THE TRAGEDY
OF
ROMEO AND JULIET
THE WORKS
OF
SHAKESPEARE
THE TRAGEDY OF
ROMEO AND JULIET
EDITED BY
EDWARD DOWDEN
METHUEN AND CO.
36 ESSEX STREET: STRAND
LONDON
1900
667241
CONTENTS
PAGE
INTRODUCTION .... . . . . ix
THE TRAGEDY OF ROMEO AND JULIET i
APPENDIX I.— SOME PASSAGES FROM THE QUARTO OF 1597 183
APPENDIX II.— ANALYSIS OF BROOKE'S "THE TRAGICALL
HlSTORYE OF ROMEUS AND JULIET," WITH QUOTA-
TIONS l88
APPENDIX III.— RUNAWAY'S EYES i97
INTRODUCTION
IN the text of this edition of Romeo and Juliet I have
introduced only two readings not previously found in
editions of authority ; first, I have placed a comma in
I. ii. 32 after the words "view of"; secondly, in III. v.
43 I have inserted the hyphens in "love-lord" and
" husband-friend." I hope these slight changes may
commend themselves to some readers ; if the former be
correct, it solves a long recognised difficulty. I have not
altered the received punctuation of III. ii. 5—8, although
I venture to suggest in Appendix III. ("Runaway's
eyes") a new punctuation, which, as regards lines 5, 6,
commends itself to me ; the suggestion respecting line 7
I offer as a mere possibility. I am not so sanguine as to
expect that readers long familiar with the received text
will accept my suggestions as to that difficult passage ;
but how should any critic neglect to add his stone to the
cairn under which the meaning lies buried ? I accept
Theobald's reading '.' sun " in I. i. 15 7, and in so doing
follow the best modern editors. With some reluctance
I read in n. i. 13," Adam Cupid," yielding to the
authority of Dyce (ed. 2), the Cambridge editors, Furness,
and others ; and in a note I try to point out possi-
ix
x INTRODUCTION
bilities which may justify or lead towards justifying the
' ' Abraham " of all the early texts.
I may add here that if the nickname " Abraham "
was given to Cupid because he is the " father of many
nations," an additional comic effect might be gained by
choosing for Cupid a name recognised as a favourite one
with Elizabethan Puritans. In Middleton's The Family
of Love, Dryfat, a member of the " Family," says, " I
have Aminadabs and Abrahams to my godsons." I
must leave it to some more ingenious critic to make the
discovery that we should read " Abron Cupid," and that
Shakespeare had noticed in Cooper's Thesaurus (1573):
" Abron, the name of a man, whose sensualitie and
delicate life is growne to a Proverbe."
The Quarto editions of Romeo and Juliet are the
following : —
" An Excellent conceited Tragedie of Romeo and Juliet,
As it hath bene often (with great applause) plaid
publiquely, by the right Honourable the L. of Hunsdon
his Servants. London, Printed by lohn Danter.
I597"(Q I)-
" The Most Excellent and lamentable Tragedie, of
Romeo and luliet. Newly corrected, augmented, and
amended : As it hath bene sundry times publiquely
acted, by the right Honourable the Lord Chamberlaine
his Servants. London Printed by Thomas Creede, for
Cuthbert Burby, and are to be sold at his shop neare
the Exchange. 1599." This, the second Quarto, I refer
to as Q, unless there is special occasion to distinguish
it as Q 2.
The third Quarto (Q 3) was printed in 1609 for
INTRODUCTION xi
John Smethwick ; the title-page describes the tragedy
as having been " sundry times publiquely Acted, by the
Kings Majesties Servants at the Globe."
The fourth Quarto (Q 4), printed also for John
Smethwicke, is without date. In some copies the word
" Globe " is followed by " Written by W. Shake-speare."
In other copies (said by Halliwell-Phillipps to be the
later issues) the name of the author does not appear.
The fifth Quarto (Q 5) is dated 1637 ; it was printed
by " R. Young for John Smethwicke."
The text of Romeo and Juliet in the first Folio, 1623,
(F) was derived from Q 3.
The editors of the Cambridge Shakespeare observe :
" As usual there are a number of changes, some
accidental, some deliberate, but all generally for the
worse, excepting the changes in punctuation and in the
stage-directions. The punctuation, as a rule, is more
correct, and the stage-directions are more complete, in
the Folio."
The second Quarto — 1599 — first gives the play in
full ; it is our best authority for the text ; but the correc-
tions of the later Quartos and of the Folio are valuable
aids towards ascertaining the text, while in not a few
passages Q I lends assistance which cannot elsewhere
be found.
In the present edition the readings of Q and of F
which differ from the editor's text are recorded, except a
few obvious misprints and such others as seem wholly
unimportant. Not many references are made to Q 3,
because in general its various readings passed into the
text of F, which was derived from that Quarto. For my
xii INTRODUCTION
references to Q 5 (which are few) I have trusted to the
Cambridge Shakespeare and to Furness.
Q I differs so considerably, and in so many minute
details, from the received text, that the variations can-
not be rightly exhibited in notes; it must be read in
its entirety, and happily it is easily accessible in the
facsimile by Praetorius, in Mommsen's reprint, in the
Cambridge Shakespeare, in Furness, and (with most
advantage for the student) in the New Shakspere
Society's reprint of Parallel Texts of the First Two
Quartos, admirably edited by Mr. Daniel. Such
readings as have been adopted from Q i into the text
of modern editors have a special claim to attention ;
these I have, with few exceptions, recorded, and have
added in notes and in Appendix I. several lines and
passages differing from the received text in a way which
can hardly be accounted for by errors of the printer or
reporter. In these, or in some of these, we probably
find work of Shakespeare discarded in his revision of the
play.
The relation of Q I to the later text has been the
subject of much discussion. I cannot state the results of
my own study better than by quoting from Mr. Daniel's
Introduction to the Parallel Texts : " A hasty and
separate perusal of Q i may leave the reader with the
impression that it represents an earlier play than that
given in the subsequent editions ; read line for line with
Q 2 its true character soon becomes apparent. It is an
edition made up partly from copies of portions of the
original play, partly from recollection and from notes
taken during the performance. Q 2 gives us for the
INTRODUCTION xiii
first time a substantially true representation of the
original play. Still Q i is of great value, as it affords
the means of correcting many errors which had crept
into the ' copy ' from which Q 2 was printed, and also,
in its more perfect portions, affords conclusive evidence
that that ' copy ' underwent revision, received some slight
augmentations, and, in some few places, must have been
entirely rewritten." As evidence of the last statement
I may refer my reader to Appendix I., to which the
following may here be added; in III. ii. 57-60 Juliet,
in our received text, speaks :
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 !
These are evidently new lines written to replace those of
Q I, which run thus :
Ah Romeo, Romeo, what disaster hap
Hath severd thee from thy true Juliet?
Ah why should Heaven so much conspire with Woe,
Or Fate envie our happie Marriage,
So soone to sunder us by timelesse Death?
Shall we conjecture that Shakespeare felt that the sense
of fatality, though proper to Romeo, was less character-
istic of the strong-willed Juliet ?
Q I , then, is an ' imperfect representation, piratically
issued, of the same play which is given fully and, in
the main, aright in Q 2 ; but before Q 2 appeared
Shakespeare had revised the play, and had rewritten a
few passages. The theory of Mr. Grant White that traces
xiv INTRODUCTION
of another hand than Shakespeare's may be detected in
the earlier version of the play is, I think, sufficiently
refuted by Mr. T. A. Spalding in his paper " On the First
Quarto of Romeo and Juliet-. Is there any evidence of a
Second Hand in it ? " printed in Transactions of the New
Shakspere Society, 187 7—79.
An interesting peculiarity of Q i is found in the stage-
directions ; they were evidently noted down by a
spectator in the theatre, perhaps by the shorthand
writer who probably supplied much of the manuscript.
They give us pleasant glimpses of the stage-business
during the original presentation of Romeo and Juliet. In
the opening scene a stage-direction serves as a substitute
for the bustling dialogue, which in the clash of swords
and clubs may have reached the reporter's ears too
imperfectly to be reported : " They draw, to them enters
Tybalt, they fight, to them the Prince, old Mountague,
and his wife, old Capulet and his wife, and other Citizens
and part them." Later we have the departing guests
whispering excuses to Capulet — " they whisper in his
eare " ; Mercutio insulting the Nurse's dignity — " he
walkes by them, and sings " ; the Nurse rebuking her
too passive protector — " she turnes to Peter her man " ;
Juliet entering " somewhat fast " and embracing Romeo ;
Tybalt thrusting Mercutio under Romeo's arm ; the
Nurse " wringing her hands, with the ladder of cordes in
her lap"; Romeo offering to stab himself, and the
Nurse snatching the dagger away ; Capulet calling Paris
again, as he offers to go in, in order that he may make
the " desperate tender " of Juliet's love ; Juliet kneeling
to her father, and again looking after the departing Nurse,
INTRODUCTION xv
before she breaks forth with the words, " Ancient
damnation, O most cursed fiend " ; the mourners for
Juliet all crying out at once, and wringing their hands ;
Countie Paris and his Page bearing flowers and sweet
water to Juliet's tomb ; Friar Laurence, at the entrance
to the tomb, stooping and looking on the blood and
weapons.
The date at which Romeo and Juliet was written
cannot be certainly determined. The title-page of Q i
describes the tragedy as having been often played
publicly by the Lord of Hunsdon's servants. Malone
ascertained that two Lords Hunsdon, Henry, the father,
and George, his son, filled the office of Lord Chamberlain
of the Household to Queen Elizabeth. Henry, the
father, died July 22, 1596; on his death, Shakespeare's
company came under the protection of his son, who
was appointed Lord Chamberlain on April 17, 1597.
Before July 22, 1596, and after April 1597 the actors
would be styled the Lord Chamberlain's servants (as
they are on the title-page of Q 2) ; in the interval
they were the Lord Hunsdon's servants ; and hence
we may infer that it was during this interval that the
presentations spoken of on the title-page of Q i took
place.
An allusion to the play by John Weever has been
supposed to carry back the date to 1 5 9 S • Weever's
Epigrammes was published in 1599, when the author
was twenty-three years old ; he tells us that most of the
epigrams were written when he was only twenty ; he
attained that age in 1596, and to suppose that his
reference to Romeo and Juliet is of a date earlier than
xvi INTRODUCTION
that year is a gratuitous assumption. An allusion in
Marston's Scourge of Villanie —
I set thy lips abroach, from whence doth flow
Naught but pure Juliet and Romeo —
testifies to the popularity of the play, and possibly by
the mention of " Curtain plaudities " points to the Curtain
theatre as the place of representation ; but the Scourge
of Villanie is later in date than the first Quarto of
Romeo and Juliet. Some lines in The Wisdom of Doctor
Dodipoll which imitate (or seem to imitate) words of
Juliet, and some resemblances between Romeo and Juliet
and Wily Beguiled, when dates are scrutinised (see
Daniel's edition of Romeo and Juliet, New Sh. Soc. p.
xxxv), prove equally fallacious in helping us to fix a
date.
Turning to the play itself, we find mention of " the
'first and second cause " (ll. iv.), which has been regarded,
on no sufficient grounds, as suggested by Vincentio
Saviolo his Practise (1594 and 1595). Mr. Fleay has
noticed that the reference may be to " The Book of Honor
and Arms, wherein is discussed the causes of quarrel," etc.
(Stationers' Register, December 13, 1589). There are
undoubtedly reminiscences in Romeo and Juliet of
Marlowe's plays. The lines
But soft ! what light through yonder window breaks ?
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun !
seem to echo Marlowe's lines in The Jew of Malta, II. i.
41, 42:
But stay, what star shines yonder in the east?
The loadstar of my life, if Abigail.
INTRODUCTION xvii
Juliet's age is reduced by Shakespeare from the sixteen
years of his original (the Romeus and Juliet of Brooke)
to fourteen. " Death lies on her," exclaims Capulet
(IV. v.),
like an untimely frost
Upon the sweetest flower of all the field.
At the close of Act I. of The Jew of Malta Don Mathias
describes the Jew's daughter, now entered into a
convent :
A fair young maid, scarce fourteen years of age,
The sweetest flower in Cytherea's field,
Cropt from the pleasures of the fruitful earth.1
Still more striking is the resemblance between the open-
ing lines of Juliet's soliloquy (ill. ii.), " Gallop apace,
you fiery footed steeds," etc., and lines in Marlowe's
Edward II. IV. iii. :
Gallop apace, bright Phoebus, through the sky,
And dusky night, in rusty iron car,
Between you both shorten the time, etc.
Shakespeare was much influenced by Marlowe in some
early plays; but Romeo and Juliet is not written in disciple-
ship to Marlowe, and it must be remembered that in plays
as late as As You Like It and Troilus and Cressida
reminiscences of Marlowe are found.2
These echoes from Marlowe have a certain bearing
on the supposed imitation of lines of Romeo and Juliet \
1 This interesting parallel has been pointed out to me by Mr. W. J.
Craig.
8 The points in common between Juliet's Nurse and the Nurse in Dido
Queen of Carthage by Marlowe and Nash seem to me of little importance.
Shakespeare found his Nurse in Brooke's poem.
xviii INTRODUCTION
V. iii., by Daniel in his Complaint of Rosamond (i 592).
The most striking of these resemblances is that of
Daniel's verses —
And nought-respecting death (the last of paines)
Plac'd his pale colours (th' ensigne of his might)
Upon his new-got spoil before his right —
to Shakespeare's —
Thou art not conquerM ; beauty's ensign yet
Is crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks,
And death's pale flag is not advanced there.
Daniel was charged — not altogether unfairly — with the
infirmity of plagiarism. But Shakespeare was certainly a
reader of some of Daniel's poetry ; and if he derived
suggestions from Marlowe, why may he not have taken
a hint from Daniel, and vindicated his conveyance by a
triumphant ennoblement of Daniel's imagery and ex-
pression ? 1
Far too much insistence, in my opinion, has been
laid on the Nurse's reference (l. iii.) to the earthquake
— " 'Tis since the earthquake now eleven years." An
allusion may not improbably have been intended to the
earthquake of 1580 felt in England. But the humour
of the allusion may lie in the fact that the Nurse, who
insists on the accuracy of her recollection — " Nay, I do
bear a brain," — is really astray in her chronology. Juliet
is now on the point of being fourteen years of age ; yet
eleven years previously — at three years old — she was only
1 The case is greatly strengthened by a comparison of Lucrece with
Daniel's Rosamond. There can here be no doubt that Shakespeare was the
debtor. See the article, "Shakespeare's Lucrece," by Ewig, in Anglia xxii.,
Neue Folge Band x., Viertes Heft, pp. 436-448.
INTRODUCTION xix
about to be weaned, and had barely learnt to " run and
waddle," with a risk of breaking her brow. The Nurse
again asseverates that "since that time it is eleven
years"; but this making the most of a jest seems
slender evidence on behalf of the theory that the play
was produced in the year I 5 9 1 .l
There is no decisive evidence to prove that the
tragedy was written long before its presentation in 1596,
when, probably, its popularity called forth a ballad (entry
in Stationers' Register, August 5) on the subject of Romeo
and Juliet. Yet most readers, I think, have felt that it
is a play of Shakespeare's early years of authorship ; the
lyrical character of the play, though partly accounted for
by the love-theme, the abundance of rhyme, not only
in couplets, but alternate, and arranged in sextet and
sonnet form, the pleasure of the writer in forced conceits,
and play upon words, sometimes even in serious passages,
point to an early date.2 When his judgment had matured
Shakespeare could not have written so very ill as he
sometimes does in Romeo and Juliet, but a writer of
genius could at an early age, when inspired by the
passion of his theme, have written as admirably as he
does even in the noblest passages of the fifth Act. That
he was conscious of having already attained comparative
mastery in his art may be inferred from his independence
of Marlowe, and the implied criticism of the style of
1 If anyone should care to see a catalogue of earthquakes compiled by a
contemporary of Shakespeare, he will find one in the Indice to Discorsi del
S. Allesandro Sardo (Venice, 1586), which volume includes a treatise "Del
Terremoto."
2 Gervinus notices, beside the sonnet-form in Romeo and Juliet, something
corresponding to the epithalamium (Juliet's soliloquy) and to the dawn-song.
xx INTRODUCTION
Kyd in the exclamatory lamentations over Juliet sup-
posed dead. I can hardly doubt that Mr. Spalding is
right in stating that the line
O love, O life, not life but love in death,
and again,
O child, O child, my soul and not my child,
are parodies on Hieronimo's words in The Spanish
Tragedy \
O eyes ! no eyes, but fountains fraught with tears ;
O life ! no life, but lively forms in death ;
O world ! no world, but mass of public wrongs.
Yet there is something inartificial in introducing such
irony of literary criticism into the body of the play ; and
Shakespeare took a better method in his " tedious brief
scene " of very tragical mirth in A Midsummer Night's
Dream, and again in ^Eneas' tale to Dido (where he
reproduces rather than parodies an earlier style), which
the player recites before Hamlet. On the whole, we
might place Romeo and Juliet^ on grounds of internal
evidence, near The Rape of Lucrece ; portions may be
earlier in date ; certain passages of the revised version
are certainly later ; but I think that 1595 may serve as
an approximation to a central date, and cannot be very
far astray.
The basis, as Malone puts it, upon which Shakespeare
built his play is the Romeus and Juliet of Arthur Brooke
or Broke, of which I have given an analysis in Appendix
II. Brooke's poem, which is a free rehandling in verse of
INTRODUCTION xxi
Pierre Boisteau's French version of a novel by Bandello,
was first published in I562.1 Painter's prose rendering
in the Palace of Pleasure of Boisteau's story appeared
some years later. From this last Shakespeare derived,
if anything, certainly very little ; but how carefully he
followed Brooke will appear from my analysis, and more
fully from Mr. Daniel's valuable Introduction to the
New Shakspere Society's reprint of Brooke's poem and
Painter's prose. That Shakespeare agrees with Brooke
where the latter differs from Painter was decisively
established by Malone: " i. In the poem the Prince of
Verona is called Escalus ; so also in the play. In
Painter's translation from Boisteau he is named Signor
Escala, and sometimes Lord Bartholomew of Escala. 2.
In Painter's novel the family of Romeo are called the
Montesches\ in the poem and in the play the Montagues.
3. The messenger employed by Friar Lawrence to carry
a letter to Romeo is in Painter's translation called
Anselme\ in the poem and in the play Friar John is
employed in this business. 4. The circumstance of
Capulet's writing down the names of the guests whom
he invites to supper is found in the poem and in the play,
but is not mentioned by Painter, nor is it found in the
original Italian novel. 5. The residence of the Capulets
in the original and in Painter is called Villa Franca ; in
the poem and in the play Freetown?1 6. Several passages
of Romeo and Juliet appear to have been formed on hints
1 In his address "To the Reader" Brooke mentions that he had seen
"the same argument lately set foorth on stage," with more commendation
than he can look for.
2 In the play it is the name of the "common judgment-place" of the
Prince.— E. D.
xxii INTRODUCTION
furnished by the poem, of which no traces are found
either in Painter's novel, or in Boisteau, or the original."
Brooke's poem has been unjustly depreciated ; yet it
contains no poetry of a high order. If Romeo and Juliet
owed to Shakespeare, as Mr. Grant White has said, only
its dramatic form and poetic decoration, we might still
add with the critic — This is to say that " the earth owes
to the sun only its verdure and flowers, the air only its
perfume and its balm, the heavens only their azure and
their glow." But in fact Shakespeare departs from
Brooke, as Mr. White proceeds to point out, in several
important particulars. He accelerates the action, reducing
the time from months to days, and thus adds impetuosity
to the torrent of passion. He creates from a mere passing
hint of Brooke the brilliant and gallant Mercutio. In
Brooke's poem Mercutio appears but once for a moment,
as a courtier in the ballroom of Capulet ; he is " courteous
of his speech " and " pleasant of device " ; bold among
the bashful maids as a lion among lambs ; arid nature
has given him the gift of hands that are colder than
frozen mountain ice. But he does not serve, as with
Shakespeare, by his vivid intellectuality to set off the
imaginative passion of Romeo ; he is not at once the
irrepressible mocker and the chivalrous protector ; nor
does he die, still jesting and still gallant, before the
tragedy darkens to its close. Shakespeare, again, it is
who introduces Tybalt at the old accustomed feast of
Capulet, and thus, incarnating in an individual the rage
of faction, brings hatred face to face with love. The
character of the Nurse is found in Brooke, but Shakespeare
admirably develops its humorous side. He reduces the
INTRODUCTION xxiii
age of Juliet from sixteen to fourteen, the age of
Marlowe's Abigail, so heightening the miracle of love,
which transforms her from a child to a heroic woman.
He deepens her solitude by depriving Lady Capulet of a
mother's tenderness, and showing her as a somewhat
unsympathetic woman of the world. And he brings
the lord-lover Paris, "a man of wax," to the church-
yard, with his flowers and perfumed water, to die,
and to illustrate the gentleness, the resolution, and the
magnanimity of Romeo.
The Romeo and Juliet legend has a long history,
and it is not necessary here to trace it in detail.1
Almost at the moment when Shakespeare was writing
his tragedy the Italian Girolamo de la Corte published
his History of Verona (1594-96), and there recorded as
matter of historical fact the story of the star-crossed
lovers. Reassigns the events to the year 1303, when
Verona was ruled by Bartolomeo de la Scala. But
imaginary history seems to have grown out of legend,
and modern criticism has disenchanted the " Sepolcro
di Giulietta e Romeo " at Verona. One of the incidents
of the story — the escape from enforced marriage by
the use of a sleeping potion — is as old as Xenophon
of Ephesus, whose romance of the loves of Anthia
and Abrocomas was first printed from the only ex-
isting manuscript in I726.2 A tale of much more
1 See Alessandro Torri's Giulietta e Romeo (Pisa, 1821), the Baron de
Guenifey's Histoire de Romeo Montecchi et de Juliette Cappelletti (Paris,
1836), Mr. Daniel's Introduction to the New Sh. Society's reprints of Brooke
and Painter, and my article on "Romeo and Juliet" in Transcripts and
Studies.
2 It was at once translated into English by Mr. Rooke (1727). My
acquaintance with the Ephesiaca is derived from the French version of 1736 ;
xxiv INTRODUCTION
recent date, that among the novelle of Massuccio of
Salerno (1476), which narrates the loves of Mariotto
Mignanelli and Giannozza Saraceni of Siena, has a
sufficient number of points of resemblance to Romeo and
Juliet to warrant our placing it in the genealogy of the
drama. The lovers are secretly married by a Friar;
Mariotto quarrels with a citizen of note, strikes him a
fatal blow with a stick, is exiled, and flies from Siena to
Alexandria. The father of Giannozza urges her to mar-
riage with a suitor of his choice ; she resolves to feign
herself dead, and the Friar provides the sleeping potion ;
she is buried in the church of St. Augustine ; is delivered
from the tomb by the Friar, and sails for Alexandria
disguised as a monk. The messenger whom she had
despatched with letters to her husband is captured by
pirates ; Mariotto hears of her death ; in the garb of a
pilgrim visits her tomb, which he attempts to open ; is
seized, condemned, and beheaded. Giannozza returns
from Alexandria to Siena, and in a convent the broken-
hearted wife dies.
Some fifty years after the publication of Massuccio's
tale Luigi Da Porto wrote his Istoria novellamente
ritrovata di due nobili Amanti, and here the scene is
Verona, and the lovers are named Romeo and Giulietta.
the portion which has some resemblance to the story of Juliet will be found
in pp. 124-139. In the anonymous play, How a Man may choose a Good
Wife from a Bad (1602), which is founded on a novel (Decade in., Novella
v. ) of Cinthio's Hecatommithi, the incidents of an opiate given for poison to
a young wife by her faithless husband, her burial, and revival in the coffin, are
turned to comic uses. It is perhaps worth noting that here, as in Romeo and
Juliet ', the sale of poisons is spoken of as illegal :
some covetous slave for coyne,
Will sell it him, though it be held by law,
To be no better than flat fellony. ,
INTRODUCTION xxv
Da Porto's novel was published posthumously at Venice
without date, about the year 1530. It is substantially
the story familiar to us,1 but there are variations in
detail, and certain personages of the drama are wanting.
Romeo masks not as a pilgrim but as a nymph ; the
lovers touch hands and whisper their passion in the
torch-dance ; the wooing and winning are not swiftly
accomplished ; the sentence of banishment is not
pronounced until after some happy bridal days and
nights have followed the secret marriage ; the nurse has
not yet appeared in the story ; for Paris we have here
the Count of Lodrone ; Juliet awakens from her drugged
sleep in the tomb before the poison has quite overcrowed
the spirit of her husband, and a dialogue ensues, the
motive of which has been idealised and exalted in the
opera of Gounod. This form of the tragic scene was
unknown to Shakespeare, who could have conveyed
into it the beauty and dignity of passion ; when Otway,
and subsequently Garrick, with Otway as his guide,
varied from the Shakespearian close, they struck false
notes and fell into the phrases of convention and pseudo-
pathos.2
Adrian Sevin's French transformation of the story of
Romeo and Juliet into the story of Halquadrich and
Burglipha (1542) has little interest, and does not take a
place in the direct line of the development of the tale
1 The reader will find both the Italian text and an English translation in
The Original Story of Romeo and Juliet, by G. Pace-Sanfelice, 1868. Mr.
Rolfe has reproduced Brydges' rare translation, with the addition of omitted
passages : Juliet and Romeo, Boston, 1895. For short accounts, see Daniel
or my article already mentioned.
2 It is needless here to give any account of Otway's strange appropriation
and transformation of Shakespeare's play in his Caius Marius.
b
xxvi INTRODUCTION
from Da Porto to Shakespeare. Nor does there appear
to be, except through a certain influence exercised on
Bandello, any real connection between Shakespeare's
tragedy and the poem in ottava rima published at
Venice in 1553, possibly the work of Gherardo Bolderi
assuming the name of Clitia or Clizia. It will be found
in Torri's volume already mentioned. Mr. Daniel points
out certain variations from Da Porto, of which the most
interesting is that here for the first time Tebaldo's death
is supposed by Lady Capulet to be the cause of Juliet's
grief. An attempt was made by J. C. Walker, in his
Historical Memoir on Italian Tragedy, 1799 (pp. 49—64),
to show that Shakespeare had utilised to some extent as
a source the Hadriana^ a tragedy of the year 1578, by
the blind poet Luigi Groto. The loves of Latino and
Hadriana are unquestionably derived in part from the
loves of Da Porto's Romeo and Giulietta ; but Mr. Daniel,
who gives a complete analysis of the play, is right in
saying that the resemblances between La Hadriana and
Shakespeare's tragedy are rather to be sought in special
passages than in the general conduct of the two plays.
Following Walker and Lloyd, and adding to their
enumeration, he notices the song of the nightingale
when the lovers part, the description of the effects of the
opiate, the consolation offered to the father on the
supposed death of his daughter, and other seeming
points of contact ; yet, although Groto was known
in England in Shakespeare's time, Mr. Daniel's con-
clusion is expressed in the words : " Notwithstand-
ing these resemblances, I find it difficult to believe
that Shakespeare could have made use of Groto's
INTRODUCTION sxvii
play " — a conclusion with which I am in entire
agreement.
Bandello's novel, of which Boisteau's is a translation,
stands of course in the direct line of the ancestry of
Romeo and Juliet. It appeared among his novelle
published at Lucca in 1554. Referring the reader to
Mr. Daniel's more detailed account of the points in
common between Bandello and Shakespeare, I may
quote what I have elsewhere written : " Bandello dwells
on Romeo's amorous fancy for a hard-hearted mistress —
Shakespeare's Rosaline — to which Da Porto only alludes.
An elder friend — Shakespeare's Benvolio — advises the
enamoured youth to 'examine other beauties,' and to
subdue his passion. Romeo enters Capulet's mansion
disguised, but no longer as a nymph. The Count of
Lodrone is now first known as Paris. The ladder of
ropes is now first mentioned. The sleeping potion is
taken by Juliet, not in presence of her chamber-maid
and aunt, but in solitude. Friar Lorenzo's messenger to
Mantua fails to deliver the letter because he is detained
in a house suspected of being stricken with plague. In
particular we owe to Bandello the figure of the nurse,
not Shakespeare's humorous creation, but a friendly old
woman, who very willingly plays her part of go-between
for the lovers. One more development and all the
materials of Shakespeare's play are in full formation.
From Bandello's mention of one Spolentino of Mantua,
from whom Romeo procures the poison, Pierre Boisteau
creates the episode of the Apothecary, and it is also to
this French refashioner of the story that we must trace
the Shakespearian close ; with him, Juliet does not wake
xxviii INTRODUCTION
from her sleep until Romeo has ceased to breathe ; and
she dies, as in our tragedy, not in a paroxysm of
grief, but by her own hand, armed with her husband's
dagger." L
The Quartos and Folios do not divide Romeo and
Juliet into acts and scenes. Mr. Daniel suggests that
Act III. should end with scene iv., making Act IV. begin
with the parting of the lovers. " The interposition," he
writes, " of the short scene iv. alone, between the arrange-
ment made at the Friar's Cell for the meeting of the
lovers and the scene in which they part, does not give a
sufficiently marked interval for the occurrence of all the
events which are supposed to have passed in the in-
terim : moreover the addition of scene v. to Act in. has
the disadvantage of making that act inordinately long.
Capell made the division I here suggest ; but his example
does not appear to have been followed by any subsequent
editor." The suggestion seems to me well worthy of
consideration, and I may call attention to the fact that
in Q I the first of those ornamental dividing marks which
appear on several of the later pages occurs at this point.
The same ornamental division occurs in the scene of the
lovers' parting at the entrance of Juliet's mother, and,
I think, it was intended that there should here be a
change of scene. It appears again at the close of our
present Act III., at the close of IV. i., the close of IV. ii.,
1 Transcripts and Studies^ pp. 389-390. To the study from which I
quote I may refer the reader for an account of Lope de Vega's Castelvines
y Monteses and of Los Bandos de Verona, by Francisco de Rojas y
Zorrilla (both of which may be read in privately printed translations by Mr.
F. W. Cosens). The strange conjunction of Shakespeare's lovers with
Dante's Ugolino in the Romeo et Juliette of Ducis is also noticed in the
same study.
INTRODUCTION xxix
the close of IV. in., the close of IV. iv., the close of V. i.,
the close of v. ii., in v. iii. immediately before the entrance
of the Friar, and again immediately after Juliet's death.
The use of the mark is evidently not accidental or
careless.
The dramatic time is carefully noted throughout the
play, but presents one inexplicable difficulty. The action
opens early on Sunday morning; after the street fray
when Romeo and Benvolio meet, it has but " new struck
nine." The afternoon has come when Romeo reads the
list of Capulet's invited guests; at night the "old accus-
tomed feast " is held, and Romeo after the feast hears
Juliet's confession of love at the window. Early on '
Monday morning Romeo visits Friar Laurence ; at noon
he jests with Mercutio, and informs Juliet through the
Nurse that the marriage shall be celebrated that after-
noon. The lovers are married; the encounter with
Tybalt, " that an hour hath been my cousin," follows.
The sentence of banishment is pronounced ; but it is
arranged that the new husband and wife shall spend
their bridal night together. At dawn on Tuesday morn-
ing Romeo parts from Juliet. Capulet on the preceding
night had fixed the marriage with Paris for Thursday ;
he now rages and threatens Juliet ; she visits the Friar,
who gives her the sleeping potion ; she returns, seems to
acquiesce in her parents' wishes, and the hasty Capulet
resolves that she shall be taken at her word, and married
to Paris to - morrow (Wednesday) morning. At some
hour of the night of Tuesday Juliet drinks the potion.
Old Capulet bustles during the night in preparations
for the wedding — " the curfew-bell hath rung, 'tis three
xxx INTRODUCTION
o'clock." On Wednesday morning Juliet is found in
seeming death ; the Friar arrives at the hour prefixed
for marriage ; all is turned from a wedding to a funeral ;
Juliet is laid in the tomb of her ancestors. At a later
hour of what seems to be the same day (Wednesday),
Balthasar informs Romeo of his wife's death ; Romeo
obtains the poison, sets out for Verona, at night enters
the monument by torch-light, and dies beside his beloved.
Friar Laurence "at the prefixed hour of her waking"
arrives to take Juliet from the vault ; she stabs herself
and dies ; the Prince, called from his morning's rest,
enters, and on Thursday at an early hour the action
closes.1
The rapidity of the whole conduct of the action is
surprising ; yet, up to the night on which Juliet swallows
the Friar's potion, there can be no question as to the
dating of days and hours. At this point Shakespeare
creates a difficulty that seems to be insuperable. He
had probably noticed in Painter's version of the tale a
statement of the Friar that the opiate effects of the drug
were to continue for " the space of forty hours at the
least." As if to be more precise Shakespeare names the
period as "two and forty hours." From what time of
the night of Tuesday will forty-two succeeding hours
bring us to a very early morning hour (the month is
July) of either Thursday or Friday ? The period is too
short to suit Friday morning, too long for Thursday.
We should not trouble ourselves about what might be
1 See, together with Daniel's "Time-Analysis of the Plots of Shake-
speare's Plays" (New Sh. Society's Transactions > 1879), the notes on p. 202
and p. 219 of Mr. Rolfe's edition of Romeo and Juliet.
INTRODUCTION xxxi
explained as a mere stage-illusion of time, if Shakespeare
had required such a stage-illusion, or if he had not dated
the events throughout with more exactness than the
stage requires. In Painter the Friar directs Juliet to
drink the potion " the night before your marriage or in
the morning before day " ; in Brooke, " on thy marriage
day before the sun do clear the sky." Can Shakespeare
at one time have intended that Juliet's soliloquy should
represent the passions of a whole night, and that she
should not swallow the opiate until a short time before
the Nurse came to rouse her in order that she should
prepare for the marriage ceremony? And was she to
return to consciousness in the first glimmering of a July
dawn, as soon after midnight as that might be, on the
morning of Friday ? The theory is in many ways un-
satisfactory, but the mere passage of hours during a
soliloquy need not present a difficulty to the student
of Shakespeare. In Cymbeline it is midnight when
Imogen is seized by sleep ; lachimo comes from the
trunk, soliloquises, and the clock strikes three. Yet it
can hardly be supposed that Shakespeare ever intended
that Juliet should conjure up the vision of the slaughtered
Tybalt in the full light of morning. Perhaps the simplest
explanation of the difficulty is to admit that it was never
meant to be explained ; forty-two hours gave an air of
precision and verisimilitude to the Friar's arrangement ;
it sufficed to cover- two periods of night preceding two
Italian summer dawns ; and the dramatist knew that
spectators in the theatre do not regulate their imagination
by a chronometer.
Unlike the play of Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet has
xxxii INTRODUCTION
little of imaginative mystery. The chief subject of
difference among its critics concerns what we may call
the ethics of the play.1 " By Friar Laurence," writes
Gervinus, "who, as it were, represents the part of the
chorus in this tragedy, the leading idea of the piece is
expressed in all fulness, an idea that runs throughout the
whole, that excess in any enjoyment, however pure in
itself, transforms its sweet into t bitterness, that devotion
to any single feeling, however noble, bespeaks its ascend-
ency ; that this ascendency moves the man and woman
out of their natural spheres ; that love can only be a
companion in life, and cannot fill out the life and business
of the man especially ; that in the full power of its first
rising, it is a paroxysm of happiness, which, according to
its nature, cannot continue in equal strength ; that, as
the poet says in an image, it is a flower that,
1 Being smelt, with that part cheers each part ;
Being tasted, slays all senses with the heart.'"
And the critic pursues his well-meant moralisings in the
same spirit.
Much nearer the mark was Goethe in his arrange-
ment of Romeo and Juliet for the Weimar theatre,
1811: "Before Juliet revives," in Goethe's recast, " the
Friar confesses that all his cunning wisdom was in vain ;
that if he had opposed, instead of aiding the lovers,
things could not have come to a worse end. After
1 The commonplace moralisings and the vigorous Protestant feeling
expressed by Brooke in his address "To the Reader," prefixed to Rometts
and Juliet, did not influence Shakespeare ; and they do not enter into Brooke's
poem, where the hero and heroine are not represented as " thralling them-
selves to unhonest desire," and the "superstitious frier" appears as an
amiable old student of natural science.
INTRODUCTION xxxiii
Juliet has stabbed herself Friar Laurence acknowledges
the folly that often attends the wisdom of the wise, that
to attempt to do good is often more dangerous than to
undertake to do evil. Happy those whose love is pure,
because both love and hatred lead but to the grave." 1
That is to say, the amiable critic of life as seen from
the cloister does not understand life or hate or love ; he
is not the chorus of the tragedy, but an actor whose
wisdom is of a kind which may easily lead himself and
others astray. Garrick was not an eminent moralist,
but there is more of truth in the Prince's rhymed tag,
with which Garrick's version of the tragedy concludes,
than can be found in the ponderous moralities of
Gervinus :
Well may you mourn my Lords, (now wise too late)
These tragic issues of your mutual hate :
From private feuds, what dire misfortunes flow ;
Whate'er the cause, the sure effect is Woe.
The tragic issues are the results not of love, but of love
growing on the hatred of the houses. Shakespeare has
set forth this in the opening scene, half humorous yet
wholly tragic. He reiterates his statement of the fact
at the close. Romeo and Juliet die as sacrifices to
appease the insane fury, out of which their lives hact^
risen and in which they had no individual part ; therefore )
shall their statues be raised, and in " pure gold " :
Mon. There shall no figure at such rate be set
As that of true and faithful Juliet.
Cap. As rich shall Romeo by his lady lie ;
Poor sacrifices of our enmity !
1 Furness, Romeo and Juliet, p. 445,
xxxiv INTRODUCTION
And thus the dead lovers have become immortal
\ victors.
Shakespeare did not intend to represent more than
a fragment of human life in the tragedy. He did not
aim at a criticism of the whole of human character ;
he cared to show us his hero and his heroine only as
lovers, and as exemplary in the perfection of their love ;
faithful even unto death ; choosing, with a final election
of the heart, love at all costs. Here is no view of the
whole of life ; we are shown merely what befell a young
pair of lovers during four days long ago in Verona. But
Shakespeare felt, and we all feel, that if such love as
theirs can be taken up into a complete character, modified
and controlled by the other noble qualities which go to
form a large and generous nature, the world will be the
better for such pure and sacred passion. Such, it appears
to me, are the ethics of the play.
And the personages by whom the lovers are encircled
are so conceived as to become the critics of ideal love
from their several points of view, honouring and exalting
it by the inadequacy of their criticism. To old Capulet,
in his mood, it seems that the passions of the heart are
to be determined by parental authority. To Lady
Capulet marriage is an affair of worldly convenience.
To the Nurse it is the satisfaction of a pleasurable
/ instinct. Mercutio, a gallant friend, is too brilliant in
his intellectuality to be capable of a passion in which the
I heart shows that it is superior to the brain ; he mocks
at love, not because he really scorns it, but because
he is remote from it, and cherishes before all else his
free-lance liberty. The Friar views human passion from
/
INTRODUCTION xxxv
the quietudes of the cloister, or from amid the morning
dew of the fields ; but botany is not the science of
human life. Even Romeo's earlier self, with his amorous
melancholy, becomes the critic of his later self, when
a true and final election has been made, and when love
has become the risen sun of his day. As for Juliet,
her words —
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,
may serve for an inscription beneath that statue of
pure gold of which Shakespeare was the artist.
It may interest some readers to have before them
the dialogue, in the eighteenth-century taste, of Romeo
and Juliet in the tomb, as it reached our ancestors, —
somewhat modish ancestors perhaps, — and drew forth
their tears, in the version of Garrick.
Rom. Soft — she breathes, and stirs ! {Juliet wakes.
Jut. Where am I ? defend me powers !
Rom. She speaks, she lives : and we shall still be bless'd
My kind propitious stars o'er pay me now
For all my sorrows past — rise, rise, my Juliet,
And from this cave of death, this house of horror,
Quick let me snatch thee to thy Romeo's arms,
There breathe a vital spirit in thy lips,
And call thee back to life and love. {Takes her hand.
Jul. Bless me ! how cold it is ! who Js there !
Rom. Thy husband,
'Tis thy Romeo, Juliet ; rais'd from despair
To joys unutt'rable ! quit, quit this place,
And let us fly together— {Brings her from the tomb.
Jul. Why do you force me so — I'll ne'er consent —
My strength may fail me, but my will's unmov'd, —
I '11 not wed Paris, — Romeo is my husband —
Rom. Her senses are unsettled— HeaVn restore 'em !
xxxvi INTRODUCTION
Romeo is thy husband ; I am that Romeo,
Nor all the opposing pow'rs of earth or man,
Shall break our bonds, or tear thee from my heart.
JuL I know that voice — Its magic sweetness wakes
My tranced soul — I now remember well
Each circumstance — Oh my lord, my husband —
{Going to embrace him.
Dost thou avoid me, Romeo? let me touch
Thy hand, and taste the cordial of thy lips—
You fright me — speak — Oh let me hear some voice
Besides my own in this drear vault of death,
Or I shall faint — support me —
Rom. Oh I cannot,
I have no strength, but want thy feeble aid.
Cruel poison !
JuL Poison ! what means my lord ; thy trembling voice !
Pale lips ! and swimming eyes ! death 's in thy face !
Rom. It is indeed — I struggle with him now —
The transports that I felt to hear thee speak,
And see thy op'ning eyes, stopt for a moment
His impetuous course, and all my mind
Was happiness and thee ; but now the poison
Rushes thro' my veins — I 've not time to tell —
Fate brought me to this place — to take a last,
Last farewel of my love, and with thee die.
Jut. Die ? was the Friar false !
Rom. I know not that —
I thought thee dead : distracted at the sight,
(Fatal speed) drank poison, kiss'd thy cold lips,
And found within thy arms a precious grave —
But in that moment — Oh —
Jul. And did I wake for this !
Rom. My powers are blasted,
'Twixt death and love I 'm torn — I am distracted !
But death 's strongest— and must I leave thee Juliet !
Oh cruel cursed fate ! in sight of heav'n —
Jul. Thou rav'st — lean on my breast —
Rom. Fathers have flinty hearts, no tears can melt 'em.
Nature pleads in vain— Children must be wretched—
Jul. Oh my breaking heart —
Rom. She is my wife— our hearts are twin'd together—
Capulet forbear— Paris, loose your hold —
INTRODUCTION xxxvii
Pull not our heart-strings thus — they crack — they break —
Oh Juliet 1 Juliet ! [Dies.
Jul. Stay, stay for me, Romeo —
A moment stay ; fate marries us in death,
And we are one — no pow'r shall part us.
[Faints on Romeds body.
It is wonderful what a good situation and a great
actor can do upon the stage, even with words such as
these. Perhaps all of us who are capable of tears
would have moistened kerchiefs in presence of the dying
woes of Mr. Garrick, or Mr. Barry and Mrs. Gibber.
I have come upon some illustrations of the text, in
my recent reading, too late for embodiment in my notes ;
a few of these may be here set down.
I. i. 79 : Give me my long sword. Compare Sharpham,
The Fleire'. "the gentleman that wore the long Sword,
now weares the short Hanger."
I. ii. 25 : Earth-treading stars. Adopted by Sharpham,
Cupid's Whirligig (opening scene) : " the Court, where so
many Earth-treading starres adornes the Skye of State."
I. v. 69 : He bears him, like a portly gentleman. So
Middleton, Your Five Gallants, IV. viii. : " That one so
fortunate amongst us five Shall bear himself more portly?
I. v. 122: the sport is at the best. Compare Chapman,
The Gentleman Usher (Pearson's reprint, i. 260): "Our
hunting sport is at the best."
II. i. 10: Ay me. This is the "sigh" of line 8, as
"love" and "dove" are the rhyme. Compare Sharpham,
The Fleire : " Pis. ay me ! Nan. Faith my Lord you '1
nere win a woman by sighing."
II. i. 38 : et cetera. So used for an unbecoming omitted
word by William Haughton in Englishmen for my Money.
xxxviii INTRODUCTION
II. iv. 109: Here's goodly gear! So Chapman, An
humerous dayes mirth (Pearson's reprint, i. 76) : " But here
is goodly geare."
II. v. 42 : body, etc. Compare Middleton (ed. Bullen),
vol. i. 27, and iii. 98.
III. i. 8: operation of the second cup. So Sharpham,
The Fleire : " the operation of the pot makes him not able
to stand."
III. iii. 57 : Hang up philosophy ! Was this proverbial ?
Compare W. Haughton, Englishmen for my Money (near
opening of play) : " Hang up Philosophy, lie none of it."
III. v. 9: Night's candles are burnt out. So Haughton,
Englishmen, etc. :
Night's Candles burne obscure, and the pale Moone
Favouring our drift, lyes buried in a Cloud.
IV. iv. n: mouse-hunt. Add, in support of Dyce's
explanation, Haughton, Englishmen, etc. (spoken of an
amorous old man) : " Here 's an old Ferret Pole-cat."
IV. v. 97 : ah, put up, put up. So Chapman, The
Gentleman Usher (Pearson's reprint, i. 355): " Unworthie
Lord, put up," i.e. cease.
The references to other plays of Shakespeare than
Romeo and Juliet are to act, scene, line, as found in the
Globe Shakespeare.
I have had a great advantage in preparing this edition
of Romeo and Juliet in having been preceded by Mr.
Daniel, the most conscientious and scholarly of editors.
I have to thank him for an unpublished note on I. iii.
33. Professor Littledale communicated to me some
valuable suggestions. Dr. Furnivall called my attention
INTRODUCTION xxxix
to the passage of Masson's Milton quoted on p. 82.
But my chief debt is to my friend Mr. W. J. Craig, who,
out of the great store of illustrations of Shakespeare
which during many years he has accumulated, generously
furnished me with a wealth of quotations which I have
utilised as far as my space permitted. Whatever value
this edition may possess is in large measure due to his
learning and his kindness.
THE TRAGEDY
OF
ROMEO AND JULIET
DRAMATIS PERSONS
ESCALUS, Prince of Verona.
PARIS, a young Nobleman, Kinsman to the Prince.
MONTAGUE, ) _ -77 J7
^ > Heads of two Houses, at variance with each other.
CAPULET, j
An old man, of the Capulet family.
ROMEO, Son to Montague.
MERCUTIO, Kinsman to the Prince, and Friend to Romeo.
BENVOLIO, Nephew to Montague, and Friend to Romeo.
TYBALT, Nephew to Lady Capulet.
FRIAR LAURENCE, a Franciscan.
FRIAR JOHN, of the same Order.
BALTHASAR, Servant to Romeo.
SAMPSON, )
~, > Servants to Lapulet.
GREGORY, J
PETER, Servant to Juliefs nurse.
ABRAHAM, Servant to Montague.
An Apothecary.
Three Musicians.
Page to Paris ; another Page ; an Officer.
LADY MONTAGUE, Wife to Montague.
LADY CAPULET, Wife to Capulet.
JULIET, Daughter to Capulet.
Nurse to Juliet.
Citizens of Verona ; Kinsfolk of both Houses ; Maskers, Guards,
Watchmen, and Attendants.
Chorus.
SCENES: Verona; Mantua.
THE TRAGEDY
OF
ROMEO AND JULIET
PROLOGUE
Enter CHORUS.
Chor. Two households^ both alike in dignity ',
In fair Verona^ where we lay our scene.
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny p,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes 5
A pair of star-cross' d lovers take their life ;
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
Do ivith their death bury their parents' strife.
The fearful passage of their death-mark d love,
A nd the continuance of their parents' rage, I o
1-14 Prologue, omitted Ff. 8. Do] Rowe, Doth Q.
Prologue] This prologue, probably serves as prologue to Heywood's The
spoken by the actor who appears as Faire Maide of the Exchange, printed
Chorus at the opening of Act n., is 1607 ; a sonnet (Shakespearian) is
written in the form of the Shake- prologue to his A Woman Killed
spearian sonnet ; so a sonnet (ap- with Kindness, 1607. Here the note
preaching nearer to the Italian form) of fate is struck in lines 5, 6.
4 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTI.
Whichy but their children's endy nought could remove^
Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage ;
The which if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.
[Exit.
ACT I
SCENE I. — Verona. A public Place.
Enter SAMPSON and GREGORY, of the house of Capulet,
with swords and bucklers.
Sam. Gregory, on my word, we '11 not carry coals.
Gre. No, for then we should be colliers.
Sam. I mean, an we be in choler, we '11 draw.
Gre. Ay, while you live, draw your neck out o' the
collar. 5
Sam. I strike quickly, being moved.
14. Exit] Capell, omitted Q.
Act /. Scene I.
Act I. Scene I. ] No marking of Acts and Scenes in Q ; none except here
in F. I. on] Q, A F, j Capell. 3. an] Theobald, and Q, if F.
4. o' the] F, 0/Q.
12. two hours' traffic] Compare man was . . . one that in an upright
Henry VII L Prologue, 12, 13: "May quarrell would beare no coles."
see away their shilling Richly in two 2. colliers} NewEng. Diet. : "Often
short hours." The simple material used with allusion to the dirtiness of
apparatus of the Elizabethan stage the trade in coal, or the evil repute of
tended to accelerate the performance, the collier for cheating : cf. Greene's
Coosnage of Colliers (ICQI)." See
Act I. Scene I. Twdft\ Nf^ m> iy \*
I. carry coals} submit to menials' 3. choler] The play on "choler,"
work, and so to humiliation or "collar," and "draw" occurs in
insult. New Eng. Diet, quotes J. Jonson's Every Alan in his Humour,
Hooker, Girald. Ireland, in Holin- in. ii. (dialogue between Cob and
shed (1586), ii. 105: "This gentle- Cash).
sc.i.j ROMEO AND JULIET 5
Gre. But thou art not quickly moved to strike.
Sam. A dog of the house of Montague moves me.
Gre. To move is to stir, and to be valiant is to
stand; therefore, if thou art moved, thou 10
runn'st away.
Sam. A dog of that house shall move me to stand :
I will take the wall of any man or maid of
Montague's.
Gre. That shows thee a weak slave ; for the weakest i 5
goes to the wall.
Sam. 'Tis true; and therefore women, being the
weaker vessels, are ever thrust to the wall :
therefore I will push Montague's men from the
wall and thrust his maids to the wall. 20
Gre. The quarrel is between our masters and us
their men.
Sam. 'Tis all one, I will show myself a tyrant :
when I have fought with the men, I will be
cruel with the maids ; I will cut off their heads. 2 5
Gre. The heads of the maids ?
Sam. Ay, the heads of the maids, or their maiden-
heads ; take it in what sense thou wilt.
Gre. They must take it in sense that feel it.
17. 'Tis true} Q, True F. 25. cruel'} Qq 4, 5 ; civil Q, F ; / will
cut} Q, and cut F. 26. maids?} F, maids. Q. 29. in} Q I, F;
omitted Q.
10. stand] Q i has " stand to it." Martley's conjecture, "not us their
15, 16. weakest . . . waif} A pro- men," is unhappy. Gregory means
verbial saying; so Machin, Dumb that masters and men, but not women,
Knight: "The weakest must to the are included in the quarrel,
wall still." A play of 1600 had' the 25. cruel] Possibly civil is right, a
proverb for its title. See ill. iv. 12 tyrant's civility to maids showing it-
(note). self, as Sampson indicates, in a seem-
21, 22. The quarrel , , . men} ing paradox,
6 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACT i.
Sam. Me they shall feel while I am able to stand ; 30
and 'tis known I am a pretty piece of flesh.
Gre. Tis well thou art not fish ; if thou hadst, thou
hadst been poor John. Draw thy tool ; here
comes two of the house of the Montagues.
Enter ABRAHAM and BALTHASAR.
Sam. My naked weapon is out : quarrel ; I will 3 5
back thee.
Gre. How ! turn thy back and run ?
Sam. Fear me not.
Gre. No, marry ; I fear thee !
Sam. Let us take the law of our sides ; let them 40
begin.
Gre. I will frown as I pass by, and let them take it
as they list.
Sam. Nay, as they dare. I will bite my thumb at
them; which is a disgrace to them, if they 45
bear it.
Abr. Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?
Sam. I do bite my thumb, sir.
34. two] Q I ; omitted Q, F; house of the] F, house of Q. Enter . . .]
Rowe ; Enter two other serving men Q, F. 37. run ?} Q, run. F.
45. a] omitted Q (alone).
31. pretty piece of flesh] The same the prefix to his speeches. His silent
expression occurs in Much Ado, iv. fellow was named by Rowe, Balthasar
ii. 85, and Loves Cure, III. iv. 16. being Romeo's man.
33. poor John] hake, dried and 44. bite my thiunti] Singer quotes
salted, poor and coarse eating; from Cotgrave a description of this
Massinger, Renegado, i. i. : " To feed mode of insult: " Faire la nique . . .
upon poor John when I see pheasants to threaten or defie, by putting the
And partridges on the table. " thumb nail into the mouth, and with a
34. Enter . . . Abraham] In Q, jerke (from the upper teeth) make it
F, "Enter two other serving men." to knacke."
Abraham's name can be inferred from
sc.i.] ROMEO AND JULIET 7
Abr. Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?
Sam. [Aside to Gre.] Is the law of our side if I 50
say ay ?
Gre. No.
Sam. No, sir, I do not bite my thumb at you, sir ;
but I bite my thumb, sir.
Gre. Do you quarrel, sir ? 55
Abr. Quarrel, sir! no, sir.
Sam. If you do, sir, I am for you: I serve as good
a man as you.
Abr. No better.
Sam. Well, sir. 60
Enter BENVOLIO.
Gre. [Aside to Sam.} Say " better " : here comes one
of my master's kinsmen.
Sam. Yes, better, sir.
Abr. You lie.
Sam. Draw, if you be men. Gregory, remember 65
thy swashing blow. [They fight.
Ben. Part, fools ! [Beating down their weapons.
Put up your swords ; you know not what
you do.
56. sir! no} Dyce ; sir, no Q; sir? no F. 57. If] F, Bttt if Q.
59. better.} Q, better1? F. 63. sir] Q, omitted F. 66. swashing] Qq
4, 5 ; washing Q, F.
6 1, 62. one of my master's kinsmen} ingot F, Q is possible. Daniel (who
Tybalt is meant, who is seen approach- reads swashing) quotes Rich. Harvey,
ing. Plaine Perceval I ( 1 589) : "A washing
66. swashing] Jonson in his Staple blow of this [a quarter-staff] is as good
of News, v. i., has " I do confess a as a Laundresse." Baret, Alvearie,
swashing blow "; and in A s You Like has "to swash or to make a noise
//, i. iii. 122, we have "a swashing with swordes against tergats."
and a martial outside." But the wash-
8 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACT i
Enter TYBALT.
Tyb. What, art thou drawn among these heartless
hinds? 70
Turn thee, Benvolio, look upon thy death.
Ben. I do but keep the peace : put up thy sword,
Or manage it to part these men with me.
Tyb. What, drawn, and talk of peace ! I hate the word,
As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee: 75
Have at thee, coward ! {They fight.
Enter several of both houses, who join the fray ; then
enter Citizens and Peace-officers^ with clubs.
First Off. Clubs, bills, and partisans ! strike ! beat them
down !
Down with the Capulets! down with the Montagues !
Enter old CAPULET in his gown, and Lady CAPULET.
Cap. What noise is this ? Give me my long sword, ho !
Lady Cap. A crutch, a crutch ! why call you for a
sword ? 80
74. drawn] Q, draw F and several editors. 76. Enter . . . clubs]
Capell, substantially ; Enter three or foure Citizens with Clubs or partysons
Q ; so F, omitting ' ' or partisans. " 77. First Off. ] Offi. Q, F ; Cit. Steevens ;
I Cit. Malone ; Citizens Dyce.
70. heartless hinds'] A play here on serve the public peace." Compare
both words ; hind, a menial, hind, a Henry VIII. v. iv. 53 and Titus
female deer ; so with a play on hart And. II. i. 37.
and heart in Drayton, Polyolbion, v. 77. bills'] a kind of pike or halbert
228, "heartless deer." used by constables of the watch, and
77. First Off.] So Cambridge edi- by foot-soldiers. See Much Ado, in.
tors, who conjecture that line 78 iii. 44.
belongs to Citizens. 77. partisans} Fairholt : "A sharp
77. Clubs'] Dyce: "Originally the two-edged sword placed on the sum-
cry to call forth the London appr en- mit of a staff." See Hamlet, i, i,
lices, who employed their clubs to pre- 140,
sc.i.J ROMEO AND JULIET 9
Cap. My sword, I say ! Old Montague is come,
And flourishes his blade in spite of me.
Enter old MONTAGUE and Lady MONTAGUE.
Mon. Thou villain Capulet ! — Hold me not ; let me go.
Lady Mon. Thou shalt not stir one foot to seek a foe.
Enter Prince ESCALUS, with his Train,
frince. Rebellious subjects, enemies to peace, 85
Profaners of this neighbour-stained steel, —
Will they not hear ? What, ho ! you men, you
beasts,
That quench the fire of your pernicious rage
With purple fountains issuing from your veins,
On pain of torture, from those bloody hands 90
Throw your mistemper'd weapons to the ground,
And hear the sentence of your moved prince
/three civil brawls, bred of an airy word,
By thee, old Capulet, and Montague,
Have thrice disturb'd the quiet of our streets,/ 9 5
And made Verona's ancient citizens
Cast by their grave beseeming ornaments,
To wield old partisans, in hands as old,
Canker'd with peace, to part your canker'd_ hate :
84. one] Q, a F. Escalus] Cambridge ; Eskales Q, F. 86. steel] Q,
F; soil,— Daniel conjee. Hudson. 93. brawls'] Q, Broyles F, broils
Rowe and others.
82. in spite of me] in despite (scorn- insert hyphen : grave-beseeming, i.e.
ful defiance) of me. See New Eng. beseeming gravity ; but in 1 Henry VI.
Diet, "despite," 5. v. i. 54, we find "grave ornaments."
91. mistemperd] wrathful, or per- 99. Cankered . . . hate] The first
haps, as Schmidt explains, tempered cankered means corroded. Compare
to an ill end. Bible, James v. 3 : "Your gold and
97- Srave beseeming] Walker would silver is cankered," The second.
10 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACT i.
If ever you disturb our streets again 100
Your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace.
For this time, all the rest depart away :
You, Capulet, shall go along with me ;
And, Montague, come you this afternoon
To know our farther pleasure in this case,/ 105
To old Free- town, our common judgment-place.
Once more, on pain of death, all men depart.
[Exeunt all but Montague, Lady
Montague, and Benvolio.
Mon. Who set this ancient quarrel new abroach ?
Speak, nephew, were you by when it began ?
Ben. Here were the servants of your adversary 1 1 o
And yours close fighting ere I did approach :
I drew to part them ; in the instant came
The fiery Tybalt, with his sword prepared,
Which, as he breathed defiance to my ears,
He swung about his head, and cut the winds, 115
Who, nothing hurt withal, hiss'd him in scorn :
While we were interchanging thrusts and blows,
Came more and more, and fought on part and part,
Till the prince came, who parted either part.
Lady Mon. O, where is Romeo ? saw you him to-
day? 120
Right glad I am he was not at this fray.
Ben. Madam, an hour before the worshipp'd sun
105. farther] Q, further Q 5, Fathers Q 3, F. 108. Mon.] Q, F ;
M: wife Q I. 121. lam] Q, am /F.
means malignant, as in King John, Capilet's castle ; it corresponds to
II. i. 194: "A canker'd grandam's Villa Franca of the Italian story,
will!" 113. prepared} so "prepared
106. Free-town] This in Brooke's sword," Lear, n. i. 53.
Romeus and Jitliet is the name of
sc.i.] ROMEO AND JULIET 11
Peer'd forth the golden window of the east,
A troubled mind drave me to walk abroad ;
Where, underneath the grove of sycamore 1 2 5
That westward rooteth from the city's side,
So early walking did I see your son :
Towards him I made ; but he was ware of me,
And stole into the covert of the wood :
I, measuring his affections by my own, 130
Which then most sought where most might not be
found,
Being one too many by my weary self,
Pursued my humour, not pursuing his,
And gladly shunn'd who gladly fled from me.
Mon. Many a morning hath he there been seen, 135
With tears augmenting the fresh morning's dew,
Adding to clouds more clouds with Jlis deep sighs :
But all so soon as the all-cheering sun j
Should in the farthest east beginHe-draw
The shady curtains from Aurora's bed, 140
124. drave} F, drive Q. 126. the city's} Q I, Malone ; this city Q, F.
133. humour} Q, honour F.
123. Peer'd . . . east} Q I has 131. Which . . . found} Pope and
Peept for Peer'd. An echo is noted several editors substitute for lines
by Holt White in Summa Totalis, 131, 132, the line (from Q i) : "That
1607: "Peepes through the purple most are busied, when they're most
windowes of the East." alone." The meaning of line 131
124. drave} The Q drive = drave is Which then sought in chief that
is retained by Mommsen, and ex- place where there was least resort
amples from Spenser and Jonson are of people. Professor G. Allen con,
cited. See Daniel's revised ed. of jectures "where more mght not be
Q. Here Q I reads, "A troubled found." "Shakespeare," he says-
thought drew me from companie." "was not the man (in Romeo and
125. sycamore} In Desdemona's Juliet at least) to let slip the chance
song, Othello, iv. iii. 41, the deserted of running through the Degrees of
lover sits "sighing by a sycamore Comparison, many, more, most"
tree." Furness quotes W. Westma- 133. his} Theobald adopted Thirl-
cott's Scripture Herbal : "Astrologers by's conjecture him.
regard it as one of Venus her trees,"
12 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACT i.
Away from light steals home my heavy son,
And private in his chamber pens himself,
Shuts up his windows, locks fair daylight out,
Andjnakes himself_an_artificial night.
Black and portentous must this humour prove 145
Unless good counsel may the cause remove.
Ben. My noble uncle, do you know the cause ?
Mon. I neither know it nor can learn of him.
Ben. Have you importuned him by any means ?
Mon. Both by myself and many other friends : 150
But he, his own affections' counsellor,
Is to himself — I will not say how true —
But to himself so secret and so close,
So far from sounding and discovery,
As is the bud bit with an envious worm. 155
Ere he can spread his sweet leaves to the air,
Or dedicate his beauty to the sun.
Could we but learn from whence his sorrows
grow,
We would as willingly give cure as know.
150. other} Q, others F. 157. sun} Pope, ed. 2. (Theobald); same
Q, F.
141. son} A play on sun, line 138, 157. the sun} Theobald's emenda-
and son is probably intended, tion has won its way against the read-
" heavy" being opposed to "all- ing of Qq, Ff, by virtue of its beauty,
cheering." Malone, who prints the same in his
150. other friends] Knight, insert- text, as "a mode of expression not
ing a comma in text of F, reads uncommon in Shakespeare's time,"
others, friends, Daniel observes that supports the sun by a parallel from
Knight's punctuation may be right, Daniel's Sonnets :
but other — frequently used as a " And whilst thou spread" st unto the
plural — would agree with it as well rising sunne
as others. The fairest flower that ever saw the
155. envious} malignant, spiteful, light,
as often. The image of the worm Now joy thy time, before thy sweet
and bud occurs with like significance be done."
in Twelfth Night, n. iv, 114,
sc.i.l ROMEO AND JULIET 13
Enter ROMEO.
Ben. See where he comes : so please you, step aside ; 1 60
I '11 know his grievance, or be much denied.
Man. I would thou wert so happy by thy stay,
To hear true shrift. Come, madam, let 's away.
[Exeunt Montague and Lady.
Ben. Good morrow, cousin.
Rom. Is the day so young ?
Ben. But new struck nine.
Rom. Ay me! sad hours seem long. 165
Was that my father that went hence so fast ?
Ben. It was. What sadness lengthens Romeo's hours ?
Rom. Not having that, which, having, makes them short.
Ben. In love?
Rom. Out — 170
Ben. Of love?
Rom. Out of her favour, where I am in love.
Ben. /Alas, that love, so gentle in his view,
/Should be so tyrannous and rough in proof!
Rom. Alas, that love, whose view is muffled still, 175
Should without eyes see pathways to his will !
Where shall we dine ? O me ! What fray was
here?
Yet tell me not, for I have heard it all.
169. In love?} Q 5, In love. The rest. 170. Out — ] Rowe ; Out.
Q, F. 171. Of love?} Q 5, Of love. The rest.
176. Should . . . will] Romeo pathwaies to our will," i.e. lawless
laments that love, though blindfolded, himself should rule our passions,
should see how to reach the lover's 177. dine?} A lover, of course,
heart. Staunton needlessly con- could not seriously think of his dinner,
jectures "set pathways to our will," Romeo wishes to turn aside Benvolio's
i.e. prescribe to us our passion. Q I inquiries,
reads, " Should without lawes give
14 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACT i.
Here 's much to do with hate, but more with love :
Why then, O brawling love ! O loving hate ! 1 80
O any thing, of nothing first created !
O heavy lightness ! serious vanity !
Misshapen chaos of well-seeming forms !
Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health !
Still-waking sleep, that is not what it is ! 185
This love feel I, that feel no love in this.
Dost thou not laugh ?
Ben. No, coz, I rather weep.
Rom. Good heart, at what ?
Ben. At thy good heart's oppression.
Rom. Why, such is love's transgression.
Griefs of mine own lie heavy in my breast, 190
Which thou wilt propagate to have it prest
With more of thine : this love that thou hast shown
Doth add more grief to too much of mine own.
Love is a smoke raised with the fume of sighs ;
Being purged, a fire sparkling in lovers' eyes ; 195
181. created] Q, F ; create Q I, Ff 2-4, and many editors. 183. Well-
seeming] Qq 4, 5, Ff. 2-4; -well-seeing The rest; best seeming things Q I.
191. if] Q, F; them Q I. 194. raised} Q I and many editors; made
Q, F.
179. much to do . . . with love] 189. Why . . . transgression]The.
Rosaline is of the Capulet family ; short line is variously eked out by
see I. ii. 70. editors. Collier (MS.) reads, "Why
180-185] Tnis conventional char- such, Benvolio, is."
acterisation of love by the identity of 191. prest] The word has reference
contradictories could be illustrated toBenvolio's word oppression, line 1 88.
endlessly from Elizabethan sonnet- Might we read to have't oppressed?
teers and earlier poets English and Q I, which in line 190 reads at my
foreign. Romeo speaks otherwise hart, has wouldst propagate to have
when his heart is deeply moved by them prest.
Juliet. 192. this love] Q I reads this griefe
181. created] Perhaps the rhyming — probably, says Daniel, the better
create of Q I is right. reading.
185. Still-waking] constantly wak- 195. purged] love purified from the
ing. smoke. Johnson plausibly suggested
.
sc.i.] ROMEO AND JULIET 15
Being vex'd, a sea nourish'd with lovers' tears ;
What is it else ? a madness most discreet,
A choking gall, and a preserving sweet.
Farewell, my coz.
Ben. Soft ! I will go along ;
An if you leave me so, you do me wrong. 200
Rom. Tut, I have lost myself; I am not here ;
This is not Romeo, he 's some other where.
Ben. Tell me in sadness, who is that you love.
Rom. What, shall I groan and tell thee ?
Ben. Groan ! why, no ;
But sadly tell me who. 205
Rom. Bid a sick man in sadness make his will :
Ah, word ill urged to one that is so ill !
In sadness, cousin, I do love a woman.
Ben. I aim'd so near when I supposed you loved.
Rom. A right good mark - man ! And she 's fair I
love. 2 1 o
196. lovers'] a lovers Q I ; lovers Pope ; loving Q, F. 200. An]
Hanmer ; And Q, F. 206. Bid . . . make] Qq I, 4, 5 ; A sicke . . .
makes Qq 2, 3, F ; later Ff emend F by inserting good before sadness.
207. Ah, word] Q i, Malone, and other editors; A wordQ, F, and several
editors ; O, word Ff 2-4.
urged ; "to urge the fire is a technical long s the words were easily mistaken
term," which occurs in Chapman's for each other. Allen notes that in
Iliad, xxi. Collier (MS.) has pujfd. Coriolanus, I. iv. 54, "Thou art left,
White fancies a scriptural allusion Marcius," we should probably read
(Matt. iii. 12) to the fan purging the "lost." Daniel adds that in Hamlet,
floor. in. i. 99, "their perfume lost" (Qq)
196. a sea . . . tears] Q I reads is misprinted left in Ff.
"a sea raging with a lover's teares." 203. sadness] seriousness, as often
198. preserving] The line means in Shakespeare. In Romeo's groan
that love kills and keeps alive, is a he plays upon the meaning "grief."
bane and an antidote. Hazlitt's /*r- Q i reads, "whome she is you love,"
severing misses the point. altered by editors to who.
201. lost] I am much inclined to 203. is] Daniel, retaining from Q,
agree with Daniel that Allen's con- F the note of interrogation after love,
jecture left is the true reading, but all reads is't.
the old editions have lost. With the
16 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTI.
Ben. A right fair mark, fair coz, is soonest hit.
Rom. Well, in that hit you miss : she '11 not be hit
With Cupid's arrow ; she hath Dian's wit ;
And, in strong proof of chastity well arm'd,
From love's weak childish bow she lives un-
harm'd. 215
She will not stay the siege of loving terms,
Nor bide the encounter of assailing eyes,
Nor ope her lap to saint-seducing gold :
O, she is rich in beauty ; only poor
That, when she dies, with beauty dies her
store. 220
Ben. Then she hath sworn that she will still live
chaste ?
Rom. She hath, and in that sparing makes huge waste ;
For beauty, starved with her severity,
212. Well} Q, F; But Q i. 215. unharmed] Q I ; vncharmd Q, F.
217. bide] Q, bid F. 218. ope] Q, open F. 222. makes] Q 4 ; make Q, F.
211. mark] Compare Lyly, Galla- " Let those whom Nature hath not
thea, v. iii. : "But beautie is a faire made for store,
marke to hit." Harsh featureless and rude, barrenly
214. proof] armour of proof, im- perish."
penetrable armour, as in Coriolanus, If Rosaline dies wedded, beauty
I. iv. 25. indeed dies ; but if she dies single,
215. unharnfd] Collier (MS.) has beauty dies and also beauty's store.
encharmed, meaning protected by a Theobald read, "with her dies
charm, as a correction of Q, F vn- Beauty's store " ; but it is not re-
charmd. Steevens supposed that a quired. Compare also Sonnets, xiv. :
compliment to Queen Elizabeth was "Truth and beauty shall together
designed. Q I, from which tinharnfd thrive, If from thyself to store thou
is taken, reads ' Gainst Cupid's child- wouldst convert," i.e. if you would
ish bow. propagate children.
220. with . . . store] I think her 222. She . . . waste] Compare
store means beauty's store. Rosaline Sonnets, i., for the same idea : "And,
is the possessor of beauty and also of tender churl, makest waste in
beauty's store, i.e. the reserve of beauty niggarding."
(in posterity) or the propagating power 223. starved] Singer supposes
of beauty. Compare Sonnets, xi. , and sterv'd (so spelled in Q, F) to mean,
especially the lines : as it certainly may, perished, dead.
sc.i.] ROMEO AND JULIET 17
Cuts beauty off from all posterity.
She is too fair, too wise, wisely too fair, 225
To merit bliss by making me despair :
She hath forsworn to love ; and in that vow
Do I live dead, that live to tell it now.
Ben. Be ruled by me ; forget to think of her.
Rom. O, teach me how I should forget to think. 230
Ben. By giving liberty unto thine eyes :
Examine other beauties.
Rom. 'Tis the way
To call hers, exquisite, in question more.
These happy masks that kiss fair ladies' brows,
Being black, put us in mind they hide the
fair; 235
He that is strucken blind cannot forget
The precious treasure of his eyesight lost :
Show me a mistress that is passing fair,
What doth her beauty serve but as a note
Where I may read who pass'd that passing
fair ? 240
Farewell : thou canst not teach me to forget.
Ben. I '11 pay that doctrine, or else die in debt.
\Exeunt.
235- put] Q 5 ; puts Q, F.
225. wisely too fair] Johnson "To make her unparalleled beauty
accepts Hanmer's reading too wisely more the subject of thought and
fair. conversation."
233. To call . . . more'] Exquisite 234. These happy masks} not (as
in Q, F is in marks of parenthesis, has been suggested) masks worn by
The meaning seems to be, To call her ladies at the theatre, but, generally,
beauty, which is exquisite, yet more, the masks (of our day),
being challenged and put to the test. 242. pay that doctrine] deliver that
Malone, taking question to mean con- piece of instruction,
versation (as it often did), explains:
2
18 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTI.
SCENE II.— The Same. A Street.
Enter CAPULET, PARIS, and Servant.
Cap. But Montague is bound as well as I,
In penalty alike ; and 'tis not hard, I think,
For men so old as we to keep the peace.
Par. Of honourable reckoning are you both ;
And pity 'tis you lived at odds so long. 5
But now, my lord, what say you to my suit ?
Cap. But saying o'er what I have said before :
My child is yet a stranger in the world ;
She hath not seen the change of fourteen years ;
Let two more summers wither in their pride I o
Ere we may think her ripe to be a bride.
Par. Younger than she are happy mothers made.
Cap. And too soon marr'd are those so early made.
The earth hath swallow'd all my hopes but she,
She is the hopeful lady of my earth : I 5
Enter . . .] Rowe ; Enter Capulet, Countie Paris, and the Clowne Q, F.
I. But] Q ; omitted F; And Qq 4, 5. 13. made] Q, F; married Q I.
14. The earth] Qq 4, 5 ; Earth Q, F ; Earth up Ff 2-4.
9. fourteen years] In Brooke's poem verse. F 2, inserting tt/>, shows that
Juliet is older : "Scarse saw she yet the line was considered defective,
full xvi years"; in Paynter's prose 15. my earth] Three explanations
tale she is nearly eighteen. Shake- have been given — (i) A Gallicism, fille
speare's Marina, in Pericles > is four- de terre> heiress — Steevens. (2) my
teen ; his Miranda is fifteen. body, as in n. i. 2, in Sonnets \ cxlvi.
13. made] The jingle between made "Poor soul, the centre of my sinful
and marr'd occurs, as Dyce notes, in earth " ; in Beaumont and Fletcher,
II. iv. 123, 124, in Macbeth^ II. iii. 36, The Maid's 7*ragedy> v. 19, "This
and elsewhere. The jingle of Q i earth of mine doth tremble " — Mason
made and married occurs in All's and Malone, with whom I agree.
Well, II. iii. 315: "A young man (3) the hopeful lady of the world for
married is a man that's marr'd," and me — Ulrici. Cartwright conjectures
in other writers beside Shakespeare. hearth. The Elizabethan earth mean-
14. The earth] \iearth be read with \ngploughing suggests another possible
F, Q, swallowed of F, Q is perhaps explanation ; cf. Ant. and Cleop. n.
a trisyllable, but it hardly mends the ii. 233.
sc. ii.] ROMEO AND JULIET 19
But woo her, gentle Paris, get her heart,
My will to her consent is but a part ;
An she agree, within her scope of cribice
Lies my consent and fair according voice.
This night I hold an old accustom'/! feast, 20
Whereto I have invited many a' guest,
4 -'Such as I love ; and you, among the store,
4 »
One more, most welcomef makes my number more.
f At my poor house look to behold this night
I^rth^treading stars thatjaake ^^d^rkjieavenlight : 2 5
Such comfort as do lusty* young men feel
JVhen weTl-apparell'd April on the iieel
lOf limping winter treads, evert such 'delight
•• Among fr&h female buds^ shall you this night
t fnherit at my house; bear all, all see, 30
I And like her most whose ^merit most shall be :
» Whi^cii 01} more view of, many— mine being one —
^ May stand in number, though in reckoning none.
... i8.\4«] Cap^ll, find Q, F ; «9iftfP* agreed Q (alone). 29. female'}
Q i ; finnell Q, F. J 32. Which on] $q 4^ 5 ; Which one Q, F ; view of,
many} Ed. ; vipw, of 'many , Q, F ; view of many, Qq I, 4, 5.
^7. toher consent} My will is a part 26. young men} Johnson proposed
subsidiar^ to her consent, which is the yeomen, and Daniel, printing young-
chief 'thing. men from Q I, understands it as
18. A n she agree} Daniel, inserting • yeomen. Malone happily compares
a comma after And, follows Q, And, * Sonnets, xcviii. :
she agreed. %^. f"When proud-pied April dress'd in
20. old accustomed} Dyce, ' after - all his trim
Walker, hyphens these words. Hath put a spirit of youth in every-
25. make dark heaven -lighf[ Stars thing."
of earth which shall cast up* their %8. lfmping\ Daniel prints lumping,
beams to the dark heaven and illu- Qi, " as conveying a more picturesque
minate it. Warburton read dark even notion of dull, heavy, boorish winter. "
(i.e. evening) light. Mason proposed 30. Inherit} possess, as in Tempest,
heaven's light, the earthly stars out- IV. i. 154.
shine, and so eclipse, the stars of 32, 33] I venture on what I suppose
heaven. Daniel suggests mock( = rival) to be a new pointing of these lines,
dark heaven's light. No emendation but I do not alter any word of Qq 4,
is needed. 5, inserting only a comma after of,
20 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTI.
Come, go with me. — Go, sirrah, trudge about
Through fair Verona ; find those persons out 3 5
Whose names are written there, and to them say,
My house and welcome on their pleasure stay.
[Exeunt Cgfulet and Paris.
Serv. Find them out whose names are written here !
It is written that the shoemaker should meddl? •
with his yard, and tfte tailor with his last, tWe 40
fisher with his pencil, and the painter with his %
nets ; but I am sent to find those persons whoae
names are here writ, "and can never find what
names the*writing person hath here writ. L
must to the learned. In good time." 45
• •
Enter BENVOLIO and ROMEO. t ,
Ben. Tut, man, one fire burns out another's burning,
One pain is lessen'd by another's anguish ; f
Turn giddy, and be holp by backward turning ;t
One desperate grief cures with another's languish :
38, 39. written here! It} Dyce; written. Here zVQ, F. 43. here writ}
Q, writ F. • ,
and dashes to make the meaning misled into supposing an allusion here
clearer. Which for who and whom is to the old saying that "one is no
common in Shakespeare. Reckoning number." Q I has Such amongst
is used for estimation in line 4 of this view of many myne freeing one, ; Capell,
scene. The meaning I take to be : • On whiffc more view ; Mason pro-
On more view of whom (i.e. the lady posed and Dyce read, Whilst on more
of most merit), many (other ladies) — viewofmbny, ; Daniel, Such amongst,
and my daughter among thenf — may view o^r many, ; other suggestions of
stand in a count of heads, but *in less value may be found in Cambridge
estimation (reckoning, with a play on Shakespeare.
the word) none can hold a place. 46. one fire} Rolfe refers to the
The same construction of "which" proverb "fire drives out fire," and
governed by a following "view of" compares Julitis Casar, in. i. 171,
occurs in Henry VIII. iv. i. 70, 71 : and Coriolanus, iv. vii. 54. The
"which when the people Had the passage was probably suggested by
more view of, such a noise," etc. lines in Brooke's poem.
Commentators, I think, have been
SC.IL] ROMEO AND JULIET 21
Take thou some new infection to thy eye, 50
And the rank poison of the old will die.
Rom. Your plantain leaf is excellent for that.
Ben. For what, I pray thee ?
Rom. For your broken shin.
Ben. Why, Romeo, art thou mad ?
Rom. Not mad, but bound more than a madman is ; 55
Shut up in prison, kept without my food,
Whipp'd and tormented, and — Good-den, good
fellow.
Serv. God gi' good-den. I pray, sir, can you read ?
Rom. Ay, mine own fortune in my misery.
Serv. Perhaps you have learned it without book : 60
but, I pray, can you read any thing you see ?
Rom. Ay, if I know the letters and the language.
Serv. Ye say honestly ; rest you merry !
Rom. Stay, fellow ; I can read. \Reads.
Signior Martina and his wife and daughters ; 65
County Anselme and his beauteous sisters ;
The lady widow of Vitruvio ;
50. thy} Q (alone), the F. 57. Good-den] Capell ; Godden Q, F.
58. God g? good-den] Godgigoden Q, F. 65. daughters] Q, daughter F.
66. Anselme] Q (facsimile) Anselme Q (Daniel, Furness). 67. Vitruvio]
Fj; VtruuioQ I, Q, F.
52. plantain] So referred to, as a list of invited guests was in verse ;
salve for a broken shin, in Love's Dyce (ed. 2) so prints it. In line 66
Labour's Lost, in. i. 76. Romeo would Anselme ', a trisyllable, should perhaps,
turn aside Benvolio's talk of remedies as Capell conjectured, be Anselmo.
for love with a jest on the popular Q I for line 71 has My faire Neece
remedy for an ailment less hard to Rosaline and Lima. Is it an over-
cure than a broken heart ; let us refinement to suppose that Romeo
discuss broken shins, not deeper falters and delays over Rosaline's
wounds. name, and that the text as printed
57. Good-den] A corruption of above was so designed ? Fair may
"good e'en," it being now the after- be a dissyllable; but it is not so in
noon. line 74.
65~73- Capell conjectured that the
22 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTI.
Signior Placentio and his lovely nieces ;
Mercutio and his brother Valentine ;
Mine uncle Capulet, his wife and daughters ; 70
My fair niece Rosaline ; Livia ;
Signior Valentio and his cousin Tybalt ;
Lucio and the lively Helena.
A fair assembly ; whither should they come ?
Serv. Up — 75
Rom. Whither? to supper?
Serv. To our house.
Rom. Whose house?
Serv. My master's.
Rom. Indeed, I should have asked you that before. 80
Serv. Now I '11 tell you without asking. My master
is the great rich Capulet ; and if you be not
of the house of Montagues, I pray, come
and crush a cup of wine. Rest you merry !
[Exit.
Ben. At this same ancient feast of Capulet's 8 5
Sups the fair Rosaline, whom thou so lovest,
With all the admired beauties of Verona :
Go thither ; and with unattainted eye
75. Up— ] Keightley, Up. Q, F. 76. Whither? to supper?} F, Q 5 ;
''hither to
loves Q I, Q,
Whither to supper? Q. 84. Exit] F, omitted Q. 86. lovest} F 2;
75-77] I believe that Romeo eagerly So Greene, Works (Grosart), xi. 43,
interrupts the Servant, who would "crush a potte of ale."
have said " Up to our house." It is 86. lovest} The loves of Q, F is not
afternoon, and Romeo guesses that out of accord with Shakespeare's
the invitations are for supper. Many usage.
editors, following Warburton and 88. unattainted} So 1 Henry VI.
Theobald, assign the words to supper v. v. 81 : " My tender youth was
to the Servant, line 77. never yet attaint With any passion
84. crush . . . wine} drink, quaff, of inflaming love. "
SC.H.] ROMEO AND JULIET 23
Compare her face with some that I shall show,
And I will make thee think thy swan a crow. 90
Rom. When the devout religion of mine eye
Maintains such falsehood, then turn tears to fires !
And these, who often drown'd could never die,
Transparent heretics, be burnt for liars !
One fairer than my love ! the all-seeing sun 95
Ne'er saw her match since first the world
\, * r •
begun.
Ben. Tut, you saw her fair, none else being by,
Herself poised with herself in either eye ; \
£ But in that crystal scales let there be weigh'd
\ ' Your lady's love against some other maid I oo
That I will show you shining at this feast,
And she shall scant show well that now seems
best.
Rom. I '11 go along, no such sight to be shown,
But to rejoice in splendour of mine own. \Exeunt.
92. fires'] Pope ; fire Q I, Q, F. 97. Tuf\ F, Q ; Tut Tut F 2.
102. seems] Q i, Q ; shows Qq 3-5, Ff.
92. fires} White accepts^/frr, Q, F, of lady-love, Dyce produced one from
and observes truly, "The difference Wilson's Cobler's Prophesie, 1594.
of a final s seems not to have been Keightley reads lady and love. Clarke
regarded in rhyme in Shakespeare's ingeniously suggests that "your lady's
day." love" means the little love Rosaline
95. sti)i\ Perhaps Massinger's bears you ; let this be weighed against
"shade Of barren sicamores which the charms of some other maid. Q I
the all-seeing sun Could not pierce agrees with Q, F in "lady's love."
through" (Great Duke of Florence, See White's remark on fires, line 92.
IV. ii. ) is an echo from Romeo and Might we read maid"s at the end of
Juliet. See I. 125. this line?
99. that crystal scales'] Rowe read 102. seems"] Perhaps shows is right ;
those, and is followed by many editors, but Q I supports Q in reading seems ;
Dyce: "Used here as a singular shows might easily be repeated here
noun." by the printer; seems, in two inde-
100. lady's love] Theobald read lady- pendent texts, is unlikely to be a
love, which Dyce follows. Challenged printer's error.
to produce an Elizabethan example
24 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACT i.
SCENE III. — The Same. A Room in Capulets
House.
Enter Lady CAPULET and Nurse.
Lady Cap. Nurse, where 's my daughter ? call her forth
to me.
Nurse. Now, by my maidenhead at twelve year old,
I bade her come. — What, lamb ! what, lady-bird ! —
God forbid !— Where 's this girl ? — What, Juliet !
Enter JULIET.
Jul. How now ! who calls ?
Nurse. Your mother.
Jul. Madam, I am here. 5
What is your will ?
Lady Cap. This is the matter. — Nurse, give leave awhile,
We must talk in secret : — nurse, come back again ;
I have remember'd me, thou 's hear our counsel.
Thou know'st my daughter 's of a pretty age. I o
Nurse. Faith, I can tell her age unto an hour.
Lady Cap. She's not fourteen.
Nurse. I '11 lay fourteen of my teeth, —
2-4.] In Q, F prose ; as verse, Johnson and many later editors. 5' 6.]
Capell's arrangement ; three lines ending calls, mother, will Q, F. 7~10-]
as verse Capell; prose Q, F. 12-15. ^V/ . . . Lammas-tide] Steevens'
arrangement.
4. God forbid] Staunton fancied Dyce is probably right in rejecting
that having used lady-bird as a term the notion; he explains: "God
of endearment, the Nurse recollected forbid that any accident should keep
that it was a cant term for a woman her away. "
of loose life. A quotation from 9. thou's} Pope and other editors
Fletcher's Poems, given in Halliwell's substitute thou shalt. The abbrevia-
Dict. of Archaic and Prov. Words, tion 'se for shall occurs again in Lear,
illustrates the evil sense of the word. iv. vi. 246.
SC.IIL] ROMEO AND JULIET
25
And yet, to my teen be it spoken, I have but four, —
She is not fourteen. How long is it now
To Lammas-tide?
Lady Cap. A fortnight and odd days. I 5
Nurse. Even or odd, of all days in the year,
Come Lammas-eve at night shall she be fourteen.
Susan and she — God rest all Christian souls ! —
Were of an age : well, Susan is with God ;
She was too good for me : — but, as I said, 20
On Lammas-eve at night shall she be fourteen ;
That shall she, marry ; I remember it well.
'Tis since the earthquake now eleven years ;
And she was wean'd — I never shall forget it —
Of all the days of the year, upon that day : 2 5
For I had then laid wormwood to my dug,
Sitting in the sun under the dove-house wall ;
My lord and you were then at Mantua : —
Nay, I do bear a brain : — but, as I said,
14. She is] Steevens, shees Q, sheds F. 16-48 Even . . . "Ay"]
Capell ; prose Q, F.
13. teen] sorrow, as in Tempest ', I.
ii. 64. Ff 2-4 here read teeth, which
spoils the play on fourteen.
15. Lammas-tide] The first of
August, loaf-mass or wheat-harvest.
Lady Capulet's reply fixes the dram-
atic season of the year.
23. the earthquake] Tyrwhitt con-
jectured a reference here to the earth-
quake felt in England, April 6, 1580,
and he inferred that the play, or this
part of it, was written in 1591.
Malone pointed out that if we suppose
that Juliet was weaned at a year old,
she would be only twelve ; but she
is just fourteen. An earthquake
happened at Verona 1348 (Knight),
and at Verona 1570 (Hunter); an
account of the Italian earthquakes
of 1570 was printed in London
(Staunton). "In the whole speech
of the Nurse there are such discrep-
ancies as render it impossible to arrive
at any definite conclusion " (Collier).
See Introduction.
26. wormwood] Halliwell quotes
from Cawdray's Treasttrie (1600) an
allusion to mothers putting " worme-
wood or mustard" on the breast at
weaning time.
29. bear a brain] have a headpiece,
have sound memory. The earliest
example in New Eng. Diet, is from
Skelton's Magnificence, 1526, the
latest from Scott's Marmion.
26 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTI.
When it did taste the wormwood on the nipple 30
Of my dug, and felt it bitter, pretty fool,
To see it tetchy and fall out with the dug !
" Shake," quoth the dove-house : 'twas no need, I
trow,
To bid me trudge.
And since that time it is eleven years ; 35
For then she could stand high-lone; nay, by the
rood,
She could have run and waddled all about ;
For even the day before, she broke her brow :
And then my husband — God be with his soul !
A' was a merry man — took up the child : 40
I' Yea," quoth he, " dost thou fall upon thy face ?
Thou wilt fall backward when thou hast more wit ;
Wilt thou not, Jule ? " and, by my holidame,
The pretty wretch left crying, and said " Ay."
To see now how a jest shall come about ! 45
I warrant, an I should live a thousand years,
36. high-lone] Q I, hylone Q, a lone Q 3, alone The rest. 43. holidame}
Dyce (ed. i), holy dam Q, holy -dam F. 46. an] Pope, and Q, F; should]
Q I, Q, shall Y.
33. quoth] Daniel suggested as early examples are of infants, which
possible grfth or goeth ; he withdraws leads me to conjecture that it was a
the suggestion. He compares favourite nursery word, as nurses
"Bounce quoth the guns," Peele, nowadays encourage a child to stand
Old Wives' Tale (Dyce's Greene and loney-protidy. It occurs, however,
Peele, p. 454) ; also in Heywood's with no reference to children in
Fair Maid of the West (Pearson's CalfhilPs Answere to the Treatise of
reprint, ii. 315): " Rouse quoth the the Craw*? (1565), p. 274, Parker Soc.,
ship," Chettle, Hoffman, i. ii. and in Rowley's A Shoemaker a
36. high-lone] New Eng. Diet. : Gentleman (1638).
"An alteration of alone , of obscure 43. holidame'} A different form of
origin. High probably expresses hahdom (which Dyce ed. 2 reads)
degree or intensity " ; examples induced by the popular error that
follow from Marston and Middleton. halidom (sanctity) was = Holy Dame,
A late example (i 760), G. Washington, " our Lady."
Diary (MS.), is used of mares. Some
sc.m.] ROMEO AND JULIET 27
I never should forget it : " Wilt thou not, Jule ? "
quoth he ;
And, pretty fool, it stinted and said " Ay."
Lady Cap. Enough of this ; I pray thee, hold thy peace.
Nurse. Yes, madam: yet I cannot choose but laugh, 50
To think it should leave crying, and say " Ay " :
And yet, I warrant, it had upon it brow
A bump as big as a young cockerel's stone ;
A perilous knock ; and it cried bitterly :
" Yea," quoth my husband, " fall'st upon thy
face ? 55
Thou wilt fall backward when thou comest to age ;
Wilt thou not, Jule ? " it stinted and said " Ay."
Jul. And stint thou too, I pray thee, nurse, say I.
Nurse. Peace, I have done. God mark thee to his
grace !
Thou wast the prettiest babe that e'er I
nursed : 60
An I might live to see thee married once,
I have my wish.
Lady Cap. Marry, that " marry " is the very theme
I come to talk of. Tell me, daughter Juliet,
How stands your disposition to be married? 65
47. Jule\ Q, lulet F. 50-57. Yes . . . "Ay"] verse Capell, prose F.
59-62. Peace . . . wis/i] verse Pope ; prose Q, F. 61. ^w]Pope;^^Q,
F. 65. disposition] F, dispositions Q.
48. stinted} ceased to weep, many editors to parlous. But need
Steevens quotes North, Plutarch (of we be more Elizabethan than Eliza-
Antony's wound), " the blood stinted bethan printers ?
a little." 57. "Ay"] pronounced, and com-
52. it\ its ; it is a form of the word monly spelt in Shakespeare's time,
more common in the Folio than it 's. I ; to which Juliet's say I is a retort.
Ff 3, 4 here alter the word to its, 63. Marry, that "marry"] Pope
and so many editors. reads, from Q I, "And that same
54. perilous'} altered by Capell and marriage."
28 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTI.
Jul. It is an honour that I dream not of.
Nurse. An honour ! were not I thine only nurse,
I would say thou hadst suck'd wisdom from thy
teat.
Lady Cap. Well, think of marriage now ; younger than
you,
Here in Verona, ladies of esteem, 70
Are made already mothers. By my count,
I was your mother much upon these years
That you are now a maid. Thus then in brief;
The valiant Paris seeks you for his love.
Nurse. A man, young lady ! lady, such a man 7 5
As all the world — why, he 's a man of wax.
Lady Cap. Verona's summer hath not such a flower.
Nurse. Nay, he 's a flower ; in faith, a very flower.
Lady Cap. What say you ? can you love the gentleman ?
66, 67. honour] Q I ; houre Q, F. 67, 68.] verse Pope ; prose Q, F.
68. wisdom] Q, F; thy wisdome Qq 4, 5. 71. mothers. By\ F, mothers
ty Q' 75, 76.] verse Pope; prose Q, F. 76. world—'} F 4; world. Q, F.
68. / would} many editors follow It could not better be proper-
Pope in the contraction I'd. tioned."
72. these years'} Juliet being four- Field, in A Woman is a Weathercock^
teen, Lady Capulet is "much upon" has, "By Jove, it is a little man of
twenty-eight. Staunton observes that wax." Ingleby's notion that it means
her husband, old Capulet, having done a man of full growth does not deserve
masking some thirty years (i. v. 37), consideration, and finds no support
must be at least threescore. Knight from 2 Henry IV. I. ii. 180, where
changes your mother to a mother. Falstaff plays on wax of a candle and
76. a man of wax] a man for beauty wax to grow in size,
like a model in wax ; see ill. iii. 126. 79. What say you?] This bravura
Steevens quotes from Wily Beguiled : speech of ingenious conceits is sup-
' ' A man as one should picture him in posed by Ulrici to have a deep dramatic
wax"; White, from Euphues and his design — to exhibit Lady Capulet as
England-. "So exquisite that for shape an artificial woman of the world in
he must be framed in wax." Dyce, her euphuistic speech. It probably
from Fair Em : means no more than that the writer
" A body, were it framed of wax was immature and liked such conceits,
By all the cunning artists of the as seen in Lucrece, quoted line 86,
world, note.
sc.m.] ROMEO AND JULIET
29
This night you shall behold him at our feast : 80
Read o'er the volume of young Paris' face,
And find delight writ there with beauty's pen ;
Examine every married lineament,
And see how one another lends content ;
And what obscured in this fair volume lies 85
Find written in the margent of his eyes.
This precious book of love, this unbound lover,
To beautify him, only lacks a cover :
The fish lives in the sea ; and 'tis much pride
For fair without the fair within to hide : 90
That book in many's eyes doth share the glory,
83. married] Q (alone), severall F.
Q (alone).
83. married} The word as used here
for mutually dependent is illustrated
by the " well-tuned sounds By unions
married " of Sonnets, viii. ; but several
has the authority of all texts except Q.
84. content} Perhaps with a play on
contents of a volume, though else-
where in Shakespeare only the plural
contents is used for what is contained.
85. obscured} Allen suggests obscure.
86. m argent] Obscurities were often
explained in old books in the margin.
Compare Hamlet, v. ii. 162. Malone
quotes a close parallel : Lucrece, 99-
102:
" But she, that never coped with
stranger eyes,
Could pick no meaning from their
parling looks,
Nor read the subtle-shining sec-
recies
Writ in the glassy margents of
such books."
So Dekker, Honest Whore (Pearson's
Dekker, ii. p. 136) : "I read Strange
comments in those margines of your
lookes."
87. unbound] unattached (of a lover) ;
without binding (of a book).
90. fair within] F, fdiret within
88. cover} Mason suggests a play
onfemme couverte, a married woman.
That which binds a lover is a wife,
and as the lover here is an unbound
book, a wife corresponds to the binding
or cover of the book. The present
passage is the earliest cited in New
Eng. Diet, for cover of a book.
89. The fish} Farmer supposed there
was an allusion here to fish -skin used
for binding books, afar-fetched notion.
Lady Capulet, I think, interrupts her
metaphor of a book to say Lovers are
at large, like fishes in the sea, but ready
to be hooked. For the metaphor of
lover as a fish, see Chorus preceding
Act n. 8, Much Ado, n. iii. 114,
and in. i. 26-29, 4*tt. and Cleop.
II. v. 10-15. Tms parenthetical
metaphor occurs after the description
of Paris ; then the main metaphor pro-
ceeds, in a second part, with Juliet
(the book-cover) for its theme. Mason
proposes shell for sea, the purport
of what follows being, he thinks,
to show the advantage of having a
handsome person to cover a virtuous
mind.
30 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTI.
That in gold clasps locks in the golden story :
So shall you share all that he doth possess,
By having him making yourself no less.
Nurse. No less! nay, bigger: women grow by men. 95
Lady Cap. Speak briefly, can you like of Paris'
love?
JuL I '11 look to like, if looking liking move ;
But no more deep will I endart mine eye
Than your consent gives strength to make it fly.
Enter a Servant.
Serv. Madam, the guests are come, supper served 100
up, you called, my young lady asked for, the
nurse cursed in the pantry, and every thing in
extremity. I must hence to wait ; I beseech
you, follow straight.
Lady Cap. We follow thee. {Exit Serv.] — Juliet, 105
the County stays.
Nurse. Go, girl, seek happy nights to happy days.
[Exeunt.
95 • bigger: women} F, bigger women Q. 99. if] omitted Q, F, Q 3;
present in the rest.
92. clasps] Paris's bride is still the to lovers handfasted by "that^V&fatf
binding ; there is a play on clasps ; claspe of the spirite. "
the golden clasps (embraces) of a bride 98. endarf] Pope, from Q I, reads
shutting in the golden story of love, ingage, which meant entangle.
In Othello, I. i. 127, we have "the 106. County} Count, probably an
gross clasps of a lascivious Moor." adoption of Italian conte with retention
T. Bright, Treatise of Melancholy, of the final syllable. So All 's Well,
1586, p. 36, compares soul and body in, vii. 22, " a ring the county wears."
SC. IV.]
ROMEO AND JULIET
SCENE IV.— The Same. A Street.
Enter ROMEO, MERCUTIO, BENVOLIO, with five or six
other Maskers^ Torch-bearers •, and Others.
Rom. What, shall this speech be spoke for our excuse,
Or shall we on without apology ?
Ben. The date is out of such prolixity :
We '11 have no Cupid hoodwink'd with a scarf,
Bearing a Tartar's painted bow of lath, 5
Scaring the ladies like a crow-keeper;
Nor no without-book prologue, faintly spoke
After the prompter, for our entrance :
But, let them measure us by what they will,
We'll measure them a measure, and be gone. 10
7, 8. Nor . . . entrance] Q i ; omitted Q, F.
I. this speech] Furness suggests the
speech. Capell conjectures that Ben-
volio and Mercutio are the speakers,
assigning conjecturally I, 2 to Ben.,
3-10 to Mer., and 13 to Ben.
3. prolixity] Benvolio says that the
apology of masqueraders for their
entrance is out of date. Moth's apolo-
getic or explanatory speech, intro-
ducing the maskers in Love's Labottrs
Lost, v. ii. 158, is an example. See
also Cupid's speech in Timon, I. ii.
128, and the Chamberlain's speech in
Henry VIII. I. iv. 65. "In Histrio-
mastix a man wonders that the
maskers come in so blunt, without
device" (Steevens).
4. hoodwink'd . . . scarf] So
" hood- winked in this scarf," Jonson,
Silent Woman, iv. ii.
5. bow] Douce: "The Tartarian
bows . . . resembled in their form
the old Roman or Cupid's bow, such
as we see on medals and bas-reliefs.
Shakespeare uses the epithet to dis-
tinguish it from the English bow,
whose shape is the segment of a
circle."
6. crow-keeper] a boy employed to
scare crows ; also a scare-crow. So
Lear, iv. vi. 88: "That fellow
handles his bow like a crow-keeper."
Steevens quotes Drayton, Idea, 48 :
" And when corn 's sown, or grown
into the ear,
Practise thy quiver like a crow-
keeper."
7. 8.] White conjectures that these
lines, found only in Q I, were omitted
on account of their disparagement of
prologue speakers on the stage.
8. entrance] a trisyllable here, as
in Macbeth, I. v. 40. Hanmer in
place of for read 'fore.
10. a measure] a grave and dignified
dance. Compare Much Ado, n. i.
80 : "the wedding mannerly-modest,
as a measure full of state and an-
cientry." The play on the word
occurs in Richard II. ill. iv. 7.
32 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTI.
Rom. Give me a torch : I am not for this ambling ;
Being but heavy, I will bear the light.
Mer. Nay, gentle Romeo, we must have you dance.
Rom. Not I, believe me : you have dancing shoes
With nimble soles ; I have a soul of lead i 5
So stakes me to the ground I cannot move.
Mer. You are a lover ; borrow Cupid's wings,
And soar with them above a common bound.
Rom. I am too sore enpierced with his shaft
To soar with his light feathers ; and so bound, 20
I cannot bound a pitch above dull woe :
Under love's heavy burden do I sink.
Mer. And, to sink in it, should you burden love ;
Too great oppression for a tender thing.
Rom. Is love a tender thing ? it is too rough, 2 5
Too rude, too boisterous ; and it pricks like thorn.
Mer. If love be rough with you, be rough with love ;
Prick love for pricking, and you beat love down.
Give me a case to put my visage in :
20. so bound,} Q, to bound: F. 23. Mer.] Qq 4, 5 ; Horatio Q ; Hora. F.
ii. torch] Masquers and masquer- Shakespeare by quoting Milton, Par.
aders were accompanied by their Lost, iv. 181 : "At one slight bound
torch-bearers. Westward Hoe (Pear- high over-leap'd all bound."
son's Dekker, ii. p. 292): "He is 23. burden love] Compare II. v. 79,
just like a torch-bearer to maskers, and line 94 of the present scene,
he wears good cloathes, and is rankt 29. visage in :} Theobald read in ?
in good company, but he doth and added the stage direction ' ' Put-
nothing. " ting offhis mask. " Johnson, also read-
1 5. soul] The play on the word was ing in ?, added ' ' Putting on his mask. "
irresistible. Compare Julius Casar, Capell, rightly, I think, reading in.,
I. i. 15. added ' ' taking one from an Att. , " and,
19. enpierced} A variation in spell- rightly, after visor! line 30, added
ing of empierced, or impierced, to "throwing it away." Mercutio, an
which the word was altered in the invited guest, goes, I think, unmasked,
later Ff. New Eng. Diet, gives no Perhaps, as Professor Littledale sug-
example of enpierced except that of gests, we should read "visage in!"
the text. — Mercutio at once rejecting the
21. bound} Steevens apologises for mask.
sc.iv.] ROMEO AND JULIET
33
A visor for a visor ! what care I 30
What curious eye doth quote deformities ?
Here are the beetle-brows shall blush for me.
Ben. Come, knock and enter; and no sooner in
But every man betake him to his legs.
Rom. A torch for me : let wantons, light of heart, 3 5
Tickle the senseless rushes with their heels ;
For I am proverb'd with a grandsire phrase ;
I '11 be a candle-holder, and look on.
The game was ne'er so fair, and I am done.
Mer. Tut, , dun 's the mouse, the constable's own
word : 40
39. done] Q I, F ; dum Q ; dun Qq 3-5. 40. own] Q, F ; old Q I.
30. A visor for a visor!] My face,
fantastic as a mask, needs no visor.
Compare Rosaline to Berowne, Love's
Labour's Lost ,v.ii. 387: "That vizard;
that superfluoiis case That hid the
worse and show'd the better face."
31. quote] observe, as in Hamlet, II.
i. 112.
32. beetle-broTvs] overhanging brows;
apparently not eye-brows, for eye-brows
could not blush. New Eng. Diet.
says that brows in Middle English
always means eye-brows ; beetle-browed
is as old as Langland, Piers Plough-
man^ 1362. The origin favoured by
New Eng. Diet, is a comparison
with the tufted antennae of certain
kinds of beetles. Shakespeare seems
to have invented the verb beetle used
in Hamlet, I. iv. 71 : " The cliff that
beetles o'er his base," that is, a cliff
like an overhanging forehead. Cot-
grave, however (1611), has "Beetle-
browed, sourcilleux" and he explains
sourcilleux as ' ' having very great
eye -brows."
35, 36.] Steevens notes Middleton's
echo of these lines in Blurt Master-
Constable^ 1602 :
' ' — bid him, whose heart no sorrow
feels,
Tickle the rushes with his wanton
heels,
I have too much lead at mine."
36. rushes] Steevens notes that not
only were rooms strewn with rushes,
but the stage was also so strewn.
Dekker's GitF s Hornbook, 1609: "On
the very rushes when the comedy is
to daunce."
37. grandsire phrase] Ray gives a
proverb, "A good candle-holder^rovQ?,
a good gamester." Ritson (see line
39) refers to the proverbial saying
which advises to give over when the
game is at the fairest. / am done in
line 39 seems to mean I give over the
game.
40. dun 's the mouse] This phrase
occurs in several Elizabethan dramas,
sometimes with quibbles on done.
Malone took it to mean Peace ; be still !
and hence he supposed it is the con-
stable's word. He cites Patient
Grissel (1603), "don is the mouse, lie
still. " Mascal in Government of Cattle
(1620) has "mouse -dun coloured
hair."
34
ROMEO AND JULIET
[ACT I.
If thou art Dun, we'll draw thee from the mire,
Or, save your reverence, love, wherein thou stick'st
Up to the ears. Come, we burn daylight, ho !
Rom. Nay, that Js not so.
Mer. I mean, sir, in delay
We waste our lights in vain, light lights by
day. 45
Take our good meaning, for our judgment sits
Five times in that ere once in our five wits.
Rom. And we mean well in going to this mask ;
But 'tis no wit to go.
Mer. Why, may one ask ?
41. mire} Q, mire. F. 42. Or . . . love] Y 4, Or save you reverence
love Qq, Or save your reverence love Ff 1-3, Of this surreverence love Q I.
44. sir, in delay} sir in delay Q ; sir in delay, Qq 4, 5 ; sir I delay, F. 45.
We . . . day~\ Nicholson, We burne our lights by night, like lampes by day
Q i, We -waste our lights in vaine, lights lights by day Qq, and (with commas)
lights, lights, Ff. 47. Jive'} Malone (Wilbraham conj.);y£«£ Q, F.
41 . Dun\ Here Dun is a dun horse.
Dun is in the mire, spoken of by
Chaucer, Canterbury Tales, Manciple's
Prologue, and still played by William
Gifford when a boy, is an old Christ-
inas game, in which a heavy log (the
horse Dun) is brought into the room,
is supposed to stick in the mire, and is
extricated by the players. References
are not infrequent in Elizabethan plays.
42. Or, save your reverence, love}
Many editors prefer, from Q I, Of
this sir-reverence love, where sir-
reverence is used, as indicated in
Comedy of Errors, in. ii. 93, in the
same apologetic way as save your
reverence. I see no good reason for
departing from F.
43. burn daylight} burn candles by
day, also waste or consume the day-
light. Compare Merry Wives, 11. i.
54. See The Spanish Tragedy in
Hazlitt's Dodsley's Old Plays, v. p.
115 (and note).
45. We . . . day} This reading,
proposed by Nicholson, is printed by
Daniel ; it only rejects one letter, s,
from Q, F. Johnson reads like lights
by day. Capell's reading, We waste
our lights in vain, like lamps by day,
is commonly accepted, but it seems
undesirable to make up a new line
from halves of Q, F and Q i.
46. sits} Rowe and others readyfor ;
Collier ( MS. } hits.
47. Jive wits'} In Sonnets, cxli. 9,
Shakespeare speaks of the five wits as
different from the five senses ; it is
certain, however, that Jive wits was
used for five senses. In Stephen
Hawes' poem Graunde Amour and La
Belle Pucelle, xxiv. (ed. 1554), the
five wits are common wit, imagina-
tion, fantasy, estimation [judgment],
and memory (Dyce). Malone cites,
from the old copies of Shakespeare's
plays, other examples of the erratum
fine for Jive, and vice versa. Q i has
Three times a day, ere once in her
right wits.
sc. iv.] ROMEO AND JULIET
35
Rom. I dreamt a dream to-night.
Mer. And so did I. 50
Rom. Well, what was yours ?
Mer. That dreamers often lie.
Rom. In bed asleep, while they do dream things
true.
Mer. O, then I see Queen Mab hath been with you.
She is the fairies' midwife, and she comes
In shape no bigger than an agate-stone 55
On the forefinger of an alderman,
Drawn with a team of little atomies
Athwart men's noses as they lie asleep :
54-91. She . . . bodes;} verse Q I, Pope; prose Q, F. 55. an} Q,
omitted F, in Daniel conjee. 58. Athwart} Q I ; over Q, F.
50. to-night} last night, as fre-
quently in Shakespeare. See
Schmidt's Lexicon.
53. O, . . . you} After this line
Q I has "Ben. Queene Mab whats
she ? " a speech probably meant as a
pretext for Mercutio's long descrip-
tion ; but Q I continues to Benvolio
the speech of Mercutio.
53. QueenMab} Thorn ("Three Note-
lets on Sh.") states that no earlier men-
tion of Mab than the above is known ;
that no doubt Shakespeare got the name
from folk-lore of his own time ; that
Mab in Welsh means an infant ; and
that Beaufort, in his Ancient Topo-
graphy of Ireland, mentions Mabh
as the chief of the Irish fairies.
Drayton, with Shakespeare's descrip-
tion before him, writes, in his
happiest manner, of Queen Mab in
Nymphidia the Court of Fayrie.
Attempts have been made to identify
Queen Mab with Dame Abunde or
Habunde ; and again with the Irish
Queen Maeve. Sir H. Ellis says that
in Warwickshire "Mab-led" (pro-
nounced Mob-led) signifies led astray
by a Will-o'-the- Wisp (Brand, Popular
Antiquities, iii. p. 218, ed. 1841).
54. fairies' midwife} Warburton
conjectured and Theobald read
Fancy's midwife. Warton conjec-
tured fairy midwife. Steevens ex-
plains : the person among the fairies
who delivers the fancies of dreamers,
— the " children of an idle brain " (line
97). T. Warton suggests that Mab
is a midwife because she steals infants
(leaving changelings) for the fairies.
55. shape} Nicholson suggests stale >
meaning dignity, pomp. See line 7°-
55. agate-stone} That is, the diminu-
tive figures cut in agate and set in
rings. So 2 Henry IV. I. ii. 19.
(Falstaff of his little Page) : " I was
never manned with an. agate till now."
Glapthorne, in Wit is a Constable,
1639, speaks of an alderman's thumb-
ring. Q i reads, for alderman,
burgomaster.
57. atomies} tiny beings, pigmies.
New Eng. Diet, quotes P. Wood-
house, Flea, 1605, "If with this atomye
I should contend." Q I has Altomi,
Q 2 ottamie, the rest as in the text.
36 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTI.
Her waggon-spokes made of long spinners' legs ;
The cover, of the wings of grasshoppers ; 60
Her traces, of the smallest spider's web ;
Her collars, of the moonshine's watery beams ;
Her whip, of cricket's bone ; the lash, of film ;
Her waggoner, a small grey-coated gnat,
Not half so big as a round little worm 65
jPrkkjdJrp.pi.Jbhe lazy finger of a maid : ^t-o**^
Her chariot is an empty hazel-nut,. -
Made by the joiner squirrel or old grub,
Time out o' mind the fairies' coach-makers.
And in this state she gallops night by night 70
Through lovers' brains, and then they dream of love ;
O'er courtiers' knees, that dream on court'sies
straight ;
O'er lawyers' fingers, who straight dream on fees ;
O'er ladies' lips, who straight on kisses dream,
Which oft the angry Mab with blisters plagues, 75
Because their breaths with sweetmeats tainted are :
59. made of long] Q, F ; are made of Q i. 61. Her] Q, F; The Q i ;
spiders] F, spider Q. 62. Her] Q, F; The Q i. 66. Prick 'd] Q, F;
Pickt Q i ; maid] Q i ; man Q, F ; woman Ff 2-4. 72. O'er] Q i (O're) ;
On Q, F. 73. dream] Q, dreamt F. 76. breaths] Rowe ; breathes Q I ;
breath Q, F.
59. spinners'] spiders'. Latimer (in 67. Her chariot] Daniel places lines
Fox's A cts and Monuments} : "Where 67-69 after line 58, as suggested by
the bee gathereth honey, even there Lettsom ; the description of the
the spinner gathereth venome. " chariot preceding that of its parts.
65. aww] Halliwell (Diet.) quotes These lines, not found in Q I, may
Beaumont and Fletcher, Woman- have been added — Lettsom thinks —
Hater ill. i. : "Keep thy hands in in the margin of the "copy" of Q 2,
thy muff, and warm the idle worms in and have been misplaced by the
thy fingers' ends." Worms were said printer. Drayton, in Nymphidia,
to breed in idle fingers. Banister in describes Mab's chariot, with evident
his Compendious Chirurgerie (1585) reminiscences of this speech,
describes women "sitting in the sun" 76. sweetmeats] Malone : "kissing
pricking what "we commonly call comfits," mentioned in Merry Wives ,
wormes " from their fingers. v. v. 22.
so. iv.] ROMEO AND JULIET 37
Sometime she gallops o'er a courtier's nose,
And then dreams he of smelling out a suit ;
And sometime comes she with a tithe-pig's tail
Tickling a parson's nose as a' lies asleep, 80
Then dreams he of another benefice ',
Sometime she driveth o'er a soldier's neck,
And then dreams he of cutting foreign throats,
Of breaches, ambuscadoes, Spanish blades,
Of healths five fathom deep; and then anon 85
Drums in his ear, at which he starts and wakes,
And, being thus frighted, swears a prayer or two,
And sleeps again. This is that very Mab
That plats the manes of horses in the night,
And bakes the elf-locks in foul sluttish hairs, 90
Which once untangled much misfortune bodes ;
This is the hag, when maids lie on their backs,
That presses them and learns them first to bear,
Making them women of good carriage ;
77. courtier's nose] Q, F ; Lawers (lawyer's) lap Q I. 80. as a'] Q, F ;
that Q i. 81. dreams A*] Q I; he dreams Q, F. 86. ear] Q i, Q ; eares
F. 91. imtangled] Q, F; entangled ¥$.
77. courtier's] The courtier has been fathom deep. The knight has drunk
already mentioned ; hence Pope read so much health to the gentleman
lawyer's from Q i, but lawyers have yonder, etc."
also been mentioned. Seymour con- 89. plats the manes'] Douce tells of
jectured lawyer's lip (Q i lap) ; a superstition that malignant spirits,
Collier (MS.) reads counsellor's. In clothed in white, haunted stables and
the next line suit would be proper to dropped the wax of tapers on horses'
courtier — a court request, or in a legal manes. He refers in illustration to a
sense to a lawyer. The word suit print by Hans Burgkmair.
(of clothes) suggested Jaylor's to 90. bakes the elf-locks'} Pope and
Theobald. others read cakes ; Collier (MS. )«ftfe«.
84. Spanish blades'} toledoes. Q Elf-locks, hair matted by the elves.
I reads countermines. Compare Lear, n. iii. 10 : "elf all
85. healths'} tickling his neck makes my hair in knots." Q, F misprint:
him dream of drinking. Malone Elklocks.
quotes from Westward Hoe, 1607: 92. backs] So Drayton, in Nym-
" My master and Sir Goslin are phidia, of Queen Mab.
guzzling ; they are dabbling together 94. women of good carriage} So
38 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTI.
This is she —
Rom. Peace, peace, Mercutio, peace! 95
Thou talk'st of nothing.
Mer. True, I talk of dreams,
Which are the children of an idle brain,
Begot of nothing but vain fantasy,
Which is as thin of substance as the air,
And more inconstant than the wind, who wooes I oo
Even now the frozen bosom of the north,
And, being anger'd, puffs away from thence,
Turning his face to the dew-dropping south.
Ben. This wind you talk of blows us from ourselves ;
Supper is done, and we shall come too late. 105
Rom. I fear, too early : for my mind misgives
Some consequence^yet hanging in the stars^
Shall bitterly begin his fearful date
With this night's revels, and expire the term
Of a despised life closed in my breast 1 1 o
By some vile forfeit of untimely death :
But He, that hath the steerage of my course,
Direct my sail ! On, lusty gentlemen.
Ben. Strike, drum. \Exeunt.
95. she—] Ff 2-4; she. Q, F. 103. face] Q I ; side Q, F; tide Collier (MS. ).
113. Direct] Q, F, Directs Q I ; sail] Q I, sute Q, F.
How a man may choose a good wife Lucrece, 935 : " endless date of never-
fromabad; Hazlitt's Dodsley's Old ending woes."
Plays ) ix. p. 37: "You have been 109. expire the term] cause the term
often tried To be a woman of good to expire, as in Lyly, E^lph^les (Arber,
carriage" — spoken with an equi- p. 77): "To swill the drinke that
voque. will expyre thy date."
103. face] The side of Q, F may be 113. sail} If sute Q, F is not a
right, used, as elsewhere in Shake- misprint, it may be explained as
speare, of bed - fellows, and thus courtship ; the emendation fate has
carrying on the metaphor of wooing been proposed.
the bosom. 114. Exeunt] The stage-direction
•*jo8. date] season, period; as in F seems to show that the action
sc. v.] ROMEO AND JULIET 39
SCENE V. — The Same. A Hall in Capulefs House.
Musicians waiting. Enter Servingmen with napkins.
First Serv. Where 's Potpan, that he helps not to
take away ? He shift a trencher ! he scrape
a trencher !
Second Serv. When good manners shall lie all in
one or two men's hands, and they unwashed 5
too, 'tis a foul thing.
First Serv. Away with the joint-stools, remove the
court-cupboard, look to the plate. Good
thou, save me a piece of marchpane; and,
as thou lovest me, let the porter let in 10
Susan Grindstone and Nell. — Antony ! and
Potpan !
Third Serv. Ay, boy, ready.
First Serv. You are looked for and called for,
I, 7, 14. First Serv.] Ser. Q, F. In line 4 Sec. Serv. is marked I Q, F; line 13
is marked 2 Q, F. In line 17 Fourth Serv. is 3 Qq I, Ff. 4. all} Q, omitted
F. 10. lovest} F, loves Q. 1 1. Nell.'} Theobald ; Nell, Q, F.
proceeded without interruption : 7- joint-stools} a stool made with
"They march about the Stage, jointed parts. The three-legged
and Servingmen come forth with stool is so named in Cowper's The
their napkins." So Qq, omitting Task (opening of B. i. ).
their and adding Enter Romeo. 8. court-cupboard} a sideboard or
cabinet, used to display plate. So
*»•»* Chapman, Mons. D> Olive: "Here
1. First Serv.] I distribute the shall stand my court cupboard with
speeches as I think is intended in Q. its furniture of plate."
I suppose Third Serv., to be the 9. marchpane'} a kind of almond
much needed Potpan and Fourth cake. See Nares' Glossary for a
Serv. to be Antony. F perhaps receipt (1608), and for many ex-
economised actors by reducing the amples of the word,
speakers to three. Dyce effected 13. Third Serv.] I suppose that
the reduction to two, and reads in Third and Fourth Servants (Antony
11,12 Antony Potpan ! and Potpan ?) enter here.
2. shift a trencher!} Potpan is too
proud for such work.
40 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTI.
asked for and sought for, in the great 15
chamber.
Fourth Serv. We cannot be here and there too.
— Cheerly, boys ; be brisk awhile, and the
longer liver take all. [They retire behind.
Enter CAPULET, with JULIET and others of his house,
meeting the Guests and Maskers.
Cap. Welcome, gentlemen! ladies that have their toes 20
Unplagued with corns will have a bout with you : —
Ah ha, my mistresses ! which of you all
Will now deny to dance ? she that makes
dainty,
She, I '11 swear, hath corns ; am I come near ye
now? —
Welcome, gentlemen ! I have seen the day 2 5
That I have worn a visor, and could tell
A whispering tale in a fair lady's ear,
Such as would please ; 'tis gone, 'tis gone, 'tis
gone : —
19. Enter . . . ] Enter all the guests and gentlewomen to the Maskers
Q, F. 21. have a bout] Capell ; have about Q I ; walke about Q, F; walk
a botit Daniel. 22. Ah ha, my] Q I ; Ah my Q, F.
19. longer liver] Proverbial : so ing, as Daniel thinks, occurs in Much
Dekker, Honest Whore, Part II. : Ado, II. i. 89 ; but we cannot be
" If I have meat to my mouth, and sure that walk about in M^tch Ado
rags to my back. . . . when I die, refers to the dance.
the longer liver take all" (Pearson's 23. makes dainty} is chary (of
Dekker, ii. p. 115). dancing). New Eng. Diet, quotes
20. gentlemen] For gentlemen as a Preston, New Cov. (1628): "make
dissyllable, see Walker, Shakespeare' 's not dainty of applying the promises."
Versification, xxxiv. 24. come near] Schmidt : ' ' touch
21. have a bouf] Daniel defends to the quick," as in 1 Henry IV. I.
walk a bout : to tread a measure or to ii. 14.
walk a measure is common, and here 25. Welcome'] Addressed to the
the bout is a bout of dancing. The masked friends of Romeo (Delius).
same expression with the same mean-
sc. v.] ROMEO AND JULIET 41
You are welcome, gentlemen ! — Come, musicians,
play.—
A hall, a hall ! give room, and foot it, girls. — 30
[Music playS) and they dance.
More light, you knaves ! and turn the tables up,
And quench the fire, the room is grown too hot. —
Ah, sirrah, this unlook'd-for sport comes well. —
Nay, sit, nay, sit, good cousin Capulet,
For you and I are past our dancing days ; 3 5
How long is 't now since last yourself and I
Were in a mask ?
Second Cap. By 'r Lady, thirty years.
Cap. What, man ! 'tis not so much, 'tis not so much :
Tis since the nuptial of Lucentio,
Come Pentecost as quickly as it will, 40
Some five-and-twenty years ; and then we mask'd.
Second Cap. 'Tis more, 'tis more : his son is elder, sir ;
His son is thirty.
Cap. Will you tell me that ?
His son was but a ward two years ago.
Rom. What lady is that which doth enrich the hand 45
29. gentlemen! — Come,'] gentlemen come, Q. 30. a hall] Q, Hall F.
Music . . . ] after line 29 Q, F. 39. Lucentio'} Q I, F ; Lucientio Q.
43. Cap.] Q, 3 Cap. F. 44. two} Q, F ; three Q I. 45. lady is] Q I, Qq
3-5, Ff ; Ladies Q ; lady's several editors.
30. A hall!'} A cry to make room Italy. In Brooke's poem the time is
in a crowd, as in Middleton, Enter- mid winter.
tainment at Lord Mayors, 1623 (ed. 34. cousin] kinsman ; see Hamlet
Bullen, vii. 373): "A hall! a hall! (ed. Dowden), I. ii. 64. Uncle
below, stand clear." Capulet, of the list of invitations, is
31. turn the tables up] turn up the probably addressed.
leaves of the tables. Singer quotes 44. His . . . ago'] After this line
Cavendish, Life of Wolsey (ed. 1825, Q I adds a pleasing line, continued
p. 198): " After that the board's end to Capulet: "Good youths I ( = *")
was taken up." faith. Oh youth 's a jolly thing."
32. fire} The time is mid July in
42 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTI.
Of yonder knight ?
Serv. I know not, sir.
Rom. O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright !
It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night ^
Like a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear ;
Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear ! 5 o
So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows,
As yonder lady o'er her fellows shows.
The measure done, I '11 watch her place of stand,
And, touching hers, make blessed my rude hand.
Did my heart love till now ? forswear it, sight ! 5 5
For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night.
Tyb. This, by his voice, should be a Montague. —
Fetch me my rapier, boy. — What ! dares the
slave
Come hither, cover'd with an antic face,
48. // seems she] Q I, Qq, F ; Her beauty Ff 2-4. 49. Like] Q I, Ff 2-4 ;
As, Q, F. 54. blessed} Q, F; happy Q I. 55. now?] Q I ; now, Q, F.
56. For I ne'er] Q, For I never F, / never Q i. 58. What! dares'}
Theobald ; What dares Q, F ; What ? dares Q 5.
' 46, 47. knight ? . . . torches'] Ma- Possibly one may detect faint echoes
lone notes that Painter's novel has a here of 1 Henry VI. v. iii. 45-
lord, Brooke's poem has a knight: 71 (Suffolk with Margaret in his
" With torch in hand a comely knight hand), touching of hands, kissing
did fetch her forth to dance." The fingers, the image of a swan (see note
complete forgetfulness of Rosaline is on line 51), "senses rough, "and "So
also in Brooke's poem. seems this gorgeous beauty to mine
48. It seems she] The reading Ff eyes." Both passages express the
2-4 Her beauty is adopted by many sudden tyranny of beauty,
editors ; Daniel thinks that Beauty in 49. Ethiop's ear] Holt White
line 50 requires beauty here. But quotes Lyly, Euphues : "A fair pearl
how came all the early editions, in- in a Morian's ear." Scoloker, in
eluding Q I, to read // seems J If Daiphantus(i6o^.},p. II, ed. Grosart,
Her beauty be an improvement, it echoes this passage: "Or a faire
may be the improvement of a stage lewell by an Ethiope worne. "
Romeo, and not Shakespeare's. 51. So . . . crows'] Q I has "So
Steevens quotes Sonnets, xxvii. : shines a snow-white Swan trouping
" Which [thy shadow], like a jewel with Crowes."
hung in ghastly night, 59. antic face] Romeo's fantastic
Makes black night beauteous." mask.
sc. v.] ROMEO AND JULIET 43
To fleer and scorn at our solemnity ? 60
Now, by the stock and honour of my kin,
To strike him dead I hold it not a sin.
Cap. Why, how now, kinsman ! wherefore storm you so ?
Tyb. Uncle, this is a Montague, our foe ;
A villain that is hither come in spite, 65
To scorn at our solemnity this night.
Cap. Young Romeo is it ?
Tyb. 'Tis he, that villain Romeo.
Cap. Content thee, gentle coz, let him alone,
He bears him like a portly gentleman ;
And, to say truth, Verona brags of him ^Q
To be a virtuous and well-govern'd youth :
I would not for the wealth of all this town
Here in my house do him disparagement ;
Therefore be patient, take no note of him :
It is my will, the which if thou respect, 7 5
Show a fair presence and put off these frowns,
An ill-beseeming semblance for a feast. s
Tyb. It fits, when such a villain is a guest :
I '11 not endure him.
Cap. He shall be endured :
What, goodman boy ! I say he shall : go to ; 80
Am I the master here, or you ? go to.
You '11 not endure him ! God shall mend my soul,
67. it?} F, it. Q. 69. He} Q I ; A Q, F. 72. this} Q, the F.
60. fleer} laugh mockingly, as in (used specially of marriage festivities),
Much Ado, v. i. 58. Primarily to frequent in Shakespeare. Compare
make a wry face ; Palsgrave, Les- solemn, as in Macbeth, in. i. 15 :
clarcissement \ "I fleere, I make an "To-night we hold a solemn supper."
evil countenance with the mouthe by 69. portly} of dignity, as in Spenser,
uncoveryng of the tethe." Sonnet V.: "portly pride" and
60. solemnity} dignified festivity " such portlinesse is honour. "
44 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTI.
You '11 make a mutiny among my guests !
You will set cock-a-hoop ! you '11 be the man !
Tyb. Why, uncle, 'tis a shame.
Cap. Go to, go to ; 85
You are a saucy boy : is 't so indeed ?
This trick may chance to scathe you,; — I know what :
You must contrary me ! marry, 'tis time. —
Well said, my hearts ! — You are a princox ; go :
Be quiet, or — More light, more light ! — For
shame ! 90
I '11 make you quiet. — What ! cheerly, my hearts !
Tyb. Patience perforce with wilful choler meeting
Makes my flesh tremble in their different greeting.
I will withdraw : but this intrusion shall, 94
Now seeming sweet, convert to bitter gall. \Exit.
83. my} Q, the F. 90. or . . . shame /] or more . . . light for shame,
Q, F. 95. bitter} bittrest Q (alone).
84. cock-a-hoop}New Eng. Diet. says, on second syllable. J. Hooker, Girald.
" of doubtful origin, " and its history Ireland in Holimhed ': "The more
further obscured by attempts to an- noble were his good and worthie
alyse it ; various conjectures are given, attempts, the more he was crossed
" To set (the) cock on (the) hoop, ap- and contraried" (New Eng. Diet.).
parently to turn on the tap, let the 89. princox] a forward youth,
liquor flow ; hence drink without Steevens quotes The Return from
stint," and, by extension, give a loose Parnassus ; 1606: "Your proud
to all disorder. New Eng. Did. University princox" Archbishop
cites, among other examples, Daus. tr. Bancroft, angry with young Tobie
Sleidan's Comm., 1560: "There be Matthew, addresses him as a "Prin-
found divers . . . which setting cox " in Matthew's unpublished ac-
cocke on hoope beleve nothinge at count of his conversion.
all, neither regard they what reason, 92. Patience perforce"} compulsory
what honesty, or what thing con- patience, a proverbial expression,
science doth prescribe." Steevens quotes the adage, "Patience
86. is 't so] I understand this to perforce is a medicine for a mad dog, "
refer to Tybalt's 'tis a shame. Fur- or, as Nares has it, "a mad horse."
ness seems to approve Ulrici's sup- 95. Now . . . gall} Hudson, fol-
position that it is an answer to a lowing Lettsom, regards convert as
remark of some guest. transitive, governing sweet (substan-
87. scathe} injure ; used by Shake- tive), and reads, Now-seeming sweet
speare as a verb only here. ' convert. ' ' Convert " (intrans. ) occurs
$8. contrary'} oppose, cross j accent several times in Shakespeare.
sc.v.] ROMEO AND JULIET 45
Rom. [To Juliet^\ If I profane with my unworthiest
hand
This holy shrine, the gentle sin is this,
My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand
To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.
Jul. Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too
much, i oo
Which mannerly devotion shows in this ;
For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch,
And palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss.
Rom. Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too ?
Jul. Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer. 105
Rom. O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do ;
They pray, grant thou, lest faith turn to despair.
Jul. Saints do not move, though grant for prayers'
sake.
Rom. Then move not, while my prayer's effect I take.
96. unworthiest] Q, F ; tmworthie, Q I. 97. sin] Q, Q 3, Ff ; smneQ I,
Qq 4, 5. 98. ready] Q I, Q 5, Ff 2-4 ; did readie Q, F. 102. hands
that] Q 5 ; hands, that Q, F. 109. prayer's effect I take] Capell ; prayers
effect I take Q I, Q, F ; prayers effect doe take Ff 2-4.
97. sin] I retain this word, which possible reading which occurs to me
has the authority of all the early is, "the gentle sin in this," the gentle
texts. Many editors follow Theobald and courteous take your hand, but if
in adopting Warburton's proposaly£w<?, it is profanation, I will atone for it.
and it would have been easy to mis- The sin is referred to, lines 111-113.
take fine for sinne (with a long s). "Tho' gentle" has been suggested to
Fine, n right, would mean mulct, me by Professor Littledale.
and would refer to the kiss. The 100. pilgrim] Halliwell gives a
clash in sound of shrine and fine is sketch by Inigo Jones which shows a
not pleasing. I take the whole speech pilgrim's costume, such as was worn,
to be a request for permission to kiss ; it is believed on the evidence of this
to touch Juliet at all is sin ; but the line and probably of stage tradition,
profanation with Romeo's hand is a by Romeo ; the loose large-sleeved
rough sin ; to touch with his lips is gown with cape, broad-leafed hat, a
"the gentle sin." A very slight pilgrim's staff in the left hand,
emendation, which, I think, has not 109. / take] This line completes
been proposed, "the gentler sin is what is virtually a Shakesperian
this," would make it clearer. Another sonnet in dialogue.
46 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTI.
Thus from my lips, by thine, my sin is purged. 1 1 o
[Kissing her.
Jul. Then have my lips the sin that they have took.
Rom. Sin from my lips ? O trespass sweetly urged !
Give me my sin again.
Jul. You kiss by the book.
Nurse. Madam, your mother craves a word with you.
Rom. What is her mother?
Nurse. Marry, bachelor, 1 1 5
Her mother is the lady of the house,
And a good lady, and a wise, and virtuous :
I nursed her daughter that you talk'd withal ;
I tell you he that can lay hold of her
Shall have the chinks.
Rom. Is she a Capulet ? 1 20
O dear account ! my life is my foe's debt.
Ben. Away, be gone; the sport is at the best.
Rom. Ay, so I fear ; the more is my unrest.
Cap. Nay, gentlemen, prepare not to be gone ;
We have a trifling foolish banquet towards. — i 2 5
1 10. thine} Q, F ; yours Q I.
no. Kissing her] Shakespeare, says Q I has thrall for debt. Cambridge
Malone, copied from the mode of his editors conjecture that the rhyming
own time. Compare Henry VIII. i. debt and the next two lines are in-
iv. 29. serted by some other hand than
113. by the book} in a methodical Shakespeare's.
way; there is here probably no refer- 122. at the best] Perhaps a refer-
ence to any Book of Manners. ence to the proverbial saying to give
115. What} Who, as frequently in over when the game is at the fairest.
Shakespeare. Compare line 131. See I. iv. 39.
1 20. chinks} cash ; Cotgrave, 125. banquet towards} Towards,
" Quinquaille, chinkes, coyne." ready, at hand, as toward in Hamlet,
121. debt} Staunton explains: Be- I. i. 77. Banqtict, a course of sweet-
reft of Juliet he should die, therefore meats, fruit, and wine. New Eng.
his life is at Capulet's mercy; so in Diet, quotes Cogan, Haven of 'Health ,
Brooke's poem : "Thus hath his foe 1588: "Yea, and after supper for
in choyse to give him life or death." fear lest they be not full gorged, to
sc.v.] ROMEO AND JULIET 47
Is it e'en so ? Why then, I thank you all ;
I thank you, honest gentlemen ; good night. —
More torches here ! — Come on, then let 's to bed.
Ah, sirrah, by my fay, it waxes late; 129
I '11 to my rest. \Exeunt all but Juliet and Nurse.
Jul. Come hither, nurse. What is yond gentleman ?
Nurse. The son and heir of old Tiberio.
Jul. What 's he that now is going out of door ?
Nurse. Marry, that, I think, be young Petruchio.
Jul. What's he that follows there, that would not
dance ? 135
Nurse. I know not.
Jul. Go, ask his name. — If he be married,
My grave is like to be my wedding bed.
Nurse. His name is Romeo, and a Montague ;
The only son of your great enemy. 1 40
Jul. My only love sprung from my only hate !
Too early seen unknown, and known too late !
Prodigious birth of love it is to me,
That I must love a loathed enemy.
Nurse. What 's this ? what 's this ?
Jul. A rhyme I learn'd even now. 145
Of one I danced withal. [One calls within, "Juliet?
128. on, then] Q, F; on, then, Dyce ; on then, Camb. 134. Marry
. . . be] Q, F ; That as I think is Q I. 135. there] Q I ; here Q, F.
138. wedding] Q, wedded F. 140. your] Q, F; our Ff 2-4. 145.
learned] Q, learne F.
have a delicate banquet, with abund- dialogue between Juliet and Nurse
ance of wine." See Taming of the was suggested by Brooke's poem.
Shrew, v. ii. 9. 1 37, 138. If . . . bed] Uttered to
126. e'en so?]Q I has stage-direc- herself, while the Nurse makes
tion, " They whisper in his eare," i.e. inquiry,
their reasons for going. 143. Prodigious] Portentous, as in
131. Come hither, nurse] The Midsumnfer Nights Dream, v. i. 419.
48 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTII.
Nurse. Anon, anon ! —
Come, let 's away ; the strangers all are gone.
[Exeunt.
ACT II
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 beloved and loves again^ 5
Alike bewitched by the charm of looks,
But to his foe supposed he must complain,
And she steal love's sweet bait from fearful
hooks :
Being held a foe, he may not have access
To breathe such vows as lovers use to swear ; i o
And she as much in love, her means much less
To meet her new-beloved any where :
But passion lends them power, time means, to meet,
Tempering extremities with extreme sweet.
[Exit.
4. match' d] F, match Q.
Chorus} There being no division of examples from Swinburn's Briefe
Acts or Scenes in the early texts, Treatise of Testaments, 1 590 : ' ' such
editors may place the Chorus at end as do gape for greater bequests," and
of Act I., or, as here, by way of pro- "to gape and crie upon the testator."
logue to Act II. As it refers more 3. fair] Frequent in Shakespeare
to the future than the past, I follow for a beautiful person, and also in the
the Cambridge editors in placing it sense of beauty ; I think the former
here. Some critics doubt that it is is the meaning here. As to the re-
by Shakespeare. peated/0r in this line, compare All's
2. gapes] Rushton (Shakespeare's Well, i. ii. 29: "But on us both did
Testamentary Language, p. 29) quotes haggish age steal on. "
sc. i.] ROMEO AND JULIET 49
SCENE I. — Verona. A lane by the wall of
Capulefs orchard.
Enter ROMEO.
Rom. Can I go forward when my heart is here?
Turn back, dull earth, and find thy centre out.
\He climbs the wall, and leaps down within it.
Enter BENVOLIO and MERCUTIO.
Ben. Romeo ! my cousin Romeo ! Romeo !
Mer. He is wise ;
And, on my life, hath stol'n him home to bed.
Ben. He ran this way, and leap'd this orchard wall : 5
Call, good Mercutio.
Mer. Nay, I '11 conjure too. —
Romeo ! humours ! madman ! passion ! lover !
Appear thou in the likeness of a sigh :
Speak but one rhyme and I am satisfied ;
Cry but " Ay me ! " pronounce but " love " and
"dove"; 10
A lane . . .] Camb. editors. 2. He climbs . . .] Steevens. 3.
Romeo I Romeo !] Q, F ; Romeo Q I. 6. Nay . . . too] given to Mercutio
Q I, Qq 4, 5 ; continued to Benvolio Q, Q 3, Ff. 7. Romeo~\ Qq 4, 5 ;
Mer. Romeo Q, Q 3, Ff; passion! lover!] passion lover Q (commas in F).
10. Cry] Q, Cry me F ; pronounce'} Q I, Qq 4, 5 ; provaunt Q ; provant F ;
dove] Q i ; day Q, F ; die Qq 4, 5.
A lane . . .] Perhaps some stage 7.] Singer (ed. 2) reads
furniture representing a wall was madman ! Passion - lover ; Daniel
introduced, which, as Daniel suggests, humorous madman ! passionate
may have been withdrawn, when lover!
Mercutio and Benvolio depart. 10. Ay me] as in Spenser, Virgil's
2. earth] body. So Sonnets, cxlvi., Gnat, 353, "Ay me, that thankes so
"Poor soul, the centre of my sinful much should faile of meed." Cor-
earth." Ff 2-4 read my centre. rupted in F 2 to ay me. Theobald and
6. conjure] Accented on first others Ah me !
syllable as here in Midsummer- 10. pronounce] F 2 alters the
Nighfs Dream, in. ii. 158. provant of F to couply, whence
4
50
ROMEO AND JULIET
[ACT ii.
Seak to my gossip Venus one fair word,
ne nickname for her purblind son and heir,
Young Adam Cupid^ he that shot so trim
When King Cophetua loved the beggar-maid. —
He heareth not, he stirreth not, he moveth not ; I 5
The ape is dead, and I must conjure him. —
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,
12. heir} Q i, Qq 4, 5 ; her Q, F. 13. Adam Cupid] Steevens (Upton
conj.) ; Abraham— Cupid Q I, Qq 2, 3 ; Abraham Cupid Qq 4, 5 Ff ; trim']
Q i ; true Q, F. 16. and] Q, omitted F.
Rowe's couple, adopted by many
editors.
13. Adam Cupid] Upton's con-
jecture Adam (easily misread Abram)
is generally accepted, the allusion
being to the great archer, Adam Bell,
famous in ballad poetry. Compare
Much Ado, i. i. 260: "shoot at
me ; and he that hits me let him be
clapped on the shoulder, and called
Adam." The Abraham of Q I, Qq, Ff
may be right. If the source of
Cophetua ballad were found, which
may lurk in some old book on Africa,
a bowman named Abraham might be
discovered. An Ethiopian king (448-
470) was so named. If "young
Abraham" is named after the patri-
arch, the nickname must mean
"father of many nations" (Genesis
xvii. 5), not wholly inappropriate to
Cupid. Knight supposed that cheat
was meant, the allusion being to the
Abraham-men of Elizabethan days —
vagabonds, bare - armed and bare -
legged, pretending madness. In S.
Rowlands' Martin Mark-all (about
1609), he gives Abram as a slang
word meaning mad. In Street
Robberies considered (about 1700)
Abram is given as a cant word for
naked, which would suit Cupid well,
but, though clearly a relic of the
Abraham-men, I have found no earlier
example in this sense. Again, as
Theobald observed, abraham and
abram are old spellings of auburn
(e.g. Coriolanus, II. iii. 21, F text);
many examples might be cited.
Italian poets name Cupid " II biondo
Dio." and W. Thomas, Principal
Rules of the Italian Grammer, 1567,
explains biondo, as * ' the aberne
(auburn) colour, that is betwene white
and yelow." White reads "auburn"
here. Finally, the nickname may be
an allusion to some forgotten Eliza-
bethan contemporary, whose name
(such, for example, as S[ir] Abraham]
J3otverma.n, who wrote verses in the
British Museum copy of Nash's Jack
Wilton} or whose fame in archery
invited a jest.
13. trini] The trim of Q I pre-
serves a word of the ballad "King
Cophetua and the Beggar Maid,"
given in Percy's Reliques : ' ' The
blinded boy that shoots so trim." In
Love's Labour s Lost, i. ii. 117, the
ballad is spoken of as written "some
three ages since."
15. stirreth] Q 3 (alone) reads
striveth.
SC.I.]
ROMEO AND JULIET
51
)
\
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
Of some strange nature, letting it there stand 2 5
Till she had laid it, and conjured it down ;
That were some spite : my invocation
Is fair and honest, and in his mistress' name
I conjure only but to raise up him.
Ben. Come, he hath hid himself among these trees, 30
To be consorted with the humorous night :
Blind is his love and best befits the dark.
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 3 5
As maids call medlars when they laugh alone.
O, Romeo, that she were, O, that she were
An open et cetera, thou a poperin pear !
Romeo, good night : I '11 to my truckle-bed ;
This field-bed is too cold for me to sleep : 40
22. An] Theobald ; And Q, F. 25. there] Q, omitted F. 28. and
in] F, in Q. 30. these] Q, F ; those Q I. 38. open et cetera^ thou] Q i,
- Q, F.
lid. Chapman 38. poperin'] Named from Poperin -
by Steevens as gue, a town two leagues distant from
Ypres ; chosen here for the sake of a
[alliwell's Diet, quibble. See Cyril Tourneur, The
p. 589, for the Atheist's Tragedie (ed. Collins, vol. i.
pp. 97-99), for conceits on medlars
d, as here (a and the poperin pear-tree,
issed unbecom- 39. truckle-bed] a small bed made
*, under Berga- to run under a larger,
ntly uses cetera 40. field-bed} a camp-bed, or a bed
See Pilgrim- upon the ground, here used with a
Macray), open- play on field. In Brooke's Rorneus
13). and Juliet (1562) the Nurse plays on
52 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTH.
Come, shall we go ?
Ben. Go, then ; for 'tis in vain
To seek him here that means not to be found.
\Exeunt.
SCENE II. — The Same. Capulefs Orchard.
ROMEO advances.
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 1^-
Arise, fair sun, and kill the envfous moon,
Who is already sick and pale with grief, 5
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,
And none but fools do wear it ; cast it off. —
It is my lady ; O, it is my love ! i o
Capulet's Orchard] Globe. 8. sick] Q, F ; pale Q i.
the sense camp-bed : line 897, " Loe argues that Scene i. is in the orchard,
here a fielde (she shewd a fielctbed and he here continues the scene,
ready dight), etc." This is an example I. He jests} Referring to Mercutio.
earlier than any recorded in New 6. her maid] A votary of the virgin
Eng. Diet. Certain coarse words Diana.
are called " field -bed words" by 8. sick and green] Collier pleads for
Massinger, Old Law, IV. ii. (meaning his "old corrector's" white and green
speech of the camp ?). on the ground that these were the
colours of the fool's livery under
Scene II Henry vui. Probably the word
green-sickness suggested the epithets.
Romeo advances] I indicate by See in. v. 156.
these words that Romeo has not left 10. // is~\ Grant White supposes
the stage. He overhears Mercutio's that at this point Juliet steps out upon
words, and his opening line rhymes the balcony ; previously only the light
with Benvolio's last. Grant White from her window was visible.
SC.H.] ROMEO AND JULIET 53
O, that she knew she were ! —
She speaks, yet she says nothing : what of that ?
Her eye discourses; I will answer it. —
I am too bold, 'tis not to me she speaks :
Two^of the fairest stars in all the heaven, „ 15
Having some business, do entreat her eyes "k vz*^
To twinkle in their spheres till they return. jj rf^ /^
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,
That I might touch that cheek !
Jul. Ay me !
Rom. She speaks : 2 5
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
Unto the white-upturned wondering eyes
Of mortals, that fall back to gaze on him 30
When he bestrides the lazy-pacing clouds
And sails upon the bosom of the air.
Jul. O Romeo, Romeo ! wherefore art thou Romeo ?
1 6. dd\ F, to Q. 20. eyes'] Q i ; eye Q, F. 23. how'] Q, F ; now Q I,
Daniel. 25. touch} Q, F; ktsse, Q I. 31. lazy-pacing} Q I (hyphen
Pope); lazie puffing Q, F; lazy passing Collier (MS.).
21. region} strictly a division of several editors, reads sight, as agreeing
the sky ; see note on Hamlet, n. ii. better with line 29.
518 (ed. Dowden). 29. white-upturned} The hyphen is
27. nighf\ Theobald, followed by Theobald's. J
54 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTII.
Deny thy father and refuse thy name ;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, 3 5
And I '11 no longer be a Capulet.
Rom. \AsideI\ 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 ;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd, 45
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. — Romeo, doff thy name,
And for thy name, which is no part of thee,
Take all myself.
Rom. I take thee at thy word :
Call me but love, and I '11 be new baptized ; 50
Henceforth I never will be Romeo.
JuL What man art thou, that, thus bescreen'd in night,
So stumblest on my counsel?
41, 42. Nor arm . . . name] Malone ; Q I has 41, omits 42; The rest
Nor arme nor face, 6 be some other name Belonging to a man. 44. name'}
21 ; word Q, F. 47. title. — Romeo'} tytle, Romeo Q, title Romeo, F ;
ff} Q> F 5 Part Q I- 48. thy~} Q, F ; that Q I.
39. Thou . . . Montague'] Dyce 47. doff} Daniel pleads for Q I
has followed Malone's unhappy part, as characteristically playing
punctuation, "Thou art thyself with the word part of next line. He
though, not." The meaning is compares Sonnet cxiii. : "Doth/ar/
obviously: What's in a name? If his function and is partly blind."
you refuse the name Montague, you 49. / . . . word] Ought we not to
remain yourself. pause after thee, making / take thee a
46. owes} possesses, as in Lear, I. response to Take all myselfl
i. 205.
sc. n.] ROMEO AND JULIET 55
Rom. By a name
I know not how to tell thee who I am :
My name, dear saint, is hateful to myself, 5 5
Because it is an enemy to thee :
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'er-perch 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.
Jul. If they do see thee, they will murder thee. 70
Rom. Alack, there lies more peril in thine eye
Than twenty of their swords : look thou but
sweet,
And I am proof against their enmity.
58. yet not] Q, F ; not yet Q I. 59. thy . . . uttering] Q, F ; that . . .
titterance Q i, Malone. 61. maid . . . dislike'} Q, F ; saint . . . displease
Q i. 69. stop} Q, F ; let Q i.
55. saint] recalling their recent Edward III. (1596), u. i. 2: "His
meeting, i. v. 102. H.' Coleridge ear to drink her sweet tongue's
compares Dray ton, England's Heroic- utterance."
all Epistles, Henry to Rosamund'. 61. dislike] displease, as in Othello >,
" If 't be my name that doth thee so II. iii. 49.
offend, 62. wherefore] accented as here in
No more myself shall be my own Midsummer Night's Dream, in. ii.
name's friend." 272 (Rolfe). See Walker, Shake-
59. uttering] Malone compares scare's Versification, p. ill.
56 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTH.
Jul. I would not for the world they saw thee here.
Rom. I have night's cloak to hide me from their
eyes; 75
And but thou love me, let them find me here :
My life were better ended by their hate,
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 farthest sea,
I would adventure for such merchandise.
Jul. Thou know'st the mask of night is on my face, 8 5
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
What I have spoke : but farewell compliment !
Dost thou love me ? I know thou wilt say
" Ay," 90
And I will take thy word ; yet, if thou swear'st,
Thou mayst prove false ; at lovers' perjuries,
75. eyes} Q, F ; sight Q i. 80. that} Q, F ; who Q i. 83. vast shore
washed] Qq 4, 5 ; vast shore washeth Q ; vast-shore-washet F ; farthest}
Q, Y; furthest Q i. 84. would] Q i ; should Q, F. 89. compliment}
Pope ; complement Q, F ; complements Q I, Fa. 90. love me ? /] Q ; Love ?
/F; Love? 0/Ff 2, 3.
78. prorogued] delayed, as in iv. i. to a commercial enterprise across
48. the sea. The society of Merchant
80. By love] Keightley reads By Adventurers was so named by Henry
Love's. vii.
83. vast] Walker (Crit. Exam, of 85. mask] like saint, line 55, per-
ShakespearJs Text, ii. 39) has an haps a reverberation from the recent
article which attempts to show that feast and dance.
Shakespeare uses the word like Lat. 88. dwell on form] adhere to con-
vastus, empty, waste. ventional manners.
84. adventure] There is a special 89. compliment] outward forms,
propriety in the word when referring punctilio, as in Much Ado, iv. i. 322.
sc. ii.] ROMEO AND JULIET 57
They say, Jove laughs. O gentle Romeo,
If thou dost love, pronounce it faithfully ;
Or if thou think'st I am too quickly won, 95
I '11 frown and be perverse and say thee nay,
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 '11 prove more true i oo
Than those that have more cunning to be strange.
I should have been more strange, I must confess,
But that thou overheard'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 swear,
That tips with silver all these fruit-tree tops —
Jul. O, swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon,
That monthly changes in her circled orb, 1 1 o
93. laughs'] Q, taught F. 95. thou think'st] Q, F; thou think Q i.
99. haviour] Q I, F 2 ; behaviour Q, F. 101. more cunning] Q I ; coying
Q, F ; more coying Qq 4, 5. 104. true love's] true loves Q i, F ; truelove
Q. 107. blessed] Q I, Q; omitted F; swear] Q I ; vow Q, F. 108.
tops — ] Rowe ; tops* Q, F. 1 10. circled] F, circle Q.
93. Jove laughs'} Douce: This 106. Which] refers to yielding ;
Shakespeare found in Ovid's Art of discovered, revealed.
Love — perhaps in Marlowe's trans- 107. swear] Walker : " F omits
lation, B. i. : "For Jove himself sits in blessed and has vow for swear. Can
the azure skies, And lattghs below at this have originated in the Profanation
lovers' perjuries." Greene has it also Act?"
in his Metamorphosis. 109. moon] Of many parallels which
100. gentleman] Rushton, Shake- might be quoted that cited by Hunter
speare's Eup/mism, p. 56, illustrates from Wilson's Rhetorique (Amplifica-
from Lyly this mode of address, and tion) may suffice : "as . . . in speak -
cites parallels for parts of this speech, ing of inconstancy to shew the moon
101. strange'} reserved, as in ill. which keepeth no certain course. "
". 1-
58 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTH.
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,
Which is the god of my idolatry,
And I '11 believe thee.
Rom. If my heart's dear love — 115
Jul. Well, do not swear. Although I joy in thee,
I have no joy of this contract to-night ;
It is too rash, too unadvised, too sudden, -
Too like the lightning, which doth cease to be
Ere one can say " It lightens." Sweet, good
night! i 20
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 !
Rom. O, wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied ? 125
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 ;
And yet I would it were to give again.
Rom. Wouldst thou withdraw it? for what purpose,
love? 130
Jul. But to be frank, and give it thee again.
113. gracious} Q, F ; gloriotis Q i. 115. hearts dear] Q, F ; true hearfs
Q i ; love— ] F 2; love. Q, F. 116. thee,} Q 5, Ff 2-4; thee: Q, F.
120. say " It lightens."} Globe; say, it lightens, Q, F.
117. contract} Rolfe: "Accented by 145-148, and cites a parallel from
Shakespeare on either syllable . . . Drayton, The Miracle of Moses.
The verb always on the second." 124. as that} Delius explains^: "as
I2O. " It lightens"} Steevens com- to that heart within my breast."
pares Midsummer Night's Dream, I. i. 131. frank} bountiful, as in Sonnets,
iv. 4.
sc. ii.] ROMEO AND JULIET 59
And yet I wish but for the thing I have :
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. 135
[Nurse calls within.
I hear some noise within ; dear love, adieu ! —
Anon, good nurse ! — Sweet Montague, be true.
Stay but a little, I will come again. [Exit.
Rom. O blessed blessed night ! I am afeard,
Being in night, all this is but a dream, 140
Too flattering-sweet to be substantial.
Re-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,
By one that I '11 procure to come to thee, 145
Where and what time thou wilt perform the rite,
And all my fortunes at thy foot I '11 lay,
And follow thee my lord throughout the world.
Nurse. [ Within .] Madam !
Jul. I come, anon. — But if thou mean'st not well, 150
I do beseech thee —
Nurse. [ Within.'] Madam !
Jul. By and by, I come : —
138. Exit] Rowe ; entitled Q, F. 141. flattering-s^veef\ hyphen Theo-
bald. 141. Re-enter. . .] Rowe ; omitted Q, F ; Enter F 2. 146. rite]
F 3 ; right Q, F ; rights Q 4 ; rites Q 5. 148. lord] Q I, F ; L. Q ; Love
Qq 4, 5. 149, 151. Nurse [Within] Capell, omitted Q (Madam in margin),
Within: F.
132. And yef\ The meaning is given of this speech is from Brooke's
in lines 134, 135. poem.
143] honourable'] The suggestion 151. By and by] immediately. New
60 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACIII.
To cease thy suit, and leave me to my grief:
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. I 5 5
Love goes toward love, as school-boys from their
books,
But love from love, toward school with heavy looks.
[Retiring slowly.
Re-enter JULIET, above.
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 ; 1 60
Else would I tear the cave where Echo lies,
152. suit} Qq 4, 5 ; strife Q, F. 153. soul,— ] Theobald ; souk. Q, F.
154. Exit] F, omitted Q. 155. light] Q, F ; sight Qq 4, 5. 157. toward}
Q, towards F. 159. tassel- gentle} Hanmer ; Tassel gentle Q, F. 160.
speak] Q, F ; crie Q I.
Eng. Did. quotes Cogan, Haven of peregrine — being distinguished by the
Health: "111 seeds . . . shew not addition of the word 'gentle.' There
themselves by and by, but yet in pro- was thus a subtle tribute paid by Juliet
cesse of time they bud forth." to her lover's nobility of nature."
152. suit} The reading suit is con- Minsheu, Gtddeintothe Tongues, gives
firmed by the occurrence of " to cease rapel&s a synonym for lure for a hawk,
your suit" in the corresponding pas- from Fr. " Rapeler, i., reappellare, i.,
sage of Brooke's poem. to repeale or call backe." In Mabbe's
157. toward school] Rolfe compares translation of Gusman de Alfarache,
As You Like It, u. vii. 145 — Jaques' 1623 (quoted by Rolfe), tassel-gentles,
" whining schoolboy. " used metaphorically, is explained in
159. lure this tassel-gentle] Madden, the margin as " Kinde Lovers. " In
Diary of Master William Silence, p. Massinger's The Guardian, I. i., the
157: "The males of the hawks tiercel gentle is named as the bird
principally used in falconry — the "for an evening flight."
peregrine and goshawk — were called 160. hoarse] Daniel reads husht, and
'tiercels' or 'tercels' [corrupted to in line 162 for mine he reads Fame
tassels], because (it is said) they are (rhyming with name].
smaller than the females by one third ; 161. tear . . . cave] Milton's ear
the male of the nobler species — the perhaps was haunted by this passage ;
SC.H.] ROMEO AND JULIET 61
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.
Jul. I will not fail ; 'tis twenty years till then.
I have forgot why I did call thee back. 170
Rom. Let me stand here till thou remember it.
Jul. I shall forget, to have thee still stand there,
Remembering how I love thy company.
Rom. And I '11 still stay, to have thee still forget,
Forgetting any other home but this. 1 7 5
Jul. 'Tis almost morning ; I would have thee gone ;
And yet no further than a wanton's bird,
Who 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
162. tongue] Q, F; voice Q I. 162, 163. than mine, With} Q 5;
then myne With Q 4 ; then With Q, F. 163. Romeo's name] Q I ; Romeo
Q, F. 163, 164.] Cambridge editors insert Romeo! (from Q i) between
these lines. 164. soul] Q, F; love, Qq 4, 5. 167. My dear?] Qq 4, 5
(without?); Madame Q i; My Neece Q, F; My sweet, Ff 2-4 and many
editors ; At what] Q i ; What Q, F. 168. By] Q, F ; At Q I and several
editors. 169. years'] F, yeare Q. 172. forget, to] Qq 3, 4, F ; forget to
Q and several editors. iff. further] \Y, farther Q. 178. Who . . . her]
Q i; That . . . his Q, F. 180. silk . . . again] Pope ; so Q i, reading
puls for plucks • Q, F have silken and phicks, and so Ff 2-4, omitting back.
in Par. Lost, B. i. 542, we have 208, " airy tongues that syllable men's
" tore hell's concave," and in Comus, names."
62 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTII.
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
That I shall say good night till it be morrow. 185
[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,
His help to crave, and my dear hap to tell. [Exit.
SCENE III. — The Same, Friar Laurences Cell.
Enter Friar LAURENCE, with a basket.
Fri. The grey-eyed morn smiles on the frowning night,
Chequering the eastern clouds with streaks of
light ;
181. lovmg-jealotts] hyphen Theobald. 185. Exit] Pope; omitted Q,
F; after line 186 Ff 2-4. 188. father's cell} Q I ; Friers close cell Qq,
Ff 3, 4 ; Fries close cell Ff I, 2. 189. dear] Q, F ; good Q i.
Scene in.
Friar Laurence's Cell] Malone ; A Monastery Rowe ; Fields near a
Convent Capell. Enter . . . ] Rowe ; Enter Frier alone with a basket
Q, F ; Enter Frier Francis Q I.
184. Good night] Cambridge: Scene ill.
" This passage was printed substanti- 1-4. The . . . wheels'} Attempting
ally right in Q I. The Q 2 inserted to remedy the confusion recorded in
after the first line of Romeo's speech the last note, Ff 2-4 omit these lines
the first four of the Friar's, repeating here, leaving them in our Scene ii.
them in their proper place." Further I. grey -eyed} Tourneur in The
corruption in Q 3 ; intruding lines Atheisfs Tragedie, I. iii., has: "The
ejected, and speeches distributed gray eie'd Morning makes the fairest
aright in Qq 4, 5 ; F follows Q 3 ; day." Grey may mean what we
" Pope restored the true arrange- understand by the word, or bluish
ment." For further details, see grey. See a fuller note on the word
Camb. ed. as it occurs in 11. iv. 47.
sc.m.] ROMEO AND JULIET 63
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 ; /§)&
What is her burying grave, that is her womb, 10
And from her womb children of divers kind
We sucking on her natural bosom find,
Many for many virtues excellent,
None but for some, and yet all different.
O, mickle is the powerful grace that lies i 5
In herbs, plants, stones, and their true qualities :
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
3. flecked] Q I, fleckeld Q, fleckled F. 4. fiery] Q i ; burning, Q, F.
S. precious-juiced] hyphen Pope. 16. herbs, plants] Qi; Plants, hearbes
Q, F. 20. from . . . stumbling] Q, F ; to vice, and stumbles Q I .
3. flecked] dappled (not obsolete), sleeping-potion in IV. "Osier cage
The fleckled of F implies little streaks of ours," possibly not merely for the
or spots (diminutive_/fc<:/£/£). Compare rhyme's sake, but because the Fran-
Much Ado, v. iii. 27. ciscan had no personal property.
4. From . . . wheels] Pope read 9. her tomb] Steevens compares
with Q in the lines erroneously printed Lucretius (v. 259): " Omniparens
at the close of Scene ii., and, with Ff eadem rerum comnune sepulchrum,"
2-4 here, path-way, made by. and Milton, Par. Lost, ii. 91 1 : " The
5. advance] lift up, as ,(of eyelids) womb of nature and perhaps her
in Tempest, i. ii. 408. grave." Malone adds Pericles, n.
7. osier cage] Steevens quotes Dray- iii. 45, 46.
ton's description, in Polyolbion, xiii., 15. mickle] Except in Henry V.
of a hermit filling his osier maund or (Pistol speaking) this word occurs
basket with simples. Shakespeare only in Shakespeare's early plays,
had the suggestion for this passage 18. to] Hanmer reads to't, mak-
from Brooke's poem ; it prepares us ing earth the giver. Malone explains
for the friar's skill in furnishing the earth as inhabitants of the earth.
64 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACT n.
Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied,
And vice sometime Js by action dignified.
Within the infant rind of this weak flower
Poison hath residence and medicine power :
For this, being smelt, with that part cheers each
part; 25
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 ;
And where the worser is predominant,
Full soon the canker death eats up that plant. 30
Enter ROMEO.
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, 35
22. sometime 's] Capell ; sometimes Q I ; sometime Q, F. 23. weak] Q,
F ; small Q I and many editors. 26. slays'] F, states Q (alone). 27. kings]
Q, F ; foes, Q I. 30. Enter Romeo] Pope ; after line 22 Q, F. 32. sweet]
Q, F; soon Q I.
23. weak] A gain on small Q I, as 27. kings] Rowe reads kinds.
opposed to power, line 24. Malone compares A Lover's Complaint,
24. medicine] Warburton conjee- 202, 203 :
tured medicinal, and Capell medi- " Effects of terror and dear modesty,
cine's. Encamped in hearts, but fighting
25. that part] the odorous part; outwardly."
or, as Malone explains, "the olfac- 30. canker] the canker-worm, as in
tory nerves," with meaning together Midsummer Night s Dream, II. ii. 3;
with. The comma after smelt is in and Venus and Adonis, line 656.
F ; absent from Q, which has a comma 34. good morrow] Here a parting
after part. good morrow.
26. slays] Mommsen accepts Q 35. watch] waking, as in Hamlet,
stays, in the sense "brings to a stand- II. ii. 148.
still."
sc. HI.] ROMEO AND JULIET 65
And where care lodges, sleep will never lie ;
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-roused by 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. God pardon sin ! wast thou with Rosaline ?
Rom. With Rosaline, my ghostly father? no; 45
I have forgot that name, and that name's woe.
Fri. That 's my good son : but where hast thou been,
then?
Rom. I '11 tell thee, ere thou ask it me again.
I have been feasting with mine enemy,
Where on a sudden one hath wounded me, 50
That 's by me wounded : both our remedies
Within thy help and holy physic lies :
I bear no hatred, blessed man ; for, lo,
My intercession likewise steads my foe.
Fri. Be plain, good son, and homely in thy drift ; 5 5
Riddling confession finds but riddling shrift.
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 combined, save what thou must combine 60
40. by\ Q I ; with Q, F. 55. and} Q, rest F.
37. unbruised] Collier (MS.) has of us both; so "both our mothers,"
unbusied. the mother of us both, Alfs Well> I.
40. distemperature} disturbance of iii. 169.
mind, or of body. 54. steads] benefits, as frequently
51. both our remedies} the remedy in Shakespeare.
5
66 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTH.
By holy marriage : when, and where, and how,
We met, we woo'd and made exchange of vow,
I '11 tell thee as we pass ; but this I pray,
That thou consent to marry us to-day.
Fri. Holy Saint Francis, what a change is here ! 6 5
Is Rosaline, whom thou didst love so dear,
So soon forsaken ? young men's love then lies
Not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes.
Jesu Maria, what a deal of brine
Hath wash'd thy sallow cheeks for Rosaline ! 70
How much salt water thrown away in waste,
To season love, that of it doth not taste !
The sun not yet thy sighs from heaven clears,
Thy old groans ring yet in mine ancient ears ;
Lo, here upon thy cheek the stain doth sit 75
Of an old tear that is not wash'd off yet.
If e'er thou wast thyself and these woes thine,
Thou and these woes were all for Rosaline :
And art thou changed ? 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. For doting, not for loving, pupil mine.
Rom. And bad'st me bury love.
Fri. Not in a grave
To lay one in, another out to have.
66. whom} Q I ; that Q, F. 74. ring yet} Q I ; yet ringing Q, F ; yet
ring Qq 4, 5, Ff 2-4 ; mine] Q ; my Q I, F.
72. season] give a relish to. Com- praise in." Q I has "that of love
pare All's Well, i. i. 55: " 'Tis the doth not taste."
best brine a maiden can season her
sc. iv.] ROMEO AND JULIET 67
Rom. I pray thee, chide not : she whom I love now 8 5
Doth grace for grace and love for love allow ;
The other did not so.
Fri. O, she knew well
Thy love did read by rote that could not spell.
But come, young waverer, come, go with me,
In one respect I '11 thy assistant be ; 90
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. /
Fri. Wisely and slow ; they stumble that run fast.
[Exeunt.
SCENE IV.— The Same. A Street.
Enter BENVOLIO and MERCUTIO.
s-
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,
Torments him so, that he will sure run mad. 5
85. chide . . . /] Q i ; chide me not, her I Q, F. 88. that} Q, F; and
Q i and many editors. 92. households'} Capell, housholds Q, houshould F.
Scene iv.
1-3.] As in Steevens ; prose Q, F. i. Where} Q, F ; Why -where Capell
(getting Why from Q i). 4, 5.] verse Q I, Q ; prose F. 4. Why} Q, F ;
Ah Q i and many editors.
88. read by roti\ repeated phrases iv. 36; "who stand so much on the
learnt by heart, but had no intelli- new form."
gence of the beggarly elements of true
passion. bcene iv.
93. stand ori\ it imports me much 2. to-night} last night, as in I. iv,
to be speedy (Staunton). So n. 50.
68 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTII.
Ben. Tybalt, the kinsman to old Capulet,
Hath sent a letter to his father's house.
Mer. A challenge, on my life.
Ben. Romeo will answer it.
Mer. Any man that can write may answer a 10
letter.
Ben. Nay, he will answer the letter's master, how he
dares, being dared.
Mer. Alas, poor Romeo, he is already dead ! stabbed
with a white wench's black eye ; shot thorough 1 5
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 ?
Mer. More than prince of cats, I can tell you. O, 20
6, 7.] verse Q I ; prose Q, F. 6. to] Q, F ; of Q I. 15. shof\ Q i ;
run Q, F and several editors ; thoroztgh] Q I ; through Q, F. 19, 20.
Why . . . O\ Capell from Q i ; Q, F omit / can tell you. 20. prince]
Q, F; the prince Q I.
12. answer] The same play on See Love's Labour's Lost, iv. i. 138.
answer (by letter or word) and answer, So Middleton, No Wit, No Help
encounter in person, occurs in Hamlet like a Woman's, n. i. 27: "And
(see note on v. ii. 173, ed. Dowden). I '11 cleave the black pin in the midst
13. dared] challenged. So Lyly, o' the white."
Euphues (ed. Arber), 316: "An 17. butt-shaft} an unbarbed arrow
Englishman . . . [cannot] suffer . . . used for shooting at butts. "The
to be daredby any." marks to shoot at," says G. Markham
14. 15.] Daniel conjectures dead- (Country Contentments, p. 108, ed.
stabbed, and argues for rttn Q, F, 1616), "are three, Buts, Pricks, and
instead of shot. Rovers. " The Butt is a level mark,
15. white wench's] White may and therefore would have an arrow
mean only pale-complexioned; but with a very broad feather. So Love's
the word was commonly used as a Lab. Lost, i. ii. 181 : " Cupid's butt-
term of endearment or favour; so shaft is too hard for Hercules' club."
' ' white boy " of a favourite son ; we 20. prince of cats] Tybert is the
have even "his white villaine." cat's name in Reynard the Fox.
See Nares' Glossary. Steevens quotes Dekker, Satiromastix,
16. pin] Malone : "The clout or "Tybert, the long-tailed prince of
white mark at which the arrows [in cats," and Nash, Have with You to
archery] are directed was fastened Saffron Walden: "not Tibalt prince
by a black pin placed in the center." of cats."
sc. iv.] ROMEO AND JULIET
69
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 25
duellist ; a gentleman of the very first house,
of the first and second cause. Ah, the im-
mortal passado ! the punto reverse ! the hay !
The what ?
Mer. The pox of such antic, lisping, affecting 30
21. he is] Q i ; he's Q, F. 23, 24. rests . . . rest] Q I, Malone ; he
rests, his minum rests Q ; he rests his minum, F.
21. captain of compliments'] John- ii. : "He can teach Our modern
son : " master of the laws of cere-
mony." Compare Lovers Labour's
Lost, i. i. 169 :
"A man of complements, whom
right and wrong
Have chose as umpire of their
mutiny."
22. prick-song] divisions or descant
upon a Plain-song or Ground, . . .
written, or pricked down, in con-
tradistinction to those performed
extemporaneously (Grove, Diet, of
Music], Ascham, Toxophihis (ed.
Arber, p. 41): " I wysshe . . . that
the laudable custome of Englande to
teache chyldren their plainesonge
and priksong, were not so decayed."
22, 23. time, distance, and propor-
tion] Steevens compares ]omon,£very
Man in his Humottr, i. iv. (Bobadil
teaching Matthew to fence): "note
your distance, keep your due pro-
portion of time ."
25. button] Steevens quotes The
Retunu from Parnassus (p. 86, ed.
Macray): "Strikes his poinado at a
buttons breadth." Staunton quotes
Silver, Paradoxes of Defence, 1 599 :
" Signior Rocca . . . thou that
takest upon thee to hit anie English-
man with a thrust upon anie button."
So Massinger, Unnatural Combat, II.
duellists how to cleave a button."
26. first house] may mean best
family ; or, in aj heraldic sense, the
sons of the original ancestors as dis-
tinguished from the issue of those
sons (forming "the second house").
In Fletcher's Woman's Prize, iv. i.,
"a gentleman of the first house"
may mean an upstart. See also
Dyce's note on Fletcher's Women
Pleased, i. iii. (vol. vii. p. 16), where
the expression occurs.
27. first and second caiise] Compare
Love1 s Laborer's Lost, I. ii. 184, and As
You Like It, v. iv. 52-69, for the
methodised causes of quarrel. It is
doubtful whether Vincentio Saviola's
" Of honor and honorable Quarrels"
in his Practice of the Rapier and
Dagger is alluded to in As You Like
It.
28. passado] Explained by Saviola
as a step forward or aside in fenc-
ing ; see Love's Labour's Lost, I. ii.
185.
28. punto reverse] a back-handed
stroke ; Saviola : " You may give
him &punta either dritta or riversa"
28. hay] a home-thrust, Ital. hat,
thou hast (it). Compare Lat. habet,
exclaimed when a gladiator was
wounded. ( New Eng. Diet. )
70 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTII.
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 lament-
able thing, grandsire, that we should be thus
afflicted with these strange flies, these fashion- 3 5
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 \
Enter ROMEO.
Ben. Here comes Romeo, here comes Romeo. 40
Mer. Without his roe, like a dried herring. O flesh,
31. fantasticoes} Q I ; phantacies Q, F ; accents'} Q I ; accent Q, F. 32.
By] Q i, Q; omitted F. 36. pardonnez-mois] Collier, from Theobald;
pardonmees Q I ; pardons mees Q ; pardona-mees Qq 4, 5 ; pardon-mee's F.
38, 39. bons . . . bons] Theobald (printing bon's) ; bones . . . bones Q, F, and
several editors. 40. Here . . . Romeo} only once in Q I.
31. fantasticoes'} Steevens quotes meaning of form — seat or bench, —
Dekker, Old Fortunatus : " I have that they cannot sit at ease, etc.
. . . seen fantasticoes, conversed with 38, 39. bons] Malone confirms
humourists. " Theobald's emendation of bones (with,
32. tall} sturdy, lusty, valiant, as however, a play on that word), by a
frequently in Shakespeare. passage from Greene's Ttt quoque,
34. grandsire} The staid Benvolio from which we learn that bon jour
addressed as if he belonged to an was the common salutation of those
elder generation. who affected to appear fine gentlemen :
35. flies'} Compare the description "No, I want the bon jour . . .
of Osric as a "water-fly, "Hamlet, v. which yonder gentleman has."
ii. 84, and "gilded butterflies," Possibly, as Capell says, there is an
courtiers in Lear> V. iii. 13. allusion to " the French disease."
36. pardonnez-mois] The reading 41. roe} Seymour has the grotesque
of Qq 4, 5 supports the form adopted notion that Romeo without his roe is
by Cambridge editors, perdona-mts. meo, or 0, me \ a lover's sigh. Rolfe
But Frenchified gallants seem to be thinks roe may mean mistress (from
the object of mockery. In Westward the female deer). Why has not an
Hoe (Pearson's Dekker, ii. p. 355), "ingenious gentleman" said that
we have the form pardona moy. roe stands for AVsaline ? "A herring
36, 38. stand . . . bench} who without a roe " is the crowning corn-
insist so much on the new mode of parison of Menelaus with contempt-
manners, or of clothes, possibly the ible creatures put into Thersites'
large breeches, which made sitting mouth, Troilus and Cressida, v. i.
difficult — with a quibble on the 168.
SC. IV.]
ROMEO AND JULIET
71
flesh, how art thou fishified ! Now is he for the
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, 45
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 50
counterfeit fairly last night.
Rom. Good morrow to you both. What counterfeit
did I give you ?
Mer. The slip, sir, the slip; can you not con-
ceive ? 55
44. was but} Q i ; was Q, F.
46. dowdy} slattern. Rich, Fare-
well to Military Profession ( 1 58 1 ) : " If
plaine or homely, we say she is a
doudieor a slut."
46. gipsy} because Egyptian, and
dark of hue. This passage is jestingly
alluded to in The Returne from
Parnassus, III. i. (p. 57, ed. Macray).
47. kildings} worthless persons;
used by Shakespeare of both men
and women. See in. v. 168.
47, 48. grey eye] In Two Gent, of
Verona, IV. iv. 197, we have (Chaucer's
comparison) eyes, " grey as glass";
in Sir Eglamour line 86 1 : "eyen
grey as crystalle stone " ; in The
Returnefrom Parnassus, I. i. (p. 31,
ed. Macray), of silver money : " my
purse wants these grey silver eyes
that stand idelye in the face of a
citizen's daughter." It is certain,
however, that grey in Elizabethan
literature (and I think in a few
passages of Shakespeare) means
sometimes bluish. Cotgrave has
" Bluard, gray, skie coloured,
blewish." Casius is explained by
Cooper, Thesatirus (1573): "Gray,
skie colour with speckes of gray,
blunket " (i.e. greyish blue) ; Glaucus,
says Cooper, "is commonly taken
for blewe or gray like the skie with
speckes as Cccsius is, but I thinke it
rather reddie," etc. Unless we
understand grey as bluish, Shake-
speare nowhere speaks of blue eyes
in our meaning. He praises blue-
veined eyelids. " Blue eyes " with
him means having a bluish circle
round the eyes.
48. but not} Hanmer (after War-
burton) reads but now.
50. French slop} large, loose
trousers, as in Mtich Ado, in. ii. 36.
54. slip] a piece of false money
(with a play on the word). Greene,
in Thieves falling out, has: "certain
slips, which are counterfeit pieces of
money." So Troihis and Cressida, n.
iii. 27 : " If I could have remembered
a gilt counterfeit, thou wouldst not
have slipped 'out of my contemplation. "
72 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACT n.
Rom. Pardon, good Mercutio, my business was great ;
and in such a case as mine a man may strain
courtesy.
Mer. That 's as much as to say, such a case as yours
constrains a man to bow in the hams. 60
Rom. Meaning, to court'sy.
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. 65
Mer. Right.
Rom. Why, then is my pump well flowered.
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 70
the wearing, solely singular.
Rom. O single-soled jest, solely singular for the
singleness !
56. good} Q, omitted F. 68. Well said] Q i, Sure wit Q, Sure wit, F.
71. solely singular Q I, Q ; sole-singular F.
57, 58- strain courtesy} So Chap- Gabriel ^ pumps were all unpintfd i'
man, Alphonsus, v. ii. : "Here's the heel."
straining courtesy at a bitter feast." 72. single-soled] mean, contempt-
60. hams} So in The Merry Devil ible. Single is used alone (in
of Edmonton (Hazlitt's Dodsley, x. quibbling) for simple, silly, as in
221): "do I bend in the hams?" Coriolanus, n. i. 40; soled is perhaps
(spoken of in a way which illustrates used with a quibble on soul. Holin-
this passage). shed, Ireland, p. 23 : "a meane tower
62. kindly] naturally, hence pertin- might serve such single-soale kings
ently, appropriately. as were at those days in Ireland "
64. pink] So Beaumont and (Malone). Steevens quotes from
Fletcher, The Pilgrim, I. ii. : "this Dekker's Wonderful Yeare: " a single-
is the prettiest pilgrim, The pink of j^/affidler"; Cotgrave defines "Gentil-
pilgrims." homme de bas relief," a thred-bare,
67. flowered] because Romeo's or single soled gentleman. Our
pumps were pinked, i.e. punched in slang "one-horse" corresponds in
holes with figures. Compare Taming meaning. Singleness in line 73
of the Shrew, iv. i. 136: "And means simplicity or silliness.
sc. iv.] ROMEO AND JULIET 73
Mer. Come between us, good Benvolio; my wits
faint. 7 5
Rom. Switch and spurs, switch and spurs ; or I '11
cry a match.
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 80
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. 8 5
Rom. Nay, good goose, bite not.
Mer. Thy wit is a very bitter sweeting ; it is a most
sharp sauce.
Rom. And is it not well served in to a sweet goose ?
74, 75. wits faint'] Q 5 ; wits faints Q, F ; wit faints Ff 2-4 ; wits fail Q I.
76. Switch . . . switch} Pope ; Swits . . . swits Q, F. 78. our wits]
Q, F ; thy wits Q i. 79. / am] Q, F ; / have Q I. 83. Thou wast] Q, F ;
Thou wert Q i. 87. bitter sweeting] Q, Bitter-sweeting F. 89. welf\
F, then well Q ; in to~] Q I, Q ; into F.
76. Switch and spurs} So Dekker, 170: " What, do you grumble? I'll
Honest Whore, Part II. (Pearson's be with you straight."
Dekker, ii. p. 96) : " Oh, we shall 85. bite thee by the ear] i.e. as a
ride switch and spurre." sign of fondness (as one horse does
77. match] wager. Capell reads another). Jonson, Alchemist, II.
for 1 cry a match. iii. : " Slave, I could bite thine ear."
78. wild-goose chase] Holt White So the French Mordre Voreille a,
describes this as a race of two horses ; explained by Cotgrave "as much as
the rider who takes the lead may flatter ou caresser mignonnement ,
choose what ground he pleases ; the wherein the biting of 'th' eare is, with
other must follow, unless -he can in some, an usuall Action."
turn take the lead. Burton, Anatomy 86. bite not] Ray, Proverbs (p. 56,
of Melancholy (p. 266, ed. 1632), ed. 1768), gives, as a "joculatory
names this among "the disports of proverb," "Good goose do not bite."
great men." 87. bitter sweeting] The name of
81. with yoti] Was I even with you, an apple ; the usual form of the word
with respect to the goose ? As per- is bitter-sweet. Huloet, Abecedarium,
haps in Taming of the Shrew, iv. i. 1552: " Apple called a bytter swete,
arnarimellum. "
74 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTII.
Mer. O, here 's a wit of cheveril, that stretches from 90
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.
Mer. Why, is not this better now than groaning for 9 5
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.
Mer. O, thou art deceived; I would have made it 105
short ; for I was come to the whole depth of
my tale, and meant indeed to occupy the
argument no longer.
94. a broad] Q I, Q ; abroad F. 106. for] Q I, Q ; or F.
90. cheveril] kid leather (Fr. cuir 99. natural} fool, idiot, as in As
de chevreuit] ; so Twelfth Night, III. You Like It, I. ii. 52, 57.
i. 13 : "A sentence is but a cheveril 100. bauble} The fool's short stick,
glove to a good wit." ornamented with a fool's head, doll,
94. a broad goose] Broad may or puppet ; an inflated skin or
mean plain, obvious ; used of words bladder, for belabouring those who
it often means gross, indecent ; it also offended him, was often attached
means unrestrained. Other forms of (Douce and Dyce).
.spelling were broode and brood. 102, 103. against the hair] as we
Hence there is probably a play on say, against the grain. See Merry
brood goose, which we find in P^letcher, Wives, II. iii. 41, and " merry against
Humorous Lieutenant, n. i. : "To the hair," Troilus and Cressida, I.
make us cuckolds, They have no more ii. 28.
burden than a brood-goose. " Collier 104. large] licentious; "large
and Delius, retaining F abroad, read jests," Much Ado, n. iii. 206.
" far and wide abroad — goose," which 107. occupy] with a quibble on the
may be right. meaning alluded to in 2 Henry IV.
n. iv. 161.
sc.iv.] ROMEO AND JULIET 75
Rom. Here 's goodly gear !
Enter Nurse and PETER.
Mer. A sail, a sail ! no
Ben. Two, two ; a shirt and a smock.
Nurse. Peter !
Peter. Anon ?
Nurse. My fan, Peter.
Mer. Good Peter, to hide her face ; for her fan 's 115
the fairer of the two.
Nurse. God ye good morrow, gentlemen.
Mer. God ye good den, fair gentlewoman.
Nurse. Is it good den ?
Mer. JTis no less, I tell you ; for the bawdy hand 120
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.
109. Enter . . .] Enter Nurse and her man Q, F (after longer, 108).
no. A sail, a sail] Q, F (but continued to Romeo) ; A sail, a sail, a sail.
Q i (given to Mercutio). in. Ben.] Q i; Mer. Q, F. 112-115.
Peter! . . . Peter] Q, F; Peter, pree thee give me my fan. Mer. Free thee
doo good Peter, Q i. 113. Anon ?] Theobald ; Anon. Q, F. 115. face ;]
F Zifacei Q.) fa^s? F. 1 1 6. fairer . . . two] Q I, fairer face. Q, fairer
face 'i F. 120. you] F, yee Q. 123, 124. for himself} Q i ; himself Q, F.
109. gear] Gear is used for talk, and, 1 14. fan] Compare Love's Labour's
in a depreciatory sense, rubbishy talk ; Lost, iv. i. 147: "To see him walk
also for stuff, and, in a depreciatory before a lady and to bear her fan ! "
sense, rubbish. It is also used for Farmer quotes The Serving Man's
apparel, attire. Probably Romeo Comfort, 1 598 : " The mistress must
refers to the preceding talk, not to have one to carry her cloake and
the habiliments of the approaching hood, another herfanne."
nurse. 117. God ye] short for God give
ill. Ben.] Benvolio, slow to ye; on good den, see I. ii. 57.
kindle, is caught into the fire of fun ; 121. prick of noon] point or mark
see line 138. But some editors of noon; so "noontide prick," 3
accept the arrangement of speeches Henry VI. \. iv. 34, and Lucrece,
in Q, F. line 781.
76 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTII.
Nurse. By my troth, it is well said ; " for himself to 125
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 130
when you sought him : I am the youngest of
that name, for fault of a worse.
Nurse. You say well.
Mer. Yea, is the worst well? very well took, i'
faith ; wisely, wisely. 135
Nurse. If you be he, sir, I desire some confidence
with you.
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. — \Sings.
125. "well said} Q I, Q ; saidf. 126. Gentlemen} Q, F (some copies F
Gentleman). 134. well?} Q 5; well, Q, F. 138. indite} Q, F (endite) ;
invite Q I, Ff 2-4. 143. Sings] Q I has " He walkes by them, and sings."
136. confidence} The same jest of Romeo . . . asks, 'What hast thou
blundering on confidence for conference found ? ' " Madden, Diary of Master
appears in Merry Wives, I. iv. 172 William Silence ', p. 173.
(Mrs. Quickly), and in Much Ado, in. 141. hare} The word seems to
v. 3 (Dogberry). Q I here reads have been used for courtesan. See
conference. the use of "hare-pie" in Rowley, A
138. indite} Benvolio follows suit Match at Midnight. (Hazlitt's
and transforms invite to indite. Q I Dodsley, xiii. p. 88.)
reads invite, and omits some before 142. hoar} mouldy. New Eng. Diet,
supper. quotes Sylvester's Du Bartas : ' ' The
139. So hoi} "'As soon as he long journey we have gone, hath . . .
espieth her [the hare], he must cry turn'd our victuals hoar." Malone
So how."1 Thus writes the author of supposes the quibbling verses that
the Noble Arte [of Venerie} . . . And follow to be part of an old song.
so when Mercutio cried So ho!,
sc. iv.] ROMEO AND JULIET 77
An old hare hoar>
And an old hare hoar, 145
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 '11 150
to dinner thither.
Rom. I will follow you.
Mer. Farewell, ancient lady ; farewell, [singing}
"lady, lady, lady"
[Exeunt Mercutio and Benvolio.
Nurse. Marry, farewell ! — I pray you, sir, what 155
saucy merchant was this, that was so full of
his ropery?
Rom. A gentleman, nurse, that loves to hear him-
self talk, and will speak more in a minute than
he will stand to in a month. 160
153. singing] Dyce (Farmer conj.). 155- Marry, farewell!} Q I ;
omitted Q, F.
154. "lady . . . lady"] from the 157. ropery} rascality; altered to
ballad of Susanna, quoted in Twelfth roguery in F 4. The same change
Night, ii. iii. 85. Perhaps part of the was made in Beaumont and Fletcher,
mockery lies in bringing the Nurse into The Chances, in. i., where the first
relation with the "woman fair and folio reads: " You '11 leave this ropery
virtuous, Lady, lady " of the ballad. When you come to my years."
See "a goodly lady, O lady, lady" in Steevens quotes The Three Ladies of
The Rare Triumphs of Love and London, 1584: " Thou art very pleas-
Fortune (1589), Hazlitt's, Dodsley's ant and full of thy roperye.' Q I
Old Plays, vi. p. 198. has roperipe, which, as an adjective,
156. saucy merchant} impudent meant ripe for hanging, lewd, un-
fellow ; merchant is used like chap, gracious, and so appears in Minsheu's
a shortened form of chapman, and Rider's Dictionaries. Compare
Steevens quotes Churchyard's Chance, rope-tricks in Taming of the Shrew,
1580: " What sausie merchaunt speak- I. ii. 112.
eth now, saied Venus." So Udall,
Diotrephes (1588), p. II, ed. Arber.
78 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTH.
Nurse. An a' speak anything against me, I '11 take
him down, an a' were lustier than he is, and
twenty such Jacks ; and if I cannot, I '11 find
those that shall. Scurvy knave ! I am none
of his flirt-gills ; I am none of his skains-mates. 165
— [To Peter.} And thou must stand by too,
and suffer every knave to use me at his
pleasure ?
Peter. I saw no man use you at his pleasure;
if I had, my weapon should quickly have 170
been out, I warrant you. I dare draw
as soon as another man, if I see occa-
sion in a good quarrel, and the law on my
side.
Nurse. Now, afore God, I am so vexed, that every 175
161, 162. An\ Pope ; And Q, F. 165. flirt-gills] Q I, Q, F ; gil-flurts
Qq 4, 5 ; skains -mates} hyphened first in F 4. 166. To Peter] Q I
has "She turnes to Peter her man." 171. out, I warrant you.} Rowe,
out: I warrant you Q, out, I warrant y 'ou, F.
163. Jacks'} Often in Shakespeare none of his skains-mates." Douce
and other writers used contemptu- supposes that sempstresses is meant,
ously for fellow, as in Merchant of from "skein" of thread. This seems
Venice, in. iv. 77. to me not improbable, for sempsters
165. flirt-gills] Another form is (fern. ) had an ill repute ; so Westward
gill-flirt ; a woman of light or loose Hoe (Pearson's Dekker, ii. p. 291),
behaviour ; also flirt-gillian {Gill and "as stale as ... an Exchange
Gillian for Juliana}. Gill was sempster " ; and compare the opening
commonly used for wench, as in of the The Roaring Girl, where Mary
"Every Jack must have his Gill." Fitzallard, disguised as a sempster, is
Beaumont and Fletcher, Knight of addressed as "emblem of fragility,"
the Burning Pestle, iv. i. : "You and is assumed to have immoral
heard him take me up like a flirt Gill, designs. M. Mason suggests a
and sing baudy songs upon me." blunder for kinsmates (kins-mates,
165. skains-mates} Not explained Professor Littledale suggests, = mates
with certainty. Malone supposed it of his kind; see Skeat's Chaucer, Glos-
to mean cut-throat companions, from sary, Noskinnes}. Walker, "scurvy
skain or skene (a word well known to mates. " Staunton says that a Kentish-
Elizabethan writers), a knife. To get man told him that skain was formerly
the sex, that seems the more suitable, a familiar term in parts of Kent for
Kinnear conjectures, "I am for scape-grace.
sc.iv.] ROMEO AND JULIET 79
part about me quivers. Scurvy knave ! — Pray
you, sir, a word ; and as I told you, my young
lady bade me inquire you out ; what she bade
me say I will keep to myself; but first let me
tell ye, if ye should lead her into a fool's para- I 80
dise, 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 185
weak dealing.
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 190
woman.
Rom. What wilt thou tell her, nurse ? thou dost not
mark me.
Nurse. I will tell her, sir, that you do protest ;
which, as I take it, is a gentlemanlike 195
offer.
178. bade . . . bade} Q I ; bid . . . bid Q, F. 180. into] Q I ; in
Q, F. 1 88. 7 . . . thee] Q, F; Tell her I protest Q i, Daniel; thee—}
F 2 ; thee. Q, F. 193. me.} Q 5 ; me? Q, F.
1 80. foots par adise~\ Not uncommon, weak in all his doings." Codes,
So Rich, Farewell to Military Pro- Epitome of Art of Phisiognomie,
fession (1581), "By praising of our Englished by T. Hyll(?i6i3). Pos-
beautie, you [men] think to bring us sibly the word was chosen for sake
into a fooles paradise." of the incongruity of what is double
186. weak dealing] Collier (MS.) being thereby weak. Fleay suggests
has wicked, which perhaps the Nurse wicke, used by Chaucer and still pro-
meant. Schmidt explains weak as vincially for wicked,
stupid. In the following passage it 188. / protest} Daniel pleads for
may mean shifty. "The forehead Q i, reading "Tell her I protest — "
sharp - pointing . . . declareth that as responded to by the Nurse's " I
man to be vayn or a liar, unstable, will tell her."
80 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTII.
Rom. Bid her devise
Some means to come to shrift this afternoon ;
And there she shall at Friar Laurence' cell
Be shrived and married. Here is for thy
pains. 200
Nurse. No, truly, sir; not a penny.
Rom. Go to ; I say you shall.
Nurse. This afternoon, sir? well, she shall be there.
Rom. And stay, good nurse ; behind the abbey-wall
Within this hour my man shall be with thee, 205
And bring thee cords made like a tackled stair ;
Which to the high top-gallant of my joy
Must be my convoy in the secret night.
Farewell ; be trusty, and I '11 quit thy pains ;
Farewell ; commend me to thy mistress. 210
Nurse. Now God in heaven bless thee ! Hark you, sir.
Rom. What say'st thou, my dear nurse?
Nurse. Is your man secret ? Did you ne'er hear say,
Two may keep counsel, putting one away ?
197, 198. Bid . . . afternoon} Delius ; two lines ending shrift and after-
noon Capell ; one line Q, F ; prose Qq 4, 5. 199. Laurence1} Pope ;
Lawrence Q, F. 204. stay} Q, stay thou F ; nurse ; . . . waif} Grant
White; mirse . . . wall, Q, F; nurse, . . . wall: Pope and many
editors. 209. quit} Q, quite F. 213,214. Is . . . away ?} verse Rowe ;
prose Q, F.
197. Bid} Hudson very ingeniously 206. stair} series of steps, as in
emends : Paradise Lost, iii. 540.
" Bid her devise some means to 207. high top -gallant} Steevens
come to shrift quotes Markham, English Arcadia,
This afternoon at Friar Laurence' 1607 : "the high top-gallant of his
cell ; valour." Top-gallant masts, small
And there she shall be shrived and masts fixed to the heads of the main
married. Here and fore top-masts.
Is for thy pains." 210. mistress} frequently a tri-
204. nurse;} The pointing is G. syllable. See Walker, Shakespeare's
White's ; Romeo cannot wish to Versification, p. 47.
delay the Nurse on her return to 214. Two . . . away} So Titus
Juliet. See Scene v. 76, 77. Andronicus, iv. ii. 144: "Two may
sc.iv.] ROMEO AND JULIET 81
Rom. I warrant thee my man 's as true as steel. 215
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 lieve see a toad, a very 220
toad, as see him. I anger her sometimes, and
tell her that Paris is the properer man ; but,
I '11 warrant you, when I say so, she looks as
pale as any clout in the versal world. Doth
not rosemary and Romeo begin both with a 225
letter ?
Rom. Ay, nurse ; what of that ? both with an R.
Nurse. Ah, mocker ! that 's the dog's name ; R is
for the — No ; I know it begins with some
215. / warrant] Ff 2-4; Warrant Q, F; man's] Q (mans], man F.
216-236] verse Capell. 228. Ah,] Rowe ; A Q, F ; dog's name;] F,
dog, name Q. 228, 229. R is for the — No;] Ritson conj., Delius ; R
is for the no, Q, F; R is for thee? No; Theobald (Warburton) ; R is for
the dog. No ; Steevens, 1778 (Tyrwhitt conj.), and many editors.
keep counsel when the third's away." Grosart's Nashe, v. p. 253, for another
Lyly has it in EupJmes cited by example.
Rushton, Shakespeare's Euphuism, 222. properer] handsomer, fre-
p. 62. quent in Shakespeare.
216. Well, sir] Capell prints the 224. pale . . . clout] a common
rest of the scene as verse ; the opening phrase ; so Tottel, Miscellany (ed.
lines fall easily into verse, but dim- Arber, p. 233), "As pale as any
culties appear as one proceeds. clout, "and *RwKyzx\,Pilgrin?s Progress,
217. 218. Lord . . . thing] Follows "At this Littlefaith looked as white
Brooke's poem : as a clout," i.e. piece of cloth.
"A prety babe (quod she) it was 224. versa f] vulgarism for uni-
when it was yong, versal.
Lord how it could full pretely 225. rosemary] The flower for re-
have prated with it tong." membrance, used both at weddings
219. lay knife aboard] So Barry, and funerals. See note on Hamlet,
Rain Alley, 1611 : "The truth is, I iv. v. 174 (ed. Dowden). Compare
have laid my knife aboard, The iv. v. 79.
widow, sir, is wedded," Hazlitt's 228. dog's name] Ben Jonson, in his
Dodsley, x. 372, and compare the English G rammer, says : " R is the
same, p. 282, for use of aboard. See dog's letter, and hirreth in the sound."
82
ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTH.
other letter — and she hath the prettiest 230
sententious of it, of you and rosemary, that
it would do you good to hear it.
Roiu. Commend me to thy lady. [Exit Romeo.
Nurse. Ay, a thousand times. Peter !
Peter. Anon ? 235
Nurse. Before, and apace. \Exeunt.
SCENE V. — The Same. Capulet's Orchard.
Enter JULIET.
Jul. The clock struck nine when I did send the nurse ;
In half an hour she promised to return.
233. Exit Romeo] Rowe ; omitted Q, F ; before Peter line 234 Dyce.
234. times. Peter!} Hanmer, times Peter Q, times. Peter? F. 235.
Anon?} Theobald ; Anon. Q, F. 236. Before, and apace] Q, F (without
comma) ; Peter take my fanne, and goe before Q I, Steevens ; Peter take my
fan, and go before, and apace Cambridge.
Scene v.
Capulet's Orchard] Globe, Capulet's house Rowe, Capulet's garden Capell.
So Barclay names R in his Ship of
Fools. The word ar serves for the
name of the letter (see New Eng.
Diet. ) and as a verb for to growl ; so
Nash, Summer's Last Will, 1600:
' ' They arre and bark at night against
the moon." There is classical autho-
rity ; that of Persius, and an allusion
by Lucilius. A pleasant illustration
appears in Baret's Alvearie, where
through the loop of the large capital
R, introducing the words beginning
with that letter, a standing dog peers
out ; this design is peculiar to the
letter R; the letter, says Baret
jocularly, is so necessary, "no man
hath any colour to barke against
it. ... Persius calleth R literam
caninam." Milton, according to
Aubrey, pronounced r very hard —
on which Dry den remarked, " Hi 'era
canina, the dog-letter, a certain sign
of a satirical wit." Masson's Life of
Milton, vi. 679.
228,229. R is for the — No ;] This
conjecture of Ritson is happy ; but
Theobald's reading "R is for thee?
No" may be right. While Romeo,
however, addresses the Nurse as thou,
and the Nurse so addresses Peter, she
addresses Romeo as you.
231. sententious] I think the Nurse
means sentences in the sense of adages
or maxims, as in Merchant of Venice,
I. ii. II : "Good sentences and well
pronounced." Possibly we should
read sententious.
236. Before, and apace] The " take
my fan " of Q I may have been an
actor's repetition of the joke of line
114, and irresistible to an actor ; but
Q, F are content to let the Nurse
make her exit in all haste, without
now thinking of her dignity.
sc.v.] ROMEO AND JULIET 83
Perchance she cannot meet him : that 's not so.
O, she is lame ! love's heralds should be thoughts,
Which ten times faster glide than the sun's
beams 5
Driving back shadows over louring hills :
Therefore do nimble-pinioned doves draw Love,
And therefore hath the wind-swift Cupid wings.
Now is the sun upon the highmost hill
Of this day's journey, and from nine till twelve i o
Is three long hours, yet she is not come.
Had she affections, and warm youthful blood,
She 'd be as swift in motion as a ball ;
My words would bandy her to my sweet love,
And his to me : 1 5
But old folks, many feign as they were dead ;
Unwieldy, slow, heavy and pale as lead. —
Enter Nursey with PETER.
O God, she comes ! — O honey nurse, what news ?
4. heralds} Q I, Q; Herauld F. 5. glide] F 4; glides Q, F. 6.
louring} Q, F (lowring) ; lowering Furness. 7. nimble - pinioned]
hyphen Pope. n. Is three] Qq 3-5, Is there Q, I three F, Ay three
Rowe. 13. She W] F 2 ; She would Q, F. 16. feign] fain Q,faine F.
4. lovers heralds] So in Chester's 9. highmost] topmost, as in Sonnets,
Love's Martyr, 1601 (ed. Grosart, p. vii. 9.
151): 14. bandy] Nares : Originally a
' ' My inward Muse can sing of term at tennis ; from bander, Fr.
nought but Love, 16. many feign] Johnson reads
Thoughts are his heralds." marry, feign ; Grant White, marry,
After line 4 Q I adds two lines, fare ; Keightley, marry, seem ; Dyce
resembling Act V. i. 64, 65 :, conjectured move yfaith, i.e. move t'
"And runne more swift, than faith. In Q " And his to me " forms
hastie powder fierd, part of the line continued to "dead,"
Doth hurrie from the fearfull and is preceded by the italic letter M.
Cannons mouth." Cambridge editors think lines 16, 17
6. back] Collier (MS.) reads black. probably an interpolation. Collier
7. Love] love Q, F, but Venus is (MS.) reads: "As his to me: but
meant, as described in Venus and old folks seem as dead," and substi-
Adonis, 1190, and Tempest, iv. i. 94. tutes dull Tor pale.
84 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACT H.
Hast thou met with him ? Send thy man away.
Nurse. Peter, stay at the gate. [Exit Peter. 20
Jul. Now, good sweet nurse, — O Lord, why look'st thou
sad?
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.
Nurse. I am aweary ; give me leave awhile : 25
Fie, how my bones ache ! What a jaunt have I
had!
Jul. I would thou hadst my bones, and I thy news.
Nay, come, I pray thee, speak ; good, good nurse,
speak.
Nurse. Jesu, what haste ? can you not stay awhile ?
Do you not see that I am out of breath? 30
Jul. How art thou out of breath, when thou hast breath
To say to me that thou art out of breath ?
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; 35
Say either, and I '11 stay the circumstance ;
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,
20. Exit Peter] Theobald ; omitted Q, F. 25. give me leave] Q, F ; let
me rest Q i. 26. jaunt} Q I, Q 4, F; iaunce Q; had] F, omitted Q.
38-47.] verse Capell.
22. them] Rolfe: "Shakespeare reads: "Lord how my bones ake.
makes news both singular and Oh where 's my men ? Give me some
plural"; for the latter, compare aqua vitse."
Much Ado, i. ii. 4-6. 36. circumstance'] I '11 wait for
26. jaunt] The variant jounce details ; compare v. iii. 180.
appears in Q again in line 54. 38. simple] silly, as often in
Compare Richard II. v. v. 94. Q I Skakespeare.
sc.v.] ROMEO AND JULIET 85
not he; though his face be better than any 40
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 com-
pare. He is not the flower of courtesy, but,
I'll warrant him, as gentle as a lamb. Go 45
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 ! 50
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,
To catch my death with jaunting up and down.
Jul. V faith, I am sorry that thou art not well. 5 5
Sweet, sweet, sweet nurse, tell me, what says my
love?
Nurse. Your love says, like an honest gentleman,
and a courteous, and a kind, and a handsome,
and, I warrant, a virtuous, — Where is your
mother ? 60
Jul. Where is my mother ! why, she is within ;
41. leg] Q, legs F. 42. a body} Q, F ; a baudie Q I ; body Qq 4, 5 ;
a bawdy Ff 2-4. 45. gentle as a] Q, gentle a F. 48. this] Q, this this,
F. 52. O~\ F, a Q. 54. jaunting] Q 4, F ; iaunsing Q. 55. not
well] Q, so well F, so ill F 2. 57~6o, Your . . . mother?] prose Cam-
bridge editors (S. Walker conject.) ; three lines ending gentleman . . .
handsome . . . mother? Q, F. 6l, 62.] as arranged by Ro we.
52. o1 f other side] The Nurse has S7~6o] Capell, printing as verse,
clapped her hand to her forehead, ends the second at warrant ; Steevens
and now places it on her back, at handsome, and.
Collier and others read, " My back !
o' t' other side, — "
86 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTH.
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; 65
Is this the poultice for my aching bones ?
Henceforward do your messages yourself.
JuL Here Js such a coil ! — come, what says Romeo ?
Nurse. Have you got leave to go to shrift to-day ?
JuL I have. 70
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 '11 be in scarlet straight at any news.
Hie you to church ; I must another way, 7 5
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 ;
But you shall bear the burden soon at night.
Go ; I '11 to dinner ; hie you to the cell. 80
Jul. Hie to high fortune ! — Honest nurse, farewell.
\Exeunt.
64. your mother} Q, F ; my mother Ff 2-4.
68. coil] turmoil, fuss, as often in my news." Perhaps the words mean
Shakespeare. In place of this line only It is their way to redden at any
Q i has : surprise.
"Nay stay sweet Nurse, I doo 80, 81.] Instead of these lines Q I
intreate thee now, has : —
What sayes my Love, my Lord, ' ' Doth this newes please you now ?
my Romeo ? " /«/. How doth her latter words
74. They '// . . . news] Hanrner revive my hart,
reads: "They'll be in scarlet strait- Thankes gentle Nurse, dispatch
way at my news " ; S. Walker con- thy busines,
jectures: "They . . . straight at And lie not faile to meete my
my next news"; Keightley reads: Romeo."
"They will be straight in scarlet at
SC. VI. J
ROMEO AND JULIET
87
SCENE VI. — The Same. Friar Laurence's cell.
Enter Friar LAURENCE and ROMEO.
Fri. So smile the heavens 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
That one short minute gives me in her sight.
L)o thou but close our hands with holy words,
Then love-devouring death do what he dare,
It is enough I may but call her mine.
Fri. 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
And in the taste confounds the appetite :
Therefore love moderately ; long love doth so ;
Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow. I
Enter JULIET.
Here comes the lady : O, so light a foot
10
Friar Laurence's cell] Capell.
enough /] Q, inough. I F.
Enter . . . ] For the correspond-
ing scene in Q i, see p. 183.
9. These violent . . * ] Malone
compares Liicrece, line 894: "Thy
violent vanities can never last" ;
Rolfe adds Hamlet, n. i. 102, 103.
12. his] its.
13. confounds} destroys, ruins ; the
most frequent meaning of confound
with Shakespeare.
2. after-hours] hyphen Pope. 8.
1 6. so light . . . The correspond-
ing lines in Q i are :
" So light of foote nere hurts the
troden flower :
Of love and joy, see see the
soveraigne power."
Critics have preferred this earlier
reading, not considering the dramatic
propriety of the later text. The
moralising Friar thinks of the hard-
ness and sharpness of the path of life.
88 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACT n.
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. 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 2 5
To blazon it, then sweeten with thy breath
This neighbour air, and let rich music's tongue
Unfold the imagined happiness that both
Receive in either by this dear encounter.
Jul. Conceit, more rich in matter than in words, 30
Brags of his substance, not of ornament :
They are but beggars that can count their worth ;
But my true love is grown to such excess
I cannot sum up sum of half my wealth.
1 8, 19. gossamer . . . idles] F 4 ; gossamours, . . . y deles Q, F. 23. is\
Q, in F. 24. Rom.] Q, Fri. F. 27. musics] F, musicke Q. 33.
such'] Q, stick such F. 34. sum tip sum of half my\ Q ; stimme up some of
halfe my Qq 4, 5, F.
1 8. gossamer] floating thread or And thou art come,
threads of spider's silk (goose-summer, Jul. I am (if I be Day)
possibly from its downy appearance ; Come to my Sunne : shine foorth,
but see New Eng. Diet, for objec- and make me faire."
tions). Malone and others read 30. Conceit . . . ] Such imagination
"gossamers That idle." as is more rich, etc. For conceit
21. confessor} accented as here (on compare iv. iii. 37.
con) by Shakespeare ; the variation of 32. worth] wealth, as in Twelfth
accent in Henry VII I . has been taken Night, III. iii. 17. For the idea
as one of the indications of double compare Ant. and Chop. I. i. 15 :
authorship. In Q I Juliet's first word "There's beggary in the love that
is Romeo. He responds : can be reckon'd."
" My Ittliet welcome. As doo 34. sum . . . wealth] No emenda-
waking eyes tion is required ; Capell's has, how-
(Cloasd in Nights mysts) attend ever, found favour with editors —
the frolicke Day, " sum up half my sum of wealth,"
So Romeo hath expected htliet,
sc.i.] ROMEO AND JULIET 89
Fri. Come, come with me, and we will make short
work ; 3 5
For, by your leaves, you shall not stay alone
Till holy church incorporate two in one. [Exeunt.
ACT III
SCENE I. — Verona. A public Place.
Enter MERCUTIO, BENVOLIO, Page, and Servants.
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.
Mer. Thou art like one of those fellows that when 5
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 it on the drawer, when in-
deed there is no need. 10
Ben. Am I like such a fellow ?
Mer. Come, come, thou art as hot a Jack in thy
A public Place] Capell. Enter . . . ] Capell ; Enter Mercutio, Benvolio,
and men Q, F. 2. Capulets'} F, Capels Q, Capels are Q I. 3, 4.]
verse Rowe ; prose Q, F. - 5. those'} Q I ; these Q, F. 9. if] Q I ; him
Q, F.
3. And, if[ Walker conjectured and Old Plays, ix. p. 36: "He that can
Delius reads An if. clap his sword upon the board, He 's
6, 7. Claps me his sword] A brawler's a brave man."
proceeding ; so, describing a swag- 9. if] The him (ethical dative) of
gerer, How a Man may choose a good Q, F is preferred by many editors,
Wife from a bad, Hazlitt's Dodsley's 12. Jack] See n, iv. 163.
90 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTIH.
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 20
for cracking nuts, having no other reason but
because 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 2 5
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 30
doublet before Easter? with another, for
tying his new shoes with old riband ? and yet
thou wilt tutor me from quarrelling !
Ben. An I were so apt to quarrel as thou art, any
man should buy the fee-simple of my life for 35
an hour and a quarter.
15. to\ Pope ; too Q, F. 16. an} Pope ; andQ, F. 34. An] Capell ;
And Q, F.
14. moody] angiy ; "in thy mood" 24, 25. as an egg . . .] So Gam-
in thy ill humour (compare Two Gent, mer Gurtoris Needle : "An egg is
of Verona, IV. i. 51); "moody to not so full of meat as she is full of
be moved" means "angry to be lies," Hazlitt's Dodsley's Old Plays,
aroused." iii. p. 240.
15. What to?] moved to what? 33. from quarrelling] Q 5 has for
Q, F have too, which Staunton re- quarrelling, which some editors
tains, explaining what too? as what follow.
else? what more?
SC. I.]
ROMEO AND JULIET
91
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. — 40
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.
Tyb. You shall find me apt enough to that, sir, an
you will give me occasion. 45
Mer. Could you not take some occasion without
giving ?
Tyb. Mercutio, thou consort'st with Romeo, —
Mer. Consort ! what, dost thou make us minstrels ?
an thou make minstrels of us, look to hear no- 50
thing but discords: here 's my fiddlestick; here 's
that shall make you dance. 'Zounds, consort !
37. Enter . . . ] Hanmer ; Enter Tybalt, Petruchio, and others Q, F;
transferred by many editors to follow line 38, by others to follow line 39.
38. come] F 2, Q 5 ; comes Q, F ; comes a Capolet Q i. 42. us ?] F, us, Q.
44 and 50. an] Capell ; and Q, F.
52. 'Zounds] Q, Come F.
37. Enter . . . ] The Petruchio
of the stage-direction Q, F is probably
the " young Petruchio " named by the
Nurse to Juliet, i. v. 134.
41. good den] See I. ii. 57.
48. consort st] " It is probable that
the different senses of consort had two
or even three different origins . . .
But . . . the senses appear to have
been considered as belonging to one
word, and to have mutually influenced
each other " (New Eng. Diet. ). Thus
Mercutio's play on the meanings to
keep company and to combine in
musical harmony falls in with what
48. Romeo, — ] Capell ; Romeo. Q, F.
had actually happened in the history
of the word.
49. minstrels] The word had associ-
ations not always of honour : "If
any fencer, bearward, minstrel . . .
tinker, pedlar, . . . have wandered
abroad, he is declared a rogue,
vagabond, and sturdy beggar. Lam-
bard's Eirenarcha> ed. 1607, p. 436.
In Much Ado, v. i. 129, Claudio
plays on drawing (the sword) as we
bid the minstrels draw (i.e. the bow).
52. 'Zounds] The F come was sub-
stituted in accordance with the statute
against profanity.
92 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTIH.
Ben, We talk here in the public haunt of men :
Either withdraw unto some private place,
Or reason coldly of your grievances, 5 5
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.
Enter ROMEO.
Tyb. Well, peace be with you, sir ; here comes my man.
Mer. But I '11 be hang'd, sir, if he wear your livery : 60
Marry, go before to field, he '11 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 65
Doth much excuse the appertaining rage
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.
Rom. I do protest I never injured thee, 7 1
But love thee better than thou canst devise,
58. Enter Romeo] after 59 Dyce and others ; after 62 Staunton. 63.
love] Q, F; hate Q I. 67. villain . . . none] omitted Ff 2-4. 71.
injured] F, injiiried Q. 72. love] Q i, Q; lov'dY.
55. Or reason] Capell, followed by 63. love] Several editors prefer the
several editors, reads And reason ; but unironical hate of Q I, and it is true
the peace-loving and cool Benvolio that Tybalt is not given to irony,
proposes three courses of action. 66. excuse] Perhaps, accept an ex-
Shakespeare uses reason both for cuse from, and remit or dispense with
debate and speak. the rage I feel, as appertaining to
56. afe/ar/] may mean /0r/, separate, such a greeting. Perhaps, however,
as in 3 Henry VI. n. vi. 43, and in the rage is Tybalt's which Romeo's
the Nut- Brown Maid: "we departe love excuses. Collier (MS.) has ex>
not so sone." (eed,
so. i.] ROMEO AND JULIET 93
Till thou shalt know the reason of my love :
And so, good Capulet, which name I tender
As dearly as mine own, be satisfied. 75
Mer. O calm, dishonourable, vile submission !
Alia stoccata carries it away. [Draws.
Tybalt, you rat-catcher, will you walk ?
Tyb. What wouldst thou have with me ?
Mer. Good king of cats, nothing but one of your 80
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 85
be out.
Tyb. I am for you. {Drawing.
Rom. Gentle Mercutio, put thy rapier up.
Mer. Come, sir, your passado. \They fight.
73. my] F, mine Q. 77. Alia stoccata] Knight ; Alia stucatho Q, F ;
A la stoccata Capell and others ; Draws] Capell. 87. Drawing] Rowe.
89. They fight] Capell.
77- stoccata] defined by Florio "a blewe and grene coloured, as ones bodie
thrust, a stoccado, a foyne." is after a dry stroke." So Holland,
77. carries it away] carries the day, PlutarcKs Morals ( 1 603), 1281: " His
as in Hamlet, u. ii. 377: "Do the body . . . is drie beaten, brused and
boys carry it away?" Lettsom con- broken." See IV. v. 122.
jectures "carry it away!" Clarke 84. pilcher] no other example known
thinks Alia stoccata is a jocose title as used here for scabbard ; probably
for Tybalt. the same as pilch, a leather coat or
78. rat - catcher] because king of cloak, and hence applied to a scab-
cats. See note n. iv. 20. bard. Steevens quotes examples of
Si. nine lives] For another Eliza- "leather pilch" from Nash, Pierce
bethan reference to a cat's nine lives, Pennilesse, and Dekker, Satiromastix-,
see Middleton, Blurt, Master Con- Staunton conjectures pilch, sir.
stable, iv. ii. Singer (ed. 2) reads pitcher, but with-
82. dry-beat] A blow that does not out justification. See Gifford's note
draw blood is a dry blow, but often on pilcher in Jonson, Poetaster,
used vaguely for hard. Ne-w Eng. ill. i.
Diet, (dry adj. 12) quotes Palsgrave, 89. passado] See note n. iv. 28.
Lesclarcissement, etc., 1530, "Bio,
94 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTHI.
Rom. Draw, Benvolio ; beat down their weapons. 90
Gentlemen, for shame, forbear this outrage !
Tybalt, Mercutio, the prince expressly hath
Forbid this bandying in Verona streets.
Hold, Tybalt ! good Mercutio !
\Exeunt Tybalt and his Partisans.
Mer. I am hurt,
A plague o' both your houses ! I am sped. 95
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.
\Exit Page.
Rom. Courage, man ; the hurt cannot be much.
Mer. No, 'tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as 100
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 105
a man to death ! a braggart, a rogue, a villain,
91. shame,] Theobald ; shame Q, F. 93. Forbid this} Q, Forbid Qq
3-5, Forbidden F. 94. Exeunt . . .] Malone, Away Tybalt Q, Exit
Tybalt F, Tibalt vnder Romeos arme thrusts Mercutio, in and flyes Q I.
95. o' both your} Dyce, a both Q, a both the F, on your Q I. 98. Exit
Page] Capell. 104. <?'] Capell ; a Q, F. 105. 'Zounds] Q 5, Sounds Q,
What F.
92. Tybalt} Tybalt may belong to originated in yr mistaken for ye.
the preceding line, Gentlemen, as Many editors read the.
often, being a disyllabic. Capell 101. church -door] Q I has barne
divides from Draw to Mercutio (in line door.
94) with the ending words Benvolio ^ 103. grave man} Compare John of
shame, Mercutio, bandying, Mercutio, Gaunt's play on his name, Richard II.
and so many editors. n. i. 82 : "Gaunt am I for the grave,
95. your houses'} Grant White sug- gaunt as a grave. " For passages
gests that the houses of F may have found only in Q i, see p. 184.
sc.i.] ROMEO AND JULIET 95
that fights by the book of arithmetic ! — Why
the devil came you between us ? I was hurt
under your arm.
Rom. I thought all for the best. 1 1 o
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,
And soundly too : your houses !
\Exeunt Mercutio and Benvolio.
Rom. This gentleman, the prince's near ally, 115
My very friend, hath got his mortal hurt
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 !
Re-enter BENVOLIO.
Ben. O Romeo, Romeo, brave Mercutio's dead !
That gallant spirit hath aspired the clouds,
Which too untimely here did scorn the earth.
H2. o'] F 4 ; a Q, F. 113, 114. I have . . . houses] Dyce's arrange-
ment; one line Q, F. 114. soundly too:'] Capell ; soundly, to Q;
soundly to Qq 3-5, F ; soundly tooY2; soundly too, Ff 3-4. 1 16. got his\
Qq 3-5, F ; got this Q ; tane this Q I. 119. cousin] Q, F ; kinsman Q I
and several editors. 122. Mercutio *s] F 2, Mercutio is Q, Mercutio s
is F.
107. arithmetic] fights by the rules 117. reputation^ S. Walker con-
of the teachers of fencing ; compare jectures reputation's.
11. iv. 24: "one, two, and the third 123. aspired] soar to, reach. So
in your bosom." Is it in this sense of Marlowe, Tamburlaine : "And both
studying rule and theory that lago our souls aspire celestial thrones."
calls Cassio (who never set a squadron
in the field) a "great arithmetician " ?
96 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTIH.
Rom. This day's black fate on more days doth
depend ; 125
This but begins the woe others must end.
Re-enter TYBALT.
Ben. Here comes the furious Tybalt back again.
Rom. Alive, in triumph ! and Mercutio slain !
Away to heaven, respective lenity,
And fire-eyed fury be my conduct now! — 130
Now, Tybalt, take the " villain " back again
That late thou gavest me ! for Mercutio's soul
Is but a little way above our heads,
Staying for thine to keep him company :
Either thou, or I, or both, must go with him. 135
Tyb. Thou, wretched boy, that didst consort him here,
Shalt with him hence.
Rom. This shall determine that.
[They fight; Tybalt falls.
Ben. Romeo, away ! be gone !
The citizens are up, and Tybalt slain :
Stand not amazed : the prince will doom thee
death 1 40
If thou art taken : hence ! be gone ! away !
125. more] Q I, Q 5 ; mo Q, F. 126. begins the woe} Q 5 ; begins, the
wo Q, F ; begins the woe, F 4. 128. Alive, in triumph!} Dyce, Alive in
triumph Q I, He gan in triumph Q (gon Qq 4, 5), He gon in triumph, F.
130. fire-eyed] Q i,fier end Q,fire and F. 135. Either} Q, F ; Or Q i.
125. depend} hang down, impend ; siderate, as in Merchant of Venice, v.
as in Troilus and Cressida, n. iii. 21 : i. 156.
"the curse depending [F, dependant] 130. conduct} conductor, as in v.
on those that war for a placket." iii. 116.
128. Alive} Capell reads Again? 136. consort} accompany, attend,
in triumph? as in Love's Labour's Lost, n. i. 178.
129. respective} regardful, con- 140. amazed} confounded, stupe-
fied, as often in Shakespeare.
sc.i.J ROMEO AND JULIET 97
Rom. Q, I am fortune's fool !
Ben. Why dost thou stay?
\Exit Romeo.
Enter Citizens, etc.
First Cit. Which way ran he that kill'd Mercutio ?
Tybalt, that murderer, which way ran he ?
Ben. There lies that Tybalt.
First Cit. Up, sir, go with me; 145
I charge thee in the prince's name, obey.
Enter PRINCE, attended ; MONTAGUE, CAPULET,
their Wives, and others.
Prince. Where are the vile beginners of this fray ?
Ben. O noble prince, I can discover all
The unlucky manage of this fatal brawl :
There lies the man, slain by young Romeo, 150
That slew thy kinsman, brave Mercutio.
Lady Cap. Tybalt, my cousin ! O my brother's child !
O prince ! O cousin ! husband ! O, the blood is
spill'd
Of my dear kinsman ! — Prince, as thou art true,
143. First Cit.] Malone; Citti Q, F. 146. Enter . . . ] Capell sub-
stantially ; Enter Prince, olde Mountague, Capulet, their wives and all Q,
F. 148. all} Q i, F; all: Q. 153. O prince . . O\ Q, F ; Vnhappie
sight? Ah Q i ; Unhappy sight! alas Pope, Malone (with ah me, for
alas).
142. fortune's fool] the sport or 148. discover] reveal, as in II. ii.
mock of fortune ; so " fools of nature " 1 06.
in Hamlet, i. iv. 54. Johnson sees a 149. manage"] conduct,
reference to fools of the drama : "I 153. cousin] Dyce's suggestion
am always running in the way of evil that cousin was here caught from
fortune like the Fool in the play." Qi the line above and inserted errone-
has " fortunes slave." ously by the printer may be right.
Several editors omit cousin.
98 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTHI.
For blood of ours, shed blood of Montague. 155
O cousin, cousin !
Prince. Benvolio, who began this bloody fray ?
Ben. Tybalt, here slain, whom Romeo's hand did slay :
Romeo, that spoke him fair, bid him bethink
How nice the quarrel was, and urged withal 1 60
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
With piercing steel at bold Mercutio's breast ; 165
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
It back to Tybalt, whose dexterity
Retorts it : Romeo he cries aloud, 1 70
" Hold, friends ! friends, part ! " and, swifter than his
tongue,
His agile arm beats down their fatal points,
And 'twixt them rushes ; underneath whose arm
An envious thrust from Tybalt hit the life
Of stout Mercutio, and then Tybalt fled; 175
'But by and by comes back to Romeo,
Who had but newly entertain'd revenge,
And to 't they go like lightning ; for, ere I
157. bloody] Q, omitted F. 159. bid} Q, F; bad Q 5. 172. agile]
Q i, Qq 4, 5 ; aged Q, F ; able Ff 2-4.
160. nice] unduly minute, trivial; 170. Retorts if] Collier (MS.)
as in v. ii. 18. adds the word home.
163. take truce] Capell conjectured 174. envious] malicious, as often in
make truce ; but the words of the text Shakespeare.
occur in Venus and Adonis, line 82, 176. by and by] immediately, as in
and King John, III. i. 17. II. ii. 151.
sc.i.] ROMEO AND JULIET 99
Could draw to part them, was stout Tybalt slain ;
And as he fell, did Romeo turn and fly : 1 80
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.
Prince. 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 ; 1 90
His fault concludes but what the law should end,
The life of Tybalt.
Prince. And for that offence
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; 195
But I '11 amerce you with so strong a fine
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 ;
189. owe?} Theobald ; owe Q, F. 190. Mon.] Qq 4, 5 ; Capu. Q ; Cap.
Q 3, F. 194. hate's} Knight ; hates Q I ; heartsQ, F. 198. I will} Q i,
Qq 4, 5, F 2 ; // will Q, F. 199. out} Q, our F,for Q I.
190. Mon.] Rowe here, emending 197. of mine} perhaps "of my
F Cap., assigns the speech to Lady blood"; perhaps only "my loss."
Cap. Theobald assigns it to Lady Allen conjectures this loss.
Mont. 198. / will} Mommsen reads //
194. hate's} Hanmer reads heats'* ', wilt with Q, F, it referring to blood.
Johnson (from Q, F) hearts '. 199. purchase out} So buy out in
195. My blood} because Mercutio Hamlet, in. iii. 60.
was his kinsman.
100 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTIH.
Therefore use none : let Romeo hence in haste, 200
Else, when he 's found, that hour is his last.
Bear hence this body and attend our will :
Mercy but murders, pardoning those that kill.
[Exeunt.
SCENE II. — The Same. Capulets Orchard.
Enter JULIET.
Jul. Gallop apace, you fiery-footed steeds,
Towards Phcebus' lodging : such a waggoner
As Phaethon would whip you to the west,
And bring in cloudy night immediately.
Spread thy close curtain, love-performing night, 5
That runaway's eyes may wink, and Romeo
Leap to these arms, untalk}d_of and unseen.
Lovers can see to do their amorous rites
By their own beauties ; or, if love be blind,
201. he's] Theobald ; he is Q, F. 203. but} Q, not F.
Scene //.
Capulet's Orchard] Globe ed., Capulet's garden Capell, An apartment in
Capulet's house Rowe, Juliet's apartment G. White. 2. Towards} Q, F ;
To Q I ; lodging} Q, F ; mansion Q i. 6. runaway's] runnawayes Qq 2,
3 ; run-awayes Qq 4, 5, F ; run-awaies Ff 2, 3 ; run-aways F 4. 7.
unseen.} Rowe ; unseene, Q, F ; unseene: Q 5. 8. rites} F 4 ; rights Q, F.
9. By} Qq 4, 5, Ff 2-4 ; And by Q, F.
i. Gallop apace} Malone : "Shake- So in Barnabe Riche's Farewell,
speare probably remembered Mar- 1583: ' The day to his seeming passed
lowe's Edward II. IV. iii. : away so slowely that he had thought
' Gallop apace, bright Phcebus, the stately steedes had bin tired that
through the sky, drawe the chariot of the Sunne, and
And dusky night, in rusty iron wished that Phaeton had beene there
car, with a whippe. ' "
Between you both shorten the 6. runaway's} See Appendix III.
time.' p. 197.
SC.H.] ROMEO AND JULIET 101
It best agrees with night. Come, civil night, 10
Thou sober-suited matron, all in black,
And learn me how to lose a winning match,
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 1 5
Think true love acted simple modesty.
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, 20
Give me my Romeo ; and, when Jie_sJialLdiev
Takejum^anicut him out in little stars,
And he will makejthe face of heaven so fine
Thatill the world will ben love with
And pay no worship tq_the_garish sjjn. 2 5
11. sober-suited} hyphen F 4. 15. grown] Rowe ; grow Q, F. 19.
new snow on] F 2 ; new snow upon Q, F ; snow upon Qq 4, 5. 21. he]
Qq4, 55 /Q, F.
10. civil] grave, sober, as in Dekker, 15. strange] reserved, as in 11. ii.
Seven Sinnes of London, i. (ed. 101.
Arber, 13), "in lookes, grave; in attire, 21. when he shall die} Delius
civill" prefers the / of Q, F, perhaps rightly.
12. learn] teach ; as often in Juliet, he says, demands life-long
Shakespeare. possession of her lover ; after her
14. Hood my unmanned blood, death, Night shall be her heiress :
bating] Falconry terms ; immann'd, " of the possibility of Romeo's death
not sufficiently trained to be familiar she cannot, in her present happiness,
with the keeper; bating, fluttering; conceive."
the bird was hooded on fist or perch 25 garish] excessively bright, glar-
to check the bating (French, se battre}. ing. Johnson: "Milton had this
There is probably a pun here on the speech in his thoughts when he wrote
word unmanned. See Henry V. III. . . . in // Penseroso : ' Till civil-
vii. 121, 122, and Taming of the suited morn appear,' and ' Hide me
Shrew, IV. i. 206-209. from day's garish eye' "
102 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTIII.
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
As is the night before some festival
To an impatient child that hath new robes 30
And may not wear them. — O, here comes my
nurse,
Enter Nurse, with cords.
And she brings news, and every tongue that speaks
But Romeo's name speaks heavenly eloquence. —
Now, nurse, what news ? What hast thou there ?
the cords
That Romeo bid thee fetch ?
Nurse. Ay, ay, the cords. 35
\Throws them down.
JuL Ay me ! what news ? why dost thou wring thy
hands ?
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 kill'd, 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 ?
Thi" torture should be roar'd in dismal hell.
31. Enter Nurse] Q, F; after line 33 Dyce, Cambridge. 34. there?] F,
there, Q. 35. Throws . . .] Capell substantially. 37. Ah] Pope; A
Q, F ; he 's dead] thrice (as here) Q, twice F.
40. envious] malicious.
SC. II.]
ROMEO AND JULIET
103
Hath Romeo slain himself? say thou but " I," 45
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,"
Or those eyes shut that make thee answer " I."
If he be slain say " I " ; or if not, no : 50
Brief sounds determine of my weal or woe.
Nurse. I saw the wound, I saw it with mine eyes, —
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, 5 5
All in gore blood ; I swounded at the sight.
ful. 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,
48. an "/,"] Q 5 (/) ; an L Q, F. 49. shut] Capell ; shot Q, F ; make]
Steevens (Johnson conject.) ; makes Q, F. 51. Brief sounds} Q 5 ; Brief e,
sounds, Q, F ; of] F, Q 5 ; omitted Q ; or Collier (MS.).
45- "/"] ay ; commonly printed I
in Shakespeare's time. A modern
editor is compelled here to retain the
old form, or to obscure the play on
/=ay, /, the vowel, and eye.
47. cockatrice] The power of the
fabled cockatrice (often identified
with basilisk) to slay with the eye is
spoken of in Richard III. iv. i. 56,
and Twelfth Night, ill. iv. 215. For
etymology and sense -history of the
word, see a long article in New Eng.
Diet. See Topsell, History of Ser-
pents (ed. 1658), pp. 677-681, and
Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica.
48. " / "] Many editors print /,
without inverted commas.
49. those eyes] Romeo's eyes.
51. determine of] decide, as in
Richard III. in. iv. 2.
53. mark] The origin of the ejacu-
lation is uncertain. It has been
suggested that it was originally a
bowman's exclamation: "May the
mark escape rival shooters ! "
56. gore blood] clotted blood. Halli-
well quotes Vicars, Virgil, 1632 :
"vented much black gore-blood."
56. swounded] The forms swoon,
swound, sound are all common in Eliza-
bethan books.
57-60. O break . . . bier] In place
of these lines Q I has :
"Ah, Romeo, Romeo, what disaster
hap
Hath severd thee from thy true
Juliet ?
Ah why should Heaven so much
conspire with Woe,
Or Fate envie our happie
Marriage,
So soone to sunder us by time-
less^ Death?"
104 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACT m.
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?
Is Romeo slaughter'd, and is Tybalt dead? 65
My dearest cousin, and my dearer lord ?
Then, dreadful trumpet, sound the general doom !
For who is living if those two are gone ?
Nurse. Tybalt is gone, and Romeo banished ;
Romeo, that kill'd him, he is banished. 70
Jul. O God! — did Romeo's hand shed Tybalt's
blood ?
Nurse. It did, it did ; alas the day, it did !
Jul. O serpent heart, hid with a flowering face !
Did ever dragon keep so fair a cave?
Beautiful tyrant ! fiend angelical ! 75
Dove-feather'd raven ! wolvish-ravening lamb !
Despised substance of divinest show !
Just opposite to what thou justly seem'st ;
A damned saint, an honourable villain !
O nature, what hadst thou to do in hell 80
60. one] Q 4 ; on Q, F. 66. dearest] Q, F ; dear-loved Q I. 67.
dreadful trumpet,] Q, F ; let the trumpet Q i. 69. gone] Q, F ; dead Q I.
72. Nurse] Q I, Q 5 ; omitted Q, F. 73, 74. Jul. O . . . Did] F 2, Q 5 ;
Nur. O . . . face ! Jul. Did, Q. F. 76. Dove-feathered raven] Theobald ;
Ravenous dovefeatherd Raven Q, F ; Ravenous dove, feathred Raven Qq 4, 5,
F 2. 79. damned] Qq 4, 5, F 2 ; dimme Q ; dimne F.
66. dearest] More force is given by 75. Beautiful] Daniel proposes
this reading to the dearer which Bountiful, to strengthen the anti-
follows than if dear-loved Q I were thesis,
read. 78. Just . . . justly] Exact . . .
73. O serpent] So Macbeth, I. v. exactly, as often in Shakespeare.
66: "look like the innocent flower,
But be the serpent under 't."
sc.ii.] ROMEO AND JULIET 105
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, 8 5
No faith, no honesty in men ; all perjured,
All forsworn, all naught, all dissemblers.
Ah, where Js my man ? give me some aqua vitce :
These griefs, these woes, these sorrows make me
old.
Shame come to Romeo !
Jul. Blister'd be thy tongue 90
For such a wish ! he was not born to shame :
Upon his brow shame is ashamed to sit ;
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 ! 95
Nurse. Will you speak well of him that kill'd your
cousin ?
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?
81. bower] Q, F ; power Q 4 ; poure Q 5. 95. at him} Q, him F.
87. All . . . dissemblers'] ', With the dissemblers, the first ending men. The
emphasis three times on all, and for- above is Capell's arrangement.
sworn pronounced as a trisyllable, the 98. smooth} With the literal mean-
line reads well enough. Daniel (after ing opposed to mangle, and the
Fleay) reads : metaphorical meaning speak well of,
"all naught, flatter, as in Titus Andronicus, v. ii.
All perjured, all dissemblers, all for- 140: "smooth, and speak him fair."
sworn." The idea is from Brooke's poem.
Q, F make two lines from There 's to
106 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTHI.
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.
My husband lives, that Tybalt would have slain ; 105
And Tybalt's dead, that would have slain my hus-
band :
All this is comfort; wherefore weep I then?
Some word there was, worser than Tybalt's death,
That murder'd me : I would forget it fain ;
But, O, it presses to my memory, 1 1 o
Like damned guilty deeds to sinners' minds :
" Tybalt is dead, and Romeo — banished ! "
That " banished," that one word " banished,"
Hath slain ten thousand Tybalts. Tybalt's death
Was woe enough, if it had ended there : 115
Or, if sour woe delights in fellowship
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,
Which modern lamentation might have moved? 120
But with a rearward following Tybalt's death,
106. Tybalts] Q, Tybalt F. 108. word] Q, words F. 121. with] Q,
which F.
117. needly} needs ; used only here rear-word. But compare Sonnets,
by Shakespeare. xc. 6 :
1 20. modern] ordinary, common, " Ah, do not, when my heart hath
as in All 's Well, n. iii. 2, and As You scaped this sorrow,
Like It, ii. vi. 156, and often else- Come in the rearward of a con-
where, quer'd woe."
121. rearward} Collier proposed And "the rearward of reproaches,"
Much Ado, iv. i. 128.
sc. ii.] ROMEO AND JULIET 107
" Romeo is banished " : to speak that word,
Is father, mother, Tybalt, Romeo, Juliet,
All slain, all dead : " Romeo is banished ! "
There is no end, no limit, measure, bound, 125
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 :
Will you go to them ? I will bring you thither.
Jul. Wash they his wounds with tears : mine shall be
spent, 130
When theirs are dry, for Romeo's banishment.
Take up those cords : poor ropes, you are
beguiled,
Both you and I, for Romeo is exiled :
He made you for a highway to my bed,
But I, a maid, die maiden-widowed. 135
Come, cords ; come, nurse ; I '11 to my wedding-
bed; r-
And death, not Romeo, take my/ maidenhead !
Nurse. Hie to your chamber : I '11 find Romeo
To comfort you : I wot well where he is.
Hark ye, your Romeo will be here at night : 1 40
I '11 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.
130. tears :] Qq 3, 4, F; teares? Q. 135. maiden-widowed'} hyphen
Rowe. 136. cords] Q, cord F.
126. sotmd] make audible; but to 130. tears:] Several editors prefer
sound as with a plummet is possible. the tears ? of Q.
108 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTIII.
SCENE III. — The Same. Friar Laurence's cell.
Enter Friar LAURENCE.
Fri. 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 ?
What sorrow craves acquaintance at my hand, 5
That I yet know not?
Fri. Too familiar
Is my dear son with such sour company :
I bring thee tidings of the prince's doom.
Rom. What less than dooms-day is the prince's doom ?
Fri. A gentler judgment vanish'd from his lips, 10
Not body's death, but body's banishment.
Rom. Ha, banishment ! be merciful, say " death " ;
For exile hath more terror in his look,
Much more than death : do not say " banishment."
Friar Laurence's cell] Capell. Enter Friar Laurence] Capell ; Enter Frier
Q I ; Enter Frier and Romeo Q, F. 4. Enter Romeo] Q I, Dyce ; after
line i Capell. 14. Much . . . death} Q, F; Than death it self e Q I.
Enter. . .] Friar Laurence has in The Renegado, v. iii. , has : "Upon
come from without ; Romeo is hidden those lips from which those sweet
within; hence the directions of Q I words vanished" which Keightley
seem right. supposes was written on the authority
1. fearful} full of fear, as often in of the present passage. Heath con-
Shakespeare, jectured issued. I suspect that banish-
2. parts'} gifts, endowments, as in ment in the next line misled the
III. V. 182. printer ; but possibly (and it is strange
10. vanished} No such use of vanish that this has not been suggested)
is found elsewhere in Shakespeare, Shakespeare wrote :
for breath vanishing from the lips " A gentler judgment— ' banish'd ' —
like smoke (in Lucrece, line 1041) is from his lips."
not a parallel. Massinger, however,
sc.ii..] ROMEO AND JULIET 109
Fri. Hence from Verona art thou banished : I 5
Be patient, for the world is broad and wide.
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 smilest upon the stroke that murders me.
Fri. O deadly sin ! O rude unthankfulness !
Thy fault our law calls death ; but the kind
prince, 2 5
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.
Rom. 'Tis torture, and not mercy : heaven is here,
Where Juliet lives; and every cat and dog 30
And little mouse, every unworthy thing,
Live here in heaven and may look on her,
But Romeo may not : more validity,
More honourable state, more courtship lives
In carrion flies than Romeo : they may seize 3 5
15. Hence] Q i; Here Q, F. 20. world's exile'} Q, F; world exilde
Q i; world-exiPd Pope. 21. "banished"} Q, F; banishment Q I.
28. dear} Q, F; meere Q i.
20. exile} The accent is variable; 83: "this ample third of our fair
see line 13 and line 43. kingdom, No less in space, validity.
26. rushed] Capell conjectured and pleasure."
piish'd', Collier (MS.) has brush' 'd. 34. courtship} Schmidt compares
Schmidt explains rushed aside as As You Like It, III. ii. 364: "an
eluded, comparing Measure for inland man, one that knew corirtship
Measure, i. iv. 63 : " have run by the well, for there he fell in love," as
hideous law." another example of the word with the
33. validity} worth, value, as in two meanings of civility, courtliness
All's Well, v. iii. 192, and Lear, i. i. and courting, wooing, blent into one.
110 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTIH.
On the white wonder of dear Juliet's hand,
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 say'st 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, 45
But " banished " to kill me ? — " Banished " ?
O friar, the damned use that word in hell;
Howling attends it : how hast thou the heart,
Being a divine, a ghostly confessor,
A sin-absolver, and my friend profess'd, 50
To mangle me with that word " banished " ?
Fri. Thou fond mad man, hear me a little speak.
40-43. But . . . death?} see note below. 48. Howling attends] Q I,
Q ; Howlings attends F. 51. " banished"} Q, F ; banishment Q I. 52.
Thou] Q i, Qq 4, 5 ; Then Q, F ; hear me a little speak} Q, heare me
speake F, heare me but speake a word Q I.
40-43. But . . . death ?} Q I has : text. For the various arrangements
" And steale immortall kisses from of editors, see Furness.
her lips ; 45. mean of death} Shakespeare
But Romeo may not, he is banished, uses both the singular mean and the
Flies may doo this, but I from this plural means.
must flye. 48. Howling} To howl is used by
Oh Father hadst thou no strong Shakespeare several times with special
poyson mixt. " reference to the outcries of the damned,
Q places after line 39 of text lines 41, as in 2 Henry IV. n. iv. 374, and
43, 40, and then adds the line " Flies Hamlet ', v. i. 265.
may," etc., of Q I, which is followed 52. fond] foolish,
by 42 of the text. F gives only line 52. hear . . . speak} G. White
41 of the text, followed by 43, 40. justly remarks that, although most
Errors were made in printing a re- editors follow Q i, "hear me but
vision based on Q I. See the note in speak a word," the change seems
Daniel's edition in explanation and plainly to have been made to avoid
defence of the arrangement in the the unpleasant recurrence of word.
sc.m.] ROMEO AND JULIET 111
Rom. O, thou wilt speak again of banishment.
Fri. I '11 give thee armour to keep off that word ;
Adversity's sweet milk, philosophy, 5 5
To comfort thee, though thou art banished.
Rom. Yet " banished " ? Hang up philosophy !
Unless philosophy can make a Juliet,
Displant a town, reverse a prince's doom,
It helps not, it prevails not : talk no more. 60
Fri. O, then I see that madmen have no ears.
Rom. How should they, when that wise men have no eyes ?
Fri. 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, 65
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,
Taking the measure of an unmade grave. 70
{Knocking within.
Fri. 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.
{Knocking.
Fri. Hark, how they knock ! — Who 's there ? — Romeo
arise ;
54. keep off that} Q, F; beare off this Q i. 62. that] Q, omitted F.
63. dispute] Q i, Q; dispaire F. 64. that} Q, F; what Q i. 65.
as I, Juliet thy} Q i, Q ; as Juliet my F. 70. Knocking . . .] Enter
Nurse, and knocke Q (so F with "knockes").
63. dispute . . . estate} discuss 70, measure . . . grave] So As You
with you concerning your present Like //, n. vi. 2 : " Here lie I down,
state of affairs, and measure out my grave,"
112 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTIH.
Thou wilt be taken. — Stay awhile ! — Stand up ; 7 5
[Knocking-.
Run to my study. — By and by ! — God's will,
What simpleness is this ! — I come, I come !
[Knocking;
Who knocks so hard ? whence come you ? what 's
your will ?
Nurse. [ Withinl\ Let me come in, and you shall know
my errand ;
I come from Lady Juliet.
Fri. Welcome then. 80
Enter Nurse.
Nurse. O holy friar, O, tell me, holy friar,
Where is my lady's lord, where 's Romeo ?
Fri. There on the ground, with his own tears made
drunk.
Nurse. O, he is even in my mistress' case,
Just in her case !
Fri. O woeful sympathy ! 8 5
Piteous predicament !
75. Knocking] Slud knock Qq 2, 3 ; Knocke againe Qq 4, 5 ; Knocke F.
77. simpleness} Q, F; wilfulness, Q I. 79. [Within]] Rowe. 80.
Enter Nurse] Rowe ; after line 78 Q, F. 82. Where is] Q i; Wheres Q, F.
75. Knocking] The puzzling stage- are given to the Nurse. Farmer con-
direction of Q " Slud knock " may, I jectured that they are the Friar's;
think, be thus explained : The original Steevens and most modern editors
word in line 76 was not study ; stud have adopted the suggestion. Unless
was written above, but the word could the Nurse, in the presence of the
not be completed, being interrupted learned Friar, produces her longest
by knock ; study was written in the words, predicament can hardly be
margin, and stud was not erased ; hers. It means here, condition ; it
which the printer misrepresented as is used for category, condition, by
Slud. Portia, Merchant of Venice, IV. i.
85, 86. Fri. 0 . . . predicament] 357, and by Hotspur, 1 Henry IV. I.
In all the early editions these words iii. 168. The word sympathy, mean-
SC. III.]
ROMEO AND JULIET
113
Nurse. 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 ? 90
Rom. Nurse !
Nurse. Ah sir ! ah sir ! Well, death 's the end of all.
Rom. Spakest thou of Juliet? how is it with her?
Doth she not think me an old murderer,
Now I have stain'd the childhood of our joy 95
With blood removed but little from her own ?
Where is she ? and how doth she ? and what says
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, 100
And Tybalt calls ; and then on Romeo cries,
And then down falls again.
Rom. As if that name,
Shot from the deadly level of a gun,
88. an] Rowe ; and Q, F. 90. O ?] Q, 0. F. 92. Well, death Y| Q I ;
deaths Q, F. 93. Spakesf} Q, Speak }st, F. 94. she not] Q I ; not she
Q, F. 98. our canceled] Q I, Q; our conceaPd F. 101. calls . . .
cries'} Q, F; cries . . . calls Q I. 103. deadly} Q, dead, F.
ing correspondence or similarity of
suffering, as in Titus Andronicus,
in. i. 148, seems also to be out of
the compass of the Nurse's vocabu-
lary. Delius and Daniel, however,
assign the words, with Q, F, to the
Nurse.
87. Blubbering] The suggestion of
ridicule was not necessarily connected
with this word, as used by Elizabethan
writers ; it occurs only here in the
text of Shakespeare.
8
90. an 0] Hanmer, followed by
Johnson, reads "deep an — Rom. Oh
Nurse" O seems here to mean an
exclamation of sorrow. Collier (MS. )
adds a stage - direction "Romeo
groans."
98. conceal'd} My lady, though that
she is so is concealed from the world.
103. level] range, line of aim, as in
Sonnets, cxvii. n : " Bring me within
the level of your frown, But shoot not
at me in your waken'd hate."
114 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTIH.
Did murder her, as that name's cursed hand
Murder'd her kinsman. O, tell me, friar, tell
me, i o 5
In what vile part of this anatomy
Doth my name lodge? tell me, that I may sack
The hateful mansion. [Drawing his sword.
Fri. Hold thy desperate hand :
Art thou a man ? thy form cries out thou art :
IThy tears are womanish ; thy wild acts denote 1 1 o
The unreasonable fury of a beast :
Unseemly woman in a seeming man !
And ill-beseeming beast in seeming both !
Thou hast amazed me : by my holy order,
I thought thy disposition better temper'd. 1 1 5
Hast thou slain Tybalt? wilt thou slay thyself?
And slay thy lady that in thy life lives,
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 120
In thee at once, which thou at once wouldst lose.
Fie, fie ! thou shamest thy shape, thy love, thy wit ;
Which, like a usurer, abound'st in all,
1 08. Drawing . . .] Theobald ; He offers to stab himself, and Nurse
snatches the dagger away Q i. no. denote} Q i, Qq 4, 5, F; denote
Q; doe note F 2. 113. And} Q F; Or Q i. 117. lady . . . lives]
F 4 ; lady, . . lies, Q, F ; Lady too, that lives in thee ? Q i.
106. anatomy} a body or a "sub- here and in lines 119-121. See p.
ject " for dissection ; compare Twelfth 192.
Night, in. ii. 67. 119. birth} Romeo has not railed
109. Art thoii a man ?} Shakespeare on his birth ; but in Brooke's poem
closely follows Brooke's poem, both Romeus does so.
sc.m.] ROMEO AND JULIET 115
And usest none in that true use indeed
Which should bedeck thy shape, thy love, thy
wit : 125
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 ;
Thy wit, that ornament to shape and love, 130
Misshapen in the conduct of them both,
Like powder in a skilless soldier's flask,
Is set a-fire by thine own ignorance,
And thou dismember'd with thine own defence.
What, rouse thee, man ! thy Juliet is alive, 135
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 :
The law that threaten'd death becomes thy friend,
And turns it to exile ; there art thou happy : 1 40
A pack of blessings light upon thy back ;
Happiness courts thee in her best array ;
But, like a misbehaved and sullen wench,
138. slew'st . . . too] Q i, F 2 ; Q, F omit too. 139. becomes'] Q,
became F. 140. ttirns] Q, turn'd F. 141. of blessings} Q, of blessing
Q 3, or blessing F ; light] Q, F ; lights, Q I, Q 4. 142. her] Q, F ; his
Q I. 143. misbehaved] Q I, Qq 4, 5 ; mishaved Q ; mishaped F.
125. wit] understanding, or judg- cient English soldiers using match-
ment. locks . . were obliged to carry a lighted
127. Digressing] deviating. New match, hanging at their belts, very
Eng. Diet, cites Golding, Calvin on near to the wooden Jlask in which
Psalms, Ixxi. 16: "As the other they kept their powder."
translation agreeth very well, I would 134. And thou] And thou blown
not digresse from it." into fragments by what should have
132. powder] Steevens : "The an- been thy means of defence.
:•• • «! '
116 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTIH.
Thou pout'st upon thy fortune and thy love :
Take heed, take heed, for such die miserable. 145
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 ;
Where thou shalt live till we can find a time i 5 o
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. —
Go before, nurse : commend me to thy lady, i 5 5
And bid her hasten all the house to bed,
Which heavy sorrow makes them apt unto :
Romeo is coming.
Nurse. O Lord, I could have stay'd here all the night
To hear good counsel : O, what learning is ! 1 60
My lord, I '11 tell my lady you will come.
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 revived by this! 165
Fri. Go hence. Good night ; and here stands all your
state :
144. poufst upon] Q 5, poivts upon Q 4, puts tip Q, puttest up F,
frownst upon Q I. 152. the] Q, thy Y. 159. the] Q, omitted F.
162.] Nurse offers to goe in, and turnes againe Q I. 163. Here . . . sir]
Q, F ; Heere is a Ring sir, that she bad me give you Q I .
144. poufst upon] Steevens : "The 163. Here, sir] Daniel conjectures
reading in the text is confirmed by the Here, sir 's.
following passage in Coriolanus, V. i. 166. here stands] Johnson: "The
52 : * then We pout upon the morn- whole of your fortune depends on
ing.'" this."
sc.iv.J ROMEO AND JULIET 117
Either be gone before the watch be set,
Or by the break of day disguised from hence :
Sojourn in Mantua : I '11 find out your man,
And he shall signify from time to time 1 70
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 :
Farewell. \Exeunt. , 175
SCENE IV. — The Same. A room in Capulefs
house.
Enter CAPULET, Lady CAPULET, and PARIS.
Cap. Things have fall'n out, sir, so unluckily,
That we have had no time to move our daughter :
Look you, she loved her kinsman Tybalt dearly,
And so did I : well, we were born to die.
'Tis very late, she '11 not come down to-night : 5
I promise you, but for your company,
I would have been a-bed an hour ago.
Par. These times of woe afford no time to woo.
Madam, good night : commend me to your
daughter.
Lady Cap. I will, and know her mind early to-
morrow ; I o
1 68. disguised] F, disguise Q.
Scene IV.
A room . . .] Capell. Enter . . .] Rowe. 8. time] Q I ; times Q, F.
118 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTHI.
To-night she 's mew'd up to her heaviness.
Cap. Sir Paris, I will make a desperate tender
Of my child's love : I think she will be ruled
In all respects by me ; nay more, I doubt it not. —
Wife, go you to her ere you go to bed ; I 5
Acquaint her here of my son Paris' love,
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 '11 keep no great ado ; a friend or two ;
For, hark you, Tybalt being slain so late,
It may be thought we held him carelessly, 25
Being our kinsman, if we revel much.
Therefore we '11 have some half a dozen friends,
And there an end. — But what say you to Thursday ?
Par. My lord, I would that Thursday were to-morrow.
Cap. Well, get you gone : o' Thursday be it then. — 30
II. she's] Q, she is F. 16. here of] Q 4 ; here, of Q, F ; hereof, Q 3 ;
here with Q 5. 17. next — ] Rowe ; next, Q, F. 20. <9' . . . o]
Capell; A . . . a Q, F. 23. We'll keep] F, Well, keepe Q. 30. o']
Capell ; a Q, F.
11. meufd up] shut up, as in venturous, offer. Steevens cites from
Richard III. I. i. 38. Mew, originally The Weakest goeth to the Wall, 1600 :
a cage; afterwards, as stated in R. "Witness this desperate tender of
Holmes, Academy of Armory and mine honour."
Blazon, "the place ... in which 23. We'll] Mommsen argues in
the hawk is put during the time she favour of Q Well, supposing that
casts . . . her feathers." The oldest Capulet here replies to a gesture of
meaning of the French word is to horror, made by his wife at the sug-
moult. gestion that she can be so soon
12. desperate tender} bold, or ad- ready.
sc. v.J
ROMEO AND JULIET
119
Go you to Juliet ere you go to bed,
Prepare her, wife, against this wedding-day. —
Farewell, my lord. — Light to my chamber, ho !
Afore me, it is so very very late,
That we may call it early by and by : — 3 5
Good night. \Exeunt.
SCENE V. — The Same. Capulefs orchard.
Enter ROMEO and JULIET, above , at the window.
Jul. Wilt thou be gone ? it is not yet near day :
It was the nightingale, and not the lark,
That pierced the fearful hollow of thine ear ;
Nightly she sings on yond pomegranate tree :
34, 35. Afore . . . by and by\ Q i, Afore . . . so very late . . . by and
by Q, Afore . . . so late . . . by and by F.
Scene v.
Enter . . . above, at the window] Cambridge ; Enter . . . aloft Q, F ;
Enter ... at the window Q I. 4. yond~\ Q, F ; yon Q I.
34. Afore me~\ i.e. God before me
(Dyce), in the presence of God, as in
Pericles ', n. i. 84: "Now, afore me,
a handsome fellow." Or may it not
be corrupted from ' ' Afore my God " ?
Here it is possible that the words are
an instruction to the light-bearer to
carry the light before Capulet, or to
Paris to take precedence in leaving
the room.
35. by and by\ presently, immedi-
ately, as in n. ii. 151.
Scene v.
Capulet's orchard] So the Cam-
bridge editors ; several editors ' 'Juliet's
chamber." Rowe/ 'Capulet's garden,"
but Rowe closed the scene with line
59. The division - marks which ap-
pear in the later part of Q i seem to
me to support Rowe. I believe that
on the Elizabethan stage the dialogue
between Romeo and Juliet took place
on the balcony, and that the scene
then changed to Juliet's chamber.
Q I introduces the Nurse before the
balcony scene closes ; she announces
that Lady Capulet is coming to Juliet's
chamber, and then "she goeth down
from the window"; the curtain, I
suppose, was drawn, and the orchard
below immediately became Juliet's
chamber. But for the inconvenience
which attends the disturbing of ac-
cepted arrangements, I should follow
Rowe in this division of scenes.
4. pomegranate] The pomegranate
had been introduced into England as
early as 1548 ; it grew " plenteously,"
says Turner, in his Names of Herbes
120 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACT m.
Believe me, love, it was the nightingale. 5
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 :
Night's candles are burnt out, and jocund day
Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops: 10
I must be gone and live, or stay and die.
JuL Yond light is not daylight, I know it, I :
It is some meteor that the sun exhales,
To be to thee this night a torch-bearer,
And light thee on thy way to Mantua : i 5
Therefore stay yet ; thou need'st not to be gone.
Rom. Let me be ta'en, let me be put to death ;
I am content, so thou wilt have it so.
I '11 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 :
10. mountain} Q; Mountaines Q 3, F. 12. Yond] Q, F; Yon Q I.
13. exhales] F, exhale Q. 16. Therefore . . . gone] Q, F; Then stay
awhile, thou shalt not goe soone Q I (and Pope, reading so soon}.
of that year, "in Italy and in Spayne." from Sidney's Arcadia, Sir J. Davies'
Knight quotes, from Russel's account Orchestra, and Drayton's England's
of Aleppo, a description of the night- Heroical Epistles.
ingale singing from the pomegranate 16. stay yet ;] Rowe connected^/
grove. It is the male bird — " he " not with what follows : "stay, yet."
"she" — who is the chief singer ; but 20. Cynthia 's brow] In Singer's
the tale of Tereus and Philomela en- copy of F 2 brow was corrected in
couraged the opposite notion. MS. to bow; so too Collier (MS.);
7. envious] malicious, as often in brow may mean forehead or counten-
Shakespeare. ance. Rolfe understands that the
1 3. exhales] Meteors were supposed moon is conceived as rising, and that
to be derived from matter drawn up the reflex or reflection is from the
by the sun ; see 1 Henry IV. v. i. 19, edges of the clouds lit up by the moon
and Person's Varieties (1635), "Of behind them. Clarke suggests an
Meteors." allusion to the crescent borne on
14. torch-bearer] Todd quotes par- Diana's forehead,
allels for a similar use of the image
sc.v.] ROMEO AND JULIET 121
I have more care to stay than will to go :
Come, death, and welcome ! Juliet wills it so.
How is Jt, my soul ? let 's talk ; it is not day. '25
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 ;
This doth not so, for she divideth us : 30
Some say the lark and loathed toad change eyes ;
O, now I would they had changed voices too !
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. 3 5
Rom. More light and light ; more dark and dark our
woes !
25. How . . . soul?] Q, F; What sayes my Love ? Q I.
29. division] New Eng. Diet. : "A bird had a harsh voice to sing of
rapid melodic passage, originally con- harshness.
ceived as the dividing of each of a 33. affray] Not frighten (as Schmidt
succession of long notes into several says), but disturb or startle from sleep
short ones." Naylor (Shakespeare or quiet, as Chaucer in Blaunche the
and Music, p. 28) notes the cant term Duchess (line 296) is affray ed out of
" note-splitting " for the old-fashioned his sleep by " smaie foules."
variation. Compare 1 Henry I V. 34. hunts - up\ New Eng. Diet. :
III. i. 211: " ravishing division, to " Originally the hunt is up, name of an
her lute." The songster (line 30) is old song and its tune, sung or played
again she ; Q I reads this in place of to awaken huntsmen in the morning ;
she. . . . hence ... an early morning
31. toad\ Warburton says that the song." Compare Titus Andronicus,
toad having fine eyes and the lark n. ii. i. Cotgrave (ed. 1632) has
ugly ones, it was commonly said that Res-veil, "a Hunts-up, or morning
they had changed eyes. Johnson song for a new-married wife, the day
quotes a ' ' rustic rhyme " to this after the marriage. " B. Riche, Dia-
effect. Several editors follow Rowe logue between Mercury, etc. (1574) :
in reading changed 'for change. Heath " Unlesse you sometimes arise to geve
explains : If the toad and lark had your parramours the hunte is up under
changed voices, the lark's croak the windowes."
would be no signal of the day. Lines 36. and 'light ;] Theobald and other
33, 34 seem to show that the joy of editors read and light? Stauntonhas
the lark's song adds a bitterness to light!
Juliet's grief, and that she wishes the
122 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACT m.
Enter Nurse.
Nurse. Madam !
Jul. Nurse?
Nurse. Your lady mother is coming to your chamber :
The day is broke ; be wary, look about. [Exit. 40
Jul. Then, window, let day in, and let life out.
Rom. Farewell, farewell ! one kiss, and I '11 descend.
[Descends.
Jul. Art thou gone so ? love-lord, ay, husband-friend !
I must hear from thee every day in the hour,
For in a minute there are many days : 45
O, by this count I shall be much in years
Ere I again behold my Romeo !
Rom. Farewell !
I will omit no opportunity
That may convey my greetings, love, to thee. 50
Jul. O, think'st thou we shall ever meet again ?
Rom. I doubt it not ; and all these woes shall serve
36. Enter Nurse] Rowe ; Enter Madame and Nurse Q, F. 38. Nurse ?]
Theobald -,JVurse.Q,F. 40. Exit] Theobald. 42. Descends] Theobald,
He goeth downe Q I. 43. love-lord, ay, husband-friend!] Ed. ; love,
Lord, ay husband, friend Q, F (ah for ay F 2) ; my Lord, my Love, my Frend?
Qi.
43. love-lord, ay, husband-friend] I In the corresponding passage of
have inserted hyphens; love and. friend Brooke's poem friend and friendship
(as commonly) mean lover; other- are used where we should use lover
wise a climax seems attempted with and love.
little success. I think that Juliet, 44. day in the hour] Collier (MS.)
trying to amass into names all the declines hyperbole, and reads "hour
sweetness of their union, addresses in the day."
Romeo as lover - lord, and then, re- 45. For . . . days] Q I has For
versing the order, as husband-lover, . . . hower . . . minutes, and adds
insisting (ay) on husband, and such a Minutes are dayes, so will I number
husband as is still a lover (friend), them : so Daniel, reading days for
Many editors follow Q I, "my lord, minutes in the first line,
my love, my friend ! " ; others read 52. / doubt it not] Daniel con-
"my love! my lord! my friend!" jectures Ay, doubt it not.
sc. v.] ROMEO AND JULIET 123
For sweet discourses in our time to come.
Jul. O God ! I have an ill-divining soul :
Methinks I see thee, now thou art below,
As one dead in the bottom of a tomb :
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.
Lady Cap. [ Within .] Ho, daughter ! are you up ?
Jul. Who is't that calls? is it my lady mother? 65
Is she not down so late, or up so early ?
What unaccustom'd cause procures her hither ?
Enter Lady CAPULET.
Lady Cap. Why, how now, Juliet !
Jul. Madam, I am not well.
Lady Cap. Evermore weeping for your cousin's death ?
What, wilt thou wash him from his grave with
tears ? 70
53. our time] F, our times Q, the time Q I. 55. thee, now] Pope ; thee
now, Q, F ; below} Q I ; so low Q, F. 64. [Within]] Capell. 65. is
it} F, it zVQ; mother T\ F 2; mother. Q, F. 67. Enter Lady Capulet]
Capell ; Enter Mother (after back, line 64) Q, F.
55. below} Some editors prefer Q, an ancient notion that sorrow con-
F, so low ; I think the so was an sumed the blood ..." 3 Henry VL
error caused by soul immediately IV. iv. 22 : " blood-sucking sighs. "
above. 66. down} lying down, abed.
59. Dry sorrow} Malone : " He is 67. procures} Hanmer read pro-
accounting for their paleness. It was vokes, but no emendation is required.
124 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACT m.
An if thou couldst, thou couldst not make him
live;
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 7 5
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. 80
Jul. [A side, .] Villain and he be many miles asunder. —
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.
Jul. Ay, madam, from the reach of these my hands: 85
Would none but I might venge my cousin's death !
Lady Cap. We will have vengeance for it, fear thou
not :
f
f< Then weep no more. I '11 send to one in Mantua,
V Where that same banish'd runagate doth live,
71. An] Theobald; And Q, F. 81. [Aside]] Hanmer ; be] Q, F; are
Q i. 82. him} Q 4, F 2 ; omitted Q, F. 84. murderer] Q, omitted F.
74. feeling] sensible, affecting ; so 76. weep for] Theobald emends the
"feeling sorrows," Winter's Tale, IV. verse by reading "do weep for."
ii. 8. Mommsen conjectures But feeling or
In feeling.
SC. V.]
ROMEO AND JULIET
125
Shall give him such an unaccustom'd dram 90
That he shall soon keep Tybalt company :
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. 95
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 named, and cannot come to him, 100
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 '11 find such a
man.
But now I Jll tell thee joyful tidings, girl.
Jul. And joy comes well in such a needy time. 105
What are they, I beseech your ladyship ?
Lady Cap. Well, well, thou hast a careful father, child ;
One who, to put thee from thy heaviness,
90. Shall . . . drani\ Q, F ; That shotdd bestow on him so sure a draught
Q i. 94. him — dead — ] Theobald; him. Dead Q, F. 101. cousin
Tybalt] F 2 ; Cozen Q, F. 105. needy} Q, F ; needful Q i. 106. /
beseech} Q 4, F 2 ; beseech Q, F.
94. Romeo,'] Daniel reads Romeo — ,
and puts a dash after heart in the
next line. He analyses the ambigui-
ties of Juliet's words .thus : " i. I
never shall be satisfied with Romeo.
2. I never shall be satisfied with
Romeo till I behold him. 3. I never
shall be satisfied with Romeo till I
behold him dead. 4. Till I behold
him, dead is my poor heart. 5. Dead
is my poor heart, so for a kinsman
vext."
101. To . . . Tybalt} The addition
Tybalt of F 2 is not accepted by all
editors. Theobald (omitting Tybalt}
reads slaughter'd cousin ; Malone
conjectures murdered cousin ; other
suggestions are tender love, ever boret
bore unto,
105. needy} poor, beggarly, pov-
erty-stricken. Several editors prefer
the needfttl oi Q i.
126 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACT m.
Hath sorted out a sudden day of joy,
That thou expect'st not, nor I look'd not for. 1 1 o
JuL Madam, in happy time, what day is that?
Lady Cap. Marry, my child, early next Thursday morn,
The gallant, young, and noble gentleman,
The County Paris, at Saint Peter's church,
Shall happily make thee there a joyful bride. 1 1 5
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, I 20
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 !
Lady Cap. Here comes your father ; tell him so yourself,
And see how he will take it at your hands. 125
Enter CAPULET and Nurse.
Cap. When the sun sets, the air doth drizzle dew ;
But for the sunset of my brother's son
It rains downright.
no. expect' strove ; expects Q, F. in. that} Q, this F. 115. there]
Q, omitted F. 126. air] Qq 4, 5 ; earth, Q, F.
III. in happy time'] Equivalent, Lady Capulet's promise (line 104) of
says Schmidt, to the French a la "joyful tidings.
bonne heure, used either to express 1 26. air] Malone thought the earth
acquiescence, or astonishment and of Q, F was supported by Lucrece,
indignation. line 1226: "But as the earth doth
121. / swear] omitted by some weep, the sun being set." Elsewhere
editors, and absent from Q I. Shakespeare speaks of the dew as
123. These . . . indeed] given by "falling." Grant White suggests
Collier (MS.) to Lady Capulet. As that earth was printed for air through
Dyce observes, Juliet's words refer to confusion caused by the pronunciation
of earth, airth.
sc.v.] ROMEO AND JULIET 127
How now ! a conduit, girl ? what, still in tears ?
Evermore showering? In one little body 130
Thou counterfeit'st a bark, a sea, a wind ;
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, i 3 5
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.
I would the fool were married to her grave ! 140
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 blest,
Unworthy as she is, that we have wrought
So worthy a gentleman to be her bridegroom? 145
Jul. Not proud, you have, but thankfuls that you have :
Proud can I never be of what I hate ;
130. showering? In . . . body] Q 5; showring in . . . body? Q, F.
131. Thou counterfeit' st d\ Q 5> Thoti coimtefaits. A Q, Thou counter -
faits a F. 135. thy} Q, the F. 145. bridegroom} F, Bride Q. 147.
hate} Q, have F.
129. conduit} Malone notes that 145. bridegroom'} The bride of Q
the same image occurs more than (and of it alone) is not necessarily
once in Brooke's poem, and in wrong. In the fifteenth and sixteenth
Lucrece, line 1234. " Conduits," he centuries bride was used of both
adds, "in the form of human figures man and woman. Sylvester, Dtt
were common in Shakespeare's time." Bartas, iv. ii. 211, 212 (1598):
133. body is} Ff 2-4 omit is. " Daughter dear . . . Isis bless thee
141. take me with you~} let me and thy Bride With golden fruit."
understand you, as in 1 Henry IV.
II. iv. 506.
128 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTIII.
But thankful even for hate, that is meant love.
Cap. How now ! how now, chop-logic ! What is this ?
"Proud," and "I thank you," and "I thank you
not"; 150
And yet " not proud " : mistress minion, you,
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. i 5 5
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.
Cap. Hang thee, young baggage ! disobedient
wretch ! 1 60
149. How now! how now,] Qq 3, 4 (with comma for /), How, how,
howhow, Q, How now ? How now ? F, How, how ! how, how ! Capell ;
chop-logic!] Steevens (from Q i), chopt lodgick. Q, Chop* Logicke? F.
151. And . . . you] Q, omitted F; proud:] Q 4, proud Q. 156. green-
sickness} hyphen F 4 (and so tallow-face, line 157).
149. chop-logic] To chop is to barter, "Grace me no grace, nor uncle me
give in exchange ; to chop logic, to no uncle. "
exchange or bandy logic ; a chop-logic 153. fettle] Ff 2-4 rezdsett/e. The
is a contentious, sophistical arguer. primary sense of fettle seems to be to
Awdelay, Fraternitye of Vacabondes gird up ; hence to make ready, put
(1561), p. 15, New Sh. Soc. reprint: in order. New Eng. Diet, cites
" Choplogyke is he that when his Schole-House of Women (1561), 571,
mayster rebuketh him of hys fault he in Hazlitt's English Popular Poetry,
wyll geve him xx words for one." iv. 127 : " Our fily is fettled unto the
150. "Proud"] Hudson adopts saddle." See a long article in
Lettsom's conjecture : Wright's English Dialect Diet.
"Proud, and yet not proud, and / Elizabethan and earlier examples are
thank y oil not \ not uncommon.
And yet / thank you. " 156, 157. green • sickness carrion
151. mistress'} pronounced probably . . . tallow-face] The vituperative
as a trisyllable. Theobald reads words dramatically suggest the pallor
Why, mistress. of Juliet ; baggage, compare Cot-
152. Thank . . . prouds] Rolfe grave, "Bagasse, a baggage, queane,
compares Richard II. II. iii. 87 : lyll."
SC. V.]
ROMEO AND JULIET
129
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 ;
My fingers itch. — Wife, we scarce thought us blest
That God had lent us but this only child ; 165
But now I see this one is one too much,
And that we have a curse in having her.
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, 170
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. 1 7 5
i6i. o'] Theobald; a Q, F. 164. itch. — Wife,] Capell, itch : Wife,Q$,
itch, wife, Q, itch, wife : F. 165. lent] Q, F ; sent Q i. 167. curse] Q,
F; crosse Q I. 171. prudence; smatter] F (comma after Prudence},
Prudence smatter Q ; gossips] Q, gossip F. 1 72. Cap. 0, ... a5?«] Capell
(hyphening God-ye- good- den, and adding ?) ; Cap. CM goddegodden Q I ;
Father, 6 Godigeden Q (continued to Nurse, and so F, spelling Godigoden] ;
Fa. 0 Godigeden Qq 4, 5. 173. Nurse] Qq 4, 5 ; omitted Q, F. 174.
bowl] Q, bowles F.
165. lent] Many editors prefer the
sent of Q I.
1 68. hilding] See n. iv. 47.
171. smatter] prate. So J. Hey-
wood, The Pardoner and the Friar:
"What, standest thou there all the
day smattering ! " Hazlitt's Dodsley's
Old Plays, i. 211.
172. God ye good den] God give
you good even ; see I. ii. 58. Qq 4,
9
5 rightly assign these words to Fa.
(Father, i.e. Capulet). Q, F make
Father part of the speech, assigning
to Nurse the words from ' ' I speak "
to " one speak? "
173. Peace] Theobald emended the
metre by reading Peace, peace. Fleay
conjectures speak f ye as the close of
the Nurse's preceding speech.
130
ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTHI.
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, 1 80
Of fair demesnes, youthful, and nobly trained,
StufTd, as they say, with honourable parts,
Proportion'd as one's thought would wish a man ;
And then to have a wretched puling fool,
A whining mammet, in her fortune's tender, 185
To answer " I '11 not wed," " I cannot love,"
" I am too young," " I pray you, pardon me."
176-178. God's . . . company] Q, F; Gods blessed mother wife it mads
me, Day, night, early, late, at home, abroad, Alone, in company, waking
or sleeping, Q I. 177. tide] Q, ride F. 180. noble] Q, F ; princely Q i.
181. trained] Q I ; liandQ ; allied Q(\ 3-5, F. 183. thought would] Q, F ;
heart could Q i. 185. fortime's] Theobald ; fortunes Q, F.
176-178] Pope, following, in the
main, Q i, read :
" God's bread ! it makes me mad :
day, night, late, early,
At home, abroad ; alone, in
company,
Waking or sleeping, still," etc.
So Malone, reading with Q I early,
late. — Fleay conjectured and Daniel
reads :
" God's bread, it makes me mad :
Day-tide, night-time, waking or
sleeping hour,
At home, abroad, alone, in
company,
Working or playing, still," etc.
Perhaps Shakespeare intended that
Capulet's madness should break the
metrical regularity. A passage in
the play Wily Beguiled, resembling
this speech, is quoted by Malone ;
but his statement that Nash in 1596
alluded to this old play is probably
an error ; the earliest existing edition
is of 1606. Several hints for this
speech were derived from Brooke's
poem.
1 78. my care] Rush ton, Shakespeare's
Euphuism, p. 64, cites Lyly : " Mine
only care hath bene hetherto, to match
thee. ... At the last I have found
... a gentleman of great revenues,
of a noble progenie, of honest
behaviour, of comly personage."
l8l. trained] The allied of Q 3 is
preferred by several editors. On the
suggestion of Q Hand, Capell con-
jectured 'lianc'd; Mommsen lined
(spoken of Paris' purse), or loin'd.
185. mammet . . . tender] a
whining puppet, on the offer of good
fortune. Mammet or maumet, an
idol (from the supposed idolatry of
the religion of Mahomet), hence a
puppet. So 1 Henry IV. II. iii. 95 :
"to play with mammets." Every
Woman in her Humour (1609) : "I
have seen the city of New Nineveh
and Julius Csesar acted by mammets."
sc.v.] ROMEO AND JULIET 131
But, an you will not wed, I '11 pardon you :
Graze where you will, you shall not house with me :
Look to 't, think on 't, I do not use to jest. 1 90
Thursday is near ; lay hand on heart, advise :
An you be mine, I '11 give you to my friend ;
An you be not, hang, beg, starve, die in the
streets,
For, by my soul, I '11 ne'er acknowledge thee,
Nor what is mine shall never do thee good. 195
Trust to 't, bethink you ; I '11 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 !
Delay this marriage for a month, a week ; 200
Or, if you do not, make the bridal bed
In that dim monument where Tybalt lies.
Lady Cap. Talk not to me, for I '11 not speak a word.
Do as thou wilt, for I have done with thee. [Exit.
Jul. O God ! — O nurse ! how shall this be pre-
ventdd ? 205
My husband is on earth, my faith in heaven ;
How shall that faith return again to earth,
Unless that husband send it me from heaven
By leaving earth ? — comfort me, counsel me. —
Alack, alack, that heaven should practise
stratagems 2 1 o
Upon so soft a subject as myself! —
What say'st thou ? hast thou not a word of joy ?
Some comfort, nurse.
188. an] Capell ; and Q, F. 192, 193. An] Capell ; And Q, F.
132 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACT m.
Nurse. Faith, here 'tis. Romeo
Is banished ; and all the world to nothing,
That he dares ne'er come back to challenge
you ; 215
Or, if he do, it needs must be by stealth.
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 ;
Romeo 's a dishclout to him : an eagle, madam, 220
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.
For it excels your first : or if it did not,
Your first is dead, or 'twere as good he were 225
As living here and you no use of him.
Jul. Speakest thou from thy heart ?
Nurse. And from my soul too ;
Or else beshrew them both.
227, 228. And . . . both} F, one line (omitting or) Q,
213. Nurse] In this speech Shake- Drummond, the gods advise Nature
speare adopts and develops suggest- as to the most desirable colour for
ions from Brooke's poem. Auristella's eyes ; Nature accepts the
215. challenge] lay claim to. The advice of Jove and Venus, and the
word is also used for arraign, impeach, eyes are "a paradise of green."
220. dishclout} A common mode Compare the comic praise of green
of comparison ; so Massinger, Bashful eyes in Midsummer Night's Dream,
Lover, v. i. : "I am gazing on this v. i. 342.
gorgeous house ; our cote 's a dishclout 226. here} Hanmer read hence ;
to it." Johnson says that here may signify in
221. green] Hanmer, followed by this world', an anonymous critic
Warburton and Johnson, read keen, suggests there. Mr. A. Thiselton
From Chaucer to Longfellow the suggests that here is equal to he 're,
praises of green or greenish - yellow that is he were.
(citrine) eyes have been sung, and 227.] To square the line to suit the
not in English poetry alone. In The editor's ear Steevens omitted And,
Two Noble Kinsmen, v. i., we have Capell/r0w (before my soul), Hanmer
1 ' thy rare green eye. " In a sonnet by too.
sc.i.] ROMEO AND JULIET 133
Jul. Amen !
Nurse. What ?
Jul. Well, thou hast comforted me marvellous much.
Go in; and tell my lady I am gone, 230
Having displeased my father, to Laurence' cell,
To make confession and to be absolved.
Nurse. Marry, I will ; and this is wisely done. [Exit.
Jul. Ancient damnation ! O most wicked fiend !
Is it more sin to wish me thus forsworn, 235
Or to dispraise my lord with that same tongue
Which she hath praised him with above compare
So many thousand times ? — Go, counsellor ;
Thou and my bosom henceforth shall be twain. —
I '11 to the friar, to know his remedy : 240
If all else fail, myself have power to die. [Exit.
ACT IV
SCENE I. — Verona. Friar Laurence's cell.
Enter Friar LAURENCE and PARIS.
Fri. On Thursday, sir? the time is very short.
Par. My father Capulet will have it so ;
233. Exit] omitted Q, F ; She lookes after Nurse Q I. 234. wicked] Q,
F ; cursed Q I. 235. Is if] Q, It is F.
. Act IV. Scene I.
Friar Laurence's cell] Capell.
228. What?} Hanmer reads To p. 306) we have " stale damnation !"
what ? Keightley : What to ? used as here.
234. Ancient damnation /] Steevens 234. ivickea fiend] Dyce (ed. 2)
cites the same term of reproach from reads cursed with Q I. S. Walker,
Marston, The Malcontent (1604). In thinking wicked "flat," conjectured
Westward Hoe (Pearson's Dekker, ii. withered.
134 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTIV.
And I am nothing slow to slack his haste.
Fri. You say you do not know the lady's mind :
Uneven is the course ; I like it not. 5
Par. Immoderately she weeps for Tybalt's death,
And therefore have I little talk'd of love,
For Venus smiles not in a house of tears.
Now, sir, her father counts it dangerous
That she doth give her sorrow so much sway, 10
And in his wisdom hastes our marriage,
To stop the inundation of her tears,
Which, too much minded by herself alone,
May be put from her by society :
Now do you know the reason of this haste. I 5
Fri. [Aside.] I would I knew not why it should be
slow'd —
Look, sir, here comes the lady towards my cell.
Enter JULIET.
Par. Happily met, my lady and my wife !
Jul. That may be, sir, when I may be a wife.
3. slow to slack] Q, F ; slacke to slow Q I. 7. talked} Q 5 ; talke Q,
F. 10. doth] Q (alone) reads do. 1 5. haste. ] Q, hast ? F. 16. [Aside]]
Theobald. 17. towards] F, toward Q. 1 8. Happily met] Q, F; Wel-
come my love Q I.
3. slow to slack] Malone: "There II. ii. 298: " be even and direct with
is nothing of slowness in me, to in- me."
duce me to slacken or abate his 7. talked] Mommsen defends talk
haste." Johnson conjectured back Q, F, as referring to Juliet's silence
(for slack], i.e. to abet and enforce, consequent on her grief.
Knight : "I am nothing slow (so as) 10. sway] Collier (MS.) way.
to slack his haste," which seems the II. marriage] a trisyllable, as oc-
right explanation. casionally elsewhere in Shakespeare.
5. Uneven] indirect, not straight- 16. slow'd] Steevens cites Gorges'
forward. See Ne w Eng. Diet. , even, Lucaris Fharsalia, ii. : "will you
4- Compare "even play of battle," overflow The fields, thereby my
Henry V. iv. viii. 114, and Hamlet, march to slow."
sc.i.] ROMEO AND JULIET 135
Par. That may be must be, love, on Thursday next. 20
Jul. What must be shall be.
Fri. That 's a certain text.
Par. Come you to make confession to this father ?
Jul. To answer that, I should confess to you.
Par. Do not deny to him that you love me.
Jul. I will confess to you that I love him. 25
Par. So will ye, I am sure, that you love me.
Jul. If I do so, it will be of more price
Being spoke behind your back, than to your face.
Par. Poor soul, thy face is much abused with tears.
Jul. The tears have got small victory by that ; 30
For it was bad enough before their spite.
Par. Thou wrong'st it more than tears with that report.
'Jul. That is no slander, sir, which is a truth,
And what I spake, I spake it to my face.
Par. Thy face is mine, and thou hast slander'd it. 35
Jul. It may be so, for it is not mine own. —
Are you at leisure, holy father, now ;
Or shall I come to you at evening mass ?
Fri. My leisure serves me, pensive daughter, now. —
My lord, we must entreat the time alone. 40
23. / should'} Q, F ; were to Q I. 26. ye\ Q, F ; you Capell and others.
33. slander . . . a truth~\ Q, F ; wrong sir, that is a truth Q I (so Capell,
reading btti a). 34. my] Q, thy F. 40. we\ Q I, Q ; you F ; 7 Ff 2-4.
38. evening mass} See The Religion tion in Germany, and perhaps in
of Shakespeare, chiefly from the writ- England ; finally, that in Verona the
ings of Richard Simpson, by H. S. forbidden custom lingered to the nine-
Bowdon (1899), pp. 271-274; it is teenth century.
there shown that mass was used of 40. £«/raz/] Schmidt explains " beg
various church offices ; that, in the to be left alone." New Eng. Diet.
stricter sense of mass, there was great reading with F, "you must entreat,"
latitude in ancient times as to the explains beguile, pass (time) ; but the
hour; that Pius v. (1566-72) pro- Diet, gives no other example of this
hibited evening masses ; that the new sense,
law was slow in coming into opera-
136 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACT iv.
Par. God shield I should disturb devotion ! —
Juliet, on Thursday early will I rouse ye :
Till then, adieu ; and keep this holy kiss. \Exit.
JuL O, shut the door, and when thou hast done so,
Come weep with me ; past hope, past cure, past
help! 45
Fri. Ah, Juliet, I already know thy grief!
It strains me past the compass of my wits :
I hear thou must, and nothing may prorogue it,
On Thursday next be married to this county.
JuL Tell me not, friar, that thou hear'st of this, 5 o
Unless thou tell me how I may prevent it :
If in thy wisdom thou canst give no help,
Do thou but call my resolution wise,
And with this knife I '11 help it presently.
God join'd my heart and Romeo's, thou our
hands ; 5 5
And ere this hand, by thee to Romeo seal'd,
Shall be the label to another deed,
Or my true heart with treacherous revolt
41. God shield /] Q 5, Godshield, I Q, Godshield: I F. 42.
ye] Q, F ; you Theobald and others. 44. O,] Q, F; Go Q I. 4$.
cure] Q I, Q 5 ; care Q, F. 46. Ah] Q I ; O Q, F. 47. strains] Q,
strcames F. 54. with this] Q, with' his F. 56. Romeo] F, Romeos Q,
Romeo's Q 5 and some editors.
41. God shield'] Schmidt explains ii. 28, we have: "past cure is still
God forbid ; a shield may both repel past care."
and protect ; so, perhaps, equivalent 48. prorogue"] See II. ii. 78.
to God defend us! in Midsummer 54. knife] White: "The ladies of
Night's Dream, in. i. 31: "to bring Shakespeare's day customarily wore
in — God shield us — a lion among knives at their girdles. "
ladies." 57. label] The seals of deeds, as
45. cure] Some editors prefer care Malone explains, in Shakespeare's
Q, F, on the ground that past cure time were appended on slips or
and past help are substantially the labels affixed to the deed. See
same. In Love's Labour's Lostt v. Richard II. v. ii. 56.
sc.i.] ROMEO AND JULIET 137
Turn to another, this shall slay them both :
Therefore, out of thy long-experienced time, 60
Give me some present counsel ; or, behold,
'Twixt my extremes and me this bloody knife
Shall play the umpire, arbitrating that
Which the commission of thy years and art
Could to no issue of true honour bring. 65
Be not so long to speak ; I long to die,
Of what thou speak'st speak not of remedy.
Fri. Hold, daughter : I do spy a kind of hope,
Which craves as desperate an execution
As that is desperate which we would prevent. 70
If, rather than to marry County Paris,
Thou hast the strength of will to slay thyself,
Then is it likely thou wilt undertake
A thing like death to chide away this shame,
That copest with death himself to scape from
it; 75
And, if thou darest, I '11 give thee remedy.
JuL O, bid me leap, rather than marry Paris,
From off the battlements of yonder tower ;
Or walk in thievish ways ; or bid me lurk
60. long-experienced] hyphen Pope (¥ spells expetiensf). 66. Be . . .
die] Q, F ; Speake not, be brief e: for I desire to die Q I. 72. of will} Q,
F ; or will Q I ; slay} Q I, Qq 4, 55 stay Q, F ; lay Y 2. 75. front} Q,
fro F. 78. yonder} Q i ; any Q, F. 79, 80. Or walk . . . bears} Q, F ;
Or chaine me to some steepie mountaines top. Where roaring Beares and savage
Lions are: Q i.
62. extremes'} extremities, straits, 76. And, if} Delius conjectures
sufferings, as in Troilus and Cressida, An if.
iv. ii. 108. 78. yonder} Ulrici considers any Q,
64. commission} authority, warrant, F more vigorous — any tower, no
as often in Shakespeare. matter how high.
69. an execution} Walker con-
jectures that an is an interpolation.
138 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTIV.
Where serpents are ; chain me with roaring
bears ; So
Or shut me nightly in a charnel-house,
O'er-cover'd quite with dead men's rattling bones,
With reeky shanks, and yellow chapless skulls ;
Or bid me go into a new-made grave
And hide me with a dead man in his shroud ; 85
Things that, to hear them told, have made me
tremble ;
And I will do it without fear or doubt,
To live an unstain'd wife to my sweet love.
Fri. Hold, then ; go home, be merry, give consent
To marry Paris : Wednesday is to-morrow : 90
To-morrow night look that thou lie alone,
Let not thy nurse lie with thee in thy chamber :
Take thou this vial, being then in bed,
And this distilled liquor drink thou off;
When presently through all thy veins shall run 95
A cold and drowsy humour ; for no pulse
Shall keep his native progress, but surcease ;
No warmth, no breath, shall testify thou livest ;
81. shut} Q i ; hide Q, F, and many editors. 83. chapless} Q 4, chapels
Q, chappels F. 85. shroud} Qq. 4, 5 ; omitted Q ; grave F. 86. told}
Q, F ; namde Q I. 92. thy nurse] F, the Nurse Q. 94. distilled} Q I;
distilling Q, F. 98. breath} F, breast Q.
83. reeky] reeking with malodorous 93. Take thoti} Shakespeare in what
vapours ; strictly smoky, and hence follows derives much from Brooke's
foul ; see note on Hamlet (ed. Dow- poem,
den), in. iv. 184. 96, 97. A cold . . . surcease} Q I
89-93. Hold . . . bed} Q I reads : reads :
" Hold luliet, hie thee home, get "A dull and heavie slumber, which
thee to bed, shall seaze
Let not thy Nurse lye with thee in Each vitall spirit : for no Pulse
thy Chamber : shall keepe
And when thou art alone, take His natural! progresse, but sur-
thou this Violl." cease to beate : "
sc.i.] ROMEO AND JULIET 139
The roses in thy lips and cheeks shall fade
To paly ashes ; thy eyes' windows fall, I OO
Like death, when he shuts up the day of life ;
Each part, deprived of supple government,
Shall, stiff and stark and cold, appear like death ;
And in this borrow'd likeness of shrunk death
Thou shalt continue two and forty hours, 105
And then awake as from a pleasant sleep.
Now, when the bridegroom in the morning comes
To rouse thee from thy bed, there art thou dead :
Then, as the manner of our country is,
In thy best robes uncover'd on the bier 1 1 o
Thou shalt be borne to that same ancient vault
Where all the kindred of the Capulets lie.
In the mean time, against thou shalt awake,
Shall Romeo by my letters know our drift,
And hither shall he come ; and he and I 115
Will watch thy waking, and that very night
Shall Romeo bear thee hence to Mantua.
And this shall free thee from this present shame,
If no inconstant toy nor womanish fear
99. fack]Q 3, F',fade; Q. 100. To paly] Q 5, Too many Q, To many
F, To mealy F 2 ; thy] Q, the F. 101. shuts] Q, shut F. ill. shalt]
F, shall Q. 115, 1 1 6. and . . . -waking] Qq 3-5, an . . . walking Q,
omitted F. 119. inconstant] Q, F; unconstant Ff 3, 4, and several
editors.
105. two and forty hours'] Maginn hands, and feet all naked, and wear-
proposed two and fifty ; Marsh (Notes ing the same apparel that the person
and Queries, 1877) two and thirty, wore lately before it died."
See Introduction. no. bier] After line no Qq, Ff
no. best robes'] Malone notices give a line here omitted: "Be borne
that the Italian custom of carrying to burial in thy kindreds grave." It
the dead body to the grave richly was doubtless, as Daniel observes, an
dressed, and with the face uncovered uneffaced variation of line 1 1 1 in the
is described in Brooke's poem. Coryat, " copy" from which Q was printed.
Crudities, ii. 27 :" For they [in Italy] 119. inconstant toy] fickle freak;
carry the corse to church with face, so "toys of desperation," Hamlet,
140 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTIV.
Abate thy valour in the acting it. 120
Jul. Give me, give me ! O, tell not me of fear !
Fri. Hold ; get you gone : be strong and prosperous
In this resolve. I '11 send a friar with speed
To Mantua, with my letters to thy lord.
JuL Love give me strength ! and strength shall help
afford. 1 2 5
Farewell, dear father. [Exeunt.
SCENE II.— The Same. f Hall in Capulets house.
Enter CAPULET, Lady CAPULET, Nurse, and
Servingmen.
Cat. So many guests invite as here are writ. —
[Exit Servant.
Sirrah, go hire me twenty cunning cooks.
Second Serv. You shall have none ill, sir, for I Jll
try if they can lick their fingers.
Cap. How canst thou try them so ? 5
121. not me] Q, F ; me not Qq 4, 5 ; fear] Q, care F.
Scene //.
Hall , . .] Capell. Enter . . .] substantially Q, F, which add after
Servingmen "two or three." i. Exit] . . . omitted Q, F. 3, 6. Second
Serv.] Malone; Ser. Q, F.
I. iv. 75. "Inconstant toy" and '"Give me,' quoth I," Macbeth, i.
"womanish dread " occur in Brooke's iii. 5) as unnecessary.
poem.
121. Give me] Pope, followed by &*** n-
several editors, reads, "Give me, Oh 2. twenty cunning cooks'] The im-
give me, tell not me," and so Theo- petuous old Capulet characteristically
bald, reading "tell me not." Lett- forgets Tybalt's death, and his in-
som's conjecture, " O give 't me, give 't tendon (in. iv. 27) that the wedding
me," is held by Dyce (comparing should be almost a private affair.
sc.ii.] ROMEO AND JULIET 141
Second Serv. Marry, sir, 'tis an ill cook that cannot
lick his own fingers : therefore he that cannot
lick his fingers goes not with me.
Cap. Go, be gone. — [Exit Second Servant.
We shall be much unfurnish'd for this time. 10
What, is my daughter gone to Friar Laurence?
Nurse. Ay, forsooth.
Cap. Well, he may chance to do some good on her:
A peevish self-will'd harlotry it is.
Enter JULIET.
Nurse. See where she comes from shrift with merry
look. 1 5
Cap. How now, my headstrong ! where have you been
gadding?
Jul. Where I have learn'd me to repent the sin
Of disobedient opposition
To you and your behests, and am enjoin'd
By holy Laurence to fall prostrate here, 20
To beg your pardon. Pardon, I beseech you !
Henceforward I am ever ruled by you.
Cap. Send for the county ; go, tell him of this :
I '11 have this knot knit up to-morrow morning.
9. Exit . . .] Capell. 15. comes . . . look} Q, F; commeth from con-
fession Q i.
6. ill cook] Steevens quotes the any so peevish to imagine the moone
adage, as given in Puttenham's Arte either capable of affection or shape of
of English Poesie (1589): "A bad a mistris." Perhaps childishly per-
cooke that cannot his owne fingers verse is implied.
lick." It is also given in Heywood's 14. harlotry} Used much as " slut "
Proverbs (Spenser Soc. ed. 151). might be used at a later date. Com-
14. peevish} may mean childish, pare the description of Lady Mortimer
thoughtless, foolish, as in other pas- vt\l Henry IV. in. i. 198: "a peevish
sages of Shakespeare, and in Lyly's self-will'd harlotry, one that no per-
Endimion, i. i. : "There never was suasion can do good upon."
142 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACT iv.
Jul. I met the youthful lord at Laurence' cell, 2 5
And gave him what becomed love I might,
Not stepping o'er the bounds of modesty.
Cap, Why, I am glad on 't ; this is well : stand up :
This is as 't should be. — Let me see the county ;
Ay, marry, go, I say, and fetch him hither. — 30
Now, afore God, this reverend holy friar,
All our whole city is much bound to him.
Jul. Nurse, will you go with me into my closet,
To help me sort such needful ornaments
As you think fit to furnish me to-morrow ? 35
Lady Cap. No, not till Thursday ; there is time
enough.
Cap. Go, nurse, go with her : — we '11 to church to-
morrow. \ExeuntJulietandNurse.
Lady Cap. We shall be short in our provision :
'Tis now near night.
Cap. Tush, I will stir about,
And all things shall be well, I warrant thee,
wife : 40
Go thou to Juliet, help to deck up her ;
I '11 not to bed to-night ; let me alone ;
31. reverend holy} Q, F ; holy reverent Q I, Q 5. 36. there is} Q,
there's?.
26. becomed} becoming, befitting. 39. near night} Malone observes
33. closet} private chamber, as in that immediately after Romeo's part-
Hamlet, II. i. 77. ing from his bride at daybreak she
36. Lady Cap.] In Q I : went to the Friar; she returns, and
' ' Moth. I pree thee doo, good Nurse it is near night. Dramatic time is
goe in with her, often dealt with by Shakespeare as
Helpe her to sort Tyres, subject to dramatic illusion.
Rebatoes, Chaines, 41. up her} Hudson adopts Lett-
And I will come unto you som's conjecture her up', so "trim
presently." her up," iv. iv. 25.
SC.IIL] ROMEO AND JULIET 143
I '11 play the housewife for this once. — What, ho ! —
They are all forth : well, I will walk myself
To County Paris, to prepare him up 45
Against to-morrow. My heart is wondrous light,
Since this same wayward girl is so reclaim'd.
\Exeunt.
SCENE III. — The Same. Juliets chamber.
Enter JULIET and Nurse.
Jul. Ay, those attires are best ; but, gentle nurse,
I pray thee, leave me to myself to-night ;
For I have need of many orisons
To move the heavens to smile upon my state,
Which, well thou know'st, is cross and full of sin. 5
Enter Lady CAPULET.
Lady Cap. What, are you busy, ho? need you my
help?
Jul. No, madam ; we have cull'd such necessaries
As are behoveful for our state to-morrow :
So please you, let me now be left alone,
And let the nurse this night sit up with you, I o
For I am sure you have your hands full all
In this so sudden business.
45. him up\ F, up him Q.
Scene in.
Juliet's chamber] Rowe. 6. ho? need you] Q, F; doo yo^^ need Q I.
5. sin] In Q I Nurse speaks, Shakespeare ; New Eng. Diet, says :
"Well theres a cleane smocke under "Extremely common from 1400 to
your pillow, and so good night," 1700; but used since only by ar-
with which words she departs. chaists." The only example after
8. behoveful} useful. Only here in 1736 is cited from Carlyle's
144 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTIV.
Lady Cap. Good night :
Get thee to bed, and rest, for thou hast need.
\Exeunt Lady Capulet and Nurse.
Jul. Farewell ! — God knows when we shall meet again.
I have a faint cold fear thrills through my veins, i 5
That almost freezes up the heat of life :
I '11 call them back again to comfort me.
Nurse ! — What should she do here ?
My dismal scene I needs must act alone. —
Come, vial. — 20
What if this mixture do not work at all ?
Shall I be married then to-morrow morning?
No, no : — this shall forbid it : — lie thou there. —
\Laying down a dagger.
What if it be a poison, which the friar
Subtly hath minister'd to have me dead, 25
Lest in this marriage he should be dishonour'd,
Because he married me before to Romeo ?
I fear it is : and yet, methinks, it should not,
For he hath still been tried a holy man.
1 6. life} Q, fire F. 18. Ntirse!— ] Hanmer ; Nurse, Q, F. 22.
Shall . . . morning?} Q, F ; Must I of force be married to the Countie? Q I.
23. No . . . there} Q, F; This shall forbid it. Knife, lye thoti there Q i.-
15, 16. / . . . life} So Brooke's see IV. i. 54. Gifford says that
poem: "A sweat as cold as moun- daggers were worn in Shakespeare's
taine yse pearst through her slender time by every woman in England.
skin." They certainly, as Steevens shows
20. Come, vial — ] The dramatic by several quotations which speak of
pause following vial in this (Hanmer's) "wedding knives," formed part of
arrangement is disregarded by Keight- the accoutrements of a bride.
ley, who emends thus : 29. For . . . man} Instead of this
' ' Nurse ! — What should she do here ? one line Q i has two, the second of
My dismal scene which Steevens and other editors
I needs must act alone. Come, vial, make part of the text :
come ! " " He is a holy and religious Man :
23. lie thou there} Juliet had I will not entertaine so bad a
already provided herself with a dagger ; thought."
sc.m.] ROMEO AND JULIET
145
How if, when I am laid into the tomb, 30
I wake before the time that Romeo
Come to redeem me ? there 's a fearful point !
Shall I not then be stifled in the vault,
To whose foul mouth no healthsome air breathes in,
And there die strangled ere my Romeo comes ? 3 5
Or, if I live, is it not very like,
The horrible conceit of death and night,
Together with the terror of the place,
As in a vault, an ancient receptacle,
Where, for this many hundred years, the bones 40
Of all my buried ancestors are pack'd ;
Where bloody Tybalt, yet but green in earth,
Lies festering in his shroud ; where, as they say,
At some hours in the night spirits resort :
Alack, alack, is it not like that I, 45
So early waking, what with loathsome smells
And shrieks like mandrakes' torn out of the earth,
40. this] Q, these F. 47. mandrakes*] Capell (Errata) ; mandrakes Q, F.
39. As} Schmidt takes "As" here
to mean "to wit," and cites many
other passages of Shakespeare, where,
he maintains, it has a like meaning.
Steevens supposes that the charnel
at Stratford-on-Avon was in Shake-
speare's mind when he wrote these
lines.
39. receptacle] Rolfe : "For the
accent compare Titus Andronicus, I.
i. 92 : ' O sacred receptacle of my
joys.'"
43. festering] becoming loathsome
by corruption, as in Henry V. iv.
iii. 88.
47. mandrakes'] The mandrake,
or mandragora (the opiate properties
of which are spoken of in Othello^
III. iii. 330), having a forked root,
10
was supposed to be like a man, to
have a proportion of animal life, and
(as T. Newton in his Herball of the
Bible, 1587, notices) possibly to be
engendered by dead criminals who
had been executed and buried.
When torn from the earth the
mandrake uttered shrieks ; the up-
rooter went mad ; it was wise, as
Bulleine notices (Bulwark of Defence
against Sickness, 1575), to tie a dog
to the root and let him be the victim,
stopping one's ears meanwhile " for
feare of the terrible shriek and cry."
References in Elizabethan dramatists
to the mandrake and its terrors are
not uncommon. See 2 Henry VI.
in. ii. 310: "Would curses kill, as
doth the mandrake's groan ? "
146 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTIV.
That living mortals, hearing them, run mad :
O, if I wake, shall I not be distraught,
Environed with all these hideous fears ? 50
And madly play with my forefathers' joints ?
And pluck the mangled Tybalt from his shroud ?
And, in this rage, with some great kinsman's bone,
As with a club, dash out my desperate brains ?
O, look ! methinks I see my cousin's ghost 5 5
Seeking out Romeo, that did spit his body
Upon a rapier's point : — stay, Tybalt, stay ! —
Romeo, I come ! this do I drink to thee.
[She falls upon her bed within the curtains.
SCENE IV. — The Same. Hall in Capulefs house.
Enter Lady CAPULET and Nurse.
Lady Cap. Hold, take these keys, and fetch more spices,
nurse.
49. O, if I wake'] Hanmer ; O if I walke Q, F ; Or if I wake Qq 4, 5 ; Or
if I ivalke Y 2. 57. a] Q, my F, his F 2. 58. Romeo . . . thee} Q I,
Pope ; Romeo, Romeo, Romeo, heeres drinke, I drinke to thee Q, F. She . . .
curtains] Q I ; omitted Q, F.
Scene IV.
Hall . . .] Theobald (substantially).
49. Distraught] distracted. "Romeo, Romeo, Romeo, I drink
58. Romeo, I come] Dyce suggests to thee."
that heeres drinke, Q, F, may be a 58. She falls . . .] The Cam-
corrupted stage-direction foisted into bridge editors introduce this stage -
the text. Daniel writes : "I incline direction from Q I. Daniel writes:
also to believe that the triple repeti- "The space 'within the curtains,'
tion of Romeo in those editions may where Juliet's bed is placed, was the
have been intended as an addition to space at the back of the stage proper,
the text as given in Q I, to be beneath the raised stage or gallery
murmured by Juliet as she falls which served for a balcony . . . ;
asleep." Johnson read, "Romeo, this was divided from the stage proper
here's drink! Romeo, I drink to by a traverse or curtain. "
thee!"; Knight (Stratford ed.),
sc.iv.] ROMEO AND JULIET 147
Nurse. They call for dates and quinces in the pastry.
Enter CAPULET. J
Cap. Come, stir, stir, stir ! th^econd cock hath crow'd.
The curfew bell hath rung, 'tis three o' clock :
Look to the baked meats, good Angelica : 5
Spare not for cost.
Nurse. Go, you cot-quean, go,
Get you to bed ; faith, you '11 be sick to-morrow
For this night's watching.
Cap. No, not a whit : what, I have watch'd ere now
All night for lesser cause, and ne'er been sick. 10
Lady Cap. Ay, you have been a mouse-hunt in your
time ;
4. o'] Theobald ; a Q, F. 10. lesser] Q, lesse F, a ksse F 2.
2. pastry\ the room where paste cost" seems appropriate) than the
was made ; so pantry, spicery, laun- Nurse.
dry, buttery. Staunton quotes from .6. Nurse] Z. Jackson suggested
Breton, A Floorish upon Fancie that this speech belongs to Lady
(1582): "The pastrie, mealehouse, Capulet ; Singer and Hudson adopt
and the roome whereas the coales the suggestion, sending the Nurse off
do ly." the stage after line 2. But on such an
4. curfew bell} Strictly this was occasion the old retainer might be
an evening bell (couvre feu} rung at familiar with her master. Q I makes
eight or nine o'clock. Shakespeare Capulet reply to this speech: "I
uses curfew correctly in Measure for warrant thee Nurse I have," etc.
Afeasure, IV. ii. 78. The word came 6 Go, you cot-quean~\ Theobald
to be used of other ringings. Thus, and other editors read Go go, to
in Liverpool Mtinicipal Records of emend the verse. Cot - quean is
1673 and 1704 (quoted in New Eng. primarily the housewife of a labourer's
Diet. ) : " Ring Curphew all the yeare cot ; thence a vulgar, scolding woman ;
long at 4 a dock in the morning and used of a man it means a man who
eight at a night. " Q I reads : ' ' The acts the housewife. So Roaring
Curfewe bell hath rung, t'is foure a Girl (1611) — Dekker, Works, 1873,
clocked iii. 177: "I cannot abide these
5. baked meats'} pastry, pies, as in aperne [apron] husbands ; such cot-
Hamlet^ i. ii. 180; Palsgrave, Lesclar- queanes"
cissement (1530): "Bake meate, H. mouse-hunt} "Mouse," as a
viands en paste. ." term of endearment for a woman,
5. Angelica] more probably Lady appears in Hamlet^ in. iv. 183, and
Capulet (to whom "Spare not for elsewhere in Shakespeare; mouse-
148 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTIV.
But I will watch you from such watching now.
[Exeunt Lady Capulet and Nurse.
Cap. A jealous-hood, a jealous-hood ! —
Enter three or four Servingmen^ with spits > logs,
and baskets.
Now, fellow,
What 's there ?
First Serv. Things for the cook, sir, but I know not
what. 1 5
Cap. Make haste, make haste. [Exit first Serv.] —
Sirrah, fetch drier logs :
Call Peter, he will show thee where they are.
Second Serv. I have a head, sir, that will find out logs,
And never trouble Peter for the matter. [Exit.
Cap. Mass, and well said ; a merry whoreson, ha ! 20
Thou shalt be logger-head. — Good faith, 'tis day :
The county will be here with music straight,
For so he said he would. [Music within.
I hear him near. —
Nurse ! — Wife ! — What, ho ! — What, nurse, I say !
13. jealous-hood} hyphen F 4. 14. What's} F 2, What is Q, What F.
15. First Serv.] Capell ; Fel. [ = Fellow] Q, F. 16. haste. [Exit . . .]]
Capell, haste Q, haste, F. 18. Second Serv.] Capell; Fel. Q, F. 19.
Exit] Capell. 21. faith} Qq 4, 5, F 2; father Q, F. 23. Music
within] Capell (line 22), as here Cambridge ; Play Musicke (after line 21)
Q,F.
hunt would, accordingly, mean pur- propensities. Cassio (Dyce notes), in
suer of women. "Hunt," meaning Othello, calls Bianca a "fitchew" —
hunter, is not uncommon ; thus that is, a polecat.
Turbervile, Book of Venerie (1575): 13. jealous-hood} What are called
"Then the chiefe hunte shall take his nance-formations (made for an occa-
knife, and cut off the deares ryght sion) are common with -hood. Here
foote." Dyce and others, however, the abstract, equivalent to jealousy, is
explain mouse-hunt as the stoat, and put for the concrete,
attribute to the animal strong sexual
sc.v.] ROMEO AND JULIET 149
Re-enter Nurse.
Go waken Juliet, go, and trim her up ; 25
I '11 go and chat with Paris : — hie, make haste,
Make haste ; the bridegroom he is come already :
Make haste, I say. \Exeunt.
SCENE V. — The Same. Juliet's chamber.
Enter Nurse.
Nurse. Mistress ! what, mistress ! Juliet ! fast, I warrant
her, she :
Why, lamb ! why, lady ! fie, you slug-a-bed !
Why, love, I say ! madam ! sweet-heart ! why,
bride !
What, not a word? you take your pennyworths
now;
Sleep for a week ; for the next night, I warrant, 5
The County Paris hath set up his rest
28. Exeunt] Capell.
Scene v.
Juliet's chamber] Theobald (who adds "Juliet on a bed "). I. she} omitted
F2.
I. mistress ! Juliet] Daniel reads plains the Italian restare, "to set up
— " what, mistress Juliet !" — . one's rest, to make a rest, or play
6. set up his rest] A metaphor from upon one's rest at primero." Cotgrave
primero, a game at cards ; as I under- has under Renvier : " II y renvioit de
stand it, the stake was a smaller sum, sa reste, He set his whole rest, he
the rest a larger sum, which, if a adventured all his estate upon it."
player were confident (or desperate) Hence to set up one's rest came to
might all be set, or set up, that is, be mean to be resolved, or determined,
wagered. In the game of primero For many examples, see Nares' Glos-
played in dialogue, in the Dialogues sary. The phrase occurs in several
(p. 26) appended to Minsheu's Spanish passages of Shakespeare, e.g. Mer-
Dict., "two shillings form the stake, chant of Venice, II. ii. HO.
eight shillings the rest." Florio ex-
150 ROMEO AND .JULIET [ACTIV.
That you shall rest but little. — God forgive me,
Marry, and amen, how sound is she asleep !
I needs must wake her. — Madam, madam, madam !
Ay, let the county take you in your bed ; i o
He'll fright you up, i' faith. Will it not be?
What, dress'd ! and in your clothes ! and down
again !
I must needs wake you. Lady ! lady ! lady !
Alas, alas ! Help, help ! my lady 's dead !
O, well-a-day, that ever I was born ! i 5
Some aqua-vitae, ho ! My lord, my lady !
Enter Lady CAPULET.
Lady Cap. What noise is here?
Nurse. O lamentable day !
Lady Cap. What is the matter?
Nurse. Look, look ! O heavy day !
Lady Cap. O me, O me ! My child, my only life,
Revive, look up, or I. will die with thee. 20
Help, help ! call help.
Enter CAPULET.
Cap. For shame, bring Juliet forth ; her lord is come.
Nurse. She 's dead, deceased, she 's dead ; alack the day !
Lady Cap. Alack the day, she 's dead, she 's dead, she 's
dead!
Cap. Ha! let me see her. Out, alas ! she 'scold; 25
Her blood is settled and her joints are stiff;
7. little. — God . . . me,] little, . . . me. Q, little, . . . me: F. 9.
needs mtist] Q, must needs F. 15. •well-a-day'] Q 3, F ; wereaday Q.
1 6. Enter . . .] Enter Mother Q i, F; omitted Q.
sc.v.] ROMEO AND JULIET 151
Life and these lips have long been separated :
Death lies on her like an untimely frost
Upon the sweetest flower of all the field.
Nurse. O lamentable day !
Lady Cap. O woeful time! 30
Cap. Death, that hath ta'en her hence to make me wail,
Ties up my tongue, and will not let me speak.
Enter Friar LAURENCE and PARIS, with Musicians.
Fri. Come, is the bride ready to go to church ?
Cap. Ready to go, but never to return.
O son, the night before thy wedding-day 35
Hath Death lain with thy wife : see, there she lies,
Flower as she was, deflowered by him.
Death is my son-in-law, Death is my heir;
My daughter he hath wedded : I will die,
And leave him all ; life, living, all is Death's. 40
Par. Have I thought long to see this morning's face,
And doth it give me such a sight as this ?
Lady Cap. Acciugt, unhap2Yi_wretcned, hateful^dqy |
32. Enter . . .] "with Musicians" omitted Q, F; presentTa Q 4.
36. wife] Q, F ; bride Q I ; see} F 2 ; omitted Q, F. 37. deflowered} Q, F
(deflowred), deflowred now F 2. 40. all ; life, living] Collier, all life
living Q, F ; all, life, living Q 4. 41. long} F, loue Q (alone).
29. field} Pope and other editors 40. life, living,'] From Capell on-
add here from Q I the line "Accursed wards, various editors read life leaving.
time ! unfortunate old man ! " In the text living means possessions,
32. let me speak] In Brooke's poem the means of living, as where Antonio
Capulet cannot speak for grief; Shake- says to Portia (Merchant of Venice , V.
speare remembered this, but only to 286): "Sweet lady, you have given
produce a dramatic touch of self-in- me life and living."
congruity in the old man. 41. thought long} desired. In
33. Fri. Come} Q I alone of early Brooke's poem, anticipating his mar-
editions gives this line to Paris ; it is riage, Paris' ' ' longing hart thinkes
followed by Staunton. long for theyr appoynted howre "
36. see] This added word of F 2 s (line 2274).
also found in Q I.
152 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTIV.
Most miserable hour that e'er time saw
In lasting labour of his pilgrimage ! 45
But one, poor one, one poor and loving child,
But one thing to rejoice and solace in,
And cruel death hath catch'd it from my sight !
Nurse. O woe ! O woeful, woeful, woeful day ! ~^
Most lamentable day, most woeful day, 1 50
That ever, ever, I did yet behold !
O day ! O day ! O day ! O hateful day !
Never was seen so black_a day as this :
O woeful day, O woeful day !
Par. Beguiled, divorced, wronged, spited, slain ! 5 5
Most detestable death, by thee beguiled,
By cruel cruel thee quite overthrown !
O love ! O life ! not life, but love in death !
Cap. Despised, distressed, hated, martyr'd, kill'd !
Uncomfortable time, why earnest thou now 60
To murder, murder our solemnity ?
O child ! O child ! my soul, and not my child !
Dead art thou ! alack ! my child is dead ;
And with my child my joys are buried.
Fri. Peace, ho! for shame! confusion's cure lives not 65
65. confusions cure] Theobald, confusions care Q, confusions : Care F.
48. catch'd] Capell conjectures "O woeful day! O woeful, woeful
snatched. day ! "
49. O woe /] Grant White suggests 56. detestable] Accent on first syl-
that in "this speech of mock heroic lable, as in v. iii. 45.
woe," Shakespeare ridicules the trans- 58. 0 love ! . . . death] I doubtfully
lation of Seneca's Tragedies (1581). throw out the suggestion: "O life!
The exclamatory mode of love and not life, O love ! but love in death ! "
grief is ridiculed in the Pyramus and 63. Dead] Theobald and many
Thisbe'of A Midsummer Nights editors read, " Dead art thou ! dead" ;
Dream, v. i. Malone conjectures, " Dead, dead, art
54. O . . . day !] Daniel adopts thou ! "
Fleay's conjecture (to emend metre), 65. lives'] Lettsom conjectures lies,
sc.v.] ROMEO AND JULIET 153
In these confusions. Heaven and yourself
Had part in this fair maid ; now heaven hath all,
And all the better is it for the maid :
Your part in her you could not keep from death ;
But heaven keeps his part in eternal life. 70
The most you sought was her promotion,
For 'twas your heaven she should be advanced ;
And weep ye now, seeing she is advanced
Above the clouds, as high as heaven itself?
O, in this love, you love your child so ill, 75
That you run mad, seeing that she is well :
She 's not well married that lives married long,
But she 's best married that dies married young.
Dry up your tears, and stick your rosemary ,
On this fair corse ; and, as the custom is, 80
In all her best array bear her to church ;
For though fond nature bids us all lament,
Yet nature's tears are reason's merriment.
'Cap. All things that we ordained festival,
Turn from their office to black funeral ; 8 5
Our instruments to melancholy bells,
8 1. In all} Q i ; And in Q, F. 82. fond} F 2 ; some Q, F ; us all] Q,
all us F.
72. advanced} Advance means both Dekker (Works, ed. Grosart, i. 129) :
promote and raise or lift up ', as often "Death rudely lay with her, and
in Shakespeare of a sword or a stand- spoild her of a maidenhead . . . the
ard. Furness reads advanced — . rosemary that was washt in sweete
76. well:} Rolfe: " Often thus used water to set out the Bridall is now
of the dead. " Compare Winter's wet in teares to furnish her buriall. "
Tale, v. i. 30, and Ant. and Cleop. 80. custom} See IV. i. no, note.
: "But, sirrah, mark we use 82. fond}
To say the dead are well." some Q, F, some impulses of nature,
II. v. 32 : " But, sirrah, mark we use 82. fond} foolish. Knight defends
79. rosemary} The evergreen, comparing Milton's "some' natural
emblematic of immortality, and of tears." Possibly the right word is
remembrance, used at both weddings soon (misprinted some} in the sense,
and funerals. See note on Hamlet, frequent in Shakespeare, of readily.
IV. v. 175 (ed. Dowden). Compare
154 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTIV.
Our wedding cheer to a sad burial feast,
Our solemn hymns to sullen dirges change,
Our bridal flowers serve for a buried corse,
And all things change them to the contrary. 90
Fri. Sir, go you in ; — and, madam, go with him ; —
And go, Sir Paris ; — every one prepare
To follow this fair corse unto her grave.
The heavens do lour upon you for some ill ;
Move them no more by crossing their high will. 95
[Exeunt Capulet, Lady Capulet, Paris,
and Friar.
First Mus. Faith, we may put up our pipes, and be
gone.
Nurse. Honest good fellows, ah, put up, put up ;
For, well you know, this is a pitiful case. [Exit.
First Mus. Ay, by my troth, the case may be amended.
Enter PETER.
Peter. Musicians, O, musicians, " Heart's ease, i oo '
95. Exeunt . . .] Theobald, Exeunt manet Q, Exeunt manent Musici Q 4,
Exeunt F. 96. First Mus.] Capell, Musi. Q, Mu. F. 98. Exit]
Theobald. 99. First Mus.] Capell, Fid. Q, Mu. F.
88. dirges} The transposing of all again in Winter s Tale, IV. iv. 844,
things from wedding to funeral uses where by case the Clown means his
is described in Brooke's poem — "And skin: "though my case be a pitiful
Hymen to a dirge," etc. one, I hope I shall not be flayed out
95. Exeunt . . .] Q i has the of it."
stage - direction, "They all but the 99. Enter Peter] So Qq 4, 5, Ff;
Nurse goe foorth, casting Rosemary Qq 2, 3, "Enter Will Kemp"; Q I,
on her and shutting the Curtens. "Enter Servingman." Kemp, the suc-
Enter Musitions." cessorof Tarlton in comic parts, played
96. pipes'} "To put up pipes" was Peter. In both Q 1600 and F his
also used figuratively; "Poor mens' name is prefixed to speeches of Dog-
children may put up their pipes for berry in Much <4do. Before Peter's
being gentils in their day " — Blazon of entrance Qq 2-5 have Exit (or
Gentry, Part I. Exeunt) omnes.
99. case] The play on case, state 100. "Heart's ease"} A tune
of things, and case, cover, occurs mentioned in Misogomis, a play
sc.v.] ROMEO AND JULIET 155
Heart's ease " : O, an you will have me live,
play " Heart's ease."
First Mus. Why " Heart's ease " ?
Peter. O, musicians, because my heart itself plays
"My heart is full of woe." O, play me some 105
merry dump, to comfort me.
First Mus. Not a dump we ; 'tis no time to play now.
Peter-. You will not then ?
First Mus. No.
Peter. I will then give it you soundly. 1 1 o
First Mus. What will you give us ?
Peter. No money, on my faith, but the gleek ; I
will give you the minstrel.
First Mus. Then will I give you the serving-creature.
101. an] Pope; and Q, F. 103. First Mus.] Capell, Fidler Q, Mu. F.
105. of woe] Qq 4, 5 ; omitted Q, F. 105, 106. O . . . comfort me.] Q
omitted F. 107. First Mus.] Capell, Minstrels Q, Mu. F.
as early as 1560; the music is given braves and Charles his gleeks?"
in Naylor's Shakespeare and Music (scoffs), 1 Henry VI. in. ii. 123;
(1896), p. 193. "gleeking and galling at this gentle-
105. "My heart is full of woe"] man," Henry V. v. i. 78. Turber-
The burden of the first stanza of A vile's Ovid's Epistles ; X. vi. : "To
Pleasant New Ballad of Two Lovers •, him alone she closely clinges, and
printed in Sh. Soc. Papers, I. p. gives the rest the gleake." There
12: "Hey ho! my heart is full of may be a quibble in "give the
woe." minstrel " on gleeman or gligman.
106. dump] New Eng. Diet. : "A Minstrel may have been a scoffing
mournful or plaintive melody or song ; name, because of the inclusion of
also, by extension, a tune in general ; wandering "minstrels" in 39 Eliza -
sometimes apparently used for a kind beth 3 and 4 with bearwards, fencers,
of dance." The adjective merry etc., as "rogues, vagabonds, and
is a comic incongruity. So in Two sturdy beggars." For to give mean-
Gentlemen of Verona, "ill. ii. 85 : ing to represent or describe, compare
"to their instruments Tune a de- Coriolanus, I. ix. 55: "to us that
ploring dump." give you truly."
109. First Mus.] Here and in later 114. serving- creature} Perhaps a
speeches the speaker is Minst. or more contemptuous title than serving-
Min. (Minstrel) in Qq and Mu. in F. man. In The. Three Ladies of London
112, 113. the gleek . . . minstrel} (1584), Simplicity says. "Faith I'll
" To give the gleek " meant to flout ... be a serving • creature" \
or scoff. "Where's the Bastard's Hazlitt's Dodsley's Old Plays, x. 253.
156 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTIV.
Peter. Then will I lay the serving-creature's dagger 115
on your pate. I will carry no crotchets : I '11
re you, I '11 fa you. Do you note me ?
First Mus. An you re us and fa us, you
note us.
Second Mus. Pray you, put up your dagger, and 1 20
put out your wit.
Peter. Then have at you with my wit ! I will dry-
beat you with an iron wit, and put up my iron
dagger. Answer me like men :
When griping grief the heart doth wound, i 2 5
And doleful dumps the mind oppress,
Then music with her silver sound —
why " silver sound " ? why " music with her
silver sound " ? — What say you, Simon
Catling? 130
First Mus. Marry, sir, because silver hath a sweet
sound.
118. An] Pope; And Q, F. 122. Then . . . wit] continued to Sec.
Mus. Q, F ; as here Q 4. 125-127. When . . . sound] verse Q I ; prose
Q, F. 125. grief] Q I ; griefes Q, F. 126. And . . . oppress] Q i ;
omitted Q, F. 131. First Mus.] i Q i, Minst. Q, Mu. F.
116. crotchets] I will bear none of "dry-beating." But probably no
your whims ; the same play on the quibble is intended,
words crotchets and note occurs in 122. have at you] Peter takes////
Much Ado, II. iii. 58, 59. out not as meant, i.e. extinguish, but
116, 117. /'// re you, Pllfayou] as the opposite of put tip (your dagger),
It is possible that (as Ulrici thinks) and so draw, unsheathe,
quibbles are continued here. Ray 122, 123. dry -beat] See III. i. 82,
meant to befoul ; compare Taming note.
of the Shrew, IV. i. 3: "Was ever 125. When griping grief] From a
man so beaten? was ever man so poem by Richard Edwards in the
rayed?" Fay meant to cleanse, as Paradise of Daintie Devices. See
in Burton, Anat. of Melancholy : "To also the poem as given in Percy's
. . . fay channels." See NewEng. Diet. Reliqnes.
for other examples ; and compare the 130. Catling] A small lute or
phrase "to dust one's coat." The fiddle string of catgut, as in Troilus
processes of befouling and cleansing and Cressida, in. iii. 306.
might both be accomplished by a
sc.v.] ROMEO AND JULIET 157
Peter. Pretty ! — What say you, Hugh Rebeck ?
Second Mus. I say " silver sound," because musicians
sound for silver. 135
Peter. Pretty too ! — What say you, James Sound-
post?
Third Mus. Faith, I know not what to say.
Peter. O, I cry you mercy ; you are the singer ; I
will say for you. It is "music with her silver 140
sound," because musicians have no gold for
sounding :
Then music with her silver sound
With speedy help doth lend redress.
[Exit.
First Mus. What a pestilent knave is this 145
same !
Second Mus. Hang him, Jack ! — Come, we '11 in
here ; tarry for the mourners, and stay dinner.
\Exeunt.
133. Pretty!] Pope (from Q I Pretie); Prates Q; Pratest Q 3, F.
136. Pretty too!} Pope, from Q I ; Prates to Q ; Protest to Q 3, F. 141.
musicians'] Q, F ; such fellowes as yott Q I ; no gold] Q, F ; seldom gold
Q i. 145. First Mus.] Capell, Min. Q, Mu. F. 147. him, Jack!}
Hanmer ; him Jack, Q, F.
133. Pretty!] Here and in line 136 133. Rebeck] a three - stringed
what is probably a misprint of Q fiddle.
Prates, modified to Pratest in Q 3, 136, 137. Soundpost] the pillar or
F, is followed by some editors, peg which supports the belly of a
Pratest ? Rowe ; Pratest ! Johnson ; stringed instrument.
Prates ! Delius. Compare the speech 145. pestilent} vexatious, as in
beginning "Prate you!" in North- Othello, n. i. 252.
ward Hoe (Pearson's Dekker, iii. 147. Jack!] See II. iv. 163, note,
p. II).
158
ROMEO AND JULIET
[ACT v.
ACT V
SCENE I.— Mantua. A Street.
Enter ROMEO.
Rom. If I may trust the flattering truth of sleep,
My dreams presage some joyful news at hand :
My bosom's lord sits lightly in his throne,
And all this day an unaccustom'd spirit
Shifts me above the ground with cheerful thoughts.
i'l dreamt my lady came and found me dead —
Strange dream, that gives a dead man leave
think !—
And breathed such life with kisses in my lips
Mantua] Rowe. I. truth] Q, F ; eye Q I.
to
I. truth] I do not doubt that
Shakespeare originally wrote eye Q I —
"eye of sleep" meaning jrisiQ.ns__of
the night. We have in Sonnets,
xxxin. , ' 'flatter the mountain tops
with sovereign eye"', in Richard III.
i. iv. 271, "if thine eye be not a
flatterer" ; in King John, II. i. 503,
"the flattering table of her eye";
compare also Julius Ccesar, iv. iii.
89, 90. But, as Daniel notes, in Q
I of the present play for II. ii. 141,
we have "Too flattering true to be
substantial" ; possibly -when flattering
truth here was substituted tor flatter-
ing eye, the flattering true of the
earlier passage became flattering
sweet. Mr. ._ .Flea#__ suggested . ..that
flattering means in both passages
(when connected with true and truth}
seeming. It is an old saying that
morning dreams come true ; can
"flattering truth of sleep" mean a
flattering morning-dream ? Various
emendations of truth have been made
or proposed ; Warburton, ruth ;
Collier (MS.) death; Singer soother
(for "truth of"); White sooth, in
the sense of augury.
3. bosom's lord] Steevens notes
that, in Chester's Love's Martyr
(1601), the line "How his deepe
bosoincs lord the dutchess thwarted "
is explained in a marginal note
" Cupid." Malone compares Othello,
in. iii. 448: "Yield up, O love, thy
crown and hearted throne" Again,
in Twelfth Night, i. i. 38, the heart
is the throne, the lover its king ; and
in the same play, n. iv. 21, "the seat
where Love is throned" seems to
mean the heart. Bosom? s lord
perhaps, then, means Love ; but
perhaps, more obviously, it means
the heart.
4. this day an] Misprinted "this
an day an " in F, and altered in F 2
to "this winged."
8. breathed] Steevens suggests that
Shakespeare remembered Marlowe's
sc.i.] ROMEO AND JULIET 159
That I revived, and was an emperor.
Ah me ! how sweet is love itself possess'd, i o
When but love's shadows are so rich in joy !
Enter BALTHASAR, booted.
News from Verona ! How now, Balthasar !
Dost thou not bring me letters from the friar ?
How doth my lady ? Is my father well ?
How fares my Juliet ? that I ask again ; 1 5
For nothing can be ill if she be well.
Bal. Then she is well, and nothing can be ill :
Her body sleeps in Capel's monument,
And her immortal part with angels lives.
I saw her laid low in her kindred's vault, 20
And presently took post to tell it you :
O, pardon me for bringing these ill news,
Since you did leave it for my office, sir.
Rom. Is it even so? then I def£_you, stars! —
Thou know'st my lodging: get me ink and
paper, 25
And hire post-horses ; I will hence to-night.
Bal. I do beseech you, sir, have patience :
ii. Enter . . .] Enter Balthasar his man booted Q I ; Enter Romeos man
Q, F. 15. fares my Juliet] Q I ; doth my Lady Juliet Q, F. 19. lives]
Q, live F. 24. even] F, in Q, e'en Collier ; defy you] Pope ; defie my Q I ;
denie you Q, F. 27. / . . . patience] Q, F ; Pardon me Sir, I will not
leave you thtts, Q I.
line in Hero and Leander: "He Capels' monument."' Shakespeare
kiss'd her and breathed" life into her found Capel and Capulet used in-
lips." That poem was not published discriminately in Brooke's poem
till 1598. (Malone).
17. well] See IV. v. 76, note. 24. defy] Deny may be right, in the
1 8. Capel's] Capels Q, F. Rolfe : sense disown, repudiate. Delius cites
"Capefs seems better here than King John, i. i. 252: "I deny the
Capels', on account of the omission devil. See v. iii. in. ~~
of the article; but v. iii. 127, 'the
160 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTV.
Your looks are pale and wild, and do import
Some misadventure,
Rom. Tush, thou are deceived ;
Leave me, and do the thing I bid thee do. 30
Hast thou no letters to me from the friar ?
Bal. No, my good lord.
Rom. No matter : get thee gone,
And hire those horses ; I '11 be with thee straight.
[Exit Balthazar.
Well, Juliet, I will lie with thee to-night.
Let 's see for means : — O mischief, thou art
swift 3 5
To enter in the thoughts of desperate men !
I do remember an apothecary,
And hereabouts he dwells, which late I noted
In tatter'd weeds, with overwhelming brows,
\ Culling of simples ; meagre were his looks, 40
Sharp misery had worn him to the bones :
And in his needy shop a tortoise hung,
\ An alligator stuff'd and other skins
Of ill-shaped fishes ; and about his shelves
A beggarly account of empty boxes, 45
Green earthen pots, bladders and musty seeds,
3. Exit] Rowe ; after lord, line 32, Q, F. 38. he] F 2, a Q, omitted
F ; which'] Q, F ; whom Q i.
39. overwhelming] a word which Mode, plate iii. So, too, in Garth's
Shakespeare connects with brows in Dispensary.
Venus and Adonis, ImQiS^andi Henry 45. empty boxes'] Some details and
V. in. i. II. words are imported into the play
43. alligator} Malone notes that from the corresponding description
Nash in Have with You to Saffron in Brooke's poem.
Walden, 1596, refers to an "apothe- 46. Green earthen pots\ Halliwell
cary's crocodile or stuffed alligator" quotes a letter, August 1594, from Sir
as part of his shop properties. It J. Caesar showing that the manufac-
appears in Hogarth's Marriage a la ture of these pots was carried on in
sc.i.] ROMEO AND JULIET 161
Remnants of packthread, and old cakes of roses,
Were thinly scatter'd to make up a show.
Noting this penury, to myself I said,
An if a man did need a poison now, 5 o
Whose sale is present death in Mantua,
Here lives a caitiff wretch would sell it him.
O, this same thought did but forerun my need,
And this same needy man must sell it me.
As I remember, this should be the house : 5 5
Being holiday, the beggar's shop is shut. —
What, ho ! apothecary !
Enter Apothecary.
Ap. Who calls so loud ?
Rom. Come hither, man. I see that thou art poor ;
Hold, there is forty ducats : let me have
A dram of poison, such soon-speeding gear 60
As will disperse itself through all the veins
That the life-weary taker may fall dead,
And that the trunk may be discharged of breath,
As violently as hasty powder fired
Doth hurry from the fatal cannon's womb. 65
Ap. Such mortal drugs I have ; but Mantua's law
Is death to any he that utters them.
50. An if} Q, F ; And 'if 'Q I, Q 5. 57. Enter . . .] Q I, F ; omitted
Q. 60. soon-speeding] hyphen F 4.
England at that date. " They were 60. soon • speeding gear] Rolfe :
"drunk in by the gentlemen of the " quick - dispatching stuff." From
Temple." Brooke's poem, "Faire syr (quoth
51. present} immediate. Knight he) be sure this is the speeding
says there was no law in England gere."
against the sale of poisons, but (quot- 67. any he\ Delius cites Taming oj
ing Raleigh's Discourse of Tenures in the Shrew, ill. ii. 236: "I'll bring
proof) that such a law was in force in mine action on the proudest he."
Spain and Portugal. Other examples could be added.
II
162 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTV.
Rom. Art thou so bare, and full of wretchedness,
And fear'st to die ? famine is in thy cheeks,
Need and oppression starveth in thy eyes, 70
Contempt and beggary hangs upon thy back ;
The world is not thy friend nor the world's law :
The world affords no law to make thee rich ;
Then be not poor, but break it, and take this.
Ap. My poverty, but not my will, consents. 75
Rom. I pay thy poverty, and not thy will.
Ap. Put this in any liquid thing you will,
And drink it off; and, if you had the strength
Of twenty men, it would dispatch you straight.
Rom. There is thy gold, worse poison to men's
souls 80
Doing more murder in this loathsome world
Than these poor compounds that thou mayst not
sell:
I sell thee poison, thou hast sold me none.
Farewell : buy food, and get thyself in flesh. —
Come, cordial and not poison, go with me 85
To Juliet's grave, for there must I use thee.
{Exeunt.
71. Contempt . . . back}Q, F; Upon thy backe hangs ragged Miserie Q I.
76. pay} Q I, Qq 4, 5 ; pray Q, F. 80. There is} Q, There's F. 81.
murder} Q, F ; murders Qq 4, 5. 84. thyself in] Q, F ; thee into Q I.
70. starveth"} are hungry. Changed but the line should be read in connec-
by Rowe (following Otway's version tion with "take this," line 74.
in Caius Maritis} to stareth. Pope 77. Put this} Steevens suggests
read stare 'within ; starteth in has that Shakespeare had not quite forgot
been suggested. a somewhat similar commendation of
76. pay} Knight retains pray Q, F ; his poison by the Potecary in Chaucer's
Pardoneres Tale,
sc. ii.] ROMEO AND JULIET 163
SCENE II. — Verona. Friar Laurence's cell.
Enter Friar JOHN.
Fri. John. Holy Franciscan friar ! brother, ho !
Enter Friar LAURENCE.
Fri. Lau. This same should be the voice of Friar John. —
Welcome from Mantua : what says Romeo ?
Or, if his mind be writ, give me his letter.
Fri. John. Going to find a bare-foot brother out, 5
One of our order, to associate me,
Here in this city visiting the sick,
And finding him, the searchers of the town,
Suspecting that we both were in a house
Where the infectious pestilence did reign, 10
Seal'd up the doors, and would not let us forth ;
So that my speed to Mantua there was stay'd.
Fri. Lau. Who bare my letter then to Romeo?
Fri. John. I could not send it, — here it is again, —
Nor get a messenger to bring it thee, I 5
So fearful were they of infection.
Fri. Lau. Unhappy fortune ! by my brotherhood,
Verona] Dyce. Friar Laurence's cell] Capell.
5. bare-foot brother} In his account 9. house] Delius notes that, accord-
of the Franciscan brothers going ing to both Brooke and Painter, the
abroad in company one with another "house" was the convent to which
Shakespeare follows Brooke's poem ; the bare-foot brother belonged.
but Brooke represents the pestilence II. Sealed up\ a duty of the English
as at Mantua. constable. Herford : " The Middle-
6. associate] accompany. So Hall, sex Sessions Rolls contain cases of the
Chronicle (quoted in New Eng. Diet. ) : trial of constables for neglecting this
"He should have associated him in duty."
his journey."
164 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTV.
The letter was not nice, but full of charge
Of dear import ; and the neglecting it
May do much danger. Friar John, go hence; 20
Get me an iron crow, and bring it straight
Unto my cell.
Fri. John. Brother, I '11 go and bring it thee. \Exit.
Fri. Lau. Now must I to the monument alone ;
Within this three hours will fair Juliet wake : 2 5
She will beshrew me much that Romeo
Hath had no notice of these accidents ;
But I will write again to Mantua,
And keep her at my cell till Romeo come:
Poor living corse, closed in a dead man's tomb ! 30
[Exit.
SCENE III. — The Same. A churchyard ; in it a
monument belonging to the Capulets.
Enter PARIS and his Pagey bearing flowers and a torch.
Par. Give me thy torch, boy : hence, and stand aloof: —
Yet put it out, for I would not be seen.
Under yond yew-trees lay thee all along,
A churchyard . . .] Rowe (substantially). Enter . . .] Capell (sub-
stantially) ; Enter Countie Paris and his Page with flowers and sweete water
Q i ; Enter Paris and his Page Q, F. I. aloof} Q, aloft F. 3. yond
yew-trees] Pope ; this Ew-tree Q I ; yond young trees Q, F ; along] Q,
F ; alone F 2.
18. nice] trivial ; see in. i. 160 ;
" full of charge" full of importance ; Scene III.
so "parcels of charge," Winter's
Tale, iv. iv. 261. A churchyard . . .] Brooke in his
26. beshrew] blame severely. Ful- poem "refers to the Italian custom
ler, Holy and Profane State, iv. ix. of building large family tombs "
280 : " He hath just cause to beshrew (Rolfe).
his fingers."
SC.IIL] ROMEO AND JULIET 165
Holding thine ear close to the hollow ground ;
So shall no foot upon the churchyard tread, 5
Being loose, unfirm, with digging up of graves,
But thou shalt hear it : whistle then to me,
As signal that thou hear'st something approach.
Give me those flowers. Do as I bid thee ; go.
Page. [Aside.] I am almost afraid to stand alone 10
Here in the churchyard ; yet I will adventure.
[Retires.
Par. Sweet flower, with flowers thy bridal bed I strew, —
O woe ! thy canopy is dust and stones —
Which with sweet water nightly I will dew,
Or, wanting that, with tears distill'd by moans : i 5
The obsequies that I for thee will keep
Nightly shall be to strew thy grave and weep.
[The Page whistles.
The boy gives warning something doth approach.
What cursed foot wanders this way to-night,
To cross my obsequies and true love's rite? 20
What, with a torch ! — muffle me, night, awhile.
[Retires.
4. Holding thine'] Capell ; Keeping thine Q I ; Holding thy Q, F. 10.
[Aside]] Capell. n. Retires] Capell; Exit F 2; omitted Q, F. 12,
13. strew, — . . . stones — ] strew: . . . stones, Q, F. 17. The Page
whistles] Whistle Boy Q, F. 18. warning something] Collier ; warning,
something Q, F. 19. way} Q, wayes F. 20. rite] Pope (ed. 2); right
Q, F; rites Q I. 21. Retires] Capell.
10. stand] Collier (MS.) has stay ; thus to connect which with " flowers "
the Page does not stand, but lies instead of with "canopy."
"along"; Dyce takes "stand" to 14. sweet water] water perfumed,
mean remain. as in Titus Andronicus, II. iv. 6.
12, 13. strew, — . . . stones — ] See stage-direction Q I at opening
The pointing, which differs little from of this scene.
that of the Cambridge Shakespeare, 18. warning something'] Several
is intended to make the second line editors point as Q, F.
of this sonnet-like sextet parenthetic,
166 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTV.
Enter ROMEO and BALTHASAR, with a torch, mattock, etc.
Rom. Give me that mattock and the wrenching iron.
Hold, take this letter ; early in the morning
See thou deliver it to my lord and father.
Give me the light : upon thy life I charge thee, 2 5
Whate'er thou hear'st or seest, stand all aloof,
And do not interrupt me in my course.
Why I descend into this bed of death
Is partly to behold my lady's face,
But chiefly to take thence from her dead finger 30
A precious ring, a ring that I must use
In dear employment : therefore hence, be gone :
But if thou, jealous, dost return to pry
In what I farther shall intend to do,
By heaven, I will tear thee joint by joint, 3 5
And strew this hungry churchyard with thy limbs :
The time and my intents are savage-wild,
More fierce and more inexorable far
Than empty tigers or the roaring sea.
Bal. I will be gone, sir, and not trouble you. 40
Rom. So shalt thou show me friendship. Take thou
that:
Enter . . .] Malone, from Theobald and Capell ; Enter Romeo and Peter
Qq 2, 3, Ff ; Enter Romeo and Balthazar his man, Qq 4, 5 ; Enter Romeo
and Balthasar, with a torch, a mattocke, and a crow of yron Q I. 34.
farther] Q, further F. 37. savage - wild} hyphen, Steevens. 40, 43.
Bal.] Qq 4, 5 ; Pet. Q, F. 40. you} Y,ye Q. 41. show me friendship]
Q, F ; win my favour Q I.
21. Balthasar] Peter in Q, F. portant, as in 1 Henry IV. iv. i. 34:
Collier suggests that Kemp doubled "so . . . dear a trust."
his part, acting both Peter and 33. jealous} suspicious, as often in
Balthasar, whence the confusion. Shakespeare.
32. dear} precious in import, im-
sc.m.] ROMEO AND JULIET 167
Live, and be prosperous ; and farewell, good fellow.
BaL [Aside.] For all this same, I '11 hide me hereabout :
His looks I fear, and his intents I doubt. [Retires.
Rom. Thou detestable maw, thoujwpmb of death^ 45
Gorged with the dearest morsel of the earth,
Thus I enforce thy rotten jaws to open,
[Opens the tomb.
And, in despite, I '11 cram thee with more food !
Par. This is that banish'd haughty Montague,
That murder'd my love's cousin, with which
grief 50
It is supposed the fair creature died ;
And here is come to do some villanous shame
To the dead bodies : I will apprehend him. —
[Comes forward.
Stop thy unhallow'd toil, vile Montague !
Can vengeance be pursued further than death ? 55
Condemned villain, I do apprehend thee:
Obey, and go with me ; for thou must die.
Rom. I must indeed ; and therefore came I hither.
Good gentle youth, tempt not a desperate man ;
Fly hence and leave me : think upon these
gone ; 60
Let them affiright thee. I beseech thee, youth,
43. [Aside]] Capell. 44. Retires] Hanmer, Exit F 2. 47. Opens . . .]
Capell substantially ; (Cambridge after line 48. 53. Comes forward]
draws and rushes forward Capell (after line 54). 60. these} Q, those F.
45. detestable'} accented as in IV. thinks a trap-door may have been
v. 56. opened, and that Romeo may have
47. Opens the tomb] Daniel sup- brought Juliet up in his arms from
poses that the tomb was placed in the vault beneath the stage,
the space under the gallery at the 48. despite'} Keightley conjectures
back of the stage proper. Malone requite.
168 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTV.
Put not another sin upon my head
By urging me to fury : O, be gone !
By heaven, I love thee better than myself,
For I come hither arm'd against myself: 65
Stay not, be gone ; live, and hereafter say
A madman's mercy bid thee run away.
Par. I do defy thy conjurations
And apprehend thee for a felon here.
Rom. Wilt thou provoke me? then have at thee,
boy! [They fight. 70
Page. O Lord, they fight ! I will go call the watch.
[Exit.
Par. O, I am slain ! — [Falls] If thou be merciful,
Open the tomb, lay me with Juliet. [Dies.
Rom. In faith, I will. — Let me peruse this face :
Mercy tio's kinsman, noble County Paris ! 7 5
What said my man when my betossed soul
Did not attend him as we rode ? I think
He told me Paris should have married Juliet :
Said he not so ? or did I dream it so ?
Or am I mad, hearing him talk of Juliet, 80
To think it was so ? — O, give me thy hand,
One writ with me in sour misfortune's book !
62. Put} Q, F ; Heape Q I ; Pull Rowe. 67. bid] Q, F ; bad Q 5.
68. conjurations} Q I ; commiration Q ; commisseration Q 3, F. 69. appre-
hend} Q, F ; doe attach Q i. 70. They fight] Q I. 71. Page] Qq 4, 5 ;
omitted Qq 2, 3 ; Pet. F ; Boy Q r. Exit] Capell. 72. [Falls]] Capell.
73. Dies] Theobald. 82. book!] Capell, booke, Q, booke. F.
62. Put] Capell conjectures Pluck, and reads commiseration. Mommsen
68. conjurations'] solemn entreaties, conjectures commination.
as in Henry V. I. ii. 29. A passage 71. O . . . watch] Printed in
in Painter's tale misled Steevens into italics, without prefix, in Qq 2, 3.
supposing that it meant magical in- Mommsen supposes that the italics
cantations. Collier (MS.) omits thy indicate that it was spoken behind
the scenes.
sc.m.] ROMEO AND JULIET
169
I '11 bury thee in a triumphant grave ;
A grave ? O, no, a lantern, slaughter'd youth ;
For here lies Juliet, and her beauty makes 85
This vault a feasting presence full of light.
Death, lie thou there, by a dead man interr'd. —
[Laying Paris in the tomb.
How oft when men are at the point of death
Have they been merry ! which their keepers call
A lightning before death : O, how may I 90
Call this a lightning ? — O my love ! my wife !
Death, that hath suck'd the honey of thy breath,
Hath had no power yet upon thy beauty :
Thou art not conquer'd ; beauty's ensign yet
Is crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks, 95
And death's pale flag is not advanced there. —
Tybalt, liest thou there in thy bloody sheet ?
87. Laying . . .] Theobald. 94. art] Q, are F.
84. lantern] used in the archi-
tectural sense ; a structure on the top
of a dome, or the roof of a hall for the
admission of light ; a tower the
interior of which, open to view from
the ground, is lighted from an upper
tier of windows (e.g. the lantern of
Ely), also a light open erection on
the top of a tower. Steevens cites
Holland's Pliny, 35. 12: "hence
came the louvers and lanternes reared
over the roofes of temples."
86. presence'] presence - chamber,
state-room, as in Richard II. I. iii.
289.
87. Death] Dyce (ed. 2) adopts
Lettsom's conjecture Dead. Romeo
brings "Death," in the person of
Paris, into the presence-chamber.
87. a dead man] For Romeo him-
self already has parted with life.
Clarke aptly compares Keats, Isa-
bella :
" So the two brothers and their
murdered man
Rode past fair Florence."
90. lightning] Ray gives as a pro-
verbial saying, "It's a lightning
before death." Steevens quotes an
example from The Second Part of The
Downfall of Robert, Earl of Hunting-
don (1601). For other examples, and
a fine simile from Daniel's Civil Wars,
see Nares' Glossary.
96. death's pale flag] Steevens com-
pares Daniel's Complaint of Rosamond
(1592), lines 773-775 :
" And nought-respecting death (the
last of paines)
Plac'd his pale colours (th' ensigne
of his might)
Upon his new-got spoyle before his
right."
97. Tybalt] This address to Tybalt
had its suggestion in Brooke's poem.
170
ROMEO AND JULIET
[ACTV.
O, what more favour can I do to thee
Than with that hand that cut thy youth in twain
I oo
105
To sunder his that was thine enemy ?
Forgive me, cousin ! — Ah, dear Juliet,
Why art thou yet so fair ? shall I believe
That unsubstantial Death is amorous,
And that the lean abhorred monster keeps
Thee here in dark to be his paramour?
For fear of that I still will stay with thee,
And never from this palace of dim night
Depart again : here, here will I remain
With worms that are thy chambermaids ; O, here
Will I set up my everlasting rest,
And shake the yoke of inauspicious stars
From this world-wearied flesh. — Eyes, look your
lasFT"
Arms, take your last embrace ! and, lips, O you,
100. thine] Q, thy F. 102. shall I believe} Theobald ; I will believe,
Shall I believe Q, F. 107. palace} pallat Q (alone).
1 1 o
103. Death is amorous} Malone
compares Daniel's Complaint of Rosa-
mond (1592), lines 841-845 :
" Ah, how me thinkes I see Death
dallying seekes,
To entertaine it selfe in Loves sweet
place.
And ugly Death sits faire within
her face."
1 06. still] constantly, as often in
Shakespeare.
108. Depart again] Following line
107 and preceding line 108 Qq 2, 3
and Ff read:
"Depart againe, come lye thou in
my arme, (armes Ff)
Heer 's to thy health, where ere
thou tumblest in.
O true Appothecarie !
Thy drugs are quicke.
a kisse I die."
Thus with
Qq 4, 5 omit these lines; Daniel
supposes that they are a shortened
version of the speech intended for
the stage and by accident printed.
Where ere thou tumblest in, he adds,
"may possibly be a corruption of a
stage-direction to the actor to fall
into the tomb." The words may only
be a grim way of saying, "Wherever
thy grave may be. "
no. set . . . rest] See note on iv.
v. 6.
112-118. Eyes . . . bark] Whiter
notes the coincidence that in Romeo's
speech I. iv. 106 of ominous pre-
monition, ideas drawn from the stars,
the land, the sea succeed one another
as here.
sc.m.] ROMEO AND JULIET 171
The doors of breath, seal with a righteous kiss
A dateless bargain to engrossing death ! 115
Come, bitter conduct, come, unsavoury guide !
Thou desperate pilot, now at once run on
The dashing rocks thy sea-sick weary bark !
's to my love ! [Drinks] O true apothecary !
Thy drugs are quick. — Thus with a kiss I die. 120
[Dies.
JL 11C i
- Here
Enter, at the other end of the churchy ard. Friar
LAURENCE, with a lantern^ crow, and spade.
Fri. Saint Francis be my speed ! how oft to-night
Have my old feet stumbled at graves ! — Who Js
there ?
BaL Here 's one, a friend, and one that knows you well.
Fri. Bliss be upon you ! Tell me, good my friend,
What torch is yond, that vainly lends his light 125
To grubs and eyeless skulls? as I discern,
It burneth in the Capels' monument.
119. [Drinks]] Theobald (substantially). 120. Dies] Theobald. 121.
Enter . . .] Malone (after Capell) ; Enter Frier with Lanthorne, Crowe, and
Spade. Q, F.
114. doors of breath] Compare 2 Capell and Dyce adopt. Rolfe justly
Henry IV. iv. v. 31: "gates of observes that Romeo has given up the
breath," in the sense of lips. helm to the "desperate pilot," who
115. dateless . . . engrossing] Date- now is master of the bark.
less is without a term, everlasting, as 122. stumbled] an evil omen, re-
in Sonnets, xxx. 6: "death's dateless ferred to in 3 Henry VI. iv. vii. n.
night." " Engrossing," probably not Sir Tobie Matthew, stumbling on the
copying a document, but rather buy- morning of his intended reception into
ing up wholesale, as in Sonnets, the Roman Catholic Church, was
cxxxiii. 6. So Misselden, Free Trade, tempted to postpone it to another
71 (1622): "Some one or few . . . day. After this line (122) Steevens
do joine together to engrosse and buy inserts from Q I, "Who is it that
in a Commodotie." consorts, so late, the dead?"
116. conduct] See in. i. 130. 123. Bal.] So, and in subsequent
118. thy\ Pope read my, which speeches, Qq 4, 5 ; "Man."Q, F.
172 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTV.
BaL It doth so, holy sir ; and there 's my master,
One that you love.
Fri. Who is it ?
BaL Romeo.
Fri. How long hath he been there ?
BaL Full half an hour. 130
Fri. Go with me to the vault.
BaL I dare not, sir :
My master knows not but I am gone hence ;
And fearfully did menace me with death
If I did stay to look on his intents.
Fri. Stay, then ; I '11 go alone. — Fear comes upon
me ; 135
O, much I fear some ill unlucky thing.
BaL As I did sleep under this yew-tree here,
I dreamt my master and another fought,
And that my master slew him.
Fri. Romeo ! [Advances.
Alack, alack, what blood is this which stains 140
The stony entrance of this sepulchre ?
What mean these masterless and gory swords
To lie discolour'd by this place of peace ?
[Enters the tomb.
Romeo ! O, pale ! — Who else ? what, Paris too ?
135. Stay, then;} Hazlitt, Stay then Q, Stay, then F, Stay then, Q 5;
Fear] Q, Feares F. 136. unhicky] Y, unthriftie Q (alone). 137. yew-
tree~]¥ope, yong tree Q, young tree ¥. 139. jfcfft*?/} Rowe ; Romeo. Q, F ;
Romeo? Hanmer. Advances] Malone. 143. Enters . . .] Capell, sub-
stantially.
136. unlucky] Some editors, follow- that Balthasar, who did not venture
ing Q, unthrifty. to his master's assistance, wishes to
138. / dreamt] I fail to see any break the fact to the Friar rather than
other ' ' touch of nature " here than state it plainly.
sc.m.] ROMEO AND JULIET 173
And steep'd in blood ? — Ah, what an unkind
hour 145
Is guilty of this lamentable chance ! —
The lady stirs. [Juliet wakes.
Jul. O comfortable friar ! where is my lord ?
I do remember well where I should be,
And there I am: where is my Romeo? 150
[Noise within.
Fri. I hear some noise. — Lady, come from that nest
Of death, contagion, and unnatural sleep :
A greater power than we can contradict
Hath thwarted our intents : come, come away :
Thy husband in thy bosom there lies dead ; 155
And Paris too : come, I '11 dispose of thee
Among a sisterhood of holy nuns.
Stay not to question, for the watch is coming ;
Come, go, good Juliet ; I dare no longer stay. [Exit.
Jul. Go, get thee hence, for I will not away. — 160
What 's here ? a cup closed in my true love's hand ?
Poison, I see, hath been his timeless end : —
O churl ! drunk all, and left no friendly drop
To help me after ? — I will kiss thy lips ;
Haply some poison yet doth hang on them, 165
147. Juliet wakes] Pope (substantially), Juliet rises Q i. 148. where is]
Q, where' sY. 150. Noise within] Capell. 151. noise. — Lady} Capell;
noyse Lady, Q, F. 159. Exit . . .] Q, F ; after line 160 Dyce. 163.
0] Q, F ; ; Ah Q I ; all, ] Q, all? F ; drunk . . . left] Q ; drinke . . . left Q 3,
Ff; drinke . . . leave- Q i.
148. comfortable} strengthening, Dyce and the Cambridge editors indi-
supporting ; used, as often, in the cate by bringing " Exit" to line 160,
active sense. ^Q All's Well, I. i. 86, may be addressed to the Friar; but
" Be comfortable to my mother." they may also be uttered by Juliet to
1 58. the watch\ Shakespeare follows herself after his departure.
Brooke's poem. 162. timeless} untimely, as in
1 60. Go . . . away] The words, as Richard II. IV. i. 5.
174 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTV.
To make me die with a restorative. [Kisses him.
Thy lips are warm !
First Watch. [ Within.'] Lead, boy : which way ?
Jul. Yea, noise ? then I '11 be brief. — O happy dagger !
[Snatching Romeo's dagger.
This is thy sheath ; [Stabs herself.
there rust, and let me die.
[Falls on Romeo's body, and dies.
Enter Watch, with the Page of PARIS.
Page. This is the place; there, where the torch doth
burn. 170
First Watch. The ground is bloody ; search about the
churchyard :
Go, some of you, whoe'er you find, attach. —
[Exeunt some.
Pitiful sight ! here lies the county slain,
And Juliet bleeding, warm, and newly dead,
Who here hath lain this two days buried. — 175
Go, tell the prince ; run to the Capulets ;
167. First Watch [Within]] Capell ; Enter boy and Watch. Watch Q, F.
1 68. Snatching . . .] Steevens. 169. This is] Q, 'Tis in F. Stabs
herself] Kils herselfe F (at end of line), omitted Q, She stabs herselfe and
falles Q i ; rust] Q, F ; rest Q I. Falls . . .] Malone. Enter Watch . . .]
Capell substantially, here, in place assigned by Q I (compare collation,
line 167). 170. Page] Capell, Watch boy Q, Boy F. 172. Exeunt . . .]
Hanmer substantially. 175. this] Q these F.
169. rust] Of course rest Q I , which otherwise rust in its sheath, rusting
many editors prefer, may be right ; in her heart ; and, with fierce and
but our best authority is Q, and rust amorous joy, she cries, * This is thy
would more readily be misprinted rest sheath ; there rust, and let me die.' "
than vice versd. Grant White, who 'Tis in of F is an attempt to emend
had regarded rust as a misprint, altered the misprint ' Tis is of Q 3. Mr. Fleay
his opinion, and wrote: "Juliet's proposes dagger lie In this, ending
imagination is excited, and, looking line 167 at noise.
beyond her suicidal act, she sees her 175. two days] See iv. i. 105.
dead Romeo's dagger, which would
sc. m.] ROMEO AND JULIET 175
Raise up the Montagues ; some others search : —
[Exeunt other Watchmen.
We see the ground whereon these woes do lie ;
But the true ground of all these piteous woes
We cannot without circumstance descry. 180
Re-enter some of the Watch, with BALTHASAR.
Second Watch. Here 's Romeo's man ; we found him in
the churchyard.
First Watch. Hold him in safety till the prince come
hither.
Re-enter Friar LAURENCE, and another Watchman.
Third Watch. Here is a friar, that trembles, sighs and
weeps :
We took this mattock and this spade from him,
As he was coming from this churchyard side. 185
First Watch. A great suspicion : stay the friar too.
Enter the PRINCE and Attendants.
Prince. What misadventure is so early up,
That calls our person from our morning's rest ?
Enter CAPULET, Lady CAPULET, and others.
Cap. What should it be that they so shriek abroad ?
177. Exeunt . . .] Capell. 180. Re-enter . . .] Dyce ; Enter Romeos
man Q, F. 181. Second Watch] Rowe ; Watch Q, F. 182, 186. First
Watch] Rowe, Chiefe Watch Q, Con. F. 185. churchyard} F, church-
yards Q. 1 86. too] F, too too Q. 188. morning's} F, morning Q.
Enter . . .] Capell (substantially), Enter Capels Q, Enter Capulet and his
Wife F. 189. they so shriek} F, is so shrike Q.
177. search} S. Walker conjectures 180. circumstance] particulars, de-
that, after this, a line is lost, rhyming tails,
to woes, 189. shriek] Daniel adopts a sug-
176 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTV.
Lady Cap. The people in the street cry " Romeo," 1 90
Some " Juliet," and some " Paris " ; and all run
With open outcry toward our monument.
Prince. What fear is this which startles in our ears ?
First Watch. Sovereign, here lies the County Paris slain ;
And Romeo dead ; and Juliet, dead before, 1 9 5
Warm and new kill'd.
Prince. Search, seek, and know how this foul murder
comes.
First Watch. Here is a friar, and slaughter'd Romeo's
man,
With instruments upon them fit to open
These dead men's tombs. 200
Cap. O heaven ! — O wife, look how our daughter bleeds !
This dagger hath mista'en, for, lo, his house
Is empty on the back of Montague,
And it mis-sheathed in my daughter's bosom !
Lady Cap. O me ! this sight of death is as a bell 205
That warns my old age to a sepulchre.
Enter MONTAGUE and others.
Prince. Come, Montague ; for thou art early up,
190. The people] Pope ; O the people Q, F. 193. our] Capell (Johnson and
Heath conjee. ) ; yoiir Q, F. 194, 198. First Watch] Capell ; Watch Q, F.
201. heaven} F, heavens Q (alone). 204. if\ Q (alone), is F. Enter . . .]
Capell ; Enter Mountague Q, F.
gestion of the Cambridge editors, "that on the back below the waist. See for
is so shriek'd abroad ?" evidence Steevens's note.
190. The people} Several editors 204. And if\ The force of lo> line
retain 0 of Q, F. 202, goes on from "his house" (the
200. tombs] Here Q, which had sheath) to it, the dagger. With the
" Enter Capels" line 1 88, has "Enter reading And is F, from for lo to
Capulet and his Wife." Montague must be regarded as paren-
203. back} The dagger was carried thetic. Mommsen conjectures " And
it is mis-sheath'd."
sc.m.] ROMEO AND JULIET 177
To see thy son and heir more early down.
Mon. Alas ! my liege, my wife is dead to-night ;
Grief of my son's exile hath stopp'd her
breath : 210
What further woe conspires against mine age ?
Prince. Look, and thou shalt see.
Mon. O thou untaught ! what manners is in this,
To press before thy father to a grave ?
Prince. Seal up the mouth of outrage for a while, 2 1 5
Till we can clear these ambiguities,
And know their spring, their head, their true
descent ;
And then will I be general of your woes,
And lead you even to death : meantime forbear,
And let mischance be slave to patience. — 220
Bring forth the parties of suspicion.
Fri. I am the greatest, able to do least,
Yet most suspected, as the time and place
Doth make against me, of this direful murder ;
And here I stand, both to impeach and purge 225
Myself condemned and myself excused.
Prince. Then say at once what thou dost know in
this.
208. more early down] Q I, now ear ling downe Q, now early downe F.
211. mine] Q, my F. 213. is in] Q, in is F.
210. breath] After thte line Dyce equivalent to a syllable, is perhaps
(following Ritson) inclines to think intended after Look.
the following line from Q I should be 213. manners] Shakespeare makes
added : " And young Benvolio is the word, at pleasure, singular or
deceased too." plural.
212. Look] Steevens conjectures 215. outrage] passionate utterance,
" Look in this monument, and," etc. as in 1 Henry VI. IV. i. 126:
"Look here," and "Look there" " this immodest, clamorous outrage. "
have been proposed. A pause, Collier (MS.), otttcry.
12
178 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACT v.
Fri. I will be brief, for my short date of breath
Is not so long as is a tedious tale.
Romeo, there dead, was husband to that Juliet ; 230
And she, there dead, that Romeo's faithful wife :
I married them ; and their stol'n marriage-day
Was Tybalt's doomsday, whose untimely death
Banish'd the new-made bridegroom from this city ;
For whom, and not for Tybalt, Juliet pined. 235
You, to remove that siege of grief from her,
Betroth'd, and would have married her perforce,
To County Paris : then comes she to me,
And with wild looks bid me devise some mean
To rid her from this second marriage, 240
Or in my cell there would she kill herself.
Then gave I her, so tutor'd by my art,
A sleeping potion ; which so took effect
As I intended, for it wrought on her
The form of death : meantime I writ to Romeo 245
That he should hither come as this dire night,
To help to take her from her borrow'd grave,
Being the time the potion's force should cease.
But he which bore my letter, Friar John,
Was stay'd by accident, and yesternight 250
231. that] Qq 4, 5 ; that* Q, that^s F. 239. mean] Q, means F.
228. brief} Malone : "Shakespeare Eng. Diet.). I have noticed it fre-
was led into this uninteresting nar- quently in Richardson's novels, used
rative by following Romeus and Juliet as in the following from Mrs. Delany's
too closely." Ulrici argues that it is Autobiog. Hi. 608 (quoted in New
needed for the reconciliation of the Eng. Diet.): "To carry us off to
houses, which follows. Longleat as next Thursday." Its
246. as] This as used with adverbs force was restrictive ; now we regard
and adverbial phrases of time is still it as redundant. Compare Measure
common dialectically, but literary for Measure , v. i. 74: "As then the
English retains only as yet (New messenger."
sc.ui.] ROMEO AND JULIET 179
Return'd my letter back. Then, all alone,
At the prefixed hour of her waking,
Came I to take her from her kindred's vault,
Meaning to keep her closely at my cell
Till I conveniently could send to Romeo : 255
But when I- came, some minute ere the time
Of her awakening, here untimely lay
The noble Paris and true Romeo dead.
She wakes ; and I entreated her come forth
And bear this work of heaven with patience : 260
But then a noise did scare me from the tomb,
And she, too desperate, would not go with me,
But, as it seems, did violence on herself.
All this I know ; and to the marriage
Her nurse is privy : and, if aught in this 265
Miscarried by my fault, let my old life
Be sacrificed some hour before his time
Unto the rigour of severest law.
Prince. We still have known thee for a holy man. —
Where 's Romeo's man ? what can he say to
this? 270
Bal. I brought my master news of Juliet's death ;
And then in post he came from Mantua
To this same place, to this same monument.
This letter he early bid me give his father,
257. awakening} Q, awaking F. 267. his] Q, the F. 270. to this]
Q, F; in this Q I. 271. Bal.] Q, Boy F. 273. place t to . . . monu-
ment. ] F, place. To . . . monument Q.
256. minute} Hanmer minutes ; 272. in post] in haste, or post-
compare hour in line 267. haste, as often in Shakespeare.
264. All this] Daniel conjectures 274. he early] Marshall conjectures
"This, all I know"; "bid me give his father early," or
269. still] constantly, always. "bid me early give his father."
180 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTV.
And threaten'd me with death, going in the
vault, 275
If I departed not and left him there.
Prince. Give me the letter ; I will look on it. —
Where is the county's page that raised the
watch ? —
Sirrah, what made your master in this place ?
Page. He came with flowers to strew his lady's
grave; 280
And bid me stand aloof, and so I did :
Anon comes one with light to ope the tomb ;
And by and by my master drew on him ;
And then I ran away to call the watch.
Prince. This letter doth make good the friar's words, 285
Their course of love, the tidings of her death :
And here he writes that he did buy a poison
Of a poor pothecary, and therewithal
Came to this vault to die, arid lie with Juliet. —
Where be these enemies ? — Capulet ! — Mon-
tague ! 290
See what a scourge is laid upon your hate,
That heaven finds means to kill your joys with
love ;
And I, for winking at your discords too,
Have lost a brace of kinsmen : all are punish'd.
Cap. O brother Montague, give me thy hand: 295
280. Page] F, Boy Q.
279. made] was doing, or was 294. brace\ Mercutio and Paris,
about, as in Merry Wives, II. i. 244: See III. i. 115, III. v. 180 ("princely
"What they made there I know parentage" Q i), and v. iii. 75. In
not." Troilus and Cressida, iv. v. 175
283. by and by} immediately, pre- brace is used as here: "Your brace
sently, as often in Shakespeare. of warlike brothers."
sc.m.] ROMEO AND JULIET 181
This is my daughter's jointure, for no more
Can I demand.
Mon. But I can give thee more :
For I will raise her statue in pure gold ;
That whiles Verona by that name is known,
There shall no figure at such rate be set 300
As that of true and faithful Juliet.
Cap. As rich shall Romeo by his lady lie ;
our_enmity !
_ _
Prince. A glooming peace this morning with it brings ;
The sun, for sorrow, will not show his head : 305
Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things ;
Some shall be pardon'd, and some punished :
For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Juliet and her Romeo. \Exeunt.
298. raise] F, rate Q. 299. whiles'] Q, F ; while Rowe. 300. stick]
Q, that F. 302. Romeo . . . lady] Q I, F ; Romeos . . . Ladies Q.
304. glooming] Q, F ; gloomie Q I.
301. true] Collier (MS.) fair. 307. pardon'd . . . punished] In
302. Romeo] Several editors follow Brooke's poem the Nurse is banished,
Q Romeo's and lady's. Theobald because she had ^hid the marriage ;
has Romeo's and lady. Romeo's servant is allowed to live
304. glooming] The word is neither free ; the apothecary is hanged ; Friar
uncommon nor obsolete, but it dropped Lawrence is discharged, retires to a
for a time out of literature; hence prob- hermitage two miles from Verona,
ably F 4 gloomy. and, after five years, there dies.
APPENDIX I
SOME PASSAGES FROM THE QUARTO OF 1597
THE passages here selected differ considerably from
the text of 1599. The following is the scene in Q I
corresponding to II. vi. :
Enter ROMEO, Frier.
Rom. Now Father Laurence, in thy holy grant
Consists the good of me and luliet.
Fr. Without more words I will doo all I may,
To make you happie if in me it lye.
Rom. This morning here she pointed we should meet,
And consumate those never parting bands,
Witnes of our harts love by ioyning hands,
And come she will.
Fr. I gesse she will indeed,
Youths love is quicke, swifter than swiftest speed.
Enter IULIET somewhat fast, and embraceth Romeo.
See where she comes.
So light of foote nere hurts the troden flower :
Of love and ioy, see see the soveraigne power.
lul. Romeo.
Rom. My luliet welcome. As doo waking eyes
(Cloasd in Nights mysts) attend the frolicke Day,
So Romeo hath expected luliet^
And thou art come.
lul. lam (if I be Day)
Come to my Sunne : shine foorth, and make me faire.
Rom. All beauteous fairnes dwelleth in thine eyes.
lul. Romeo from thine all brightnes doth arise.
Fr. Come wantons, come, the stealing houres do passe
183
184 APPENDIX I
Defer imbracements till some fitter time,
Part for a while, you shall not be alone,
Till holy Church have ioynd ye both in one.
Rom. Lead holy Father, all delay seemes long.
luL Make hast, make hast, this lingring doth us wrong.
Fr. O, soft and faire makes sweetest worke they say.
Hast is a common hindrer in crosse way.
\Exeunt omnes.
The following corresponds in Q i to III. i. 94-114 :
Her. Is he gone, hath hee nothing? A poxe on your
houses.
Rom. What art thou hurt man, the wound is not deepe.
Mer. Noe not so deepe as a Well, nor so wide as a barne
doore, but it will serve I warrant. What meant you
to come betweene us ? I was hurt under your arme.
Rom. I did all for the best.
Mer. A poxe of your houses, I am fairely drest. Sirra
goe fetch me a Surgeon.
Boy. I goe my Lord.
Mer. I am pepperd for this world, I am sped yfaith, he
hath made wormes meate of me, and ye aske for me
to morrow you shall finde me a grave man. A poxe
of your houses, I shall be fairely mounted upon four
mens shoulders: For your house of the Mountegues
and the Capolets\ and then some peasantly rogue,
some Sexton, some base slave shall write my Epitaph,
that Tybalt came and broke the Princes Lawes, and
Mercutio was slaine for the first and second cause.
Wher 's the Surgeon ?
Boy. Hee 's come sir.
Mer. Now heele keepe a mumbling in my guts on the
other side, come Benvolio^ lend me thy hand : a poxe
of your houses. [Exeunt.
The following corresponds in Q i to iv. i. 77 to end of
scene :
JuL Oh bid me leape (rather than marrie Paris
From off the battlements of yonder tower :
APPENDIX I 185
Or chaine me to some steeple mountaines top,
Where roaring Beares and savage Lions are :
Or shut me nightly in a Charnell-house,
With reekie shankes, and yeolow chaples sculls :
Or lay me in tombe with one new dead :
Things that to heare them namde have made me
tremble ;
And I will doo it without feare or doubt,
To keep my selfe a faithfull unstaind Wife
To my deere Lord, my deerest Romeo.
Fr. Hold luliet, hie thee home, get thee to bed,
Let not thy Nurse lye with thee in thy Chamber :
And when thou art alone, take thou this Violl,
And this distilled Liquor drinke thou off:
When presently through all thy veynes shall run
A dull and heavie slumber, which shall seaze
Each vitall spirit : for no Pulse shall keepe
His naturall progresse, but surcease to beate :
No signe of breath shall testifie thou livst.
And in this borrowed likenes of shrunke death,
Thou shalt remaine full two and fortie houres.
And when thou art laid in thy Kindreds Vault,
He send in haste to Mantua to thy Lord,
And he shall come and take thee from thy grave.
lul. Frier I goe, be sure thou send for my deare Romeo.
[Exeunt.
The following in Q i corresponds to iv. v. 41-95 :
Par. Have I thought long to see this mornings face,
And doth it now present such prodegies ?
Accurst, unhappy, miserable man,
Forlorne, forsaken, destitute I am :
Borne to the ,world to be a slave in it.
Distrest, remediles, and unfortunate.
O heavens, O nature, wherefore did you make me,
To live so vile, so wretched as I shall.
Cap. O heere she lies that was our hope, our joy,
And being dead, dead sorrow nips us all.
[All at once cry out and zvring their hands,
186 APPENDIX I
All cry. And all our ioy, and all our hope is dead,
Dead, lost, undone, absented, wholy fled.
Cap. Cruel, uniust, impartiall destinies,
Why to this day have you preserved my life ?
To see my hope, my stay, my ioy, my life,
Deprivde of sence, of life, of all by death,
Cruell, uniust, impartiall destinies.
Cap. O sad fac'd sorrow map of misery,
Why this sad time have I desird to see.
This day, this uniust, this impartiall day
Wherein I hop'd to see my comfort full,
To be deprivde by suddaine destinie.
Moth. O woe, alacke, distrest, why should I live ?
To see this day, this miserable day.
Alacke the time that ever I was borne,
To be partaker of this destinie.
Alacke the day, alacke and welladay.
Fr. O peace for shame, if not for charity.
Your daughter lives in peace and happines,
And it is vaine to wish it otherwise.
Come sticke your Rosemary in this dead coarse,
And as the custome of our Country is,
In all her best and sumptuous ornaments,
Convay her where her Ancestors lie tomb'd.
Cap. Let it be so come wofull sorrow mates,
Let us together taste this bitter fate.
[ They all but the Nurse goe foorth^ casting Rose-
mary on her and shutting the Curtens.
The following in Q r corresponds to v. iii. 1-17:
Enter COUNTIE PARIS and his Page with flowers and
sweete water.
Par. Put out the torch, and lye thee all along
Under this Ew-tree, keeping thine eare close to the
hollow ground.
And if thou heare one tread within this Churchyard
Staight give me notice.
Boy. I will my Lord.
[Paris strewes the Tomb with flowers.
APPENDIX I 187
Par. Sweete Flower, with flowers I strew thy Bridale bed :
Sweete Tombe that in thy circuite dost containe,
The perfect modell of eternitie :
Faire luliet that with Angells dost remaine,
Accept this latest favour at my hands,
That living honourd thee, and being dead
With funerall praises doo adorne thy Tombe,
Boy whistles and calls. My Lord.
APPENDIX II
ANALYSIS OF BROOKE'S "THE TRAGICALL HISTORYE
OF ROMEUS AND lULIET," WITH QUOTATIONS
VERONA described 1-12.
The houses of Capelet and Montagew ; their strifes ;
to allay which Prince Escalus uses first gentle means, and
then sterner. (25-50.)
Romeus, a beautiful youth, loves a fair maid, but she,
being wise and virtuous, repels him. (51-72.)
After many months of hopeless love, he desires to
cure himself by travel; yet cannot resolve upon it:
He languisheth and melts awaye, as snow against the
sonne.
His kyndred and alyes do wonder what he ayles.
(73-100.)
The trustiest of his friends rebukes him, and advises
him to love a kinder mistress :
Some one of bewty, favour, shape, and of so lovely
porte :
With so fast fixed eye, perhaps thou mayst beholde :
That thou shalt quite forget thy love, and passions
past of olde. ( i o I - 1 40.)
Romeus promises to attend feasts and banquets, and
to view other beauties. (141-150.)
Before three months pass, Christmas games begin, and
Capel gives a banquet :
No Lady, no knight in Verona
But Capilet himselfe hath byd unto his feast :
Or by his name in paper sent, appoynted as a geast.
(151-164.)
APPENDIX II 189
Romeus goes masked with other five ; when they un-
mask, he retires to a nook, but is recognised by the torches'
light. (165-182.)
The Capilets restrain their ire. (183-190.)
He views the ladies ; sees one more beautiful than the
rest ; and quite forgets his former love. Juliet's eyes
anchor on him. Love shoots her with his bow. Their
eyes inform them of mutual love. (191-244.)
After a dance, Juliet finds Romeus seated by her :
And on the other side there sat one cald Mercutio,
A courtier that eche where was highly had in pryce :
For he was coorteous of his speche, and pleasant of
devise.
Even as a Lyon would emong the lambes be bolde :
Such was emong the bashfull maydes, Mercutio to
beholde.
With frendly gripe he ceasd fay re Juliets snowish
hand:
A gyft he had that nature gave him in his swathing
band.
That frosen mountayne yse was never halfe so cold
As were his handes.
The lovers' hands meet, palm to palm. Romeus cannot
speak ; Juliet calls the time of his arrival blessed, and then
is silent with love ; presently they are able to discourse,
and Romeus declares his passion. (245-308.)
Juliet, before leaving Romeus, confesses that (her
honour saved) she is his. (309-318.)
Romeus learns her name ; blames Fortune and Love ;
but he now serves one who is not cruel. (319-340.)
Juliet, inquiring first concerning others, learns from
her old Nurse her lover's name :
And tell me- who is he with vysor in his hand
That yender doth in masking weede besyde the
window stand.
His name is Romeus (said she) a Montegewe.
Juliet inwardly despairs, but keeps up an outward
show of gladness. She cannot sleep, and questions with
190 APPENDIX II
herself, May not Romeus be false ? But treason cannot
lurk in a shape so perfect. She will love him, if he mind
to make her his lawful wedded wife, for the alliance may
procure the houses' peace. (341-428.)
Morning comes ; Romeus passes, and sees Juliet at
her window ; but is wary of danger. This happens often.
He discovers a garden-plot fronting full upon her leaning
place. Thither, when night has spread her black mantle,
he goes armed ; but for a week or two in vain. One
moonlight night Juliet leans within her window, and
espies him. She rejoices even more than he, for she could
not account for his absence by day. She is alarmed for
his safety :
Oh Romeus (of your lyfe) too lavas sure you are :
That in this place, and at thys tyme to hasard it you
dare.
What if your dedly foes my kynsmen saw you here ?
He answers that he can defend himself, and loves life
only for her sake. Weeping, her head leaning on her arm,
she tells her love, and promises that, if wedlock be his
end and mark, she will follow him wherever he may go ;
but if he intends her dishonour, let him cease his suit.
Romeus rejoices, and says he will seek advice early
tomorrow from Friar Lawrence. (429-564.)
The Friar is described :
The barefoote fryer gyrt with cord his grayish weede,
For he of Frauncis order was, a fryer as I reede.
The secretes eke he knew in natures woorkes that
loorke.
Romeus, not staying till the morrow, goes to him.
He advises delay, but, hoping to reconcile the houses
by the marriage, is overcome. RomeuS consents to the
delay of a day and a night. (565-616.)
Juliet's confidante is the ancient Nurse, who lies in her
charryber, and whose aid she secures by promised hire.
The Nurse goes to Romeus :
APPENDIX II 191
On Saterday, quod he, if Juliet come to shrift,
She shalbe shrived and maried.
She promises to devise an excuse for going, and talks of
her babe Juliet :
And how she gave her sucke in youth, she leaveth
not to tell.
A prety babe (quod she) it was when it was yong :
Lord how it could full pretely have prated with it
tong.
Romeus gives her gold ; she returns, full of his praises :
But of our marriage say at once, what aunswer have
you brought?
Nay soft, quoth she, I feare, your hurt by sodain ioye :
I list not play quoth Juliet, although thou list to
toye. (617-714.)
On Saturday Juliet, the Nurse, and a maid, sent by
Juliet's mother, go to the church. The Friar dismisses
the Nurse and maid to hear " a mass or two." Romeus
has already waited two hours in the Friar's cell : " Eche
minute seemde an howre, and every howre a day." The
lovers are married. Romeus bids Juliet send the Nurse
to him for a ladder of cord. They think the day long ; if
they might have the sun bound to their will " Black shade
of night and doubled darke should straight all over
hyde." (715-826.)
The hour arrives ; Romeus leaps the wall ; climbs
the ladder. Bride and bridegroom embrace, and talk of
their past and present state. The Nurse urges them to
consummate their union. (827-918.)
Dawn comes : " The hastines of Phoebus steeds in
great despyte they blame." Their bliss lasts a month or
twain. On Easter Monday Tibalt, a young Capilet,
Juliet's uncle's son, "best exercisd in feates of armes,"
leads a street-fight against the Montagewes. Romeus seeks
to part the combatants : " Not dread, but other waighty
cause my hasty hand doth stay." Tybalt addresses him
as " coward, traytor boy " ; they fight ; Tybalt is slain.
192 APPENDIX II
The Capilets demand Romeus' death ; the Montagewes
remonstrate ; the lookers-on blame Tybalt ; the Prince
pronounces exile as his sentence, and bids the households
lay aside their bloody weapons. (919-1074.)
Juliet weeps and tears her hair ; wails Tybalt's death ;
curses her fatal window ; rails against Romeus ; and
charges herself with murder for touching the honour of his
name. The Nurse finds her seemingly dead upon her
bed ; she revives ; breaks into lamentation ; is cheered by
the Nurse with the hope of Romeus' recall from exile.
The Nurse offers to go to Romeus, who lurks in the Friar's
cell. Her mistress sends her forth. (1075-1256.)
Romeus does not yet know his doom. The Friar
goes forth, learns the sentence, and returns. He tells the
Nurse that Romeus shall come at night to Juliet to devise
of their affairs. He informs Romeus that the sentence is
good, not death but banishment. Romeus is frantic, tears
his hair, throws himself on the ground, and prays for
death ; he blames nature, his time and place of birth, the
stars, and Fortune. The Friar rebukes him :
Art thou quoth he a man ? thy shape saith, so thou
art:
Thy crying and thy weping eyes denote a womans
hart.
So that I stoode in doute this howre (at the least)
If thou a man or woman wert, or els a brutish beast.
He exhorts Romeus to fortitude ; he has slain his
foe ; he is not condemned to death ; his friends may
resort to him at Mantua. Romeus grows reasonable ;
the Friar advises him as to how to quit Verona unknown ;
and bids him visit cheerfully his lady's bower. (1257-
1526.)
Night comes ; Romeus visits Juliet ; he discourses of
Fortune, and exhorts Juliet to patience ; she pleads to be
permitted to accompany him in disguise ; he explains
that they would be pursued and punished ; he hopes to
procure his recall to Verona within four months ; if he
does not, he will then carry her off to a foreign land.
APPENDIX II 193
Juliet submits, only requiring a promise that Romeus
shall, through the Friar, keep her informed of his state.
(1527-1700.)
Light begins to appear in the East : " As yet he saw
no day, ne could he call it night." Romeus and Juliet
embrace and then part :
Then hath these lovers day an ende, their night
begonne,
For eche of them to other is as to the world the
sunne.
Romeus sets forth, clad as a merchant venturer, to Mantua.
He states his grievance to the Duke ; he is overwhelmed
with sorrow. (1701-1786.)
Juliet pines and pales, though she endeavours to
conceal her grief. Her mother notices the change in her ;
tries to cheer her ; bids her forget Tibalt's death. Juliet
declares that, a great while since, her last tears for Tybalt
were shed. Her mother informs Capilet, and tells him of
her suspicion that Juliet pines for envy of her married
companions ; she urges Capilet to have her married. He
replies that she is too young — scarce sixteen years ; yet
he will seek a husband. (1787-1874.)
County Paris, an Earl's son, becomes a suitor. Her
mother informs Juliet, commending " his youthfull yeres,
his fayrenes, and his port, and semely grace." Juliet
expresses amazement ; threatens to slay herself; kneels
and implores. Old Capilet comes to her ; she grovels
at his feet ; he charges her with unthankfulness and
disobedience :
thou playest in this case
The dainty foole, and stubberne gyrle ; for want of
skill
Thou dost refuse thy offred weale, and disobey my
will. , -; ,
Unless by Wednesday next she consents, he will dis-
inherit and confine her. (1875-1996.)
Next morning Juliet visits the Friar ; states her case ;
threatens suicide, if marriage with Paris be otherwise un-
avoidable. The Friar is in perplexity; not five months
194 APPENDIX II
past, he had wedded her to Romeus ; the marriage with
Paris is fixed for the tenth day of September. He tells
Juliet of his youthful travels, in which he had learnt
the virtues of stones, plants, metals. He explains the
properties of the sleeping-powder ; exhorts her to courage ;
bids her receive the " vyoll small," and on her marriage-
day before the sun clears the sky, fill it with water :
Then drinke it of, and thou shalt feele throughout
eche vayne and Km
A pleasant slumber slide, and quite dispred at length
On all thy partes, from every part reve all thy kindly
strength.
Her kindred will suppose her dead ; will bear her to
their forefathers' tomb ; the Friar will send to Mantua,
and he and Romeus will take her forth that night. (1997-
2172.)
Juliet courageously agrees; passes with stately gait
through the streets ; tells her mother that the Friar has
made her another woman, and consents to marry Paris ;
she will go to her closet to choose out the bravest
garments and richest jewels. Old Capilet praises the
Friar, and at once goes to inform Paris ; who visits Juliet,
is charmed, and now only desires to haste the day. (2173-
2276.)
The bridal feast is prepared ; the dearest things are
bought. In Juliet's chamber the Nurse praises Paris ten
times more than she had praised Romeus : " Paris shall
dwell there still, Romeus shall not retourne," or, if he do,
Juliet shall have both husband and paramour. Juliet
maintains a cheerful aspect ; sends away the Nurse, for
she would spend the night in prayer ; then hides the viol
under her bolster, and retires to bed. She doubts the
unknown force of the powder. Will it work at all?
Serpents and venomous worms may lurk in the tomb.
How shall she endure the stench of corpses? Will she
not be stifled ? She thinks she sees Tybalt's dead body ;
she is in a cold sweat ; fearing her own weakness, she
swiftly drinks the mixture, then crosses her arms on her
breast, and falls into a trance. (2277-2402.)
APPENDIX II 195
At sunrise the Nurse would wake her: "Lady you
slepe to long, (the Earle) will rayse you by and by."
She finds that Juliet is dead; the mother laments; the
father, Paris, and a rout of gentlemen and ladies enter ;
old Capilet has no power to weep or speak :
If ever there hath been a lamentable day,
A day, ruthfull, unfortunate and fatall, then I say
this is that day. (2403-2472.)
Meanwhile Friar Lawrence sends a friar of his house
to Romeus with a letter, bidding him come "the next
night after that," to take Juliet from the tomb. Friar
John hies to Mantua ; seeks, according to custom, a
companion brother, but, plague being in the house, is
detained, and not knowing the contents of the letter, he
defers till the morrow. All in Capilet's house is changed
from marriage to funeral ; according to the Italian manner
Juliet is borne to the tomb with open face and in wonted
weed. Romeus' man, sent to Verona as a spy, sees the
funeral, and bears tidings to his master. Thinking that
his death would be more glorious if he died near Juliet,
Romeus resolves to go to Verona. He wanders through
Mantua streets, sees an apothecary sitting outside his
poor shop, furnished with few boxes, and bribes him with
gold to sell poison, " speeding gere," contrary to the law.
(2473-2588.)
Romeus sends his man, Peter, to Verona, bidding him
provide instruments to open the tomb. He calls for ink
and paper, and writes an account of the events and his
design, to be given to his father. At Verona Peter meets
him with lantern and instruments. He orders Peter to
leave him, and early in the morning to deliver the letter
to his father. Romeus descends into the vault, finds
Juliet dead, embraces her, and devours the poison. He
addresses Juliet ; what more glorious tomb could he have
craved ? He addresses the dead Tybalt ; prays to Christ
for his grace ; throws himself on Juliet's body, and dies.
(2589-2688.)
Friar Lawrence comes to open the tomb, and is
startled by the light in it. Peter explains to him that
196 APPENDIX II
his master is within ; the Friar enters and finds the body
of Romeus. Juliet awakens ; the Friar shows her lover's
corpse; exhorts her to patience, and promises to place
her in some religious house. She weeps, falls on Romeus'
body, covers it with kisses, and laments her loss. Hearing
a noise, the Friar and servant fly. Juliet, with a speech
welcoming death, plunges Romeus' dagger in her heart.
(2689-2792.)
Watchmen, supposing that enchanters were abusing
the dead, enter the tomb, find the corpses, arrest the
Friar and Peter, and next day inform the Prince. (2793-
2808.)
Crowds visit the tomb. By the Prince's order the
bodies are placed on a stage. Peter and Friar Lawrence
are openly examined. The Friar in a long speech justifies
himself, and explains all that had happened. His account
is confirmed by Peter and by the letter of Romeus. Prince
Escalus banishes the Nurse and lets Peter go free. The
apothecary is hanged by the throat. The Friar retires to
a hermitage and five years later dies, aged seventy-five
(see line 2843). The bodies of the lovers are placed in a
stately tomb, supported by great marble pillars :
And even at this day the tombe is to be scene ;
So that among the monumentes that in Verona been,
There is no monument more worthy of the sight,
Then is the tombe of Juliet and Romeus her knight.
(2809-3020.)
APPENDIX III
RUNAWAY'S EYES
(Footnote to Page 100)
AN editor has to consider whether the word runaway
is to be retained ; and if it is, whether runaway's or
runaways' should be printed. The proposed substitutes
are not happy ; among them are Rumour's, Renomy's,
Luna's, unawares, rumourors', Cynthia's, enemies, rude
day's (Dyce, ed. 2), sunny day's, sun-weary, and others
of equal infelicity. The word runaway is strongly
supported by the parallel (with variations) in ideas and
language of Merchant of Venice, II. vi. 34-47. Jessica
is on the balcony ; love, she says, is blind, and lovers
cannot see their pretty follies. Lorenzo bids her "come
at once, For the close night doth play the runaway''
When Lorenzo speaks it is night; when Juliet speaks
it is day, and she is gazing at the sun.
I believe the genitive singular runaway's to be right,
and I agree with War burton that the sun or Phcebus is
meant. It is objected that Juliet has complained of the
slow pace of the sun ; but now she imagines night as
having arrived, and the tardy sun has proved himself to
be the runaway he actually was.
I do not wish "to innovate in the text, and I have left
the commonly received punctuation. But a different
punctuation might solve the difficulty. The word That
(before runaway's] may be the demonstrative pronoun, as in
" That ' banished/ " line 113. " That runaway " may mean
" yonder runaway," or " that runaway (of whom I have
197
198 APPENDIX III
spoken)." The central motive of the speech is "Come
night, come Romeo." Having invoked night to spread
the curtain, Juliet says, with a thought of her own joyful
wakefulness, " Yonder sun may sleep " (wink having
commonly this sense) ; and then she calls on Romeo
to leap to her arms.
I am not quite sure that " untalk'd of and unseen " is
rightly connected with " Romeo." Possibly we should
connect it with what follows. Lovers unseen seeing is in
the manner of the play. This is a secondary question ;
but perhaps the whole might be pointed thus :
Spread thy close curtains love-performing night !
— That [ = Yonder] runaway's eyes may wink — and
Romeo,
Leap to these arms ! Untalk'd of and unseen,
Lovers can see, etc.
If following Delius we read runaways' eyes, the
runaways (if not the stars) must be wanderers in the
streets. Attempts have been made to produce an ex-
ample of runaway in such a sense, but, I think, without
success, and Professor Hales {Longman's Magazine, Feb.
1892) has to admit that the word in this sense is a
«<£•«§ }.sy6{Asvov not only in Shakespeare, but in all English
literature. Expressions of the desire of lovers for silence
and the absence of babblers can of course be found, and
Spenser's Epithalamium may be compared with Juliet's
soliloquy, but the points in common are not, I think,
such as prove more than that a community of subject
suggested like ideas.
Theobald read "That th' Runaway's" (after War-
burton). Allen suggests the absorption of the by the
final t in that. Commentators have named as the
runaway the Night, the moon, Phaeton, Romeo, Juliet,
etc. Halpin, with learning and ingenuity, argues
that he is the runaway Cupid. See thirty closely
printed pages on this line in Furness's Romeo and
Juliet.
White, who, after resisting it, came round to War-
APPENDIX III 199
burton's explanation, quotes from The Faithful Friends
(Dyce, Beau, and Flet. vol. iv.) :
The all-seeing sun, that makes fair virgins blush,
But three short nights hath hid his peeping eyes,
Since that uniting Hymen tied our hearts, etc.
So Mucedorus (noted by Professor Littledale), p. 35,
ed. Delius : " The crystal eye of heaven shall not thrice
wink" i.e. the sun shall not thrice set.
I would ask the reader to consider my suggestion as
to "That runaway's eyes" as offered with some degree
of assurance ; but to observe that I throw out the notion
of pointing " arms ! Untalk'd of" merely as a possibility,
which ought not to be wholly lost sight of in studying
the passage.
PRINTED BY MORRISON AND GIBB LIMITED, EDINBURGH.
h.
runt.
etc.
that hv
printed
Juliet.
White, w 7,
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