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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.72 Adieu, adieu!

[Exit.

Jul. Oh, fortune, fortune! all men call thee fickle :

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.

La. Cap. [Within.] Ho, daughter! are you up?
Jul. Who is 't that calls? is it my lady mother?
Is she not down so late, or up so early ?73
What unaccustomed cause procures 74 her hither?
Enter Lady CAPULET.

La. Cap. Why, how now, Juliet!
Jul.

Madam, I am not well.
La. Cap. Evermore weeping for your cousin's

death!

What! wilt thou wash him from his grave with tears ?

La. 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 ?
La. Cap.

That same villain, Romeo.
Jul. 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.75
La. Cap. That is, because the traitor murderer
lives.

Jul. Ay, madam, from the reach of these my
hands :76_

Would none but I might venge my cousin's death!

La. Cap. We will have vengeance for it, fear

thou not:

Then weep no more. I'll send to one in Mantua,—
Where that same banish'd runagate doth live,-
Shall give him such an unaccustom'd77 dram,
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—

An if thou couldst, thou couldst not make him Is my poor heart so for a kinsman vex'd:

live;

Madam, if you could find out but a man

Therefore, have done: some grief shows much of To bear a poison, I would temper 78 it;

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72. Dry sorrow drinks our blood. The belief that grieving exhausts the blood, takes colour from the cheek, and impairs the health, is more than once alluded to by Shakespeare. See Note 42, Act iii., "Midsummer Night's Dream."

73. Is she not down so late, or up so early? This probably means, 'Is she not lying down in her bed at so late an hour as this, or rather is she risen from her bed at so early an hour as this?' If the word "down" be taken in the sense of lying down' or 'lain down,' the above is the interpretation of the passage; but if the word "down" be taken in the sense of 'down-stairs' (and it is so used in the previous scene, where Capulet says, "She'll not come down to-night"), the sentence may be interpreted, 'Is she not still down-stairs at a very late hour, or has she not arisen at a very early one?'

74. Procures. 'Brings ;' 'procures her presence.'

46

75. No man like he doth grieve my heart. Here "he" is used for him' by a grammatical licence permitted when Shakespeare wrote. See Note 22, Act i., "As You Like It." 76. Ay, madam, from the reach of these my hands. Johnson remarks upon this passage, Juliet's equivocations are rather too artful for a mind disturbed by the loss of a new lover." But it appears to us that, on the contrary, the evasions of speech here used by the young girl-wife are precisely those that a mind suddenly and sharply awakened from previous inactivity, by desperate love and grief, into self-conscious strength, would instinctively use; especially are they exactly the sort of shifts and quibbles that a nature rendered timid by stinted intercourse with her kind, and by communion limited to the innocent confidences made by one of her age in the confessional, is prone to

That Romeo should, upon receipt thereof,
Soon sleep in quiet. Oh, how my heart abhors
To hear him nam'd,-and cannot come to him,
To wreak the love I bore my cousin Tybalt 79
Upon his body that hath slaughter'd him!

La. Cap. Find thou the means, and I'll find

such a man.

But now I'll tell thee joyful tidings, girl.

resort to, when first left to itself in difficulties of situation and abrupt encounter with life's perplexities. The Italian-bornand-bred Juliet is made by our author to speak and act with wonderful truth to her southern self. The miracle is how he, who could draw the courageous and direct-hearted Helena, the noble-minded Portia, the transparent-souled Imogen, could so thoroughly divine and so naturally depict the manner in which the two Italian girl-wives, Juliet and Desdemona, speak and act in accordance with their southern birth and breeding. He has drawn them exquisitely gentle, charming, winning; but he has given them the gentleness that blights into timidity, instead of the gentleness that blossoms into moral courage, and has shown how it brings fatal results. The wonder beyond this is, how, with all his faithful denotement of the underlying defect in their characters, he has yet contrived to make the more beautiful portions of their characters so ineffably lovely, so prevailingly and saliently attractive.

strange.

77. Unaccustom'd. 'Unusual,' 'extraordinary,' See Note 12, Act iii., "First Part Henry VI." 78. Temper. Here ostensibly used in the sense of 'mix,' 'prepare,' and really used in the sense of mingle,' 'allay,' 'weaken by introduction of innocuous matter.'

79. To wreak the love I bore my cousin Tybalt. To "wreak" is to 'revenge' and also to 'fulfil vehemently;' therefore "to wreak the love I bore," &c., is said with a double sense,ostensibly, to revenge the loss I suffer in the love I bore,' &c. ; and really, 'to bestow entirely the love I bore,' &c. The word "Tybalt," at the conclusion of this line, which is omitted in the early copies, was supplied by the editor of the second Folio.

Jful. And joy comes well in such a needy time: Sailing in this salt flood; the winds, thy sighs; What are they, I beseech your ladyship?

La. Cap. Well, well, thou hast a careful father, child;

One who, to put thee from thy heaviness,
Hath sorted out a sudden day of joy,

That thou expect'st not, nor I look'd not for.

Jul. Madam, in happy time,80 what day is that? La. Cap. Marry, my child, early next Thursday

morn,

The gallant, young, and noble gentleman,
The County Paris,81 at Saint Peter's Church,
Shall happily make thee there a joyful bride.

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 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!

La. Cap. Here comes your father; tell him so yourself,

And see how he will take it at your hands.

Enter CAPULET and Nurse.

Cap. When the sun sets, the air doth drizzle dew;8 82

But for the sunset of my brother's son' 83
It rains downright. —

How now! a conduit, girl? what! still in tears?
Evermore showering? In one little body
Thou counterfeit'st a barque, a sea, a wind:
For still thy eyes, which I may call the sea,
Do ebb and flow with tears; the barque thy body is,

So. In happy time.

'Opportunely,' 'aptly,' 'appositely. See Note 45, Act iii., Richard III.," and Note 34, Act i. of the present play. The phrase was sometimes used with a touch of petulance or implied sarcasm; as in Bishop Lowth's Letter to Warburton:-"And may I not hope then for the honour af your lordship's animadversions? In good time: when the candid examiner understands Latin a little better; and when your lordship has a competent knowledge of Hebrew." 81. The County Paris. See Note 62, Act i.

82. The air doth drizzle dew. This is the reading of the undated Quarto and the 1637 Quarto; while the Folio and the other Quartos give earth' instead of "air." Passages have been cited from Shakespeare to prove that he may have intended earth' here; as, for instance, in "Richard III.," Act v., sc. 3-"I would these dewy tears were from the ground;" in "Lucrece," stanza 162

"As the dank earth weeps at thy languishment; " and again in stanza 176

"But as the earth doth weep, the sun being set." Nevertheless, it must be borne in mind that, in each of these passages, the earth is poetically represented as being wet with dew, rather than shedding dew; whereas the expression "drizzle," in the text, denotes the dropping of dew, in the same way that Shakespeare indicates it where he says ("King John," Act ii., sc. i.)-"Before the dew of evening fall."

Who, raging with thy tears, and they with them,

Without a sudden calm, will overset

Thy tempest-tossèd body.-How now, wife!
Have you delivered to her our decree ?

La. Cap. Ay, sir; but she will none, she gives

you thanks.

I would the fool were married to her grave!
Cap. Soft! take me with you,84 take me with
you, wife.

How! will she none? doth she not give us thanks?
Is she not proud ? doth she not count her bless'd,
Unworthy as she is, that we have wrought
So worthy a gentleman to be her bridegroom?
Jul. Not proud, you have; but thankful, that
you have:

Proud can I never be of what I hate;

But thankful even for hate, that is meant love.
Cap. How now, how now, chop-logic! 85 What

is this?

Proud, and, I thank you,-and, I thank you not;

And yet not proud :-mistress minion, you,
Thank me no thankings, nor proud me no prouds,
But fettle 86 your fine joints 'gainst Thursday next,
To go with Paris to Saint Peter's Church,
Or I will drag thee on a hurdle thither.
Out, you green-sickness carrion! out, you bag-
gage!

You tallow-face !87
La. 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,88 young baggage! disobedient

wretch!

"

83. My brother's son. It is probable that here "brother's' is used for brother-in-law's' (see Note 5, Act i., "Third Part Henry VI.," and Note 4, Act iv., "Richard III."), as Lady Capulet says in the first scene of the present Act, "Tybalt, my cousin! Oh, my brother's child!"

84. Take me with you. An idiomatic phrase, signifying 'let me understand you,' 'let me follow your meaning.' See Note 136, Act ii., "First Part Henry IV.”

85. Chop-logic. That this was used as a nick-name is shown by a passage from "The XXIIII. Orders of Knaves: "— 'Choplogyk is he that whan his mayster rebuketh his servaunt for his defawtes, he will gyve hymn xx. words for one." 86. Fettle. An old word, and still in provincial use, signifying 'prepare,' 'make ready,'' adjust,' 'put in order.'

87. You tallow-face! Even in these coarsely abusive terms with which the irate old man loads his daughter, how well the dramatist contrives to paint and set before our imagination the pale face of Juliet: white with suppressed feeling, and almost livid under the momentary impulse to throw herself at her father's feet and confess all.

88. Hear me with patience. . . . Hang thee, &c. We here see the root of Juliet's prevarication; irrational violence if she attempt to offer remonstrance instead of blind obedience, or if she think for a moment of honest avowal. This is the way to convert original candour of disposition into timid misprision of truth, and artlessness into artfulness. Wise, and good, and moral Shakespeare!

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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 bless'd

That God had lent us but this only child; 89
But now I see this one is one too much,
And that we have a curse in having her :
Out on her, hilding! 90

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,

Good prudence; smatter with your gossips, go.
Nurse. I speak no treason.
Cap.

Oh, give 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.

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Cap. God's bread !91 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,

Of fair demesnes, youthful, and nobly train'd,
Stuff'd (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,92 in her fortune's tender, 93
To answer-" I'll not wed,"-"I cannot love,"-
"I am too young,"-"I pray you, pardon me ;"-
But, an you will not wed, I'll pardon you:
Graze where you will, you shall not house with me.
Look to 't, think on 't, I do not use to jest.
Thursday is near; lay hand on heart, advise :94

89. Had lent us but this only child. The first Quarto gives 'sent' for "lent," which is the word given in the Folio and all the other Quartos. We think it possible that 'left' may have been originally written by the author here; because, in a previous scene, Capulet speaks as if he had had other children born to him, who died young. See Note 28, Act i.

90. Hilding. 'Degenerate creature,' 'base and despicable girl.' See Note 4, Act ii., "Taming of the Shrew."

91. God's bread! We have had more than one occasion to observe upon Shakespeare's accurately appropriate exclamations, imprecations, and adjurations. See Note 11, Act i., "Merchant of Venice," and Note 31, Act ii. of the present play. Here, the solemn expression, "God's bread!" put into the mouth of the furious Capulet, is in strict accordance with what we still hear in Italy from the mouths of angry quarrellers; who often use its equivalent in the words, Per l'Ostia! I'll make you rue it!' or, 'Per l'Ostia! you shall pay for this!

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92. Mammet. 'Puppet,' 'doll.' See Note 57, Act ii., "First Part Henry IV." In Archbishop Trench's admirable book "On the Study of Words," he traces the origin of this word to Mahomet;' because the religion of the Arabian prophet was synonymous in the minds of English Christians with idolatry, it being forgotten that the most characteristic feature and chief glory of Mahometanism is its protest against all idol-worship whatsoever. From this original error and injustice arose the habit of applying the word "mammet" (a

An you be mine, I'll give you to my friend;
An you be not, hang, beg, starve, die i' the streets,
For, by my soul, I'll ne'er acknowledge thee,
Nor what is mine shall never do thee good:
Trust to 't, bethink you; I'll not be forsworn.

[Exit.

Jul. Is there no pity sitting in the clouds,
That sees into the bottom of my grief?—
Oh, sweet my mother, cast me not away!
Delay this marriage for a month, a week;
Or, if you do not, make the bridal bed
In that dim monument where Tybalt lies.

La. Cap. Talk not to me, for I'll not speak a word:

Do as thou wilt, for I have done with thee. [Exit. Jul. O God!--Oh, nurse, how shall this be prevented?

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
Upon so soft a subject as myself!—

What say'st thou hast thou not a word of joy ?
Some comfort, nurse.

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Romeo is banish'd; and all the world to nothing,"
That he dares ne'er come back to challenge you; 96
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.
Oh, he's a lovely gentleman!

Romeo's a dishclout to him: an eagle, madam,
Hath not so green, so quick, so fair an eye97
As Paris hath. Beshrew my very heart,
I think you are happy in this second match,
For it excels your first : 98 or if it did not,

corruption of 'Mahomet') not only to idols or religious images, but to dolls and puppets.

93. In her fortune's tender. fortune presents itself to her.'

In the moment when good

94. Advise. Reflect,' 'consider.'

95. All the world to nothing. An elliptical and idiomatic phrase, signifying, "Tis all the world to nothing,' or 'I'd stake all the world against nothing.' See Note 43, Act i., "Richard III."

96. To challenge you. 'To claim you,' 'to declare you his;' and to call you to answer for what you do,' 'to accuse you.' The word was used in both these senses by writers of Shakespeare's time, and it was his mode to include several meanings in one comprehensive word,

97. So green, so quick, so fair an eye. The brilliant touch of green visible in very light hazel eyes, and which gives wonderful clearness and animation to their look, has been admiringly denoted by various poets from time immemorial; while Lord Bacon observes, "Eyes, somewhat large, and the circles of them inclined to greenness, are signs of long life." 98. This second match, for it excels your first: or if it did as good he were . . . . no use of him. This sentence presents a point of study in Shakespeare's method of using relative words in a sentence: "it" refers to 66 second match;" then "first" relates to "match;" then "he" and "him" relate to

not

....

first."

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Enter Friar LAURENCE and PARIS.

Fri. L. On Thursday, sir? the time is very short.

Par. My father Capulet will have it so; And I am nothing slow, to slack his haste.1

Fri. L. You say you do not know the lady's mind:

Uneven is the course, I like it not.

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; 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.

Fri. L. [Aside.] I would I knew not why it should be slow'd.2

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.

99. As living here. 'As living in this world.'

1. I am nothing slow, to slack his haste. This sentence offers a notable instance of Shakespeare's elliptical style; which is sometimes, as here, so condensed as to give, superficially viewed, the contrary effect to the one intended. Besides his condensation, it must also be borne in mind that he frequently uses the word "to" with great latitude of significance; and then we shall see that Paris is meant to say, 'I am not slow in my own desire to have the wedding speedily, a slowness which would tend to slacken his haste.' We here take occasion to point out the remarkably few instances of elliptical diction in the present play. It was a form that he used but sparingly in

Par. That may be must be, love, on Thursday

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his earlier dramas; whereas, in his latter ones, it occurs perpetually. As his habit of writing and facility of expression increased, so his power of condensed and inclusive phraseology strengthened; while his own taste and judgment made him ever more and more exercise it as a skill in itself and as productive of the most vigorous effect.

2. Slow'd. To 'slow' was a verb used in Shakespeare's time. 3. Evening mass. Meaning 'vespers.' "Mass" is always performed during the morning. The word "mass" is here employed in the general sense of 'service,' 'office,' 'prayer;' while, on the contrary, the Italians usually apply their word funzione to 'high mass' only, though in strictness it means 'divine service' generally.

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