<h2 id="id00100" style="margin-top: 4em">ACT II. Scene I. A lane by the wall of Capulet's orchard.</h2>
<p id="id00101">Enter Romeo alone.</p>
<p id="id00102"> Rom. Can I go forward when my heart is here?<br/>
Turn back, dull earth, and find thy centre out.<br/>
[Climbs the wall and leaps down within it.]<br/></p>
<p id="id00103"> Enter Benvolio with Mercutio.</p>
<p id="id00104"> Ben. Romeo! my cousin Romeo! Romeo!<br/>
Mer. He is wise,<br/>
And, on my life, hath stol'n him home to bed.<br/>
Ben. He ran this way, and leapt this orchard wall.<br/>
Call, good Mercutio.<br/>
Mer. Nay, I'll conjure too.<br/>
Romeo! humours! madman! passion! lover!<br/>
Appear thou in the likeness of a sigh;<br/>
Speak but one rhyme, and I am satisfied!<br/>
Cry but 'Ah me!' pronounce but 'love' and 'dove';<br/>
Speak to my gossip Venus one fair word,<br/>
One nickname for her purblind son and heir,<br/>
Young auburn Cupid, he that shot so trim<br/>
When King Cophetua lov'd the beggar maid!<br/>
He heareth not, he stirreth not, be moveth not;<br/>
The ape is dead, and I must conjure him.<br/>
I conjure thee by Rosaline's bright eyes.<br/>
By her high forehead and her scarlet lip,<br/>
By her fine foot, straight leg, and quivering thigh,<br/>
And the demesnes that there adjacent lie,<br/>
That in thy likeness thou appear to us!<br/>
Ben. An if he hear thee, thou wilt anger him.<br/>
Mer. This cannot anger him. 'Twould anger him<br/>
To raise a spirit in his mistress' circle<br/>
Of some strange nature, letting it there stand<br/>
Till she had laid it and conjur'd it down.<br/>
That were some spite; my invocation<br/>
Is fair and honest: in his mistress' name,<br/>
I conjure only but to raise up him.<br/>
Ben. Come, he hath hid himself among these trees<br/>
To be consorted with the humorous night.<br/>
Blind is his love and best befits the dark.<br/>
Mer. If love be blind, love cannot hit the mark.<br/>
Now will he sit under a medlar tree<br/>
And wish his mistress were that kind of fruit<br/>
As maids call medlars when they laugh alone.<br/>
O, Romeo, that she were, O that she were<br/>
An open et cetera, thou a pop'rin pear!<br/>
Romeo, good night. I'll to my truckle-bed;<br/>
This field-bed is too cold for me to sleep.<br/>
Come, shall we go?<br/>
Ben. Go then, for 'tis in vain<br/>
'To seek him here that means not to be found.<br/>
Exeunt.<br/></p>
<h2 id="id00105" style="margin-top: 4em">Scene II. Capulet's orchard.</h2>
<p id="id00106">Enter Romeo.</p>
<p id="id00107"> Rom. He jests at scars that never felt a wound.</p>
<p id="id00108"> Enter Juliet above at a window.</p>
<p id="id00109"> But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?<br/>
It is the East, and Juliet is the sun!<br/>
Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,<br/>
Who is already sick and pale with grief<br/>
That thou her maid art far more fair than she.<br/>
Be not her maid, since she is envious.<br/>
Her vestal livery is but sick and green,<br/>
And none but fools do wear it. Cast it off.<br/>
It is my lady; O, it is my love!<br/>
O that she knew she were!<br/>
She speaks, yet she says nothing. What of that?<br/>
Her eye discourses; I will answer it.<br/>
I am too bold; 'tis not to me she speaks.<br/>
Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven,<br/>
Having some business, do entreat her eyes<br/>
To twinkle in their spheres till they return.<br/>
What if her eyes were there, they in her head?<br/>
The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars<br/>
As daylight doth a lamp; her eyes in heaven<br/>
Would through the airy region stream so bright<br/>
That birds would sing and think it were not night.<br/>
See how she leans her cheek upon her hand!<br/>
O that I were a glove upon that hand,<br/>
That I might touch that cheek!<br/>
Jul. Ah me!<br/>
Rom. She speaks.<br/>
O, speak again, bright angel! for thou art<br/>
As glorious to this night, being o'er my head,<br/>
As is a winged messenger of heaven<br/>
Unto the white-upturned wond'ring eyes<br/>
Of mortals that fall back to gaze on him<br/>
When he bestrides the lazy-pacing clouds<br/>
And sails upon the bosom of the air.<br/>
Jul. O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?<br/>
Deny thy father and refuse thy name!<br/>
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,<br/>
And I'll no longer be a Capulet.<br/>
Rom. [aside] Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?<br/>
Jul. 'Tis but thy name that is my enemy.<br/>
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.<br/>
What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,<br/>
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part<br/>
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!<br/>
What's in a name? That which we call a rose<br/>
By any other name would smell as sweet.<br/>
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,<br/>
Retain that dear perfection which he owes<br/>
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name;<br/>
And for that name, which is no part of thee,<br/>
Take all myself.<br/>
Rom. I take thee at thy word.<br/>
Call me but love, and I'll be new baptiz'd;<br/>
Henceforth I never will be Romeo.<br/>
Jul. What man art thou that, thus bescreen'd in night,<br/>
So stumblest on my counsel?<br/>
Rom. By a name<br/>
I know not how to tell thee who I am.<br/>
My name, dear saint, is hateful to myself,<br/>
Because it is an enemy to thee.<br/>
Had I it written, I would tear the word.<br/>
Jul. My ears have yet not drunk a hundred words<br/>
Of that tongue's utterance, yet I know the sound.<br/>
Art thou not Romeo, and a Montague?<br/>
Rom. Neither, fair saint, if either thee dislike.<br/>
Jul. How cam'st thou hither, tell me, and wherefore?<br/>
The orchard walls are high and hard to climb,<br/>
And the place death, considering who thou art,<br/>
If any of my kinsmen find thee here.<br/>
Rom. With love's light wings did I o'erperch these walls;<br/>
For stony limits cannot hold love out,<br/>
And what love can do, that dares love attempt.<br/>
Therefore thy kinsmen are no let to me.<br/>
Jul. If they do see thee, they will murther thee.<br/>
Rom. Alack, there lies more peril in thine eye<br/>
Than twenty of their swords! Look thou but sweet,<br/>
And I am proof against their enmity.<br/>
Jul. I would not for the world they saw thee here.<br/>
Rom. I have night's cloak to hide me from their sight;<br/>
And but thou love me, let them find me here.<br/>
My life were better ended by their hate<br/>
Than death prorogued, wanting of thy love.<br/>
Jul. By whose direction found'st thou out this place?<br/>
Rom. By love, that first did prompt me to enquire.<br/>
He lent me counsel, and I lent him eyes.<br/>
I am no pilot; yet, wert thou as far<br/>
As that vast shore wash'd with the farthest sea,<br/>
I would adventure for such merchandise.<br/>
Jul. Thou knowest the mask of night is on my face;<br/>
Else would a maiden blush bepaint my cheek<br/>
For that which thou hast heard me speak to-night.<br/>
Fain would I dwell on form- fain, fain deny<br/>
What I have spoke; but farewell compliment!<br/>
Dost thou love me, I know thou wilt say 'Ay';<br/>
And I will take thy word. Yet, if thou swear'st,<br/>
Thou mayst prove false. At lovers' perjuries,<br/>
They say Jove laughs. O gentle Romeo,<br/>
If thou dost love, pronounce it faithfully.<br/>
Or if thou thinkest I am too quickly won,<br/>
I'll frown, and be perverse, and say thee nay,<br/>
So thou wilt woo; but else, not for the world.<br/>
In truth, fair Montague, I am too fond,<br/>
And therefore thou mayst think my haviour light;<br/>
But trust me, gentleman, I'll prove more true<br/>
Than those that have more cunning to be strange.<br/>
I should have been more strange, I must confess,<br/>
But that thou overheard'st, ere I was ware,<br/>
My true-love passion. Therefore pardon me,<br/>
And not impute this yielding to light love,<br/>
Which the dark night hath so discovered.<br/>
Rom. Lady, by yonder blessed moon I swear,<br/>
That tips with silver all these fruit-tree tops-<br/>
Jul. O, swear not by the moon, th' inconstant moon,<br/>
That monthly changes in her circled orb,<br/>
Lest that thy love prove likewise variable.<br/>
Rom. What shall I swear by?<br/>
Jul. Do not swear at all;<br/>
Or if thou wilt, swear by thy gracious self,<br/>
Which is the god of my idolatry,<br/>
And I'll believe thee.<br/>
Rom. If my heart's dear love-<br/>
Jul. Well, do not swear. Although I joy in thee,<br/>
I have no joy of this contract to-night.<br/>
It is too rash, too unadvis'd, too sudden;<br/>
Too like the lightning, which doth cease to be<br/>
Ere one can say 'It lightens.' Sweet, good night!<br/>
This bud of love, by summer's ripening breath,<br/>
May prove a beauteous flow'r when next we meet.<br/>
Good night, good night! As sweet repose and rest<br/>
Come to thy heart as that within my breast!<br/>
Rom. O, wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied?<br/>
Jul. What satisfaction canst thou have to-night?<br/>
Rom. Th' exchange of thy love's faithful vow for mine.<br/>
Jul. I gave thee mine before thou didst request it;<br/>
And yet I would it were to give again.<br/>
Rom. Would'st thou withdraw it? For what purpose, love?<br/>
Jul. But to be frank and give it thee again.<br/>
And yet I wish but for the thing I have.<br/>
My bounty is as boundless as the sea,<br/>
My love as deep; the more I give to thee,<br/>
The more I have, for both are infinite.<br/>
I hear some noise within. Dear love, adieu!<br/>
[Nurse] calls within.<br/>
Anon, good nurse! Sweet Montague, be true.<br/>
Stay but a little, I will come again. [Exit.]<br/>
Rom. O blessed, blessed night! I am afeard,<br/>
Being in night, all this is but a dream,<br/>
Too flattering-sweet to be substantial.<br/></p>
<p id="id00110"> Enter Juliet above.</p>
<p id="id00111"> Jul. Three words, dear Romeo, and good night indeed.<br/>
If that thy bent of love be honourable,<br/>
Thy purpose marriage, send me word to-morrow,<br/>
By one that I'll procure to come to thee,<br/>
Where and what time thou wilt perform the rite;<br/>
And all my fortunes at thy foot I'll lay<br/>
And follow thee my lord throughout the world.<br/>
Nurse. (within) Madam!<br/>
Jul. I come, anon.- But if thou meanest not well,<br/>
I do beseech thee-<br/>
Nurse. (within) Madam!<br/>
Jul. By-and-by I come.-<br/>
To cease thy suit and leave me to my grief.<br/>
To-morrow will I send.<br/>
Rom. So thrive my soul-<br/>
Jul. A thousand times good night! Exit.<br/>
Rom. A thousand times the worse, to want thy light!<br/>
Love goes toward love as schoolboys from their books;<br/>
But love from love, towards school with heavy looks.<br/></p>
<p id="id00112"> Enter Juliet again, [above].</p>
<p id="id00113"> Jul. Hist! Romeo, hist! O for a falconer's voice<br/>
To lure this tassel-gentle back again!<br/>
Bondage is hoarse and may not speak aloud;<br/>
Else would I tear the cave where Echo lies,<br/>
And make her airy tongue more hoarse than mine<br/>
With repetition of my Romeo's name.<br/>
Romeo!<br/>
Rom. It is my soul that calls upon my name.<br/>
How silver-sweet sound lovers' tongues by night,<br/>
Like softest music to attending ears!<br/>
Jul. Romeo!<br/>
Rom. My dear?<br/>
Jul. At what o'clock to-morrow<br/>
Shall I send to thee?<br/>
Rom. By the hour of nine.<br/>
Jul. I will not fail. 'Tis twenty years till then.<br/>
I have forgot why I did call thee back.<br/>
Rom. Let me stand here till thou remember it.<br/>
Jul. I shall forget, to have thee still stand there,<br/>
Rememb'ring how I love thy company.<br/>
Rom. And I'll still stay, to have thee still forget,<br/>
Forgetting any other home but this.<br/>
Jul. 'Tis almost morning. I would have thee gone-<br/>
And yet no farther than a wanton's bird,<br/>
That lets it hop a little from her hand,<br/>
Like a poor prisoner in his twisted gyves,<br/>
And with a silk thread plucks it back again,<br/>
So loving-jealous of his liberty.<br/>
Rom. I would I were thy bird.<br/>
Jul. Sweet, so would I.<br/>
Yet I should kill thee with much cherishing.<br/>
Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow,<br/>
That I shall say good night till it be morrow.<br/>
[Exit.]<br/>
Rom. Sleep dwell upon thine eyes, peace in thy breast!<br/>
Would I were sleep and peace, so sweet to rest!<br/>
Hence will I to my ghostly father's cell,<br/>
His help to crave and my dear hap to tell.<br/>
Exit<br/></p>
<h2 id="id00114" style="margin-top: 4em">Scene III. Friar Laurence's cell.</h2>
<p id="id00115">Enter Friar, [Laurence] alone, with a basket.</p>
<p id="id00116"> Friar. The grey-ey'd morn smiles on the frowning night,<br/>
Check'ring the Eastern clouds with streaks of light;<br/>
And flecked darkness like a drunkard reels<br/>
From forth day's path and Titan's fiery wheels.<br/>
Non, ere the sun advance his burning eye<br/>
The day to cheer and night's dank dew to dry,<br/>
I must up-fill this osier cage of ours<br/>
With baleful weeds and precious-juiced flowers.<br/>
The earth that's nature's mother is her tomb.<br/>
What is her burying gave, that is her womb;<br/>
And from her womb children of divers kind<br/>
We sucking on her natural bosom find;<br/>
Many for many virtues excellent,<br/>
None but for some, and yet all different.<br/>
O, mickle is the powerful grace that lies<br/>
In plants, herbs, stones, and their true qualities;<br/>
For naught so vile that on the earth doth live<br/>
But to the earth some special good doth give;<br/>
Nor aught so good but, strain'd from that fair use,<br/>
Revolts from true birth, stumbling on abuse.<br/>
Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied,<br/>
And vice sometime's by action dignified.<br/>
Within the infant rind of this small flower<br/>
Poison hath residence, and medicine power;<br/>
For this, being smelt, with that part cheers each part;<br/>
Being tasted, slays all senses with the heart.<br/>
Two such opposed kings encamp them still<br/>
In man as well as herbs- grace and rude will;<br/>
And where the worser is predominant,<br/>
Full soon the canker death eats up that plant.<br/></p>
<p id="id00117"> Enter Romeo.</p>
<p id="id00118"> Rom. Good morrow, father.<br/>
Friar. Benedicite!<br/>
What early tongue so sweet saluteth me?<br/>
Young son, it argues a distempered head<br/>
So soon to bid good morrow to thy bed.<br/>
Care keeps his watch in every old man's eye,<br/>
And where care lodges sleep will never lie;<br/>
But where unbruised youth with unstuff'd brain<br/>
Doth couch his limbs, there golden sleep doth reign.<br/>
Therefore thy earliness doth me assure<br/>
Thou art uprous'd with some distemp'rature;<br/>
Or if not so, then here I hit it right-<br/>
Our Romeo hath not been in bed to-night.<br/>
Rom. That last is true-the sweeter rest was mine.<br/>
Friar. God pardon sin! Wast thou with Rosaline?<br/>
Rom. With Rosaline, my ghostly father? No.<br/>
I have forgot that name, and that name's woe.<br/>
Friar. That's my good son! But where hast thou been then?<br/>
Rom. I'll tell thee ere thou ask it me again.<br/>
I have been feasting with mine enemy,<br/>
Where on a sudden one hath wounded me<br/>
That's by me wounded. Both our remedies<br/>
Within thy help and holy physic lies.<br/>
I bear no hatred, blessed man, for, lo,<br/>
My intercession likewise steads my foe.<br/>
Friar. Be plain, good son, and homely in thy drift<br/>
Riddling confession finds but riddling shrift.<br/>
Rom. Then plainly know my heart's dear love is set<br/>
On the fair daughter of rich Capulet;<br/>
As mine on hers, so hers is set on mine,<br/>
And all combin'd, save what thou must combine<br/>
By holy marriage. When, and where, and how<br/>
We met, we woo'd, and made exchange of vow,<br/>
I'll tell thee as we pass; but this I pray,<br/>
That thou consent to marry us to-day.<br/>
Friar. Holy Saint Francis! What a change is here!<br/>
Is Rosaline, that thou didst love so dear,<br/>
So soon forsaken? Young men's love then lies<br/>
Not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes.<br/>
Jesu Maria! What a deal of brine<br/>
Hath wash'd thy sallow cheeks for Rosaline!<br/>
How much salt water thrown away in waste,<br/>
To season love, that of it doth not taste!<br/>
The sun not yet thy sighs from heaven clears,<br/>
Thy old groans ring yet in mine ancient ears.<br/>
Lo, here upon thy cheek the stain doth sit<br/>
Of an old tear that is not wash'd off yet.<br/>
If e'er thou wast thyself, and these woes thine,<br/>
Thou and these woes were all for Rosaline.<br/>
And art thou chang'd? Pronounce this sentence then:<br/>
Women may fall when there's no strength in men.<br/>
Rom. Thou chid'st me oft for loving Rosaline.<br/>
Friar. For doting, not for loving, pupil mine.<br/>
Rom. And bad'st me bury love.<br/>
Friar. Not in a grave<br/>
To lay one in, another out to have.<br/>
Rom. I pray thee chide not. She whom I love now<br/>
Doth grace for grace and love for love allow.<br/>
The other did not so.<br/>
Friar. O, she knew well<br/>
Thy love did read by rote, that could not spell.<br/>
But come, young waverer, come go with me.<br/>
In one respect I'll thy assistant be;<br/>
For this alliance may so happy prove<br/>
To turn your households' rancour to pure love.<br/>
Rom. O, let us hence! I stand on sudden haste.<br/>
Friar. Wisely, and slow. They stumble that run fast.<br/>
Exeunt.<br/></p>
<h2 id="id00119" style="margin-top: 4em">Scene IV. A street.</h2>
<p id="id00120">Enter Benvolio and Mercutio.</p>
<p id="id00121"> Mer. Where the devil should this Romeo be?<br/>
Came he not home to-night?<br/>
Ben. Not to his father's. I spoke with his man.<br/>
Mer. Why, that same pale hard-hearted wench, that Rosaline,<br/>
Torments him so that he will sure run mad.<br/>
Ben. Tybalt, the kinsman to old Capulet,<br/>
Hath sent a letter to his father's house.<br/>
Mer. A challenge, on my life.<br/>
Ben. Romeo will answer it.<br/>
Mer. Any man that can write may answer a letter.<br/>
Ben. Nay, he will answer the letter's master, how he dares,<br/>
being<br/>
dared.<br/>
Mer. Alas, poor Romeo, he is already dead! stabb'd with a white<br/>
wench's black eye; shot through the ear with a love song; the<br/>
very pin of his heart cleft with the blind bow-boy's<br/>
butt-shaft;<br/>
and is he a man to encounter Tybalt?<br/>
Ben. Why, what is Tybalt?<br/>
Mer. More than Prince of Cats, I can tell you. O, he's the<br/>
courageous captain of compliments. He fights as you sing<br/>
pricksong-keeps time, distance, and proportion; rests me his<br/>
minim rest, one, two, and the third in your bosom! the very<br/>
butcher of a silk button, a duellist, a duellist! a gentleman<br/>
of<br/>
the very first house, of the first and second cause. Ah, the<br/>
immortal passado! the punto reverse! the hay.<br/>
Ben. The what?<br/>
Mer. The pox of such antic, lisping, affecting fantasticoes-<br/>
these<br/>
new tuners of accent! 'By Jesu, a very good blade! a very<br/>
tall<br/>
man! a very good whore!' Why, is not this a lamentable thing,<br/>
grandsir, that we should be thus afflicted with these strange<br/>
flies, these fashion-mongers, these pardona-mi's, who stand<br/>
so<br/>
much on the new form that they cannot sit at ease on the old<br/>
bench? O, their bones, their bones!<br/></p>
<p id="id00122"> Enter Romeo.</p>
<p id="id00123"> Ben. Here comes Romeo! here comes Romeo!<br/>
Mer. Without his roe, like a dried herring. O flesh, flesh, how<br/>
art<br/>
thou fishified! Now is he for the numbers that Petrarch<br/>
flowed<br/>
in. Laura, to his lady, was but a kitchen wench (marry, she<br/>
had a<br/>
better love to berhyme her), Dido a dowdy, Cleopatra a gypsy,<br/>
Helen and Hero hildings and harlots, This be a gray eye or<br/>
so,<br/>
but not to the purpose. Signior Romeo, bon jour! There's a<br/>
French<br/>
salutation to your French slop. You gave us the counterfeit<br/>
fairly last night.<br/>
Rom. Good morrow to you both. What counterfeit did I give you?<br/>
Mer. The slip, sir, the slip. Can you not conceive?<br/>
Rom. Pardon, good Mercutio. My business was great, and in such<br/>
a<br/>
case as mine a man may strain courtesy.<br/>
Mer. That's as much as to say, such a case as yours constrains<br/>
a<br/>
man to bow in the hams.<br/>
Rom. Meaning, to cursy.<br/>
Mer. Thou hast most kindly hit it.<br/>
Rom. A most courteous exposition.<br/>
Mer. Nay, I am the very pink of courtesy.<br/>
Rom. Pink for flower.<br/>
Mer. Right.<br/>
Rom. Why, then is my pump well-flower'd.<br/>
Mer. Well said! Follow me this jest now till thou hast worn out<br/>
thy<br/>
pump, that, when the single sole of it is worn, the jest may<br/>
remain, after the wearing, solely singular.<br/>
Rom. O single-sold jest, solely singular for the singleness!<br/>
Mer. Come between us, good Benvolio! My wits faint.<br/>
Rom. Swits and spurs, swits and spurs! or I'll cry a match.<br/>
Mer. Nay, if our wits run the wild-goose chase, I am done; for<br/>
thou<br/>
hast more of the wild goose in one of thy wits than, I am<br/>
sure, I<br/>
have in my whole five. Was I with you there for the goose?<br/>
Rom. Thou wast never with me for anything when thou wast not<br/>
there<br/>
for the goose.<br/>
Mer. I will bite thee by the ear for that jest.<br/>
Rom. Nay, good goose, bite not!<br/>
Mer. Thy wit is a very bitter sweeting; it is a most sharp<br/>
sauce.<br/>
Rom. And is it not, then, well serv'd in to a sweet goose?<br/>
Mer. O, here's a wit of cheveril, that stretches from an inch<br/>
narrow to an ell broad!<br/>
Rom. I stretch it out for that word 'broad,' which, added to<br/>
the<br/>
goose, proves thee far and wide a broad goose.<br/>
Mer. Why, is not this better now than groaning for love? Now<br/>
art<br/>
thou sociable, now art thou Romeo; now art thou what thou<br/>
art, by<br/>
art as well as by nature. For this drivelling love is like a<br/>
great natural that runs lolling up and down to hide his<br/>
bauble in<br/>
a hole.<br/>
Ben. Stop there, stop there!<br/>
Mer. Thou desirest me to stop in my tale against the hair.<br/>
Ben. Thou wouldst else have made thy tale large.<br/>
Mer. O, thou art deceiv'd! I would have made it short; for I<br/>
was<br/>
come to the whole depth of my tale, and meant indeed to<br/>
occupy<br/>
the argument no longer.<br/>
Rom. Here's goodly gear!<br/></p>
<p id="id00124"> Enter Nurse and her Man [Peter].</p>
<p id="id00125"> Mer. A sail, a sail!<br/>
Ben. Two, two! a shirt and a smock.<br/>
Nurse. Peter!<br/>
Peter. Anon.<br/>
Nurse. My fan, Peter.<br/>
Mer. Good Peter, to hide her face; for her fan's the fairer<br/>
face of<br/>
the two.<br/>
Nurse. God ye good morrow, gentlemen.<br/>
Mer. God ye good-den, fair gentlewoman.<br/>
Nurse. Is it good-den?<br/>
Mer. 'Tis no less, I tell ye; for the bawdy hand of the dial is<br/>
now<br/>
upon the prick of noon.<br/>
Nurse. Out upon you! What a man are you!<br/>
Rom. One, gentlewoman, that God hath made for himself to mar.<br/>
Nurse. By my troth, it is well said. 'For himself to mar,'<br/>
quoth<br/>
'a? Gentlemen, can any of you tell me where I may find the<br/>
young<br/>
Romeo?<br/>
Rom. I can tell you; but young Romeo will be older when you<br/>
have<br/>
found him than he was when you sought him. I am the youngest<br/>
of<br/>
that name, for fault of a worse.<br/>
Nurse. You say well.<br/>
Mer. Yea, is the worst well? Very well took, i' faith! wisely,<br/>
wisely.<br/>
Nurse. If you be he, sir, I desire some confidence with you.<br/>
Ben. She will endite him to some supper.<br/>
Mer. A bawd, a bawd, a bawd! So ho!<br/>
Rom. What hast thou found?<br/>
Mer. No hare, sir; unless a hare, sir, in a lenten pie, that is<br/>
something stale and hoar ere it be spent<br/>
He walks by them and sings.<br/></p>
<p id="id00126"> An old hare hoar,<br/>
And an old hare hoar,<br/>
Is very good meat in Lent;<br/>
But a hare that is hoar<br/>
Is too much for a score<br/>
When it hoars ere it be spent.<br/></p>
<p id="id00127"> Romeo, will you come to your father's? We'll to dinner<br/>
thither.<br/>
Rom. I will follow you.<br/>
Mer. Farewell, ancient lady. Farewell,<br/>
[sings] lady, lady, lady.<br/>
Exeunt Mercutio, Benvolio.<br/>
Nurse. Marry, farewell! I Pray you, Sir, what saucy merchant<br/>
was<br/>
this that was so full of his ropery?<br/>
Rom. A gentleman, nurse, that loves to hear himself talk and<br/>
will<br/>
speak more in a minute than he will stand to in a month.<br/>
Nurse. An 'a speak anything against me, I'll take him down, an<br/>
'a<br/>
were lustier than he is, and twenty such jacks; and if I<br/>
cannot,<br/>
I'll find those that shall. Scurvy knave! I am none of his<br/>
flirt-gills; I am none of his skains-mates. And thou must<br/>
stand<br/>
by too, and suffer every knave to use me at his pleasure!<br/>
Peter. I saw no man use you at his pleasure. If I had, my<br/>
weapon<br/>
should quickly have been out, I warrant you. I dare draw as<br/>
soon<br/>
as another man, if I see occasion in a good quarrel, and the<br/>
law<br/>
on my side.<br/>
Nurse. Now, afore God, I am so vexed that every part about me<br/>
quivers. Scurvy knave! Pray you, sir, a word; and, as I told<br/>
you,<br/>
my young lady bid me enquire you out. What she bid me say, I<br/>
will<br/>
keep to myself; but first let me tell ye, if ye should lead<br/>
her<br/>
into a fool's paradise, as they say, it were a very gross<br/>
kind of<br/>
behaviour, as they say; for the gentlewoman is young; and<br/>
therefore, if you should deal double with her, truly it were<br/>
an<br/>
ill thing to be off'red to any gentlewoman, and very weak<br/>
dealing.<br/>
Rom. Nurse, commend me to thy lady and mistress. I protest unto<br/>
thee-<br/>
Nurse. Good heart, and i' faith I will tell her as much. Lord,<br/>
Lord! she will be a joyful woman.<br/>
Rom. What wilt thou tell her, nurse? Thou dost not mark me.<br/>
Nurse. I will tell her, sir, that you do protest, which, as I<br/>
take<br/>
it, is a gentlemanlike offer.<br/>
Rom. Bid her devise<br/>
Some means to come to shrift this afternoon;<br/>
And there she shall at Friar Laurence' cell<br/>
Be shriv'd and married. Here is for thy pains.<br/>
Nurse. No, truly, sir; not a penny.<br/>
Rom. Go to! I say you shall.<br/>
Nurse. This afternoon, sir? Well, she shall be there.<br/>
Rom. And stay, good nurse, behind the abbey wall.<br/>
Within this hour my man shall be with thee<br/>
And bring thee cords made like a tackled stair,<br/>
Which to the high topgallant of my joy<br/>
Must be my convoy in the secret night.<br/>
Farewell. Be trusty, and I'll quit thy pains.<br/>
Farewell. Commend me to thy mistress.<br/>
Nurse. Now God in heaven bless thee! Hark you, sir.<br/>
Rom. What say'st thou, my dear nurse?<br/>
Nurse. Is your man secret? Did you ne'er hear say,<br/>
Two may keep counsel, putting one away?<br/>
Rom. I warrant thee my man's as true as steel.<br/>
Nurse. Well, sir, my mistress is the sweetest lady. Lord, Lord!<br/>
when 'twas a little prating thing- O, there is a nobleman in<br/>
town, one Paris, that would fain lay knife aboard; but she,<br/>
good<br/>
soul, had as lieve see a toad, a very toad, as see him. I<br/>
anger<br/>
her sometimes, and tell her that Paris is the properer man;<br/>
but<br/>
I'll warrant you, when I say so, she looks as pale as any<br/>
clout<br/>
in the versal world. Doth not rosemary and Romeo begin both<br/>
with<br/>
a letter?<br/>
Rom. Ay, nurse; what of that? Both with an R.<br/>
Nurse. Ah, mocker! that's the dog's name. R is for the- No; I<br/>
know<br/>
it begins with some other letter; and she hath the prettiest<br/>
sententious of it, of you and rosemary, that it would do you<br/>
good<br/>
to hear it.<br/>
Rom. Commend me to thy lady.<br/>
Nurse. Ay, a thousand times. [Exit Romeo.] Peter!<br/>
Peter. Anon.<br/>
Nurse. Peter, take my fan, and go before, and apace.<br/>
Exeunt.<br/></p>
<h2 id="id00128" style="margin-top: 4em">Scene V. Capulet's orchard.</h2>
<p id="id00129">Enter Juliet.</p>
<p id="id00130"> Jul. The clock struck nine when I did send the nurse;<br/>
In half an hour she promis'd to return.<br/>
Perchance she cannot meet him. That's not so.<br/>
O, she is lame! Love's heralds should be thoughts,<br/>
Which ten times faster glide than the sun's beams<br/>
Driving back shadows over low'ring hills.<br/>
Therefore do nimble-pinion'd doves draw Love,<br/>
And therefore hath the wind-swift Cupid wings.<br/>
Now is the sun upon the highmost hill<br/>
Of this day's journey, and from nine till twelve<br/>
Is three long hours; yet she is not come.<br/>
Had she affections and warm youthful blood,<br/>
She would be as swift in motion as a ball;<br/>
My words would bandy her to my sweet love,<br/>
And his to me,<br/>
But old folks, many feign as they were dead-<br/>
Unwieldy, slow, heavy and pale as lead.<br/></p>
<p id="id00131"> Enter Nurse [and Peter].</p>
<p id="id00132"> O God, she comes! O honey nurse, what news?<br/>
Hast thou met with him? Send thy man away.<br/>
Nurse. Peter, stay at the gate.<br/>
[Exit Peter.]<br/>
Jul. Now, good sweet nurse- O Lord, why look'st thou sad?<br/>
Though news be sad, yet tell them merrily;<br/>
If good, thou shamest the music of sweet news<br/>
By playing it to me with so sour a face.<br/>
Nurse. I am aweary, give me leave awhile.<br/>
Fie, how my bones ache! What a jaunce have I had!<br/>
Jul. I would thou hadst my bones, and I thy news.<br/>
Nay, come, I pray thee speak. Good, good nurse, speak.<br/>
Nurse. Jesu, what haste! Can you not stay awhile?<br/>
Do you not see that I am out of breath?<br/>
Jul. How art thou out of breath when thou hast breath<br/>
To say to me that thou art out of breath?<br/>
The excuse that thou dost make in this delay<br/>
Is longer than the tale thou dost excuse.<br/>
Is thy news good or bad? Answer to that.<br/>
Say either, and I'll stay the circumstance.<br/>
Let me be satisfied, is't good or bad?<br/>
Nurse. Well, you have made a simple choice; you know not how to<br/>
choose a man. Romeo? No, not he. Though his face be better<br/>
than<br/>
any man's, yet his leg excels all men's; and for a hand and a<br/>
foot, and a body, though they be not to be talk'd on, yet<br/>
they<br/>
are past compare. He is not the flower of courtesy, but, I'll<br/>
warrant him, as gentle as a lamb. Go thy ways, wench; serve<br/>
God.<br/>
What, have you din'd at home?<br/>
Jul. No, no. But all this did I know before.<br/>
What says he of our marriage? What of that?<br/>
Nurse. Lord, how my head aches! What a head have I!<br/>
It beats as it would fall in twenty pieces.<br/>
My back o' t' other side,- ah, my back, my back!<br/>
Beshrew your heart for sending me about<br/>
To catch my death with jauncing up and down!<br/>
Jul. I' faith, I am sorry that thou art not well.<br/>
Sweet, sweet, sweet nurse, tell me, what says my love?<br/>
Nurse. Your love says, like an honest gentleman, and a<br/>
courteous,<br/>
and a kind, and a handsome; and, I warrant, a virtuous- Where<br/>
is<br/>
your mother?<br/>
Jul. Where is my mother? Why, she is within.<br/>
Where should she be? How oddly thou repliest!<br/>
'Your love says, like an honest gentleman,<br/>
"Where is your mother?"'<br/>
Nurse. O God's Lady dear!<br/>
Are you so hot? Marry come up, I trow.<br/>
Is this the poultice for my aching bones?<br/>
Henceforward do your messages yourself.<br/>
Jul. Here's such a coil! Come, what says Romeo?<br/>
Nurse. Have you got leave to go to shrift to-day?<br/>
Jul. I have.<br/>
Nurse. Then hie you hence to Friar Laurence' cell;<br/>
There stays a husband to make you a wife.<br/>
Now comes the wanton blood up in your cheeks:<br/>
They'll be in scarlet straight at any news.<br/>
Hie you to church; I must another way,<br/>
To fetch a ladder, by the which your love<br/>
Must climb a bird's nest soon when it is dark.<br/>
I am the drudge, and toil in your delight;<br/>
But you shall bear the burthen soon at night.<br/>
Go; I'll to dinner; hie you to the cell.<br/>
Jul. Hie to high fortune! Honest nurse, farewell.<br/>
Exeunt.<br/></p>
<h2 id="id00133" style="margin-top: 4em">Scene VI. Friar Laurence's cell.</h2>
<p id="id00134">Enter Friar [Laurence] and Romeo.</p>
<p id="id00135"> Friar. So smile the heavens upon this holy act<br/>
That after-hours with sorrow chide us not!<br/>
Rom. Amen, amen! But come what sorrow can,<br/>
It cannot countervail the exchange of joy<br/>
That one short minute gives me in her sight.<br/>
Do thou but close our hands with holy words,<br/>
Then love-devouring death do what he dare-<br/>
It is enough I may but call her mine.<br/>
Friar. These violent delights have violent ends<br/>
And in their triumph die, like fire and powder,<br/>
Which, as they kiss, consume. The sweetest honey<br/>
Is loathsome in his own deliciousness<br/>
And in the taste confounds the appetite.<br/>
Therefore love moderately: long love doth so;<br/>
Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow.<br/></p>
<p id="id00136"> Enter Juliet.</p>
<p id="id00137"> Here comes the lady. O, so light a foot<br/>
Will ne'er wear out the everlasting flint.<br/>
A lover may bestride the gossamer<br/>
That idles in the wanton summer air,<br/>
And yet not fall; so light is vanity.<br/>
Jul. Good even to my ghostly confessor.<br/>
Friar. Romeo shall thank thee, daughter, for us both.<br/>
Jul. As much to him, else is his thanks too much.<br/>
Rom. Ah, Juliet, if the measure of thy joy<br/>
Be heap'd like mine, and that thy skill be more<br/>
To blazon it, then sweeten with thy breath<br/>
This neighbour air, and let rich music's tongue<br/>
Unfold the imagin'd happiness that both<br/>
Receive in either by this dear encounter.<br/>
Jul. Conceit, more rich in matter than in words,<br/>
Brags of his substance, not of ornament.<br/>
They are but beggars that can count their worth;<br/>
But my true love is grown to such excess<br/>
cannot sum up sum of half my wealth.<br/>
Friar. Come, come with me, and we will make short work;<br/>
For, by your leaves, you shall not stay alone<br/>
Till Holy Church incorporate two in one.<br/>
[Exeunt.]<br/></p>
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