Romeo and Juliet -- Amergin Press

Friar Laurence:

Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,

Nurse:

From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
[The prologue speakers depart.]

ACT I:

Scene I - Verona. A public place.

[Sampson and Gregory (with swords and bucklers) of the house of Capulet and Abram and Balthasar (likewise armed) of the house of Montague are revealed on stage.]

Greg:

Do you quarrel, sir?

Abram:

Quarrel, sir? No, sir.

Sampson:

But if you do, sir, am for you. I serve as good a man as you.

Abram:

No better.

Sampson:

Well, sir.

[Enter Benvolio.]

Abram:

You lie.

Sampson:

Draw, if you be men. Gregory, remember thy swashing blow.

[They fight.]

Benvolio:

Part, fools!
[Beats down their swords with his own.]
Put up your swords. You know not what you do.

[Enter Tybalt.]

Tybalt:

What, art thou drawn among these heartless hinds?
Turn thee Benvolio! look upon thy death.

Benvolio:

I do but keep the peace. Put up thy sword,
Or manage it to part these men with me.

Tybalt:

What, drawn, and talk of peace? I hate the word
As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee.
Have at thee, coward!

[Tybalt and Benvolio fight.]

[Enter The Chief Watch, and three or four Citizens with clubs or partisans.]

Chief Watch:

Clubs, bills, and partisans! Strike! beat them down!

Citizens:

Down with the Capulets! Down with the Montagues!

[Enter Old Capulet and his Wife.]

Capulet:

What noise is this? Give me my long sword, ho!

[Enter Old Montague and his Wife.]

Montague:

Thou villain Capulet!- Hold me not, let me go.

Lady Montague:

Thou shalt not stir one foot to seek a foe.

[Enter Prince Escalus, with his Train.

Prince Escalus:

Rebellious subjects, enemies to peace,
Throw your mistempered weapons to the ground
And hear the sentence of your moved Prince.
Three civil brawls, bred of an airy word
By thee, old Capulet, and Montague,
Have thrice disturb'd the quiet of our streets
If ever you disturb our streets again,
Your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace.
You, Capulet, shall go along with me;
And, Montague, come you this afternoon,
To know our farther pleasure in this case,
Once more, on pain of death, all men depart.

[Exit all but Montague, his Wife, and Benvolio].]

Montague:

Who set this ancient quarrel new abroach?

Benvolio:

Here were the servants of your adversary
And yours, close fighting ere I did approach.
I drew to part them. In the instant came
The fiery Tybalt, with his sword prepar'd;
While we were interchanging thrusts and blows,
Came more and more, and fought on part and part,
Till the Prince came, who parted either part.

Lady Montague:

O, where is Romeo? Saw you him to-day?
Right glad I am he was not at this fray.

[Enter Romeo.]

Benvolio:

See, where he comes. So please you step aside,
I'll know his grievance, or be much denied.

[Montague nods and exits with his Wife].

Benvolio:

Good morrow, cousin.

Romeo:

Is the day so young?

Benvolio:

But new struck nine.

Romeo:

Ay me! sad hours seem long.
Was that my father that went hence so fast?

Benvolio:

It was. What sadness lengthens Romeo's hours?

Romeo:

Not having that which having makes them short.

Benvolio:

In love?

Romeo:

Out-

Benvolio:

Of love?

Romeo:

Out of her favour where I am in love.

Benvolio:

Tell me in sadness, who is that you love?

Romeo:

In sadness, cousin, I do love a woman.

Benvolio:

I aim'd so near when I suppos'd you lov'd.

Romeo:

A right good markman! And she's fair I love.

Benvolio:

A right fair mark, fair coz, is soonest hit.

Romeo:

O, she's rich in beauty; only poor
That, when she dies, with beauty dies her store.

Benvolio:

Then she hath sworn that she will still live chaste?

Romeo:

She hath, and in that sparing makes huge waste;
For beauty, starv'd with her severity,
Cuts beauty off from all posterity.
She hath forsworn to love, and in that vow
Do I live dead that live to tell it now.

Benvolio:

Be rul'd by me: forget to think of her.

Romeo:

O, teach me how I should forget to think!

Benvolio:

By giving liberty unto thine eyes.
Examine other beauties.

Romeo:

Farewell. Thou canst not teach me to forget.

Benvolio:

I'll pay that doctrine, or else die in debt. [Exit.]

Scene II - A Street.

Enter Capulet, County Paris, and Servant.

Capulet:

But Montague is bound as well as I,
In penalty alike; and 'tis not hard, I think,
For men so old as we to keep the peace.

Paris:

Of honourable reckoning are you both,
And pity 'tis you liv'd at odds so long.
But now, my lord, what say you to my suit?

Capulet:

But saying o'er what I have said before:
My child is yet a stranger in the world,
She hath not seen the change of fourteen years;
Let two more summers wither in their pride
Ere we may think her ripe to be a bride.

Paris:

Younger than she are happy mothers made.

Capulet:

And too soon marr'd are those so early made.
The earth hath swallowed all my hopes but she;
She is the hopeful lady of my earth.
But woo her, gentle Paris, get her heart;
My will to her consent is but a part.
This night I hold an old accustom'd feast,
Whereto I have invited many a guest,
Such as I love; and you among the store,
One more, most welcome, makes my number more.
Come, go with me.
[To Servant, giving him a paper]
Go, sirrah, trudge about
Through fair Verona; find those persons out
Whose names are written there, and to them say,
My house and welcome on their pleasure stay.

[Exit Capulet and Paris.]

Servant:

Find them out whose names are written here? It is written that the shoemaker should meddle with his yard and the tailor with his last, the fisher with his pencil and the painter with his nets; but I am sent to find those persons whose names are here writ, and can never find what names the writing person hath here writ. I must to the learned. In good time! Enter Benvolio and Romeo.

Benvolio:

Why, Romeo, art thou mad?

Romeo:

Not mad, but bound more than a madman is;
Shut up in Prison, kept without my food,
Whipp'd and tormented and- God-den, good fellow.

Servant:

God gi' go-den. I pray, sir, can you read?

Romeo:

Ay, If I know the letters and the language.

Servant:

Ye say honestly. Rest you merry!

Romeo:

Stay, fellow; I can read.
[He reads.]
'Signior Martino and his wife and daughters;
Mercutio and his brother Valentine;
Mine uncle Capulet, his wife, and daughters;
My fair niece Rosaline and Livia;
Signior Valentio and His cousin Tybalt;
Lucio and the lively Helena.'
[Gives back the paper.]
A fair assembly. Whither should they come?

Servant:

Up.

Romeo:

Whither?

Servant:

To supper, to our house.

Romeo:

Whose house?

Servant:

My master's.

Romeo:

Indeed I should have ask'd you that before.

Servant:

Now I'll tell you without asking. My master is the great rich Capulet; and if you be not of the house of Montagues, I pray come and crush a cup of wine. Rest you merry! [Exit.]

Benvolio:

At this same ancient feast of Capulet's
Sups the fair Rosaline whom thou so lov'st;
With all the admired beauties of Verona.
Go thither, and with unattainted eye
Compare her face with some that I shall show,
And I will make thee think thy swan a crow.

Romeo:

When the devout religion of mine eye
Maintains such falsehood, then turn tears to fires;
And these, who, often drown'd, could never die,
Ne'er saw her match since first the world begun.

Benvolio:

Tut! you saw her fair, none else being by,
Herself pois'd with herself in either eye.

Romeo:

I'll go along, no such sight to be shown,
But to rejoice in splendour of my own. [Exit.]

Scene III - Capulet's house.

Enter Capulet's Wife, and Nurse.

Lady Capulet:

Nurse, where's my daughter? Call her forth to me.

Nurse:

Now, by my maidenhead at twelve year old,
I bade her come. What, lamb! what ladybird!
God forbid! Where's this girl? What, Juliet! Enter Juliet.

Juliet:

How now? Who calls?

Nurse:

Your mother.

Juliet:

Madam, I am here.
Merry, what is your will?

Lady Capulet:

Marry, that 'marry' is the very theme
I came to talk of. Tell me, daughter Juliet,
How stands your disposition to be married?

Juliet:

It is an honour that I dream not of.

Nurse:

An honour? Were not I thine only nurse,
I would say thou hadst suck'd wisdom from thy teat.

Lady Capulet:

Well, think of marriage now. By my count,
I was your mother much upon these years
That you are now a maid. Thus then in brief:
The valiant Paris seeks you for his love.

Nurse:

A man, young lady! lady, such a man
As all the world- why he's a man of wax.

Lady Capulet:

Verona's summer hath not such a flower.

Nurse:

Nay, he's a flower, in faith- a very flower.

Lady Capulet:

This night you shall behold him at our feast.
Read o'er the volume of young Paris' face,
And find delight writ there with beauty's pen.
Speak briefly, can you like of Paris' love?

Juliet:

I'll look to like, if looking liking move;
But no more deep will I endart mine eye
Than your consent gives strength to make it fly. Enter Servingman.

Servant:

Madam, the guests are come, supper serv'd up, you call'd, my young lady ask'd for, the nurse curs'd in the pantry, and everything in extremity. I must hence to wait. I beseech you follow straight.

Lady Capulet:

We follow thee. [Exit Servingman].
Juliet, the County stays.

Nurse:

Go, girl, seek happy nights to happy days.
[Exit.]

Scene IV - A street.

Enter Romeo, Mercutio, Benvolio, with five or six other Maskers; Torchbearers.

Romeo:

Give me a torch. I am not for this ambling.
Being but heavy, I will bear the light.

Mercutio:

Nay, gentle Romeo, we must have you dance.

Romeo:

Not I, believe me. You have dancing shoes
With nimble soles; I have a soul of lead
So stakes me to the ground I cannot move.

Mercutio:

You are a lover. Borrow Cupid's wings
And soar with them above a common bound.

Romeo:

I am too sore enpierced with his shaft
To soar with his light feathers; and so bound
I cannot bound a pitch above dull woe.

Mercutio:

Too great oppression for a tender thing.

Romeo:

Is love a tender thing? It is too rough,
Too rude, too boist'rous, and it pricks like thorn.

Mercutio:

If love be rough with you, be rough with love.
Prick love for pricking, and you beat love down.

Romeo:

I dreamt a dream to-night.

Mercutio:

And so did I.

Romeo:

Well, what was yours?

Mercutio:

That dreamers often lie.

Romeo:

In bed asleep, while they do dream things true.

Mercutio:

O, then I see Queen Mab hath been with you.
She is the fairies' midwife, and she comes
In shape no bigger than an agate stone
On the forefinger of an alderman,
Drawn with a team of little atomies
Athwart men's noses as they lie asleep;
Her wagon spokes made of long spinners' legs,
The cover, of the wings of grasshoppers;

Romeo:

Peace, peace, Mercutio, peace!
Thou talk'st of nothing.

Mercutio:

True, I talk of dreams;
Which are the children of an idle brain,
Begot of nothing but vain fantasy;

Benvolio:

This wind you talk of blows us from ourselves.
Supper is done, and we shall come too late.
[Exit.]

Scene V - Capulet's house.

[Enter the Maskers. Enter with Servants - Capulet, his Wife, Juliet, Tybalt, and all the Guests and Gentlewomen to the Maskers.]

Capulet:

Welcome, gentlemen! Ladies that have their toes
Unplagu'd with corns will have a bout with you.
You are welcome, gentlemen! Come, musicians, play.
A hall, a hall! give room! and foot it, girls.
[Music plays, and they dance.]

Romeo:

[to a Servingman]What lady's that, which doth enrich the hand
Of yonder knight?

Servant:

I know not, sir.

Romeo:

O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!
It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night
Like a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear-
Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear!
So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows
As yonder lady o'er her fellows shows.
Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight!
For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night.

Tybalt:

This, by his voice, should be a Montague.
Now, by the stock and honour of my kin,
To strike him dead I hold it not a sin.

Capulet:

Why, how now, kinsman? Wherefore storm you so?

Tybalt:

Uncle, this is a Montague, our foe;
A villain, that is hither come in spite
To scorn at our solemnity this night.

Capulet:

Young Romeo is it?

Tybalt:

'Tis he, that villain Romeo.

Capulet:

Content thee, gentle coz, let him alone.
'A bears him like a portly gentleman,
And, to say truth, Verona brags of him
To be a virtuous and well-govern'd youth.
Therefore be patient, take no note of him.

Tybalt:

I'll not endure him.

Capulet:

He shall be endur'd. I say he shall.
Am I the master here, or you? Go to!

Tybalt:

I will withdraw; but this intrusion shall,
Now seeming sweet, convert to bitt'rest gall. [Exit.].

Romeo:

If I profane with my unworthiest hand
This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this:
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' kiss.

Romeo:

Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too?

Juliet:

Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in pray'r.

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, 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 purg'd.
[Kisses her.]

Juliet:

Then have my lips the sin that they have took.

Romeo:

Sin from my lips? O trespass sweetly urg'd!
Give me my sin again. [Kisses her.]

Juliet:

You kiss by th' book.

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 nurs'd her daughter that you talk'd withal.

Romeo:

Is she a Capulet?
O dear account! my life is my foe's debt.

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.
[Exeunt Maskers.]
Ah, sirrah, by my fay, it waxes late;
I'll to my rest.
[Exit 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 there, that would not dance?

Nurse:

I know not.

Juliet:

Go ask his name.- If he be 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!
Prodigious 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 danc'd withal.
[One calls within, 'Juliet.']

Nurse:

Anon, anon!
Come, let's away; the strangers all are gone. [Exit.]

ACT II:

Scene I - A lane by the wall of Capulet's orchard.

Enter Romeo alone.

Romeo:

Can I go forward when my heart is here?
Turn back, dull earth, and find thy centre out.
[Climbs the wall and leaps down within it.]
Enter Benvolio with Mercutio.

Benvolio:

Romeo! my cousin Romeo! Romeo!
He ran this way, and leapt this orchard wall.
Call, good Mercutio.

Mercutio:

Nay, I'll conjure too.
Romeo! humours! madman! passion! lover!

Benvolio:

An if he hear thee, thou wilt anger him.

Mercutio:

This cannot anger him. 'Twould anger him
To raise a spirit in his mistress' circle
Of some strange nature, letting it there stand
Till she had laid it and conjur'd it down.

Benvolio:

Come, he hath hid himself among these trees
To be consorted with the humorous night.
Blind is his love and best befits the dark.

Mercutio:

If love be blind, love cannot hit the mark.
[Exit together.]

Scene II - Capulet's orchard.

Enter Romeo.

Romeo:

He jests at scars that never felt a wound.
[Enter Juliet.]
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 maid art far more fair than she.

Juliet:

Ay me!

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

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:

What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By my other name would smell as sweet.
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name;
And for that 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 baptiz'd;
Henceforth I never will be Romeo.

Juliet:

What man art thou that, thus bescreen'd in night,
So stumblest on my counsel?

Romeo:

I know not how to tell thee who I am.
My name, dear saint, is hateful to myself,
Because it is an enemy to thee.

Juliet:

Art thou not Romeo, and a Montague?

Romeo:

Neither, fair saint, if either thee dislike.

Juliet:

How cam'st thou hither, tell me, and wherefore?
The orchard walls are high and hard to climb,

Romeo:

With love's light wings did I o'erperch these walls;
For stony limits cannot hold love out,
And what love can do, that dares love attempt.
Therefore thy kinsmen are no let to me.

Juliet:

If they do see thee, they will murther thee.

Romeo:

Alack, there lies more peril in thine eye
Than twenty of their swords! Look thou but sweet,
And I am proof 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 sight;
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.

Juliet:

Thou knowest 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.
Dost thou love me, I know thou wilt say 'Ay';
And I will take thy word. O gentle Romeo,
If thou dost love, pronounce it faithfully.

Romeo:

Lady, by yonder blessed moon I swear,
That tips with silver all these fruit-tree tops-

Juliet:

O, swear not by the moon, th' inconstant moon,
That monthly changes in her circled 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. Sweet, good night!

Romeo:

O, wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied?

Juliet:

What satisfaction canst thou have to-night?

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:

Would'st thou withdraw it? For what purpose, love?

Juliet:

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.
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 above.

Juliet:

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,

Nurse:

[within] Madam!

Juliet:

I come, anon.-
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.
But if thou meanest not well,

Nurse:

[within] Madam!

Juliet:

By-and-by I come.-
I do beseech thee-
To cease thy suit and leave me to my grief.
To-morrow will I send.

Romeo:

So thrive my soul-

Juliet:

A thousand times good night!
[Exit.]

Romeo:

A thousand times the worse, to want thy light!
Love goes toward love as schoolboys from their books;
But love from love, towards school with heavy looks.
[Enter Juliet again.]

Juliet:

Romeo!

Romeo:

My dear?

Juliet:

At what o'clock to-morrow
Shall I send to thee?

Romeo:

By the hour of nine.

Juliet:

I will not fail. 'Tis twenty years till then.
I have forgot why I did call thee back.

Romeo:

Let me stand here till thou remember it.

Juliet:

'Tis almost morning. I would have thee gone-
And yet no farther than a wanton's bird,
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.]

Romeo:

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's cell,
His help to crave and my dear hap to tell.
[Exit.]

Scene III - Friar Laurence's cell.

[Enter Friar Laurence alone, with a basket. Enter Romeo.]

Romeo:

Good morrow, father.

Friar Laurence:

Benedicite!
What early tongue so sweet saluteth me?
Thy earliness doth me assure
Thou art uprous'd with some distemp'rature;
Or if not so, then here I hit it right-
Our Romeo hath not been in bed to-night.

Romeo:

That last is true-the sweeter rest was mine.

Friar Laurence:

God pardon sin! Wast thou with Rosaline?

Romeo:

With Rosaline, my ghostly father? No.
I have forgot that name, and that name's woe.

Friar Laurence:

That's my good son! But where hast thou been then?

Romeo:

I'll tell thee ere thou ask it me again.
I have been feasting with mine enemy,

Friar Laurence:

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

Romeo:

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.

Friar Laurence:

Holy Saint Francis! What a change is here!
Is Rosaline, that thou didst love so dear,
So soon forsaken? Young men's love then lies
Not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes.

Romeo:

Thou chid'st me oft for loving Rosaline.

Friar Laurence:

For doting, not for loving, pupil mine.

Romeo:

I pray thee chide not. She whom I love now
Doth grace for grace and love for love allow.
The other did not so.

Friar Laurence:

O, she knew well
Thy love did read by rote, that 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.

Romeo:

O, let us hence! I stand on sudden haste.

Friar Laurence:

Wisely, and slow. They stumble that run fast.
[Exit.]

Scene IV - A street.

Enter Benvolio and Mercutio.

Mercutio:

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

Benvolio:

Not to his father's. I spoke with his man.

Mercutio:

Why, that same pale hard-hearted wench, that Rosaline,
Torments him so that he will sure run mad.

Benvolio:

Tybalt, the kinsman to old Capulet,
Hath sent a letter to his father's house.

Mercutio:

A challenge, on my life.

Benvolio:

Romeo will answer it.

Mercutio:

Alas, poor Romeo, he is already dead! stabb'd with a white
wench's black eye; shot through the ear with a love song;
and is he a man to encounter Tybalt?

Benvolio:

Why, what is Tybalt?

Mercutio:

More than Prince of Cats, I can tell you. O, he's the courageous captain of compliments. He fights as you sing pricksong-keeps time, distance, and proportion; rests me his minim rest, one, two, and the third in your bosom! Enter Romeo.

Benvolio:

Here comes Romeo! here comes Romeo!

Mercutio:

Without his roe, like a dried herring.
Signior Romeo, bon jour! There's a French
salutation to your French slop. You gave us the counterfeit
fairly last night.

Romeo:

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

Mercutio:

The slip, sir, the slip. Can you not conceive?

Romeo:

Pardon, good Mercutio. My business was great, and in such a case as mine a man may strain courtesy.

Mercutio:

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

Romeo:

Meaning, to cursy.

Mercutio:

Thou hast most kindly hit it.

Romeo:

O single-sold jest, solely singular for the singleness!
[Enter Nurse and her Man, Peter.]

Mercutio:

A sail, a sail!

Benvolio:

Two, two! a shirt and a smock.

Nurse:

Peter!
Peter. Anon.

Nurse:

My fan, Peter.

Mercutio:

Good Peter, to hide her face; for her fan's the fairer face of the two.

Nurse:

Gentlemen, can any of you tell me where I may find the young Romeo?

Romeo:

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.

Mercutio:

Yea, is the worst well? Very well took, i' faith! wisely, wisely.

Nurse:

If you be he, sir, I desire some confidence with you.

Benvolio:

She will endite him to some supper.

Mercutio:

A bawd, a bawd, a bawd! So ho!

Romeo:

I will follow you.

Mercutio:

Farewell, ancient lady. Farewell.
[Exeunt Mercutio, Benvolio.]

Nurse:

Marry, farewell! I Pray you, Sir, what saucy merchant was this that was so full of his ropery?

Romeo:

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:

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 bid me enquire you out. What she bid 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 off'red to any gentlewoman, and very weak dealing.

Romeo:

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.

Romeo:

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.

Romeo:

Bid her devise
Some means to come to shrift this afternoon;
And there she shall at Friar Laurence' cell
Be shriv'd and married. Here is for thy pains.
[hands Nurse a coin]

Nurse:

No, truly, sir; not a penny.

Romeo:

Go to! I say you shall.

Nurse:

This afternoon, sir? Well, she shall be there.

Romeo:

Farewell. Be trusty, and I'll quit thy pains.
Farewell. Commend me to thy mistress.

Nurse:

Ay, a thousand times.
[Exit Romeo.]
Peter!
Peter, take my fan, and go before, and apace.
[Exit.]

Scene V - Capulet's orchard.

Enter Juliet.

Juliet:

The clock struck nine when I did send the nurse;
In half an hour she 'promis'd to return.
O, she is lame! Love's heralds should be thoughts,
Which ten times faster glide than the sun's beams
Driving back shadows over low'ring hills.
Therefore do nimble-pinion'd doves draw Love,
And therefore hath the wind-swift Cupid wings.
[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.]

Juliet:

Now, good sweet nurse- O Lord, why look'st thou sad?
Though news be sad, yet tell them merrily;
If good, thou shamest the music of sweet news
By playing it to me with so sour a face.

Nurse:

I am aweary, give me leave awhile.
Fie, how my bones ache! What a jaunce have I had!

Juliet:

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?

Juliet:

How art thou out of breath when thou hast breath
To say to me that thou art out of breath?
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. Though his face be better than any 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 talk'd on, yet they are past compare. He is not the flower of courtesy, but, I'll warrant him, as gentle as a lamb. Go thy ways, wench; serve God. What, have you din'd at home?

Juliet:

No, no. But all this did I know before.
What says he of our marriage? What of that?

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?

Juliet:

Where is my mother? Why, she is within.
Where should she be? How oddly thou repliest!
'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.

Juliet:

Here's such a coil! Come, what says Romeo?

Nurse:

Have you got leave to go to shrift to-day?

Juliet:

I have.

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 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 burthen soon at night.
Go; I'll to dinner; hie you to the cell.
[Exit.]

Scene VI - Friar Laurence's cell.

[Enter Friar Laurence and Romeo.]

Friar Laurence:

So smile the heavens upon this holy act
That after-hours with sorrow chide us not!

Romeo:

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.

Friar Laurence:

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.

Juliet:

Good even to my ghostly confessor.

Friar Laurence:

Romeo shall thank thee, daughter, for us both.

Juliet:

As much to him, else is his thanks too much.

Friar Laurence:

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.
[Exit.]

ACT III:

Scene I - A public place.

[Enter Mercutio, Benvolio, and Men.]

Benvolio:

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.

Mercutio:

Thou art like one of these 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.

Benvolio:

Am I like such a fellow?

Mercutio:

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.

Benvolio:

And what to?

Mercutio:

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. And yet thou wilt tutor me from quarrelling!
[Enter Tybalt and others.]

Benvolio:

By my head, here come the Capulets.

Mercutio:

By my heel, I care not.

Tybalt:

Follow me close, for I will speak to them.
Gentlemen, good den. A word with one of you.

Mercutio:

And but one word with one of us?
Couple it with something; make it a word and a blow.

Tybalt:

Mercutio, thou consortest with Romeo.

Mercutio:

Consort? What, dost thou make us minstrels? An thou make minstrels of us, look to hear nothing but discords.
[grips sword]
Here's my fiddlestick; here's that shall make you dance. Zounds, consort!

Benvolio:

We talk here in the public haunt of men.
Either withdraw unto some private place
And reason coldly of your grievances,
Or else depart. Here all eyes gaze on us.

Mercutio:

Men's eyes were made to look, and let them gaze.
I will not budge for no man's pleasure,
[Enter Romeo.]

Tybalt:

Well, peace be with you, sir. Here comes my man.

Mercutio:

But I'll be hang'd, sir, if he wear your livery.

Tybalt:

Romeo, the love I bear thee can afford
No better term than this: thou art a villain.

Romeo:

Tybalt, the reason that I have to love thee
Doth much excuse the appertaining rage
To such a greeting. Villain am I none.
Therefore farewell. I see thou knowest me not.

Tybalt:

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

Romeo:

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.

Mercutio:

O calm, dishonourable, vile submission! [Draws.]
Tybalt, you ratcatcher, will you walk?

Tybalt:

What wouldst thou have with me?

Mercutio:

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 pitcher by the ears? Make haste, lest mine be about your ears ere it be out.

Tybalt:

I am for you. [Draws.]

Romeo:

Gentle Mercutio, put thy rapier up.

Mercutio:

Come, sir, your passado!
[They fight.]

Romeo:

Draw, Benvolio; beat down their weapons.
Tybalt, Mercutio, the Prince expressly hath
Forbid this bandying in Verona streets.
Hold, Tybalt! Good Mercutio!

[Romeo grabs at Merctio's arm. Tybalt stabs under Romeo's arm thrusts Mercutio in. Tybalt flies with his Followers].

Mercutio:

A plague o' both your houses! I am sped.
Is he gone and hath nothing?

Benvolio:

What, art thou hurt?

Mercutio:

Ay, ay, a scratch, a scratch. Marry, 'tis enough.

[Exit Citizen.]

Romeo:

Courage, man. The hurt cannot be much.

Mercutio:

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. A plague o' both your houses! Why the devil came you between us? I was hurt under your arm.

Romeo:

I thought all for the best.

Mercutio:

Help me into some house, Benvolio,
Or I shall faint. A plague o' both your houses!
They have made worms' meat of me.
[Exit supported by Benvolio.]

Romeo:

This gentleman, the Prince's near ally,
My very friend, hath got this 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 soft'ned valour's steel
[Enter Benvolio.]

Benvolio:

O Romeo, Romeo, brave Mercutio's dead!
That gallant spirit hath aspir'd the clouds,
Which too untimely here did scorn the earth.

[Enter Tybalt.]

Benvolio:

Here comes the furious Tybalt back again.

Romeo:

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 gavest 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.

Tybalt:

Thou, wretched boy, that didst consort him here,
Shalt with him hence.

Romeo:

This shall determine that.
[They fight. Tybalt falls.]

Benvolio:

Romeo, away, be gone!
The citizens are up, and Tybalt slain.
Stand not amaz'd. The Prince will doom thee death
If thou art taken. Why dost thou stay?
[Exit Romeo. Enter Citizens.]

Citizen:

Which way ran he that kill'd Mercutio?
Tybalt, that murtherer, which way ran he?

Benvolio:

There lies that Tybalt.

Citizen:

Up, sir, go with me.
I charge thee in the Prince's name obey.

[Enter Prince (attended), Old Montague, Capulet, their Wives, and others]

Prince Escalus:

Where are the vile beginners of this fray?

Benvolio:

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.

Lady Capulet:

Tybalt, my cousin! O my brother's child!
O Prince! O husband! O, the blood is spill'd
Of my dear kinsman! Prince, as thou art true,
For blood of ours shed blood of Montague.

Prince Escalus:

Benvolio, who began this bloody fray?

Benvolio:

Tybalt, here slain, whom Romeo's hand did stay.
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.

Lady Capulet:

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.

Prince Escalus:

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

Montague:

Not Romeo, Prince; he was Mercutio's friend;
His fault concludes but what the law should end,
The life of Tybalt.

Prince Escalus:

And for that offence
Immediately we do exile him hence.
I have an interest in your hate's 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 is found, that hour is his last.
Bear hence this body, and attend our will.
Mercy but murders, pardoning those that kill.
[Exit.]

Scene II - Capulet's orchard.

[Enter Juliet alone.]

Juliet:

Spread thy close curtain, love-performing night,
That runaway eyes may wink, and Romeo
Leap to these arms untalk'd of and unseen.
O, here comes my nurse, [Enter Nurse, with cords.] And she brings news; and every tongue that speaks
But Romeo's name speaks heavenly eloquence.
Now, nurse, what news? What hast thou there? the cords
That Romeo bid thee fetch?

Nurse:

Ay, ay, the cords.
[Throws them down.]

Juliet:

Ay me! what news? Why dost thou wring thy hands

Nurse:

Ah, weraday! 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!

Juliet:

Can heaven be so envious?

Nurse:

Romeo can, Though heaven cannot. O Romeo, Romeo!
Who ever would have thought it? Romeo!

Juliet:

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,'

Nurse:

O Tybalt, Tybalt, the best friend I had!
O courteous Tybalt! honest gentleman
That ever I should live to see thee dead!

Juliet:

What storm is this that blows so contrary?
Is Romeo slaught'red, and is Tybalt dead?

Nurse:

Tybalt is gone, and Romeo banished;
Romeo that kill'd him, he is banished.

Juliet:

O God! Did Romeo's hand shed Tybalt's blood?

Nurse:

It did, it did! alas the day, it did!

Juliet:

O serpent heart, hid with a flow'ring face!
Did ever dragon keep so fair a cave?
Beautiful tyrant! fiend angelical!

Nurse:

Shame come to Romeo!

Juliet:

Blister'd be thy tongue
For such a wish! He was not born to shame.
O, what a beast was I to chide at him!

Nurse:

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

Juliet:

Shall I speak ill of him that is my husband?
Ah, poor my lord, what tongue shall smooth thy name
When I, thy three-hours wife, have mangled it?
But wherefore, villain, didst thou kill my cousin?
That villain cousin would have kill'd my husband.
Back, foolish tears, back to your native spring!

Nurse:

Hie to your chamber. I'll find Romeo
To comfort you. I wot well where he is.
Hark ye, your Romeo will be here at night.
I'll to him; he is hid at Laurence' cell.

Juliet:

O, find him! give this ring to my true knight
And bid him come to take his last farewell.
[Exit.]

Scene III - Friar Laurence's cell.

[Enter Friar Laurence. Enter Romeo.]

Romeo:

Father, what news? What is the Prince's doom
What sorrow craves acquaintance at my hand
That I yet know not?

Friar Laurence:

A gentler judgment vanish'd from his lips-
Not body's death, but body's banishment.

Romeo:

Ha, banishment? Be merciful, say 'death';

Friar Laurence:

Be patient, for the world is broad and wide.

Romeo:

There is no world without Verona walls,
But purgatory, torture, hell itself.
Hence banished is banish'd from the world,
And world's exile is death. Then 'banishment'
Is death misterm'd. Calling death 'banishment,'
Thou cut'st my head off with a golden axe
And smilest upon the stroke that murders me.

Friar Laurence:

O deadly sin! O rude unthankfulness!
Thy fault our law calls death; but the kind Prince,
Taking thy part, hath rush'd aside the law,
And turn'd that black word death to banishment.
This is dear mercy, and thou seest it not.

Romeo:

'Tis torture, and not mercy. Heaven is here,
Where Juliet lives; and every cat and dog
And little mouse, every unworthy thing,
Live here in heaven and may look on her;
But Romeo may not.
[Knock.]

Friar Laurence:

Hark, how they knock! Who's there? Romeo, arise;
Thou wilt be taken.- Stay awhile!- Stand up;
[Knock.]
Run to my study.- By-and-by!- God's will,
What simpleness is this.- I come, I come!
[Knock.]
Who knocks so hard? Whence come you? What's your will?

Nurse:

[within]Let me come in, and you shall know my errand. I come from Lady Juliet.

Friar Laurence:

Welcome then. Enter Nurse.

Nurse:

O holy friar, O, tell me, holy friar
Where is my lady's lord, where's Romeo?

Friar Laurence:

There on the ground, with his own tears made drunk.

Nurse:

Even so lies she,
Blubb'ring and weeping, weeping and blubbering.
Stand up, stand up! Stand, an you be a man.
For Juliet's sake, for her sake, rise and stand!

Romeo:

Nurse-

Nurse:

Ah sir! ah sir! Well, death's the end of all.

Romeo:

Spakest thou of Juliet? How is it with her?
Doth not she think me an old murtherer,
Now I have stain'd the childhood of our joy
With blood remov'd but little from her own?

Nurse:

O, she says nothing, sir, but weeps and weeps;
And now falls on her bed, and then starts up,
And Tybalt calls; and then on Romeo cries,
And then down falls again.

Romeo:

O, tell me, friar, tell me,
In what vile part of this anatomy
Doth my name lodge? Tell me, that I may sack
The hateful mansion. [Draws his dagger.]

Friar Laurence:

Hold thy desperate hand.
Thou hast amaz'd me. By my holy order,
What, rouse thee, man! Thy Juliet is alive,
For whose dear sake thou wast but lately dead.
There art thou happy. Tybalt would kill thee,
But thou slewest Tybalt. There art thou happy too.
The law, that threat'ned death, becomes thy friend
And turns it to exile. There art thou happy.
Go get thee to thy love, as was decreed,
Ascend her chamber, hence and comfort her.
But look thou stay not till the watch be set,
For then thou canst not pass to Mantua,
Where thou shalt live till we can find a time
To blaze your marriage, reconcile your friends,
Beg pardon of the Prince, and call thee back
With twenty hundred thousand times more joy
Than thou went'st forth in lamentation.

Nurse:

O Lord, I could have stay'd here all the night
To hear good counsel. O, what learning is!
My lord, I'll tell my lady you will come.

Romeo:

Do so, and bid my sweet prepare to chide.

Nurse:

Here is a ring she bid me give you, sir.
Hie you, make haste, for it grows very late. [Exit.]

Romeo:

How well my comfort is reviv'd by this!

Friar Laurence:

Give me thy hand. 'Tis late. Farewell; good night.

Romeo:

Farewell.
[Exit.]

Scene IV - Capulet's house

Enter Old Capulet, his Wife, and Paris.

Paris:

These times of woe afford no tune to woo.
Madam, good night. Commend me to your daughter.

Lady Capulet:

I will, and know her mind early to-morrow;
To-night she's mew'd up to her heaviness.

Capulet:

Sir Paris, I will make a desperate tender
Of my child's love. I think she will be rul'd
In all respects by me; nay more, I doubt it not.
She shall be married to this noble earl.
Will you be ready? Do you like this haste?
We'll keep no great ado- a friend or two;
For hark you, Tybalt being slain so late,
It may be thought we held him carelessly,
Being our kinsman, if we revel much.
Therefore we'll have some half a dozen friends,
And there an end. But what say you to Thursday?

Paris:

My lord, I would that Thursday were to-morrow.

Capulet:

Well, get you gone. A Thursday be it then.
Go you to Juliet ere you go to bed;
Prepare her, wife, against this wedding day. [Exit]

Scene V - Capulet's orchard.

Enter Romeo and Juliet aloft, at the Window.

Juliet:

Wilt thou be gone? It is not yet near day.
It was the nightingale, and not the lark,
That pierc'd the fearful hollow of thine ear.
Nightly she sings on yond pomegranate tree.
Believe me, love, it was the nightingale.

Romeo:

It was the lark, the herald of the morn;
No nightingale. Look, love, what envious streaks
Do lace the severing clouds in yonder East.
Night's candles are burnt out, and jocund day
Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.
I must be gone and live, or stay and die. Enter Nurse.

Nurse:

Madam!

Juliet:

Nurse?

Nurse:

Your lady mother is coming to your chamber.
The day is broke; be wary, look about.

Juliet:

Then, window, let day in, and let life out.
[Exit.]

Romeo:

Farewell, farewell! One kiss, and I'll descend.
[He goes down.]

Romeo:

I will omit no opportunity
That may convey my greetings, love, to thee.

Juliet:

O, think'st thou we shall ever meet again?

Romeo:

I doubt it not; and all these woes shall serve
For sweet discourses in our time to come.

Juliet:

O God, I have an ill-divining soul!
Methinks I see thee, now thou art below,
As one dead in the bottom of a tomb.
Either my eyesight fails, or thou look'st pale.

Romeo:

And trust me, love, in my eye so do you.
Dry sorrow drinks our blood. Adieu, adieu!
[Exit.]

Lady Capulet:

[within]Ho, daughter! are you up?

Juliet:

Who is't that calls? It is my lady mother.
Is she not down so late, or up so early?
What unaccustom'd cause procures her hither?
[Enter Lady Capulet.]

Lady Capulet:

Why, how now, Juliet?

Juliet:

Madam, I am not well.

Lady Capulet:

Well, girl, thou weep'st not so much for his death
As that the villain lives which slaughter'd him.

Juliet:

What villain, madam?

Lady Capulet:

That same villain Romeo.

Juliet:

[aside]Villain and he be many miles asunder.-
God pardon him! I do, with all my heart;
And yet no man like he doth grieve my heart.

Lady Capulet:

That is because the traitor murderer lives.

Juliet:

Ay, madam, from the reach of these my hands.
Would none but I might venge my cousin's death!

Lady Capulet:

We will have vengeance for it, fear thou not.
Then weep no more. I'll send to one in Mantua,
Where that same banish'd runagate doth live,
Shall give him such an unaccustom'd 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- dead-
Is my poor heart so for a kinsman vex'd.

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, I beseech your ladyship?

Lady Capulet:

Well, well, thou hast a careful father, child;
One who, to put thee from thy heaviness,
Hath sorted out a sudden day of joy
That thou expects not nor I look'd not for.

Juliet:

Madam, in happy time! 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!

Lady Capulet:

Here comes your father. Tell him so yourself,
And see how be will take it at your hands.

[Enter Capulet and Nurse.]

Capulet:

How now? a conduit, girl? What, still in tears?
Evermore show'ring? How now, wife?
Have you delivered to her our decree?

Lady Capulet:

Ay, sir; but she will none, she gives you thanks.
I would the fool were married to her grave!

Capulet:

Soft! take me with you, 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 wrought
So worthy a gentleman to be her bridegroom?

Juliet:

Not proud 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, choplogic? What is this?
'Proud'- and 'I thank you'- and 'I thank you not'-
And yet 'not proud'? Mistress minion you,
Thank me no thankings, nor proud me no prouds,
But fettle your fine joints 'gainst Thursday next
To go with Paris to Saint Peter's Church,
Or I will drag thee on a hurdle thither.
Out, you green-sickness carrion I out, you baggage!
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!

Nurse:

God in heaven bless her!
You are to blame, my lord, to rate her so.

Lady Capulet:

You are too hot.

Capulet:

God's bread I it makes me mad. Day, night, late, early,
At home, abroad, alone, in company,
Waking or sleeping, still my care hath been
To have her match'd; and having now provided
A gentleman of princely parentage,
Of fair demesnes, youthful, and nobly train'd,
Stuff'd, as they say, with honourable parts,
To answer 'I'll not wed, I cannot love;
I am too young, I pray you pardon me'!
But, an you will not wed, I'll pardon you.
An you be mine, I'll give you to my friend;
An you be not, hang, beg, starve, die in the streets,
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.
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.
How shall that faith return again to earth
Unless that husband send it me from heaven
By leaving earth? Hast thou not a word of joy?

Nurse:

Faith, here it is.
Romeo is banish'd; and all the world to nothing
That he dares ne'er come back to challenge you;
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 dishclout to him. An eagle, madam,
Hath not so green, so quick, so fair an eye
As Paris hath. Beshrew 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 this from thy heart?

Nurse:

And from my soul too; else beshrew them both.

Juliet:

Amen!

Nurse:

What?

Juliet:

Well, thou hast comforted me marvellous much.
Go in; and tell my lady I am gone,
Having displeas'd my father, to Laurence' cell,
To make confession and to be absolv'd.

Nurse:

Marry, I will; and this is wisely done.
[Exit.]

Juliet:

Ancient damnation! O most wicked fiend!
Is it more sin to wish me thus forsworn,
Or to dispraise my lord with that same tongue
Which she hath prais'd him with above compare
So many thousand times? Go, counsellor!
Thou and my bosom henceforth shall be twain.
I'll to the friar to know his remedy.
If all else fail, myself have power to die.
[Exit.]

ACT IV:

Scene I - Friar Laurence's cell.

[Enter Friar, Laurence and County Paris.]

Friar Laurence:

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.

Friar Laurence:

You say you do not know the lady's mind.
Uneven is the course; I like it not.

Paris:

Immoderately she weeps for Tybalt's death,
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,
Now do you know the reason of this haste.

Friar Laurence:

[aside]I would I knew not why it should be slow'd.-
[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 Laurence:

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 will 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 abus'd with tears.
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

Friar Laurence:

My leisure serves me, pensive daughter, now.
My lord, we must entreat the time alone.

Paris:

God shield 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 cure, past help!

Friar Laurence:

Ah, Juliet, I already know thy grief;

Juliet:

Tell me not, friar, that thou hear'st 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.

Friar Laurence:

Hold, daughter. I do spy a kind of hope,
Which craves as desperate an execution
As that is desperate which we would prevent.

Juliet:

O, bid me leap, rather than marry Paris,
From off the battlements of yonder tower,
Or walk in thievish ways, or bid me lurk
Where serpents are; chain me with roaring bears,
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 unstain'd wife to my sweet love.

Friar Laurence:

Hold, then. Go home, be merry, give consent
To marry Paris. Wednesday is to-morrow.
To-morrow 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 distilled liquor drink thou off;
When presently through all thy veins shall run
A cold and drowsy humour; for no pulse
Shall keep his native progress, but surcease;
And in this borrowed likeness of shrunk death
Thou shalt continue two-and-forty hours,
And then awake as from a pleasant sleep.
In the mean time, against thou shalt awake,
Shall Romeo by my letters know our drift;
And this shall free thee from this present shame,
If no inconstant toy nor womanish fear
Abate thy valour in the acting it.

Juliet:

Give me, give me! O, tell not me of fear!

Friar Laurence:

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.]

Scene II - Capulet's house.

[Father Capulet, Mother, Nurse, and Servingmen, two or three.
Enter Juliet.]

Capulet:

How now, my headstrong? Where have you been gadding?

Juliet:

Where I have learnt me to repent the sin
Of disobedient opposition
To you and your behests, and am enjoin'd
By holy Laurence to fall prostrate here
To beg your pardon. Pardon, I beseech you!
Henceforward I am ever rul'd by you.

Capulet:

Send for the County. Go tell him of this.
I'll have this knot knit up to-morrow morning.

Juliet:

I met the youthful lord at Laurence' cell
And gave him what becomed love I might,
Not stepping o'er the bounds of modesty.

Capulet:

Why, I am glad on't. This is well. Stand up.
This is as't should be. Let me see the County.
Ay, marry, go, I say, and fetch him hither.

Juliet:

Nurse, will you go with me into my closet
To help me sort such needful ornaments
As you think fit to furnish me to-morrow?

Lady Capulet:

No, not till Thursday. There is time enough.

Capulet:

We'll to church to-morrow.
[Exit Juliet.]

Capulet:

My heart is wondrous light,
Since this same wayward girl is so reclaim'd.
[Exit.]

Scene III - Juliet's chamber.

[Enter Juliet.]

Juliet:

I have a faint cold fear thrills through my veins
That almost freezes up the heat of life.
Come, vial.
What if this mixture do not work at all?
Shall I be married then to-morrow morning?
No, No! This shall forbid it. Lie thou there.
[Lays down a dagger.]
Shall I not then be stifled in the vault,
To whose foul mouth no healthsome air breathes in,
And there die strangled ere my Romeo comes?
Where bloody Tybalt, yet but green in earth,
Lies fest'ring in his shroud; where, as they say,
At some hours in the night spirits resort-
O, if I wake, shall I not be distraught,
Environed with all these hideous fears,
And madly play with my forefathers' joints,
And pluck the mangled Tybalt from his shroud.,
And, in this rage, with some great kinsman's bone
As with a club dash out my desp'rate brains?
O, look! methinks I see my cousin's ghost
Seeking out Romeo, that did spit his body
Upon a rapier's point. Stay, Tybalt, stay!
Romeo, I come! this do I drink to thee.
[She drinks and falls upon her bed within the curtains.]

Scene IV - Capulet's house.

[Enter Lady Capulet and Nurse.]

Lady Capulet:

Hold, take these keys and fetch more spices, nurse.

Nurse:

They call for dates and quinces in the pastry.
[Enter Old Capulet.]

Capulet:

Come, stir, stir, stir! The second cock hath crow'd,
Look to the bak'd meats, good Angelica;
Spare not for cost.
[Exit Lady and Nurse. Enter three or four Fellows, with spits and logs and baskets.]

Capulet:

What is there? Now, fellow,

Fellow:

Things for the cook, sir; but I know not what.

Capulet:

Make haste, make haste.
[Exit Fellow. Enter Musicians]
Play music.
[Enter Nurse.]
Go waken Juliet; go and trim her up.
I'll go and chat with Paris. Hie, make haste,
Make haste! The bridegroom he is come already:
Make haste, I say.
[Exit.]

Scene V - Juliet's chamber.

[Enter Nurse.]

Nurse:

Mistress! what, mistress! Juliet! Fast, I warrant her, she.
Why, lamb! why, lady! Fie, you slug-abed!
Why, love, I say! madam! sweetheart! Why, bride!
What, not a word? You take your pennyworths now!
How sound is she asleep!
I needs must wake her. Madam, madam, madam!
[Draws aside the curtains.]
What, dress'd, and in your clothes, and down again?
I must needs wake you. Lady! lady! lady!
Alas, alas! Help, help! My lady's dead!
O weraday that ever I was born!

[Enter Lady Capulet.]

Lady Capulet:

What noise is here?

Nurse:

O lamentable day!

Lady Capulet:

What is the matter?

Nurse:

Look, look! O heavy day!

Lady Capulet:

O me, O me! My child, my only life!
Revive, look up, or I will die with thee!
Help, help! Call help.

[Enter Old Capulet.]

Capulet:

For shame, bring Juliet forth; her lord is come.

Nurse:

She's dead, deceas'd; she's dead! Alack the day!

Lady Capulet:

Alack the day, she's dead, she's dead, she's dead!

Capulet:

Ha! let me see her. Out alas! she's cold,
Death lies on her like an untimely frost
Upon the sweetest flower of all the field.

Nurse:

O lamentable day!

Lady Capulet:

O woful time!

Capulet:

Death, that hath ta'en her hence to make me wail,
Ties up my tongue and will not let me speak.
[Enter Friar Laurence and the County Paris, with Musicians.]

Friar Laurence:

Come, is the bride ready to go to church?

Capulet:

Ready to go, but never to return.
O son, the night before thy wedding day
Hath Death lain with thy wife. See, there she lies,
Flower as she was, deflowered by him.
Death is my son-in-law, Death is my heir;
My daughter he hath wedded. I will die
And leave him all. Life, living, all is Death's.

Paris:

Have I thought long to see this morning's face,
And doth it give me such a sight as this?

Lady Caputel:

Accurs'd, unhappy, wretched, hateful day!
Most miserable hour that e'er time saw
In lasting labour of his pilgrimage!
But one, poor one, one poor and loving child,
But one thing to rejoice and solace in,
And cruel Death hath catch'd it from my sight!

Nurse:

O woe? O woful, woful, woful day!
Most lamentable day, most woful day
That ever ever I did yet behold!
O day! O day! O day! O hateful day!
Never was seen so black a day as this.
O woful day! O woful day!

Friar Laurence:

Peace, ho, for shame! Confusion's cure lives not
In these confusions. Heaven and yourself
Had part in this fair maid! now heaven hath all,
The most you sought was her promotion,
For 'twas your heaven she should be advanc'd;
And weep ye now, seeing she is advanc'd
Above the clouds, as high as heaven itself?

Capulet:

All things that we ordained festival
Turn from their office to black funeral-
Our instruments to melancholy bells,
Our wedding cheer to a sad burial feast;
Our solemn hymns to sullen dirges change;
Our bridal flowers serve for a buried corse;
And all things change them to the contrary.

Friar Laurence:

Sir, go you in; and, madam, go with him;
And go, Sir Paris. Every one prepare
To follow this fair corse unto her grave.
The heavens do low'r upon you for some ill;
Move them no more by crossing their high will.
[Exit Manent Musicians and Nurse].

Musician:

Come, we'll in here, tarry for the mourners, and stay dinner.
[Exit.]

ACT V:

Scene I - Mantua. A street.

[Enter Romeo.]

Romeo:

I dreamt my lady came and found me dead
(Strange dream that gives a dead man leave to think!)
And breath'd such life with kisses in my lips
That I reviv'd and was an emperor.
Ah me! how sweet is love itself possess'd,
When but love's shadows are so rich in joy!
[Enter Romeo's Man Balthasar, booted.]
News from Verona! How now, Balthasar?
Dost thou not bring me letters from the friar?
How doth my lady? Is my father well?
How fares my Juliet? That I ask again,
For nothing can be ill if she be well.

Balthasar:

Then she is well, and nothing can be ill.
Her body sleeps in Capel's monument,
And her immortal part with angels lives.
I saw her laid low in her kindred's vault
And presently took post to tell it you.

Romeo:

Thou knowest my lodging. Get me ink and paper
And hire posthorses. I will hence to-night.

Balthasar:

I do beseech you, sir, have patience.
Your looks are pale and wild and do import
Some misadventure.

Romeo:

Tush, thou art deceiv'd.
Leave me and do the thing I bid thee do.
Hast thou no letters to me from the friar?

Balthasar:

No, my good lord.

Romeo:

No matter. Get thee gone
And hire those horses. I'll be with thee straight.
[Exit Balthasar.]
Well, Juliet, I will lie with thee to-night.
Let's see for means. O mischief, thou art swift
To enter in the thoughts of desperate men!
I do remember an apothecary,
And hereabouts 'a dwells, to myself I said,
'An if a man did need a poison now
Whose sale is present death in Mantua,
Here lives a caitiff wretch would sell it him.'
[Exit.]

Scene II - Verona. Friar Laurence's cell.

[Enter Friar John to Friar Laurence.]

Friar John:

Holy Franciscan friar, brother, ho!

Friar Laurence:

This same should be the voice of Friar John.
Welcome from Mantua. What says Romeo?
Or, if his mind be writ, give me his letter.

Friar John:

Going to find a barefoot brother out,
One of our order, to associate me
Here in this city visiting the sick,
And finding him, the searchers of the town,
Suspecting that we both were in a house
Where the infectious pestilence did reign,
Seal'd up the doors, and would not let us forth,
So that my speed to Mantua there was stay'd.

Friar Laurence:

Who bare my letter, then, to Romeo?

Friar John:

I could not send it- here it is again-
Nor get a messenger to bring it thee,
So fearful were they of infection.

Friar Laurence:

By my brotherhood,
The letter was not nice, but full of charge,
Of dear import; and the neglecting it
May do much danger. Friar John, go hence,
Get me an iron crow and bring it straight
Unto my cell.

Friar John:

Brother, I'll go and bring it thee. [Exit.]

Friar Laurence:

Now, must I to the monument alone.
Within this three hours will fair Juliet wake.
Poor living corse, clos'd in a dead man's tomb! [Exit.]

Scene III - Verona. A churchyard; in it the monument of the Capulets.

[Enter Paris and his Page with flowers.]

Paris:

Under yond yew tree lay thee all along,
Holding thine ear close to the hollow ground.
So shall no foot upon the churchyard tread
(Being loose, unfirm, with digging up of graves)
But thou shalt hear it. Whistle then to me,
As signal that thou hear'st something approach.
Give me those flowers. Do as I bid thee, go.
Page: [Retires.]

Paris:

Sweet flower, with flowers thy bridal bed I strew
The obsequies that I for thee will keep
Nightly shall be to strew, thy grave and weep.
[Paris' Boy Whistles.]
What, with a torch? Muffle me, night, awhile. [Retires.]

[Enter Romeo, and Balthasar with a torch, a mattock, and a crow of iron.]

Romeo:

Hold, take this letter. Early in the morning
See thou deliver it to my lord and father.
Give me the light. Upon thy life I charge thee,
Whate'er thou hearest or seest, stand all aloof
And do not interrupt me in my course.
Why I descend into this bed of death
Is partly to behold my lady's face,
But chiefly to take thence from her dead finger
A precious ring- a ring that I must use
In dear employment. Therefore hence, be gone.
But if thou, jealous, dost return to pry
In what I farther shall intend to do,
By heaven, I will tear thee joint by joint
And strew this hungry churchyard with thy limbs.

Balthasar:

I will be gone, sir, and not trouble you.

Romeo:

So shalt thou show me friendship. Take thou that.
[Gives him his purse.]
Live, and be prosperous; and farewell, good fellow.

Balthasar:

[aside]For all this same, I'll hide me hereabout.
His looks I fear, and his intents I doubt. [Retires.]

Romeo:

Thou detestable maw, thou womb of death,
Gorg'd with the dearest morsel of the earth,
Thus I enforce thy rotten jaws to open,
And in despite I'll cram thee with more food.
[Romeo opens the tomb.]

Paris:

Stop thy unhallowed toil, vile Montague!
Can vengeance be pursu'd further than death?
Condemned villain, I do apprehend thee.
Obey, and go with me; for thou must die.

Romeo:

I must indeed; and therefore came I hither.
Good gentle youth, tempt not a desp'rate man.
Stay not, be gone. Live, and hereafter say
A madman's mercy bid thee run away.

Paris:

I do defy thy, conjuration
And apprehend thee for a felon here.

Romeo:

Wilt thou provoke me? Then have at thee, boy![They fight.]

[Page Exits. Paris falls.]

Paris:

O, I am slain! If thou be merciful,
Open the tomb, lay me with Juliet. [Dies.]

Romeo:

In faith, I will. Let me peruse this face.
Mercutio's kinsman, noble County Paris!
What said my man when my betossed soul
Did not attend him as we rode? I think
He told me Paris should have married Juliet.
Said he not so? or did I dream it so?
[Lays him in the tomb.]
O my love! my wife!
Death, that hath suck'd the honey of thy breath,
Hath had no power yet upon thy beauty.
Tybalt, liest thou there in thy bloody sheet?
Forgive me, cousin.' Ah, dear Juliet,
Why art thou yet so fair? Shall I believe
That unsubstantial Death is amorous,
And that the lean abhorred monster keeps
Thee here in dark to be his paramour?
Come, bitter conduct; come, unsavoury guide!
Thou desperate pilot, now at once run on
The dashing rocks thy seasick weary bark!
Here's to my love! [Drinks.]O true apothecary!
Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die. [Falls.] [Enter Friar [Laurence], with lanthorn, crow, and spade.]

Friar Laurence:

Saint Francis be my speed! how oft to-night
Have my old feet stumbled at graves! Who's there?

Balthasar:

Here's one, a friend, and one that knows you well.

Friar Laurence:

Bliss be upon you! Tell me, good my friend,
What torch is yond that vainly lends his light
To grubs and eyeless skulls? As I discern,

Balthasar:

There's my master, One that you love.

Friar Laurence:

Who is it?

Balthasar:

Romeo.

Friar Laurence:

How long hath he been there?

Balthasar:

Full half an hour.

Friar Laurence:

Go with me to the vault.

Balthasar:

I dare not, sir.
My master knows not but I am gone hence,
And fearfully did menace me with death
If I did stay to look on his intents.

Friar Laurence:

Stay then; I'll go alone. Fear comes upon me.

Balthasar:

As I did sleep under this yew tree here,
I dreamt my master and another fought,
And that my master slew him.

Friar Laurence:

Alack, alack, what blood is this which stains
The stony entrance of this sepulchre?
What mean these masterless and gory swords
To lie discolour'd by this place of peace?
[Enters the tomb.]
Romeo! O, pale! Who else? What, Paris too?
And steep'd in blood? The lady stirs.
[Juliet rises.]

Juliet:

O comfortable friar! where is my lord?
I do remember well where I should be,
And there I am. Where is my Romeo?

Friar Laurence:

I hear some noise. Lady, come from that nest
Of death, contagion, and unnatural sleep.
A greater power than we can contradict
Hath thwarted our intents. Come, come away.
Thy husband in thy bosom there lies dead;
And Paris too. Come, I'll dispose of thee
Among a sisterhood of holy nuns.
Stay not to question, for the watch is coming.

Juliet:

Go, get thee hence, for I will not away.
[Exit Friar Laurence]
What's here? A cup, clos'd in my true love's hand?
Poison, I see, hath been his timeless end.
O churl! drunk all, and left no friendly drop
To help me after? I will kiss thy lips.
Haply some poison yet doth hang on them
To make me die with a restorative. [Kisses him.]
Thy lips are warm!

Chief Watch:

[within]Lead, boy. Which way?

Juliet:

Yea, noise? Then I'll be brief. O happy dagger!
[Snatches Romeo's dagger.]
This is thy sheath; there rest, and let me die.
[She stabs herself and falls on Romeo's body].

[Enter Paris's Boy and Watch.]

Chief Watch:

'the ground is bloody. Search about the churchyard. Go, some of you; whoe'er you find attach.
[Exeunt some of the Watch.]
Go, tell the Prince; run to the Capulets;
Raise up the Montagues; some others search.
[Exeunt others of the Watch.]

[Enter some of the Watch, with Romeo's Man Balthasar.]

2. Watch:

Here's Romeo's man. We found him in the churchyard.

Chief Watch:

Hold him in safety till the Prince come hither.

[Enter Friar Laurence and another Watchman.]

3. Watch:

Here is a friar that trembles, sighs, and weeps.
We took this mattock and this spade from him
As he was coming from this churchyard side.

Chief Watch:

A great suspicion! Stay the friar too.

[Enter the Prince and Attendants].

Prince Escalus:

What misadventure is so early up,
That calls our person from our morning rest?

[Enter Capulet and his Wife with others].

Capulet:

What should it be, that they so shriek abroad?

Lady Capulet:

The people in the street cry 'Romeo,'
Some 'Juliet,' and some 'Paris'; and all run,
With open outcry, toward our monument.

Prince Escalus:

What fear is this which startles in our ears?
Chief Watch. Sovereign, here lies the County Paris slain;
And Romeo dead; and Juliet, dead before,
Warm and new kill'd.

Capulet:

O heavens! O wife, look how our daughter bleeds!
This dagger hath mista'en, for, lo, his house
Is empty on the back of Montague,
And it missheathed in my daughter's bosom!

Lady Capulet:

O me! this sight of death is as a bell
That warns my old age to a sepulchre.

[Enter Montague and others.]

Prince Escalus:

Come, Montague; for thou art early up
To see thy son and heir more early down.

Montague:

Alas, my liege, my wife is dead to-night!
Grief of my son's exile hath stopp'd her breath.
What further woe conspires against mine age?

Prince Escalus:

Look, and thou shalt see.

Montague:

O thou untaught! what manners is in this,
To press before thy father to a grave?

Prince Escalus:

Bring forth the parties of suspicion.

Friar Laurence:

I will be brief, for my short date of breath
Is not so long as is a tedious tale.
Romeo, there dead, was husband to that Juliet;
And she, there dead, that Romeo's faithful wife.
I married them; and their stol'n marriage day
Was Tybalt's doomsday, whose untimely death
Banish'd the new-made bridegroom from this city;
For whom, and not for Tybalt, Juliet pin'd.
You, to remove that siege of grief from her,
Betroth'd and would have married her perforce
To County Paris. Then comes she to me
And with wild looks bid me devise some mean
To rid her from this second marriage,
Or in my cell there would she kill herself.
Then gave I her (so tutored by my art)
A sleeping potion; which so took effect
As I intended, for it wrought on her
The form of death. Meantime I writ to Romeo
But he which bore my letter, Friar John,
Was stay'd by accident, and yesternight
Return'd my letter back. Then all alone
At the prefixed hour of her waking
Came I to take her from her kindred's vault;
But when I came, some minute ere the time
Of her awaking, here untimely lay
The noble Paris and true Romeo dead.
She wakes; and I entreated her come forth
And bear this work of heaven with patience;
But then a noise did scare me from the tomb,
And she, too desperate, would not go with me,
But, as it seems, did violence on herself.
All this I know, and to the marriage
Her nurse is privy; and if aught in this
Miscarried by my fault, let my old life
Be sacrific'd, some hour before his time,
Unto the rigour of severest law.

Prince Escalus:

We still have known thee for a holy man.
Where's Romeo's man? What can he say in this?

Balthasar:

I brought my master news of Juliet's death;
And then in post he came from Mantua
To this same place, to this same monument.
This letter he early bid me give his father,
And threat'ned me with death, going in the vault,
If I departed not and left him there.

Prince Escalus:

Give me the letter. I will look on it.
Where is the County's page that rais'd the watch?
Sirrah, what made your master in this place?
Page: He came with flowers to strew his lady's grave;
And bid me stand aloof, and so I did.
Anon comes one with light to ope the tomb;
And by-and-by my master drew on him;
And then I ran away to call the watch.

Prince Escalus:

This letter doth make good the friar's words,
Their course of love, the tidings of her death;
And here he writes that he did buy a poison
Of a poor pothecary, and therewithal
Came to this vault to die, and lie with Juliet.
Where be these enemies? Capulet, Montage,
See what a scourge is laid upon your hate,
That heaven finds means to kill your joys with love!
And I, for winking at you, discords too,
Have lost a brace of kinsmen. All are punish'd.

Capulet:

O brother Montague, give me thy hand.
This is my daughter's jointure, for no more
Can I demand.

Montague:

But I can give thee more;
For I will raise her Statue in pure gold,
That whiles Verona by that name is known,
There shall no figure at such rate be set
As that of true and faithful Juliet.

Capulet:

As rich shall Romeo's by his lady's lie-
Poor sacrifices of our enmity!

Prince Escalus:

A glooming peace this morning with it brings.
The sun for sorrow will not show his head.
Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things;
Some shall be pardon'd, and some punished;
For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.

Exeunt omnes.