Stop thy unhallowed toil, vile Montague; Rom. I must, indeed; and therefore came I hither.- By urging me to fury.-O, be gone! Stay not; begone;-live, and hereafter say- And do attach thee as a felon here. Rom. Wilt thou provoke me? Then have at thee, boy. [They fight. Page. O Lord! they fight. I will go call the watch. [Exit Page Par. O, I am slain! [ Falls.]—If thou be merciful, Open the tomb, lay me with Juliet. [Dies. Rom. In faith, I will.-Let me peruse this face 2 A grave? O, no; a lantern, slaughtered youth; 1 I refuse to do as thou conjurest me to do, i. e. depart. So Constance, in King John, says :— No, I defy all counsel, all redress.” 2 A lantern may here signify what in ancient records is styled lanternium, i. e. a spacious round or octagonal turret, full of windows, by means of which cathedrals and sometimes halls are illuminated. A presence is a public room, which is, at times, the presence-chamber of a sovereign. For here lies Juliet, and her beauty makes 1 [Laying PARIS in the monument. Than with that hand that cut thy youth in twain, With worms that are thy chambermaids; O, here And shake the yoke of inauspicious stars From this world-wearied flesh.-Eyes, look your last! A dateless bargain to engrossing death!— The first quarto reads, " But how," &c. This idea very frequently occurs in our old dramas. 2 See note 1, p. 225. 3 Conduct for conductor. Enter, at the other end of the church-yard, FRIAR LAURENCE, with a lantern, crow, and spade. Fri. Saint Francis be my speed! how oft to-night Have my old feet stumbled at graves ! '--Who's there? Who is it that consorts, so late, the dead? Bal. Here's one, a friend, and one that knows you well. Fri. Bliss be upon you! Tell me, good my friend, What torch is yond' that vainly lends his light To grubs and eyeless skulls? as I discern, It burneth in the Capels' monument. Bal. It doth so, holy sir; and there's my master, One that you Fri. Bal. love. Fri. How long hath he been there? Who is it? Romeo. Full half an hour. I dare not, sir. Fri. Go with me to the vault. My master knows not but I am gone hence; If I did stay to look on his intents. Fri. Stay, then, I'll go alone.-Fear comes upon me; O, much I fear some ill, unlucky thing. Bal. As I did sleep under this yew-tree here, I dreamed my master and another fought,' 2 Romeo? [Advances. Fri. [Enters the monument. Romeo! O, pale!-Who else? what, Paris too? 1 This accident was reckoned ominous. 2 This was one of the touches of nature that would have escaped the hand of any painter less attentive to it than Shakspeare. What happens to a person while he is under the manifest influence of fear, will seem to him, when he is recovered from it, like a dream. And steeped in blood! Ah, what an unkind hour The lady stirs. [JULIET wakes, and stirs. Jul. O comfortable friar! where is my lord? I do remember well where I should be, And there I am.-Where is my Romeo? [Noise within. Fri. I hear some noise.-Lady, come from that nes. 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 Stay not to question, for the watch is coming; no longer. [Exit. Jul. Go, get thee hence, for I will not away. What's here? a cup, closed in my true love's hand? Poison, I see, hath been his timeless end. O churl! drink all; and leave no friendly drop, [Kisses him. I Watch. [Within.] Lead, boy.-Which way? Jul. Yea, noise ?-then I'll be brief.-O happy [Snatching ROMEO's dagger. This is thy sheath. [Stabs herself.] There rust, and let me die.' [Falls on ROMEO's body, and dies. dagger! Enter Watch, with the Page of PARIS. Page. This is the place; there, where the torch doth burn. 1 Watch. The ground is bloody; search about the church-yard: 1 Thus the quarto of 1599. That of 1597 reads: Oh, happy dagger! thou shalt end my fear; Go, some of you, whoe'er you find, attach. [Exeunt some. Pitiful sight! here lies the county slain; We see the ground whereon these woes do lie; Enter some of the Watch, with BALTHAZAR. 2 Watch. Here's Romeo's man; we found him in the church-yard. 1 Watch. Hold him in safety, till the prince come hither. Enter another Watchman, with FRIAR LAUREnce. 3 Watch. Here is a friar, that trembles, sighs, and weeps. We took this mattock and this spade from him, Enter the Prince and Attendants. Prince. What misadventure is so early up, That calls our person from our morning's rest? Enter CAPULET, LADY CAPULET, and others. Cap. What should it be, that they so shriek abroad? La. Cap. The people in the street cry-Romeo, Some-Juliet, and some-Paris; and all run, With open outcry, toward our monument. Prince. What fear is this, which startles in our ears? 1 Watch. Sovereign, here lies the county Paris slain ; |