Original: Thou see’st these lovers seek a place to fight:
Modern: You see these lovers are looking for a place to fight each other:

Original: Hie therefore, Robin, overcast the night;
Modern: Hurry up then, Robin, and make the night dark and foggy;

Original: The starry welkin cover thou anon
Modern: Cover up the starry sky right away

Original: With drooping fog as black as Acheron,
Modern: With a hanging fog as black as the river of the underworld,

Original: And lead these testy rivals so astray
Modern: And lead these angry rivals so far off course

Original: As one come not within another’s way.
Modern: That they can’t find each other.

Original: Like to Lysander sometime frame thy tongue,
Modern: Sometimes make your voice sound like Lysander’s,

Original: Then stir Demetrius up with bitter wrong;
Modern: Then make Demetrius angry with harsh insults;

Original: And sometime rail thou like Demetrius;
Modern: And sometimes shout insults like you’re Demetrius;

Original: And from each other look thou lead them thus,
Modern: And make sure you lead them away from each other like this,

Original: Till o’er their brows death-counterfeiting sleep
Modern: Until over their foreheads a sleep that looks like death

Original: With leaden legs and batty wings doth creep:
Modern: With heavy legs and bat-like wings comes creeping:

Original: Then crush this herb into Lysander’s eye;
Modern: Then squeeze this flower’s juice into Lysander’s eye;

Original: Whose liquor hath this virtuous property,
Modern: The juice has this powerful ability,

Original: To take from thence all error with his might,
Modern: To remove from there all the confusion with its strength,

Original: And make his eyeballs roll with wonted sight.
Modern: And make his eyes see with their normal vision again.

Original: When they next wake, all this derision
Modern: When they wake up next, all this mockery and chaos

Original: Shall seem a dream and fruitless vision,
Modern: Will seem like a dream and a meaningless fantasy,

Original: And back to Athens shall the lovers wend,
Modern: And back to Athens the lovers will travel,

Original: With league whose date till death shall never end.
Modern: With friendships that will last until death and never end.

Original: Whiles I in this affair do thee employ,
Modern: While I have you busy doing this task,

Original: I’ll to my queen and beg her Indian boy;
Modern: I’ll go to my queen and ask her for her Indian servant boy;

Original: And then I will her charmed eye release
Modern: And then I will release her enchanted eye

Original: From monster’s view, and all things shall be peace.
Modern: From seeing the monster, and everything will be peaceful again.

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.