THE ELIZABETHAN FAIRIES

THE FAIRIES OF SHAKESPEARE 205
So one by one therein they crept,
And lying downe they soundly slept
As safe as in a Castle.ls7
And Oberon, king of the fairies, is armed as follows:
. . . . . . . . . .
A little Cockle-shell his Shield,
Which he could very brauely wield:
Yet could it not be pierced:
His Speare a Bent both stiffe and strong,
And well-neere of two Inches long;
The Pyle was of a Horse-flyes tongue,
Whose sharpnesse nought reuersed.ls8
And puts him on a coate of Male,
Which was of a Fishes scale,
. . . . . . . . . .
189
His Helmet was a Bettles head,
Most horrible and full of dread,
That able was to strike one dead,
Yet did it well become him:
And for a plume, a horses hayre,
Which being tossed with the ayre,
Had force to strike his Foe with feare,
And turne his weapon from him.140
Himselfe he on an Earewig set,
Yet scarce he on his back could get,
So oft and high he did coruet,
Ere he himself could settle.141
Important as Nimphidia is in showing the influence
of the fairies of A Midsummer Night's Dream, the ex-
tent to which the conceit of small and ornate and some-
137 Page 134, 11. 363-368.
1s8 Page 137, 11. 490-496.
139 Page 138, 11. 497-498.
140 Page 138, 11. 505-512.
141 Page 138, 11. 513-516.