Romeo and Juliet (1917) Yale/Text/Act III
ACT THIRD
Scene One
[A Public Place]
Mercutio, Benvolio, and men.
Ben. I pray thee, good Mercutio, let's retire:
The day is hot, the Capulets abroad,
And, if we meet, we shall not 'scape a brawl;
For now, these hot days, is the mad blood stirring. 4
Mer. Thou art like one of those fellows that
when he enters the confines of a tavern claps
me his sword upon the table and says, 'God
send me no need of thee!' and by the operation
of the second cup draws him on the drawer,
when, indeed, there is no need.
Ben. Am I like such a fellow? 11
Mer. Come, come, thou art as hot a Jack in
thy mood as any in Italy; and as soon moved to
be moody, and as soon moody to be moved.
Ben. And what to? 15
Mer. Nay, an there were two such, we should
have none shortly, for one would kill the other.
Thou! why, thou wilt quarrel with a man that
hath a hair more or a hair less in his beard than
thou hast. Thou wilt quarrel with a man for
cracking nuts, having no other reason but be-
cause thou hast hazel eyes. What eye, but such
an eye, would spy out such a quarrel? Thy
head is as full of quarrels as an egg is full of
meat, and yet thy head hath been beaten as
addle as an egg for quarrelling. Thou hast
quarrelled with a man for coughing in the
street, because he hath wakened thy dog that
hath lain asleep in the sun. Didst thou not fall
out with a tailor for wearing his new doublet
before Easter? with another, for tying his new
shoes with old riband? and yet thou wilt tutor
me from quarrelling! 33
Ben. An I were so apt to quarrel as thou art,
any man should buy the fee-simple of my life
for an hour and a quarter. 36
Mer. The fee-simple! O simple!
Enter Tybalt and others.
Ben. By my head, here come the Capulets.
Mer. By my heel, I care not.
Tyb. Follow me close, for I will speak to them.
Gentlemen, good den! a word with one of you.
Mer. And but one word with one of us?
Couple it with something; make it a word and
a blow. 44
Tyb. You shall find me apt enough to that,
sir, an you will give me occasion.
Mer. Could you not take some occasion with-
out giving? 48
Tyb. Mercutio, thou consort'st with Romeo,—
Mer. Consort! What! dost thou make us
minstrels? an thou make minstrels of us, look
to hear nothing but discords: here's my fiddle-
stick; here's that shall make you dance.
'Zounds! consort!
Ben. We talk here in the public haunt of men:
Either withdraw unto some private place, 56
Or reason coldly of your grievances,
Or else depart; here all eyes gaze on us.
Mer. Men's eyes were made to look, and let them gaze;
I will not budge for no man's pleasure, I. 60
Enter Romeo.
Tyb. Well, peace be with you, sir. Here comes my man.
Mer. But I'll be hang'd, sir, if he wear your livery:
Marry, go before to field, he'll be your follower;
Your worship in that sense may call him 'man.'
Tyb. Romeo, the love I bear thee can afford
No better term than this, thou art a villain.
Rom. Tybalt, the reason that I have to love thee
Doth much excuse the appertaining rage 68
To such a greeting; villain am I none,
Therefore farewell; I see thou know'st me not.
Tyb. Boy, this shall not excuse the injuries
That thou hast done me; therefore turn and draw. 72
Rom. I do protest I never injur'd thee,
But love thee better than thou canst devise,
Till thou shalt know the reason of my love:
And so, good Capulet, which name I tender 76
As dearly as my own, be satisfied.
Mer. O calm, dishonourable, vile submission!
Alla stoccata carries it away. [Draws.]
Tybalt, you rat-catcher, will you walk? 80
Tyb. What wouldst thou have with me?
Mer. Good king of cats, nothing but one of
your nine lives, that I mean to make bold withal,
and, as you shall use me hereafter, dry-beat the
rest of the eight. Will you pluck your sword
out of his pilcher by the ears? make haste, lest
mine be about your ears ere it be out.
Tyb. [Drawing.] I am for you. 88
Rom. Gentle Mercutio, put thy rapier up.
Mer. Come, sir, your passado. [They fight.]
Rom. Draw, Benvolio; beat down their weapons.
Gentlemen, for shame, forbear this outrage! 92
Tybalt, Mercutio, the prince expressly hath
Forbidden bandying in Verona streets.
Hold, Tybalt! good Mercutio!
Tybalt under Romeo's arm thrusts Mercutio in and flies.
Mer. I am hurt.
A plague o' both your houses! I am sped. 96
Is he gone, and hath nothing?
Ben. What art thou hurt?
Mer. Ay, ay, a scratch, a scratch; marry, 'tis enough.
Where is my page? Go, villain, fetch a surgeon.
Rom. Courage, man; the hurt cannot be much. 100
Mer. No, 'tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide
as a church door; but 'tis enough, 'twill serve:
ask for me to-morrow, and you shall find me a
grave man. I am peppered, I warrant, for this
world. A plague o' both your houses! 'Zounds,
a dog, a rat, a mouse, a cat, to scratch a man to
death! a braggart, a rogue, a villain, that fights
by the book of arithmetic! Why the devil came
you between us? I was hurt under your arm. 109
Rom. I thought all for the best.
Mer. Help me into some house, Benvolio,
Or I shall faint. A plague o' both your houses!
They have made worms' meat of me: I have it, 113
And soundly too:—your houses!
Rom. This gentleman, the prince's near ally,
My very friend, hath got his mortal hurt 116
In my behalf; my reputation stain'd
With Tybalt's slander, Tybalt, that an hour
Hath been my cousin. O sweet Juliet!
Thy beauty hath made me effeminate, 120
And in my temper soften'd valour's steel!
Enter Benvolio.
Ben. O Romeo, Romeo! brave Mercutio's dead;
That gallant spirit hath aspir'd the clouds,
Which too untimely here did scorn the earth.
Rom. This day's black fate on more days doth depend; 125
This but begins the woe others must end.
Enter Tybalt.
Ben. Here comes the furious Tybalt back again.
Rom. Alive! in triumph! and Mercutio slain!
Away to heaven, respective lenity, 129
And fire-ey'd fury be my conduct now!
Now, Tybalt, take the villain back again
That late thou gav'st me; for Mercutio's soul
Is but a little way above our heads, 133
Staying for thine to keep him company:
Either thou, or I, or both, must go with him.
Tyb. Thou wretched boy, that didst consort him here, 136
Shalt with him hence.
Rom. This shall determine that.
Ben. Romeo, away! be gone!
The citizens are up, and Tybalt slain.
Stand not amaz'd: the prince will doom thee death 140
If thou art taken: hence be gone! away!
Rom. O! I am Fortune's fool.
Ben. Why dost thou stay?
Enter Citizens.
First Cit. Which way ran he that kill'd Mercutio?
Tybalt, that murderer, which way ran he? 144
Ben. There lies that Tybalt.
First Cit. Up, sir, go with me.
I charge thee in the prince's name, obey.
Enter Prince, old Montague, Capulet, their Wives, and all.
Prin. Where are the vile beginners of this fray?
Ben. O noble prince! I can discover all 148
The unlucky manage of this fatal brawl:
There lies the man, slain by young Romeo,
That slew thy kinsman, brave Mercutio.
Lady Cap. Tybalt, my cousin! O my brother's child! 152
O prince! O cousin! husband! O! the blood is spill'd
Of my dear kinsman. Prince, as thou art true,
For blood of ours shed blood of Montague.
O cousin, cousin! 156
Prin. Benvolio, who began this bloody fray?
Ben. Tybalt, here slain, whom Romeo's hand did slay:
Romeo, that spoke him fair, bade him bethink
How nice the quarrel was, and urg'd withal 160
Your high displeasure: all this, uttered
With gentle breath, calm look, knees humbly bow'd,
Could not take truce with the unruly spleen
Of Tybalt deaf to peace, but that he tilts 164
With piercing steel at bold Mercutio's breast,
Who, all as hot, turns deadly point to point,
And, with a martial scorn, with one hand beats
Cold death aside, and with the other sends 168
It back to Tybalt, whose dexterity
Retorts it: Romeo he cries aloud,
'Hold, friends! friends, part!' and, swifter than his tongue,
His agile arm beats down their fatal points, 172
And 'twixt them rushes; underneath whose arm
An envious thrust from Tybalt hit the life
Of stout Mercutio, and then Tybalt fled;
But by and by comes back to Romeo, 176
Who had but newly entertain'd revenge,
And to 't they go like lightning, for, ere I
Could draw to part them, was stout Tybalt slain,
And, as he fell, did Romeo turn and fly. 180
This is the truth, or let Benvolio die.
Lady Cap. He is a kinsman to the Montague;
Affection makes him false, he speaks not true:
Some twenty of them fought in this black strife
And all those twenty could but kill one life. 185
I beg for justice, which thou, prince, must give;
Romeo slew Tybalt, Romeo must not live.
Prin. Romeo slew him, he slew Mercutio;
Who now the price of his dear blood doth owe?
Mon. Not Romeo, prince, he was Mercutio's friend,
His fault concludes but what the law should end,
The life of Tybalt.
Prin. And for that offence 192
Immediately we do exile him hence:
I have an interest in your hate's proceeding,
My blood for your rude brawls doth lie a-bleeding;
But I'll amerce you with so strong a fine 196
That you shall all repent the loss of mine.
I will be deaf to pleading and excuses;
Nor tears nor prayers shall purchase out abuses;
Therefore use none; let Romeo hence in haste,
Else, when he's found, that hour is his last. 201
Bear hence this body and attend our will:
Mercy but murders, pardoning those that kill.
Scene Two
[Capulet's Orchard]
Enter Juliet alone.
Jul. Gallop apace, you fiery-footed steeds,
Towards Phœbus' lodging; such a waggoner
As Phaethon would whip you to the west,
And bring in cloudy night immediately. 4
Spread thy close curtain, love-performing night,
That runaways' eyes may wink, and Romeo
Leap to these arms, untalk'd of and unseen!
Lovers can see to do their amorous rites 8
By their own beauties; or, if love be blind,
It best agrees with night. Come, civil night,
Thou sober-suited matron, all in black,
And learn me how to lose a winning match, 12
Play'd for a pair of stainless maidenhoods:
Hood my unmann'd blood, bating in my cheeks,
With thy black mantle; till strange love, grown bold,
Think true love acted simple modesty. 16
Come, night! come, Romeo! come, thou day in night!
For thou wilt lie upon the wings of night,
Whiter than new snow on a raven's back.
Come, gentle night; come, loving, black-brow'd night,
Give me my Romeo: and, when he shall die,
Take him and cut him out in little stars,
And he will make the face of heaven so fine
That all the world will be in love with night, 24
And pay no worship to the garish sun.
O! I have bought the mansion of a love,
But not possess'd it, and, though I am sold,
Not yet enjoy'd. So tedious is this day 28
As is the night before some festival
To an impatient child that hath new robes
And may not wear them. O! here comes my nurse,
Enter Nurse, with cords.
And she brings news; and every tongue that speaks 32
But Romeo's name speaks heavenly eloquence.
Now nurse, what news? What hast thou there? the cords
That Romeo bade thee fetch?
Nurse. Ay, ay, the cords.
Jul. Ah me! what news? why dost thou wring thy hands? 36
Nurse. Ah well-a-day! he's dead, he's dead, he's dead!
We are undone, lady, we are undone!
Alack the day! he's gone, he's killed, he's dead!
Jul. Can heaven be so envious?
Nurse. Romeo can, 40
Though heaven cannot. O! Romeo, Romeo;
Who ever would have thought it? Romeo!
Jul. What devil art thou that dost torment me thus?
This torture should be roar'd in dismal hell. 44
Hath Romeo slain himself? say thou but 'I,'
And that bare vowel, 'I,' shall poison more
Than the death-darting eye of cockatrice:
I am not I, if there be such an 'I;' 48
Or those eyes shut that make thee answer 'I.'
If he be slain, say 'I'; or if not 'no:'
Brief sounds determine of my weal or woe.
Nurse. I saw the wound, I saw it with mine eyes, 52
God save the mark! here on his manly breast:
A piteous corse, a bloody piteous corse;
Pale, pale as ashes, all bedaub'd in blood,
All in gore blood; I swounded at the sight. 56
Jul. O break, my heart!—poor bankrupt, break at once
To prison, eyes, ne'er look on liberty!
Vile earth, to earth resign; end motion here;
And thou and Romeo press one heavy bier! 60
Nurse. O Tybalt, Tybalt! the best friend I had:
O courteous Tybalt! honest gentleman!
That ever I should live to see thee dead!
Jul. What storm is this that blows so contrary? 64
Is Romeo slaughter'd, and is Tybalt dead?
My dearest cousin, and my dearer lord?
Then, dreadful trumpet, sound the general doom!
For who is living if those two are gone? 68
Nurse. Tybalt is gone, and Romeo banished;
Romeo, that kill'd him, he is banished.
Jul. O God! did Romeo's hand shed Tybalt's blood?
Nurse. It did, it did; alas the day! it did. 72
Jul. O serpent heart, hid with a flowering face!
Did ever dragon keep so fair a cave?
Beautiful tyrant! fiend angelical!
Dove-feather'd raven! wolvish-ravening lamb!
Despised substance of divinest show! 77
Just opposite to what thou justly seem'st;
A damned saint, an honourable villain!
O, nature! what hadst thou to do in hell 80
When thou didst bower the spirit of a fiend
In mortal paradise of such sweet flesh?
Was ever book containing such vile matter
So fairly bound? O! that deceit should dwell
In such a gorgeous palace.
Nurse. There's no trust, 85
No faith, no honesty in men; all naught,
All perjur'd, all dissemblers, all forsworn.
Ah! where's my man? give me some aqua vitæ: 88
These griefs, these woes, these sorrows make me old.
Shame come to Romeo!
Jul. Blister'd be thy tongue
For such a wish! he was not born to shame:
Upon his brow shame is asham'd to sit; 92
For 'tis a throne where honour may be crown'd
Sole monarch of the universal earth.
O! what a beast was I to chide at him.
Nurse. Will you speak well of him that kill'd your cousin? 96
Jul. Shall I speak ill of him that is my husband?
Ah! poor my lord, what tongue shall smooth thy name,
When I, thy three-hours wife, have mangled it?
But, wherefore, villain, didst thou kill my cousin? 100
That villain cousin would have kill'd my husband:
Back, foolish tears, back to your native spring;
Your tributary drops belong to woe,
Which you, mistaking, offer up to joy. 104
My husband lives, that Tybalt would have slain;
And Tybalt's dead, that would have slain my husband:
All this is comfort; wherefore weep I then?
Some word there was, worser than Tybalt's death, 108
That murder'd me: I would forget it fain;
But O! it presses to my memory,
Like damned guilty deeds to sinners' minds.
'Tybalt is dead, and Romeo banished!' 112
That 'banished,' that one word 'banished,'
Hath slain ten thousand Tybalts. Tybalt's death
Was woe enough, if it had ended there:
Or, if sour woe delights in fellowship, 116
And needly will be rank'd with other griefs,
Why follow'd not, when she said 'Tybalt's dead,'
Thy father, or thy mother, nay, or both, 119
Which modern lamentation might have mov'd?
But with a rearward following Tybalt's death,
'Romeo is banished!' to speak that word
Is father, mother, Tybalt, Romeo, Juliet,
All slain, all dead: 'Romeo is banished!' 124
There is no end, no limit, measure, bound
In that word's death; no words can that woe sound.—
Where is my father and my mother, nurse?
Nurse. Weeping and wailing over Tybalt's corse: 128
Will you go to them? I will bring you thither.
Jul. Wash they his wounds with tears: mine shall be spent,
When theirs are dry, for Romeo's banishment.
Take up those cords. Poor ropes, you are beguil'd, 132
Both you and I, for Romeo is exil'd:
He made you for a highway to my bed,
But I, a maid, die maiden-widowed.
Come, cords; come, nurse; I’ll to my wedding bed; 136
And death, not Romeo, take my maidenhead!
Nurse. Hie to your chamber; I'll find Romeo
To comfort you: I wot well where he is.
Hark ye, your Romeo will be here to-night: 140
I'll to him; he is hid at Laurence' cell.
Jul. O! find him; give this ring to my true knight,
And bid him come to take his last farewell. Exeunt.
Scene Three
[Friar Laurence's Cell]
Enter Friar.
Fri. L. Romeo, come forth; come forth, thou fearful man:
Affliction is enamour'd of thy parts,
And thou art wedded to calamity.
Enter Romeo.
Rom. Father, what news? what is the prince's doom? 4
What sorrow craves acquaintance at my hand,
That I yet know not?
Fri. L. Too familiar
Is my dear son with such sour company:
I bring thee tidings of the prince's doom.8
Rom. What less than doomsday is the prince's doom?
Fri. L. A gentler judgment vanish'd from his lips,
Not body's death, but body's banishment.
Rom. Ha! banishment! be merciful, say 'death;' 12
For exile hath more terror in his look,
Much more than death: do not say 'banishment.'
Fri. L. Here from Verona art thou banished.
Be patient, for the world is broad and wide. 16
Rom. There is no world without Verona walls,
But purgatory, torture, hell itself.
Hence banished is banish'd from the world,
And world's exile is death; then 'banished,' 20
Is death mis-term'd. Calling death 'banished,'
Thou cutt'st my head off with a golden axe,
And smil'st upon the stroke that murders me.
Fri. L. O. deadly sin! O rude unthankfulness!
Thy fault our law calls death; but the kind prince, 25
Taking thy part, hath rush'd aside the law,
And turn'd that black word death to banishment:
This is dear mercy, and thou seest it not. 28
Rom. 'Tis torture, and not mercy: heaven is here,
Where Juliet lives; and every cat and dog
And little mouse, every unworthy thing,
Live here in heaven and may look on her; 32
But Romeo may not: more validity,
More honourable state, more courtship lives
In carrion flies than Romeo: they may seize
On the white wonder of dear Juliet's hand, 36
And steal immortal blessing from her lips,
Who, even in pure and vestal modesty,
Still blush, as thinking their own kisses sin;
But Romeo may not; he is banished. 40
This may flies do, when I from this must fly:
They are free men, but I am banished.
And sayst thou yet that exile is not death?
Hadst thou no poison mix'd, no sharp-ground knife,
No sudden mean of death, though ne'er so mean, 44
But 'banished' to kill me? 'Banished!'
O friar! the damned use that word in hell;
Howlings attend it: how hast thou the heart,
Being a divine, a ghostly confessor, 48
A sin-absolver, and my friend profess'd,
To mangle me with that word 'banished?'
Fri. L. Thou fond mad man, hear me a little speak.
Rom. O! thou wilt speak again of banishment. 52
Fri. L. I'll give thee armour to keep off that word;
Adversity's sweet milk, philosophy,
To comfort thee, though thou art banished.
Rom. Yet 'banished!' Hang up philosophy!
Unless philosophy can make a Juliet, 57
Displant a town, reverse a prince's doom,
It helps not, it prevails not: talk no more.
Fri. L. O! then I see that madmen have no ears. 60
Rom. How should they, when that wise men have no eyes?
Fri. L. Let me dispute with thee of thy estate.
Rom. Thou canst not speak of that thou dost not feel:
Wert thou as young as I, Juliet thy love, 64
An hour but married, Tybalt murdered,
Doting like me, and like me banished,
Then mightst thou speak, then mightst thou tear thy hair,
And fall upon the ground, as I do now, 68
Taking the measure of an unmade grave.
Fri. L. Arise; one knocks: good Romeo, hide thyself.
Rom. Not I; unless the breath of heart-sick groans,
Mist-like, infold me from the search of eyes. 72
Fri. L. Hark! how they knock. Who's there? Romeo arise;
Thou wilt be taken. Stay awhile! Stand up;
Knock.
Run to my study. By and by! God's will!
What simpleness is this! I come, I come! 76
Knock.
Who knocks so hard? whence come you? what's your will?
Nurse. [Within.] Let me come in, and you shall know my errand:
I come from Lady Juliet.
Fri. L. Welcome, then.
Enter Nurse.
Nurse. O holy friar! O! tell me, holy friar,
Where is my lady's lord? where's Romeo? 81
Fri. L. There on the ground, with his own tears made drunk.
Nurse. O! he is even in my mistress' case,
Just in her case! O woeful sympathy! 84
Piteous predicament! Even so lies she,
Blubbering and weeping, weeping and blubbering.
Stand up, stand up; stand, an you be a man:
For Juliet's sake, for her sake, rise and stand;
Why should you fall into so deep an O? 89
Rom. Nurse!
Nurse. Ah, sir! ah, sir! Well, death's the end of all.
Rom. Spak'st thou of Juliet? how is it with her? 92
Doth she not think me an old murderer,
Now I have stain'd the childhood of our joy
With blood remov'd but little from her own?
Where is she? and how doth she? and what says 96
My conceal'd lady to our cancell'd love?
Nurse. O! she says nothing, sir, but weeps and weeps;
And now falls on her bed; and then starts up,
And Tybalt calls, and then on Romeo cries, 100
And then down falls again.
Rom. As if that name,
Shot from the deadly level of a gun,
Did murder her; as that name's cursed hand
Murder'd her kinsman. O! tell me, friar, tell me, 104
In what vile part of this anatomy
Doth my name lodge? tell me, that I may sack
The hateful mansion.
He offers to stab himself, and Nurse snatches
the dagger away.
Fri. L. Hold thy desperate hand:
Art thou a man? thy form cries out thou art:
Thy tears are womanish; thy wild acts denote
The unreasonable fury of a beast:
Unseemly woman in a seeming man;
And ill-beseeming beast in seeming both! 112
Thou hast amaz'd me: by my holy order,
I thought thy disposition better temper'd.
Hast thou slain Tybalt? wilt thou slay thyself?
And slay thy lady that in thy life lives, 116
By doing damned hate upon thyself?
Why rail'st thou on thy birth, the heaven, and earth?
Since birth, and heaven, and earth, all three do meet
In thee at once, which thou at once wouldst lose. 120
Fie, fie! thou sham'st thy shape, thy love, thy wit,
Which, like a usurer, abound'st in all,
And usest none in that true use indeed
Which should bedeck thy shape, thy love, thy wit. 124
Thy noble shape is but a form of wax,
Digressing from the valour of a man;
Thy dear love, sworn, but hollow perjury,
Killing that love which thou hast vow'd to cherish; 128
Thy wit, that ornament to shape and love,
Misshapen in the conduct of them both,
Like powder in a skilless soldier's flask,
Is set a-fire by thine own ignorance, 132
And thou dismember'd with thine own defence.
What! rouse thee, man; thy Juliet is alive,
For whose dear sake thou wast but lately dead;
There art thou happy: Tybalt would kill thee,
But thou slew'st Tybalt; there art thou happy too: 137
The law that threaten'd death becomes thy friend,
And turns it to exile; there art thou happy:
A pack of blessings light upon thy back; 140
Happiness courts thee in her best array;
But, like a misbehav'd and sullen wench,
Thou pout'st upon thy fortune and thy love.
Take heed, take heed, for such die miserable. 144
Go, get thee to thy love, as was decreed,
Ascend her chamber, hence and comfort her;
But look thou stay not till the watch be set,
For then thou canst not pass to Mantua; 148
Where thou shalt live, till we can find a time
To blaze your marriage, reconcile your friends,
Beg pardon of the prince, and call thee back
With twenty hundred thousand times more joy
Than thou went'st forth in lamentation. 153
Go before, nurse: commend me to thy lady;
And bid her hasten all the house to bed,
Which heavy sorrow makes them apt unto: 156
Romeo is coming.
Nurse. O Lord! I could have stay'd here all the night
To hear good counsel: O! what learning is.
My lord, I'll tell my lady you will come. 160
Rom. Do so, and bid my sweet prepare to chide.
Nurse. Here, sir, a ring she bid me give you, sir.
Hie you, make haste, for it grows very late. [Exit.]
Rom. How well my comfort is reviv'd by this! 164
Fri. L. Go hence; good-night; and here stands all your state:
Either be gone before the watch be set,
Or by the break of day disguis'd from hence:
Sojourn in Mantua; I'll find out your man, 168
And he shall signify from time to time
Every good hap to you that chances here.
Give me thy hand; 'tis late: farewell; good-night.
Rom. But that a joy past joy calls out on me,
It were a grief so brief to part with thee: 173
Farewell. Exeunt.
Scene Four
[A Room in Capulet's House]
Enter old Capulet, his Wife, and Paris.
Cap. Things have fall'n out, sir, so unluckily,
That we have had no time to move our daughter:
Look you, she lov'd her kinsman Tybalt dearly,
And so did I: well, we were born to die. 4
'Tis very late, she'll not come down to-night:
I promise you, but for your company,
I would have been a-bed an hour ago.
Par. These times of woe afford no times to woo. 8
Madam, good-night: commend me to your daughter.
Lady Cap. I will, and know her mind early to-morrow;
To-night she's mew'd up to her heaviness.
Cap. Sir Paris, I will make a desperate tender 12
Of my child's love: I think she will be rul'd
In all respects by me; nay, more, I doubt it not.
Wife go you to her ere you go to bed;
Acquaint her here of my son Paris' love; 16
And bid her, mark you me, on Wednesday next—
But, soft! what day is this?
Par. Monday, my lord.
Cap. Monday, ha, ha! Well, Wednesday is too soon;
O' Thursday let it be: o' Thursday, tell her, 20
She shall be married to this noble earl.
Will you be ready? do you like this haste?
We'll keep no great ado; a friend or two;
For, hark you, Tybalt being slain so late, 24
It may be thought we held him carelessly,
Being our kinsman, if we revel much.
Therefore we'll have some half a dozen friends,
And there an end. But what say you to Thursday? 28
Par. My lord, I would that Thursday were to-morrow.
Cap. Well, get you gone: o' Thursday be it then.
Go you to Juliet ere you go to bed,
Prepare her, wife, against this wedding-day. 32
Farewell, my lord. Light to my chamber, ho!
Afore me! it is so very late, that we
May call it early by and by, Good-night. Exeunt.
Scene Five
[Capulet's Orchard]
Enter Romeo and Juliet aloft.
Jul. Wilt thou be gone? it is not yet near day:
It was the nightingale, and not the lark,
That pierc'd the fearful hollow of thine ear;
Nightly she sings on yon pomegranate tree: 4
Believe me, love, it was the nightingale.
Rom. It was the lark, the herald of the morn,
No nightingale: look, love, what envious streaks
Do lace the severing clouds in yonder east: 8
Night's candles are burnt out, and jocund day
Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops:
I must be gone and live, or stay and die.
Jul. Yon light is not daylight, I know it, I:
It is some meteor that the sun exhales, 13
To be to thee this night a torch-bearer,
And light thee on thy way to Mantua:
Therefore stay yet; thou need'st not to be gone.
Rom. Let me be ta'en, let me be put to death; 17
I am content, so thou wilt have it so.
I'll say yon grey is not the morning's eye,
'Tis but the pale reflex of Cynthia's brow; 20
Nor that is not the lark, whose notes do beat
The vaulty heaven so high above our heads:
I have more care to stay than will to go:
Come, death, and welcome! Juliet wills it so. 24
How is 't, my soul? let's talk; it is not day.
Jul. It is, it is; hie hence, be gone away!
It is the lark that sings so out of tune,
Straining harsh discords and unpleasing sharps.
Some say the lark makes sweet division; 29
This doth not so, for she divideth us:
Some say the lark and loathed toad change eyes;
O! now I would they had chang'd voices too, 32
Since arm from arm that voice doth us affray,
Hunting thee hence with hunts-up to the day.
O! now be gone; more light and light it grows.
Rom. More light and light; more dark and dark our woes. 36
Enter Nurse.
Nurse. Madam!
Jul. Nurse!
Nurse. Your lady mother is coming to your chamber: 39
The day is broke; be wary, look about. [Exit.]
Jul. Then, window, let day in, and let life out.
Rom. Farewell, farewell! one kiss, and I'll descend.
Jul. Art thou gone so? Love, lord, ay, husband, friend!
I must hear from thee every day in the hour, 44
For in a minute there are many days:
O! by this count I shall be much in years
Ere I again behold my Romeo.
Rom. Farewell! 48
I will omit no opportunity
That may convey my greetings, love, to thee.
Jul. O! think'st thou we shall ever meet again?
Rom. I doubt it not; and all these woes shall serve 52
For sweet discourses in our time to come.
Jul. O God! I have an ill-divining soul:
Methinks I see thee, now thou art so low,
As one dead in the bottom of a tomb: 56
Either my eyesight fails, or thou look'st pale.
Rom. And trust me, love, in my eye so do you:
Dry sorrow drinks our blood. Adieu! adieu! Exit.
Jul. O fortune, fortune! all men call thee fickle: 60
If thou art fickle, what dost thou with him
That is renown'd for faith? Be fickle, fortune;
For then, I hope, thou wilt not keep him long,
But send him back. 64
Lady Cap. [Within.] Ho, daughter! are you up?
Jul. Who is't that calls? is it my lady mother?
Is she not down so late, or up so early?
What unaccustom'd cause procures her hither?
Enter Mother.
Lady Cap. Why, how now, Juliet!
Jul. Madam, I am not well. 69
Lady Cap. Evermore weeping for your cousin's death?
What! wilt thou wash him from his grave with tears?
And if thou couldst, thou couldst not make him live; 72
Therefore, have done: some grief shows much of love;
But much of grief shows still some want of wit.
Jul. Yet let me weep for such a feeling loss.
Lady Cap. So shall you feel the loss, but not the friend 76
Which you weep for.
Jul. Feeling so the loss,
I cannot choose but ever weep the friend.
Lady Cap. Well, girl, thou weep'st not so much for his death,
As that the villain lives which slaughter'd him.
Jul. What villain, madam?
Lady Cap. That same villain, Romeo.
Jul. [Aside.] Villain and he be many miles asunder. 82
God pardon him! I do, with all my heart;
And yet no man like he doth grieve my heart.
Lady Cap. That is because the traitor murderer lives. 85
Jul. Ay, madam, from the reach of these my hands.
Would none but I might venge my cousin's death!
Lady Cap. We will have vengeance for it, fear thou not: 88
Then weep no more. I'll send to one in Mantua,
Where that same banish'd runagate doth live,
Shall give him such an unaccustom'd dram
That he shall soon keep Tybalt company: 92
And then, I hope, thou wilt be satisfied.
Jul. Indeed, I never shall be satisfied
With Romeo, till I behold him—dead—
Is my poor heart so for a kinsman vex'd: 96
Madam, if you could find out but a man
To bear a poison, I would temper it,
That Romeo should, upon receipt thereof,
Soon sleep in quiet. O! how my heart abhors
To hear him nam'd, and cannot come to him,
To wreak the love I bore my cousin Tybalt
Upon his body that hath slaughter'd him.
Lady Cap. Find thou the means, and I'll find such a man. 104
But now I'll tell thee joyful tidings, girl.
Jul. And joy comes well in such a needy time:
What are they, I beseech your ladyship?
Lady Cap. Well, well, thou hast a careful father, child; 108
One who, to put thee from thy heaviness,
Hath sorted out a sudden day of joy
That thou expect'st not, nor I look'd not for.
Jul. Madam, in happy time, what day is that?
Lady Cap. Marry, my child, early next Thursday morn 113
The gallant, young, and noble gentleman,
The County Paris, at Saint Peter's church,
Shall happily make thee there a joyful bride. 116
Jul. Now, by Saint Peter's church, and Peter too,
He shall not make me there a joyful bride.
I wonder at this haste; that I must wed
Ere he that should be husband comes to woo.
I pray you, tell my lord and father, madam, 121
I will not marry yet; and, when I do, I swear,
It shall be Romeo, whom you know I hate,
Rather than Paris. These are news indeed! 124
Lady Cap. Here comes your father; tell him so yourself,
And see how he will take it at your hands.
Enter Capulet and Nurse.
Cap. When the sun sets, the air doth drizzle dew;
But for the sunset of my brother's son 128
It rains downright.
How now! a conduit, girl? what! still in tears?
Evermore showering? In one little body
Thou counterfeit'st a bark, a sea, a wind; 132
For still thy eyes, which I may call the sea,
Do ebb and flow with tears; the bark thy body is,
Sailing in this salt flood; the winds, thy sighs;
Who, raging with thy tears, and they with them, 136
Without a sudden calm, will overset
Thy tempest-tossed body. How now, wife!
Have you deliver'd to her our decree?
Lady Cap. Ay, sir; but she will none, she gives you thanks. 140
I would the fool were married to her grave!
Cap. Soft! take me with you, take me with you, wife.
How! will she none? doth she not give us thanks?
Is she not proud? doth she not count her bless'd,
Unworthy as she is, that we have wrought 145
So worthy a gentleman to be her bridegroom?
Jul. Not proud, you have; but thankful, that you have:
Proud can I never be of what I hate; 148
But thankful even for hate, that is meant love.
Cap. How now! how now, chopt-logic! What is this?
'Proud,' and 'I thank you,' and 'I thank you not;'
And yet 'not proud;' mistress minion, you, 152
Thank me no thankings, nor proud me no prouds,
But fettle your fine joints 'gainst Thursday next,
To go with Paris to Saint Peter's church,
Or I will drag thee on a hurdle thither. 156
Out, you green-sickness carrion! out, you baggage!
You tallow face!
Lady Cap. Fie, fie! what, are you mad?
Jul. Good father, I beseech you on my knees,
Hear me with patience but to speak a word. 160
Cap. Hang thee, young baggage! disobedient wretch!
I tell thee what, get thee to church o' Thursday,
Or never after look me in the face.
Speak not, reply not, do not answer me; 164
My fingers itch.—Wife, we scarce thought us bless'd
That God had lent us but this only child;
But now I see this one is one too much,
And that we have a curse in having her. 168
Out on her, hilding!
Nurse. God in heaven bless her!
You are to blame, my lord, to rate her so.
Cap. And why, my lady wisdom? hold your tongue, 171
Good prudence; smatter with your gossips, go.
Nurse. I speak no treason.
Cap. O! God ye good den.
Nurse. May not one speak?
Cap. Peace, you mumbling fool;
Utter your gravity o'er a gossip's bowl;
For here we need it not.
Lady Cap. You are too hot. 176
Cap. God's bread! it makes me mad.
Day, night, hour, tide, time, work, play,
Alone, in company, still my care hath been
To have her match'd; and having now provided
A gentleman of noble parentage, 181
Of fair demesnes, youthful, and nobly train'd,
Stuff'd, as they say, with honourable parts,
Proportion'd as one's thought would wish a man; 184
And then to have a wretched puling fool,
A whining mammet, in her fortune's tender,
To answer 'I'll not wed,' 'I cannot love,'
'I am too young,' 'I pray you, pardon me;' 188
But, an you will not wed, I'll pardon you:
Graze where you will, you shall not house with me:
Look to 't, think on 't, I do not use to jest.
Thursday is near; lay hand on heart, advise. 192
An you be mine, I'll give you to my friend;
An you be not, hang, beg, starve, die in the streets,
For, by my soul, I'll ne'er acknowledge thee,
Nor what is mine shall never do thee good. 196
Trust to 't, bethink you; I'll not be forsworn. Exit.
Jul. Is there no pity sitting in the clouds,
That sees into the bottom of my grief?
O! sweet my mother, cast me not away: 200
Delay this marriage for a month, a week;
Or, if you do not, make the bridal bed
In that dim monument where Tybalt lies.
Lady Cap. Talk not to me, for I'll not speak a word. 204
Do as thou wilt, for I have done with thee. Exit.
Jul. O God! O nurse! how shall this be prevented?
My husband is on earth, my faith in heaven;
How shall that faith return again to earth, 208
Unless that husband send it me from heaven
By leaving earth? comfort me, counsel me.
Alack, alack! that heaven should practise stratagems
Upon so soft a subject as myself! 212
What sayst thou? hast thou not a word of joy?
Some comfort, nurse?
Nurse. Faith, here it is. Romeo
Is banished; and all the world to nothing
That he dares ne'er come back to challenge you;
Or, if he do, it needs must be by stealth. 217
Then, since the case so stands as now it doth,
I think it best you married with the county.
O! he's a lovely gentleman; 220
Romeo's a dishclout to him: an eagle, madam,
Hath not so green, so quick, so fair an eye
As Paris hath. Beshrew my very heart,
I think you are happy in this second match, 224
For it excels your first: or if it did not,
Your first is dead; or 'twere as good he were,
As living here and you no use of him.
Jul. Speakest thou from thy heart?
Nurse. And from my soul, too; 228
Or else beshrew them both.
Jul. Amen!
Nurse. What!
Jul. Well, thou hast comforted me marvellous much.
Go in; and tell my lady I am gone,
Having displeas'd my father, to Laurence' cell,
To make confession and to be absolv'd. 233
Nurse. Marry, I will; and this is wisely done.
Juliet looks after Nurse.
Jul. Ancient damnation O most wicked fiend!
Is it more sin to wish me thus forsworn, 236
Or to dispraise my lord with that same tongue
Which she hath prais'd him with above compare
So many thousand times? Go, counsellor;
Thou and my bosom henceforth shall be twain.
I'll to the friar, to know his remedy: 241
If all else fail, myself have power to die. Exit.
Footnotes to Act III
Scene One
8 operation: effect
9 drawer: waiter
13 mood: anger
35 fee-simple: absolute possession
50 consort: with a play on the meaning, 'harmonious music'
54 'Zounds: oath, contracted from 'God's wounds'
63 field: battle
74 devise: think
76 tender: regard
79 Alla stoccata: with the thrust, i.e., the blusterer
84 dry-beat: thrash
86 pilcher: scabbard (of leather)
ears: hilt
94 bandying: fighting
96 sped: done for
115 ally: kinsman
116 very: true
125 depend; cf. n.
129 respective: considerate
130 conduct: guide
140 doom: condemn to
142 fool: dupe
149 manage: conduct
159 spoke him fair: addressed him courteously
160 nice: trivial
163 take truce: make peace
spleen: fiery temper
164 tilts: thrusts
170 Retorts: throws back
177 entertain'd: taken into mind
194 hate's; cf. n.
196 amerce: punish
Scene Two
1 fiery-footed steeds; cf. n.
6 runaways' eyes; cf. n.
wink: close in sleep, or, fail to see
10 civil: grave, sober
14 Hood: blindfold
unmann'd: untamed
bating: fluttering; cf. n.
16 true love acted: the rites of true love
31 S. d. cords: rope-ladder
45 I: ay
47 cockatrice: basilisk, fabulous reptile said to kill by its glance
53 mark; cf. n.
54 corse: corpse
56 gore: clotted
59 Vile earth: wretched body
resign: yield
67 general doom: the Day of Judgment
73 flowering: like a flower
81 bower: enclose
86 naught: worthless
88 aqua vitæ: brandy
117 needly: necessarily
be rank'd: stand in line
120 modern: commonplace
121 rearward: rear guard; cf. n.
Scene Three
1 fearful: apprehensive
5 at my hand: from me
10 vanish'd: issued
26 rush'd: brushed
28 dear: valuable, unusual
33 validity: value
34 courtship: both 'courtliness' and 'wooing'
44 mean: means
so mean: so base
51 fond: foolish
62 dispute: discuss
estate: condition
89 O: groan
97 conceal'd; cf. n.
102 level: aim
106 sack: destroy
122 Which: who
126 Digressing: deviating
133 defence: weapons
147 watch: guard
150 blaze: make public
156 apt unto: ready for
165 stands all your state: all your fortune depends
173 so brief: in such rude haste
Scene Four
2 move: propose anything to
6 promise: assure
11 mew'd: shut
heaviness: grief
12 desperate: reckless
tender: offer
25 held: regarded
32 against: in expectation of
34 Afore me: God before me
Scene Five
8 lace: stripe
20 Cynthia's: Diana's, i.e., the moon's
23 care: desire
28 Straining: forcing out
sharps: high notes
29 division: rapid, florid melody
31 change eyes; cf. n.
33 affray: frighten
34 hunts-up: early morning song to awaken huntsmen
54 ill-divining: foreboding evil
59 Dry sorrow; cf. n.
67 down: in bed
68 procures: brings
75 feeling: heartfelt
84 like: so much as
90 runagate: vagabond
91 dram: dose of poison
95 dead; cf. n.
98 temper: compound
106 needy: wretched
110 sorted out: contrived
112 in happy time: à propos, pray tell me
130 conduit: water-pipe, often in the form of a human figure
137 Without . . . calm: unless a calm sets in
140 will none: rejects it
142 take me with you: let me understand you
145 wrought: induced
150 chopt-logic: contentious, sophistical argument
152 minion: saucy person
154 fettle: prepare
156 hurdle: a rude sledge for conveying criminals
157 green-sickness: kind of anemia
170 rate: scold
172 smatter: chatter
175 gravity: serious words
177 God's bread: sacramental bread, the Host
182 demesnes: estates
183 stuff'd . . . with: full of
186 mammet: doll
fortune's tender: moment when good fortune offers itself
192 advise: consider
197 forsworn: perjured
207 faith: pledged fidelity
211 practise stratagems: perform deeds of violence
216 challenge: lay claim to
222 green; cf. n.