thou not.
Then weep no more. I'll send to one in Mantua,
Where that same banished runagatedeg doth live,
Shall give him such an unaccustomed dram
That he shall soon keep Tybalt company;
And then I hope thou wilt be satisfied.
Juliet. Indeed I never shall be satisfied
With Romeo till I behold him--deaddeg--
75 feeling loss loss to be felt 90 runagate renegade 95 dead (Lady Capulet takes this to refer to "him"; Juliet takes it to refer to "heart")
Is my poor heart so for a kinsman vexed.
Madam, if you could find out but a man
To bear a poison, I would temperdeg it;
That Romeo should, upon receipt thereof,
Soon sleep in quiet. O, how my heart abhors
To hear him named and cannot come to him,
To wreakdeg the love I bore my cousin
Upon his body that hath slaughtered him!
Lady Capulet. Find thou the means, and I'll find such
a man.
But now I'll tell thee joyful tidings, girl.
Juliet. And joy comes well in such a needy time.
What are they, beseech your ladyship?
Lady Capulet. Well, well, thou hast a carefuldeg father,
child;
One who, to put thee from thy heaviness,
Hath sorted outdeg a sudden day of joy
That thou expects not nor I looked not for.
Juliet. Madam, in happy time!deg What day is that?
Lady Capulet. Marry, my child, early next Thursday
morn
The gallant, young, and noble gentleman,
The County Paris, at Saint Peter's Church,
Shall happily make thee there a joyful bride.
Juliet. Now by Saint Peter's Church, and Peter too,
He shall not make me there a joyful bride!
I wonder at this haste, that I must wed
Ere he that should be husband comes to woo.
I pray you tell my lord and father, madam,
I will not marry yet; and when I do, I swear
It shall be Romeo, whom you know I hate,
Rather than Paris. These are news indeed!
98 temper (1) mix (2) weaken 102 wreak (1) avenge (2) give expression to 108 careful solicitous 110 sorted out selected 112 in happy time most opportunely
Lady Capulet. Here comes your father. Tell him so
yourself,
And see how he will take it at your hands.
Enter Capulet and Nurse.
Capulet. When the sun sets the earth doth drizzle dew,
But for the sunset of my brother's son
It rains downright.
How now? A conduit,deg girl? What, still in tears?
Evermore show'ring? In one little body
Thou counterfeits a bark, a sea, a wind:
For still thy eyes, which I may call the sea,
Do ebb and flow with tears; the bark thy body is,
Sailing in this salt flood; the winds, thy sighs,
Who, raging with thy tears and they with them,
Without a suddendeg calm will overset
Thy tempest-tossed body. How now, wife?
Have you delivered to her our decree?
Lady Capulet. Ay, sir; but she will none, she gives
you thanks.deg
I would the fool were married to her grave!
Capulet. Soft! Take me with you,deg take me with you,
wife.
How? Will she none? Doth she not give us thanks?
Is she not proud? Doth she not count her blest,
Unworthy as she is, that we have wroughtdeg
So worthy a gentleman to be her bride?
Juliet. Not prouddeg you have, but thankful that you
have.
Proud can I never be of what I hate,
But thankful even for hate that is meant love.
Capulet. How, how, how, how, chopped-logic?deg What
is this?
130 conduit water pipe 137 sudden unanticipated, immediate 140 she gives you thanks she'll have none of it, thank you 142 Soft . . . you Wait! Help me to understand you 145 wrought arranged 147 proud highly pleased 150 chopped-logic chop logic, sophistry
"Proud"--and "I thank you"--and "I thank you
not"--
And yet "not proud"? Mistress miniondeg you,
Thank me no thankings, nor proud me no prouds,
But fettledeg your fine joints 'gainst Thursday next
To go with Paris to Saint Peter's Church,
Or I will drag thee on a hurdledeg thither.
Out, you greensicknessdeg carrion! Out, you baggage!deg
You tallow-face!
Lady Capulet. Fie, fie! What, are you mad?
Juliet. Good father, I beseech you on my knees,
Hear me with patience but to speak a word.
Capulet. Hang thee, young baggage! Disobedient
wretch!
I tell thee what--get thee to church a Thursday
Or never after look me in the face.
Speak not, reply not, do not answer me!
My fingers itch. Wife, we scarce thought us blest
That God had lent us but this only child;
But now I see this one is one too much,
And that we have a curse in having her.
Out on her, hilding!deg
Nurse. God in heaven bless her!
You are to blame, my lord, to ratedeg her so.
Capulet. And why, my Lady Wisdom? Hold your
tongue,
Good Prudence. Smatter with your gossips,deg go!
Nurse. I speak no treason.
Capulet. O, God-i-god-en!deg
Nurse. May not one speak?
152 minion minx 154 fettle make ready 156 hurdle sledge on which traitors were taken to execution 157 greensickness anemic, after the fashion of young girls 157 baggage strumpet 169 hilding worthless person 170 rate scold 172 Smatter with your gossips save your chatter for your cronies 173 God-i-god-en God give you good even (here equivalent to "Get on with you!")
Capulet. Peace, you mumbling fool!
Utter your gravity o'er a gossip's bowl,
For here we need it not.
Lady Capulet. You are too hot.
Capulet. God's bread!deg It makes me mad.
Day, night; hour, tide, time; work, play;
Alone, in company; still my care hath been
To have her matched; and having now provided
A gentleman of noble parentage,
Of fair demesnes,deg youthful, and nobly trained,
Stuffed, as they say, with honorable parts,
Proportioned as one's thought would wish a man--
And then to have a wretched pulingdeg fool,
A whining mammet,deg in her fortune's tender,deg
To answer "I'll not wed, I cannot love;
I am too young, I pray you pardon me"!
But, and you will not wed, I'll pardon you!deg
Graze where you will, you shall not house with me.
Look to't, think on't; I do not use to jest.deg
Thursday is near; lay hand on heart, advise:deg
And you be mine, I'll give you to my friend;
And you be not, hang, beg, starve, die in the streets,
For, by my soul, I'll ne'er acknowledge thee,
Nor what is mine shall never do thee good.
Trust to't. Bethink you. I'll not be forsworn. Exit.
Juliet. Is there no pity sitting in the clouds
That sees into the bottom of my grief?
O sweet my mother, cast me not away!
Delay this marriage for a month, a week;
Or if you do not, make the bridal bed
In that dim monument where Tybalt lies.
Lady Capulet. Talk not to me, for I'll not speak a word.
177 God's bread by the sacred host 182 demesnes domains 185 puling whining 186 mammet pu
ppet 186 in her fortune's tender (1) on good fortune's offer (2) subject to fortuitous circumstance (?) 189 I'll pardon you i.e., in a way you don't expect 191 do not use to jest am not in the habit of joking 192 advise consider
Do as thou wilt, for I have done with thee. Exit.
Juliet. O God!--O nurse, how shall this be prevented?
My husband is on earth, my faith in heaven.deg
How shall that faith return again to earth
Unless that husband send it me from heaven
By leaving earth?deg Comfort me, counsel me.
Alack, alack, that heaven should practice stratagems
Upon so soft a subject as myself!
What say'st thou? Hast thou not a word of joy?
Some comfort, nurse.
Nurse. Faith, here it is.
Romeo is banished; and all the world to nothingdeg
That he dares ne'er come back to challenge you;
Or if he do, it needs must be by stealth.
Then, since the case so stands as now it doth,
I think it best you married with the County.
O, he's a lovely gentleman!
Romeo's a dishcloutdeg to him. An eagle, madam,
Hath not so green, so quick, so fair an eye
As Paris hath. Beshrewdeg my very heart,
I think you are happy in this second match,
For it excels your first; or if it did not,
Your first is dead--or 'twere as good he were
As living here and you no use of him.
Juliet. Speak'st thou from thy heart?
Nurse. And from my soul too; else beshrew them both.
Juliet. Amen!
Nurse. What?
Juliet. Well, thou hast comforted me marvelous much.
Go in; and tell my lady I am gone,
Having displeased my father, to Lawrence' cell,
To make confession and to be absolved.
207 my faith in heaven my vow is recorded in heaven 210 By leaving earth i.e., by dying 215 all the world to nothing (the Nurse advises a safe bet) 221 dishclout dishcloth 223 Beshrew curse (used in light oaths)
Nurse. Marry, I will; and this is wisely done. [Exit.]
Juliet. Ancient damnation!deg O most wicked fiend!
Is it more sin to wish me thus forsworn,deg
Or to dispraise my lord with that same tongue
Which she hath praised him with above compare
So many thousand times? Go, counselor!
Thou and my bosom henceforth shall be twain.deg
I'll to the friar to know his remedy.
If all else fail, myself have power to die. Exit.
237 Ancient damnation (1) damned old woman (2) ancient devil (note the term "wicked fiend" immediately following) 238 forsworn guilty of breaking a vow 242 Thou . . . twain i.e., you shall henceforth be separated from my trust
[ACT 4
Scene 1. Friar Lawrence's cell.]
Enter Friar [Lawrence] and County Paris.
Friar. On Thursday, sir? The time is very short.
Paris. My father Capulet will have it so,
And I am nothing slow to slack his haste.deg
Friar. You say you do not know the lady's mind.
Unevendeg is the course; I like it not.
Paris. Immoderately she weeps for Tybalt's death,
And therefore have I little talked of love;
For Venus smiles not in a house of tears.
Now, sir, her father counts it dangerous
That she do give her sorrow so much sway,
And in his wisdom hastes our marriage
To stop the inundation of her tears,
Which, too much mindeddeg by herself alone,deg
May be put from her by society.
Now do you know the reason of this haste.
Friar. [Aside] I would I knew not why it should be
slowed.--
Look, sir, here comes the lady toward my cell.
4.1.3 I . . . haste i.e., I shall not check his haste by being slow myself 5 Uneven irregular 13 minded thought about 13 by herself alone when she is alone
Enter Juliet.
Paris. Happily met, my lady and my wife!
Juliet. That may be, sir, when I may be a wife.
Paris. That "may be" must be, love, on Thursday next.
Juliet. What must be shall be.
Friar. That's a certain text.
Paris. Come you to make confession to this father?
Juliet. To answer that, I should confess to you.
Paris. Do not deny to him that you love me.
Juliet. I confess to you that I love him.
Paris. So will ye, I am sure, that you love me.
Juliet. If I do so, it will be of more price,
Being spoke behind your back, than to your face.
Paris. Poor soul, thy face is much abused with tears.
Juliet. The tears have got small victory by that,
For it was bad enough before their spite.deg
Paris. Thou wrong'st it more than tears with that report.
Juliet. That is no slander, sir, which is a truth;
And what I spake, I spake it to my face.
Paris. Thy face is mine, and thou hast sland'red it.
Juliet. It may be so, for it is not mine own.
Are you at leisure, holy father, now,
Or shall I come to you at evening mass?deg
Friar. My leisure serves me, pensive daughter, now.
My lord, we must entreat the time alone.deg
31 before their spite before they marred it 38 evening mass (evening mass was still said occasionally in Shakespeare's time) 40 entreat the time alone ask to have this time to ourselves
Paris. God shielddeg I should disturb devotion!
Juliet, on Thursday early will I rouse ye.
Till then, adieu, and keep this holy kiss. Exit.
Juliet. O, shut the door, and when thou hast done so,
Come weep with me--past hope, past care, past
help!
Friar. O Juliet, I already know thy grief;
It strains me past the compass of my wits.
I hear thou must, and nothing may proroguedeg it,
On Thursday next be married to this County.
Juliet. Tell me not, friar, that thou hearest of this,
Unless thou tell me how I may prevent it.
If in thy wisdom thou canst give no help,
Do thou but call my resolution wise
And with this knife I'll help it presently.deg
God joined my heart and Romeo's, thou our hands;
And ere this hand, by thee to Romeo's sealed,
Shall be the labeldeg to another deed,deg
Or my true heart with treacherous revolt
Turn to another, this shall slay them both.
Therefore, out of thy long-experienced time,
Give me some present counsel; or, behold,
'Twixt my extremes and me this bloody knife
Shall play the umpire, arbitrating that
Which the commissiondeg of thy years and art
Could to no issue of true honor bring.
Be not so long to speak. I long to die
If what thou speak'st speak not of remedy.
Friar. Hold, daughter. I do spy a kind of hope,
Which craves as desperate an execution
As that is desperate which we would prevent.
If, rather than to marry County Paris,
Thou hast the strength of will to slay thyself,
Then is it likely thou wilt undertake 41 God shield God forbid 48 prorogue delay 54 presently at once 57 label bearer of the seal 57 deed (1) act (2) legal document 64 commission authority
A thing like death to chide away this shame,
That cop'stdeg with death himself to scape from it;
And, if thou darest, I'll give thee remedy.
Juliet. O, bid me leap, rather than marry Paris,
From off the battlements o
f any tower,
Or walk in thievishdeg ways, or bid me lurk
Where serpents are; chain me with roaring bears,
Or hide me nightly in a charnel house,deg
O'ercovered quite with dead men's rattling bones,
With reekydeg shanks and yellow chaplessdeg skulls;
Or bid me go into a new-made grave
And hide me with a dead man in his shroud--
Things that, to hear them told, have made me
tremble--
And I will do it without fear or doubt,
To live an unstained wife to my sweet love.
Friar. Hold, then. Go home, be merry, give consent
To marry Paris. Wednesday is tomorrow.
Tomorrow night look that thou lie alone;
Let not the nurse lie with thee in thy chamber.
Take thou this vial, being then in bed,
And this distillingdeg liquor drink thou off;
When presently through all thy veins shall run
A cold and drowsy humor;deg for no pulse
Shall keep his nativedeg progress, but surcease;deg
No warmth, no breath, shall testify thou livest;
The roses in thy lips and cheeks shall fade
To wannydeg ashes, thy eyes' windowsdeg fall
Like death when he shuts up the day of life;
Each part, deprived of supple government,deg
Shall, stiff and stark and cold, appear like death;
And in this borrowed likeness of shrunk death
Thou shalt continue two-and-forty hours,
And then awake as from a pleasant sleep.
75 cop'st negotiates 79 thievish infested with thieves 81 charnel house vault for old bones 83 reeky damp 83 chapless jawless 94 distilling infusing 96 humor fluid 97 native natural 97 surcease stop 100 wanny pale 100 windows lids 102 supple government i.e., faculty for maintaining motion
Now, when the bridegroom in the morning comes
To rouse thee from thy bed, there art thou dead.
Then, as the manner of our country is,
In thy best robes uncovered on the bier
Thou shalt be borne to that same ancient vault
Where all the kindred of the Capulets lie.
In the meantime, againstdeg thou shalt awake,
Shall Romeo by my letters know our drift;deg
And hither shall he come; and he and I
Will watch thy waking, and that very night
Shall Romeo bear thee hence to Mantua.
And this shall free thee from this present shame,
If no inconstant toydeg nor womanish fear
Abate thy valor in the acting it.
Juliet. Give me, give me! O, tell not me of fear!
Friar. Hold! Get you gone, be strong and prosperous
In this resolve. I'll send a friar with speed
To Mantua, with my letters to thy lord.
Juliet. Love give me strength, and strength shall help
afford.
Farewell, dear father. Exit [with Friar].
[Scene 2. Hall in Capulet's house.]
Enter Father Capulet, Mother, Nurse, and Servingmen, two or three.
Capulet. So many guests invite as here are writ.
Romeo and Juliet Page 16
