Miko: annotations

The Greek god Apollo pursued Daphne. To escape him, she prayed to be transformed into a laurel tree.

“Brake” is an alternate word for “bracken”, i.e., a thicket.

In Shakespeare's time, the word “adamant” as a noun had different meanings. In this sense, Helena is probably referring to lodestone, a form of iron oxide that is magnetic. So “You draw me” calls him magnetic and “you hard-hearted” compares his heart to a rock. The word also came to mean someone who is very charismatic.

Extremely angry. Pronounced “wood”.

A large sea monster or a whale. The leviathan is mentioned in the Bible and in Hebrew poetry.

Helena puts forth a golden light and makes the night look gilded.

a type of rose, also called sweet-briar

a term of endearment

A viola tricolor, also called a heartsease or a field pansy. Oberon says that the flower had been white but became purple. The viola tricolor has three colors: white, purple, and yellow. Any of those colors might be dominant or missing depending on growing conditions.

In general, a virgin. In this case, possibly one of the virgin priestesses at the temple of Vesta in Rome. Note a few lines later Oberon references her as a “vot’ress”, a woman who has taken a vow to serve a deity. Many scholars believe this is a reference to Queen Elizabeth, “The Virgin Queen”.