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Jul. What man art thou, that, thus bescreen'd in night,

So stumblest on my counsel?

Rom. By a name

I know not how to tell thee who I am:

My name, dear saint, is hateful to myself,
Because it is an enemy to thee;

Rom. Lady, by yonder blessed moon I vow
That tips with silver all these fruit-tree tops,-
Jul. O, swear not by the moon, the inconstant
moon,

5 That monthly changes in her circled orb,
Lest that thy love prove likewise variable.
Rom. What shall I swear by?

Had I it written, I would tear the word. [words
Jul. My ears have yet not drunk a hundred
Of that tongue's uttering, yet I know the sound; 10
Art thou not Romeo, and a Montague?

Rom. Neither, fair saint, 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.

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.

15

Jul. Do not swear at all;

Or, if thou wilt, swear by thy gracious self,
Which is the god of my idolatry;
And I'll believe thee.

Rom. If my heart's dear love

Jul. Well, do not swear; although I joy in thee,
I have no joy of this contract to-night:

It is too rash, too unadvis'd, too sudden;
Too like the lightning, which doth cease to be,
Ere one can say-It lightens. Sweet, good night!
This bud of love, by summer's ripening breath,
May prove a beauteousflower when nextwe meet.
20 Good night, good night! as sweet repose and rest
Come to thy heart, as that within my breast!
Rom. O, wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied?
Jul. What satisfaction canst thou have to-night?
Rom. The exchange of thy love's faithful vow
for mine.

Jul. If they do see thee, they will murderthee. Rom. Alack! there lies more peril in thine eye, Than twenty of their swords; look thou but sweet, 25 And I am proof against their enmity.

Jul. I would not for the world, they saw thee here.

[sight: Rom. I have night's cloak to hide me from their And, but thou love me, let them find me here; 30 My life were better ended by their hate, Than death prorogu'd', wanting of thy love. Jul. By whose direction found'st thou out this place?

[quire;

[it:

Jul. I gave thee mine before thou didst request
And yet I would it were to give again.
Rom. Would'st thou withdraw it? for what

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Rom. By love, who first did prompt me to en-35I hear some noise within; Dear love, adieu! He lent me counsel, and I lent him eyes.

I am no pilot; yet, wert thou as far

As that vast shore wash'd with the farthest sea,
I would adventure for such merchandize.
Jul. Thou know'st, the mask of night is on 40
my face;

Else would a maiden blush bepaint my cheek,
For that which thou hast heard ine 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;
And I will take thy word: yet, if thou swear'st,
Thou may'st prove false; at lovers' perjuries,
They say, Jove laughs. O, gentle Romeo,
If thou dost love, pronounce it faithfully:
Or if thou think'st I am too quickly won,
I'll frown, and be perverse, and say thee nay,
So thou wilt woo; but, else, not for the world.
In truth, fair Montague, I am too fond;

45

1501

[Nurse calls within. Anon, good nurse!-Sweet Montague, be true, Stay but a little, I will come again.

[Exit.

Rom. O blessed blessed night! I am afeard,
Being in night, all this is but a dream,
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'll procure to come to thee, [rite;
Where, and what time, thou wilt perform the
And all my fortunes at thy foot I'll lay,
And follow thee my lord throughout the world.
[Within: Madam.

I come anon.-But if thou mean'st not well,
I do beseech thee,[Within: Madam.] By-and-by,
I come

And therefore thou may'st think my’haviour light; 55 To-morrow will I send.

To cease thy suit, and leave me to my grief:

But trust me, gentleman, I'll prove more true,
Than those that have more cunning to be strange.
I should have been more strange, I must confess,
But that thou over-heardst, ere I was ware,
My true love's passion: therefore pardon me;
And not impute this yielding to light love,
Which the dark night hath so discovered.

1601

Rom. So thrive my soul,—

Jul. A thousand times good night! [Exit. Rom. A thousand times the worse, to want thy light. [books: goes toward love, as school-boys from their Butlovefromlove,towardsschool withheavy looks.

Love

! i. e. delayed..

Re-enter

Re-enter Juliet again, above.

Jul. Hist! Romeo, hist!-O, for a faulconer's
voice,

To lure this tassel-gentle' back again!
Bondage is hoarse, and may not speak aloud;
Else would I tear the cave where echo lies,
And make her airy tongue more hoarse than mine
With repetition of my Romeo's name.

Rom. It is my soul, that calls upon my name:

O, mickle is the powerful grace', that lies
In plants, herbs, stones, and their true qualities:
For nought so vile that on the earth doth live,
But to the earth some special good doth give;
5 Nor aught so good, but, strain' d from that fair use,
Revolts from true birth, stumbling on abuse:
Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied;
And vice sometime 's by action dignify'd.
Within the infant rind of this small flower

How silver-sweet sound lovers' tongues by night, 10 Poison hath residence, and med'cine power:

Like softest musick to attending ears!

Jul. Romeo!

Rom. My sweet?

Jul. At what o'clock to-morrow

Shall I send to thee?

Rom. By the hour of nine.

Jul. I will not fail; 'tis twenty years 'till then. I have forgot why I did call thee back.

For this, being smelt, with that part cheers each
Being tasted, slays all senses with the heart. [part;
Two such opposed foes encamp them still
In man as well as herbs, grace, and rude will:
15 And, where the worser is predominant,
Full soon the canker death eats up that plant.
Enter Romeo.

Rom. Let me stand here 'till thou remember it.
Jul. I shall forget, to have thee still stand there, 20
Rememb'ring how I love thy company.

Rom. And I'll still stay, to have thee still forget,
Forgetting any other home but this. [gone;
Jul. 'Tis almost morning, I would have thee
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,
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,

Rom. Good morrow, father!

Fri. Benedicite!

What early tongue so sweet saluteth me?-
Young son, it argues a distemper'd head,
So soon to bid good morrow to thy bed:
Care keeps his watch in every old man's eye,
And where care lodges, sleep will never lie;
But where unbruised youth with unstuft brain
Doth couch his limbs, there golden sleep doth
Therefore thy earliness doth me assure, [reign:
Thou art up-rous'd by some distemp❜rature;
Or if not so, then here I hit it right-
30 Our Romeo hath not been in bed to-night.

25

That I shall say good night, 'till it be morrow. 35 [Exit.

Rom. Sleep dwell upon thine eyes, peace in

thy breast!

Would I were sleep and peace, so sweet to rest!
Hence will I to my ghostly father's cell;
His help to crave, and my dear hap to tell. [Exit.
SCENE III.

I

Rom, That last is true, the sweeter rest was mine.
Fri. God pardon sin! wast thou with Rosaline?
Rom. With Rosaline, my ghostly father? no;
have forgot that name, and that name's woe.
Fri. That's my good son: But where hast thou
been then?

Rom. I'll tell thee, ere thou ask it me again.
I have been feasting with mine enemy;
Where, on a sudden, one hath wounded me,
40 That's by me wounded; both our remedies
Within thy help and holy physick lies:

45

A MONASTERY.
Enter Friar Lawrence, with a basket.
Fri. The grey-ey'd morn smiles on the frown-
ing night,
[light;
Checkering the eastern clouds with streaks of
And flecked darkness like a drunkard reels
From forth day's path-way, made by litan'swheels: 50
Now ere the sun advance his burning eye,
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; (55)
What is her burying grave, that is her womb:
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.

I bear no hatred, blessed man; for, lo,
My intercession likewise steads my foe.
Fri. Be plain, good son, and homely in thy drift;
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 combin'd, save what thou must combine
By holy marriage: When, and where, and how,
We met, we woo'd, and made exchange of vow,
I'll tell thee as we pass; but this I pray,
That thou consent to marry us this day.

Fri. Holy saint Francis! what a change is here!
Is Rosaline, whom thou didst love so dear,
So soon forsaken? Young men's love then lies
Not truely in their hearts, but in their eyes.
Holy Saint Francis! what a deal of brine
60Hath wash'd thy sallow cheeks for Rosaline!

The tassel or tiercel (for so it should be spelt) is the male of the gosshawk; so called, because it is a tierce or third less than the female. This is equally true of all birds of prey. Flecked is spotted, dappled, streak'd, or variegated.

i.e. efficacious virtue.

3 R

How

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 my ancient ears;
Lo, here upon thy cheek the stain doth sit
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 chang'd? Pronounce this sentence
then-

[men.
Women may fall, when there's no strength in
Rom. Thou chidd'st me oft for loving Rosaline.
Fri. For doating, 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.

Rom. I pray thee, chide not: she, whom I love

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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.
Mfer. Why, that same pale hard-hearted wench,
that Rosaline,

Torments him so, that he will sure run mad.
Ben. Tybalt, the kinsman of 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 letter.

Ben. Nay, he will answer the letter's master, how he dares, being dar'd.

Mer. More than prince of cats', I can tell you. O, he is the courageous captain of compliments: he fights as you sing prick-song, keeps time, distance, and proportion; he rests his minim, one, 5 two,and the third in your bosom: the very butcher of a silk button, a duellist, a duellist; a gentleman of the very first house;-of the first and second cause-Ah, the immortal passado! the punto reverso! the hay 3!

10

Ben. The what?

Mer. The pox of such antick, lisping, affecting fantasticoes; these new tuners of accent!By-a very good blade!- -a very tall man!a very good whore!- -Why, is not this a lames15table thing, grandsire, that we should be thus afflicted with these strange flics, these fashion-mongers, these Pardonnez-moy's, who stand so much on the new form, that they cannot sit at ease on the old bench? O, their bon's, their bon's*!

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Ben. Here comes Romeo, here comes Romeo. Mer. Without his roe, like a dried herring:-0 flesh, flesh, how art thou fishified!-Now is he for 25the numbers that Petrarch flowed in: Laura, to his lady, was but a kitchen-wench;-marry, she had a better love to be-rhyme her: Dido,a dowdy; Cleopatra, a gypsey; Helen and Hero, hildings and harlots; Thisbe, a grey eye or so, but not to 30the purpose.Signior Romeo, bon jour! there's a French salutation to your French slop'. You gave us the counterfeit fairly last night.

35

Rom. Good-morrow to you both. What counterfeit did I give you? [ceive? Mer. The slip, sir, the slip"; Can you not conRom. Pardon, good Mercutio, my business was great; and, in such a case as mine, a man may strain courtesy.

Mer. That's as much as to say-such a case as 40 yours constrains a man to bow in the hams. Rom. Meaning-to curt'sy.

14

Mer. Alas, poor Romeo, he is already dead! stabb'd with a white wench's black eye, shot thorough the car with a love-song; the very pin of his 30 heart cleft with the blind bow-boy's but-shaft; And is he a man to encounter Tybalt ?

Ben. Why, what is Tybalt?

1

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.

Mer. Right.

Rom. Why, then is my pump well flower'd'. Mer. Well said: follow me this jest now, 'till thou hast worn out thy pump; that, when the single sole of it is worn, the jest may remain, after the wearing, solely singular.

Rem. O single-sol'd jest, solely singular for the singleness!

i. e.

Tybert, the name given to the Cat, in the story-book of Reynard the Fox. 2 That is, a gentleman of the first rank, of the first eminence among these duellists; and one who understands the whole science of quarrelling, and will tell you of the first cause, and the second cause, for which a man is to fight. The hay is the word hai, you have it, used when a thrust reaches the antagonist. How ridiculous they make themselves in crying out good, and being in ecstacies with every trifle. Stops are large loose breeches or trousers, worn at present only by sailors. To understand this play upon the words counterfeit and slip, it should be observed, that in our author's time there was a counterfeit piece of money distinguished by the name of a slip. 'Dr. Johnson says, Here is a vein of wit too thin to be easily found. The fundamental idea is, that Romeo wore pinked pumps, that is, punched with holes in figures.

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Mer.

Mer. Come between us, good Benvolio; my]

wit faints.

Rom. Switch and spurs, switch and spurs; or I'll cry a match.

Mer. Nay, if thy wits run the wild-goose chase, I am done; for thou hast more of the wild-goose in one of thy wits, than, I am sure, I have in my whole five: "Was I with you there for the goose? 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.
Rom. Nay, good goose, bite not.
Mer. Thy wit is a very bitter sweeting'; it is a
most sharp sauce.

5

10

Rom. And is it not well serv'd in to a sweet goose? 15 Mer. O, here's a wit of cheverel, that stretches from an inch narrow to an ell broad!

Rom. I stretch it out for that word-broad, which, added to the goose, proves thee far and] wide a broad goose.

Rom. One, gentlewoman, that God hath made himself to mar.

Nurse. By my troth, it is well said;-For himself to mar, quoth'a?-Gentlemen, can any of you tell me where I may find the young Romeo? 1

Rom. I can tell you; but young Romeo will be older when you have found him, than he was when you sought him: I am the youngest of that name, for fault of a worse.

Nurse. You say well.

Mer. Yea, is the worst well? very well took, 'faith; wisely, wisely.

Nurse. If you be he, sir, I desire some confidence with you.

Ben. She will indite him to some supper.
Mer. A bawd, a bawd, a bawd! So ho!
Rom. What hast thou found?,

Mer. No hare, sir; unless a hare, sir, in a tenten pye, that is something stale and hoar ere 20 it be spent.

Mer. Why, is not this better now than groaning for love? now thou art sociable, now art thou Romeo; now art thou what thou art, by art as well as by nature: for this driveling love is like a great natural, that runs lolling up and down to 25 bide his bauble in a hole 3.

Ben. Stop there, stop there.

Mer. Thou desirest me to stop in my taie against the hair 4.

[large. Ben. Thou would'st else have made thy tale 30 Mer. O, thou art deceiv'd, I would have made it short: for I was come to the whole depth of my tale; and meant, indeed, to occupy the argument no longer.

Rom. Here's goodly geer!

Enter Nurse, and Peter.

Mer. A sail, a sail, a sail!

Ben. Two, two; a shirt, and a smock.
Nurse. Peter!

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66

35

An old hare hoar',
And an old hare hoar,
Is very good meat in lent:
But a hare that is hoar,
Is too much for a score,
When it hoars ere it be spent.-

Romeo, will you come to your father's? we'll to
dinner thither.

Rom. I will follow you.

Mer. Farewell, ancient lady; farewell, lady, lady, lady ".

[Exeunt Mercutio, and Benvolio. Nurse. I pray you, sir, what saucy merchant', was this, that was so full of his ropery 10?

Rom. A gentleman, nurse, that loves to hear himself talk; and will speak more in a minute, than he will stand to in a month.

Nurse. An 'a speak any thing against me, I'll take him down an 'a were lustier than he is, and 40 twenty such Jacks; and if I cannot, I'll find those that shall. Scurvy knave! I am none of his flirtgills; I am none of his skains-mates": -And thou must stand by too, and suffer every knave to use me at his pleasure?

45

Pet. I saw no man use you at his pleasure; if I had, my weapon should quickly have been out, I warrant you: I dare draw as soon as another man, if I see occasion in a good quarrel, and the law Jon my side.

7

A bitter sweeting is an apple of that name. 2 Cheverel is soft leather for gloves; from chevreau, a kid, Fr. 'It has been already observed, in a note on All's Well, &c., that a bauble was one of the accoutrements of a licensed fool or jester. + An expression equivalent to one which we now useagainst the grain." "The business of Peter carrying the Nurse's fan seems ridiculous according to modern manners; but such was formerly the practice. i. e. God give you a good even. Hoar, or houry, is often used for mouldy, as things grow white from moulding. The burthen of an old song. Mr. Steevens observes, that the term merchant, which was, and even now is, frequently applied to the lowest sort of dealers, seems anciently to have been used on these familiar occasions in contradistinction to gentleman; signifying that the person shewed by his behaviour he was a low fellow.---The term chap, i. e. chapman, a word of the same import with merchant in its less respectable sense, is still in common use among the vulgar, as a general denomination for any person of whom they mean to speak with freedom or disrespect. 10 i. e. roguery. A skein or skin was either a knife or a short dagger. By skains-mates the nurse means, none of his loose companions who frequent the fencing-school with him, where we may suppose the exercise of this weapon was taught. 3 R 2

Nurse.

Nurse. Now, afore God, I am so vext, that every part about me quivers. Scurvy knave!Pray you, sir, a word: and, as I told you, my young lady bade me enquire you out; what she bade me say, I will keep to myself: but first let 5 me tell ye, if should lead her into a fool's paradise, as they say, it were a very gross kind of behaviour, as they say: for the gentlewoman is young; and, therefore, if you should deal double with her, truly, it were an ill thing to be offered to any gentlewoman, and very weak dealing.

ye

Rom. Nurse, commend me to thy lady and mistress. I protest unto thee,

10

Nurse. Good heart! and, i' faith, I will tell her as much: Lord, lord, she will be a joyful 15

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Capulet's Garden.

Enter Juliet.

Jul. The clock struck nine, when I did send
the nurse;

In half an hour she promis'd to return. [so.-
Perchance, she cannot meet him :-that's not
O, she is lame! love's heralds should be thoughts,
Which ten times faster glide than the sun's beams,
Driving back shadows over lowring hills:
Therefore do nimble-pinion'd doves draw love,
And therefore hath the wind-swift Cupid wings.
Now is the sun upon the highmost hill

Of this day's journey; and from nine till twelve
Is three long hours,-yet she is not come.
20 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:

But old folks, many feign as they were dead:

Enter Nurse, with Peter.

Be shriv'd, and marry'd. Here is for thy pains. 25 Unwieldy, slow, heavy and pale as lead.
Nurse. No, truly, sir; not a penny.
Rom. Go to; I say you shall.

Nurse. This afternoon, sir? well, she shall be

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hear say

45

Two may keep counsel, putting one away? Rom. I warrant thee; my man's as true as steel. Nurse. Well, sir; my mistress is the sweetest lady-Lord, lord!-whien 'twas a little prating thing,-0,-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 toad, as see him. I anger her sometimes, and tell her that Paris is the properer man; but, I'll warrant you, 50 when I say so, she looks as pale as any clout in the varsal world. Doth not rosemary and Romeo begin both with a letter? [an R.

Rom. Ay, nurse; What of that? both with Nurse. Ah, mocker! that's the dog's name. 55 R is for the dog. No; I know it begins with some other letter: and she hath the prettiest sententious of it, of you and rosemary, that it would do you good to hear it.

Rom. Commend me to thy lady. [Exit. 60 Nurse. Ay, a thousand times.-Peter!

Like stairs of rope in the tackle of a ship. mast of a ship.

O God, she comes!-O honey nurse, what news? Hast thou met with him? Send thy man away. Nurse. Peter, stay at the gate. [Exit Peter. Jul. Now, good sweet nurse,-O`lord! why

look'st thou sad?

Though news be sad, yet tell them merrily;
If good, thou sham'st the musick of sweet news
By playing it to me with so sour a face.

Nurse. I am aweary, give me leave a while;— Fie, how my bones ache! What a jaunt have I had! [news:

Jul. I would, thou hadst my bones, and I thy Nay, come, I pray thee, speak ;-good, good nurse, speak.

Nurse. What haste? can you not stay a while? Do you not see, that I am out of breath?

Jul. How art thou out of breath, when thou

hast breath

To say to me-that thou art out of breath?
The excuse, that thou dost make in this delay,
Is longer than the tale thou dost excuse.
Is thy news good, or bad? answer to that;
Say either, and I'll stay the circumstance:
Let me be satisfied; Is't good or bad?

Nurse. Well, you have made a simple choice; you know not how to choose a man: Romeo! no, not he; though his face be better than any man's, yet his leg excels all men's; and for a hand, and a foot, and a body,--though they not to be talk'd on, yet they are past compare: He is not the flower of courtesy, but, I'll warrant him, as gentle as a lamb.-Go thy ways, wench; serve God:What, have you din'd at home?

Jul. No, no: But all this I did know before; What says he of our marriage? what of that?

The top-gallant is the highest extremity of the

Nurse.

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