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Jul. How cam'st thou hither, tell me? and wherefore? | 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.

Rom. O wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied?
Jul. What satisfaction canst thou have to-night?
Rom. Th' exchange of thy love's faithful vow for mine.
Jul. I gave thee mine before thou didst request it;

Rom. With love's light wings did I o'erperch these And yet I would it were to give again.
walls;

For stony limits cannot hold love out :

And what love can do, that dares love attempt;
Therefore, thy kinsmen are no let1 to me.

Jul. If they do see thee, they will murder thee.
Rom. Alack! there lies more peril in thine eye,
Than twenty of their swords: look thou but sweet,
And I am proof against their enmity.

Jul. I would not for the world they saw thee here. Rom. I have night's cloak to hide me from their eyes; And but thou love me, let them find me here: My life were better ended by their hate, Than death prorogued, wanting of thy love.

Jul. By whose direction found'st thou out this place?
Rom. 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 wash'd with the farthest sea,
I would adventure for such merchandise.
Jul. Thou know'st the mask of night is on my face;
Else would a maiden blush bepaint my cheek,
For that which thou hast heard me speak to-night.
Fain would I dwell on form, fain, fain deny
What I have spoke: but farewell compliment.
Dost thou love me? I know thou wilt say-Ay;
And I will take thy word; yet, if thou swear'st,
Thou may'st prove false: at lovers' perjuries,
They say, Jove laughs. O, gentle Romeo!
If thou dost love, pronounce it faithfully :
Or if thou think'st 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,
And therefore thou may'st think my haviour light;
But trust me, gentleman, I'll prove more true
Than those that have more cunning3 to be strange.
I should have been more strange, I must confess,
But that thou over-heard'st, ere I was ware,
My true love's passion: therefore, pardon me;
And not impute this yielding to light love,
Which the dark night hath so discovered.

Rom. Lady, by yonder blessed moon I swear*,
That tips with silver all these fruit-tree tops,-
Jul. O! swear not by the moon, th' inconstant moon,
That monthly changes in her circled orb,
Lest that thy love prove likewise variable.
Rom. What shall I swear by?
Jul.
Or, if thou wilt, swear by thy gracious self,
Which is the god of my idolatry,

And I'll believe thee.

Rom.

Do not swear at all;

If my heart's dear love_

Jul. Well, do not swear. Although I joy in thee, I have no joy of this contract to-night:

It is too rash, too unadvis'd, 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 flower when next we meet.
Good night, good night! as sweet repose and rest
Come to thy heart, as that within my breast!

1 Hindrance.

Rom. Wouldst thou withdraw it? for what purpose, love?

Jul. But to be frank, and give it thee again;
And yet I wish but for the thing I have.
My bounty is as boundless as the sea,
My love as deep; the more I give to thee,
The more I have, for both are infinite. [Nurse calls within.
I hear some noise within: dear love, adieu !—
Anon, good nurse!-Sweet Montague, be true.
Stay but a little, I will come again.

Rom. O blessed, blessed night! I am afeard,
Being in night, all this is but a dream,
Too flattering-sweet to be substantial.
Re-enter JULIET above.

[Exit.

Jul. Three words, dear Romeo, and good night, indeed.

If that thy bent of love be honourable,
Thy purpose marriage, send me word to-morrow,
By one that I'll procure to come to thee,
Where, and what time, thou wilt perform the rite;
And all my fortunes at thy foot I'll lay,
And follow thee my lord throughout the world'.
Nurse. [Within.] Madam!

Jul. I come, anon.-But if thou mean'st not well, I do beseech thee,—

Nurse. [Within.] Madam!

Jul.

By and by; I come.To cease thy suit, and leave me to my grief: To-morrow will I send.

Rom.

[Exit.

So thrive my soul,Jul. A thousand times good night. Rom. A thousand times the worse, to want thy light.

Love goes toward love, as school-boys from their books; But love from love, toward school with heavy looks. [Going.

Re-enter JULIET, above.

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5 glorious in quarto, 9 The quarto, 13 This line is

3 2 gave in quarto, 1597. coying in later quartos, and folio. 4 yonder moon I vow: in folio. 1597. 6 my true heart's love: in quarto, 1597. 7 The quarto, 1597, omits all to the NURSE's call. 9 true in quarto, 1597. 1597, omits all to, "Love goes," &c. 10 Male-hawk. 11 12 tongue in later quartos, and folio; they also omit (12) "name." not in quarto, 1597. 14 So the undated quarto; that of 1597: Madam; first folio: My neice; second folio: sweet.

Like a poor prisoner in his twisted gyves,
And with a silk thread plucks it back again,
So loving-jealous of his liberty.

Rom. I would, I were thy bird.
Jul.

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. [Exit.
Rom. Sleep dwell upon thine eyes, peace in thy
breast!-

Would I were sleep and peace, so sweet to rest!
Hence will I to my ghostly father's1 cell;
His help to crave, and my good hap to tell.

SCENE III.-Friar LAURENCE'S Cell.
Enter Friar LAURENCE, with a basket.

[Exit.

Fri. The grey-ey'd morn smiles on the frowning night,

Checquering the eastern clouds with streaks of light;
And flecked darkness like a drunkard reels
From forth day's path and Titan's fiery" wheels.
Now, ere the sun advance his burning eye
The day to cheer, and night's dank dew to dry,
I must up-fill this osier cage of ours,
With baleful weeds, and precious-juiced flowers.
The earth, that's nature's mother, is her tomb3:
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 mickle is the powerful grace that lies

In herbs, plants, stones, and their true qualities:
For nought so vile that on the earth doth live
But to the earth some special good doth give;
Nor aught so good, but strain'd from that fair use,
Revolts from true birth, stumbling on abuse;1
Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied,
And vice sometime 's by action dignified.
Within the infant rind of this weak' flower
Poison hath residence, and medicine power:
For this, being smelt, with that act cheers each part;
Being tasted, slays all senses with the heart.
Two such opposed kings" encamp them still
In man as well as herbs, grace, and rude will;
And where the worser is predominant,
Full soon the canker death eats up that plant.
Enter ROMEO.

Rom. Good morrow, father.

Benedicite!

Fri.
What early tongue so sweet saluteth me?—
Young son, it argues a distemper'd head,
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 unbusied' youth, with unstuff'd brain,
Doth couch his limbs, there golden sleep doth reign.
Therefore, thy earliness doth me assure,
Thou art up-rous'd by some distemperature:
Or if not so, then here I hit it right-
Our Romeo hath not been in bed to-night.

Rom. That last is true; the sweeter rest was mine.
Fri. God pardon sin! wert thou with Rosaline ?
Rom. With Rosaline, my ghostly father? no;

I have forgot that name, and that name's woe.
Fri. That's my good son: but where hast thou been,
then?

Rom. 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
Within thy help and holy physic lies:
I bear no hatred, blessed man; for, lo!
My intercession likewise steads my foe.

Fri. Be plain, good son, and homely" in thy drift; Riddling confession finds but riddling shrift.

Rom. 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 combin'd, save what thou must combine By holy marriage. When, and where, and how, We met, we woo'd, and made exchange of vow, I'll tell thee as we pass; but this I pray, That thou consent to marry us to-day.

Fri. Holy Saint Francis! what a change is here! Is Rosaline, whom 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 wash'd thy sallow cheeks for Rosaline! How much salt water thrown away in waste To season love, that of it doth not taste! The sun not yet thy sighs from heaven clears, Thy old groans ring yet in my ancient ears; Lo! here upon thy cheek the stain doth sit Of an old tear that is not wash'd off yet. If e'er thou wast thyself, and these woes thine, Thou and these woes were all for Rosaline : And art thou chang'd? pronounce this sentence, thenWomen may fall, when there's no strength in men. Rom. Thou chidd'st me oft for loving Rosaline. Fri. For doting, not for loving, pupil mine. Rom. And bad'st me bury love. Fri.

To lay one in, another out to have.

Not in a grave,

Rom. I pray thee, chide not: she, whom I love now,
Doth grace for grace, and love for love allow:
The other did not so.

Fri.
O! she knew well,
Thy love did read by rote, and could not spell.
But come, young waverer, come, go with me,
In one respect I'll thy assistant be;

For this alliance may so happy prove,

To turn your households' rancour to pure love.
Rom. O let us hence; I stand on sudden haste.
Fri. Wisely, and slow :10 they stumble that run fast.
[Exeunt.

SCENE IV.-A Street.

Enter BENVOLIO and MERCUTIO.

Mer. Where the devil should this Romeo be ?11-
Came he not home to-night?

Ben. Not to his father's: I spoke with his man.
Mer. Why, that same pale hard-hearted wench, that
Rosaline,

Torments him so, that he will sure run mad.
Ben. Tybalt, the kinsman to old Capulet,
Hath sent a letter to his father's house.
Mer. A challenge, on my life.

Ben. Romeo will answer it.

Mer. Any man that can write may answer a letter. Ben. Nay, he will answer the letter's master, how he dares, being dared.1

Mer. Alas, poor Romeo! he is already dead! stab

7 un

1 friar's close in later quartos, and folio. 2 burning in later quartos, and folio. 3 This and the five following lines, are not in quarto, 1597. 4 Revolts to vice, and stumbles on abuse: in quarto, 1597. 5 small: in quarto, 1597. foes in later quartos, and folio. bruised in f. e. 8 rest in folio. 9 her I in later quartos, and folio. 10 The rest of the line, not in quarto, 1597. 11 Why, what 's become of Romeo: in quarto, 1597. 12 if he be challenged: in quarto, 1597.

bed with a white wench's black eye; run thorough the ear with a love-song; the very pin' of his heart cleft with the blind bow-boy's butt-shaft; and is he a man to encounter Tybalt?

Ben. Why, what is Tybalt?

Mer. More than prince of cats, I can tell you. O! he is a courageous captain of compliments. He fights as you sing prick-song3, keeps time, distance, and proportion; rests me his minim rest, one, two, and the third in your bosom : the very butcher of a silk button, a duellist, a duellist; a gentleman of the very first house, of the first and second cause. Ah, the immortal passado! the punto riverso! the hay!

Ben. The what?

Mer. The pox of such antic, lisping, affecting fantasticoes, these new tuners of accents!" By Jesu, a very good blade!-a very tall man!-a very good whore !"-Why, is not this a lamentable thing, grandsire, that we should be thus afflicted with these strange flies, these fashion-mongers, these pardonnez-mois*, who stand so much on the new form, that they cannot sit at ease on the old bench? O, their bons, their bons! Enter ROMEO.

Ben. Here comes Romeo, here comes Romeo.

Mer. Without his roe, like a dried herring.-O flesh, flesh, how art thou fishified !-Now is he for the numbers that Petrarch flowed in: Laura, to his lady, was a kitchen-wench ;-marry, she had a better love to be-rhyme her: Dido, a dowdy; Cleopatra, a gipsy; Helen and Hero, hildings and harlots; Thisbe, a grey' eye or so, but not to the purpose.-Signior Romeo, bon jour! there's a French salutation to your French slop." You gave us the counterfeit fairly last night.

7

Rom. Good morrow to you both. What counterfeit did I give you?

Mer. The slip, sir, the slip; can you not conceive? Rom. Pardon, good Mercutio, my business was great; and in such a case as mine, a man may strain courtesy.

Mer. That's as much as to say-such a case as yours constrains a man to bow in the hams.

Rom. Meaning-to courtesy.

Mer. Thou hast most kindly hit it.o

Rom. A most courteous exposition.

Mer. Nay, I am the very pink of courtesy. Rom. Pink for flower.

Mer. Right.

10

Rom. Why, then is my pump well flowered.1 Mer. Well said : follow me this jest now, till thou hast worn out thy pump; that, when the single sole of it is worn, the jest may remain, after the wearing, solely singular.

Rom. O single-soled jest! solely singular for the singleness.

Mer. Come between us, good Benvolio, for my wits fail.12

Rom. Switch and spurs, switch and spurs; or I'll cry a match.

Mer. Nay, if our wits run the wild-goose chase, I have done; for thou hast more of the wild-goose in one of thy wits, than, I am sure, I have in my whole five. Was I with you there for the goose? Rom. Thou wast never with me for any thing, when thou wast not there for the goose.

Rom. Nay, good goose, bite not.

Mer. Thy wit is a very bitter sweeting;13 it is a most sharp sauce.

Rom. And is it not well served in to a sweet goose?

Mer. O here's a wit of cheverel,1 that stretches from an inch narrow to an ell broad.

Rom. I stretch it out for that word-broad: which added to the goose, proves thee far and wide abroadgoose.15

Mer. Why, is not this better now than groaning for love? now art thou sociable, now art thou Romeo :16 now art thou what thou art, by art as well as by nature for this driveling love is like a great natural, that runs lolling up and down to hide his bauble in a hole.

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Nurse. God ye good morrow, gentlemen.

Mer. God ye good den, fair gentlewoman.
Nurse. Is it good den?

Mer. 'T is no less, I tell you; for the bawdy hand of the dial is now upon the prick of noon.

Nurse. Out upon you! what a man are you. Rom. One, gentlewoman, that God hath made for18 himself to mar.

Nurse. By my troth, it is well said ;-for himself to mar, quoth 'a ?-Gentlemen, can any of you tell me where I may find the young Romeo?

Rom. I can tell you; but young Romeo will be older when you have found him, than he was when you sought him. I am the youngest of that name, for fault of a worse.

Nurse. You say well.

Mer. Yea! is the worst well? very well took, i' faith; wisely, wisely.

Nurse. If you be he, sir, I desire some confidence1 with you.

So ho!

Ben. She will invite him to some supper. Mer. A bawd, a bawd, a bawd! Rom. What hast thou found ? Mer. No hare, sir; unless a hare, sir, in a lenten pie, that is something stale and hoar ere it be spent. An old hare hoar, and an old hare hoar, [Singing. 20 Is very good meat in lent :

But a hare that is hoar, is too much for a score,
When it hoars ere it be spent.-
Romeo, will you come to your father's? we'll to dinner
thither.

Rom. I will follow you.
Mer. Farewell, ancient lady;

21

22

Farewell, lady, lady, lady.2 [Singing. [Exeunt MERCUTIO and BENVOLIO.

Mer. I will bite thee by the ear for that jest. 1 The peg by which the target was attached. 2 The cat, in the old story of Reynard the Fox, is called, Tybert. 3 Music by note. 4 So the undated quarto; the other old copies: pardon-mees. 5 A low person. 6 Often used for a fine, blue eye. 7 Loose breeches. 8 A counterfeit piece of money, was often so called. 9 This and the previous speech, are not in quarto, 1597. 10 The shoe-ribbons were cut like flowers. 11 Sure wit in later quartos, and folio. 12 faint: in later quartos, and folio. 13 Name of an apple. 14 Kid skin. 15 a broad goose in quartos. 16 thyself: in quarto, 1597. 17 Later quartos, and folio, read :-Nurse. My fan, Peter? Mer. Good Peter, to hide her For her fan 's the fairer face. 18 Not in later quartos, and folio. 19 conference: in quarto, 1597. 20 Not in f. e. 21 This was a

face? favorite tune. 22 Not in f. e.

Nurse. Marry, farewell!-I pray you, sir, what saucy merchant' was this, that was so full of his ropery2? Rom. A gentleman, nurse, that loves to hear himself talk; and will speak more in a minute, than he will stand to in a month.

Nurse. An 'a speak any thing against me, I'll take him down, an 'a were lustier than he is, and twenty such Jacks; and if I cannot, I'll find those that shall. Scurvy knave! I am none of his flirt-gills: I am none of his skains-mates.-And thou must stand by, too, and suffer every knave to use me at his pleasure?

Pet. I saw no man use you at his pleasure; if I had, my weapon should quickly have been out, I warrant you. I dare draw as soon as another man, if I see occasion in a good quarrel, and the law on my side. Nurse. Now, afore God, I am so vexed, that every part about me quivers.—Scurvy knave !—Pray you, sir, a word; and as I told you, my young lady bade me inquire you out: what she bid me say, I will keep to myself; but first let me tell ye, if ye should lead her in a fool's paradise, as they say, it were a very gross kind of behaviour, as they say, for the gentlewoman is young; and, therefore, if you should deal double with her, truly, it were, an ill thing to be offered to any gentlewoman, and very wicked' dealing.

Rom. Nurse, commend me to thy lady and mistress. I protest unto thee,*

Nurse. Good heart! and, i' faith, I will tell her as much. Lord, lord! she will be a joyful woman.

Rom. What wilt thou tell her, nurse? thou dost not

mark me.

Nurse. I will tell her, sir,-that you do protest; which, as I take it, is a gentlemanlike offer.

Rom. Bid her devise some means to come to shrift
This afternoon;

And there she shall at friar Lawrence' cell
Be shriv'd, and married. Here is for thy pains.5
Nurse. No, truly, sir; not a penny.

Rom. Go to I say, you shall. [Giving her money.
Nurse. This afternoon, sir ? well, she shall be there.
Rom. And stay, good nurse, behind the abbey-wall
Within this hour my man shall be with thee,
And bring thee cords made like a tackled stair;
Which to the high top-gallant of my joy
Must be my convoy in the secret night.
Farewell!-Be trusty, and I'll 'quite thy pains.
Farewell!-Commend me to thy mistress.

Nurse. Now, God in heaven bless thee !'-Hark you,
sir.

Rom. What say'st thou, my dear nurse?

Nurse. Is your man secret? Did you ne'er hear say, Two may keep counsel, putting one away?

:

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Jul. The clock struck nine, when I did send the nurse;
In half an hour she promis'd to return.
Perchance, she cannot meet him: that's not so.-
O! she is lame;' love's heralds should be thoughts,"
Which ten times faster glide than the sun's beams
Driving black shadows over lowering hills :
Therefore do nimble-pinion'd doves draw love,
And therefore hath the wind-swift Cupid wings.
Now is the sun upon the highmost hill
Of this day's journey; and from nine till twelve
Is three long hours,-yet she is not come.
Had she affections, and warm youthful blood,
She'd be as swift in motion as a ball;
My words would bandy her to my sweet love,
And his to me but old folks, seem as dead ;
Unwieldy, slow, heavy, and dull as lead.

Enter Nurse and PETER.

O God! she comes.-O honey nurse! what news?
Hast thou met with him ? Send thy man away.
Nurse. Peter, stay at the gate.
[Exit PETER.
Jul. Now, good sweet nurse,-O lord! why look'st
thou sad?

Though news be sad, yet tell them merrily;
If good, thou sham'st the music of sweet news
By playing it to me with so sour a face.

Nurse. I am weary, give me leave awhile.—
Fie, how my bones ache! What a jaunt have I had!
Jul. I would, thou hadst my bones, and I thy news:
Nay, come, I pray thee, speak;-good, good nurse,
speak.

Nurse. Jesu, what haste! can you not stay awhile ?
Do you not see, that I am out of breath?

Jul. How art thou out of breath, when thou hast breath
To say to me that thou art out of breath?
The excuse that thou dost make in this delay
Is longer than the tale thou dost excuse.
Is thy news good, or bad? answer to that;
Say either, and I'll stay the circumstance.
Let me be satisfied, is 't good or bad?

Nurse. Well, you have made a simple choice; you know not how to choose a man: Romeo! no, not he; Rom. I warrant thee; my man is true as steel. though his face be better than any man's, yet his leg Nurse. Well, sir; my mistress is the sweetest lady-excels all men's; and for a hand, and a foot, and a Lord, lord !-when 't was a little prating thing,-O !— | body,—though they be not to be talked on, yet they There's a nobleman in town, one Paris, that would fain are past compare. He is not the flower of courtesy,lay knife aboard; but she, good soul, had as lieve see a but, I'll warrant him, as gentle as a lamb.-Go thy toad, a very toad, as see him. I anger her sometimes, ways, wench: serve God. What, have you dined at and tell her that Paris is the properer man; but, I'll home? warrant you, when I say so, she looks as pale as any clout in the varsal world. Doth not rosemary and Romeo begin both with a letter?

Rom. Ay, nurse; What of that? both with an R.

Jul. No, no: but all this did I know before.
What says he of our marriage? what of that?
Nurse. Lord, how my head aches! what a head
have I:

1 This word was often used as a contemptuous term, as distinguished from "gentleman."

2 roperipe in quarto, 1597; both words

mean, roguery. 3 weak in f. e. 4 Tell her, I protest: in quarto, 1597. 5 The quarto, 1597, has in place of this speech :

and omits all to, "And stay." 6 Not in f. e. the sound."-Ben Jonson's Eng. Grammar.

Bid her get leave to-morrow morning

To come to shrift at friar Lawrence's cell;

7 The quarto, 1597, omits all to," Commend me," &c. 8 "R, is the dog's letter and hirreth in Old copies read: "R is for the"; which Warburton changed to "thee." Some mod. eds. read, with Tyrwhitt: "R is for the dog." 9 lazy: in quarto, 1597. 10 The quarto, 1597. has in place of this and the next twelve lines: And run more swift, than hasty powder fir'd Doth hurry from the fearful cannon's mouth.

1 The quarto, 1597, omits all to, "I am aweary.

Rom. Amen, amen! but come what sorrow can,

It beats as it would fall in twenty pieces.
My back! o't' other side.-O, my back, my back!—It cannot countervail the exchange of joy
Beshrew your heart for sending me about,
To catch my death with jaunting up and down.

Jul. I' faith, I am sorry that thou art not well.
Sweet, sweet, sweet nurse, tell me, what says my love?
Nurse. Your love says like an honest gentleman,
And a courteous, and a kind, and a handsome,
And, I warrant, a virtuous.-Where is your mother?
Jul. Where is my mother ?—why, she is within:
Where should she be? How oddly thou reply'st ;
"Your love says like an honest gentleman,-
Where is your mother ?"

Nurse.

O, God's lady dear!
Are you so hot? Marry, come up, I trow;
Is this the poultice for my aching bones?
Henceforward do your messages yourself.

Jul. Here's such a coil-Come, what says Romeo ?1
Nurse. Have you got leave to go to shrift to-day?
Jul. I have.

3

Nurse. Then, hie you hence to friar Laurence' cell,
There stays a husband to make you a wife;
Now comes the wanton blood up in your cheeks;
They'll be in scarlet straightway' at my3 news.
Hie you to church; I must another way,
To fetch a ladder, by the which your love
Must climb a bird's nest soon, when it is dark:
I am the drudge, and toil in your delight,
But you shall bear the burden soon at night.
Go; I'll to dinner; hie you to the cell.
Jul. Hie to high fortune!-Honest nurse, farewell.
[Exeunt.

SCENE VI.-Friar LAURENCE'S Cell.
Enter Friar LAURENCE and ROMEO.
Fri. So smile the heavens upon this holy act,
That after-hours with sorrow chide us not!

That one short minute gives me in her sight:
Do thou but close our hands with holy words,
Then love-devouring death do what he dare;
It is enough I may but call her mine.

Fri. These violent delights have violent ends,
And in their triumph die: like fire and powder,
Which as they kiss consume. The sweetest honey
Is loathsome in his own deliciousness,
And in the taste confounds the appetite:
Therefore, love moderately; long love doth so ;
Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow.
Enter JULIET.

Here comes the lady.-O! so light a foot
Will ne'er wear out the everlasting flint :
A lover may bestride the gossamers
That idle in the wanton summer air,
And yet not fall; so light is vanity.

Jul. Good even to my ghostly confessor.
Fri. Romeo shall thank thee, daughter, for us both.
Jul. As much to him, else are his thanks too much.
Rom. Ah, Juliet! if the measure of thy joy
Be heap'd like mine, and that thy skill be more
To blazon it, then sweeten with thy breath
This neighbour air, and let rich music's tongue
Unfold the imagin'd happiness, that both
Receive in either by this dear encounter.

Jul. Conceit, more rich in matter than in words,
Brags of his substance, not of ornament:
They are but beggars that can count their worth;
But my true love is grown to such excess,
I cannot sum the sum of half my wealth.

Fri. Come, come with me, and we will make short
work;

For, by your leaves, you shall not stay alone,
Till holy church incorporate two in one.

[Exeunt.

ACT III.

SCENE I-A Public Place. Enter MERCUTIO, BENVOLIO, Page, and Servants. Ben. I pray thee, good Mercutio, let's retire: The day is hot, the Capulets abroad, And if we meet we shall not 'scape a brawl; For now, these hot days, is the mad blood stirring." Mer. Thou art like one of those fellows that, when he enters the confines of a tavern, claps me his sword upon the table, and says, God send me no need of thee!" and, by the operation of the second cup, draws him on the drawer, when, indeed, there is no need. Ben. Am I like such a fellow?

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Mer. Come, come, thou art as hot a Jack, in thy mood, as any in Italy; and as soon moved to be moody, and as soon moody to be moved.

Ben. And what to ?

Mer. Nay, an there were two such, we should have none shortly, for one would kill the other. Thou! why thou wilt quarrel with a man that hath a hair more, or a hair less, in his beard, than thou hast. Thou wilt quarrel with a man for cracking nuts, having no other reason, but because thou hast hazel eyes: what eye,

1 In place of this question, the quarto, 1597, has:

but such an eye, would spy out such a quarrel? Thy head is as full of quarrels, as an egg is full of meat; and yet thy head hath been beaten as addle as an egg for quarrelling. Thou hast quarrelled with a man for coughing in the street, because he hath wakened thy dog that hath lain asleep in the sun. Didst thou not fall out with a tailor for wearing his new doublet before Easter? with another, for tying his new shoes with old riband? and yet thou wilt tutor me from quarrelling!

Ben An I were so apt to quarrel as thou art, any man should buy the fee-simple of my life for an hour and a quarter."

Mer. The fee-simple? O simple!
Ben. By my head, here come the Capulets.
Enter TYBALT, and others.

Mer. By my heel, I care not.

Tyb. Follow me close, for I will speak to them.Gentlemen, good den! a word with one of you. Mer. And but one word with one of us? Couple it with something; make it a word and a blow. Tyb. You will find me apt enough to that, sir, if you will give me occasion.

Nay stay, sweet nurse; I do entreat thee, now,
What says my love, my lord, my Romeo?

2 straight in f. e. 3any in f. e. 4 This scene was entirely re-formed in the quarto. 1599. It may be found as it appears in the quarto, 1597, in the notes to Verplanck's edition. 5 sum up some in folio. Steevens made the change. 6 This and the previous line, are not in quarto, 1597. 7 This and the next speech, are not in the quarto, 1597.

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