Turn back, dull earth, and find thy center out. [He climbs the Wall, and leaps down within it. Enter BENVOLIO, and MERCUTIO. Ben. Romeo! my cousin Romeo! He is wise; And, on my life, hath stolen him home to bed. wall: Call, good Mercutio. Mer. Nay, I'll conjure too. Romeo! humours! madman! passion! lover! Appear thou in the likeness of a sigh, Speak but one rhyme, and I am satisfied; Cry but-Ah me! couple but-love and dove; Speak to my gossip Venus one fair word, One nick-name for her purblind son and heir, Young Adam Cupid, he that shot to trim, When king Cophetua lov'd the beggar-maid.'He heareth not, stirreth not, he moveth not; The ape is dead, and I must conjure him.I conjure thee by Rosaline's bright eyes, By her high forehead, and her scarlet lip, By her fine foot, straight leg, and quivering thigh, And the demesnes that there adjacent lie, 2 3 That in thy likeness thou appear to us. Ben. An if he hear thee, thou wilt anger him. anger him 1 When king Cophetua, &c.] Alluding to an old ballad preserved in the first Volume of Dr. Percy's Reliques of ancient English Poetry. 2. The ape is dead,] This phrase appears to have been frequently applied to young men, in our author's time, without any reference to the mimickry of that animal. It was an expression of tenderness, like poor fool. By her high forehead,] A high forehead was in Shakspeare's time thought eminently beautiful. To raise a spirit in his mistress' circle Is fair and honest, and, in his mistress' name, Ben. Come, he hath hid himself among those trees, To be consorted with the humorous night:3 Mer. If love be blind, love cannot hit the mark. Now will he sit under a medlar tree, And wish his mistress were that kind of fruit, Come, shall we go? Ben. Go, then; for 'tis in vain To seek him here, that means not to be found. SCENE II. [Exeunt. Capulet's Garden. Enter ROMEO. 4 Rom. He jests at scars, that never felt a wound. [JULIET appears above, at a Window. But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks! It is the east, and Juliet is the sun!- - the humorous night:] Means humid, the moist dewy night. He jests at scars,] Mercutio, whose jests he overheard; or perhaps it is an allusion to his having conceived himself so armed with the love of Rosalind, that no other beauty could make any impression on him. Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, O, that she knew she were! She speaks, yet she says nothing; What of that? I am too bold, 'tis not to me she speaks: That I might touch that cheek! Jul. Rom. Ah me! She speaks:- Unto the white-upturned wond'ring eyes Jul. O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Deny thy father, and refuse thy name: Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, "Be not her maid,] Be not a votary to the moon, to Diana. : And I'll no longer be a Capulet. Rom. Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this? [Aside. Jul. "Tis but thy name, that is my enemy;Thou art thyself though, not a Montague. What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot, Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part Belonging to a man. O, be some other name! What's in a name? that which we call a rose, By any other name would smell as sweet; So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd, Retain that dear perfection which he owes, Without that title:-Romeo, doff thy name; And for that name, which is no part of thee, Take all myself. Rom. I take thee at thy word: Call me but love, and I'll be new baptiz'd; Henceforth I never will be Romeo. Jul. What man art thou, that, thus bescreen'd in night, So stumblest on my counsel ? By a name Rom. Had I it written, I would tear the word. Jul. My ears have not yet drunk a hundred words Of that tongue's utterance, yet I know the sound; Art thou not Romeo, and a Montague? Rom. Neither, fair saint, if either thee dislike. Jul. How cam'st thou hither, tell me? and where fóre? The orchard walls are high, and hard to climb; And the place death, considering who thou art, any of my kinsmen find thee here. If Rom. With love's light wings did I o'er-perch these walls; For stony limits cannot hold love out: Jul. If they do see thee, they will murder thee. Rom. Alack! there lies more peril in thine eye, Than twenty of their swords; look thou but sweet, And I am proof against their enmity. Jul. I would not for the world, they saw thee here. Rom. I have night's cloak to hide me from their sight; And, but thou love me, let them find me here: Jul. By whose direction found'st thou out this Rom. By love, who first did prompt me to inquire; He lent me counsel, and I lent him eyes. I am no pilot; yet, wert thou as far As that vast shore wash'd with the furthest sea, Jul. Thou know'st, the mask of night is on my face; Else would a maiden blush bepaint my cheek, 6 no let-] i. e. no stop or hinderance. 7 And, but thou love me,] And so thou do but love me. Orit may mean, unless thou love me. |