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, Rom. Lady, by yonder blessed moon I vow 5 That monthly changes in her circled orb, Had I it written, I would tear the word. [words Rom. Neither, fair saint, if either thee dislike. The orchard walls are high, and hard to climb; Rom. With love's light wings did I o'er-perch For stony limits cannot hold love out: 15 Jul. Do not swear at all; Or, if thou wilt, swear by thy gracious self, Rom. If my heart's dear love Jul. Well, do not swear; although I joy in thee, It is too rash, too unadvis'd, too sudden; 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 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, Else would a maiden blush bepaint my cheek, 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, Jul. Three words,dear Romeo,and good night, If that thy bent of love be honourable, I come anon.-But if thou mean'st not well, 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, 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 To lure this tassel-gentle' back again! Rom. It is my soul, that calls upon my name: O, mickle is the powerful grace', that lies 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 Rom. Let me stand here 'till thou remember it. Rom. And I'll still stay, to have thee still forget, Rom. I would, I were thy bird. Yet I should kill thee with much cherishing. sorrow, Rom. Good morrow, father! Fri. Benedicite! What early tongue so sweet saluteth me?- 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! I Rom, That last is true, the sweeter rest was mine. Rom. I'll tell thee, ere thou ask it me again. 45 A MONASTERY. None but for some, and yet all different. I bear no hatred, blessed man; for, lo, is set On the fair daughter of rich Capulet: Fri. Holy saint Francis! what a change is here! 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, [men. Fri. Not in a grave, To lay one in, another out to have. Rom. I pray thee, chide not: she, whom I love 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. Torments him so, that he will sure run mad. 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*! 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 66 35 An old hare hoar', Romeo, will you come to your father's? we'll to 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 Capulet's Garden. Enter Juliet. Jul. The clock struck nine, when I did send In half an hour she promis'd to return. [so.- Of this day's journey; and from nine till twelve My words would bandy her to my sweet love, 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. This afternoon, sir? well, she shall be 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; 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? 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. |