By cruel cruel thee quite overthrown !-------
O love! O life!not life, but love in death!
Cap. Despis'd,diftressed, hated,martyr'd,kill'd !—
Uncomfortable time! why cam'st thou now
To murder murder our folemnity ?———————

O child! O child !---my soul, and not my child !---
Dead art thou!alack! my child is dead;
And, with my child, my joys are buried!

Fri. Peace, ho, for fhame! confufion's cure
lives not

In these confufions. Heaven and yourself
Had part in this fair maid; now heaven hath all,
And all the better is it for the maid:
Your part in her you could not keep from death;
But heaven keeps his part in eternal life.
The most you fought was---her promotion;
For 'twas your heaven, the should be advanc'd:
And weep ye now, seeing she is advanc'd,
Above the clouds, as high as heaven itself?
O, in this love, you love your child so ill,
That you run mad, seeing that she is well:
She's not well married, that lives marry'd long;
But she's best marry'd, that dies marry'd young.
Dry up your tears, and stick your rosemary
On this fair corfe; and, as the custom is,
In all her beft array bear her to church:
For though fond nature bids us all lament,
Yet nature's tears are reafon's merriment.

Cap. All things, that we ordained festival,
Turn from their office to black funeral:
Our inftruments, to melancholy bells;
Our wedding chear, to a fad burial feast;
Our folemn hymns to fullen dirges change;
Our bridal flowers serve for a bury'd corse,
And all things change them to the contrary.

5

Muf. No.

Pet. I will then give it you soundly.
Muf. What will you give us?

Pet. No money, on my faith; but the gleek2: 15I will give you the minftrel.

Muf. Then will I give you the ferving-creature. Pet. Then will I lay the ferving-creature's dagger on your pate. I will carry no crotchets : I'll re you, I'll fa you; Do you note me?

20 Muf. And you re us, and fa us, you note us.
a Muf. Pray you, put up your dagger, and put
out your wit.

Pet. Then have at you with my wit; I will dry-beat you with an iron wit, and put up my 25 iron dagger :- -Anfwer me like men:

When griping grief the beart doth wound,

And doleful dumps the mind opprefs,
Then mufick, with her filver found,

Why filver found? why mufick with her filver found?
30 What fay you, Simon Catling 3 ?
[found.
1 Muf. Marry, fir, because filver hath a sweet
Pet. Pretty! What say you, Hugh Rebeck+?
2 Muf. I fay-filver found, because musicians
found for filver.

35

Pet. Pretty too!-What say you, James Sound

3 Mus. 'Faith, I know not what to say.

Fri. Sir, go you in,--and, madam, go with him ;--post?
And go, fir Paris;-every one prepare
To follow this fair corfe unto her grave:
The heavens do lour upon you, for some ill;
Move them no more, by croffing their high will.

[Exeunt Capulet, Lady Capulet, Paris, and Friar. Muf. 'Faith we may put up our pipes, and be

gone.

Pet. O, I cry you mercy! you are the finger: I will fay for you. It is-mufick with her filver 40 found, becaufe fuch fellows as you have no gold for founding :————

Nurfe. Honeft good fellows, ah, put up, put up; 1451 For, well you know, this is a pitiful cafe. [Exit Nurfe.

Muf. Ay, by my troth, the cafe may be amended.

Then mufick with her filver found,

With jpeedy belp doth lend redrefs. [Exit, finging. I Muf. What a peftilent knave is this fame? 2 Muf. Hang him, Jack! Come, we'll in here; tarry for the mourners, and stay dinner. [Exeunt.

Rom.

SCENE
MANTU A.

A Street.

Enter Romeo.

'F I may truft the flattering truth of

IF Neep 5,

My dreams presage some joyful news at hand:

V.

My bofom's lord fits lightly on his throne;
And, all this day, an unaccustom❜d spirit

55 Lifts me above the ground with chearful thoughts.
I dreamt, my lady came and found me dead;
(Strange dream!that gives adead man leave to think)
And breath'd fuch life with kiffes in my lips,
That I reviv'd, and was an emperor.

■ A dump anciently fignified some kind of dance, as well as forrow. On this occafion it means a mournful fong. 2 To gleek is to fcoff. 3 A catling was a small luteftring made of catgut.

4 The fiddler

is fo called from an inftrument with three strings, mentioned by feveral of the old writers, Rebec, rebecquin. 5 The fenfe is, If I may only trust the honesty of fleep, which I know however not to be fo mice as not often to practile flattery. The oldest copy reads the flattering eye of ficep.

John. Brother, I'll go and bring it thee. [Exit.
Law. Now must I to the monument alone;
Within thefe three hours will fair Juliet wake;
She will befhrew me much, that Romeo
Hath had no notice of these accidents:
But I will write again to Mantua,

R. Come hither, man.—I see, that thou art 55 And keep her at my cell till Romeo come;

1 i. e. was not written on a trivial or foolish subject.

Yet put it out, for I would not be seen.
Under yon yew-trees lay thee all along,
Holding thine ear close to the hollow ground;
So fhall no foot upon the church-yard tread,
(Being loofe, unfirm, with digging up of graves)
But thou shalt hear it: whistle then to me,
As fignal that thou hear'st something approach.
Give me thofe flowers. Do as I bid thee, go.
Page. I am almost afraid to stand alone
Here in the church-yard; yet I will adventure.

Par. This is that banish'd haughty Montague,
That murder'd mylove's coufin;--with which grief,
It is fuppofed, the fair creature dy'd,

And here is come to do some villainous shame
To the dead bodies: I will apprehend him.--
Stop thy unhallow'd toil, vile Montague;
Can vengeance be pursu'd further than death?
Condemned villain, I do apprehend thee:
Obey, and go with me; for thou must die.
Rom. I muft, indeed; and therefore came I hi
ther.

Good gentle youth, tempt not a desperate man,
Fly hence and leave me;-think upon these gone;
Let them affright thee.-I beseech thee, youth,
15 Pull not another fin upon my head,

[The boy wbifiles. 20
The boy gives warning; fomething doth approach.
What curfed foot wanders this way to-night,
To cross my obfequies, and true love's rites?
What, with a torch!-Muffle me, night, a while.

Enter Romeo, and Balthafar with a torch, &c.
Rom. Give me that mattock, and the wrenching
iron.

Hold, take this letter; early in the morning
See thou deliver it to my lord and father.
Give me the light: Upon thy life I charge thee,
Whate'er thou hear'st or seest, stand all aloof,
And do not interrupt me in my course.
Why I defcend into this bed of death
Is, partly, to behold my lady's face:

But, chiefly, to take thence from her dead finger
A precious ring; a ring, that I must use
In dear employment: therefore hence, be

gone:

But if thou, jealous, doft return to pry
On what I further shall intend to do,

By heaven, I will tear thee joint by joint,
And ftrew this hungry church-yard with thy limbs :
The time and my intents are favage-wild;
More fierce, and more inexorable far,
Than empty tygers, or the roaring fea.

Balth. I will be gone, fir, and not trouble you.
Rom. So fhalt thou fhew me friendship.-Take
thou that:

Live, and be profperous; and farewel, good fellow.
Baltb. For all this fame, I'll hide me hereabout;
His looks I fear, and his intents I doubt.

[Exit Baltbafar.
Rom. Thou deteftable maw, thou womb of death,
Gorg'd with the deareft morfel of the earth,
Thus I enforce thy rotten jaws to open,
[Breaking up the monument.
And, in despight, I'll cram thee with more food!

25

By urging me to fury :-O, be gone!
By heaven, I love thee better than myself;
For I come hither arm'd against myself:
Stay not, be gone ;-live, and hereafter say--
A madman's mercy bade thee run away.
Par. I do defy thy conjuration 2,

And apprehend thee for a felon here.

boy.

Rom. Wilt thou provoke me? then have at thee,
[They fight, Paris falls.
Page. O lord! they fight: I will go call the watch.
Par. O, I am flain!-If thou be merciful,
Open the tomb, lay me with Juliet.

[Dies.

Rom. In faith, I will:- Let me perufe this
face ;-

30 Mercutio's kinfman, noble county Paris :---
What faid my man, when my betoffed foul
Did not attend him as we rode? I think,
He told me, Paris fhould have marry'd Juliet:
Said he not fo? or did I dream it fo?
35 Or am I mad, hearing him talk of Juliet,
To think it was fo?---O, give me thy hand,
One writ with me in four misfortune's book!
I'll bury thee in a triumphant grave,—

A grave? O, no; a lanthorn, slaughter'd youth,
40 For here lies Juliet, and her beauty makes
This vault a feafting prefence 3 full of light.
Death, lie thou there, by a dead man interr'd.
[Laying Paris in the monument,
How oft when men are at the point of death
45 Have they been merry? which their keepers call
A lightning before death: O, how may I
Call this a lightning?-O, my love! my wife!
Death, that hath fuck'd the honey of thy breath,
Hath had no power yet upon thy beauty:
50Thou art not conquer'd; beauty's enfign yet
Is crimson in thy lips, and in thy cheeks,
And death's pale flag is not advanced there.---
Tybalt, ly'st thou there in thy bloody sheet?
O, what more favour can I do to thee,
55 Than with that hand that cut thy youth in twain,
To funder his that was thine enemy?
Forgive me, coufin !---Ah, dear Juliet,

2 Paris

1 That is, action of importance. Gems were fuppofed to have great powers and virtues. conceived Romeo to have burft open the monument for no other purpose than to do fame villainous fhame on the dead bodies, fuch as witches are reported to have practised; and therefore tells him he defies him, and the magic arts which he fufpects he is preparing to use. To defy, also anciently meant to refuse or deny; therefore Paris may mean---I refuse to do as thou conjureft me to do, i. e. to depart. 3 A prefence is a public room,

3 S 2

Why

'[laft!

[I do remember well where I should be,
And there I am:-Where is my Romeo?

[Noife within. Law. I hear fome noise.-Lady, come from that neft

Of death, contagion, and unnatural * fleep;
A greater power than we can contradict
Hath thwarted our intents; come, come away:
Thy husband in thy bofom there lies dead;
10 And Paris too; come, I'll dispose of thee
Among a fifterhood of holy nuns :

Why art thou yet fo fair? Shall I believe-
I will believe (come lie thou in my arms)
That unfubftantial death is amorous;
And that the lean abhorred monster keeps
Thee here in dark to be his paramour.
For fear of that, I will stay with thee;
And never from this palace of dim night
Depart again: here, here will I remain
With worms that are thy chambermaids; O, here
Will I fet up my everlasting reft1;
And shake the yoke of inauspicious stars
From this world-wearied flesh.---Eyes, look your
Arms, take your last embrace! and lips, O you
The doors of breath, seal with a righteous kifs
A dateless bargain to engrossing death!—
Come, bitter conduct2, come, unfavoury guide!
Thou defperate pilot, now at once run on
The dashing rocks thy fea-fick weary bark!
Here's to thy health, where'er thou tumbleft in:
Here's to my love!-[Drinks ;] O, true apothecary! 20
Thy drugs are quick.--Thus with a kifs I die. [Dies.
Enter Friar Lawrence, with a lantborn, crow and

Spade.

Stay not to queftion, for the watch is coming;
Come, go, good Juliet,—[noife again.] I dare ftay
no longer.
[Exit.

15 Jul. Go, get thee hence, for I will not away.-
What's here? a cup, clos'd in my true love's hand?
Poison, I fee, hath been his timeless end :———
O churl! drink all; and leave no friendly drop,
To help me after?—I will kifs thy lips;
Haply, fome poifon yet doth hang on them,
To make me die with a restorative.
Thy lips are warm!

Low.Saint Francis be my speed! how oft to-night Have my old feet stumbled at graves 3?-Who's 25 there?

Enter Balibafar.

Baltb. Here's one, a friend, and one that knows

you well.

Law.Blifs be upon you! Tell me, good my friend, 30
What torch is yond', that vainly lends his light
To grubs and eyelefs fculls? As I difcern,

It burneth in the Capulets' monument.

Balth. It doth fo, holy fir; and there's my master, One that you love.

[Kiffes bim.

Enter Watch, with the Page of Paris. Page. This is the place; there, where the torch doth burn.

Watch. The ground is bloody; Search about the
church-yard;

Go, fome of you, whome'er you find, attach.'
[Exeunt fema

35 Pitiful fight! here lies the county slain ;-
And Juliet bleeding; warm, and newly dead,
Who here hath lain these two days buried.-
Go, tell the prince,-run to the Capulets,—
Raife up the Montagues,-fome others fearch:-
40 We fee the ground whereon these woes do lie;
But the true ground of all these piteous woes
We cannot without circumstance descry.

Enter fome of the Watch, with Balthafar.

2 Watch. Here's Romeo's man, we found him in the church-yard.

1 Watch. Hold him in fafety, 'till the prince
come hither.

Enter another Watchman, with Friar Lawrence.
3 Watch. Here is a friar, that trembles, fight,

and weeps:

We took this mattock and this spade from him,
As he was coming from this church-yard fide.
1 Watch. A great fufpicion; Stay the friar too.
Enter the Prince, and Attendants.
Prince. What misadventure is so early up,
That calls our person from our morning's rest?
Enter Capulet, and Lady Capulet, &c.
Cap. What should it be, that they fo fhriek abroad?
La. Cap. The people in the street cry-Romeo,
Some-Juliet, and fome---Paris; and all run,

See a note on scene 5th of the preceding act. To fet up one's reft is to be determined to any certain purpose, to rest in perfect confidence and refolution, to make up one's mind. 2 Conduct for condu&ter. 3 This accident was reckoned ominous. ✦ Shakspeare alludes to the sleep of Juliet, which was natural, being brought on by drugs.

With open out-cry, toward our monument. Prince. What fear is this, which startles in our ears?

Watch. Sovereign, here lies the county Paris flain; And Romeo dead; and Juliet, dead before, Warm and new kill'd.

Prince. Search, seek, and know how this foul murder comes.

Watch. Here is a friar, and flaughter'd Romeo's

man;

With instruments upon them, fit to open
These dead men's tombs.

Cap. O, heaven!-O, wife! look how our
daughter bleeds!

This dagger hath mifta'en, for, lo! his house
Lies empty on the back 3 of Montague,
And it mif-fheathed in my daughter's bofom.

La. Cap. O me! this fight of death is as a bell
That warns my old age to a fepulchre.

Enter Montague, and others.

Prince. Come, Montague, for thou art early up, To fee thy son and heir more early down.

Mon. Alas, my liege, my wife is dead to-night; Grief of my fon's exile hath stopp'd her breath: What further woe confpires against my age? Prince. Look, and thou shalt see.

Mon. O thou untaught! what manners is in this, To prefs before thy father to a grave?

Prince. Seal up the mouth of outrage for a while, "Till we can clear thefe ambiguities,

And know their spring, their head, their true de-
fcent;

And then will I be general of your woes,
And lead you even to death: Mean time forbear,
And let mischance be slave to patience.--
Bring forth the parties of fufpicion.

Law. I am the greatest, able to do leaft,
Yet moft fufpected, as the time and place
Doth make against me, of this direful murder;
And here I ftand, both to impeach and purge
Myself condemned and myself excus'd.

Prince. Then fay at once what thou doft know
in this.

Law. I will be brief, for my short date of breath
Is not fo long as is a tedious tale.

Romeo, there dead, was husband to that Juliet;
And fhe, there dead, that Romeo's faithful wife:
I married them; and their stolen marriage-day
Was Tybalt's dooms-day, whofe untimely death
Banish'd the new-made bridegroom from this city;
For whom, and not for Tybalt, Juliet pin'd.
You---to remove that siege of grief from her-
Betroth'd, and would have married her perforce,
To county Paris:---Then comes she to me;
And, with wild looks, bid me devise some means
To rid her from this second marriage,
Or, in my cell, there would fhe kill herself.
Then gave I her, fo tutor'd by my art,
A fleeping potion; which fo took effect
As I intended, for it wrought on her

The form of death: mean time I writ to Romeo,
That he should hither come as this dire night,

5

To help to take her from her borrow'd grave,
Being the time the potion's force should cease.
But he which bore my letter, friar John,
Was ftaid by accident; and yesternight
Return'd my letter back: Then all alone,
At the prefixed hour of her waking,
Came I to take her from her kindred's vault;
Meaning to keep her closely at my cell,
Till I conveniently could fend to Romeo:
10 But, when I came, (fome minute ere the time
Of her awaking) here untimely lay

15

The noble Paris, and true Romeo, dead.
She wakes; and I entreated her come forth,
And bear this work of heaven with patience:
But then a noife did scare me from the tomb;
And fhe, too defperate, would not go with me,
But (as it seems) did violence on herself.
All this I know: and to the marriage
Her nurfe is privy: And, if aught in this
20 Miscarry'd by my fault, let my old life
Be facrific'd, fome hour before his time,
Unto the rigour of severest law.

Prince. We ftill have known thee for a holy

man.

25 Where's Romeo's man? what can he say to this? Balth. I brought my mafter news of Juliet's death;

And then in poft he came from Mantua,

To this fame place, to this fame monument.
3This letter he early bid me give his father;
And threaten'd me with death, going in the vault,
If I departed not, and left him there.

Prince. Give me the letter, I will look on it. Where is the county's page that rais'd the watch?-35 Sirrah, what made your master in this place?

Page. He came with flowers to ftrew his lady's grave;

And bid me ftand aloof, and so I did:
Anon, comes one with light to ope the tomb;
40 And, by and by, my master drew on him;
And then I ran away to call the watch.
Prince. This letter doth make good the friar's
words,

Their courfe of love, the tidings of her death:
45 And here he writes---that he did buy a poison
Of a poor 'pothecary, and therewithal
Came to this vault to die, and lie with Juliet.-
Where be thefe enemies? Capulet! Montague !---
See, what a fcourge is laid upon your hate,
50 That heaven finds means to kill your joys with love!
And I, for winking at your discords too,
Have loft a brace of kinfmen :---all are punish'd.
Cap. O, brother Montague, give me thy hand:
This is my daughter's jointure, for no more
55 Can I demand.

Mon. But I can give thee more;
For I will raife her ftatue in pure gold;
That, while Verona by that name is known,
There fhall no figure at fuch rate be fet,

60 As that of true and faithful Juliet.

Cap. As rich fhall Romeo by his lady lie;
Poor facrifices of our enmity!

It appears that the dagger was anciently worn behind the back.

5 $ 3

Prince.