Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
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Capulet. Go to, go to!
You are a saucy boy. Is't so, indeed?
This trick may chance to scathedeg you. I know what.
You must contrary me! Marry, 'tis time--
Well said, my hearts!--You are a princoxdeg--go!
Be quiet, or--More light, more light!--For shame!
I'll make you quiet. What!--Cheerly, my hearts!
Tybalt. Patience perforcedeg with willful cholerdeg meeting
Makes my flesh tremble in their different greeting.
I will withdraw; but this intrusion shall,
Now seeming sweet, convert to bitt'rest gall. Exit.
Romeo. Ifdeg I profane with my unworthiest hand
This holy shrine,deg the gentle sin is this:deg
My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand
To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.
Juliet. Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too
much,
Which mannerly devotion shows in this;
For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch,
And palm to palm is holy palmers'deg kiss.
79 goodman (a term applied to someone below the rank of gentleman) 79 Go to (impatient exclamation) 81 God shall mend my soul (roughly equivalent to our "Indeed") 82 mutiny disturbance 83 set cock-a-hoop be cock of the walk 86 scathe hurt, harm 88 princox impertinent youngster 91 Patience perforce enforced self-control 91 choler anger 95 If (here begins an English, or Shakespearean, sonnet) 96 shrine i.e., Juliet's hand 96 the gentle sin is this this is the sin of well-bred people 102 palmer religious pilgrim (the term originally signified one who carried a palm branch; here it is used as a pun meaning one who holds another's hand)
Romeo. Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too?
Juliet. Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer.
Romeo. O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do!
They pray; grant thou, lest faith turn to despair.
Juliet. Saints do not move,deg though grant for prayers'
sake.
Romeo. Then move not while my prayer's effect I take.
Thus from my lips, by thine my sin is purged.
[Kisses her.]
Juliet. Then have my lips the sin that they have took.
Romeo. Sin from my lips? O trespass sweetly urged!
Give me my sin again. [Kisses her.]
Juliet. You kiss by th' book.deg
Nurse. Madam, your mother craves a word with you.
Romeo. What is her mother?
Nurse. Marry, bachelor,
Her mother is the lady of the house,
And a good lady, and a wise and virtuous.
I nursed her daughter that you talked withal.deg
I tell you, he that can lay hold of her
Shall have the chinks.deg
Romeo. Is she a Capulet?
O dear account! My life is my foe's debt.deg
Benvolio. Away, be gone; the sport is at the best.
Romeo. Ay, so I fear; the more is my unrest.
Capulet. Nay, gentlemen, prepare not to be gone;
We have a trifling foolish banquet towards.deg
Is it e'en so?deg Why then, I thank you all.
107 do not move (1) do not initiate action (2) stand still 112 kiss by th' book i.e., you take my words literally to get more kisses 117 withal with 119 the chinks plenty of money 120 My life is my foe's debt my foe now owns my life 124 towards in preparation 125 Is it e'en so? (the maskers insist on leaving)
I thank you, honest gentlemen. Good night.
More torches here! Come on then; let's to bed.
Ah, sirrah, by my fay,deg it waxes late;
I'll to my rest. [Exeunt all but Juliet and Nurse.]
Juliet. Come hither, nurse. What is yond gentleman?
Nurse. The son and heir of old Tiberio.
Juliet. What's he that now is going out of door?
Nurse. Marry, that, I think, be young Petruchio.
Juliet. What's he that follows here, that would not
dance?
Nurse. I know not.
Juliet. Go ask his name.--If he is married,
My grave is like to be my wedding bed.
Nurse. His name is Romeo, and a Montague,
The only son of your great enemy.
Juliet. My only love, sprung from my only hate!
Too early seen unknown, and known too late!
Prodigiousdeg birth of love it is to me
That I must love a loathed enemy.
Nurse. What's this? What's this?
Juliet. A rhyme I learnt even now
Of one I danced withal. One calls within, "Juliet."
Nurse. Anon,deg anon!
Come, let's away; the strangers all are gone.
Exeunt.
128 fay faith 142 Prodigious (1) monstrous (2) of evil portent 145 Anon at once
[ACT 2
PROLOGUE.
Enter] Chorus.
Chorus. Now old desire doth in his deathbed lie,
And young affection gapesdeg to be his heir;
That fairdeg for which love groaned for and would
die,
With tender Juliet matched, is now not fair.
Now Romeo is beloved and loves again,
Alike bewitcheddeg by the charm of looks;
But to his foe supposed he must complain,deg
And she steal love's sweet bait from fearful
hooks.
Being held a foe, he may not have access
To breathe such vows as lovers use todeg swear,
And she as much in love, her means much less
To meet her new beloved anywhere;
But passion lends them power, time means, to meet,
Temp'ring extremities with extreme sweet.deg [Exit.]
2. Prologue 2 young affection gapes the new love is eager 3 That fair i.e., Rosaline 6 Alike bewitched i.e., both are bewitched 7 complain address his lover's suit 10 use to customarily 14 Temp'ring . . . sweet softening difficulties with extraordinary delights 33
[Scene 1. Near Capulet's orchard.]
Enter Romeo alone.
Romeo. Can I go forward when my heart is here?
Turn back, dull earth, and find thy center out.deg
Enter Benvolio with Mercutio. [Romeo retires.]
Benvolio. Romeo! My cousin Romeo! Romeo!
Mercutio. He is wise
And, on my life, hath stol'n him home to bed.
Benvolio. He ran this way and leapt this orchard wall.
Call, good Mercutio.
Mercutio. Nay, I'll conjure too.
Romeo! Humors! Madman! Passion! Lover!
Appear thou in the likeness of a sigh;
Speak but one rhyme, and I am satisfied!
Cry but "Ay me!" pronounce but "love" and
"dove";
Speak to my gossipdeg Venus one fair word,
One nickname for her purblinddeg son and heir,
Young Abraham Cupid,deg he that shot so true
When King Cophetua loved the beggar maid!deg
He heareth not, he stirreth not, he moveth not;
The ape is dead,deg and I must conjure him.
I conjure thee by Rosaline's bright eyes,
By her high forehead and her scarlet lip, 2.1.1-2 Can . . . out (Romeo refuses to pass Capulet's house, commanding his body, or earth, to stop and join its proper soul, or center--i.e., Juliet) 11 gossip crony 12 purblind quite blind 13 Abraham Cupid (the phrase may mean "ancient youth" or, since "abram man" was slang for "trickster," "rascally Cupid") 14 King Cophetua . . . maid (reference to an old familiar ballad) 16 The ape is dead i.e., Romeo plays dead, like a performing ape
By her fine foot, straight leg, and quivering thigh,
And the demesnesdeg that there adjacent lie,
That in thy likeness thou appear to us!
Benvolio. And ifdeg he hear thee, thou wilt anger him.
Mercutio. This cannot anger him. 'Twould anger him
To raise a spirit in his mistress' circledeg
Of some strange nature, letting it there stand
Till she had laid it and conjured it down.
That were some spite;deg my invocation
Is fair and honest:deg in his mistress' name,
I conjure only but to raise up him.
Benvolio. Come, he hath hid himself among these trees
To be consorteddeg with the humorousdeg night.
Blind is his love and best befits the dark.
Mercutio. If love be blind, love cannot hit the mark.
Now will he sit under a medlar tree
And wish his mistress were that kind of fruit
As maids call medlarsdeg when they laugh alone.
O, Romeo, that she were, O that she were
An open et cetera, thou a pop'rindeg pear!
Romeo, good night. I'll to my truckle bed;deg
This field bed is too cold for me to sleep.
Come, shall we go?
Benvolio. Go then, for 'tis in vain
To seek him here that means not to be found.
Exit [with others].
20 demesnes domains 22 And if if 24 circle (conjurers worked within a magic circle, but there is also a bawdy innuendo, as in stand, laid, down, raise) 27 spite vexation 28 fair and honest respectable 31 consorted associated 31 humorous (1) damp (2) moody 36 medlars applelike fruit, eaten when decayed (like pop'rin, in line 38, the word was often used to refer to sexual organs) 39 I'll to my truckle bed I'll go to my trundle bed, or baby bed (i.e., I'm innocent in affairs of this kind)
[Scene 2. Capulet's orchard.]
Romeo. [Coming forward] He jests at scars that never
felt a wound.
[Enter Juliet at a window.]
But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?
It is the East, and Juliet is the sun!
Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,
Who is already sick and pale with grief
That thou her maiddeg art far more fair than she.
Be not her maid, since she is envious.
Her vestal liverydeg is but sick and green,deg
And none but fools do wear it. Cast it off.
It is my lady! O, it is my love!
O, that she knew she were!
She speaks, yet she says nothing. What of that?
Her eye discourses; I will answer it.
I am too bold; 'tis not to me she speaks.
Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven,
Having some business, do entreat her eyes
To twinkle in their spheresdeg till they return.
What if her eyes were there, they in her head?
The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars
As daylight doth a lamp; her eyes in heaven
Would through the airy region stream so bright
That birds would sing and think it were not night.
See how she leans her cheek upon her hand!
O, that I were a glove upon that hand,
That I might touch that cheek!
Juliet. Ay me!
2.2.6 her maid (the moon is here thought of as Diana, goddess and patroness of virgins) 8 vestal livery i.e., virginity 8 sick and green sickly, bearing the characteristics of greensickness, the virgin's malady 17 spheres orbits
Romeo. She speaks.
O, speak again, bright angel, for thou art
As glorious to this night, being o'er my head,
As is a winged messenger of heaven
Unto the white-upturned wond'ring eyes
Of mortals that fall back to gaze on him
When he bestrides the lazy puffing clouds
And sails upon the bosom of the air.
Juliet. O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I'll no longer be a Capulet.
Romeo. [Aside] Shall I hear more, or shall I speak
at this?
Juliet. 'Tis but thy name that is my enemy.
Thou art thyself, though notdeg a Montague.
What's Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face. O, be some other name
Belonging to a man.
What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other word would smell as sweet.
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo called,
Retain that dear perfection which he owesdeg
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name;
And for thy name, which is no part of thee,
Take all myself.
Romeo. I take thee at thy word.
Call me but love, and I'll be new baptized;
Henceforth I never will be Romeo.
Juliet. What man art thou, that, thus bescreened in
night,
So stumblest on my counsel?
Romeo. By a name
I know not how to tell thee who I am.
My name, dear saint, is hateful to myself 39 though not even if you were not 46 owes owns
Because it is an enemy to thee.
Had I it written, I would tear the word.
Juliet. My ears have yet not drunk a hundred words
Of thy tongue's uttering, yet I know the sound.
Art thou not Romeo, and a Montague?
Romeo. Neither, fair maid, if either thee dislike.deg
Juliet. How camest thou hither, tell me, and where-
fore?
The orchard walls are high and hard to climb,
And the place death, considering who thou art,
If any of my kinsmen find thee here.
Romeo. With love's light wings did I o'erperchdeg these
walls;
For stony limits cannot hold love out,
And what love can do, that dares love attempt.
Therefore thy kinsmen are no stop to me.
Juliet. If they do see thee, they will murder thee.
Romeo. Alack, there lies more peril in thine eye
Than twenty of their swords! Look thou but sweet,
And I am proofdeg against their enmity.
Juliet. I would not for the world they saw thee here.
Romeo. I have night's cloak to hide me from their eyes;
And butdeg thou love me, let them find me here.
My life were better ended by their hate
Than death prorogued,deg wanting of thy love.
Juliet. By whose direction found'st thou out this place?
Romeo. By love, that first did prompt me to inquire.
He lent me counsel, and I lent him eyes.
I am no pilot; yet, wert thou as far
As that vast shore washed with the farthest sea,
I should adventuredeg for such merchandise.
Juliet. Thou knowest the mask of night is on my face; 61 dislike displeases 66 o'erperch fly over 73 proof protected 76 but if only 78 prorogued deferred 84 adventure risk the journey
Else would a maiden blush bepaint my cheek
For that which thou hast heard me speak tonight.
Fain would I dwell on form--fain, fain deny
What I have spoke; but farewell compliment!deg
Dost thou love me? I know thou wilt say "Ay";
And I will take thy word. Yet, if thou swear'st,
Thou mayst prove false. At lovers' perjuries,
They say Jove laughs. O gentle Romeo,
If thou dost love, pronounce it faithfully.
Or if thou thinkest I am too quickly won,
I'll frown and be perverse and say thee nay,
So thou wilt woo; but else, not for the world.
In truth, fair Montague, I am too fond,deg
And therefore thou mayst think my haviordeg light;
But trust me, gentleman, I'll prove more true
Than those that have more cunning to be strange.deg
I should have been more strange, I must confess,
But that thou overheard'st, ere I was ware,
My truelove passion. Therefore pardon me,
And not impute this yielding to light love,
Which the dark night hath so discovered.deg
Romeo. Lady, by yonder blessed moon I vow,
That tips with silver all these fruit-tree tops--
Juliet. O, swear not by the moon, th' inconstant moon,
That monthly changes in her circle orb,
Lest that thy love prove likewise variable.
Romeo. What shall I swear by?
Juliet. Do not swear at all;
Or if thou wilt, swear by thy gracious self,
Which is the god of my idolatry,
And I'll believe thee.
Romeo. If my heart's dear love--
Juliet. Well, do not swear. Although I joy in thee,
I have no joy of this contract tonight.
89 compliment formal courtesy 98 fond (1) affectionate (2) foolishly tender 99 havior behavior 101 strange aloof 106 discovered revealed
It is too rash, too unadvised, too sudden;
Too like the lightning, which doth cease to be
Ere one can say it lightens. Sweet, good night!
This bud of love, by summer's ripening breath,
May prove a beauteous flow'r when next we meet.
Good night, good night! As sweet repose and rest
Come to thy heart as that within my breast!
Romeo. O, wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied?
Juliet. What satisfaction canst thou have tonight?
Romeo. Th' exchange of thy love's faithful vow for
mine.
Juliet. I gave thee mine before thou didst request it;
And yet I would it were to give again.
Romeo. Wouldst thou withdraw it? For what purpose,
love?
Juliet. But to be frankdeg and give it thee again.
And yet I wish but for the thing I have.
My bountydeg is as boundless as the sea,
My love as deep; the more I give to thee,
The more I have, for both are infinite.
I hear some noise within. Dear love, adieu!
[Nurse calls within.]
Anon, good nurse! Sweet Montague, be true.
Stay but a little, I will come again. [Exit.]
Romeo. O blessed, blessed night! I am afeard,
Being in night, all this is but a dream,
Too flattering-sweet to be substantial.
[Enter Juliet again.]
Juliet. Three words, dear Romeo, and good night
indeed.
If that thy bentdeg of love be honorable,
Thy purpose marriage, send me word tomorrow,
By one that I'll procure to come to thee,
Where and what time thou wilt perform the rite; 131 frank generous 133 bounty capacity for giving 143 bent aim
And all my fortunes at thy foot I'll lay
And follow thee my lord throughout the world.
[Nurse. Within] Madam!
Juliet. I come anon.--But if thou meanest not well,
I do beseech thee--
[Nurse. Within] Madam!
Capulet. Go to, go to!
You are a saucy boy. Is't so, indeed?
This trick may chance to scathedeg you. I know what.
You must contrary me! Marry, 'tis time--
Well said, my hearts!--You are a princoxdeg--go!
Be quiet, or--More light, more light!--For shame!
I'll make you quiet. What!--Cheerly, my hearts!
Tybalt. Patience perforcedeg with willful cholerdeg meeting
Makes my flesh tremble in their different greeting.
I will withdraw; but this intrusion shall,
Now seeming sweet, convert to bitt'rest gall. Exit.
Romeo. Ifdeg I profane with my unworthiest hand
This holy shrine,deg the gentle sin is this:deg
My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand
To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.
Juliet. Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too
much,
Which mannerly devotion shows in this;
For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch,
And palm to palm is holy palmers'deg kiss.
79 goodman (a term applied to someone below the rank of gentleman) 79 Go to (impatient exclamation) 81 God shall mend my soul (roughly equivalent to our "Indeed") 82 mutiny disturbance 83 set cock-a-hoop be cock of the walk 86 scathe hurt, harm 88 princox impertinent youngster 91 Patience perforce enforced self-control 91 choler anger 95 If (here begins an English, or Shakespearean, sonnet) 96 shrine i.e., Juliet's hand 96 the gentle sin is this this is the sin of well-bred people 102 palmer religious pilgrim (the term originally signified one who carried a palm branch; here it is used as a pun meaning one who holds another's hand)
Romeo. Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too?
Juliet. Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer.
Romeo. O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do!
They pray; grant thou, lest faith turn to despair.
Juliet. Saints do not move,deg though grant for prayers'
sake.
Romeo. Then move not while my prayer's effect I take.
Thus from my lips, by thine my sin is purged.
[Kisses her.]
Juliet. Then have my lips the sin that they have took.
Romeo. Sin from my lips? O trespass sweetly urged!
Give me my sin again. [Kisses her.]
Juliet. You kiss by th' book.deg
Nurse. Madam, your mother craves a word with you.
Romeo. What is her mother?
Nurse. Marry, bachelor,
Her mother is the lady of the house,
And a good lady, and a wise and virtuous.
I nursed her daughter that you talked withal.deg
I tell you, he that can lay hold of her
Shall have the chinks.deg
Romeo. Is she a Capulet?
O dear account! My life is my foe's debt.deg
Benvolio. Away, be gone; the sport is at the best.
Romeo. Ay, so I fear; the more is my unrest.
Capulet. Nay, gentlemen, prepare not to be gone;
We have a trifling foolish banquet towards.deg
Is it e'en so?deg Why then, I thank you all.
107 do not move (1) do not initiate action (2) stand still 112 kiss by th' book i.e., you take my words literally to get more kisses 117 withal with 119 the chinks plenty of money 120 My life is my foe's debt my foe now owns my life 124 towards in preparation 125 Is it e'en so? (the maskers insist on leaving)
I thank you, honest gentlemen. Good night.
More torches here! Come on then; let's to bed.
Ah, sirrah, by my fay,deg it waxes late;
I'll to my rest. [Exeunt all but Juliet and Nurse.]
Juliet. Come hither, nurse. What is yond gentleman?
Nurse. The son and heir of old Tiberio.
Juliet. What's he that now is going out of door?
Nurse. Marry, that, I think, be young Petruchio.
Juliet. What's he that follows here, that would not
dance?
Nurse. I know not.
Juliet. Go ask his name.--If he is married,
My grave is like to be my wedding bed.
Nurse. His name is Romeo, and a Montague,
The only son of your great enemy.
Juliet. My only love, sprung from my only hate!
Too early seen unknown, and known too late!
Prodigiousdeg birth of love it is to me
That I must love a loathed enemy.
Nurse. What's this? What's this?
Juliet. A rhyme I learnt even now
Of one I danced withal. One calls within, "Juliet."
Nurse. Anon,deg anon!
Come, let's away; the strangers all are gone.
Exeunt.
128 fay faith 142 Prodigious (1) monstrous (2) of evil portent 145 Anon at once
[ACT 2
PROLOGUE.
Enter] Chorus.
Chorus. Now old desire doth in his deathbed lie,
And young affection gapesdeg to be his heir;
That fairdeg for which love groaned for and would
die,
With tender Juliet matched, is now not fair.
Now Romeo is beloved and loves again,
Alike bewitcheddeg by the charm of looks;
But to his foe supposed he must complain,deg
And she steal love's sweet bait from fearful
hooks.
Being held a foe, he may not have access
To breathe such vows as lovers use todeg swear,
And she as much in love, her means much less
To meet her new beloved anywhere;
But passion lends them power, time means, to meet,
Temp'ring extremities with extreme sweet.deg [Exit.]
2. Prologue 2 young affection gapes the new love is eager 3 That fair i.e., Rosaline 6 Alike bewitched i.e., both are bewitched 7 complain address his lover's suit 10 use to customarily 14 Temp'ring . . . sweet softening difficulties with extraordinary delights 33
[Scene 1. Near Capulet's orchard.]
Enter Romeo alone.
Romeo. Can I go forward when my heart is here?
Turn back, dull earth, and find thy center out.deg
Enter Benvolio with Mercutio. [Romeo retires.]
Benvolio. Romeo! My cousin Romeo! Romeo!
Mercutio. He is wise
And, on my life, hath stol'n him home to bed.
Benvolio. He ran this way and leapt this orchard wall.
Call, good Mercutio.
Mercutio. Nay, I'll conjure too.
Romeo! Humors! Madman! Passion! Lover!
Appear thou in the likeness of a sigh;
Speak but one rhyme, and I am satisfied!
Cry but "Ay me!" pronounce but "love" and
"dove";
Speak to my gossipdeg Venus one fair word,
One nickname for her purblinddeg son and heir,
Young Abraham Cupid,deg he that shot so true
When King Cophetua loved the beggar maid!deg
He heareth not, he stirreth not, he moveth not;
The ape is dead,deg and I must conjure him.
I conjure thee by Rosaline's bright eyes,
By her high forehead and her scarlet lip, 2.1.1-2 Can . . . out (Romeo refuses to pass Capulet's house, commanding his body, or earth, to stop and join its proper soul, or center--i.e., Juliet) 11 gossip crony 12 purblind quite blind 13 Abraham Cupid (the phrase may mean "ancient youth" or, since "abram man" was slang for "trickster," "rascally Cupid") 14 King Cophetua . . . maid (reference to an old familiar ballad) 16 The ape is dead i.e., Romeo plays dead, like a performing ape
By her fine foot, straight leg, and quivering thigh,
And the demesnesdeg that there adjacent lie,
That in thy likeness thou appear to us!
Benvolio. And ifdeg he hear thee, thou wilt anger him.
Mercutio. This cannot anger him. 'Twould anger him
To raise a spirit in his mistress' circledeg
Of some strange nature, letting it there stand
Till she had laid it and conjured it down.
That were some spite;deg my invocation
Is fair and honest:deg in his mistress' name,
I conjure only but to raise up him.
Benvolio. Come, he hath hid himself among these trees
To be consorteddeg with the humorousdeg night.
Blind is his love and best befits the dark.
Mercutio. If love be blind, love cannot hit the mark.
Now will he sit under a medlar tree
And wish his mistress were that kind of fruit
As maids call medlarsdeg when they laugh alone.
O, Romeo, that she were, O that she were
An open et cetera, thou a pop'rindeg pear!
Romeo, good night. I'll to my truckle bed;deg
This field bed is too cold for me to sleep.
Come, shall we go?
Benvolio. Go then, for 'tis in vain
To seek him here that means not to be found.
Exit [with others].
20 demesnes domains 22 And if if 24 circle (conjurers worked within a magic circle, but there is also a bawdy innuendo, as in stand, laid, down, raise) 27 spite vexation 28 fair and honest respectable 31 consorted associated 31 humorous (1) damp (2) moody 36 medlars applelike fruit, eaten when decayed (like pop'rin, in line 38, the word was often used to refer to sexual organs) 39 I'll to my truckle bed I'll go to my trundle bed, or baby bed (i.e., I'm innocent in affairs of this kind)
[Scene 2. Capulet's orchard.]
Romeo. [Coming forward] He jests at scars that never
felt a wound.
[Enter Juliet at a window.]
But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?
It is the East, and Juliet is the sun!
Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,
Who is already sick and pale with grief
That thou her maiddeg art far more fair than she.
Be not her maid, since she is envious.
Her vestal liverydeg is but sick and green,deg
And none but fools do wear it. Cast it off.
It is my lady! O, it is my love!
O, that she knew she were!
She speaks, yet she says nothing. What of that?
Her eye discourses; I will answer it.
I am too bold; 'tis not to me she speaks.
Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven,
Having some business, do entreat her eyes
To twinkle in their spheresdeg till they return.
What if her eyes were there, they in her head?
The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars
As daylight doth a lamp; her eyes in heaven
Would through the airy region stream so bright
That birds would sing and think it were not night.
See how she leans her cheek upon her hand!
O, that I were a glove upon that hand,
That I might touch that cheek!
Juliet. Ay me!
2.2.6 her maid (the moon is here thought of as Diana, goddess and patroness of virgins) 8 vestal livery i.e., virginity 8 sick and green sickly, bearing the characteristics of greensickness, the virgin's malady 17 spheres orbits
Romeo. She speaks.
O, speak again, bright angel, for thou art
As glorious to this night, being o'er my head,
As is a winged messenger of heaven
Unto the white-upturned wond'ring eyes
Of mortals that fall back to gaze on him
When he bestrides the lazy puffing clouds
And sails upon the bosom of the air.
Juliet. O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I'll no longer be a Capulet.
Romeo. [Aside] Shall I hear more, or shall I speak
at this?
Juliet. 'Tis but thy name that is my enemy.
Thou art thyself, though notdeg a Montague.
What's Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face. O, be some other name
Belonging to a man.
What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other word would smell as sweet.
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo called,
Retain that dear perfection which he owesdeg
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name;
And for thy name, which is no part of thee,
Take all myself.
Romeo. I take thee at thy word.
Call me but love, and I'll be new baptized;
Henceforth I never will be Romeo.
Juliet. What man art thou, that, thus bescreened in
night,
So stumblest on my counsel?
Romeo. By a name
I know not how to tell thee who I am.
My name, dear saint, is hateful to myself 39 though not even if you were not 46 owes owns
Because it is an enemy to thee.
Had I it written, I would tear the word.
Juliet. My ears have yet not drunk a hundred words
Of thy tongue's uttering, yet I know the sound.
Art thou not Romeo, and a Montague?
Romeo. Neither, fair maid, if either thee dislike.deg
Juliet. How camest thou hither, tell me, and where-
fore?
The orchard walls are high and hard to climb,
And the place death, considering who thou art,
If any of my kinsmen find thee here.
Romeo. With love's light wings did I o'erperchdeg these
walls;
For stony limits cannot hold love out,
And what love can do, that dares love attempt.
Therefore thy kinsmen are no stop to me.
Juliet. If they do see thee, they will murder thee.
Romeo. Alack, there lies more peril in thine eye
Than twenty of their swords! Look thou but sweet,
And I am proofdeg against their enmity.
Juliet. I would not for the world they saw thee here.
Romeo. I have night's cloak to hide me from their eyes;
And butdeg thou love me, let them find me here.
My life were better ended by their hate
Than death prorogued,deg wanting of thy love.
Juliet. By whose direction found'st thou out this place?
Romeo. By love, that first did prompt me to inquire.
He lent me counsel, and I lent him eyes.
I am no pilot; yet, wert thou as far
As that vast shore washed with the farthest sea,
I should adventuredeg for such merchandise.
Juliet. Thou knowest the mask of night is on my face; 61 dislike displeases 66 o'erperch fly over 73 proof protected 76 but if only 78 prorogued deferred 84 adventure risk the journey
Else would a maiden blush bepaint my cheek
For that which thou hast heard me speak tonight.
Fain would I dwell on form--fain, fain deny
What I have spoke; but farewell compliment!deg
Dost thou love me? I know thou wilt say "Ay";
And I will take thy word. Yet, if thou swear'st,
Thou mayst prove false. At lovers' perjuries,
They say Jove laughs. O gentle Romeo,
If thou dost love, pronounce it faithfully.
Or if thou thinkest I am too quickly won,
I'll frown and be perverse and say thee nay,
So thou wilt woo; but else, not for the world.
In truth, fair Montague, I am too fond,deg
And therefore thou mayst think my haviordeg light;
But trust me, gentleman, I'll prove more true
Than those that have more cunning to be strange.deg
I should have been more strange, I must confess,
But that thou overheard'st, ere I was ware,
My truelove passion. Therefore pardon me,
And not impute this yielding to light love,
Which the dark night hath so discovered.deg
Romeo. Lady, by yonder blessed moon I vow,
That tips with silver all these fruit-tree tops--
Juliet. O, swear not by the moon, th' inconstant moon,
That monthly changes in her circle orb,
Lest that thy love prove likewise variable.
Romeo. What shall I swear by?
Juliet. Do not swear at all;
Or if thou wilt, swear by thy gracious self,
Which is the god of my idolatry,
And I'll believe thee.
Romeo. If my heart's dear love--
Juliet. Well, do not swear. Although I joy in thee,
I have no joy of this contract tonight.
89 compliment formal courtesy 98 fond (1) affectionate (2) foolishly tender 99 havior behavior 101 strange aloof 106 discovered revealed
It is too rash, too unadvised, too sudden;
Too like the lightning, which doth cease to be
Ere one can say it lightens. Sweet, good night!
This bud of love, by summer's ripening breath,
May prove a beauteous flow'r when next we meet.
Good night, good night! As sweet repose and rest
Come to thy heart as that within my breast!
Romeo. O, wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied?
Juliet. What satisfaction canst thou have tonight?
Romeo. Th' exchange of thy love's faithful vow for
mine.
Juliet. I gave thee mine before thou didst request it;
And yet I would it were to give again.
Romeo. Wouldst thou withdraw it? For what purpose,
love?
Juliet. But to be frankdeg and give it thee again.
And yet I wish but for the thing I have.
My bountydeg is as boundless as the sea,
My love as deep; the more I give to thee,
The more I have, for both are infinite.
I hear some noise within. Dear love, adieu!
[Nurse calls within.]
Anon, good nurse! Sweet Montague, be true.
Stay but a little, I will come again. [Exit.]
Romeo. O blessed, blessed night! I am afeard,
Being in night, all this is but a dream,
Too flattering-sweet to be substantial.
[Enter Juliet again.]
Juliet. Three words, dear Romeo, and good night
indeed.
If that thy bentdeg of love be honorable,
Thy purpose marriage, send me word tomorrow,
By one that I'll procure to come to thee,
Where and what time thou wilt perform the rite; 131 frank generous 133 bounty capacity for giving 143 bent aim
And all my fortunes at thy foot I'll lay
And follow thee my lord throughout the world.
[Nurse. Within] Madam!
Juliet. I come anon.--But if thou meanest not well,
I do beseech thee--
[Nurse. Within] Madam!