ABSTRACT
One cold summer’s evening, we were watching an outdoor production of AMidsummer Night’s Dream when I noticed the lines:
I must go seek some dew-drops here And hang a pearl in every cowslip’s ear
(Act 2, Sc. 1: 14-15)
I began wondering what other tasks a fairy or impmight have to accomplish. While the play was continuing, I began to note down some ideas:
There is so much to do – I must sprinkle flecks of frost On the crisp autumn leaves. I must seize the hiss of an adder And hang dew on a spider’s web. I must help the blind mole Build pyramids of earth. I must sharpen blades of grass And put freckles on a child’s face. I must howl with the gale And dance with the March hare On the whale-backed hillside. I must catch the silvery light That slips from the Moon’s white face. I must push green shoots Through the stubborn earth And ride on the bumblebee’s back. I must polish the salmon’s scales Till they shine like sunlight. I must tip dreams into the lover’s ear So he can hear his wishes.
