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

Mer. O, here's a wit of cheverel, 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 a broad goose.

Mer. 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 drivelling love is like a great natural, that runs lolling up and down to hide his bauble in a hole.

Ben. Stop there, stop there.

Mer. Thou desirest me to stop in my tale against the hair.

Ben. Thou wouldst else have made thy tale large.

Mer. 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 argument no longer. Rom. Here's goodly geer!

Enter NURSE and PETER.

Mer. A sail, a sail, a sail!

Ben. Two, two; a shirt, and a smock.
Nurse. Peter!

An old hare hoar,||

And an old hare hoar,

Is very good meat in lent:
But a hare that is hoar,

Is too much for a score,

When it hours ere it be spent.

Nurse. Marry farewell!-I pray you, Sir, what saucy merchant" was this, that was so full of his ropery?t

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 skainsmates :-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 bade me say, I will keep to myself: but first let me tell ye, if ye should lead her into 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 weak 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 This afternoon; [shrifts And there she shall at friar Laurence' cell

Be shriv'd, and married. Here is for thy pains.

Nurse. No, truly, Sir; not a penny.
Rom. Go to; I say, you shall.

Nurse. This afternoon, Sir? well, she shall be there.

Rom. And stay, good nurse, behind the Within this hour my man shall be with thee; abbey-wall: 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 quit¶ 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? Rom. I warrant thee; my man's as true as steel.

Nurse. Well, Sir; my mistress is the sweetest lady-Lord, lord!-when 'twas a little

to dinner thither.

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

[Exeunt MERCUTIO and BENVOLIO.

*Soft stretching leather.

+ It was the custom for servants to carry the lady's fan.
Good even.
Point.
Hoary, mouldy.
The burden of an old song.

town, one Paris, that would fain lay knife aboard; but she, good soul, had as lieve see a toad, a very toad, as see him. I anger her

A term of disrespect in contradistinction to gentleman.
+ Roguery.
A mate or companion of one wearing a skain; a short
Confession.

sword.

The highest extremity of the mast of a ship.

¶ Requite

sometimes, and tell her that Paris is the pro- | perer man; but, I'll 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.

Nurse. Ah, mocker! that's the dog's name. R is for the dog. No; I know it begins with some other letter: and she hath the prettiest sententious of it, of you and rosemary, that it would do you good to hear it.

Rom. Commend me to thy lady.
Nurse. Ay, a thousand times.-Peter!"
Pet. Anon.

[Exit.

Jul. The clock struck nine, when I did send the nurse;

In half an hour she promis'd to return. [so.
Perchance, she cannot meet him: that's not
O, she is lame! love's heralds should be
thoughts,
[beams,
Which ten times faster glide than the sun's
Driving back shadows over lowring 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

man's, yet his leg excels all men's; and for a hand, and a foot, and a body,--though they be not to be talked on, yet they are past compare: He is not the flower of courtesy,-but, I warrant him, as gentle as a lamb.-Go thy ways, wench; serve God.-What, have you dined at home?

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

It beats as it would fall in twenty pieces.
My back o't'other side,-O, my back, my
back!-
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 ges tleman,

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; [ply's Where should she be? How oddly thou reYour love says like an honest gentleman,— Where is your mother?

Nurse. Ŏ, 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,t-come, what says Romeo?

Nurse. Have you got leave to go to shrift today?

Jul. I have.

Nurse. Then hie you hence to friar Lau

rence' cell,

There stays a husband to make you a wife: Now comes the wanton blood up in your cheeks,

They'll be in scarlet straight at any 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!

Rom. Amen, amen! but come what sorrow,

can,

It cannot countervail the exchange of joy 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 TYBALT, and others.

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 up half my sum of 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.

ACT III.

[Exeunt.

SCENE I-A Public Place. Enter MERCUTIO, BENVOLIO, Page, and Ser

vants.

Ben. I pray you, 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 it on the drawer, when, indeed, there is no need.

Ben. Am I like such a fellow?

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, 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 ribband? 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!

The long white filament which flies in the air.
+ Paint, display. ↑ Imagination.

Ben. By my head, here come the Capulets. 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.

Mer. Could you not take some occasion without giving?

Tyb. Mercutio, thou consortest with Ro

man.

Tyb. Romeo, the hate I bear thee, can afford

No better term than this-Thou art a villain.

Rom. Tybalt, the reason that I have to love Doth much excuse the appertaining rage [thee To such a greeting :-Villain am I none; [not. Therefore farewell; I see, thou know'st me

Tyb. Boy, this shall not excuse the injuries That thou hast done me; therefore turn, and draw.

Rom. I do protest, I never injur'd thee; But love thee better than thou canst devise, Till thou shalt know the reason of my love: And so, good Capulet,-which name I tender As dearly as mine own,-be satisfied. Mer. O calm, dishonourable, vile submission! A la stoccata carries it away. [Draws. Tybalt, you rat-catcher, will you walk? Tyb. What wouldst thou have with me? Mer. Good king of cats, nothing, but one of your nine lives; that I mean to make bold withal, and, as you shall use me hereafter, dry-beat the rest of the eight. Will you pluck your sword out of his pilchert by the ears? make haste, lest mine be about your ears ere it be out.

Tyb. I am for you. [Drawing. Rom. Gentle Mercutio, put thy rapier up. Mer. Come, Sir, your passado. [They fight. Rom. Draw, Benvolio; [shame Beat down their weapons:-Gentlemen, for Forbear this outrage;-Tybalt-MercutioThe prince expressly hath forbid this bandying In Verona streets :-hold, Tybalt ;-good Mercutio.

[Exeunt TYBALT and his Partizans.

The Italian term for a thrust or stab with a rapter. + Case or scabbard.

Mer. I am hurt ;

A plague o'both the houses!-I am sped :Is he gone, and hath nothing?

Ben. What, art thou hurt?

Mer. Ay, ay, a scratch, a scratch; marry, 'tis enough.

[geon. Where is my page?-go, villain, fetch a sur[Exit Page. Rom. Courage, man; the hurt cannot be much.

Mer. No, 'tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church door; but 'tis enough, 'twill serve: ask for me to-morrow, and you shall find me a grave man. I am peppered, I warrant, for this world:-A plague o'both your houses!-Zounds, a dog, a rat, a mouse, a cat, to scratch a man to death! a braggart, a rogue, a villain, that fights by the book of arithmetic! Why, the devil, came you between us? I was hurt under your arm.

Rom. I thought all for the best.

Mer. Help me into some house, Benvolio, Or I shall faint.-A plague o'both your houses! They have made worm's meat of me: I have it, and soundly too:-Your houses! [Exeunt MERCUTIO and BENVOLIO. Rom. This gentleman, the prince's near ally, My very friend, hath got his mortal hurt In my behalf; my reputation stain'd With Tybalt's slander, Tybalt, that an hour Hath been my kinsman :-O sweet Juliet, Thy beauty hath made me effeminate, And in my temper soften'd valour's steel.

Re-enter BENVOLIO.

Ben. O Romeo, Romeo, brave Mercutio's dead;

That gallant spirit hath aspir'd the clouds, Which too untimely here did scorn the earth. Rom. This day's black fate on more days doth depend;

This but begins the woe, others must end.

Re-enter TYBALT.

Ben. Here comes the furious Tybalt back again.

Rom. Alive! in triumph! and Mercutio slain! Away to heaven, respective lenity, And fire-ey'd fury be my conduct now!— Now, Tybalt, take the villain back again, That late thou gav'st me; for Mercutio's soul Is but a little way above our heads, Staying for thine to keep him company Either thou, or I, or both, must go with him. Tyb. Thou, wretched boy, that didst consort him here,

Shalt with him hence.

Rom. This shall determine that.

Enter PRINCE, attended; MONTAGUE, CAPULET, their Wives and others.

Prin. Where are the vile beginners of this

fray?

Ben. O noble prince, I can discover all The unlucky manage of this fatal brawl: There lies the man slain by young Romeo, That slew thy kinsman, brave Mercutio.

La. Cap. Tybalt, my cousin!-O my brother's child! Unhappy sight! ah me, the blood is spill'd Of my dear kinsman!-Prince, as thou art true,*

For blood of ours shed blood of Montague.O cousin, cousin!

Prin. Benvolio, who began this bloody fray'
Ben. Tybalt, here slain, whom Romeo's hand
did slay;
Romeo that spoke him fair, bade him bethink
How nicet the quarrel was, and urg'd withal
Your high displeasure:-All this-uttered
With gentle breath, calm look, knees humbly
bow'd,-

Could not take truce with the unruly spleen
With piercing steel at bold Mercutio's breast;
Of Tybalt deaf to peace, but that he tilts
Who, all as hot, turns deadly point to point,
And, with a martial scorn, with one hand beats
Cold death aside, and with the other sends
It back to Tybalt, whose dexterity
Retorts it: Romeo he cries aloud,
Hold, friends! friends, part! and, swifter than
his tongue,

His agile arm beats down their fatal points,
And 'twixt them rushes; underneath whose

arm

An envious thrust from Tybalt hit the life
Of stout Mercutio, and then Tybalt fled:
But by and by comes back to Romeo,
Who had but newly entertain'd revenge,
And to't they go like lightning; for, ere I
Could draw to part them, was stout Tybalt
slain;

And, as he fell, did Romeo turn and fly:
This is the truth, or let Benvolio die.

La. Cap. He is a kinsman to the Montague, Affection makes him false, he speaks not true: Some twenty of them fought in this black strife, And all those twenty could but kill one life: I beg for justice, which thou, prince, must give;

Romeo slew Tybalt, Romeo must not live.

Prin. Romeo slew him, he slew Mercutio; Who now the price of his dear blood doth Owe?

Mon. Not Romeo, prince, he was Mercutio's friend; [end, His fault concludes but, what the law should

Prin. And, for that offence,
Immediately we do exile him hence:
I have an interest in your hates' proceeding,
My blood for your rude brawls doth lie a
bleeding;

But I'll amerce; you with so strong a fine,
That you shall all repent the loss of mine:
I will be deaf to pleading and excuses;
Nor tears, nor prayers, shall purchase out
abuses,

Therefore use none: let Romeo hence in haste,
Else, when he's found, that hour is his last.
Bear hence this body, and attend our will:
Mercy but murders, pardoning those that kill.
[Exeunt.

+ Slight, unimportant.

* Just and upright.

¡ Accompany.

1 Punish by fine.

SCENE II-A Room in CAPULET'S House.

Enter JULIET.

Jul. Gallop apace, you fiery-footed steeds,
Towards Phoebus' mansion; such a waggoner
As Phaeton would whip you to the west,
And bring in cloudy night immediately.-
Spread thy close curtain, love-performing
night!

That run-away's eyes may wink; and Romeo
Leap to these arms, untalk'd of, and unseen!-
Lovers can see to do their amorous rites
By their own beauties: or, if love be blind,
It best agrees with night.-Come, civil* night,
Thou sober-suited matron, all in black,
And learn me how to lose a winning match,
Play'd for a pair of stainless maidenhoods:
Hood my unmann'd blood bating in my cheeks,
With thy black mantle; till strange love, grown
bold,

Think true love acted, simple modesty.
Come, night! Come, Romeo! come, thou day
in night!

For thou wilt lie upon the wings of night Whiter than new snow on a raven's back.Come, gentle night; come, loving, black

brow'd night,

Give me my Romeo: and, when he shall die,
Take him and cut him out in little stars,
And he will make the face of heaven so fine,
That all the world will be in love with night,
And pay no worship to the garisht sun.-
O, I have bought the mansion of a love,
But not possess'd it; and, though I am sold,
Not yet enjoy'd: So tedious is this day,
As is the night before some festival
To an impatient child, that hath new robes,
And may not wear them. O, here comes my

nurse,

Enter NURSE, with Cords.

And she brings news; and every tongue, that speaks [quence.But Romeo's name, speaks heavenly eloNow, nurse, what news? What hast thou there, the cords,

That Romeo bade thee fetch? Nurse. Ay, ay, the cords. [Throws them down. Jul. Ah me! what news? why dost thou wring thy hands?

Nurse. Ah well-a-day! he's dead, he's dead, he's dead!

We are undone, lady, we are undone!Alack the day!-he's gone, he's kill'd, he's dead!

Jul. Can heaven be so envious?
Nurse. Romeo can,

Though heaven cannot:-O Romeo! Romeo!-
Who ever would have thought it ?-Romeo!
Jul. What devil art thou, that dost torment
me thus?

This torture should be roar'd in dismal hell.
Hath Romeo slain himself? say thou but I,§
And that bare vowel I shall poison more
Than the death-darting eye of cockatrice:
I am not I, if there be such an 1;
Or those eyes shut, that make thee answer, I.
If he be slain, say-I; or if not, no:
Brief sounds determine of my weal, or woe.
Nurse. I saw the wound, I saw it with mine

God save the mark!-here on his manly breast:
A piteous corse, a bloody piteous corse;
Pale, pale as ashes, all bedawb'd in blood,
All in gore blood; I swoonded at the sight.
Jul. O break, my heart!-poor bankrupt,
break at once!

To prison, eyes! ne'er look on liberty!
Vile earth, to earth resign; end motion here:
And thou, and Romeo, press one heavy bier!
Nurse. O Tybalt, Tybalt, the best friend I
had!

O courteous Tybalt! honest gentleman!
That ever I should live to see thee dead!

Jul. What storm is this, that blows so con

trary?

Is Romeo slaughter'd; and is Tybalt dead? My dear-lov'd cousin, and my dearer lord?Then, dreadful trumpet, sound the general doom!

For who is living, if those two are gone?

Nurse. Tybalt is gone, and Romeo banished; Romeo, that kill'd him, he is banished. Jul. O God!-did Romeo's hand shed Tybalt's blood?

Nurse. It did, it did; alas the day! it did. Jul. O serpent heart, hid with a flow'ring Did ever dragon keep so fair a cave? [face! Beautiful tyrant! fiend angelical! Dove-feather'd raven! wolvish-ravening lamb! Despised substance of divinest show! Just opposite to what thou justly seem'st, A damned saint, an honourable villain!O, nature! what hadst thou to do in hell, When thou didst bower the spirit of a fiend In mortal paradise of such sweet flesh? Was ever book, containing such vile matter, So fairly bound? O, that deceit should dwell In such a gorgeous palace!

Nurse. There's no trust,

No faith, no honesty in men; all perjur'd,
All forsworn, all naught, all dissemblers.-
Ah, where's my man? give me some aqua-
[me old.
These griefs, these woes, these sorrows make
Shame come to Romeo!

vita:

Jul. Blister'd be thy tongue,

For such a wish! he was not born to shame:
Upon his brow shame is asham'd to sit;
For 'tis a throne where honour may be crown'd
Sole monarch of the universal earth.
O, what a beast was I to chide at him!

Nurse. Will you speak well of him that kill'd your cousin?

Jul. Shall I speak ill of him that is my husband?

Ah, poor my lord, what tongue shall smooth thy name, [it?When I, thy three-hours wife, have mangled But, wherefore, villain, didst thou kill my cousin? [band:

That villain cousin would have kill'd my husBack, foolish tears, back to your native spring; Your tributary drops belong to woe,

Which you, mistaking, offer up to joy. [slain; My husband lives, that Tybalt would have And Tybalt's dead, that would have slain my

husband:

All this is comfort; Wherefore weep I then? Some word there was, worser than Tybalt's death,

That murder'd me: I would forget it fain;
But, O! it presses to my memory,
Like damned guilty deeds to sinners' minds:
Tybalt is dead, and Romeo-banished;
That-banished, that one word-banished,

* To smooth, in ancient language, is to stroke, to caress.