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Mary Queen of Scots
Shakespeare being under the patronage of Queen Elizabeth, and
knowing her jealousy, would not, of course, praise openly her rival
queen; but in the Midsummer Night's Dream, composed in 1592,
that is, five years after the execution of Mary, he wrote these
exquisite lines:
Thou rememberest
Since once I sat upon a promontory,
And heard a mermaid (1) on a dolphin's back
(2) Uttering such dulcet and harmonious breath,
That the rude sea (3) grew civil at her song;
And certain stars (4) shot madly from their spheres
(5), To hear the sea-maid's music.
Act ii. 1.
(1) Mermaid and sea-maid, that is, Mary: (2) on the dolphin's back,
she married the Dolphin or Dauphin of France; (3) the rude sea grew
civil, the Scotch rebels; (4) certain stars, the Earl of
Northumberland, the Earl of Westmoreland, and the Duke of Norfolk; (5)
shot madly from their spheres, that is, revolted from Queen Elizabeth,
bewitched by the sea-maid's sweetness.
Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894 More on Mary Queen of Scots from Infoplease:
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