Ap. My poverty, but not my will, consents. prae 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 despatch you straight. Rom. There is thy gold; worse poison to men's souls, Doing more murders in this loathsome world, SCENE II. Friar Laurence's Cell. Enter Friar JOHN. [Exeunt. John. Holy Franciscan friar! brother, ho! Enter Friar LAURENCE. 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. John. Going to find a bare-foot brother out, Here in this city visiting the sick, And finding him, the searchers of the town, 2 One of our order, to associate me,] Each friar has always a So that my speed to Mantua there was stay'd. Lau. Unhappy fortune! by my brotherhood, John. Brother, I'll go and bring't thee. And keep her at my cell till Romeo come; [Exit. [Exit. SCENE III. A Church-Yard; in it, a Monument belonging to the Capulets. Enter PARIS, and his Páge, 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. 3 was not nice,] i. e. was not written on a trivial or idle subject. (Being loose, unfirm, with digging up of graves,) [Retires. Par. Sweet flower, with flowers I strew thy bri dal bed: Sweet tomb, that in thy circuit dost contain The perfect model of eternity; Fair Juliet, that with angels dost remain, [The Boy whistles. [Retires. Enter ROMEO and BALTHASAR with a Torch, Rom. Give me that mattock, and the wrenching iron. Hold, take this letter; early in the morning 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 A precious ring; a ring, that I must use In dear employment: therefore hence, be gone:- By heaven, I will tear thee joint by joint, And strew this hungry churchyard with thy limbs: thou that: Live, and be prosperous; and farewell, good fellow. [Breaking open the Door of the Monument. And, in despite, I'll cram thee with more food! Par. This is that banish'd haughty Montague, That murder'd my love's cousin ;-with which grief, It is supposed, the fair creature died,— And here is come to do some villainous shame Stop thy unhallow'd toil, vile Montague; 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; Let them affright thee.-I beseech thee, youth, dear employment:] That is, action of importance. Gems were supposed to have great powers and virtues. Heap not another sin upon my head, And do attach thee as a felon here. Rom. Wilt thou provoke me? then have at thee, boy. [They fight. Page. O lord! they fight: I will go call the watch. Exit Page. Par. O, I am slain! [Falls.]-If thou be mer ciful, Open the tomb, lay me with Juliet. [Dies. Rom. In faith, I will:-Let me peruse this face ;Mercutio's kinsman, noble county Paris: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, To think it was so?-O, give me thy hand, One writ with me in sour misfortune's book! I'll bury thee in a triumphant grave, A grave? O, no; a lantern, slaughter'd youth, 5 I do defy thy conjurations,] Paris conceived Romeo to have burst open the monument for no other purpose than to do some villainous shame on the dead bodies, such as witches are reported to have practised; and therefore tells him he defies him, and the magick arts which he suspects he is preparing to use. But perhaps the true meaning here is, "I refuse to do as thou conjurest me to do, i. e. to depart." 6 A grave? O, no; a lantern,] A lantern may not, in this instance, signify an enclosure for a lighted candle, but a louvre, or what in ancient records is styled lanternium, i. e. a spacious round or octagonal turret full of windows, by means of which cathedrals, and sometimes halls, are illuminated. |