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Give me a case to put my visage in: [Putting on a mask A visor for a visor !-what care I,

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,
Tickle the senseless rushes with their heels;
For I am proverb'd with a grandsire phrase,-
I'll 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: If thou art dun, we'll draw thee from the mire

Of this (save reverence) love, wherein thou stick'st
Up to the ears.-Come, we burn day-light, ho.
Rom. Nay, that's not so.

Mer. I mean, sir, in delay

We waste our lights in vain, like lamps by day.
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?

Rom. I dreamt a dream to-night.

Mer. And so did I.

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
On the fore-finger of an alderman,
Drawn with a team of little atomies
Athwart men's noses as they lie asleep :

Her waggon-spokes made of long spinners' legs;
The cover, of the wings of grasshoppers;
The traces, of the smallest spider's web;

The collars, of the moonshine's watry 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

To quote is to observe.

STEEVENS.

An allusion to an old proverbial saying, which advises to give over when the game is at the fairest.

RITSON.

Prick'd from the lazy finger of a maid :
Her chariot is an empty hazel-nut,
Made by the joiner squirrel, or old grub,
Time out of mind the fairies' coach-makers.
And in this state she gallops night by night

Through lovers' brains, and then they dream of love;
On 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,
Because their breaths with sweet-meats" tainted are.
Sometime she gallops o'er a courtier's nose,
And then dreams he of smelling out a suit:
And sometimes comes she with a tithe-pig's tail,
Tickling a parson's nose as 'a lies asleep,
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
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,
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.
This, this is she-

Rom. Peace, peace, Mercutio, peace;
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;

8

And more inconstant than the wind, who woes
Even now the frozen bosom of the north,
And, being anger'd, puffs away from thence,

[6] Kissing-comfits. These artificial aids to perfume the breath are mentioned by Falstaff in the Merry Wives of Windsor.

MALONE.

[7] A sword is called a toledo from the excellence of the Toledan steel. So Gro----------Glaudius Toletanus

tius,

66

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[8] This was a common superstition; and seems to have had its rise from the horrid disease called Plica Polonica

WARBURTON.

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.

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, clos'd in my breast,
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.

SCENE V.

[Exeunt.

A Hall in CAPULET's house. Musicians waiting. Enter

Servants.

1 Serv. Where's Potpan, that he helps not to tak away? he shift a trencher! he scrape a trencher!

2 Serv. When good manners shall lie all in one or two men's hands, and they unwashed too, 'tis a foul thing.

1 Serv. Away with the joint-stools, remove the courtcupboard, look to the plate :-good thou, save me a piece of marchpane; and, as thou lovest me, let the porter let in Susan Grindstone, and Nell.-Antony! and Potpan!

2 Serv. Ay, boy; ready.

1 Serv. You are looked for, and called for, asked for, and sought for, in the great chamber.

2 Serv. We cannot be here and there too.-Cheerly, boys; be brisk awhile, and the longer liver take all.

[They retire behind.

Enter CAPULET, &c. with the Guests, and the Maskers. 1 Cap. Gentlemen, welcome! ladies, that have their toes Unplagu'd with corns, will have a bout with you :— Ah ha, my mistresses! which of Will now deny to dance? she that makes dainty, she, hath corns ; Am I come near you now?

I'll swear,

you

all

[6] A court-cupboard was a moveable; a beufet, a fixture. The former was open, and made of plain oak; the latter had folding doors and was painted and gilded on the inside. STEEVENS.

[7] Marchpanes were composed of filberts, almonds, pistachoes, pine-kernels, and sugar of roses, with a small proportion of flour: called by some almond-cake, and was a constant article in the deserts of our ancestors. It was in high esteem in Shakespeare's time; as appears from the account of Queen Elizabeth's entertainment at Cambridge. It is said that the university presented Sir William Cecil their chancellor with two pair of gloves, a marchpane, and two sugar-loaves. Peck's Desiderata Curiosa. vol. ii. p. 29. GREY.

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You are welcome, gentlemen! I have seen the day,
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 : You are welcome, gentlemen!-Come, musicians, play. A hall! a hall! Give room, and foot it, girls.

[Music plays, and they dance. More light, ye knaves; and turn the tables up,o 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: How long is't now, since last yourself and I Were in a mask?

2 Cap. By'r lady, thirty years.

1 Cap. What, man! 'tis not so much, 'tis not so much : fis since the nuptial of Lucentio,

Come pentecost as quickly as it will,

Some five-and-twenty years; and then we mask'd.

2 Cap. 'Tis more, 'tis more: his son is elder, sir ; His son is thirty.

1 Cap. Will you tell me that?

His son was but a ward two years ago.

Rom. What lady's that, which doth enrich the hand Of yonder knight?

Serv. I know not, sir.

Rom. O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright! Her beauty hangs upon the cheek of night

Like a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear:
Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear!
So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows,
As yonder lady o'er her fellows shows.

The measure done, I'll watch her place of stand,
And, touching hers, make happy my rude hand.
Did my heart love till now? forswear it, sight!
For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night.

[8] This exclamation occurs frequently in the old comedies, and signifies make

room.

STEEVENS.

[9] It should be observed that ancient tables were flat leaves, joined by hinges, and placed on tressels. When they were to be removed, they were therefore turned up. STEEVENS.

[1] Cousin was a common expression from one kinsman to another, out of the degree of parent and child, brother and sister. Thus in Hamlet, the King his uncle and stepfather addresses him with

"But now my cousin Hamlet and my son."--

Olivia, in the Twelfth Night, constantly calls her uncle Toby cousin. Richard III. calls his nephew York cousin, &c. &c.

RITSON.

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Tyb. This, by his voice, should be a Montague :-
Fetch me my rapier, boy :-What! dares the slave
Come hither, cover'd with an antick face,
To fleer and scorn at our solemnity?
Now, by the stock and honour of my kin,
To strike him dead I hold it not a sin.

1 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,
To scorn at our solemnity this night.
1 Cap. Young Romeo is't?

Tyb. 'Tis he, that villain Romeo.

1 Cap. Content thee, gentle coz, let him alone;
He bears him like a portly gentleman;
And, to say truth, Verona brags of him,
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,

Show a fair presence, and put off these frowns,
An ill-beseeming semblance for a feast.

Tyb. It fits, when such a villain is a guest :
I'll not endure him.

1 Cap. He shall be endur'd;

What, goodman boy!-I say, he shall ;-Go to ;—
Am I the master here, or you ? go to.
You'll not endure him!-God shall mend

my soul

You'll make a mutiny among my guests!
You will sit cock-a-hoop! You'll be the man!
Tyb. Why, uncle, 'tis a shame.

1 Cap. Go to, go to,

You are a saucy boy :-Is't so, indeed ?—

This trick may chance to scath you ;—I know what.
You must contráry me! marry, 'tis time-

Well said, my hearts :-You are a princox; go :—
Be quiet, or- -More light, more light, for shame
I'll 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,

Now seeming sweet, convert to bitter gall.

[Exit.

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