Original: Welcome, good Robin. See’st thou this sweet sight?
Modern: Welcome, good Robin. Do you see this touching scene?

Original: Her dotage now I do begin to pity:
Modern: I’m starting to feel sorry for her foolish infatuation:

Original: For, meeting her of late behind the wood,
Modern: Because when I met her recently behind the forest,

Original: Seeking sweet favours from this hateful fool,
Modern: Trying to get affection from this disgusting fool,

Original: I did upbraid her and fall out with her;
Modern: I scolded her and had a fight with her;

Original: For she his hairy temples then had rounded
Modern: Because she had decorated his hairy head

Original: With a coronet of fresh and fragrant flowers;
Modern: With a crown made of fresh and sweet-smelling flowers;

Original: And that same dew, which sometime on the buds
Modern: And the same dew that used to form on flower buds

Original: Was wont to swell like round and orient pearls,
Modern: And normally looked like round, shining pearls,

Original: Stood now within the pretty flowerets’ eyes
Modern: Now sat in the centers of the pretty little flowers

Original: Like tears that did their own disgrace bewail.
Modern: Like tears crying over their own shame.

Original: When I had at my pleasure taunted her
Modern: After I had made fun of her to my heart’s content

Original: And she in mild terms begg’d my patience,
Modern: And she gently asked me to be patient with her,

Original: I then did ask of her her changeling child;
Modern: I then demanded that she give me her stolen human child;

Original: Which straight she gave me, and her fairy sent
Modern: Which she immediately gave me, and sent her fairy

Original: To bear him to my bower in fairy land.
Modern: To carry him to my palace in the fairy realm.

Original: And now I have the boy, I will undo
Modern: And now that I have the boy, I will reverse

Original: This hateful imperfection of her eyes:
Modern: This awful spell that’s affecting her vision:

Original: And, gentle Puck, take this transformed scalp
Modern: And, gentle Puck, remove this transformed head

Original: From off the head of this Athenian swain;
Modern: From this young man from Athens;

Original: That, he awaking when the other do,
Modern: So that when he wakes up along with the others,

Original: May all to Athens back again repair
Modern: They can all return to Athens

Original: And think no more of this night’s accidents
Modern: And think no more about what happened tonight

Original: But as the fierce vexation of a dream.
Modern: Except as the troubling memory of a bad dream.

Original: But first I will release the fairy queen.
Modern: But first I will free the fairy queen from her spell.

Original: Be as thou wast wont to be;
Modern: Be as you used to be;

Original: See as thou wast wont to see:
Modern: See as you used to see:

Original: Dian’s bud o’er Cupid’s flower
Modern: Diana’s herb over Cupid’s love flower

Original: Hath such force and blessed power.
Modern: Has such strength and holy power.

Original: Now, my Titania; wake you, my sweet queen.
Modern: Now, my Titania; wake up, my sweet queen.

In Act IV, Scene 1 of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” the scene opens in the forest where Titania, still under the influence of the love potion, continues to dote on Bottom, who retains his ass’s head. She instructs her fairy attendants—Peaseblossom, Cobweb, Moth, and Mustardseed—to tend to Bottom’s needs, offering him honey, music, and comfort. Bottom, oblivious to his transformed appearance, makes various requests and engages with the fairies in his characteristic bumbling manner. Eventually, Titania and Bottom fall asleep together, with the fairy queen embracing her beloved “ass.”

Oberon enters with Puck and observes the sleeping pair with satisfaction, noting that he has successfully obtained the changeling boy from Titania during her infatuation with Bottom. Having achieved his goal, Oberon decides to release his queen from the spell and restore harmony between them. He applies an antidote to Titania’s eyes, and when she awakens, she is horrified by her recent affections and quickly distances herself from the still-sleeping Bottom. Oberon and Titania reconcile, and together they remove the ass’s head from Bottom. The fairy king and queen then depart to bless Theseus and Hippolyta’s upcoming wedding, while Bottom remains asleep, soon to awaken and believe his transformation was merely a strange dream.

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.