where he might harm her, but Helena declares that Demetrius himself is the danger to her heart and that she would rather die by his hand than live without his love. Demetrius eventually runs off to escape her persistent pursuit, leaving Helena to continue chasing after him.

After witnessing this exchange, Oberon takes pity on Helena’s plight and decides to intervene. He sends Puck to find a particular flower called “love-in-idleness,” which, when its juice is applied to a sleeping person’s eyes, causes that person to fall in love with the next living creature they see upon waking. Oberon instructs Puck to identify the Athenian man by his clothes and to anoint his eyes so that when he wakes, he will see Helena and fall in love with her. Oberon himself plans to use the same flower’s juice on Titania while she sleeps, so that she will fall in love with something monstrous as punishment for refusing to give him the changeling boy.

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.