Romeo and Juliet Read online

  Juliet. By and bydeg I come.--

  To cease thy strifedeg and leave me to my grief.

  Tomorrow will I send.

  Romeo. So thrive my soul--

  Juliet. A thousand times good night! [Exit.]

  Romeo. A thousand times the worse, to want thy light!

  Love goes toward love as schoolboys from their

  books;

  But love from love, toward school with heavy looks.

  Enter Juliet again.

  Juliet. Hist! Romeo, hist! O for a falc'ner's voice

  To lure this tassel gentledeg back again!

  Bondage is hoarsedeg and may not speak aloud,

  Else would I tear the cave where Echo lies

  And make her airy tongue more hoarse than mine

  With repetition of "My Romeo!"

  Romeo. It is my soul that calls upon my name.

  How silver-sweet sound lovers' tongues by night,

  Like softest music to attendingdeg ears!

  Juliet. Romeo!

  Romeo. My sweet?

  Juliet. What o'clock tomorrow

  Shall I send to thee?

  151 By and by at once 152 strife efforts 159 tassel gentle tercel gentle, male falcon 160 Bondage is hoarse i.e., being surrounded by "protectors," I cannot cry loudly 166 attending attentive

  Romeo. By the hour of nine.

  Juliet. I will not fail. 'Tis twenty year till then.

  I have forgot why I did call thee back.

  Romeo. Let me stand here till thou remember it.

  Juliet. I shall forget, to have thee still stand there,

  Rememb'ring how I love thy company.

  Romeo. And I'll still stay, to have thee still forget,

  Forgetting any other home but this.

  Juliet. 'Tis almost morning. I would have thee gone--

  And yet no farther than a wanton'sdeg bird,

  That lets it hop a little from his hand,

  Like a poor prisoner in his twisted gyves,deg

  And with a silken thread plucks it back again,

  So loving-jealous of his liberty.

  Romeo. I would I were thy bird.

  Juliet. Sweet, so would I.

  Yet I should kill thee with much cherishing.

  Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet

  sorrow

  That I shall say good night till it be morrow.deg

  [Exit.]

  Romeo. Sleep dwell upon thine eyes, peace in thy

  breast!

  Would I were sleep and peace, so sweet to rest!deg

  Hence will I to my ghostly friar'sdeg close cell,

  His help to crave and my dear hapdeg to tell. Exit.

  177 wanton's capricious child's 179 gyves fetters 185 morrow morning 187 rest (the four lines that follow in the quarto are here deleted because they are virtually identical with the first four lines of the next scene. See Textual Note. Apparently Shakespeare wrote them and then decided to use them at the start of the next scene, but forgot to delete their first occurrence) 188 ghostly friar spiritual father (i.e., confessor) 189 dear hap good fortune

  [Scene 3. Friar Lawrence's cell.]

  Enter Friar [Lawrence] alone, with a basket.

  Friar. The gray-eyed morn smiles on the frowning

  night,

  Check'ring the eastern clouds with streaks of light;

  And fleckeddeg darkness like a drunkard reels

  From forth day's path and Titan's burning wheels.deg

  Now, ere the sun advance his burning eye

  The day to cheer and night's dank dew to dry,

  I must upfill this osier cagedeg of ours

  With balefuldeg weeds and precious-juiced flowers.

  The earth that's nature's mother is her tomb.

  What is her burying grave, that is her womb;

  And from her womb children of divers kind

  We sucking on her natural bosom find,

  Many for many virtues excellent,

  None but for some, and yet all different.

  O, mickledeg is the powerful grace that lies

  In plants, herbs, stones, and their true qualities;

  For naught so vile that on the earth doth live

  But to the earth some special good doth give;

  Nor aught so good but, straineddeg from that fair use,

  Revolts from true birth,deg stumbling on abuse.

  Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied,

  And vice sometime by action dignified.deg

  Enter Romeo.deg

  2.3.3 flecked spotted 4 Titan's burning wheels wheels of the sun's chariot 7 osier cage willow basket 8 baleful (1) evil (2) poisonous 15 mickle much 19 strained diverted 20 Revolts from true birth falls away from its real purpose 22 dignified made worthy 22 s.d. Enter Romeo (the entry of Romeo at this point, unseen by the Friar, emphasizes the appropriateness of the remaining eight lines of the Friar's speech, not only to the flower but to Romeo)

  Within the infant rinddeg of this weak flower

  Poison hath residence and medicinedeg power;

  For this, being smelt, with that part cheers each

  part;deg

  Being tasted, stays all senses with the heart.

  Two such opposed kings encamp them stilldeg

  In man as well as herbs--grace and rude will;

  And where the worser is predominant,

  Full soon the cankerdeg death eats up that plant.

  Romeo. Good morrow, father.

  Friar. Benedicite!deg

  What early tongue so sweet saluteth me?

  Young son, it argues a distempered headdeg

  So soon to bid good morrow to thy bed.

  Care keeps his watch in every old man's eye,

  And where care lodges, sleep will never lie;

  But where unbruised youth with unstuffeddeg brain

  Doth couch his limbs, there golden sleep doth reign.

  Therefore thy earliness doth me assure

  Thou art uproused with some distemp'rature;

  Or if not so, then here I hit it right--

  Our Romeo hath not been in bed tonight.

  Romeo. That last is true. The sweeter rest was mine.

  Friar. God pardon sin! Wast thou with Rosaline?

  Romeo. With Rosaline, my ghostly father? No.

  I have forgot that name and that name's woe.

  Friar. That's my good son! But where hast thou been

  then?

  Romeo. I'll tell thee ere thou ask it me again.

  I have been feasting with mine enemy,

  Where on a sudden one hath wounded me

  That's by me wounded. Both our remedies 23 infant rind tender bark, skin 24 medicine medicinal 25 For . . . part i.e., being smelled, this flower stimulates every part of the body 27 still always 30 canker cankerworm, larva that feeds on leaves 31 Benedicite bless you 33 distempered head troubled mind 37 unstuffed untroubled

  Within thy help and holy physicdeg lies.

  I bear no hatred, blessed man, for, lo,

  My intercessiondeg likewise steadsdeg my foe.

  Friar. Be plain, good son, and homely in thy drift.deg

  Riddling confession finds but riddling shrift.deg

  Romeo. Then plainly know my heart's dear love is set

  On the fair daughter of rich Capulet;

  As mine on hers, so hers is set on mine,

  And all combined,deg save what thou must combine

  By holy marriage. When and where and how

  We met, we wooed, and made exchange of vow,

  I'll tell thee as we pass; but this I pray,

  That thou consent to marry us today.

  Friar. Holy Saint Francis! What a change is here!

  Is Rosaline, that thou didst love so dear,

  So soon forsaken? Young men's love then lies

  Not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes.

  Jesu Maria! What a deal of brine

  Hath washed thy sallow cheeks for Rosaline!

  H
ow much salt water thrown away in waste

  To seasondeg love, that of it doth not taste!

  The sun not yet thy sighs from heaven clears,

  Thy old groans ring yet in mine ancient ears.

  Lo, here upon thy cheek the stain doth sit

  Of an old tear that is not washed off yet.

  If e'er thou wast thyself, and these woes thine,

  Thou and these woes were all for Rosaline.

  And art thou changed? Pronounce this sentence

  then:

  Women may falldeg when there's no strengthdeg in men.

  Romeo. Thou chidst me oft for loving Rosaline.

  Friar. For doting, not for loving, pupil mine.

  52 physic medicine 54 intercession entreaty 54 steads helps 55 homely in thy drift plain in your talk 56 shrift absolution 60 combined (1) brought into unity (2) settled 72 season (1) preserve (2) flavor 80 may fall i.e., may be expected to be fickle 80 strength constancy

  Romeo. And badst me bury love.

  Friar. Not in a grave

  To lay one in, another out to have.

  Romeo. I pray thee chide me not. Her I love now

  Doth gracedeg for grace and love for love allow.

  The other did not so.

  Friar. O, she knew well

  Thy love did read by rote, that could not spell.deg

  But come, young waverer, come go with me.

  In one respectdeg I'll thy assistant be;

  For this alliance may so happy prove

  To turn your households' rancor to pure love.

  Romeo. O, let us hence! I stand ondeg sudden haste.

  Friar. Wisely and slow. They stumble that run fast.

  Exeunt.

  [Scene 4. A street.]

  Enter Benvolio and Mercutio.

  Mercutio. Where the devil should this Romeo be?

  Came he not home tonight?

  Benvolio. Not to his father's. I spoke with his man.

  Mercutio. Why, that same pale hardhearted wench,

  that Rosaline,

  Torments him so that he will sure run mad.

  Benvolio. Tybalt, the kinsman to old Capulet,

  Hath sent a letter to his father's house.

  Mercutio. A challenge, on my life.

  86 grace favor 88 did read . . . spell i.e., said words without understanding them 90 In one respect with respect to one particular 93 stand on insist on

  Benvolio. Romeo will answer it.

  Mercutio. Any man that can write may answer a letter.

  Benvolio. Nay, he will answer the letter's master, how

  he dares, being dared.

  Mercutio. Alas, poor Romeo, he is already dead:

  stabbed with a white wench's black eye; run through

  the ear with a love song; the very pindeg of his heart

  cleft with the blind bow-boy's butt-shaft;deg and is he

  a man to encounter Tybalt?

  Benvolio. Why, what is Tybalt?

  Mercutio. More than Prince of Cats.deg O, he's the

  courageous captain of compliments.deg He fights as

  you sing pricksongdeg--keeps time, distance, and pro-

  portion; he rests his minim rests,deg one, two, and

  the third in your bosom! The very butcher of a silk

  button,deg a duelist, a duelist! A gentleman of the

  very first house,deg of the first and second cause.deg

  Ah, the immortal passado!deg The punto reverso!deg

  The hay!deg

  Benvolio. The what?

  Mercutio. The pox of such antic, lisping, affecting

  fantasticoesdeg--these new tuners of accent! "By

  Jesu, a very good blade! A very talldeg man! A very

  good whore!" Why, is not this a lamentable thing,

  grandsir, that we should be thus afflicted with these 2.4.15 pin center (of a target) 16 blind bow-boy's butt-shaft Cupid's blunt arrow 19 Prince of Cats (Tybalt's name, or some variant of it, was given to the cat in medieval stories of Reynard the Fox) 20 compliments formal courtesies 21 sing pricksong (1) sing from a text (2) sing with attention to accuracy 22 he rests his minim rests i.e., he scrupulously observes every formality (literally, he observes even the shortest rests in the notation) 24 button (on his opponent's shirt) 25 first house first rank 25 first and second cause (dueling terms, meaning formal grounds for taking offense and giving a challenge) 26 passado lunge 26 punto reverso backhanded stroke 27 hay home thrust (Italian hai) 30 fantasticoes fops 31 tall brave

  strange flies, these fashionmongers, these pardon-

  me's,deg who stand so much on the new formdeg that

  they cannot sit at ease on the old bench? O, their

  bones,deg their bones!

  Enter Romeo.

  Benvolio. Here comes Romeo! Here comes Romeo!

  Mercutio. Without his roe,deg like a dried herring. O

  flesh, flesh, how art thou fishified! Now is he for

  the numbersdeg that Petrarch flowed in. Laura,deg to

  his lady, was a kitchen wench (marry, she had a

  better love to berhyme her), Didodeg a dowdy,deg

  Cleopatra a gypsy,deg Helen and Herodeg hildingsdeg and

  harlots, Thisbedeg a gray eyedeg or so, but not to the

  purpose. Signior Romeo, bon jour! There's a French

  salutation to your French slop.deg You gave us the

  counterfeit fairly last night.

  Romeo. Good morrow to you both. What counterfeit

  did I give you?

  Mercutio. The slip,deg sir, the slip. Can you not con-

  ceive?

  Romeo. Pardon, good Mercutio. My business was

  great, and in such a case as mine a man may strain

  courtesy.

  Mercutio. That's as much as to say, such a casedeg as

  yours constrains a man to bow in the hams.

  34-35 pardon-me's i.e., persons who affect foreign phrases (cf. Italian perdona mi) 35 form (1) fashion (2) bench 37 bones (pun on French bon) 39 Without his roe i.e., (1) emaciated like a fish that has spawned or (2) stripped of "Ro," leaving only "me-o" (a sigh) 41 numbers verses 41 Laura (Petrarch's beloved) 43 Dido (Queen of Carthage, enamored of Aeneas) 43 dowdy a drab woman 44 gypsy a deceitful woman (gypsies were commonly believed to be Egyptians) 44 Helen and Hero (beloved respectively of Paris and Leander) 44 hildings good-for-nothings 45 Thisbe (beloved of Pyramus in a story analogous to that of Romeo and Juliet) 45 gray eye i.e., gleam in the eye 47 slop loose breeches 51 slip (1) escape (2) counterfeit coin 56 case (1) situation (2) physical condition

  Romeo. Meaning, to curtsy.

  Mercutio. Thou hast most kindly hitdeg it.

  Romeo. A most courteous exposition.

  Mercutio. Nay, I am the very pinkdeg of courtesy.

  Romeo. Pink for flower.

  Mercutio. Right.

  Romeo. Why, then is my pumpdeg well-flowered.deg

  Mercutio. Sure wit, 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.deg

  Romeo. O single-soled jest, solely singular for the

  singleness!

  Mercutio. Come between us, good Benvolio! My wits faints.

  Romeo. Switsdeg and spurs, swits and spurs; or I'll cry

  a match.deg

  Mercutio. Nay, if our wits run the wild-goose chase,deg

  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?deg

  Romeo. Thou wast never with me for anything when

  thou wast not there for the goose.deg

  Mercutio. I will bite thee by the ear for that jest.

  59 most kindly hit most politely interpreted 61 pink perfection (but Romeo proceeds to exploit two other meanings: [1] flower [2] punches in an ornamental design) 64 pump shoe 64 well-f
lowered ornamented with pinking (with pun on "floored") 68 solely singular (1) single-soled (i.e., weak) (2) uniquely remarkable (literally, "uniquely unique") 73 Swits switches 73-74 cry a match claim a victory 75 wild-goose chase cross-country game of "follow the leader" on horseback 78 goose end of the chase (i.e., end of the punning match) 80 goose prostitute

  Romeo. Nay, good goose, bite not!deg

  Mercutio. Thy wit is a very bitter sweeting;deg it is a

  most sharp sauce.

  Romeo. And is it not, then, well served in to a sweet

  goose?deg

  Mercutio. O, here's a wit of cheveril,deg that stretches

  from an inch narrow to an ell broad!deg

  Romeo. I stretch it out for that word "broad," which

  added to the goose, proves thee far and wide a

  broaddeg goose.

  Mercutio. Why, is not this better now than groaning

  for love? Now art thou 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

  naturaldeg that runs lollingdeg up and down to hide his

  baubledeg in a hole.

  Benvolio. Stop there, stop there!

  Mercutio. Thou desirest me to stop in my tale against

  the hair.deg

  Benvolio. Thou wouldst else have made thy tale

  large.deg

  Mercutio. O, thou art deceived! I would have made

  it short; for I was come to the whole depth of my

  tale, and meant indeed to occupy the argumentdeg

  no longer.

  Romeo. Here's goodly gear!deg

  82 good goose, bite not (proverbial for "Spare me!") 83 bitter sweeting tart kind of apple 85-86 sweet goose tender goose (here probably referring to Mercutio; but the expression "Sour sauce for sweet meat" was proverbial) 87 cheveril kid leather, easily stretched 88 ell broad forty-five inches wide 91 broad indecent (?) 96 natural idiot 96 lolling with tongue hanging out 97 bauble trinket (with ribald innuendo) 99-100 against the hair against my inclination 102 large indecent 105 occupy the argument discuss the matter 107 gear stuff

  Enter Nurse and her Man [Peter].

  A sail, a sail!

  Mercutio. Two, two! A shirt and a smock.deg

  Nurse. Peter!

  Peter. Anon.

  Nurse. My fan, Peter.

  Mercutio. Good Peter, to hide her face; for her fan's

  the fairer face.

  Nurse. God ye good morrow, gentlemen.

  Mercutio. God ye good-den,deg fair gentlewoman.

  Nurse. Is it good-den?

  Mercutio. 'Tis no less, I tell ye; for the bawdy hand

  of the dial is now upon the prickdeg of noon.

  Nurse. Out upon you! What a man are you!

  Romeo. One, gentlewoman, that God hath made, him-

  self to mar.

  Nurse. By my troth, it is well said. "For himself to

  mar," quoth 'a?deg Gentlemen, can any of you tell me

  where I may find the young Romeo?

  Romeo. I can tell you; but young Romeo will be older