SCENE I. The Street. Enter Romeo alone. ACT II. But, foft! what light through yonder windów AN I go forward, when my heart is 5 Who is already fick and pale with grief, Rom. CAN here? Turn back, dull earth, and find thy center out. Enter Benvolio, with Mercutio. Ben. Romeo! my coufin Romeo! Mer. He is wife; That thou her maid art far more fair than the: Be not her maid, fince the is envious; [Exit. Her veftal livery is but fick and green, And, on my life, hath ftol'n him home to bed. Mer. Nay, I'll conjure too. Why, Romeo! humours! madman! paffion! lover! By her fine foot, ftraight leg, and quivering thigh, Ben. An if he hear thee, thou wilt anger him. Of some strange nature, letting it there ftand Is fair and honeft, and, in his miftrefs' name, [trees, Ben. Come, he hath hid himfelf among thofe To be conforted with the humourous night: Blind is his love, and beft befits the dark. And none but fools do wear it; cast it off. 10 It is my lady: O, it is my love: 15 O, that she knew fhe were! She fpeaks, yet she says nothing; What of that? I am too bold, 'tis not to me it speaks: Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven, 25 Rom. She fpeaks: O, fpeak again, bright angel! for thou art Unto the white up-turned wond'ring eyes 35 Jul. O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou 401 Deny thy father, and refufe thy name: Rom. Shall I hear more, or fhall 1 fpeak at this? Jul. 'Tis but thy name, that is my enemy; Rom. I take thee at thy word: Rom. He jefts at fcars, that never felt a wound.-155 Henceforth I never will be Romeo. 2 Shak Alluding to an old ballad preferved in Dr. Percy's Reliques of ancient English Poetry. fpeare means humid, the moift dewy night. 3 The fenfe is, Thou art thyfelf (i. e. a being of diftinguished excellence), though thou art not what thou appearest to others, akin to thy family in malice. Jul. Jul. What man art thou, that, thus befcreen'd in night, So ftumbleft on my counsel? Rom. By a name I know not how to tell thee who I am: 5 15 Rom. Lady, by yonder blessed moon I vow, That tips with filver all these fruit-tree tops,— Jul. O, fwear not by the moon, the inconstant moon, That monthly changes in her circled orb, Jul. Do not swear at all; Or, if thou wilt, fwear by thy gracious felf, Rom. 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 rafh, too unadvis'd, too fudden; Jul. If they do fee thee, they will murder thee. Rom. Alack! there lies more peril in thine eye, Than twenty of their fwords; look thou but sweet, 25 And I am proof against their enmity. Jul. I would not for the world, they faw thee here. [fight; Rom. I have night's cloak to hide me from their Jul. By whofe direction found'ft thou out this Rom. By love,who first did prompt me to enquire; As that vaft shore wafh'd with the fartheft sea, I would adventure for fuch merchandize. 30 Jul. I gave thee mine before thou didst request it: And yet I would it were to give again. Rom. Would'st thou withdraw it? for what pur pofe, love? Jul. But to be frank, and give it thee again. My bounty is as boundless as the sea, Jul. Thou know'st, the mask of night is on 40 Being in night, all this is but a dream, my face; Elfe would a maiden blush bepaint my check, ic. delayed. Re-enter Jul. At what o'clock to-morrow Shall I fend to thee? Rom. By the hour of nine. Jul. I will not fail; 'tis twenty years 'till then. I have forgot why I did call thee back. JO, mickle is the powerful grace 3, that lies 5 Nor aught fo good, but, ftrain'd from that fair use, Rom. Let me ftand here 'till thou remember it. Jul. I fhall forget, to have thee still stand there, 20 Rememb'ring how I love thy company. Rom. And I'll ftill stay, to have thee still forget, Jul. Tis almoft morning, I would have thee gone; Rom. I would, I were thy bird. Yet I fhould kill thee with much cherishing. That I fhall fay-good night, 'till it be morrow. [Exit. Fri. The grey-ey'd morn fmiles on the frowning night, Checkering the eastern clouds with streaks of light; Rom. Good morrow, father! Fri. Benedicite! What early tongue fo fweet faluteth me?- 30 Our Romeo hath not been in bed to-night. 35 Rom. That laft is true, the sweeter reft was mine. Rom. I'll tell thee, ere thou afk it me again. I bear no hatred, bleffed man; for, lo, Fri. Be plain, good fon, and homely in thy drift; 45 Riddling confeffion finds but riddling fhrift. On the fair daughter of rich Capulet: As mine on hers, fo hers is fet on mine; From forth day's path-way,made by Titan's wheels: 50 And all combin'd, fave what thou must combine Now ere the fun advance his burning eye, None but for fome, and yet all different. 55 By holy marriage: When, and where, and how, Fri. Holy Saint Francis! what a change is here! 1 The taffel or tiercel (for so it should be spelt) is the male of the gofshark; so called, because it is a tierce or third lefs than the female. dappled, ftreak'd, or variegated, This is equally true of all birds of prey. 3 i. e. efficacious virtue. 3 R Flecked is fpotted, How How much falt water thrown away in waste, Women may fall, when there's no strength in men. Mer. Where the devil fhould this Romeo be? Came he not home to-night? Ben. Not to his father's; I fpoke with his man. Mer. Why, that fame pale hard-hearted wench, that Rofaline, Torments him fo, that he will fure run mad. Ben. Tybalt, the kinfman of old Capulet, Ben. Romeo will answer it. Mer. Any man, that can write, may answer a letter. Ben. Nay, he will anfwer the letter's mafter, how he dares, being dar'd. Mer. Alas, poor Romeo, he is already dead! ftabb'dwith a whitewench'sblack eye,fhot thorough the ear with a love-fong; the very pin of his heart cleft with the blind bow-boy's but-fhaft;| And is he a man to encounter Tybalt? Ben. Why, what is Tybalt? Mer. More than prince of cats I, I can tell you. O, he is the courageous captain of compliments: he fights as you fing prick-fong, keeps time, diftance, and proportion; he rests his minim, one, 5 two, and the third in your bofom: the very butcher of a filk button, a duellift, a duellift; a gentleman of the very first house;-of the first and second caufe :-Ah, the immortal paffado! the punto reverfo! the hay 3 ! Ben. Here comes Romeo, here comes Romeo. Mer. Without his roe, like a dried herring :O flesh, fiefh, how art thou fifhified!-Now is he 25 for the numbers that Petrarch flowed in: Laura, to his lady, was but a kitchen-wench ;-marry, the had a better love to be-rhyme her: Dido, a dowdy; Cleopatra, a gipfey; Helen and Hero, hildings and harlots; Thibé, a grey eye or so, but not to the 20purpofe. Signior Romeo, bon jour! there's a French falutation to your French flops. You gave us the counterfeit fairly laft night. 1451 Mer. Thou haft most kindly hit it. Rom. A most courteous expofition. Mer. Nay, I am the very pink of courtesy. Mer. Right. Rom. Why, then is my pump well flower'd 7, Mer. Well faid: follow me this jeft now, 'till thou haft worn out thy pump; that, when the 50fingle fole of it is worn, the jeft may remain, after the wearing, folely fingular. Rom. O fingle-fol'd jest, folely fingular for the fingleness! Tylert, the name given to the Cat, in the story-book of Reynard the Fox. 2 That is, a gentleman of the first rank, of the firft eminence among thefe duellifts; and one who understands the whole fcience of quarrelling, and will tell you of the firft caufe, and the second cause, for which a man is to fight. 3 The bay is the word bai, you have it, ufed when a thruft reaches the antagonist. How ridiculous they make themselves in crying out good, and being in ecftafies with every trifle. 5 Slops are large loofe breeches or trowfers worn at prefent only by failors. To understand this play 4 i. e. upon the words counterfeit and slip, it should be observed, that in our author's time there was a counterfeit piece of money diftinguished by the name of a flip. 7 Dr. Johnson fays, Here is a vein of wit too thin to be cafily found. The fundamental idea is, that Romeo wore pinked pumps, that is, punched with holes in figures. Mer. Come between us, good Benvolio; my wit faints. Rom. Switch and fpurs, fwitch and fpurs; or I'll cry a match. Mer. Nay, if thy wits run the wild-goofe chafe, 5 I am done; for thou haft more of the wild-goofe in one of thy wits, than, I am fure, I have in my whole five: Was I with you there for the goofe? Rom. Thou waft never with me for any thing, when thou waft not there for the goofe. Mer. I will bite thee by the ear for that jeft. Mer. Thy wit is a very bitter sweeting '; it is a most sharp fauce. Rom. And is it not well ferv'd in to a fweet goofe 15 Mer. O, here's a wit of cheverel 2, that stretches from an inch narrow to an ell broad! Rom. I ftretch it out for that word-broad,] which added to the goofe, proves thee far and wide a broad goofe. Rom. One, gentlewoman, that God hath made himfelf to mar. Nurfe. By my troth, it is well faid ;—For himfelf to mar, quoth 'a ?-Gentlemen, can any of you tell me where I may find the young Romeo? Rem. I can tell you; but young Romeo will be older when you have found him, than he was when you fought him: I am the youngest of that name, for fault of a worse. Nurfe. You fay well. Mer. Yea, is the worst well? very well took, 'faith; wifely, wifely. Nurfe. If you be he, fir, I defire fome confidence with you. Ben. She will indite him to fome fupper. Rom. What haft thou found? Mer. No hare, fir; unless a hare, fir, in a lenten pye, that is something ftale and hoar ere it 20 be spent. Mer. Why, is not this better now than groaning for love? now thou art fociable, now art thou Romeo; now art thou what thou art, by art as well as by nature: for this driveling love is like a great natural, that runs lolling up and down to hide 25 his bauble in a hole 3. Ben. Stop there, stop there. Mer. Thou defireft me to stop in my tale against the hair 4. Ben. Thou would'ft elfe have made thy tale large. 30 Mer, O, thou art deceiv'd, I would have made it fhort: for I was come to the whole depth of my tale; and meant, indeed, to occupy the argument no longer. Rem. Here's goodly geer! Enter Nurse, and Peter. Mer. A fail, a fail, a ful! Ben. Two, two; a fhirt, and a smock. Peter. Anon? Nurfe. My fan 5, Peter. Mer. Do, good Peter, to hide her face; for her fan's the fairer of the two. Nurfe. God ye good morrow, gentlemen. Mer. 'Tis no lefs, I tell you; for the bawdy hand of the dial is now upon the prick of noon. Nurfe. Out upon you! what a man are you? 35 Is An old bare boar 7, And an old bare boar, very good meat in lent t Is too much for a feore, When it boars ere it be spent. Romeo, will you come to your father's? we'll to dinner thither. Rom. I will follow you. Mer. Farewel, ancient lady; farewel, lady, lady, lady 8. [Exeunt Mercutio, and Benvolio. Nurfe. I pray you, fir, what faucy merchant was this, that was fo full of his ropery 10? Ram. A gentleman, nurfe, that loves to hear himfelf talk; and will fpeak more in a minute, than he will stand to in a month. Nurfe. An 'a fpeak any thing against me, I'll take him down an 'a were luftier than he is, and 40twenty fuch Jacks; and if I cannot, I'll find those that fhall. Scurvy knave! I am none of his flirtgills; I am none of his fkains-mates :-And thou muft ftand by too, and suffer every knave to ufe me at his pleasure? A bitter fweeting is an apple of that name. 2 Cheverel is foft leather for gloves; from chevreau, a kid, Fr. 3 It has been already obferved, in a note on All's Well, &c. that a bauble was one of the accoutrements of a licensed fool or jester. 4 An expression equivalent to one which we now use→ "against the grain." 5 The bufineis of Peter carrying the Nurse's fan feems ridiculous according to modern manners; but fuch was formerly the practice. i. e. God give you a good even. 1 Hear, or beary, is often used for mouldy, as things grow white from moulding. 8 The burthen of an old fong. 9 Mr. Steevens obferves, that the term merchant, which was, and even now is, frequently applied to the lowest fort of dealers, feems anciently to have been used on thefe familiar occafions in contradiftinction to ge-tleman; fignifying that the perfon fhewed by his behaviour he was a low fellow. The term chap, i. e. chapman, a word of the fame import with merchant in its lefs refpe&table sense, is ftill in common ufe among the vulgar, as a general denomination for any person of whom they mean to speak with freedom or disrespect. 10. e. roguery. 11 A fkein or fkain was either a knife or a foort dagger. By skains-mates the nurse means, none of his loose companions who frequent the fencingschool with him, where we may fuppofe the exercife of this weapon was taught. 3 R 2 Nurfe |