A Midsummer Night’s Dream · Act 5, Scene 1

Puck: “If we shadows have offended” (Puck’s epilogue)

What is happening, what every line means, how to perform it, and how to use it in an audition, with the full text.

The Offbook team

Oct 8, 2026

What is happening

This is the very end of the play. The three couples have married, watched the workmen's clumsy play about Pyramus and Thisbe, and gone off to bed. Puck has come in with a broom to sweep the house, and Oberon and Titania have blessed the newlyweds and left.

Now Puck is alone and speaks straight to the audience. This is an epilogue: a short closing speech in which the company apologizes for its faults and asks for applause. The joke is that Puck, who caused most of the play's chaos, is the one asking forgiveness.

What he wants is simple: the audience's goodwill and their applause. He uses the play's big idea, dreaming, to give them an easy way to forgive: if you did not like it, just call it a dream.

Lines: 16
Words: 94
At 150 wpm: 36 sec
Form: Verse

The speech, beat by beat

The full text in 4 beats. Under each beat: what it means in plain English, and a note for playing it.

Lines 1–4 · It was only a dream

1If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended,
That you have but slumber’d here
While these visions did appear.

In plain English If we spirits have upset you, just think of it this way and everything is fixed: you dozed off here while these visions passed in front of you.

Acting note "Shadows" means both the fairies and the actors themselves. Let the audience hear both meanings.

Lines 5–8 · Forgive us and we will improve

5And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream,
Gentles, do not reprehend:
If you pardon, we will mend:

In plain English This slight, silly story was worth no more than a dream, so please, ladies and gentlemen, do not scold us. If you forgive us, we will do better.

Acting note This is mock modesty. Play it with a twinkle, not as real groveling.

Lines 9–14 · Puck's promise

9And, as I am an honest Puck,
10If we have unearned luck
Now to ’scape the serpent’s tongue,
We will make amends ere long;
Else the Puck a liar call:
So, good night unto you all.

In plain English On my word as an honest Puck: if we are lucky enough, more than we deserve, to escape being hissed, we will make it up to you soon. If not, call me a liar. And so, good night to all of you.

Acting note "Honest Puck" is a joke, because he is the play's trickster. Give the audience room to enjoy it. "Good night" is a real goodbye.

Lines 15–16 · Give me your hands

15Give me your hands, if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends.

In plain English If we are friends, give me your applause, and Robin will pay you back.

Acting note This is the real request. Make it clear that you are asking them to clap.

Hard words

Word	Line	Meaning
shadows	1	spirits; also actors, who are only images of real people
mended	2	put right, fixed
idle theme	5	silly, trivial story
No more yielding but a dream	6	giving no more than a dream would
Gentles	7	ladies and gentlemen
reprehend	7	scold, find fault
unearned luck	10	luck we have not deserved
serpent’s tongue	11	hissing from the audience, which sounds like a snake
ere long	12	before long, soon
Give me your hands	15	applaud; also, shake hands as friends
Robin	16	Puck's other name, Robin Goodfellow
restore amends	16	make it up to you, repay you

How to perform it

The objective is the applause. Every line is a step toward "Give me your hands." The fourth wall is gone, so talk to real people in the audience, one at a time, not to a vague space above their heads.
The meter differs from most of the play. The lines are short, with four beats, and the stress usually falls on the first syllable, so they sound like a spell. They rhyme in pairs: treat each pair as one unit and breathe after it. Enjoy the rhyme, but keep the meaning in front so it does not go sing-song.
On the surface this is a polite apology, but Puck is the play's prankster. Find the mischief underneath. "Honest Puck" and "Else the Puck a liar call" invite a laugh. "Mend" can mean both improving the show and making up for a wrong, so you can play it both ways.
Line 14 is a real goodbye; lines 15 and 16 are one last, warmer request. Mark that shift: let the formal speech end, then reach out to them.
Common mistakes: rushing because it is short; fluttery "fairy" gestures in place of real contact; reading "serpent's tongue" as something sinister, when it only means hissing; and forgetting that this is the last thing the audience hears, so it should send them home warm.

Using it in an audition

At 16 lines and well under a minute, this speech is too short for most general auditions on its own, and it does not show much change in the character. It works well for young actors, school and youth auditions, a Puck-specific call, or as a short second piece when a panel asks for something extra. Puck is not tied to any particular age or gender, so it suits almost anyone with charm and lightness. For a fuller picture of the role, pair it with Puck's longer report to Oberon in Act 3, Scene 2 ("My mistress with a monster is in love"), or with a contrasting dramatic piece.

Puck, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 5, Scene 1. William Shakespeare. Public domain text.

How long it runs

Pace	Words a minute	Run time
Deliberate	130	42 seconds
Conversational	150	36 seconds
Brisk	170	36 seconds

These are speech times before pauses. To time your own run, paste the text into the monologue timer.

Practice it: first-letter version

Each word is cut to its first letter. Say the whole line from the letters, then check the text. Make cues from any script with the first-letter memorizer.

I w s h o,

T b t, a a i m,

T y h b s h

W t v d a.

A t w a i t,

N m y b a d,

G, d n r:

I y p, w w m:

A, a I a a h P,

I w h u l

N t ’s t s t,

W w m a e l;

E t P a l c:

S, g n u y a.

G m y h, i w b f,

A R s r a.

Sources

Questions actors ask

How long is Puck’s If we shadows have offended (Puck’s epilogue) speech?

16 lines and 94 words. At 150 words a minute it runs about 36 seconds; a slower, more deliberate delivery at 130 takes about 42 seconds. Pauses add time, so time a full run out loud.

Is it a good audition monologue?

What is the fastest way to memorize it?

Learn it in sense units, not line by line: say each thought out loud until you can do it without looking, then add the next. The first-letter version below keeps the shape of every line in view while you test yourself.