I go, I go. Look how I go! Swifter than arrow from the Tartar's bow!

Went for a run over Primrose Hill earlier this evening, and followed a well-worn path through a little bit of scrubland down the other side. It was such a well-worn path that I assumed it led back to the road, but it didn't. Somewhat off-puttingly, it ended in a dingy corner and a large bush.
Of course it made me think of the love scene with Titania and Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream. In particular, this image:

Sleep thou, and I will wind thee in my arms,
Fairies, be gone, and be all ways away.
So doth the woodbine the sweet honeysuckle
Gently entwist

You see, honeysuckle grows clockwise, whereas woodbine (i.e. bindweed) grows anti-clockwise. Impressive stuff (though Flanders and Swann do make a meal of it).
A Midsummer Night's Dream is dated around 1596 - and it was on this day of August 11th in 1596 that Shakespeare's only son, Hamnet, died, aged 11. More fanciful readers might identify this as the start of a transitional period in Shakespeare's career, seeing him start treating more serious themes such as age and responsibility, through The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Merchant of Venice, As You Like It and the second history tetralogy.

The picture is Joy Coghill as Puck in Midsummer Night‘s Dream (1961). Photo by Franz Linder.

History xls: the history of the world in a spreadsheet