You are here

All Site ContentMidsummer Night's DreamAct 4Scene 1
Back to the Play
“the music of my hounds”
Cultural Context
Act 4,
Scene 1
Lines 103-111

An explanation of the phrase “music of my hounds” in Act 4, Scene 1 of myShakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Theseus

Go, one of you, find out the forester.
For now our observation is performed,
And since we have the vanguard of the day,
My love shall hear the music of my hounds.
Uncouple in the western valley; let them go.
Dispatch, I say, and find the forester.
[Exit servant]
We will, fair Queen, up to the mountain's top,
And mark the musical confusion
Of hounds and echo in conjunction.

Because hunting dogs howl the whole time they're on a hunt, a nobleman took pride in selecting dogs for his pack whose howls blended harmoniously together in pitch.