Miko: annotations

passionate speech

It may be that when Pyramus said “Moon, take thy flight”, Starveling took the statement literally and left the stage.

Another pun on the word “ace”. Also funny because Bottom had the head of an ass earlier in the play.

One meaning of “die” is the singular of dice. An ace is the side of a die with one dot.

There are various explanations for what Bottom intended to say here. One is that he got the lines mixed up and should have said “Moon, lose thy light” (meaning Pyramus no longer sees because he is dead) and “Tongue, take thy flight” (meaning he can no longer speak because he is dead). Another explanation is that he should have said “eye” instead of “tongue”.

destroy

breast or nipple

Shakespeare might be making a joke here - one definition of “deflower” is to take someone's virginity. Another definition is to ravage or destroy. Bottom might have meant “devoured”.

take notice

In this sense, a man devoted to the service of a lady.