You are here

All Site ContentMidsummer Night's DreamAct 3Scene 1
Back to the Play
"give a bird the lie"
Humor
Act 3,
Scene 1
Lines 114-129

An explanation of Bottom’s commentary on the song lyrics in Act 3, Scene 1 of myShakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Bottom

I see their knavery. This is to make an ass of me,
to fright me if they could. But I will not stir from this
place, do what they can. I will walk up and down here,
and I will sing that they shall hear I am not afraid.
[Sings]
The ousel cock so black of hue,
With orange-tawny bill;
The throstle with his note so true,
The wren with little quill.
[The Fairy Queen Titania has been asleep on the edge of the stage since Oberon placed the love potion on her eyelids in the prior scene. She now wakes up and sees Bottom with the ass's head.]

Titania

[Waking] What angel wakes me from my flowery bed?

Bottom

[Sings]
The finch, the sparrow, and the lark,
The plainsong cuckoo grey,
Whose note full many a man doth mark,
And dares not answer “Nay” —
[Speaks to himself]
For indeed, who would set his wit to so foolish a bird?
Who would give a bird the lie, though he cry “cuckoo”
never so?

Bottom doesn’t realize that the song’s lyrics are just a joke, and he considers why anyone would take a cuckoo bird seriously. It's obvious to him that the bird doesn’t know what it’s talking about because it can’t be true that every man who passes by is a cuckold!