That he dares ne'er come back to challenge you; Romeo's a dishclout to him; an eagle, madam, Or else beshrew them both. Jul. Nurse. From my soul too; Amen! To what? Jul. Well, thou hast comforted me marvellous much. Go in; and tell my lady I am gone, Having displeased my father, to Laurence' cell, Nurse. Marry, I will; and this is wisely done. [Exit. Jul. Ancient damnation! O most wicked fiend! Is it more sin-to wish me thus forsworn, If all else fail, myself have power to die. [Exit. 1 In The Two Noble Kinsmen, by Fletcher and Shakspeare, we find :— ACT IV. SCENE I. Friar Laurence's Cell. Enter FRIAR LAURENCE and PARIS. Fri. On Thursday, sir? The time is very short. Par. My father Capulet will have it so; And I am nothing slow, to slack his haste.1 Fri. You say you do not know the lady's mind: Uneven is the course; I like it not. Par. Immoderately she weeps for Tybalt's death, And therefore have I little talked of love; For Venus smiles not in a house of tears. Now, sir, her father counts it dangerous, That she doth give her sorrow so much sway; And, in his wisdom, hastes our marriage, To stop the inundation of her tears; Which, too much minded by herself alone, May be put from her by society. Now do you know the reason of this haste. Fri. I would I knew not why it should be slowed.2 [Aside. Look, sir, here comes the lady towards my cell. Enter JULIET. Par. Happily met, my lady, and my wife! next. Jul. What must be, shall be. Fri. That's a certain text. Par. Come you to make confession to this father? 1 The meaning of Paris is, there is nothing of slowness in me, to induce me to slacken or abate his haste; but the words the Poet has given him import the reverse. The first edition reads, "And I am nothing slack to slow his haste." 2 To slow and to foreslow were anciently in common use as verbs. Jul. To answer that, were to confess to you. Being spoke behind your back, than to your face. Par. Thou wrong'st it, more than tears, with that report. Jul. That is no slander, sir, which is a truth; And what I spake, I spake it to my face. be may So, Par. Thy face is mine, and thou hast slandered it. Jul. It for it is not mine own.Are you at leisure, holy father, now; Or shall I come to you at evening-mass? 1 1 Fri. My leisure serves me, pensive daughter, now. My lord, we must entreat the time alone. Par. God shield, I should disturb devotion.Juliet, on Thursday early will I rouse you; Till then, adieu! and keep this holy kiss. [Exit PARIS. Jul. O, shut the door! and when thou hast done So, Come weep with me; past hope, past cure, past help! Fri. Ah, Juliet, I already know thy grief; It strains me past the compass of my wits. I hear thou must, and nothing must prorogue it, On Thursday next be married to this county. If, in thy wisdom, thou canst give no help, God joined my heart and Romeo's, thou our hands; 1 Juliet means vespers; there is no such thing as evening-mass. 2 The seals of deeds formerly were appended on distinct slips or labels affixed to the deed. Or my true heart with treacherous revolt 2 Fri. Hold, daughter; I do spy a kind of hope, Thou hadst the strength of will to slay thyself; A thing like death to chide away this shame, Jul. O, bid me leap, rather than marry Paris, O'er covered quite with dead men's rattling bones, 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 unstained wife to my sweet love.1 1 i. e. shall decide the struggle between me and my distress. 2 Commission may be here used for authority. 3 The quarto 1597 reads:— "Or chain me to some steepy mountain's top, In the text, the quarto of 1599 is followed, except that it has "or hide me nightly." 4 Thus the quarto 1599 and the folio: the quarto 1597 reads: "To keep myself a faithful unstained wife To my dear lord, my dearest Romeo."-Boswell. Fri. 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 thy nurse lie with thee in thy chamber. Take thou this phial, being then in bed, And this distilled liquor drink thou off; When, presently, through all thy veins shall run A cold and drowsy humor, [which shall seize Each vital spirit ;] for no pulse shall keep His natural progress, but surcease [to beat :]1 No warmth, no breath, shall testify thou liv'st; The roses in thy lips and cheeks shall fade To paly ashes; thy eyes' windows fall, Like death, when he shuts up the day of life; Each part deprived of supple government, 1 Shall, stiff, and stark, and cold, appear like death: 1 Not in the folio of 1623. 2 Instead of the remainder of this scene, the quarto 1597 has only these four lines : "And when thou art laid in thy kindred's vault, And he shall come and take thee from thy grave. Jul. Friar, I go; be sure thou send for my dear Romeo." 3 The Italian custom here alluded to, of carrying the dead body to the grave richly dressed, and with the face uncovered (which is not mentioned by Painter), Shakspeare found particularly described in the Tragicall Hystory of Romeus and Juliet. |