Shakespeare also compares the moon to a bow, and Cupid, the Roman god of love, carries a bow to shoot arrows of love. "And then the moon, like to a silver bow/ New bent in heaven, shall behold the night/ Of our solemnities"(Act I, Scene 1, 9-11). .
Shakespeare uses symbolism to strengthen the motif of night; he uses symbols associated with the night. He refers to Phoebe, or Diana, who is the Roman goddess of the moon and of transformation, especially the unseen and mysterious ones in the darkness. "Tomorrow night, when Phoebe doth behold/ her silver visage in the watery glass . . ." (Act I, Scene 1, 209-213). In the play, day symbolizes light and comfort, reality and truth. The morning symbolizes a sense of renewal and a fresh beginnings. All four lovers end up wishing for daylight at the end of Act III, Scene 2: "Come, thou gentle day" (Act III, Scene 2, 418)"O weary night, O long and tedious night,/ Abate thy hours, shine comforts from the east" (Act III, Scene 2, 431-432). .
Physical darkness impairs or transforms vision, and by transforming the sense humans rely on most, the night forest forces new kinds of looking. Shakespeare includes the aspect of vision and its relation to darkness. The power of night transforms the gaze in that the eye's ability is diminished, but the ear's strength is augmented. Hermia is able to find Lysander eventually by using her hearing to its full potential: .
"Dark night, that from the eye his function takes, The ear more quick of apprehension makes. Wherein it doth impair the seeing sense, It pays the hearing double recompense. Thou art not by mine eye, Lysander, found; Mine ear, I thank it, brought me to thy sound." (Act III, Scene 2, 177-182) .
Throughout the course of the night, the gaze of the mind becomes enchanted, as depicted in Lysander and Demetrius "blindly" loving Helena under the magic spell; this twists the meaning of "love is blind". Lysander declares "Not Hermia, but Helena I love" (Act II, Scene 2, 112) and Demetrius showers Helena with words of adoration in Act III, Scene 2, Lines 137-144.
