Romeo and Juliet (1917) Yale/Text/Act II
ACT SECOND
PROLOGUE
[Enter] Chorus.
Chor. Now old desire doth in his death-bed lie,
And young affection gapes to be his heir;
That fair for which love groan'd for and would die,
With tender Juliet match'd, is now not fair.
Now Romeo is belov'd and loves again, 5
Alike bewitched by the charm of looks,
But to his foe suppos'd he must complain,
And she steal love's sweet bait from fearful hooks: 8
Being held a foe, he may not have access
To breathe such vows as lovers use to swear;
And she as much in love, her means much less
To meet her new-beloved any where: 12
But passion lends them power, time means, to meet,
Tempering extremity with extreme sweet.
Scene One
[A Lane by the wall of Capulet's Orchard]
Enter Romeo alone.
Rom. Can I go forward when my heart is here?
Turn back, dull earth, and find thy centre out.
Enter Benvolio with Mercutio.
Ben. Romeo! my cousin Romeo! Romeo!
Mer. He is wise;
And, on my life, hath stol'n him home to bed. 4
Ben. He ran this way, and leap'd this orchard wall:
Call, good Mercutio.
Mer. Nay, I'll conjure too.
Romeo! humours! madman! passion! lover!
Appear thou in the likeness of a sigh: 8
Speak but one rime and I am satisfied;
Cry but 'Ay me!' couple but 'love' and 'dove;'
Speak to my gossip Venus one fair word.
One nickname for her purblind son and heir, 12
Young Abraham Cupid, he that shot so true
When King Cophetua lov'd the beggar-maid.
He heareth not, he stirreth not, he moveth not;
The ape is dead, and I must conjure him. 16
I conjure thee by Rosaline's bright eyes,
By her high forehead, and her scarlet lip,
By her fine foot, straight leg, and quivering thigh,
And the demesnes that there adjacent lie, 20
That in thy likeness thou appear to us.
Ben. An if he hear thee, thou wilt anger him.
Mer. This cannot anger him: 'twould anger him
To raise a spirit in his mistress' circle 24
Of some strange nature, letting it there stand
Till she had laid it, and conjur'd it down;
That were some spite: my invocation
Is fair and honest, and in his mistress' name 28
I conjure only but to raise up him.
Ben. Come, he hath hid himself among these trees,
To be consorted with the humorous night:
Blind is his love and best befits the dark. 32
Mer. If love be blind, love cannot hit the mark.
Now will he sit under a medlar tree,
And wish his mistress were that kind of fruit
As maids call medlars, when they laugh alone.
O Romeo! that she were, O! that she were 37
An open et cætera, thou a poperin pear.
Romeo, good night: I'll to my truckle-bed;
This field-bed is too cold for me to sleep: 40
Come, shall we go?
Ben. Go, then; for 'tis in vain
To seek him here that means not to be found.
Scene Two
[Capulet's Orchard]
[Romeo comes forward.]
Rom. He jests at scars, that never felt a wound.
[Juliet appears above at a window.]
But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun!
Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, 4
Who is already sick and pale with grief,
That thou her maid art far more fair than she:
Be not her maid, since she is envious;
Her vestal livery is but sick and green, 8
And none but fools do wear it; cast it off.
It is my lady; O! it is my love:
O! that she knew she were.
She speaks, yet she says nothing: what of that?
Her eye discourses; I will answer it. 13
I am too bold, 'tis not to me she speaks:
Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven,
Having some business, do entreat her eyes 16
To twinkle in their spheres till they return.
What if her eyes were there, they in her head?
The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars
As daylight doth a lamp; her eyes in heaven 20
Would through the airy region stream so bright
That birds would sing and think it were not night.
See! how she leans her cheek upon her hand:
O! that I were a glove upon that hand, 24
That I might touch that cheek.
Jul. Ay me!
Rom. She speaks:
O! speak again, bright angel; for thou art
As glorious to this night, being o'er my head,
As is a winged messenger of heaven 28
Unto the white-upturned wond'ring eyes
Of mortals, that fall back to gaze on him
When he bestrides the lazy-puffing clouds,
And sails upon the bosom of the air. 32
Jul. O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father, and refuse thy name;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I'll no longer be a Capulet. 36
Rom. [Aside.] Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?
Jul. 'Tis but thy name that is my enemy;
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot, 40
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O! be some other name:
What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet; 44
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name;
And for thy name, which is no part of thee, 48
Take all myself.
Rom. I take thee at thy word.
Call me but love, and I'll be new baptiz'd;
Henceforth I never will be Romeo.
Jul. What man art thou, that, thus bescreen'd in night, 52
So stumblest on my counsel?
Rom. By a name
I know not how to tell thee who I am:
My name, dear saint, is hateful to myself,
Because it is an enemy to thee: 56
Had I it written, I would tear the word.
Jul. My ears have yet not drunk a hundred words
Of thy tongue's uttering, yet I know the sound:
Art thou not Romeo, and a Montague? 60
Rom. Neither, fair maid, if either thee dislike.
Jul. How cam'st thou hither, tell me, and wherefore?
The orchard walls are high and hard to climb,
And the place death, considering who thou art,
If any of my kinsmen find thee here. 65
Rom. With love's light wings did I o'erperch these walls;
For stony limits cannot hold love out,
And what love can do that dares love attempt;
Therefore thy kinsmen are no stop to me. 69
Jul. If they do see thee they will murder thee.
Rom. Alack! there lies more peril in thine eye
Than twenty of their swords: look thou but sweet, 72
And I am proof against their enmity.
Jul. I would not for the world they saw thee here.
Rom. I have night's cloak to hide me from their eyes;
And but thou love me, let them find me here;
My life were better ended by their hate, 77
Than death prorogued, wanting of thy love.
Jul. By whose direction found'st thou out this place?
Rom. By Love, that first did prompt me to inquire; 80
He lent me counsel, and I lent him eyes.
I am no pilot; yet, wert thou as far
As that vast shore wash'd with the furthest sea,
I should adventure for such merchandise. 84
Jul. Thou know'st the mask of night is on my face,
Else would a maiden blush bepaint my cheek
For that which thou hast heard me speak to-night.
Fain would I dwell on form, fain, fain deny 88
What I have spoke: but farewell compliment!
Dost thou love me? I know thou wilt say 'Ay;'
And I will take thy word; yet, if thou swear'st,
Thou mayst prove false; at lovers' perjuries, 92
They say, Jove laughs. O gentle Romeo!
If thou dost love, pronounce it faithfully:
Or if thou think'st I am too quickly won,
I'll frown and be perverse and say thee nay, 96
So thou wilt woo; but else, not for the world.
In truth, fair Montague, I am too fond,
And therefore thou mayst think my haviour light:
But trust me, gentleman, I'll prove more true
Than those that have more cunning to be strange. 101
I should have been more strange, I must confess,
But that thou over-heard'st, ere I was ware,
My true love's passion: therefore pardon me,
And not impute this yielding to light love, 105
Which the dark night hath so discovered.
Rom. Lady, by yonder blessed moon I vow
That tips with silver all these fruit-tree tops,—
Jul. O! swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon, 109
That monthly changes in her circled orb,
Lest that thy love prove likewise variable.
Rom. What shall I swear by?
Jul. Do not swear at all;
Or, if thou wilt, swear by thy gracious self, 113
Which is the god of my idolatry,
And I'll believe thee.
Rom. If my heart's dear love—
Jul. Well, do not swear. Although I joy in thee, 116
I have no joy of this contract to-night:
It is too rash, too unadvis'd, too sudden;
Too like the lightning, which doth cease to be
Ere one can say it lightens. Sweet, good-night!
This bud of love, by summer's ripening breath,
May prove a beauteous flower when next we meet.
Good-night, good-night! as sweet repose and rest
Come to thy heart as that within my breast! 124
Rom. O! wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied?
Jul. What satisfaction canst thou have to-night?
Rom. The exchange of thy love's faithful vow for mine.
Jul. I gave thee mine before thou didst request it; 128
And yet I would it were to give again.
Rom. Wouldst thou withdraw it? for what purpose, love?
Jul. But to be frank, and give it thee again.
And yet I wish but for the thing I have: 132
My bounty is as boundless as the sea,
My love as deep; the more I give to thee,
The more I have, for both are infinite.
[Nurse] calls within.
I hear some noise within; dear love, adieu! 136
Anon, good nurse! Sweet Montague, be true.
Stay but a little, I will come again. [Exit above.]
Rom. O blessed, blessed night! I am afeard,
Being in night, all this is but a dream, 140
Too flattering-sweet to be substantial.
[Enter Juliet, above.]
Jul. Three words, dear Romeo, and good-night indeed.
If that thy bent of love be honourable,
Thy purpose marriage, send me word to-morrow, 144
By one that I'll procure to come to thee,
Where, and what time, thou wilt perform the rite;
And all my fortunes at thy foot I'll lay,
And follow thee my lord throughout the world.
Nurse. [Within.] Madam! 149
Jul. I come, anon.—But if thou mean'st not well,
I do beseech thee,—
Nurse. [Within.] Madam!
Jul. By and by; I come:—
To cease thy suit, and leave me to my grief: 152
To-morrow will I send.
Rom. So thrive my soul,—
Jul. A thousand times good-night! Exit.
Rom. A thousand times the worse, to want thy light.
Love goes toward love, as schoolboys from their books; 156
But love from love, toward school with heavy looks.
Enter Juliet again.
Jul. Hist! Romeo, hist! O! for a falconer's voice,
To lure this tassel-gentle back again.
Bondage is hoarse, and may not speak aloud, 160
Else would I tear the cave where Echo lies,
And make her airy tongue more hoarse than mine,
With repetition of my Romeo's name.
Rom. It is my soul that calls upon my name:
How silver-sweet sound lovers' tongues by night, 165
Like softest music to attending ears!
Jul. Romeo!
Rom. My dear!
Jul. At what o'clock to-morrow
Shall I send to thee?
Rom. By the hour of nine. 168
Jul. I will not fail; 'tis twenty years till then.
I have forgot why I did call thee back.
Rom. Let me stand here till thou remember it.
Jul. I shall forget, to have thee still stand there, 172
Remembering how I love thy company.
Rom. And I'll still stay, to have thee still forget,
Forgetting any other home but this.
Jul. 'Tis almost morning; I would have thee gone; 176
And yet no further than a wanton's bird,
That lets it hop a little from her hand,
Like a poor prisoner in his twisted gyves,
And with a silk thread plucks it back again, 180
So loving-jealous of his liberty.
Rom. I would I were thy bird.
Jul. Sweet, so would I:
Yet I should kill thee with much cherishing.
Good-night, good-night! parting is such sweet sorrow 184
That I shall say good-night till it be morrow. Exit.
Rom. Sleep dwell upon thine eyes, peace in thy breast!
Would I were sleep and peace, so sweet to rest!
Hence will I to my ghostly father's cell, 188
His help to crave, and my dear hap to tell. Exit.
Scene Three
[Friar Laurence's Cell]
Enter Friar alone, with a basket.
Fri. L. The grey-ey'd morn smiles on the frowning night,
Chequering the eastern clouds with streaks of light,
And flecked darkness like a drunkard reels
From forth day's path and Titan's fiery wheels:
Now, ere the sun advance his burning eye 5
The day to cheer and night's dank dew to dry,
I must up-fill this osier cage of ours
With baleful weeds and precious-juiced flowers.
The earth that's nature's mother is her tomb; 9
What is her burying grave that is her womb,
And from her womb children of divers kind
We sucking on her natural bosom find, 12
Many for many virtues excellent,
None but for some, and yet all different.
O! mickle is the powerful grace that lies
In plants, herbs, stones, and their true qualities: 16
For nought so vile that on the earth doth live
But to the earth some special good doth give,
Nor aught so good but strain'd from that fair use
Revolts from true birth, stumbling on abuse: 20
Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied,
And vice sometime's by action dignified.
Enter Romeo.
Within the infant rind of this weak flower
Poison hath residence and medicine power: 24
For this, being smelt, with that part cheers each part;
Being tasted, slays all senses with the heart.
Two such opposed kings encamp them still
In man as well as herbs, grace and rude will; 28
And where the worser is predominant,
Full soon the canker death eats up that plant.
Rom. Good morrow, father!
Fri. L. Benedicite!
What early tongue so sweet saluteth me? 32
Young son, it argues a distemper'd head
So soon to bid good morrow to thy bed:
Care keeps his watch in every old man's eye,
And where care lodges, sleep will never lie; 36
But where unbruised youth with unstuff'd brain
Doth couch his limbs, there golden sleep doth reign:
Therefore thy earliness doth me assure
Thou art up-rous'd with some distemperature; 40
Or if not so, then here I hit it right,
Our Romeo hath not been in bed to-night.
Rom. That last is true; the sweeter rest was mine.
Fri. L. God pardon sin! wast thou with Rosaline? 44
Rom. With Rosaline, my ghostly father? no;
I have forgot that name, and that name's woe.
Fri. L. That's my good son: but where hast thou been, then?
Rom. I'll tell thee, ere thou ask it me again.
I have been feasting with mine enemy, 49
Where on a sudden one hath wounded me,
That's by me wounded: both our remedies
Within thy help and holy physic lies: 52
I bear no hatred, blessed man; for, lo!
My intercession likewise steads my foe.
Fri. L. Be plain, good son, and homely in thy drift;
Riddling confession finds but riddling shrift. 56
Rom. Then plainly know my heart's dear love is set
On the fair daughter of rich Capulet:
As mine on hers, so hers is set on mine;
And all combin'd, save what thou must combine 60
By holy marriage: when and where and how
We met, we woo'd, and made exchange of vow,
I'll tell thee as we pass; but this I pray,
That thou consent to marry us to-day. 64
Fri. L. Holy Saint Francis! what a change is here;
Is Rosaline, that thou didst love so dear,
So soon forsaken? young men's love then lies
Not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes. 68
Jesu Maria! what a deal of brine
Hath wash'd thy sallow cheeks for Rosaline;
How much salt water thrown away in waste,
To season love, that of it doth not taste! 72
The sun not yet thy sighs from heaven clears,
Thy old groans yet ring in my ancient ears;
Lo! here upon thy cheek the stain doth sit
Of an old tear that is not wash'd off yet. 76
If e'er thou wast thyself and these woes thine,
Thou and these woes were all for Rosaline:
And art thou chang'd? pronounce this sentence then:
Women may fall, when there's no strength in men. 80
Rom. Thou chidd'st me oft for loving Rosaline.
Fri. L. For doting, not for loving, pupil mine.
Rom. And bad'st me bury love.
Fri. L. Not in a grave,
To lay one in, another out to have. 84
Rom. I pray thee, chide me not; her I love now
Doth grace for grace and love for love allow;
The other did not so.
Fri. L. O! she knew well
Thy love did read by rote that could not spell. 88
But come, young waverer, come, go with me,
In one respect I'll thy assistant be;
For this alliance may so happy prove,
To turn your households' rancour to pure love.
Rom. O! let us hence; I stand on sudden haste. 93
Fri. L. Wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast. Exeunt.
Scene Four
[A Street]
Enter Benvolio and Mercutio.
Mer. Where the devil should this Romeo be?
Came he not home to-night?
Ben. Not to his father's; I spoke with his man.
Mer. Why that same pale hard-hearted wench, that Rosaline, 4
Torments him so, that he will sure run mad.
Ben. Tybalt, the kinsman to old Capulet,
Hath sent a letter to his father's house.
Mer. A challenge, on my life. 8
Ben. Romeo will answer it.
Mer. Any man that can write may answer a letter.
Ben. Nay, he will answer the letter's master,
how he dares, being dared. 12
Mer. Alas! poor Romeo, he is already dead;
stabbed with a white wench's black eye; run
through the ear with a love-song; the very pin
of his heart cleft with the blind bow-boy's
butt-shaft; and is he a man to encounter
Tybalt?
Ben. Why, what is Tybalt? 19
Mer. More than prince of cats, I can tell you.
O! he is the courageous captain of compliments.
He fights as you sing prick-song, keeps time,
distance, and proportion; rests me his minim
rest, one, two, and the third in your bosom; the
very butcher of a silk button, a duellist, a duel-
list; a gentleman of the very first house, of the
first and second cause. Ah! the immortal
passado! the punto reverso! the hay! 28
Ben. The what?
Mer. The pox of such antic, lisping, affecting
fantasticoes, these new tuners of accents!—'By
Jesu, a very good blade!—a very tall man! a very
good whore.'—Why, is not this a lamentable
thing, grandsire, that we should be thus afflicted
with these strange flies, these fashion-mongers,
these pardonnez-mois, who stand so much on
the new form that they cannot sit at ease on
the old bench? O, their bons, their bons! 38
Enter Romeo.
Ben. Here comes Romeo, here comes Romeo.
Mer. Without his roe, like a dried herring.
O flesh, flesh, how art thou fishified! Now is he
for the numbers that Petrarch flowed in: Laura
to his lady was a kitchen-wench; marry,
she had a better love to be-rime her; Dido a
dowdy; Cleopatra a gipsy; Helen and Hero
hildings and harlots; Thisbe, a grey eye or so,
but not to the purpose. Signior Romeo, bon
jour! there's a French salutation to your French
slop. You gave us the counterfeit fairly last
night.
Rom. Good morrow to you both. What
counterfeit did I give you? 52
Mer. The slip, sir, the slip; can you not con-
ceive?
Rom. Pardon, good Mercutio, my business
was great; and in such a case as mine a man
may strain courtesy. 57
Mer. That's as much as to say, such a case
as yours constrains a man to bow in the hams.
Rom. Meaning—to curtsy. 60
Mer. Thou hast most kindly hit it.
Rom. A most courteous exposition.
Mer. Nay, I am the very pink of courtesy.
Rom. Pink for flower. 64
Mer. Right.
Rom. Why, then, is my pump well flowered.
Mer. Sure wit! Follow me this jest now till
thou hast worn out the pump, that, when the
single sole of it is worn, the jest may remain
after the wearing sole singular.
Rom. O single-soled jest! solely singular for
the singleness. 72
Mer. Come between us, good Benvolio; my
wit faints.
Rom. Switch and spurs, switch and spurs;
or I'll cry a match. 76
Mer. Nay, if our wits run the wild-goose
chase, I am done, for thou hast more of the
wild-goose in one of thy wits than, I am sure,
I have in my whole five. Was I with you there
for the goose? 81
Rom. Thou wast never with me for anything
when thou wast not here for the goose.
Mer. I will bite thee by the ear for that jest.
Rom. Nay, good goose, bite not. 85
Mer. Thy wit is a very bitter sweeting; it is
a most sharp sauce.
Rom. And is it not then well served in to a
sweet goose? 89
Mer. O! here's a wit of cheveril, that stretches
from an inch narrow to an ell broad.
Rom. I stretch it out for that word 'broad;'
which added to the goose, proves thee far and
wide a broad goose. 94
Mer. Why, is not this better now than groan-
ing for love? now art thou sociable, now art thou
Romeo; now art thou what thou art, by art as
well as by nature: for this drivelling love is like
a great natural, that runs lolling up and down
to hide his bauble in a hole. 100
Ben. Stop there, stop there.
Mer. Thou desirest me to stop in my tale
against the hair.
Ben. Thou wouldst else have made thy tale
large. 105
Mer. O! thou art deceived; I would have
made it short; for I was come to the whole
depth of my tale, and meant indeed to occupy
the argument no longer. 109
Rom. Here's goodly gear!
Enter Nurse and her man [Peter].
A sail, a sail!
Mer. Two, two; a shirt and a smock. 112
Nurse. Peter!
Peter. Anon!
Nurse. My fan, Peter.
Mer. Good Peter, to hide her face; for her
fan's the fairer face. 117
Nurse. God ye good morrow, gentlemen.
Mer. God ye good den, fair gentlewoman.
Nurse. Is it good den? 120
Mer. 'Tis no less, I tell you; for the bawdy
hand of the dial is now upon the prick of noon.
Nurse. Out upon you! what a man are you!
Rom. One, gentlewoman, that God hath
made for himself to mar. 125
Nurse. By my troth, it is well said; 'for him-
self to mar,' quoth a'?—Gentlemen, can any of
you tell me where I may find the young Romeo?
Rom. I can tell you; but young Romeo will
be older when you have found him than he was
when you sought him: I am the youngest of
that name, for fault of a worse. 132
Nurse. You say well.
Mer. Yea! is the worst well? very well took,
i' faith; wisely, wisely.
Nurse. If you be he, sir, I desire some con-
fidence with you. 137
Ben. She will indite him to some supper.
Mer. A bawd, a bawd, a bawd! So ho!
Rom. What hast thou found? 140
Mer. No hare, sir; unless a hare, sir, in a
lenten pie, that is something stale and hoar ere
it be spent. He walks by them and sings.
'An old hare hoar,
And an old hare hoar, 144
Is very good meat in Lent:
But a hare that is hoar,
Is too much for a score,
When it hoars ere it be spent.'
Romeo, will you come to your father's? we'll to
dinner thither. 149
Rom. I will follow you.
Mer. Farewell, ancient lady; farewell,
'Lady, lady, lady.' 152
Nurse. Marry, farewell! I pray you, sir,
what saucy merchant was this, that was so full
of his ropery?
Rom. A gentleman, nurse, that loves to hear
himself talk, and will speak more in a minute
than he will stand to in a month. 158
Nurse. An a' speak anything against me, I'll
take him down, an a' were lustier than he is,
and twenty such Jacks; and if I cannot, I'll find
those that shall. Scurvy knave! I am none of
his flirt-gills; I am none of his skeins-mates.
She turns to Peter, her man.
And thou must stand by too, and suffer every
knave to use me at his pleasure! 165
Pet. I saw no man use you at his pleasure;
if I had, my weapon should quickly have been
out, I warrant you. I dare draw as soon as
another man, if I see occasion in a good quarrel,
and the law on my side. 170
Nurse. Now, afore God, I am so vexed, that
every part about me quivers. Scurvy knave!
Pray you, sir, a word; and as I told you, my
young lady bid me inquire you out; what she
bid me say I will keep to myself; but first let
me tell ye, if ye should lead her in a fool's
paradise, as they say, it were a very gross kind
of behaviour, as they say: for the gentlewoman
is young; and, therefore, if you should deal
double with her, truly it were an ill thing to be
offered to any gentlewoman, and very weak
dealing. 182
Rom. Nurse, commend me to thy lady and
mistress. I protest unto thee,—
Nurse. Good heart! and, i' faith, I will tell
her as much. Lord, Lord! she will be a joyful
woman. 187
Rom. What wilt thou tell her, nurse? thou
dost not mark me.
Nurse. I will tell her, sir, that you do pro-
test; which, as I take it, is a gentlemanlike
offer. 192
Rom. Bid her devise
Some means to come to shrift this afternoon;
And there she shall at Friar Laurence' cell,
Be shriv'd and married. Here is for thy pains.
Nurse. No, truly, sir; not a penny. 197
Rom. Go to; I say, you shall.
Nurse. This afternoon, sir? Well, she shall be
there. 200
Rom. And stay, good nurse; behind the abbey wall:
Within this hour my man shall be with thee,
And bring thee cords made like a tackled stair;
Which to the high top-gallant of my joy 204
Must be my convoy in the secret night.
Farewell! Be trusty, and I'll quit thy pains.
Farewell! Commend me to thy mistress.
Nurse. Now God in heaven bless thee! Hark you, sir. 208
Rom. What sayst thou, my dear nurse?
Nurse. Is your man secret? Did you ne'er hear say,
Two may keep counsel, putting one away?
Rom. I warrant thee my man's as true as steel. 212
Nurse. Well, sir; my mistress is the sweetest
lady—Lord, Lord!—when 'twas a little prating
thing, O! there's a nobleman in town, one
Paris, that would fain lay knife aboard; but
she, good soul, had as lief see a toad, a very
toad, as see him. I anger her sometimes and
tell her that Paris is the properer man; but, I'll
warrant you, when I say so, she looks as pale as
any clout in the versal world. Doth not rose-
mary and Romeo begin both with a letter?
Rom. Ay, nurse: what of that? both with
an R. 224
Nurse. Ah! mocker; that's the dog's name.
R is for the—No; I know it begins with some
other letter: and she had the prettiest senten-
tious of it, of you and rosemary, that it would
do you good to hear it. 229
Rom. Commend me to thy lady.
Nurse. Ay, a thousand times. [Exit Romeo.]
Peter! 232
Pet. Anon!
Nurse. Before, and apace.
Scene Five
[Capulet's Garden]
Enter Juliet.
Jul. The clock struck nine when I did send the nurse;
In half an hour she promis'd to return.
Perchance she cannot meet him: that's not so.
O! she is lame: love's heralds should be thoughts, 4
Which ten times faster glide than the sun's beams,
Driving back shadows over lowering hills:
Therefore do nimble-pinion'd doves draw Love,
And therefore hath the wind-swift Cupid wings.
Now is the sun upon the highmost hill 9
Of this day's journey, and from nine till twelve
Is three long hours, yet she is not come.
Had she affections, and warm youthful blood, 12
She'd be as swift in motion as a ball;
My words would bandy her to my sweet love,
And his to me:
But old folks, many feign as they were dead; 16
Unwieldy, slow, heavy and pale as lead.
Enter Nurse [and Peter.]
O God! she comes. O honey nurse! what news?
Hast thou met with him? Send thy man away.
Nurse. Peter, stay at the gate. [Exit Peter.]
Jul. Now, good sweet nurse; O Lord, why look'st thou sad? 21
Though news be sad, yet tell them merrily;
If good, thou sham'st the music of sweet news
By playing it to me with so sour a face. 24
Nurse. I am aweary, give me leave awhile:
Fie, how my bones ache! What a jaunce have I had!
Jul. I would thou hadst my bones, and I thy news.
Nay, come, I pray thee, speak; good, good nurse, speak. 28
Nurse. Jesu! what haste? can you not stay awhile?
Do you not see that I am out of breath?
Jul. How art thou out of breath when thou hast breath
To say to me that thou art out of breath? 32
The excuse that thou dost make in this delay
Is longer than the tale thou dost excuse.
Is thy news good, or bad? answer to that;
Say either, and I'll stay the circumstance: 36
Let me be satisfied, is 't good or bad?
Nurse. Well, you have made a simple choice;
you know not how to choose a man: Romeo!
no, not he; though his face be better than any
man's, yet his leg excels all men's; and for a
hand, and a foot, and a body, though they be
not to be talked on, yet they are past compare.
He is not the flower of courtesy, but, I'll warrant
him, as gentle as a lamb. Go thy ways, wench;
serve God. What! have you dined at home?
Jul. No, no: but all this did I know before.
What says he of our marriage? what of that?
Nurse. Lord! how my head aches; what a head have I!
It beats as it would fall in twenty pieces.
My back o' t'other side; O! my back, my back!
Beshrew your heart for sending me about, 52
To catch my death with jauncing up and down.
Jul. I' faith, I am sorry that thou art not well.
Sweet, sweet, sweet nurse, tell me, what says my love?
Nurse. Your love says, like an honest gentle-
man, and a courteous, and a kind, and a hand-
some, and, I warrant, a virtuous,—Where is
your mother?
Jul. Where is my mother! why, she is within; 60
Where should she be? How oddly thou repliest:
'Your love says, like an honest gentleman,
Where is your mother?'
Nurse. O! God's lady dear,
Are you so hot? Marry, come up, I trow; 64
Is this the poultice for my aching bones?
Henceforward do your messages yourself.
Jul. Here's such a coil! come, what says Romeo?
Nurse. Have you got leave to go to shrift to-day? 68
Jul. I have.
Nurse. Then hie you hence to Friar Laurence' cell,
There stays a husband to make you a wife:
Now comes the wanton blood up in your cheeks,
They'll be in scarlet straight at any news. 73
Hie you to church; I must another way,
To fetch a ladder, by the which your love
Must climb a bird's nest soon when it is dark;
I am the drudge and toil in your delight, 77
But you shall bear the burden soon at night.
Go; I'll to dinner: hie you to the cell.
Jul. Hie to high fortune! Honest nurse, farewell.
Scene Six
[Friar Laurence's Cell]
Enter Friar and Romeo.
Fri. L. So smile the heaven upon this holy act,
That after hours with sorrow chide us not!
Rom. Amen, amen! but come what sorrow can,
It cannot countervail the exchange of joy 4
That one short minute gives me in her sight:
Do thou but close our hands with holy words,
Then love-devouring death do what he dares;
It is enough I may but call her mine. 8
Fri. L. These violent delights have violent ends,
And in their triumph die, like fire and powder,
Which, as they kiss, consume: the sweetest honey
Is loathsome in his own deliciousness 12
And in the taste confounds the appetite:
Therefore love moderately; long love doth so;
Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow.
Enter Juliet.
Here comes the lady: O! so light a foot 16
Will ne'er wear out the everlasting flint:
A lover may bestride the gossamer
That idles in the wanton summer air,
And yet not fall; so light is vanity. 20
Jul. Good even to my ghostly confessor.
Fri. L. Romeo shall thank thee, daughter, for us both.
Jul. As much to him, else is his thanks too much.
Rom. Ah! Juliet, if the measure of thy joy
Be heap'd like mine, and that thy skill be more 25
To blazon it, then sweeten with thy breath
This neighbour air, and let rich music's tongue
Unfold the imagin'd happiness that both 28
Receive in either by this dear encounter.
Jul. Conceit, more rich in matter than in words,
Brags of his substance, not of ornament:
They are but beggars that can count their worth; 32
But my true love is grown to such excess
I cannot sum up half my sum of wealth.
Fri. L. Come, come with me, and we will make short work;
For, by your leaves, you shall not stay alone 36
Till holy church incorporate two in one.
Footnotes to Act II
Prologue
6 Alike: i.e., both he and she
10 use: are accustomed to
Scene One
S. d. Orchard: garden
2 dull earth; cf. n.
34 medlar: a fruit which looks like a small, brown-skinned apple
36 Cf. n.
38 poperin: variety from Poperinghe, Flanders
39 truckle-bed: little bed
40 field-bed: a large bed; here, the ground
Scene Two
Scene Two; cf. n.
6 maid; cf. n.
8 vestal: virgin
sick: of a sickly hue
17 spheres: orbits
31 lazy-puffing; cf. n.
46 owes: possesses
53 counsel: secrets
61 dislike: displease
66 o'erperch: fly over
78 prorogued: deferred
89 compliment: conventional speech
97 So: provided that
101 strange: reserved
106 discovered: revealed
110 circled orb: circular orbit
113 gracious: godly
131 frank: generous
141 substantial: real
143 bent: purpose
145 procure: cause
151 By and by: immediately
159 tassel-gentle: male falcon
179 gyves: fetters
188 ghostly: spiritual
189 dear hap: good fortune
Scene Three
3 flecked: dappled
4 Titan's: the sun-god's
7 osier cage: willow basket
15 mickle: great
grace: efficacy
28 grace: the grace of God
30 canker: parasitic worm
31 Benedicite: God bless you
33 distemper'd: mentally or morally deranged
37 unstuff'd: not overcharged
52 physic: healing art
54 steads: benefits
55 homely: plain
56 shrift: absolution
86 grace: favor
88 Cf. n.
93 stand on: insist on
Scene Four
12 dared: defied
15 pin: peg in the centre of a target
17 butt-shaft: unbarbed arrow used in shooting at targets
20 prince of cats; cf. n.
21 captain of compliments: chief observer of formal ceremonies
22 prick-song: a part written out, not improvised
23 proportion: rhythm
minim: half measure (in music)
25 silk button; cf. n.
26 house: school of fencing
27 cause: formal reason for a duel (?)
28 passado . . . hay: technical fencing terms: forward thrust, backhanded thrust, home thrust
30 the pox of: 'plague take'
31 fantasticoes: absurd persons
accents: language
32 tall: valiant
34 grandsire; cf. n.
35 flies: worthless persons
36 pardonnez-mois; cf. n.
40 roe; cf. n.
41 flesh: human nature
42 Petrarch; cf. n.
46 hildings: baggages
49 slop: loose breeches
counterfeit: counterfeit coins were called slips
53 conceive: understand
61 kindly: aptly
66 well flowered; cf. n.
69 sole: here, also, 'soul'
70 sole singular: all alone
71 single-soled: contemptible, threadbare
72 singleness: triviality
75 Switch and spurs: arouse your wits
76 cry a match: say you are beaten (?)
77 wild-goose chase; cf. n.
86 sweeting: kind of apple
90 cheveril: kid leather
94 broad: evident
99 natural: idiot
100 bauble: stick carried by a court fool
103 against the hair: against the grain
110 gear: business
122 prick: point
126 By my troth: upon my word
136 confidence: misused for 'conference'
138 indite: consciously misused for 'invite'
141 hare: also slang for 'courtesan'
142 hoar: mouldy
143 spent: consumed
152 Lady; cf. n.
154 merchant: fellow
155 ropery: knavery
161 Jacks: ill-mannered fellows
163 flirt-gills: loose women
skeins-mates: companions to a scapegrace (?)
184 protest: promise
189 mark: pay attention to
198 Go to: Come!
203 tackled stair: rope-ladder
204 top-gallant: summit
205 convoy: means of going
206 quit: requite
210 secret: trustworthy
219 properer: handsomer
221 clout: rag
versal: universal
222 a: the same
225 dog's name; cf. n.
227 sententious: for sentences
Scene Five
4 heralds: messengers
7 Love: Venus
14 bandy: send (as a ball in tennis)
16 as: as if
26 jaunce: jaunt
36 stay the circumstance: wait for the details
52 beshrew: ill luck to
64 Marry, come up: expression of disgust
67 coil: fuss
70 hie: hasten
Scene Six
4 countervail: equal
13 confounds: destroys
18 gossamer: spider's thread
20 vanity: vain delight
26 blazon: describe fitly
30 Conceit: imagination