Did murder her; as that name's cursed hand Murder'd her kinsman.-O tell me, friar, tell me, In what vile part of this anatomy e Doth my name lodge? tell me, that I may sack a What wilfulness is this!-] So the first quarto, 1597: all the subsequent editions, quarto and folio, read simpleness. b Piteous predicament!] These words form part of the Nurse's speech in the old copies. Farmer first suggested they must be the Friar's. e Drawing his sword.] In the first quarto, 1597, is the following stage direction:-He ofers to stab himselfe, and nurse snatches the dagger away. d That in thy life lives,-] The quarto, 1597, has,"And slay thy lady too, that lives in thee." The quarto, 1599, and folio, 1623, read, "And slay thy lady, that in thy life lies." e Why rail'st thou on thy birth,-] Malone justly remarked, that Romeo does not here rail on his birth, though in the old poem he is made to do so: Fyrst Nature did he blame, the author of his lyfe, He cryed out (with open mouth) against the starres above." "Shakspeare copied the remonstrance of the friar, without reviewing the former part of his scene." f There art thou happy too:) Thus the quarto, 1597; in the subsequent quartos, and the folio, 1623, the word too is omitted. g Thou pout'st upon thy fortune-] The quarto, 1599, reads, puts up; the folio, 1623, puttest up; and in the quarto, 1597, the line stands "Thou frown'st upon thy fate, that smiles on thee." The true reading is got at through the undated quarto, which has powls. Take heed, take heed, for such die miserable. NURSE. O Lord, I could have staid here all the† night, To hear good counsel: O, what learning is!- ROM. Do so, and bid my sweet prepare to chide. NURSE. Here, sir, a ring she bid me give you, sir: Hie you, make haste, for it grows very late. [Exit Nurse. ROM. How well my comfort is reviv'd by this! FRI. Go hence: good night; and here stands all your state;-& Either be gone before the watch be set, ROM. But that a joy past joy calls out on me, It were a grief, so brief to part with thee: Farewell. [Exeunt. SCENE IV.-A Room in Capulet's house. Enter CAPULET, LADY CAPULET, and PARIS. CAP. Things have fallen out, sir, so unluckily, That we have had no time to move our daughter: Look you, she lov'd her kinsman Tybalt dearly, And so did I ;-well, we were born to die.'Tis very late, she'll not come down to-night: a And here stands all your state; -] "The whole of your fortune depends on this." JOHNSON. O' Thursday let it be ;-o' Thursday, tell her, I will make a confident offer, or promise, of my daughter's love. e Nightly she sings on yon pomegranate tree:] According to Steevens, this is not merely a poetical supposition. "It is observed," he says, "of the nightingale that, if undisturbed, she sits and sings upon the same tree for many weeks together." And Russell, in his account of Aleppo, tells us, "The nightingale sings from the pomegranate groves in the daytime." d The pale reflex of Cynthia's brow;] The annotator of Mr. Collier's second folio substitutes bow for "brow;" a very happy That pierc'd the fearful hollow of thine ear; ROM. It was the lark, the herald of the morn, d JUL. It is, it is, hie hence, be gone, away; It is the lark that sings so out of tune, Straining harsh discords, and unpleasing sharps. Some say, the lark makes sweet division; This doth not so, for she divideth us: Some say, the lark and loathed toad change eyes; 1 O, now I would they had changed voices too! Since arm from arm that voice doth us affray, Hunting thee hence with hunts-up(8) to the day. O, now be gone; more light and light it grows. ROM. More light and light!-more dark and dark our woes! Enter Nurse. NURSE. Madam! JUL. Nurse! NURSE. Your lady mother's coming to your chamber: The day is broke; be wary, look about. [Exit Nurse. JUL. Then, window, let day in, and let life out. ROM. Farewell, farewell! one kiss, and I'll descend. [ROMEO descends. conjecture, and one which certainly affords a better reading than the old text. It must be remembered, however, that brow is the word in all the ancient copies, and that Shakespeare has allowed himself great latitude in the use of it in other places. In "Othello" we meet with the "brow of the sea;" and in " King John" with the "brow of night." e Makes sweet division;] Division in music, meant what we now term variation; where, instead of one note, two, three or more notes are sung to one syllable, or to one chord. f The lark and loathed toad change eyes;] The lark has ugly eyes and the toad very fine ones; hence arose a common saying that the toad and lark had changed eyes. Poor Juliet wishes they had changed voices, too, because, as Heath suggested, the croak of the toad would have been no indication of the day's approach, and consequently no signal for Romeo's departure. JUL. O fortune, fortune! all men call thee fickle: If thou art fickle, what dost thou with him, LA. CAP. [within.] Ho, daughter! are you up? LA. CAP. We will have vengeance for it, fear thou not: Then weep no more. I'll send to one in Mantua,- : JUL. Indeed, I never shall be satisfied With Romeo, till I behold him-deadIs my poor heart so for a kinsman vex'd:Madam, if you could find out but a man To bear a poison, I would temper it; That Romeo should, upon receipt thereof, Soon sleep in quiet. O, how my heart abhors To hear him nam'd,-and cannot come to him,To wreak the love I bore my cousin Tybalt, Upon his body that hath slaughter'd him! LA. CAP. Find thou the means, and I'll find such a man. But now I'll tell thee joyful tidings, girl. JUL. And joy comes well in such a needy time: What are they, It beseech your ladyship? LA. CAP. Well, well, thou hast a careful father, child; One, who, to put thee from thy heaviness, JUL. Madam, in happy time, what day is that?‡ |