This majestic and evocative performance by the Fab Four is from William Shakespeare's comedy play, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act V., scene. 1, although I believe the shout, "Go back to Liverpool" was improvised by disgruntled soccer fans.
The occasion was a 1964 television special commemorating the 400th anniversary of Bill Shakespeare's birth. For reasons never disclosed, Billy was unable to attend. Perhaps the Lord had mercy.
The origins of this particular scene predate Willy the Shake and closely mirrors the plot of Romeo and Juliet, which has also enjoyed a modicum of success over the years, most notably when disguised in a West Side Story.
Messrs. McCartney and Lennon's performances as the doomed lovers, Pyramus and Thisbee are suffused with a rare tenderness and sensitivity coupled with depth of insight and intelligence. Mr. Starkey conveys the full fury of the lion with every (o.k., one single) roar. Mr. Harrison carries out his role with his usual aplomb conveying an emotional depth usually reserved for only the finest oak furniture. All in all, a stunning performance. Two thumbs way, way up and as many stars as there may be in the firmament.
For those inclined to read and analyze the full text of this performance, less the bastardizations, is set forth below.
Gentles, perchance you wonder at this show;THESEUS
But wonder on, till truth make all things plain.
This man is Pyramus, if you would know;
This beauteous lady Thisby is certain.
This man, with lime and rough-cast, doth present
Wall, that vile Wall which did these lovers sunder;
And through Wall's chink, poor souls, they are content
To whisper. At the which let no man wonder.
This man, with lanthorn, dog, and bush of thorn,
Presenteth Moonshine; for, if you will know,
By moonshine did these lovers think no scorn
To meet at Ninus' tomb, there, there to woo.
This grisly beast, which Lion hight by name,
The trusty Thisby, coming first by night,
Did scare away, or rather did affright;
And, as she fled, her mantle she did fall,
Which Lion vile with bloody mouth did stain.
Anon comes Pyramus, sweet youth and tall,
And finds his trusty Thisby's mantle slain:
Whereat, with blade, with bloody blameful blade,
He bravely broach'd is boiling bloody breast;
And Thisby, tarrying in mulberry shade,
His dagger drew, and died. For all the rest,
Let Lion, Moonshine, Wall, and lovers twain
At large discourse, while here they do remain.
Exeunt Prologue, Thisbe, Lion, and Moonshine
I wonder if the lion be to speak.DEMETRIUS
No wonder, my lord: one lion may, when many asses do.Wall
In this same interlude it doth befallTHESEUS
That I, one Snout by name, present a wall;
And such a wall, as I would have you think,
That had in it a crannied hole or chink,
Through which the lovers, Pyramus and Thisby,
Did whisper often very secretly.
This loam, this rough-cast and this stone doth show
That I am that same wall; the truth is so:
And this the cranny is, right and sinister,
Through which the fearful lovers are to whisper.
Would you desire lime and hair to speak better?DEMETRIUS
It is the wittiest partition that ever I heardTHESEUS
discourse, my lord.
Enter Pyramus
Pyramus draws near the wall: silence!Pyramus
O grim-look'd night! O night with hue so black!THESEUS
O night, which ever art when day is not!
O night, O night! alack, alack, alack,
I fear my Thisby's promise is forgot!
And thou, O wall, O sweet, O lovely wall,
That stand'st between her father's ground and mine!
Thou wall, O wall, O sweet and lovely wall,
Show me thy chink, to blink through with mine eyne!
Wall holds up his fingers
Thanks, courteous wall: Jove shield thee well for this!
But what see I? No Thisby do I see.
O wicked wall, through whom I see no bliss!
Cursed be thy stones for thus deceiving me!
The wall, methinks, being sensible, should curse again.Pyramus
No, in truth, sir, he should not. 'Deceiving me'Thisbe
is Thisby's cue: she is to enter now, and I am to
spy her through the wall. You shall see, it will
fall pat as I told you. Yonder she comes.
Enter Thisbe
O wall, full often hast thou heard my moans,Pyramus
For parting my fair Pyramus and me!
My cherry lips have often kiss'd thy stones,
Thy stones with lime and hair knit up in thee.
I see a voice: now will I to the chink,Thisbe
To spy an I can hear my Thisby's face. Thisby!
My love thou art, my love I think.Pyramus
Think what thou wilt, I am thy lover's grace;Thisbe
And, like Limander, am I trusty still.
And I like Helen, till the Fates me kill.Pyramus
Not Shafalus to Procrus was so true.Thisbe
As Shafalus to Procrus, I to you.Pyramus
O kiss me through the hole of this vile wall!Thisbe
I kiss the wall's hole, not your lips at all.Pyramus
Wilt thou at Ninny's tomb meet me straightway?Thisbe
'Tide life, 'tide death, I come without delay.Wall
Exeunt Pyramus and Thisbe
Thus have I, Wall, my part discharged so;THESEUS
And, being done, thus Wall away doth go.
Exit
Now is the mural down between the two neighbours.DEMETRIUS
No remedy, my lord, when walls are so wilful to hearHIPPOLYTA
without warning.
This is the silliest stuff that ever I heard.THESEUS
The best in this kind are but shadows; and the worstHIPPOLYTA
are no worse, if imagination amend them.
It must be your imagination then, and not theirs.THESEUS
If we imagine no worse of them than they ofLion
themselves, they may pass for excellent men. Here
come two noble beasts in, a man and a lion.
Enter Lion and Moonshine
You, ladies, you, whose gentle hearts do fearTHESEUS
The smallest monstrous mouse that creeps on floor,
May now perchance both quake and tremble here,
When lion rough in wildest rage doth roar.
Then know that I, one Snug the joiner, am
A lion-fell, nor else no lion's dam;
For, if I should as lion come in strife
Into this place, 'twere pity on my life.
A very gentle beast, of a good conscience.DEMETRIUS
The very best at a beast, my lord, that e'er I saw.LYSANDER
This lion is a very fox for his valour.THESEUS
True; and a goose for his discretion.DEMETRIUS
Not so, my lord; for his valour cannot carry hisTHESEUS
discretion; and the fox carries the goose.
His discretion, I am sure, cannot carry his valour;Moonshine
for the goose carries not the fox. It is well:
leave it to his discretion, and let us listen to the moon.
This lanthorn doth the horned moon present;--DEMETRIUS
He should have worn the horns on his head.THESEUS
He is no crescent, and his horns areMoonshine
invisible within the circumference.
This lanthorn doth the horned moon present;THESEUS
Myself the man i' the moon do seem to be.
This is the greatest error of all the rest: the manDEMETRIUS
should be put into the lanthorn. How is it else the
man i' the moon?
He dares not come there for the candle; for, youHIPPOLYTA
see, it is already in snuff.
I am aweary of this moon: would he would change!THESEUS
It appears, by his small light of discretion, thatLYSANDER
he is in the wane; but yet, in courtesy, in all
reason, we must stay the time.
Proceed, Moon.Moonshine
All that I have to say, is, to tell you that theDEMETRIUS
lanthorn is the moon; I, the man in the moon; this
thorn-bush, my thorn-bush; and this dog, my dog.
Why, all these should be in the lanthorn; for allThisbe
these are in the moon. But, silence! here comes Thisbe.
Enter Thisbe
This is old Ninny's tomb. Where is my love?Lion
[Roaring] Oh--DEMETRIUS
Thisbe runs off
Well roared, Lion.THESEUS
Well run, Thisbe.HIPPOLYTA
Well shone, Moon. Truly, the moon shines with aTHESEUS
good grace.
The Lion shakes Thisbe's mantle, and exit
Well moused, Lion.LYSANDER
And so the lion vanished.DEMETRIUS
And then came Pyramus.Pyramus
Enter Pyramus
Sweet Moon, I thank thee for thy sunny beams;THESEUS
I thank thee, Moon, for shining now so bright;
For, by thy gracious, golden, glittering gleams,
I trust to take of truest Thisby sight.
But stay, O spite!
But mark, poor knight,
What dreadful dole is here!
Eyes, do you see?
How can it be?
O dainty duck! O dear!
Thy mantle good,
What, stain'd with blood!
Approach, ye Furies fell!
O Fates, come, come,
Cut thread and thrum;
Quail, crush, conclude, and quell!
This passion, and the death of a dear friend, wouldHIPPOLYTA
go near to make a man look sad.
Beshrew my heart, but I pity the man.Pyramus
O wherefore, Nature, didst thou lions frame?DEMETRIUS
Since lion vile hath here deflower'd my dear:
Which is--no, no--which was the fairest dame
That lived, that loved, that liked, that look'd
with cheer.
Come, tears, confound;
Out, sword, and wound
The pap of Pyramus;
Ay, that left pap,
Where heart doth hop:
Stabs himself
Thus die I, thus, thus, thus.
Now am I dead,
Now am I fled;
My soul is in the sky:
Tongue, lose thy light;
Moon take thy flight:
Exit Moonshine
Now die, die, die, die, die.
Dies
No die, but an ace, for him; for he is but one.LYSANDER
Less than an ace, man; for he is dead; he is nothing.THESEUS
With the help of a surgeon he might yet recover, andHIPPOLYTA
prove an ass.
How chance Moonshine is gone before Thisbe comesTHESEUS
back and finds her lover?
She will find him by starlight. Here she comes; andHIPPOLYTA
her passion ends the play.
Re-enter Thisbe
Methinks she should not use a long one for such aDEMETRIUS
Pyramus: I hope she will be brief.
A mote will turn the balance, which Pyramus, whichLYSANDER
Thisbe, is the better; he for a man, God warrant us;
she for a woman, God bless us.
She hath spied him already with those sweet eyes.DEMETRIUS
And thus she means, videlicet:--Thisbe
Asleep, my love?
What, dead, my dove?
O Pyramus, arise!
Speak, speak. Quite dumb?
Dead, dead? A tomb
Must cover thy sweet eyes.
These My lips,
This cherry nose,
These yellow cowslip cheeks,
Are gone, are gone:
Lovers, make moan:
His eyes were green as leeks.
O Sisters Three,
Come, come to me,
With hands as pale as milk;
Lay them in gore,
Since you have shore
With shears his thread of silk.
Tongue, not a word:
Come, trusty sword;
Come, blade, my breast imbrue:
Stabs herself
And, farewell, friends;
Thus Thisby ends:
Adieu, adieu, adieu.
Dies
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