thing, grandsire, that we should be thus afflicted with these strange flies, these fashion-mongers, these pardonnez-moys, who stand so much on the new form, that they cannot sit at ease on the old bench? O, their bons, their bons!!

Enter Romeo.

Ben. Here comes Romeo, here comes Romeo. Mer. Without his roe, like a dried herring :-O flesh, flesh, how art thou fishified!-Now is he for the numbers that Petrarch flowed in: Laura, to his lady, was but a kitchen-wench ;-Marry, she had a better love to be-rhyme her: Dido, a dowdy; Cleopatra, a gipsy; Helen and Hero, hildings and harlots; Thisbe, a grey eye or so, but not to the purpose.-Signior Romeo, bon jour! there's a French salutation to your French slop.2 You gave us the counterfeit fairly last night.

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

Mer. The slip, sir, the slip ;3 Can you not conceive?

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

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

Rom. Meaning-to court'sy.

Mer. Thou hast most kindly hit it.
Rom. A most courteous exposition.

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

Mer. Right.

Rom. Why, then is my pump4 well flowered. Mer. Well said: Follow me this jest now, till thou hast worn out thy pump; that, when the single sole of it is worn, the jest may remain, after the wearing, solely singular.

Mer. Pr'ythee, do, good Peter, to hide her face; for her fan's the fairer of the two.

Nurse. God ye good morrow, gentlemen.
Mer. God ye good den,10 fair gentlewoman.
Nurse. Is it good den?

Mer. 'Tis no less, I tell you; for the bawdy hand of the dial is now upon the prick of noon.

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

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

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

Nurse. You say well.

Mer. Yea, is the worst well? very well took,

Rom. O single-soled jest, solely singular for thei'faith; wisely, wisely. singleness!

Mer. Come between us, good Benvolio; my wits fail.

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

Mer. Nay, if thy wits run the wild-goose chace,6| I have done; for thou hast more of the wild-goose in one of thy wits, than, I am sure, I have in my whole five: Was I with you there for the goose?

Rom. Thou wast never with me for any thing, when thou wast not there for the goose.

Mer. I will bite thee by the ear for that jest.
Rom. Nay, good goose, bite not.

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

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

Mer. O, here's a wit of cheverel,8 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

(1) In ridicule of Frenchified coxcombs.
(2) Trowsers or pantaloons, a French fashion in
Shakspeare's time.

(3) A pun on counterfeit money, called slips.
(4) Shoe.
(5) Slight, thin.

(6) A horse-race in any direction the leader

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

Ben. She will indite him to some supper.
Mer. A bawd, a bawd, a bawd! So ho!
Rom. What hast thou found?

Mer. No hare, sir; unless a hare, sir, in a lenten pie, that is something stale and hoar ere it be spent.

An old hare hoar,12
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 hoars ere it be spent.

Romeo, will you come to your father's? we'll to
dinner thither.

Rom. I will follow you. Mer. Farewell, ancient lady; farewell, lady, lady, lady.13 [Exe. Mer. and Ben. Nurse. Marry, farewell!-I pray you, what saucy merchant14 was this, that was so full of his ropery ?is 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

(9) It was the custom for servants to carry the lady's fan.

(10) Good even.

(12) Hoary, mouldy.

(11) Point.

(13) The burden of an old song.

(14) A term of disrespect in contradistinction to gentleman.

(15) Roguery.

twenty such Jacks; and if I cannot, I'll find those that shall. Scurvy knave! I am none of his flirtgills; I am none of his skains-mates :-And thou must stand by too, and suffer every knave to use me at his pleasure?

Pet. I saw no man use you at his pleasure; if had, my weapon should quickly have been out, 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;

In half an hour she promis'd to return. Nurse. Now, afore God, I am so vexed, that Perchance, she cannot meet him: that's not so.every part about me quivers. Scurvy knave!—Pray||O, she is lame! love's heralds should be thoughts, you, sir, a word: and as I told you, my young Which ten times faster glide than the sun's beams, lady bade me inquire you out; what she bade me Driving back shadows over louring hills: say, I will keep to myself: but first let me tell ye, Therefore do nimble-pinion'd doves draw love, if ye should lead her into a fool's paradise, as they And therefore hath the wind-swift Cupid wings. say, it were a very gross kind of behaviour, as they Now is the sun upon the highmost hill say for the gentlewoman is young; and therefore, Of this day's journey; and from nine till twelve if you should deal double with her, truly, it were Is three long hours,-yet she is not come. an ill thing to be offered to any gentlewoman, and Had she affections, and warm youthful blood, very weak dealing. She'd be as swift in motion as a ball; My words would bandys her to my sweet love, And his to me :

tress.

Rom. Nurse, commend me to thy lady and misI 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 shrift2

This afternoon;

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; say, you shall.

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

Rom. And stay, good nurse, behind the abbey-
wall:

Within this hour my man shall be with thee;
And bring thee cords made like a tackled stair;
Which to the high top-gallant3 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 prating thing,-O,-there's a nobleman in 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 sometimes, and tell her that Paris is the properer 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.

(1) A mate or companion of one wearing a skain; a short sword.

(2) Confession.

(3) The highest extremity of the mast of a ship.

But old folks, many feign as they were dead;
Unwieldy, slow, heavy and pale as lead.

Enter Nurse and Peter.

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

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

Nurse. I am weary, give me leave a while;-
Fie, now my bones ache! What a jaunt have I had!
Jul. I would, thou hadst my bones, and I thy

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

Nurse. Well, you have made a simple choice; you know not how to choose a man: Komeo! 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 talked 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 dined at home?

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

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

Jul. I'faith, I am sorry that thou art not well: Sweet, sweet, sweet nurse, tell me, what says my love?

Nurse. Your love says like an honest gentleman,
And a courteous, and a kind, and a handsome,
And, I warrant, a virtuous:-Where is your mother?
Jul. Where is my mother?-why, she is within;
Where should she be? How oddly thou reply'st!
Your love says like an honest gentleman,—
Where is your mother?
Nurse.
O, God's lady dear!
Are you so hot? Marry, come up, I trow;
Is this the poultice for my aching bones?
Henceforward do your messages yourself.
Jul. Here's such a coil,-come, what says
meo?

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

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

ACT III.

SCENE I-A public place. Enter Mercutio,
Benvolio, Page, and Servants.

Ben. I pray thee, good Mercutio, let's retire;
The day is hot, the Capulets abroad,
Ro-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.

Nurse. Have you got leave to go to shrift to-day?
Jul. 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 burden soon at night.
Go, I'll to dinner; hie you to the cell.

Jul. Hie to high fortune!-honest nurse,
well.

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!

Mer. Nay, and there were two such, we should fare-have none shortly, for one would kill the other. [Exeunt. Thou! why thou wilt quarrel with a man that hath hast. Thou wilt quarrel with a man for cracking a hair more, or a hair less, in his beard, than thou 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 quar||relling!

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 Juliet.

Here comes the lady :-O, so light a foot
Will ne'er wear out the everlasting flint:
A lover may bestride the gossamers2
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 blazon3 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:

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!

Enter Tybalt, and others.

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, you will give me occasion.

if

Mer. Could you not take some occasion without giving?

Tyb. Mercutio, thou consortest with Romeo,--

Mer. Consort? what, dost thou make us minstrels? an thou make minstrels of us, look to hear nothing but discords: here's my fiddlestick; here's that shall make you dance. 'Zounds, consort!

Ben. We talk here in the public haunt of men;
Either withdraw into some private place,
Or reason coldly of your grievances,

They are but beggars that can count their worth;||Or else depart; here all eyes gaze on us.

But my true love is grown to such excess,

I cannot sum up half my sum of wealth.

Mer. Men's eyes were made to look, and let them gaze;

I will not budge for no man's pleasure, I.

Enter Romeo.

Tyb. Well, peace be with you, sir; here comes my man.

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

your

Marry, go before to field, he'll be follower;
Your worship, in that sense, may call him-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
thee

Doth much excuse the appertaining rage
To such a greeting :-Villain am I none;
Therefore farewell; I see, thou know'st me not.
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.

[Draws.

Mer. O calm, dishonourable, vile submission! A la stoccata carries it away. Tybalt, you rat-catcher, will you walk? Tyb. What would'st 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 pilcher2 by the ears? make haste, lest mine be about your ears ere it be out.

Tyb. I am for you.

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 wo, others must end.
Re-enter Tybalt.

Ben. Here comes the furious Tybalt back again.
Rom. Alive! in triumph! and Mercutio slain!
Away to heaven, respective3 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 consorts
him here,
Shalt with him hence.

Rom.

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

Ben. 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 :-hence !-be gone!-away!

Rom. O! I am fortune's fool!

Ben.
[Drawing.
Rom. Gentle Mercutio, put thy rapier up.
Mer. Come, sir, your passado. [They fight.
Rom. Draw, Benvolio;

Beat down their weapons:-Gentlemen, for shame
Forbear this outrage;-Tybalt-Mercutio-
The prince expressly hath forbid this bandying
In Verona streets :-Hold, Tybalt;-good Mercutio.
[Exeunt Tybalt and his Partizans.
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.-
Where is my page?-go, villain, fetch a surgeon.
[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 pepper'd, 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 behalf; my reputation stain'd
my
With Tybalt's slander, Tybalt, that an hour
Hath been my kinsman :-O sweet Juliet,
Thy beauty hath made me effeminate,

(1) The Italian term for a thrust or stab with a
rapier.
(2) Case or scabbard.

Why dost thou stay? [Exit Romeo.

Enter Citizens, &c.

1 Cit. Which way ran he, that kill'd Mercutio? Tybalt, that murderer, which way ran he? Ben. There lies that Tybalt.

1 Cit.

Up, sir, go with me;
I charge thee in the prince's name, obey.
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 nice 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
Of Tybalt deaf to peace, but that he tilts
With piercing steel at bold Mercutio's breast;
Who, all as hot, turns deadly point to point,
And, with a martial scorn, with one hands beats
Cold death aside, and with the other sends
It back to Tybalt, whose dexterity
Retorts it: Romeo, he cries aloud,

(3) Cool, considerate gentleness.

(4) Conduct for conductor. (5) Accompany (6) Just and upright. (7) Slight, unimportant

Hold, friends! friends, part! and, swifter than || Not yet enjoy'd: So tedious is this aay,