SCENE I. The Street. Enter Romeo alone. ACT And, on my life, hath stol'n him home to bed. 5 II. But soft! what light through yonder window That thou her maid art far more fair than she: [wall: Mer. Nay, I'll conjure too.— Ben. An if he hear thee, thou wilt auger him. [trees, Ben. Come, he hath hid himself among those Ben. Go, then; for 'tis in vain She speaks, yet she says nothing; What of that? I am too bold, 'tis not to me it speaks: 25 Rom. She speaks: O, speak again, bright angel! for thou art 35 Jul. O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou [Aside. Jul. 'Tis but thy name, that is my enemy; To seek him here, that means not to be found. 50 Without that title:-Romeo, doff thy name; [Exeunt. Rom.Hejests at scars, that never felt a wound.-55 And for that name, which is no part of thee, Rom. I take thee at thy word: 'Alluding to an old ballad preserved in Dr. Percy's Reliques of ancient English Poetry. speare means humid, the moist dewy night. 3 2 ShakThe sense is, Thou art thyself (i. e. a being of distinguished excellence), though thou art not what thou appearest to others, akin to thy family in malice. Jul. Jul. What man art thou, that, thus bescreen'd in night, 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; 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, 5 That monthly changes in her circled orb, Lest that thy love prove likewise variable. Rom. What shall I swear by ? Had I it written, I would tear the word. [words Rom. Neither, fair saint, if either thee dislike. The orchard walls are high, and hard to climb; Rom. With love's light wings did I o'er-perch For stony limits cannot hold love out: Jul. Do not swear at all; Or, if thou wilt, swear by thy gracious self, Rom. If my heart's dear love Jul. Well, do not swear; although I joy in thee, I have no joy of this contract to-night: 15 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 beauteousflower when nextwe meet. 20 Good night, good night! as sweet repose and rest Come to thy heart, as that within my breast! 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. [it: Jul. If they do see thee, they will murderthee. Rom. Alack! there lies more peril in thine eye, Than twenty of their swords; look thou but sweet, 25 And I am proof against their enmity. Jul. I would not for the world, they saw thee here. [sight: Rom. I have night's cloak to hide me from their And, but thou love me, let them find me here; 30 My life were better ended by their hate, Than death prorogu'd, wanting of thy love. Jul. By whose direction found'st thou out this place? [quire; Jul. I gave thee mine before thou didst request And yet I would it were to give again. Rom. Would'st thou withdraw it? for what Rom. By love, who first did prompt me to en-35I hear some noise within; Dear love, adieu! 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 farthest sea, I would adventure for such merchandize. [Nurse calls within. Anon, good nurse!-Sweet Montague, be true, Stay but a little, I will come again. [Exit. Rom. O blessed blessed night! I am afeard, Jul. Thou know'st, the mask of night is on 40 Being in night, all this is but a dream, my face; Else would a maiden blush bepaint my cheek, 50 55 Too flattering sweet to be substantial. Jul. Three words,dear Romeo,and good night, indeed. If that thy bent of love be honourable, I come anon.-But if thou mean'st not well, I do beseech thee,[Within: Madam.] By-and-by, To cease thy suit, and leave me to my grief: Rom. So thrive my soul, Jul. A thousand times good night! [Exit. Rom. A thousand times the worse, to want thy light. [books; CO Love goes toward love, as school-boys from their Butlovefromlove,towardsschool withheavy looks. 1i. e. delayed. Re-enter Re-enter Juliet again, above. Jul. Hist! Romeo, hist!-O, for a faulconer's To lure this tassel-gentle back again! Rom. It is my soul, that calls upon my name: Jul. Romeo! Rom. My sweet? Jul. At what o'clock to-morrow Shall I send to thee? Rom. By the hour of nine. Jul. I will not fail; 'tis twenty years 'till then. I have forgot why I did call thee back. O, mickle is the powerful grace', that lies In plants, herbs, stones, and their true qualities: For nought so vile that on the earth doth live, But to the earth some special good doth give; 5 Nor aught so good, but, strain'd from that fair use, Revolts from true birth, stumbling on abuse: Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied; And vice sometime's by action dignify'd. Within the infant rind of this small flower 10 Poison hath residence, and med'cine power: For this, being smelt, with that part cheers each Being tasted, slays all senses with the heart. [part; Two such opposed foes encamp them still In man as well as herbs, grace, and rude will: 15 And, where the worser is predominant, Full soon the canker death eats up that plant. Enter Romeo. Rom. Let me stand here 'till thou remember it. Rom. And I'll still stay, to have thee still forget, Rom. I would, I were thy bird. Yet I should kill thee with much cherishing. Good night, good night! parting is such sweet sorrow, Rom. Good morrow, father! Fri. Benedicite! What early tongue so sweet saluteth me?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; 25 But where unbruised youth with unstuft brain Doth couch his limbs, there golden sleep doth Therefore thy earliness doth me assure, [reign: Thou art up-rous'd by some distemp'rature; Or if not so, then here I hit it right30 Our Romeo hath not been in bed to-night. That I shall say-good night, 'till it be morrow. 35 [Exit. Rom. Sleep dwell upon thine eyes, peace in thy breast! Would I were sleep and peace, so sweet to rest! A MONASTERY. None but for some, and yet all different. I Rom. That last is true, the sweeter rest was mine. Fri. God pardon sin! wast thou with Rosaline? Rom. With Rosaline, my ghostly father? no; have forgot that name, and that name's woe. Fri. 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; Where, on a sudden, one hath wounded me, 40 That's by me wounded; both our remedies Within thy help and holy physick lies: 45 50 55 I bear no hatred, blessed man; for, lo, is set On the fair daughter of rich Capulet: As mine on hers, so hers is set on mine; Fri. Holy saint Francis! what a change is here! 1 The tassel or tiercel (for so it should be spelt) is the male of the gosshawk; so called, because it is a tierce or third less than the female. dappled, streak'd, or variegated. This is equally true of all birds of prey. 1 Flecked is spotted, 3 i.e. efficacious virtue. 3 R How . How much salt water thrown away in waste, 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; he rests his minim, one, 5 two, and the third in your bosom: the very butcher of a silk button, a duellist, a duellist; a gentleman of the very first house;-of the first and second cause:-Ah, the immortal passado! the punto reverso! the hay 3! [men. 10 Women may fall, when there's no strength in Fri. Not in a grave, To lay one in, another out to have. Rom. I pray thee, chide not: she, whom I love now, Doth grace for grace, and love for love allow; Enter Benvolio, and Mercutio. Ben. Not to his father's; I spoke with his man. Torments him so, that he will sure run mad. Mer. Any man, that can write, may answer a letter. Ben. Nay, he will answer the letter's master, how he dares, being dar'd. Ben. The what? Mer. The pox of such antick, lisping, affecting fantasticoes; these new tuners of accent!By-a very good blade!- -a very tall man!a very good whore!Why, is not this a lamen15 table thing, grandsire, that we should be thus afflicted with these strange flies, these fashion-mongers, these Pardonnez-moy's, who stand so much Jon the new form, that they cannot sit at ease on the old bench? O, their bon's, their bon's*! Enter Romeo. 20 Ben. Here comes Romeo, here comes Romeo. Mer. Without his roe, like a dried herring:-0 flesh, flesh, how art thou fishified!-Now is he for 25the numbers that Petrarch flowed in: Laura, to his lady, was but a kitchen-wench;—marry, she had a better love to be-rhyme her: Dido,a dowdy; Cleopatra, a gypsey; Helen and Hero, hildings and harlots; Thisbé, a grey eye or so, but not to 30 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? [ceive? Mer. The slip, sir, the slip'; Can you not conRom. Pardon, good Mercutio, my business was great; and, in such a case as mine, a man may strain courtesy. 1351 Mer. That's as much as to say--such a case as 40 yours constrains a man to bow in the hams. Rom. Meaning-to curt'sy. 43 Mer. Alas, poor Romeo, he is already dead!! stabb'd with a white wench's black eye, shot thorough the ear with a love-song; the very pin of his 50 heart cleft with the blind bow-boy's but-shaft; And is he a man to encounter Tybalt? Ben. Why, what is Tybalt? Mer. Thou hast most kindly hit it. Rom. A most courteous exposition. Mer. Nay, I am the very pink of courtesy. Mer. Right. Rom. Why, then is my pump well flower'd'. Mer. Well said: follow me this jest now, 'till thou hast worn out thy pump; that, when the single sole of it is worn, the jest may remain, after the wearing, solely singular. Rom. O single-sol'd jest, solely singular for the singleness! Tybert, the name given to the Cat, in the story-book of Reynard the Fox. 2 That is, a gentleman of the first rank, of the first eminence among these duellists; and one who understands the whole science of quarrelling, and will tell you of the first cause, and the second cause, for which a man is to fight. 'The hay is the word hai, you have it, used when a thrust reaches the antagonist. * i. e. How ridiculous they make themselves in crying out good, and being in ecstacies with every trifle. Slops are large loose breeches or trowsers, worn at present only by sailors. To understand this play upon the words counterfeit and slip, it should be observed, that in our author's time there was a counterfeit piece of money distinguished by the name of a slip. 'Dr. Johnson says, Here is a vein of wit too thin to be easily found. The fundamental idea is, that Romeo wore pinked pumps, that is, punched with holes in figures. 6 Mer. Rom. Switch and spurs, switch and spurs; or I'll cry a match. Mer. Nay, if thy wits run the wild-goose chase, 5 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? Rom. Thou wast never with me for any thing, when thou wast not there for the goose. Mer. I will bite thee by the ear for that jest. 10 Rom. And is it not well serv'd in to a sweet goose? 15 Mer. O, here's a wit of cheverel2, 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. Nurse. You say well. Mer. Yea, is the worst well? very well took, 'faith; wisely, wisely. Nurse. If you be he, sir, I desire some confidence with you. Ben. She will indite him to some supper. Mer. No hare, sir; unless a hare, sir, in a lenten pye, that is something stale and hoar ere 20t be spent. Mer. Why, is not this better now than groaning for love? now thou art sociable, now art thou Romeo; now art thou what thou art, by art as well as by nature: for this driveling love is like a great natural, that runs lolling up and down to 25 hide his bauble in a hole 3. Ben. Stop there, stop there. Mer. Thou desirest me to stop in my tale against the hair *. flarge. Ben. Thou would'st else have made thy tale 30| Mer. O, thou art deceiv'd, 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. Rom. Here's goodly geer! Enter Nurse, and Peter. Mer. A sail, a sail, a sail! Ben. Two, two; a shirt, and a smock. 9 3 35 An old hare hoar', Romeo, will you come to your father's? we'll to Rom. I will follow you. Mer. Farewell, ancient lady; farewell, lady, lady, lady 8. [Exeunt Mercutio, and Benvolio. Nurse. I pray you, sir, what saucy merchant", was this, that was so full of his ropery 10? 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. Nurse. An 'a speak any thing against me, I'll take him down an 'a were lustier than he is, and 40twenty such Jacks; and if I cannot, I'll find those that shall. Scurvy knave! I am none of his flirtgills; I am none of his skains-mates":--And thou must stand by too, and suffer every knave to use me at his pleasure? 45 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 lon my side. 6 A bitter sweeting is an apple of that name. 2 Cheverel is soft leather for gloves; from cherreau, a kid, Fr. It has been already observed, in a note on All's Well, &c., that a bauble was one of the accoutrements of a licensed fool or jester. An expression equivalent to one which we now use"against the grain." "The business of Peter carrying the Nurse's fan seems ridiculous according to modern manners; but such was formerly the practice. i. e. God give you a good even. 1 Hoar, or hoary, is often used for mouldy, as things grow white from moulding. The burthen of an old song. ? Mr. Steevens observes, that the term merchant, which was, and even now is, frequently applied to the lowest sort of dealers, seems anciently to have been used on these familiar occasions in contradistinction to gentleman; signifying that the person shewed by his behaviour he was a low fellow.-The term chap, i. e. chapman, a word of the same import with merchant in its less respectable sense, is still in common use among the vulgar, as a general denomination for any person of whom they mean to speak with freedom or disrespect. 10 i. e. roguery. 11 A skein or skin was either a knife or a short dagger. By skains-mates the nurse means, none of his loose companions who frequent the fencing-school with him, where we may suppose the exercise of this weapon was taught. 3 R 2 Nurse. |