A Wood Near Athens
Whose dream are they, these four Athenian lovers
whose mad misunderstandings mock each other?
Moonstruck puppets in a fairy play,
bemused and lovesick sleepwalkers astray
across the borderlands of night and day,
manipulated wits not rediscovered
till horns halloo the dawn.
till horns halloo the dawn. Which is to say
that any pair of wit-bewildered lovers
may meet by moonlight but not know each other.
The puppeteer may ravel reveries
in Arden as in Athens if he please,
may make of sleepers under English trees
players in a play within a play;
but moons must set, and love may be discovered
if one only wakes and, waking, sees.
Martin Briggs lives in Suffolk, England. He only began writing in earnest after retiring from a career in public administration, since when he has been published in various publications on both sides of the Atlantic.
In fact this is about “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. Please can the title be amended? Thanks.