TITANIA         I pray thee, gentle mortal, sing again:

Mine ear is much enamoured of thy note.

So is mine eye enthralled to thy shape,

And thy fair virtue’s force perforce doth move me

On the first view to say, to swear, I love thee.

BOTTOM        Methinks, mistress, you should have little reason for that. And yet to say the truth, reason and love keep little company together nowadays; the more the pity that some honest neighbours will not make them friends. Nay, I can gleek upon occasion. (3.1.133-142)

Titania likes what she hears, and she wants to hear more: I pray thee, gentle mortal, sing again: mine ear is much enamoured of thy note. (She recognises immediately that Bottom isn’t a fairy, interestingly, and her request is of course funnier if he has been making a horrible noise, sounding like a donkey, whatever.) Love your tunes, darling! More! And—perhaps he turns to face her, gets closer?—so is mine eye enthralled to thine shape. I like what I see, too, VERY much indeed. Gorgeous! And thy fair virtue’s force perforce doth move me on the first view to say, to swear, I love thee. EVERYTHING about you is attractive (and this can be an unambiguous proposition), can’t take my eyes off you, you are HOT and I think I’m in love. YES. (It can also be sweetly, innocently romantic, utterly besotted and joyous, and that perhaps allows for more interesting comedy.)

Gee. Wow. But Bottom is, apparently, unfazed by this declaration, and by Titania herself. Methinks, mistress, you should have little reason for that. (Is this false modesty? From BOTTOM?) I mean, we haven’t even been introduced! And yet to say the truth, reason and love keep little company together nowadays; love’s a bit MAD, innit? People do and say the craziest things when they fancy someone, completely lose their heads. The more the pity that some honest neighbours will not make them—love and reason—friends again. It should be possible to love sensibly? (Not on the evidence of this play, or indeed its close relation Romeo and Juliet.). I guess, nay, I can gleek upon occasion, crack the odd joke, tell a tale or two? (This is something of a non sequitur. Not that Titania’s going to mind.)