pluck your sword out of his pilcher" by the ears? make haste, lest mine be about your ears ere it be out.

Tyb. I am for you.

Rom. Gentle Mercutio, put thy rapier up.

Mer. Come, sir, your passado."

Rom. Draw, Benvolio;

[Drawing,

[They fight.

Beat down their weapons:-Gentlemen, for shame,
Forbear this outrage;-Tybalt-Mercutio—

The prince expressly hath forbid this bandying
In Verona streets :-hold, Tybalt;-good Mercutio.

[Exeunt TY BALT and his Partizans.

Mer. I am hurt ;—
A plague o'both the houses!-I am sped:
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 a church-door; but 'tis enough, 'twill serve : ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man. I am peppered, I warrant, for this world:-A plague o'both your houses!-'Zounds, a dog, a rat, a mouse, a cat, to scratch a man to death! a braggart, a rogue, a villain, that fights by the book of arithmetick!—Why, the devil, came you between us? I was hurt under your arm.

Rom. I thought all for the best.

Mer. Help me into some house, Benvolio,
Or I shall faint.-A plague o'both your houses!

They have made worm's meat of me:

I have it, and soundly too :-Your houses!

[Exeunt MERCUTIO and BENVOLIO.

Rom. This gentlemen, the prince's near ally,

My very friend, hath got his mortal hurt

In my behalf; my reputation stain'd

· pilcher-] Is here used for scabbard. A pilcher was a leathern coat worn by carmen.-NARES.

a

· passado.] i. e. A motion forward, a term in the old art of fencing.-NARES.

With Tybalt's slander, Tybalt, that an hour
Hath been my kinsman :-O sweet Juliet,
Thy beauty hath made me effeminate,
And in my temper soften'd valour's steel.

Re-enter BENVOLIO.

Ben. O Romeo, Romeo, brave Mercutio's dead; That gallant spirit hath aspir'd the clouds,

Which too untimely here did scorn the earth.

Rom. This day's black fate on more days doth depend; 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-ey'd fury be my conduct now!
Now, Tybalt, take the villain back again,
That late thou gav'st me; for Mercutio's soul
Is but a little way above our heads,
Staying for thine to keep him company;
Either thou, or I, or both, must go with him.

Tyb. Thou wretched boy, that didst consort him here, 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 amaz'd:-the prince will doom thee death,

If thou art taken :-hence!-be gone!-away!

Rom. O! I am fortune's fool!

Ben.

Why dost thou stay?

[Exit ROMEO.

Enter Citizens, &c.

1 Cit. Which way ran he, that kill'd Mercutio?

Tybalt, that murderer, which way ran he!

b This day's black fate on more days doth depend ;] This day's unhappy destiny hangs over the days yet to come. There will yet be more mischief.-JOHNSON. respective lenity,] Cool, considerate gentleness.

--

conduct-] For conductor.

Ben. There lies that Tybalt.

1 Cit.

Up, sir, go with me;

I charge thee in the prince's name, obey.

Enter Prince, attended; MONTAGUE, CAPULET, their
Wives, and Others.

Prin. 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,
That slew thy kinsman, brave Mercutio.

La. Cap. Tybalt, my cousin!-O my brother's child! Unhappy sight! ah me, the blood is spill'd

Of my dear kinsman! -Prince, as thou art true,e
For blood of ours, shed blood of Montague.-
O cousin, cousin!

Prin. Benvolio, who began this bloody fray?

Ben. Tybalt, here slain, whom Romeo's hand did slay; Romeo that spoke him fair, bade him bethink

How nice the quarrel was, and urg'd withal

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;
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,

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:
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

Could draw to part them, was stout Tybalt slain;
And, as he fell, did Romeo turn and fly;
This is the truth, or let Benvolio die.

La. 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:
I beg for justice, which thou, prince, must give;
Romeo slew Tybalt, Romeo must not live.

Prin. Romeo slew him, he slew Mercutio;
Who now the price of his dear blood doth owe?
Mon. Not Romeo, prince, he was Mercutio's friend;
His fault concludes but, what the law should end,
The life of Tybalt.

Prin.

And, for that offence,
Immediately we do exíle him hence:

I have an interest in your hates' proceeding,
My blood for your rude brawls doth lie a bleeding;
But I'll amerces 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,
Therefore use none: let Romeo hence in haste,
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.

A Room in Capulet's House.

Enter JULIET.

Jul. Gallop apace, you fiery-footed steeds, Towards Phœbus' mansion; such a waggoner As Phaeton would whip you to the west,

amerce,] i. e. Punish with a fine.

And bring in cloudy night immediately.-
Spread thy close curtain, love-performing night!
That run-away'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,
It best agrees with night.-Come, civil' night,
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,
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,
Give me my Romeo: and, when he shall die,
Take him and cut him out in little stars,
And he will make the face of heaven so fine,
That all the world will be in love with night,
And pay no worship to the garish' sun.
O, I have bought the mansion of a love,
But not possess'd it; and, though I am sold,
Not yet enjoyed: So tedious is this day,
As is the night before some festival

To an impatient child, that hath new robes,
And

may not wear them. O, here comes my nurse,
Enter Nurse, with Cords.

And she brings news; and every tongue, that speaks

h That run away's eyes may wink ;] i. e. That the eyes of prying persons, who run-away as soon as observed, may wink, i. e. see imperfectly.-These eyes have much puzzled the commentators; and I am very distrustful of the correctness of the above interpretation; but I cannot agree with any other that I have met with. The run-away has been supposed to refer to the sun, to night, to Juliet, to Romeo, and to Fame. There is most probably some typographical error

in the lines.

i -civil-] i. e. Grave.

k Hood my unmann'd blood bating in my cheeks,] These are terms of falconry. An unmanned hawk is one that is not brought to endure company. Bating is fluttering the wings.-STEEVENS.

- garish,] i. e. Gandy, showy.