Enter [Oberon] and [Titania], with all their train.

OBERON         Through the house give glimmering light

By the dead and drowsy fire.

Every elf and fairy sprite

Hop as light as bird from brier,

And this ditty after me

Sing, and dance it trippingly.

TITANIA         First rehearse your song by rote,

To each word a warbling note.

Hand in hand, with fairy grace,

Will we sing and bless this place.    (5.1.381-390)

Oberon and Titania, and as many fairies as can be mustered; light, music, movement, dance; it’s fairy magic, not least metrically. Through the house give glimmering light, and glimmering shimmers and glows in the line, more gentle and nocturnal than a sparkle, something seen out of the corner of the eye, glow-worms, flickering candles, and it’s magical, otherworldly, in comparison with the dead and drowsy fire, the last embers of day. The fairies will move differently, lightly, delicately: every elf and fairy sprite hop as light as bird from briar: they bring the forest into the house, the small, hopping things (fairies are tiny). And this ditty after me—this is your song, just follow me, a handy reminder, especially to child actors—sing, and dance it trippingly. On your tippy-toes! light, light! Titania and Oberon are now in harmony, it seems, both in charge of this fairy finale: first rehearse your song by rote—we’ll practice it first, perhaps go around in a circle, making sure you’ve got it all by heart—to each word a warbling note. Musical, yes, and also bird-like again. (And it might anticipate a circle dance.) Hand in hand, with fairy grace—the fairies hand in hand, as Oberon and Titania may well be—will we sing and bless this place. The singing and dancing will be graceful, but the house will be blessed with fairy grace too. As everyone gets ready, musicians included, anticipation is building for a final magical spectacle. And for sleep.