KATE HEARTFIELD

 

Ay me! For aught that I could ever read,

Could ever hear by tale or history,

The course of true love never did run smooth.

But either it was different in blood,

Or else misgraffèd in respect of years,

Or else it stood upon the choice of friends,

Or, if there were a sympathy in choice,

War, death, or sickness did lay siege to it.

 

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act I, Scene i.