128-30 When . . . sound (the song is from Richard Edwards' "In Commendation of Music," in The Paradise of Dainty Devices, 1576) 132 Catling catgut, a lute string 135 Rebeck a three-stringed fiddle 138 Soundpost peg that gives internal support to a violin 140 cry you mercy beg your pardon
[ACT 5
Scene 1. Mantua. A street.]
Enter Romeo.
Romeo. If I may trust the flatteringdeg truth of sleep,
My dreams presage some joyful news at hand.
My bosom's lorddeg sits lightly in his throne,
And all this day an unaccustomed spirit
Lifts me above the ground with cheerful thoughts.
I dreamt my lady came and found me dead
(Strange dream that gives a dead man leave to think!)
And breathed such life with kisses in my lips
That I revived and was an emperor.
Ah me! How sweet is love itself possessed,
When but love's shadowsdeg 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.
Man. Then she is well, and nothing can be ill.
Her body sleeps in Capel's monument,deg
And her immortal part with angels lives.
5.1.1 flattering illusory 3 bosom's lord i.e., heart 11 shadows dreams 18 monument tomb
I saw her laid low in her kindred's vault
And presently took postdeg to tell it you.
O, pardon me for bringing these ill news,
Since you did leave it for my office,deg sir.
Romeo. Is it e'en so? Then I defy you, stars!
Thou knowest my lodging. Get me ink and paper
And hire post horses. I will hence tonight.
Man. I do beseech you, sir, have patience.
Your looks are pale and wild and do importdeg
Some misadventure.
Romeo. Tush, thou art deceived.
Leave me and do the thing I bid thee do.
Hast thou no letters to me from the friar?
Man. 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 tonight.
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, which late I noted
In tatt'red weeds,deg with overwhelmingdeg brows,
Culling of simples.deg Meager were his looks,
Sharp misery had worn him to the bones;
And in his needy shop a tortoise hung,
An alligator stuffed, and other skins
Of ill-shaped fishes; and about his shelves
A beggarly accountdeg of empty boxes,
Green earthen pots, bladders, and musty seeds,
Remnants of packthread, and old cakes of rosesdeg
Were thinly scattered, to make up a show.
Noting this penury, to myself I said,
21 post post horses 23 office duty 28 import suggest 39 weeds clothes 39 overwhelming overhanging 40 Culling of simples collecting medicinal herbs 45 account number 47 cakes of roses pressed rose petals (for perfume)
"And if a man did need a poison now
Whose sale is present death in Mantua,
Here lives a caitiffdeg wretch would sell it him."
O, this same thought did but forerun my need,
And this same needy man must sell it me.
As I remember, this should be the house.
Being holiday, the beggar's shop is shut.
What, ho! Apothecary!
[Enter Apothecary.]
Apothecary. Who calls so loud?
Romeo. Come hither, man. I see that thou art poor.
Hold, there is forty ducats. Let me have
A dram of poison, such soon-speeding geardeg
As will disperse itself through all the veins
That the life-weary taker may fall dead,
And that the trunkdeg may be discharged of breath
As violently as hasty powder fired
Doth hurry from the fatal cannon's womb.
Apothecary. Such mortal drugs I have; but Mantua's
law
Is death to any he that uttersdeg them.
Romeo. Art thou so bare and full of wretchedness
And fearest to die? Famine is in thy cheeks,
Need and oppression starvethdeg in thy eyes,
Contempt and beggary hangs upon thy back:
The world is not thy friend, nor the world's law;
The world affords no law to make thee rich;
Then be not poor, but break it and take this.
Apothecary. My poverty but not my will consents.
Romeo. I pay thy poverty and not thy will.
Apothecary. Put this in any liquid thing you will
And drink it off, and if you had the strength
Of twenty men, it would dispatch you straight.
52 caitiff miserable 60 soon-speeding gear fast-working stuff 63 trunk body 67 utters dispenses 70 starveth stand starving
Romeo. There is thy gold--worse poison to men's
souls,
Doing more murder in this loathsome world,
Than these poor compounds that thou mayst not
sell.
I sell thee poison; thou hast sold me none.
Farewell. Buy food and get thyself in flesh.
Come, cordialdeg and not poison, go with me
To Juliet's grave; for there must I use thee.
Exeunt.
[Scene 2. Friar Lawrence's cell.]
Enter Friar John to Friar Lawrence.
John. Holy Franciscan father, brother, ho!
Enter [Friar] Lawrence.
Lawrence. 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.
John. Going to find a barefoot brother out,
One of our order, to associatedeg me
Here in this city visiting the sick,
And finding him, the searchersdeg of the town,
Suspecting that we both were in a house
Where the infectious pestilence did reign,
Sealed up the doors, and would not let us forth,
So that my speed to Mantua there was stayed.
Lawrence. Who bare my letter, then, to Romeo?
John. I could not send it--here it is again--
Nor get a messenger to bring it thee,
So fearful were they of infection.
85 cordial restorative 5.2.6 associate accompany 8 searchers health officers
Lawrence. Unhappy fortune! By my brotherhood,deg
The letter was not nice,deg but full of charge,deg
Of dear import; and the neglecting it
May do much danger. Friar John, go hence,
Get me an iron crowdeg and bring it straight
Unto my cell.
John. Brother, I'll go and bring it thee. Exit.
Lawrence. Now must I to the monument alone.
Within this three hours will fair Juliet wake.
She will beshrewdeg me much that Romeo
Hath had no notice of these accidents;deg
But I will write again to Mantua,
And keep her at my cell till Romeo come--
Poor living corse, closed in a dead man's tomb! Exit.
[Scene 3. A churchyard; in it a monument belonging to the Capulets.]
Enter Paris and his Page [with flowers and sweet water].
Paris. Give me thy torch, boy. Hence, and stand aloof.
Yet put it
out, for I would not be seen.
Under yond yew trees lay thee all along,deg
Holding thy 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 hearest something approach.
Give me those flowers. Do as I bid thee, go.
Page. [Aside] I am almost afraid to stand alone
17 brotherhood religious order 18 nice trivial 18 charge importance 21 crow crowbar 25 beshrew blame 26 accidents happenings 5.3.3 lay thee all along lie at full length
Here in the churchyard; yet I will adventure.deg
[Retires.]
Paris. Sweet flower, with flowers thy bridal bed I strew
(O woe! thy canopy is dust and stones)
Which with sweetdeg water nightly I will dew;
Or, wanting that, with tears distilled by moans.
The obsequies that I for thee will keep
Nightly shall be to strew thy grave and weep.
Whistle Boy.
The boy gives warning something doth approach.
What cursed foot wanders this way tonight
To crossdeg my obsequies and true love's rite?
What, with a torch? Muffledeg me, night, awhile.
[Retires.]
Enter Romeo, [and Balthasar with a torch, a mattock,
and a crow of iron].
Romeo. Give me that mattock and the wrenching iron.
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.deg Therefore hence, be gone.
But if thou, jealous,deg 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.
The time and my intents are savage-wild,
More fierce and more inexorable far
Than empty tigers or the roaring sea.
11 adventure risk it 14 sweet perfumed 20 cross interrupt 21 Muffle hide 32 dear employment important business 33 jealous curious
Balthasar. I will be gone, sir, and not trouble ye.
Romeo. So shalt thou show me friendship. Take thou
that.
Live, and be prosperous; and farewell, good fellow.
Balthasar. [Aside] For all this same, I'll hide me here-
about.
His looks I fear, and his intents I doubt.deg [Retires.]
Romeo. Thou detestable maw,deg thou womb of death,
Gorged with the dearest morsel of the earth,
Thus I enforce thy rotten jaws to open,
And in despitedeg I'll cram thee with more food.
[Romeo opens the tomb.]
Paris. This is that banished haughty Montague
That murd'red my love's cousin--with which grief
It is supposed the fair creature died--
And here is come to do some villainous shame
To the dead bodies. I will apprehend him.
Stop thy unhallowed toil, vile Montague!
Can vengeance be pursued 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.
Fly hence and leave me. Think upon these gone;
Let them affright thee. I beseech thee, youth,
Put not another sin upon my head
By urging me to fury. O, be gone!
By heaven, I love thee better than myself,
For I come hither armed against myself.
Stay not, be gone. Live, and hereafter say
A madman's mercy bid thee run away.
Paris. I do defy thy conjurations.deg
And apprehend thee for a felon here.
Romeo. Wilt thou provoke me? Then have at thee, boy!
[They fight.]
44 doubt suspect 45 maw stomach 48 in despite to spite you 68 conjurations solemn charges
Page. O Lord, they fight! I will go call the watch.
[Exit. 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 attenddeg him as we rode? I think
He told me Paris should have married Juliet.
Said he not so, or did I dream it so?
Or am I mad, hearing him talk of Juliet,
To think it was so? O, give me thy hand,
One writ with me in sour misfortune's book!
I'll bury thee in a triumphant grave.
A grave? O, no, a lanthorn,deg slaught'red youth,
For here lies Juliet, and her beauty makes
This vault a feasting presencedeg full of light.
Death, lie thou there, by a dead man interred.
[Lays him in the tomb.]
How oft when men are at the point of death
Have they been merry! Which their keepersdeg call
A lightning before death. O, how may I
Call this a lightning? O my love, my wife!
Death, that hath sucked the honey of thy breath,
Hath had no power yet upon thy beauty.
Thou art not conquered. Beauty's ensigndeg yet
Is crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks,
And death's pale flag is not advanced there.
Tybalt, liest thou there in thy bloody sheet?
O, what more favor can I do to thee
Than with that hand that cut thy youth in twain
To sunder his that was thine enemy?
Forgive me, cousin! Ah, dear Juliet,
Why art thou yet so fair? Shall I believe
That unsubstantial Death is amorous,
77 attend give attention to 84 lanthorn lantern (a windowed erection on the top of a dome or room to admit light) 86 feasting presence festive presence chamber 89 keepers jailers 94 ensign banner
And that the lean abhorred monster keeps
Thee here in dark to be his paramour?
And never from this pallet of dim night
Depart again. Here, here will I remain
With worms that are thy chambermaids. O, here
Will I set up my everlasting rest
And shake the yoke of inauspicious stars
From this world-wearied flesh. Eyes, look your last!
Arms, take your last embrace! And, lips, O you
The doors of breath, seal with a righteous kiss
A datelessdeg bargain to engrossingdeg death!
Come, bitter conduct;deg come, unsavory guide!
Thou desperate pilot,deg 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 [Lawrence], with lanthorn, crow, and spade.
Friar. Saint Francis be my speed!deg How oft tonight
Have my old feet stumbleddeg at graves! Who's there?
Balthasar. Here's one, a friend, and one that knows
you well.
Friar. Bliss be upon you! Tell me, good my friend,
What torch is yond that vai
nly lends his light
To grubs and eyeless skulls? As I discern,
It burneth in the Capels' monument.
Balthasar. It doth so, holy sir; and there's my master,
One that you love.
Friar. Who is it?
Balthasar. Romeo.
Friar. How long hath he been there?
115 dateless eternal 115 engrossing all-buying, all-encompassing 116 conduct guide 117 desperate pilot i.e., himself 121 speed help 122 stumbled (a bad omen)
Balthasar. Full half an hour.
Friar. 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. Stay then; I'll go alone. Fear comes upon me.
O, much I fear some ill unthriftydeg thing.
Balthasar. As I did sleep under this yew tree here,
I dreamt my master and another fought,
And that my master slew him.
Friar. Romeo!
Alack, alack, what blood is this which stains
The stony entrance of this sepulcher?
What mean these masterless and gory swords
To lie discolored by this place of peace?
[Enters the tomb.]
Romeo! O, pale! Who else? What, Paris too?
And steeped in blood? Ah, what an unkinddeg hour
Is guilty of this lamentable chance!
The lady stirs. [Juliet rises.]
Juliet. O comfortabledeg friar! Where is my lord?
I do remember well where I should be,
And there I am. Where is my Romeo?
Friar. 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.
Come, go, good Juliet. I dare no longer stay.
136 unthrifty unlucky 145 unkind unnatural 148 comfortable comforting
Juliet. Go, get thee hence, for I will not away.
Exit [Friar].
What's here? A cup, closed in my truelove's hand?
Poison, I see, hath been his timelessdeg end.
O churl!deg 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 Watchman. [Within] Lead, boy. Which way?
Juliet. Yea, noise? Then I'll be brief. O happydeg
dagger! [Snatches Romeo's dagger.]
This is thy sheath; there rust, and let me die.
[She stabs herself and falls.]
Enter [Paris'] Boy and Watch.
Boy. This is the place. There, where the torch doth
burn.
Chief Watchman. The ground is bloody. Search about
the churchyard.
Go, some of you; whoe'er you find attach.