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; I 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; 46
Which to the high top-gallant of my joy
Must be my convoy in the secret night.

Farewell!
Farewell!

--

Hark you, Sir.

Be trusty, and I'll 'quite thy pains.
Commend me to thy mistress. 47
Nurse. Now God in heaven bless thee!
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? 48

when 't was a little prating thing,

Rom. I warrant thee; my man 's as true as steel. Nurse. Well, Sir; my mistress is the sweetest lady Lord, lord! 0! There's a nobleman in town, one Paris, that would fain lay knife aboard; 49 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 50 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

No: 51

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.

46) Das in tackled stair, Strickleiter am Takelwerk eines Schiffes, angeknüpfte Bild wird in dem top-gallant, = oberstes Segel am Mast, fortgeführt.

47) mistress ist hier dreisylbig zu lesen.

48) Dasselbe Sprüchwort wird in Titus Andronicus (A. 4, Sc. 2.) so citirt: Two may keep counsel, when the third 's away. In Romeo's Antwort ist das I vor warrant erst in der zweiten Folioausgabe von 1632 hinzugefügt.

49) Von dem Entern eines feindlichen Schiffes im Seekrieg entlehnt.

50) Abgekürzt und entstellt aus universal.

51) In Qs. und Fol. heisst die Stelle: R. is for the no. Die meisten Hgg. nehmen mit Tyrwhitt an, dass dog ausgefallen sei, und lesen: R. is for the dog. No etc. Andere lesen mit Warburton: R. is for thee? No. Aber die Amme redet den Romeo nirgendwo mit thou an, sondern, wie gleich nachher, mit you. Das Plausibelste ist Ritson's Erklärung, der die alte Lesart, nur anders interpungirt, beibehält. Die Amme besinnt sich vergebens auf ein mit R. beginnendes Wort, und fährt dann abbrechend fort: R. is for the No etc. Als dog's letter wird das schnarrende R. schon in alten Englischen Grammatiken bezeichnet, und die Amme meint, ein so schnarrender Buchstabe könne nicht Wörter wie Romeo und rosemary beginnen. In der folgenden Zeile sagt die Amme sententious für sentences.

Jul. The clock struck nine, when I did send the nurse;

In half an hour she promis'd to return.

Perchance, she cannot meet him: that 's not so.

O she is lame: love's heralds should be thoughts,
Which ten times faster glide than the sun's beams
Driving back shadows over lowering hills:
Therefore do nimble-pinion'd doves draw Love,
And therefore hath the wind-swift Cupid wings.
Now is the sun upon the highmost hill

Of this day's journey; and from nine till twelve
Is three long hours, 1
yet she is not come.
Had she affections, and warm youthful blood,
She 'd be as swift in motion as a ball;

My words would bandy her to my sweet love,
And his to me:

But old folks, many feign 2 as they were dead;
Unwieldy, slow, heavy, and pale as lead. 3

Enter Nurse and PETER.

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 aweary, give me leave a while.

Fie, how my bones ache! What a jaunt have I had!

-

52) So Qs. und Fol. Viele Hgg. lassen die Amme zuletzt mit Q. A. sagen: Peter, take my fan and go before. Dass die Amme sich von ihrem Diener den Fächer vortragen liess, kam auch bei ihrem Auftreten vor, wie diese Sitte von gleichzeitigen Schriftstellern mehr erwähnt wird.

1) hours ist bei Sh. nach dem Bedürfniss des Verses ein- und zweisylbig

2) d. h. many old folks feign etc., viele alte Leute thun, als ob sie todt wären. Dyce vermuthet eine Corruption in dieser Stelle.

3) as lead gehört sowohl zu heavy, wie zu pale.

4) jaunt hat Q. A., die undatirte Q. und die Fol. Die andern Qs. lesen jaunce, das als Verbum auch K. Richard II. (A. 5, Sc. 5.) vorkommt: spur-gall'd and tir'd by

Jul. I would, thou hadst my bones, and I thy news:
good, good nurse, speak.

Nay, come, I pray thee, speak;

Nurse. Jesu, what haste! can you not stay a while?

Do you not see, that I am out of breath?

Jul. How art thou out of breath when thou hast breath

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. 5
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: Romeo! 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, 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?

though they be not to

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!
Beshrew your heart, for sending me about,

To catch my death with jaunting 6 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:

jauncing Bolingbroke. In der Q. von 1599 fehlt had am Schlusse des Verses, was Mommsen für zulässig hält, falls die Rede abgebrochen sein soll.

5) Die näheren Umstände, das Weitere, abwarten.

6) Einige Qs. haben jauncing. Vgl. Anm. 4. In der folgenden Zeile liest für not well der Qs die Fol. so well, woraus die späteren Folioausgaben so ill machten.

7) Ein Wort des Vorwurfs: Kommt mir nur, fürwahr!

Jul. Here's such; a coil; 8 Come, what says Romeo?
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 9 fortune! honest nurse, farewell.

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!

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 1 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.

[Exeunt.

8) Hier ist solcher Wirrwarr, solche Noth! läufigkeiten und Vorwürfe der Amme.

sagt Juliet in Beziehung auf die WeitSo in Two Gentlemen of Verona

(A. 1, Sc. 2.): Here is a coil with protestations.

9) Wortspiel zwischen high und hie.

1) In ihrem höchsten Glanze.

2) to kiss und to consume sind als reflexive Verba hier zu verstehen, = sich küssen, sich verzehren.

3) deliciousness bezeichnet ein Uebermass von Süssigkeit, wie delicious in Titus Andronicus (A. 4, Sc. 4.) übermässig süss, ist. Durch solche Süssigkeit vernichtet der

=

Honig beim Genusse selbst die auf ihn gerichtete Esslust.

Will ne'er wear out the everlasting flint:

A lover may bestride the gossamer
That idles 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, 5 else is 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 blazon it, then sweeten with thy breath
This neighbour air, and let rich music's tongue 7
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: 8

They are but beggars that can count their worth;
But my true love is grown to such excess,

I cannot sum up half my sum of wealth. 10

9

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.

4) Zur Erläuterung dieser Stelle dient die Bühnenweisung aus Q. A.: Enter Juliet somewhat fast, and embraceth Romeo. In den nächstfolgenden Zeilen haben Qs. und Fol. gossamours und idles. Erst die vierte Folioausgabe setzt den Singular gossamour, der, wie Dyce nachweist, auch in King Lear, (A. 4, Sc. 6.) vorkommt. In Bullokar's English Expositor (1616) steht: Gossomor. Things that flye like cobwebs in the ayre. 5) scil. good even to him. Für is his thanks, wie Qs. und Fol. (letztere mit dem Druckfehler in) lesen, ändern manche Hgg. willkürlich are. Sh. gebraucht thanks auch als Singular.

6) Wenn du besser als ich unsre Freude in Worten zu feiern verstehst.

7) Juliet's Zunge wird ihm wie Musik klingen.

8) Das Gefühl, dessen Besitz grösser ist, als seine Beredsamkeit, ist auf das Bewusstsein seines Wesens stolz, und legt keinen Werth darauf, diesem Bewusstsein den Schmuck der Worte zu leihen.

Wer berechnen kann, wie viel er besitzt, wie viel er an Habe und Gut werth ist, ist noch nicht reich, oder, wie Juliet im Gefühl ihres unendlichen Reichthums sich hyperbolisch ausdrückt, der ist nur ein Bettler. So in Antony and Cleopatra (A. 1, Sc. 1.) There's beggary in the love that can be reckon'd.

10) Nach Steevens Verbesserung der Qs. I cannot sum up sum of half my wealth. Aus dem zweiten sum macht die undatirte Q. und die Fol. some. Staunton behält die alte Lesart bei und erklärt: I cannot sum up the sum or total of half my wealth.