And then the moon, like to a silver bow
New-bent in heaven, shall behold the night
Of our solemnities.
– William Shakespeare
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 1, Scene 1. Hippolyta is referring to her upcoming wedding in four days time. Using a simile, she likens the waning moon to a silver bow bent into a curve in the sky and looking down on her wedding celebration. Personification is used here also, as Hippolyta visualizes the face of the moon as that of Diana watching her marry Theseus. In Roman mythology Diana was the goddess of the moon and of the hunt and is often depicted as a huntress carrying a bow and quiver full of arrows.