I'll be a candle-holder, and look on 6,

The game was ne'er fo fair, and I am done.
Mer. Tut! dun's the moule 7, the conftable's
own word:

If thou art dun, we'll draw thee from the mire ?,
Or (fave your reverence) love, wherein thou stick t
Up to the ears.Come, we burn day-light 9, hc.
Rom. Nay, that's not fo.

Mer. I mean, fir, in delay

We waste our lights in vain, like lamps by day.

Rom. What, fhall this fpeech be spoke for our Take our good meaning; for our judgment fits

excufe?

Or fhall we on without apology?

Ben. The date is out of fuch prolixity I:
We'll have no Cupid hood-wink'd with a fcarf,
Bearing a Tartar's painted bow of lath,
Scaring the ladies like a crow-keeper 2;
Nor no without-book prologue, faintly spoke
After the prompter, for our enterance:
But, let them meafure us by what they will,
We'll measure them a meafure, and be gone.
Rom. Give me a torch 3,- -I am not for this
ambling;
Being but heavy, I will bear the light. [dance.
Mer. Nay, gentle Romeo, we must have you
Rom. Not I, believe me: you have dancing-
fhoes,

With nimble foles; I have a foul of lead,
to ftakes me to the ground, I cannot move.
Mer. You are a lover; borrow Cupid's wings,
And foar with them above a common bound.

Rom. 1 am too fore enpearced with his fhaft,
To foar with his light feathers; and fo bound,
I cannot bound a pitch above dull woe:
Under love's heavy burden do I fink.

Five times in that, ere once in our fine wits.
Rom. And we mean well, in going to this mafk;
But 'tis no wit to go.

Mer. Why, may one ask?

Rom. I dreamt a dream to-night.

Mer. And fo did I.

Rom. Well, what was yours?
Mer. That dreamers on lye.

Rom. In bed afleep; while they do dream things

true.

Mer. O, then, I fee, queen Mab hath been with
She is the fairies' midwife; and the comes
In fhape no bigger than an agat ftone
On the fore-finger of an alderman,
Drawn with a team of little atomies 10
Athwart men's nofes as they lie afleep;
Her waggon-fpokes made of long (pinners' legs;
The cover, of the wings of grafhoppers ;
The traces, of the smallest spider's web;
The collars, of the moonshine's watry beams;
Her whip, of cricket's bone; the lafh, of filma:
Her waggoner, a small grey-coated gnat,
Not half fo big as a round little worm
Prick'd from the lazy finger of a maid:

Mer. And, to fink in it, fhould you burden love? Her chariot is an empty hazel-nut,
Too great oppreilion for a tender thing.

Rom. Is love a tender thing? it is too rough, Too rude, too boift'reus; and it pricks like thorn. Mer. If love be rough with you, be rough with

love;

'rick love for pricking, and you beat love down. Sive me a cafe to put my vifage in ;

love :

Made by the joiner squirrel, or old grub, Time out of mind the fairies' coach-makers. And in this state the gallops night by night Through lovers' brains, and then they dream, of [straight: On courtiers' knees, that dream on courtes O'er lawyers' fingers, who ftraight dream on fees: [Putting on a mafk. O'er ladies' lips, who straight on kiffes dream; A vifor for a vifor what care I, Which oft the angry Mab with blifters plagues, What curious eye doth quote 4 deformities? Because their breaths with fweet-meats tainted are. Here are the beetle-brows fhall bluth for me. Sometime the gallops o'er a courtier's nofe, And then dreams he of fmelling out a fuit: And fometime comes the with a tithe-pig's tail,

Ben. Come, knock, and enter; and no fooner in, But every man betake him to his legs.

Rom. A torch for me; let wantons, light of Tickling a parfon's nofe as a' lies afleep,

heart,

Tickle the fenfelefs rufhes with their heels 5;
For I am proverb'd with a grandfire phrafe,—

Then dreams he of another benefice :
Sometime the driveth o'er a foldier's neck,
And then dreams he of cutting foreign throats,

It was a custom obferved by those who came uninvited to a masquerade, with a defire to conceal themfelves for the lake of intrigue, or to enjoy the greater freedom of converfation, to preface ther entry on thefe occafions by fome fpeech in praife of the beauty of the ladies, or the generality of the entertainer; and to the prolixity of fuch introductions we believe Romeo is made to allude. note 7, p. 957- 3 A torch-bearer feems to have been a conftant attendant on every troop of masks. To quote is to obferve. 5 We have already obferved, that it was anciently the custom to krew rooms with rhes, before carpets were in ufe. The ftage was alfo anciently frewn with går 5 The proverb which Romeo means, is contained in the line immediately following: To realiz candle, is a very common proverbial expreffion, for being an idle fpellator. 7 Dun's the moj si proverbial expreflion, the precife meaning of which cannot be determined. 8. Drate din out of it aire, feems to have been a game. ? To burn day-light is a proverbial expreffion, ufed when candie &c. are lighted in the day time. 10 Atomy is no more than an obfolete fubftitute for alem,

H

Of breaches, ambufcadoes, Spanish blades,
Of healths five fathom deep; and then anon
Drums in his ear; at which he starts, and wakes;
And, being thus frighted, fwears a prayer or two,
And fleeps again. This is that very Mab,
That plats the manes of horfes in the night;
And cakes the elf-locks in foul fluttish hairs,
Which, once untangled, much misfortune bodes.
This is the hag, when maids lie on their backs,
That preffes them, and learns them first to bear,
Making them women of good carriage.
This is fhe-

Rom. Peace, peace, Mercutio, peace;
Thou talk'st of nothing.

Mer. True, I talk of dreams;
Which are the children of an idle brain,
Begot of nothing but vain phantafy;
Which is as thin of fubftance as the air;
And more inconftant than the wind, who wooes
Even now the frozen bofom of the north,
And, being anger'd, puffs away from thence,
Turning his face to the dew-dropping fouth.
Ben. This wind, you talk of, blows us from our
felves;

Supper is done, and we shall come too late.

Rom. I fear, too early: for my mind mifgives,
Some confequence, yet hanging in the stars,
Shall bitterly begin his fearful date

With this night's revels; and expire the term
Of a defpifed life, clos'd in my breast,
By fome vile forfeit of untimely death:
But He, that hath the steerage of my course,
Direct my fail!-On, lufty gentlemen.
Ben. Strike, drum.

SCENE V.

A Hall in Capulet's Houfe.

Enter Servants.

[Exeunt.

1 Serv. Where's Potpan, that he helps not to take away? he fhift a trencher 2! he fcrape a trencher !

2 Serv. When good manners shall lie all in one or two men's hands, and they unwath'd too, 'tis a foul thing.

1 Serv. Away with the joint-ftools, remove the court-cupboard 3, look to the plate:good thou, fave me a piece of march-pane 4; and, as thou lov'ft me, let the porter let in Sufan Grind. ftone, and Nell.-Antony! and Potpan!

2 Serv. Ay, boy; ready.

1 Serv. You are look'd for, and call'd for, afk'd for, and fought for, in the great chamber.

Enter Capulet, &c. with the Guels and the Mafkers.
1 Cap. Welcome, gentlemen! ladies, that have
their feet

Unplagu'd with corns, will have a bout with you :--
Ah ha, my miftreffes! which of you all
Will now deny to dance? fhe that makes dainty, fhe,
I'll fwear, hath corns; Am I come near you now?
You are welcome, gentlemen! I have feen the day,
That I have worn a vifor; and could tell

A whifpering tale in a fair lady's ear,
Such as would pleafe ;-'tis gone, 'tis gone, 'tis gone:
You are welcome, gentlemen.-Come, muficians,
play.

A hall! a hall 5! give room, and foot it, girls.
[Mufick plays, and they dance.
More light, ye knaves; and turn the tables up,
And quench the fire, the room is grown too hot.—
Ah, firrah, this unlook'd-for fport comes well.
Nay, fit, nay, fit, good coufin Capulet;
For you and I are past our dancing days:
How long is 't now, fince laft yourself and I
Were in a mark ?

2 Cap. By 'r lady, thirty years.

[much: 1 Cap. What, man! 'tis not fo much, 'tis not fo Tis fince the nuptial of Lucentio, Come pentecoft as quickly as it will, Some five and twenty years; and then we maîk'd. 2 Cap. 'Tis more, 'tis more: his fon is elder, fir; His fon is thirty.

1 Cap. Will you tell me that?

His fon was but a ward two years ago.

Rom. What lady's that, which doth enrich the hand Of yonder knight?

Serv. I know not, fir.

Rom. O, fhe doth teach the torches to burn bright!
Her beauty hangs upon the cheek of night
Like a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear:
Beauty too rich for ufe, for earth too dear!
So fhews a fnowy dove trooping with crows,
As yonder lady o'er her fellows thows.
The meafure done, I'll watch her place of stand,
And, touching hers, make happy my rude hand.
Did my heart love 'till now? forfwear it, fight !
For I ne'er faw true beauty till this night.

Tyb. This, by his voice, thould be a Montague :-
Fetch me my rapier, boy :-What, dares the flave
Come hither, cover'd with an antick face,
To fleer and scorn at our folemnity 2
Now, by the stock and honour of my kin,
To ftrike him dead I hold it not a fin.

1 Cap. Why, how now, kinfman ? wherefore
ftorm you fo?

Tyb. Uncle, this is a Montague, our foe;
A villain, that is hither come in fpight,
To fcorn at our folemnity this night.
[Exeunt. 1 Cap. Young Romeo is 't ?

2 Sarv. We cannot be here and there too. Cheerly, boys; be brifk a while, and the longer liver take all.

This was a common fuperftition, and feems to have had its rife from the horrid difeafe called the Plica Polonica. 2 Trenchers were ftill ufed by perfons of good fashion in our author's time. They continued common much longer in many public focieties, particularly in colleges and inns of court; and are ftill retained at Lincoln's-Inn. 3 Meaning perhaps wat

we call at prefent the fide-board. 4 March-pane was a confection made of piftachio-nus, monds, and fugar, &c. and in high efteem in Shakspeare's time. It was a conftant article in the defferts of our ancestors. 5 This exclamation occurs frequently in the old comedies, and figures,

make ruam.

O dear account! my life is my foe's debt.
Ben. Away, begone; the sport is at the best.
Rom. Ay, fo I fear; the more is my unreft.
1 Cap. Nay, gentlemen, prepare not to be gone ;
We have a trifling foolish banquet towards 3.—

What, goodman boy!—I fay, he shall :-Go to ;-Is it e'en fo? Why, then I thank you all;

You'll not endure him!-God shall mend my foul-More torches here!-Come on, then let's to bed.
You'll make a mutiny among my guests!

And young affection gapes to be his heir;
That fair, for which love groan'd fore, and would die,
With tender Juliet match'd, is now not fair.
Now Romeo is belov'd, and loves again,

Alike bewitched by the charm of looks;
But to his foe fuppos'd he must complain, [hooks:
And the fteal love's fweet bait from fearful
Being held a foe, he may not have accefs

To breathe fuch vows as lovers ute to fwear;
And the as much in love, her means much lefs
To meet her new-beloved any where :
But paffion lends them power, time means to meet,
Tempiring extremities with extream sweet.

4 A princox is a coxcomb, a conceited perfon.

E

14

SCENE I.

The STREET.
Enter Romeo alone.

Rom. CAN

ACT II.

AN I go forward, when my heart is
here?

Turn back, dull earth, and find thy center out.

Enter Benvolio, with Mercutio.

Ber. Romeo! my coufin Romeo !

Mer. He is wife;

[Exit.

And, on my life, hath stol'n him home to bed.
Ben. He ran this way, and leap'd this orchard wall:
Call, good Mercutio.

Mer. Nay, I'll conjure too.-

Why, Romeo! humours! madman! paffion! lover!
Appear thou in the likeness of a figh,
Speak but one rhyme, and I am fatisfied;
Cry but-Ay me! couple but-love and dove;
Speak to my goflip Venus one fair word,
One nick-name to her purblind fon and heir,
Young Adam Cupid, he that shot so trim,
When king Cophetua lov'd the beggar maid 1.—
He heareth not, he ftirreth not, he moveth not;
The ape is dead, and I must conjure him.-

I conjure thee by Rofaline's bright eyes,
By her high forehead, and her scarlet lip,

But, foft

what light through yonder window It is the eaft, and Juliet is the fun !-

[breaks?

[Juliet appears above, at a window.
Arife, fair fun, and kill the envious moon,
Who is already fick and pale with grief,
That thou her maid art far more fair than fhe:
Be not her maid, fince fhe is envious;

Her veital livery is but fick and green,
And none but fools do wear it; caft it off-
It is my lady: O, it is my love:

O, that fhe knew the were!

She fpeaks, yet the fays nothing; What of that?
Her eye difcourfes, I will anfwer it.-

I am too bold, 'tis not to me it speaks:
Two of the fairest ftars in all the heaven,
Having fome bufinefs, do intreat her eyes
To twinkle in their fpheres 'till they return.
What if her eyes were there, they in her head?
The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars,
As day-light doth a lamp: her eye in heaven
Would through the airy region ftream fo bright,
That birds would fing, and think it were not night.
Sce, how the leans her cheek upon her hand!
O, that I were a glove upon that hand,
That I might touch that cheek!
Ful. Ay me!

Rom. She fpeaks :

By her fine foot, ftraight leg, and quivering thigh, O, fpeak again, bright angel! for thou art
And the demefnes that there adjacent lie,
That in thy likeness thou appear to us.

Ben. An if he hear thee, thou wilt anger him.
Mer. This cannot anger him: 'twould anger him
To raife a spirit in his mistrefs' circle
Of fome ftrange nature, letting it there ftand
'Till the had laid it, and conjur'd it down;
That were fome fpight: my invocation
Is fair and honeft, and, in his mistress' name,
I conjure only but to raise up him.

[trees,
Ben. Come, he hath hid himfelf among thofe
To be conforted with the humourous 2 night:
Blind is his love, and beft befits the dark.

Mer. If love be blind, love cannot hit the mark.
Now will he fit under a medlar tree,
And with his miftrefs were that kind of fruit,
As maids call medlars, when they laugh alone.-
Romeo, good night;-I'll to my truckle-bed;
This field-bed is too cold for me to fleep:
Come, fhall we go?

Ben. Go, then; for 'tis in vain

To feek him here, that means not to be found.

Enter Romeo.

[Exeunt.

As glorious to this night, being o'er my head,
As is the winged metfenger of heaven
Unto the white up-turned wond'ring eyes
of mortals, that fall back to gaze on him,
When he beftrides the lazy-pacing clouds,
And fails upon the bofom of the air.

Jul. O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou
Romeo?

Deny thy father, and refufe thy name:
Or, if thou wilt not, be but fworn my love,
And I'll no longer be a Capulet.

Rom. Shall I hear more, or fhall I fpeak at this?

[Afide.

ful. 'Tis but thy name, that is my enemy;
Thou art thyfelf, though not a Montague 3.
What's Montague ? it is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part:
What's in a name? That which we call a rofe,
By any other name would fmell as fweet;
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 myfelf.

Rom. I take thee at thy word:
Call me but love, and I'll be new baptiz'd;

Rom. He jefts at scars, that never felt a wound. Henceforth I never will be Romeo.

I Alluding to an old ballad preferved in Dr. Percy's Reliques, of ancient English Poetry. fpeare means humid, the moift dewy night.

2 Shak

3 The fenfe is, Thou art thy felf (i. e. a being of dif

tinguished excellence), though thou art not what thou appeareft to others, akin to thy family in malice.

Jul. What man art thou, that, thus bescreen'd in night,

So ftumbleft on my counsel ?

Rom. By a name

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

Had I it written, I would tear the word.

Jul. My ears have yet not drunk a hundred words Of that tongue's uttering, yet I know the found; Art thou not Romeo, and a Montague?

Rom. Neither, fair faint, if either thee diflike.
Jul. How cam'ft thou hither, tell me? and
wherefore?

The orchard walls are high, and hard to climb;
And the place death, confidering who thou art,
If any of my kinfmen find thee here.

Rom. Lady, by yonder blessed moon I vow,
That tips with filver all these fruit-tree tops,-

Jul. O, swear not by the moon, the inconftant

moon,

That monthly changes in her circled orb,
Left that thy love prove likewife variable.
Rom. What shall I swear by ?

Jul. Do not fwear at all;

Or, if thou wilt, fwear by thy gracious feif,
Which is the god of my idolatry,

And I'll believe thee.

Rom. If my heart's dear love

ful. Well, do not swear; although I joy in thre, I have no joy of this contract to-night :

It is too rafh, too unadvis'd, too fadden;
Too like the lightning, which doth cease to be,
Ere one can fay-It lightens. Sweet, good night!

Rom. With love's light wings did I o'er-perch This bud of love, by fummer's ripening breat

thefe walls;

For ftony limits cannot hold love out :

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

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

here.

Jul. I would not for the world, they faw thee
[fight;
Rom. 1 have night's cloak to hide me from their
And, but thou love me, let them find me here;
My life were better ended by their hate,
Than death prorogu'd ', wanting of thy love.
ful. By whofe direction found'it thou out this
place?

Rom. By love, who first did prompt me to enquire;
He lent me counsel, and I lent him eyes.
I am no pilot; yet, wert thou as far

As that vaft fhore wash'd with the fartheft fea,
I would adventure for fuch merchandize.

May prove a beauteous flower when next we mee
Good night, good night! as fweet repote and reft
Come to thy heart, as that within my breaft!

Rom. O, wilt thou leave me fo unsatisfied?
ful. What fatisfaction canst thou have to-night ?
Rom. The exchange of thy love's faithful ow
for mine.

ful. I gave thee mine before thou didst request aAnd yet I would it were to give again.

Rom. Would't thou withdraw it ? for what pu-
pofe, love?

Jul. But to be frank, and give it thee agala
And yet 1 with but for the thing I have:
My bounty is as boundlefs as the fea,
My love as deep; the more I give to thee,
The more I have, for both are infinite.
I hear fome noife within; Dear love, adra'
[Narfe calls m'
Anon, good nurfe !-Sweet Montague, be true.
Stay but a little, I will come again.
Rom. O bleffed bleffed night! I am afeart,

Jul. Thou know'st, the mask of night is on Being in night, all this is but a dream,
Too flattering fweet to be fubftantial.

my face;

Elfe would a maiden blush bepaint my cheek,
For that which thou haft heard me speak to-night.
Fain would I dwell on form, fain fain deny
What I have fpoke; But farewel compliment!
Doft thou love me? I know, thou wilt fay-Ay;
And I will take thy word: yet, if thou fwear'ft,
Thou may'ft prove false; at lovers' perjuries,
They fay, Jove laughs. O, gentle Romeo,
If thou doft love, pronounce it faithfully:
Or if thou think'ft I am too quickly won,
I'll frown, and be perverfe, and fay thee nay,
So thou wilt woo; but, elfe, not for the world.
In truth, fair Montague, I am too fond;
And therefore thou may'st think my haviour light:
But trust me, gentleman, I'll prove more true,
Than thofe that have more cunning to be strange.
I should have been more strange, I must confefs,
But that thou over-heardst, ere I was ware,
My true love's paffion : therefore pardon me;
And not impute this yielding to light love,
Which the dark night hath fo discovered.

Re-enter Juliet, above.

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

If that thy bent of love be honourable,
Thy purpofe marriage, fend me word to-morrow,
By one that I'll procure to come to thee,
Where, and what time, thou wilt perform the rat,
And all my fortunes at thy foot I'll lay,
And follow thee my lord throughout the world
[Within: Malars.

I come, anon :-But if thou mean'it not well,
I do befeech thee,-[Within: Madam.] By anu by,
I come :-

To ceafe thy fuit, and leave me to my grief:
To-morrow will I fend.

Rom. So thrive my foul,
Jul. A thousand times good night!

Ram. A thousand times the worie, to want t'”

light.

Love goes toward love, as school-boys from the.
But love from love, towards school with heavy lud.

1 i. e. delayed.

H