LYSANDER: How now, my love! why is your cheek so pale?
How chance the roses there do fade so fast?
HERMIA: Belike for want of rain, which I could well
Beteem them from the tempest of my eyes.
– William Shakespeare
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 1, Scene 1. Lysander asks Hermia why she is so upset. He uses a flower metaphor to compare her pale cheeks to roses which have faded. Hermia, also speaking metaphorically, says that it cannot be for lack of rain because there is a tempest in her eyes. She is upset because she has been told that she must marry Demetrius or become a nun. For she loves Lysander and wants to marry him. The word "tempest" is foreshadowing of Hermia’s strong and fiery personality. One of the strongest female characters in the play, she is someone who follows her heart.