Where the Wild Thyme Blows
In “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, King Oberon tells Puck of a magical, enchanted bower deep in the forest, where Queen Titania sometimes takes her rest. The flowers are described in great detail, as if by one who was himself intimately acquainted with gardens. Four hundred years after the play was written, we can read this poem aloud and almost be right there in the woodlands of a scented, secret Shakespearean summer night.
I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,
Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,
Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,
With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine:
There sleeps Titania sometime of the night,
Lull’d in these flowers with dances and delight;
And there the snake throws her enamell’d skin,
Weed wide enough to wrap a fairy in.
~William Shakespeare
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
Act 2, Scene 1
Cast of characters and synopsis of this scene:
King Oberon – King of the fairies, who is conspiring with Puck to play a trick on Titania
Queen Titania – Queen of the fairies, who is unsuspecting as she prepares to sleep in her luscious woodland boudoir
Puck – mischievous sprite who loves playing practical jokes. Although he is Oberon’s servant, he often has his own plans!
Nick Bottom, the Weaver – a human who is in the woods practicing for a play his troupe will present to the Duke on “his wedding day at night”
Oberon and Titania have had a lover’s spat. Oberon plans to get even with Titania by placing a spell on her while she sleeps. When she awakens, she will fall in love with the first creature she sees. Oberon plans for this creature to be one of the humans, Bottom the Weaver, who is also bewitched to look and sound like a donkey!
Don’t worry, though, it all ends well!
Arthur Rackham (19 September 1867 – 6 September 1939) was a British book illustrator in the late 19th and early 20th century. His passion for art began at a very early age. When he was a child, he would sneak pencils into his bed to draw under the covers! When the paper was taken away, he resorted to drawing on his pillow case. To learn more about this fascinating artist, and to see an amazing collection of his breathtakingly beautiful illustrations, click here.
Guide to the plants in Titania’s bower: Click on any plant name to learn more.
Wild Thyme – Thymus serpyllum is a species of flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae, native to most of Europe and North Africa
Oxlip – Primula elatior is a species of flowering plant in the family Primulaceae, native to nutrient-poor and calcium-rich damp woods and meadows throughout Europe
Nodding Violet – Streptocarpus hybrids are mostly bred from Streptocarpus rexii, a native of South Africa, and are sometimes called Cape Primrose or Nodding Violets
Woodbine – Honeysuckle – Lonicera periclymenum is a deciduous, woody climber. It entwines around other trees and shrubs. It is common in woodlands and hedgerows across the UK.
Musk Rose – Rosa moschata is a shrub with single white flowers in a loose cyme or corymb, blooming on new growth from late spring until late autumn in warm climates, or from late summer onwards in cool-summer climates. They are especially prized for their scent.
Eglantine – Sweetbrier – Rosa eglanteria, or R. rubiginosa is a small, prickly wild rose with fragrant foliage and numerous small pink flowers. Native to Europe and western Asia.