"Among these harsh and inferior spirits is Juliet placed; her haughty

parents, and her plebeian nurse, not only throw into beautiful relief

her own native softness and elegance, but are at once the cause and the

excuse of her subsequent conduct. She trembles before her stern mother

and her violent father, but, like a petted child, alternately cajoles

and commands her nurse. It is her old foster-mother who is the

confidante of her love. It is the woman who cherished her infancy who

aids and abets her in her clandestine marriage. Do we not perceive how

immediately our impression of Juliet's character would have been

lowered, if Shakespeare had placed her in connection with any

commonplace dramatic waiting-woman?--even with Portia's adroit Nerissa,

or Desdemona's Emilia? By giving her the Nurse for her confidante, the

sweetness and dignity of Juliet's character are preserved inviolate to

the fancy, even in the midst of all the romance and wilfulness of

passion."

Cf. Coleridge: "The character of the Nurse is the nearest of anything in

Shakspeare to a direct borrowing from mere observation; and the reason

is, that as in infancy and childhood the individual in nature is a

representative of a class--just as in describing one larch-tree, you

generalize a grove of them--so it is nearly as much so in old age. The

generalization is done to the poet's hand. Here you have the garrulity

of age strengthened by the feelings of a long-trusted servant, whose

sympathy with the mother's affections gives her privileges and rank in

the household; and observe the mode of connection by accidents of time

and place, and the childlike fondness of repetition in a second

childhood, and also that happy, humble ducking under, yet constant

resurgence against, the check of her superiors!"

2. _Maidenhead._ Etymologically the same word as _maidenhood_. So

_lustihead_ = lustihood, _livelihead_ = livelihood (as in Spenser,

_F.Q._ ii. 2. 2: "for porcion of thy livelyhed"), etc. Cf. _Godhead_,

etc.

4. _God forbid!_ Staunton suggests that the Nurse uses _lady-bird_ as a

term of endearment; but, recollecting its application to a woman of

loose life, checks herself--_God forbid_ her darling should prove such a

one! Dyce explains it: "God forbid that any accident should keep her

away!" This seems to me more probable.

7. _Give leave awhile._ Leave us alone; a courteous form of dismissal.

Cf. _T.G. of V._ iii. 1. 1: "Sir Thurio, give us leave, I pray, awhile;"

_M.W._ ii. 2. 165: "Give us leave, drawer," etc.

9. _I have remember'd me._ For the reflexive use, cf. _1 Hen. IV._ ii.

4. 468: "and now I remember me, his name is Falstaff," etc.

_Thou's._ Cf. _Lear_, iv. 6. 246. The early eds. have "thou 'se"; most

modern ones substitute "thou shalt."

12. _Lay._ Wager. Cf. _L. L. L._ i. 1. 310, _T. and C._ iii. 1. 95, etc.

13. _Teen._ Sorrow; used here for the play on _fourteen_. Cf. _V. and

A._ 808: "My face is full of shame, my heart of teen;" _Temp._ i. 2. 64:

"the teen I have turn'd you to;" _L. L. L._ iv. 3. 164: "Of sighs and

groans, of sorrow and of teen," etc.

15. _Lammas-tide._ The 1st of August. _Tide_ = time, as in _even-tide_,

_springtide_, etc. Cf. _K. John_, iii. 1. 86:--

"What hath this day deserv'd? what hath it done,

That it in golden letters should be set

Among the high tides in the calendar?"

See also the play upon the word in _T. of A._ i. 2. 57: "Flow this way!

A brave fellow! he keeps his tides well."

23. _The earthquake._ Tyrwhitt suggested that this may refer to the

earthquake felt in England on the 6th of April, 1580. Malone notes that

if the earthquake happened on the day when Juliet was _weaned_

(presumably when she was a year old), she could not well be more than

_twelve_ years old now; but the Nurse makes her almost _fourteen_--as

her father (i. 2. 9) and her mother (i. 3. 12) also do.

26. _Wormwood._ Halliwell-Phillipps cites Cawdray, _Treasurie or

Storehouse of Similies_, 1600: "if the mother put worme-wood or mustard

upon the breast, the child sucking it, and feeling the bitternesse, he

quite forsaketh it, without sucking any more," etc.

27. _Sitting in the sun_, etc. Cf. Dame Quickly's circumstantial

reminiscences, _2 Hen. IV._ ii. 1. 93 fol.: "Thou didst swear to me,"

etc.

29. _Bear a brain._ Have a brain, that is, a good memory.

31. _Pretty fool._ On _fool_ as a term of endearment or pity, cf.

_A.Y.L._ ii. 1. 22, _Lear_, v. 2. 308, etc.

32. _Tetchy._ Touchy, fretful. Cf. _Rich. III._ iv. 4. 168: "Tetchy and

wayward was thy infancy."

33. _Shake, quoth the dove-house._ The dove-house shook. It refers of

course to the effects of the earthquake. Daniel (in Dowden's ed.) quotes

Peele, _Old Wives' Tale_: "Bounce, quoth the guns;" and Heywood, _Fair

Maid of the West_: "Rouse, quoth the ship."

36. _By the rood._ That is, by the cross; as in _Ham._ iii. 4. 14,

_Rich. III._ iii. 2. 77, etc. For _alone_ the 1st and 2d quartos have

"high-lone," which Herford, Dowden, and some others adopt. "It is an

alteration of _alone_, of obscure origin" (_New Eng. Dict._) found in

Marston, Middleton, and other writers of the time. In George

Washington's _Diary_ (1760) it is used of mares. According to the

description here, Juliet could not have been much more than a year old

at the time. See on 23 above.

38. _Mark._ Appoint, elect. Cf. _T.A._ i. 1. 125: "To this your son is

mark'd, and die he must."

40. _To see thee married once._ Once see thee married.

51. _Much upon these years._ Nearly at the same age. Cf. _M. for M._ iv.

1. 17: "much upon this time;" _Rich. III._ v. 3. 70: "Much about

cock-shut time," etc. As Juliet is fourteen, Lady Capulet would be about

twenty-eight, while her husband, having done masking for some thirty

years (see i. 5. 35 fol.), must be at least sixty. See also on v. 3. 207

below.

55. _A man of wax._ "As pretty as if he had been modelled in wax"

(Schmidt). Steevens quotes _Wily Beguiled_: "Why, he's a man as one

should picture him in wax." White adds from Lyly, _Euphues and his

England_: "so exquisite that for shape he must be framed in wax," and

refers to iii. 3. 126 below. Dyce cites _Faire Em_:--

"A sweet face, an exceeding daintie hand:

A body, were it framed of wax

By all the cunning artists of the world,

It could not better be proportioned."

60. _Read o'er the volume_, etc. Here one quibble leads to another by

the power of association. "The _volume_ of young Paris's face suggests

the _beauty's pen_, which hath _writ_ there. Then the obscurities of the

fair volume are written in _the margin of his eyes_ as comments of

ancient books are always printed in the margin. Lastly, this _book of

love_ lacks a _cover_; the _golden story_ must be locked with _golden

clasps_" (Knight).

62. _Married._ The reading of 2d quarto; the other early eds. have

"severall," which some editors adopt. _Married_ = "closely joined, and

hence concordant, harmonious" (Schmidt). Cf. _T. and C._ i. 3. 100: "The

unity and married calm of states;" and _Sonn._ 8. 6:--

"If the true concord of well-tuned sounds,

By unions married, do offend thine ear."

See also Milton, _L'All._ 137: "Married to immortal verse."

65. _Margent._ Malone quotes _R. of L._ 102:--

"But she that never cop'd with stranger eyes

Could pick no meaning from their parting looks,

Nor read the subtle shining secrecies

Writ in the glassy margent of such books."

See also _Ham._ v. 2. 162.

67. _Cover._ "A quibble on the law phrase for a married woman, who is

styled a _femme couverte_ [_feme covert_] in law French" (Mason).

68. _Lives in the sea._ Is not yet caught. The bride has not yet been

won. Farmer thought it an allusion to fish-skin as used for binding

books.

70. _Many's._ Cf. _Sonn._ 93. 7: "In many's looks," etc.

74. _Like of._ Cf. _Much Ado_, v. 4. 59: "I am your husband, if you like

of me."

76. _Endart._ Not elsewhere used by S. and perhaps of his own coining.

80. _Cursed._ Because she is not at hand to help. _In extremity_ = at a

desperate pass. Cf. _M.N.D._ iii. 2. 3, _A.Y.L._ iv. 1. 5, etc.

83. _County._ Count; as often in this play. See also _M. of V._ i. 2.

49, _A.W._ iii. 7. 22, etc.

SCENE IV.--Mercutio is thus described in Brooke's poem:--

"At thone syde of her chayre, her lover Romeo:

And on the other side there sat one cald Mercutio.

A courtier that eche where was highly had in pryce:

For he was coorteous of his speche, and pleasant of devise.

Euen as a Lyon would emong the lambes be bolde:

Such was emong the bashfull maydes, Mercutio to beholde.

With frendly gripe he ceasd [seized] fayre Juliets snowish hand:

A gyft he had that nature gaue him in his swathing band.

That frosen mountayne yse was neuer halfe so cold

As were his handes, though nere so neer the fire he dyd them holde."

In Paynter's _Palace of Pleasure_ he is spoken of as "an other Gentleman

called _Mercutio_, which was a courtlyke Gentleman, very well beloued of

all men, and by reason of his pleasaunt and curteous behauior was in

euery company wel intertayned." His "audacity among Maydens" and his

cold hands are also mentioned.

1. _This speech._ Furness would read "the speech"; but, as the scene

opens in the midst of the conversation, S. may have meant to imply that

some one in the company has suggested an introductory speech. See the

following note.

3. _The date is out_, etc. That is, such tediousness is now out of

fashion. Steevens remarks: "In _Henry VIII._ where the king introduces

himself to the entertainment given by Wolsey [i. 4] he appears, like

Romeo and his companions, in a _mask_, and sends a messenger before to

make an apology for his intrusion. This was a custom observed by those

who came uninvited, with a desire to conceal themselves for the sake of

intrigue, or to enjoy the greater freedom of conversation. Their entry

on these occasions was always prefaced by some speech in praise of the

beauty of the ladies or the generosity of the entertainer; and to the

_prolixity_ of such introductions I believe Romeo is made to allude. So

in _Histrio-mastix_, 1610, a man expresses his wonder that the maskers

enter without any compliment: 'What, come they in so blunt, without

device?' In the accounts of many entertainments given in reigns

antecedent to that of Elizabeth, I find this custom preserved. Of the

same kind of masquerading see a specimen in _T. of A._ [i. 2], where

Cupid precedes a troop of ladies with a speech." Collier compares

_L. L. L._ v. 2. 158 fol.

5. _Bow of lath._ The Tartar bows resembled in form the old Roman or

Cupid's bow, such as we see on medals and bas-reliefs; while the English

bow had the shape of the segment of a circle.

6. _Crow-keeper._ Originally a boy stationed in a field to drive the

birds away (as in _Lear_, iv. 6. 88: "That fellow handles his bow like a

crow-keeper"); afterwards applied, as here, to what we call a

_scarecrow_. The latter was often a stuffed figure with a bow in his

hand.

7, 8. These lines are found only in the 1st quarto, and were first

inserted in the text by Pope. White believes that they were purposely

omitted, but only on account of their disparagement of the

prologue-speakers on the stage. Prologues and epilogues were often

prepared, not by the author of the play, but by some other person; and

this was probably the case with some of the prologues and epilogues in

S. _Faintly_ = "in a weak mechanical way" (Ulrici). _Entrance_ is a

trisyllable, as in _Macb._ i. 5. 40.

10. _A measure._ A formal courtly dance. Cf. _Much Ado_, ii. 1. 80: "as

a measure, full of state and ancientry;" and for the play on the word,

_Id._ ii. 1. 74, _L. L. L._ iv. 3. 384, and _Rich. II._ iii. 4. 7.

11. _A torch._ Maskers were regularly attended by torch-bearers. The

commentators quote illustrations of this from other authors, but do not

refer to _M. of V._ ii. 4. 5: "We have not spoke us yet of

torch-bearers;" and 21 just below:--

"Will you prepare you for this masque to-night?

I am provided of a torch-bearre."

See also _Id._ ii. 6. 40 fol. For the contemptuous use of _ambling_, see

_Ham._ iii. 1. 151, _1 Hen. IV._ iii. 2. 60, etc.

12. _The light._ For the poet's frequent playing on the different senses

of _light_, see on i. 1. 134 above. Cf. ii. 2. 105 below.

15. _Soul._ For the play on the word, cf. _M. of V._ ii. 4. 68, iv. 1.

123, and, _J.C._ i. 1. 15.

19. _Enpierced._ Used by S. nowhere else.

20. _Bound._ For the quibble, Steevens compares Milton, _P.L._ iv.

180:--

"in contempt

At one slight bound high overleap'd all bound

Of hill or highest wall," etc.

29. _Give me a case._ Perhaps Mercutio thinks he will wear a mask, and

then changes his mind. Littledale suggests pointing "visage in!" It is

possible, however, that lines 30-32 refer to a mask that is handed to

him, and which he decides to wear, though it is an ugly one. On the

whole, I prefer this explanation.

31. _Quote._ Note, observe. Cf. _Ham._ ii. 1. 112:--

"I am sorry that with better heed and judgment

I had not quoted him."

32. _Beetle-brows._ Prominent or overhanging brows. Cf. the verb

_beetle_ in _Ham._ i. 4. 71.

36. _Rushes._ Before the introduction of carpets floors were strewn with

rushes. Cf. _1 Hen. IV._ iii. 1. 214: "on the wanton rushes lay you

down;" _Cymb._ ii. 2. 13:--

"Our Tarquin thus

Did softly press the rushes," etc.

See also _R. of L._ 318, _T. of S._ iv. 1. 48, and _2 Hen. IV._ v. 5. 1.

The stage was likewise strewn with rushes. Steevens quotes Dekker, _Guls

Hornbook_: "on the very rushes where the comedy is to daunce."

37. _I am proverb'd_, etc. The old proverb fits my case, etc. _To hold

the candle_ is a very common phrase for being _an idle spectator_. Among

Ray's proverbs is "A good candle-holder proves a good gamester"

(Steevens).

39. _The game_, etc. An old proverbial saying advises to give over when

the game is at the fairest; and Romeo also alludes to this.

40. _Dun's the mouse._ Apparently = keep still; but no one has

satisfactorily explained the origin of the phrase. Malone quotes

_Patient Grissel_, 1603: "yet don is the mouse, lie still;" and Steevens

adds _The Two Merry Milkmaids_, 1620: "Why then 'tis done, and dun's the

mouse and undone all the courtiers."

41. _If thou art Dun_, etc. Douce quotes Chaucer, _C.T._ 16936:

"Ther gan our hoste for to jape and play,

And sayde, 'sires, what? Dun is in the myre.'"

Gifford explains the expression thus: "_Dun in the mire_ is a Christmas

gambol, at which I have often played. A log of wood is brought into the

midst of the room: this is _Dun_ (the cart-horse), and a cry is raised

that he is _stuck in the mire_. Two of the company advance, either with

or without ropes, to draw him out. After repeated attempts, they find

themselves unable to do it, and call for more assistance. The game

continues till all the company take part in it, when Dun is extricated

of course; and the merriment arises from the awkward and affected

efforts of the rustics to lift the log, and from sundry arch

contrivances to let the ends of it fall on one another's toes. This will

not be thought a very exquisite amusement; and yet I have seen much

honest mirth at it." Halliwell-Phillipps quotes _Westward Hoe_, 1607: "I

see I'm born still to draw dun out o' th' mire for you; that wise beast

will I be;" and Butler, _Remains_: "they meant to leave reformation,

like Dun in the mire."

42. _Sir-reverence._ A contraction of "save reverence" (_salva

reverentia_), used as an apology for saying what might be deemed

improper. Cf. _C. of E._ iii. 2. 93: "such a one as a man may not speak

of without he say 'Sir-reverence.'" Taylor the Water-Poet says in one of

his epigrams:--

"If to a foule discourse thou hast pretence,

Before thy foule words name sir-reverence,

Thy beastly tale most pleasantly will slip,

And gaine thee praise, when thou deserv'st a whip."

Here "Mercutio says he will draw Romeo from the _mire of this love_, and

uses parenthetically the ordinary form of apology for speaking so

profanely of love" (Knight). For the full phrase, see _Much Ado_, iii.

4. 32, _M. of V._ ii. 2. 27, 139, etc.

43. _Burn daylight._ "A proverbial expression used when candles are

lighted in the daytime" (Steevens); hence applied to superfluous actions

in general. Here it is = waste time, as the context shows. Cf. _M.W._

ii. 1. 54, where it has the same meaning.

45. _We waste_, etc. The quartos have "We waste our lights in vaine,

lights lights by day;" the folios, "We wast our lights in vaine, lights,

by day." The emendation is Capell's. Daniel and Dowden read, "light

lights by day," which is very plausible.

47. _Five wits._ Cf. _Much Ado_, i. 1. 66: "four of his five wits went

halting off;" _Sonn._ 141. 9: "But my five wits nor my five senses."

Here the _five wits_ are distinguished from the _five senses_; but the

two expressions were sometimes used interchangeably. The _five wits_, on

the other hand, were defined as "common wit, imagination, fantasy,

estimation (judgment), and memory."

50. _To-night._ That is, last night, as in _M.W._ iii. 3. 171: "I have

dreamed to-night;" _W.T._ ii. 3. 10: "He took good rest to-night," etc.

See also ii. 4. 2 below.

53. _Queen Mab._ No earlier instance of _Mab_ as the name of the

fairy-queen has been discovered, but S. no doubt learned it from the

folk-lore of his own time. Its derivation is uncertain.

54. _The fairies' midwife._ Not midwife _to_ the fairies, but the fairy

whose department it was to deliver the fancies of sleeping men of their

dreams, those _children of an idle brain_ (Steevens). T. Warton believes

she was so called because she steals new-born infants, and leaves

"changelings" (see _M.N.D._ ii. 1. 23, etc.) in their place.

55. _No bigger_, etc. That is, no bigger than the figures cut in such an

agate. Cf. _Much Ado_, iii. 1. 65: "If low, an agate very vilely cut."

Rings were sometimes worn on the _thumb_. Steevens quotes Glapthorne,

_Wit in a Constable_, 1639: "and an alderman as I may say to you, he has

no more wit than the rest o' the bench; and that lies in his

thumb-ring."

57. _Atomies._ Atoms, or creatures as minute as atoms. Cf. _A.Y.L._

iii. 2. 245: "to count atomies;" and _Id._ iii. 5. 13: "Who shut their

coward gates on atomies." In _2 Hen. IV._ v. 4. 33, Mrs. Quickly

confounds the word with _anatomy._ S. uses it only in these four

passages, _atom_ not at all.

59. _Spinners._ Long-legged spiders, mentioned also in _M.N.D._ ii. 2.

21: "Hence, you long-legg'd spinners, hence!"

65. _Worm._ Nares says, under _idle worms_: "Worms bred in idleness. It

was supposed, and the notion was probably encouraged for the sake of

promoting industry, that when maids were idle, worms bred in their

fingers;" and he cites Beaumont and Fletcher, _Woman Hater_, iii. 1:--

"Keep thy hands in thy muff and warm the idle

Worms in thy fingers' ends."

67-69. _Her chariot ... coachmakers._ Daniel puts these lines before 59.

Lettsom says: "It is preposterous to speak of the parts of a chariot

(such as the waggon-spokes and cover) before mentioning the chariot

itself." But _chariot_ here, as the description shows, means only the

_body_ of the vehicle, and is therefore one of the "parts."

76. _Sweetmeats._ That is, kissing-comfits. These artificial aids to

perfume the breath are mentioned by Falstaff, in _M.W._ v. 5. 22.

77. _A courtier's nose._ As this is a repetition, Pope substituted

"lawyer's" (from 1st quarto), but this would also be a repetition. Other

suggestions are "tailor's" and "counsellor's;" but the carelessness of

the description is in perfect keeping with the character. See the

comments on the speech p. 290 below.

79. _Sometime._ Used by S. interchangeably with _sometimes_.

84. _Ambuscadoes._ Ambuscades; used by S. only here. The _Spanish

blades_ of Toledo were famous for their quality.

85. _Healths_, etc. Malone quotes _Westward Hoe_, 1607: "troth, sir, my

master and sir Goslin are guzzling; they are dabbling together fathom

deep. The knight has drunk so much health to the gentleman yonder, upon

his knees, that he hath almost lost the use of his legs." Cf. _2 Hen.

IV._ v. 3. 57:--

"Fill the cup, and let it come;

I'll pledge you a mile to the bottom."

89. _Plats the manes_, etc. "This alludes to a very singular

superstition not yet forgotten in some parts of the country. It was

believed that certain malignant spirits, whose delight was to wander in

groves and pleasant places, assumed occasionally the likeness of women

clothed in white; that in this character they sometimes haunted stables

in the night-time, carrying in their hands tapers of wax, which they

dropped on the horses' manes, thereby plaiting them in inextricable

knots, to the great annoyance of the poor animals and vexation of their

masters. These hags are mentioned in the works of William of Auvergne,

bishop of Paris in the 13th century" (Douce).

90. _Elf-locks._ Hair matted or clotted, either from neglect or from the

disease known as the _Plica Polonica_. Cf. _Lear_, ii. 3. 10: "elf all

my hair in knots;" and Lodge, _Wit's Miserie_, 1596: "His haires are

curld and full of elves locks."

91. _Which_, etc. The real subject of _bodes_ is _which once untangled_

= the untangling of which.

97. _Who._ For _which_, as often; but here, perhaps, on account of the

personification. Cf. _2 Hen. IV._ iii. 1. 22:--

"the winds,

Who take the ruffian billows by the top."

103. _My mind misgives_, etc. One of many illustrations of Shakespeare's

fondness for presentiments. Cf. ii. 2. 116, iii. 5. 53, 57, etc., below.

See also 50 above.

105. _Date._ Period, duration; as often in S. Cf. _R. of L._ 935: "To

endless date of never-ending woes;" _Sonn._ 18. 4: "And summer's lease

hath all too short a date;" _M.N.D._ iii. 2. 373: "With league whose

date till death shall never end," etc.

106. _Expire._ The only instance of the transitive use in S. Cf.

Spenser, _F.Q._ iv. 1. 54: "Till time the tryall of her truth expyred."

107. _Clos'd._ Enclosed, shut up. Cf. v. 2. 30 below: "clos'd in a dead

man's tomb." See also _R. of L._ 761, _Macb._ iii. 1. 99, etc.

111. In the early eds. the stage-direction is "_They march about the

Stage, and Seruingmen come forth with_ [or _with their_] _Napkins_."

This shows that the scene was supposed to be immediately changed to the

hall of Capulet's house.

SCENE V.--2. _Shift a trencher._ "Trenchers [wooden plates] were still

used by persons of good fashion in our author's time. In the _Household

Book of the Earls of Northumberland_, compiled at the beginning of the

same century, it appears that they were common to the tables of the

first nobility" (Percy). To _shift a trencher_ was a technical term. For

_scrape a trencher_, cf. _Temp._ ii. 2. 187: "Nor scrape trencher, nor

wash dish."

7. _Joint-stools._ A kind of folding-chair. Cf. _1 Hen. IV._ ii. 4. 418,

_2 Hen. IV._ ii. 4. 269, etc.

8. _Court-cupboard._ Sideboard. Steevens quotes Chapman, _Monsieur

D'Olive_, 1606: "Here shall stand my court-cupboard with its furniture

of plate;" and his _May-Day_, 1611: "Court-cupboards planted with

flaggons, cans, cups, beakers," etc. Cotgrave defines _dressoir_ as "a

court-cupboord (without box or drawer), onely to set plate on."

_Good thou._ For this vocative use of _good_, cf. _Temp._ i. 1. 3, 16,

20, _C. of E._ iv. 4. 22, etc.

9. _Marchpane._ A kind of almond-cake, much esteemed in the time of S.

Nares gives the following from one of the old English receipt-books,

_Delightes for Ladies_, 1608: "_To make a marchpane_.--Take two poundes

of almonds being blanched, and dryed in a sieve over the fire, beate

them in a stone mortar, and when they be small mix them with two pounde

of sugar beeing finely beaten, adding two or three spoonefuls of

rosewater, and that will keep your almonds from oiling: when your paste

is beaten fine, drive it thin with a rowling pin, and so lay it on a

bottom of wafers, then raise up a little edge on the side, and so bake

it, then yce it with rosewater and sugar, then put it in the oven

againe, and when you see your yce is risen up and drie, then take it out

of the oven and garnish it with pretie conceipts, as birdes and beasts

being cast out of standing moldes. Sticke long comfits upright in it,

cast bisket and carrowaies in it, and so serve it; guild it before you

serve it: you may also print of this _marchpane_ paste in your molds for

banqueting dishes. And of this paste our comfit makers at this day make

their letters, knots, armes, escutcheons, beasts, birds, and other

fancies." Castles and other figures were often made of marchpane, to

decorate splendid desserts, and were demolished by shooting or throwing

sugar-plums at them. Cf. Beaumont and Fletcher, _Faithful Friends_, iii.

2:--

"They barr'd their gates,

Which we as easily tore unto the earth

As I this tower of marchpane."

16. _Cheerly._ Cheerily, briskly. Cf. _Temp._ i. 1. 6, 29, etc.

16. _The longer liver take all._ A proverbial expression.

18. _Toes._ Pope thought it necessary to change this to "feet." Malone

remarks that the word "undoubtedly did not appear indelicate to the

audience of Shakespeare's time, though perhaps it would not be endured

at this day." We smile at this when we recollect some of the words that

were endured then; but it shows how fashions change in these matters.

21. _Deny._ Refuse. Cf. _L. L. L._ v. 2. 228: "If you deny to dance;" _T.

of S._ ii. 1. 180: "If she deny to wed," etc. _Makes dainty_ = affects

coyness. Cf. _K. John_, iii. 4. 138:--

"And he that stands upon a slippery place

Makes nice of no vile hold to stay him up."

22. _Am I come near ye now?_ Do I touch you, or hit you, now? Cf. _1 Hen

IV._ i. 2. 14: "Indeed, you come near me now, Hal." Schmidt is clearly

wrong in giving _T.N._ ii. 5. 29 as another example of the phrase in

this sense. He might have given _T.N._ iii. 4. 71.

23. _Welcome, gentlemen!_ Addressed to the masked friends of Romeo.

28. _A hall, a hall!_ This exclamation occurs frequently in the old

comedies, and is = make room. Cf. _Doctor Dodypoll_, 1600: "Room! room!

a hall! a hall!" and Jonson, _Tale of a Tub_: "Then cry, a hall! a

hall!"

29. _Turn the tables up._ The tables in that day were flat leaves hinged

together and placed on trestles; when removed they were therefore turned

up (Steevens).

30. _The fire._ S. appears to have forgotten that the time was in

summer. See p. 19 above.

32. _Cousin._ The "uncle Capulet" of i. 2. 70. The word was often used

loosely = kinsman in S. Cf. iii. 1. 143 below: "Tybalt, my cousin! O my

brother's child!"

37. _Nuptial._ The regular form in S. In the 1st folio _nuptials_ occurs

only in _Per._ v. 3. 80.

43. _What lady is that_, etc. Cf. Brooke's poem:--

"At length he saw a mayd, right fayre of perfect shape:

Which Theseus, or Paris would haue chosen to their rape.

Whom erst he neuer sawe, of all she pleasde him most:

Within himselfe he sayd to her, thou iustly mayst thee boste.

Of perfit shapes renoune, and Beauties sounding prayse:

Whose like ne hath, ne shalbe seene, ne liueth in our dayes.

And whilest he fixd on her his partiall perced eye,

His former loue, for which of late he ready was to dye,

Is nowe as quite forgotte, as it had neuer been."

47. _Her beauty hangs._ The reading of the later folios, adopted by many

editors. The quartos and 1st folio have "It seemes she hangs." As

Verplanck remarks, it is quite probable that the correction was the

poet's own, obtained from some other MS. altered during the poet's life;

it is besides confirmed by the repetition of _beauty_ in 49. Delius, who

retains _it seems_, thinks that the boldness of the simile led the poet

to introduce it in that way; but it is Romeo who is speaking, and the

simile is not over-bold for him. The commentators often err in looking

at the text from the "stand-point" of the critic rather than that of the

character.

48. _Ethiope's ear._ For the simile, cf. _Sonn._ 27. 11: "Which, like a

jewel hung in ghastly night," etc. Holt White quotes Lyly, _Euphues_: "A

fair pearl in a Morian's ear."

55. _I ne'er saw_, etc. Cf. _Hen. VIII._ i. 4. 75:--

"The fairest hand I ever touch'd! O beauty,

Till now I never knew thee!"

57. _What dares_, etc. How dares, or why dares, etc. Cf. _2 Hen. IV._ i.

2. 129: "What tell you me of it? be it as it is;" _A. and C._ v. 2. 316:

"What should I stay?" etc.

58. _Antic face._ Referring to Romeo's mask. Cf. ii. 4. 29 below.

59. _Fleer._ Sneer, mock; as in _Much Ado_, v. 1. 58, etc. For _scorn

at_, cf. _A.Y.L._ iii. 5. 131, _K. John_, i. 1. 228, etc. We find

_scorn_ without the preposition in _L. L. L._ iv. 3. 147: "How will he

scorn!" _Solemnity_ here expresses only the idea of ceremony, or formal

observance. Cf. the use of _solemn_ = ceremonious, formal; as in _Macb._

iii. 1. 14: "To-night we hold a solemn supper, sir;" _T. of S._ iii. 2.

103: "our solemn festival," etc. Hunter quotes Harrington, _Ariosto_:--

"Nor never did young lady brave and bright

Like dancing better on a solemn day."

64. _In spite._ In malice; or, as Schmidt explains it, "only to defy and

provoke us." Cf. i. 1. 75 above.

67. _Content thee._ "Compose yourself, keep your temper" (Schmidt). Cf.

_Much Ado_, v. 1. 87, _T. of S._ i. 1. 90, 203, ii. 1. 343, etc. So _be

contented_; as in _M.W._ iii. 3. 177, _Lear_, iii, 4. 115, etc.

68. _Portly._ The word here seems to mean simply "well-behaved,

well-bred," though elsewhere it has the modern sense; as in _M.W._ i. 3.

69: "my portly belly;" _1 Hen. IV._ ii. 4. 464: "A goodly portly man, i'

faith, and a corpulent," etc.

72. _Do him disparagement._ Do him injury. Cf. "do danger" (_J.C._ ii.

1. 17), "do our country loss" (_Hen. V._ iv. 3. 21), "do him shame" (_R.

of L._ 597, _Sonn._ 36. 10, _L. L. L._ iv. 3. 204), etc. See also iii. 3.

118 below.

77. _It fits._ Cf. _A.W._ ii. 1. 147: "where hope is coldest, and

despair most fits," etc.

81. _God shall mend my soul!_ Cf. _A.Y.L._ iv. 1. 193: "By my troth, and

in good earnest, and so God mend me, and by all pretty oaths that are

not dangerous," etc. See also _1 Hen. IV._ iii. 1. 255.

83. _Cock-a-hoop._ "Of doubtful origin" (_New. Eng. Dict._), though the

meaning is clear. _Set cock-a-hoop_ = play the bully. S. uses the word

only here.

86. _Scathe._ Injure. S. uses the verb nowhere else; but cf. the noun in

_K. John_, ii. 1. 75: "To do offence and scathe in Christendom;" _Rich.

III._ i. 3. 317: "To pray for them that have done scathe to us," etc.

87. _Contrary._ Oppose, cross; the only instance of the verb in S.

Steevens quotes Greene, _Tully's Love_: "to contrary her resolution;"

Warner, _Albion's England_: "his countermand should have contraried so,"

etc. The accent in S. is variable. Cf. the adjective in iii. 2. 64

below.

88. _Well said._ Well done. Cf. _Oth._ ii. 1. 169, v. 1. 98, etc.

_Princox_ = a pert or impertinent boy; used by S. only here. Steevens

quotes _The Return from Parnassus_, 1606: "Your proud university

princox." Cotgrave renders "_un jeune estourdeau superbe_" by "a young

princox boy."

Coleridge remarks here: "How admirable is the old man's impetuosity, at

once contrasting, yet harmonized with young Tybalt's quarrelsome

violence! But it would be endless to repeat observations of this sort.

Every leaf is different on an oak-tree; but still we can only say, our

tongues defrauding our eyes, This is another oak leaf!"

91. _Patience perforce._ Compulsory submission; a proverbial expression.

Nares quotes Ray's _Proverbs_: "Patience perforce is a medicine for a

mad dog" (or "a mad horse," as Howell gives it). Cf. Spenser, _F.Q._ ii.

3. 3:--

"Patience perforce: helplesse what may it boot

To frett for anger, or for griefe to mone?"

94. _Convert._ For the intransitive use, cf. _R. of L._ 592, _Much Ado_,

i. 1. 123, _Rich. II._ v. 1. 66, v. 3. 64, etc. Some make it transitive,

with _now seeming sweet_ (= "what now seems sweet") as its object; but

this seems too forced a construction.

96. _The gentle fine._ The sweet penance for the offence; that is, for

the rude touch of my hand. For _fine_ the early eds. have "sin" or

"sinne." The emendation is due to Warburton; but some editors retain

"sin."

105. _Let lips do_, etc. Juliet has said that palm to palm is holy

palmers' kiss. She afterwards says that palmers have lips that they must

use in prayer. Romeo replies that the prayer of his lips is that they

may do what hands do, that is, that they may kiss.

109. As Malone remarks, kissing in a public assembly was not then

thought indecorous. Cf. _Hen. VIII._ i. 4. 28.

White remarks: "I have never seen a Juliet on the stage who appeared to

appreciate the archness of the dialogue with Romeo in this scene. They

go through it solemnly, or at best with staid propriety. They reply

literally to all Romeo's speeches about saints and palmers. But it

should be noticed that though this is the first interview of the lovers,

we do not hear them speak until the close of their dialogue, in which

they have arrived at a pretty thorough understanding of their mutual

feeling. Juliet makes a feint of parrying Romeo's advances, but does it

archly, and knows that he is to have the kiss he sues for. He asks,

'Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too?' The stage Juliet answers

with literal solemnity. But it was not a conventicle at old Capulet's.

Juliet was not holding forth. How demure is her real answer: 'Ay,

pilgrim, lips that they must use--in prayer!' And when Romeo fairly gets

her into the corner, towards which she has been contriving to be driven,

and he says, 'Thus from my lips, by thine, my sin is purg'd,' and does

put them to that purgation, how slyly the pretty puss gives him the

opportunity to repeat the penance by replying, 'Then have my lips the

sin that they have took!'"

114. _What._ Who; as often. Cf. 130 below.

119. _Shall have the chinks._ This seems much like modern slang. S. uses

it only here; but Tusser (_Husbandry_, 1573) has both _chink_ and

_chinks_ in this sense, and the word is found also in Florio, Cotgrave,

Holinshed, Stanihurst, and other old writers.

120. _My life_, etc. "He means that, as bereft of Juliet he should die,

his existence is at the mercy of his enemy, Capulet" (Staunton). Cf.

Brooke:--

"So hath he learnd her name, and knowth she is no geast.

Her father was a Capilet, and master of the feast.

Thus hath his foe in choyse to geue him lyfe or death:

That scarsely can his wofull brest keepe in the liuely breath."

124. _Foolish._ A mere repetition of the apologetic _trifling_.

_Banquet_ sometimes meant a dessert, as here and in _T. of S._ v. 2.

9:--

"My banquet is to close our stomachs up,

After our great good cheer."

Nares quotes Massinger, _Unnatural Combat_:--

"We'll dine in the great room, but let the music

And banquet be prepared here;"

and Taylor, _Pennilesse Pilgrim_: "our first and second course being

threescore dishes at one boord, and after that alwayes a banquet."

_Towards_ = ready, at hand (Steevens). So _toward_; as in _M.N.D._ iii.

1. 81: "What, a play toward!"

125. _Is it e'en so?_ The 1st quarto has here the stage-direction:

"_They whisper in his eare_;" that is, whisper the reason of their

departure.

128. _By my fay._ That is, by my faith. Cf. _Ham._ ii. 2. 271, etc.

130. _Come hither, nurse_, etc. Cf. Brooke:--

"As carefull was the mayde what way were best deuise

To learne his name, that intertaind her in so gentle wise.

Of whome her hart receiued so deepe, so wyde a wound,

An aucient dame she calde to her, and in her eare gan rounde.[5]

This old dame in her youth, had nurst her with her mylke,

With slender nedle taught her sow, and how to spin with silke.

What twayne are those (quoth she) which prease vnto the doore,

Whose pages in theyr hand doe beare, two toorches light before.

And then as eche of them had of his household name,

So she him namde yet once agayne the yong and wyly dame.

And tell me who is he with vysor in his hand

That yender doth in masking weede besyde the window stand.

His name is Romeus (said shee) a Montegewe.

Whose fathers pryde first styrd the strife which both your householdes

rewe."

136. _If he be married_, etc. "Uttered to herself while the Nurse makes

inquiry" (Dowden). _Married_ is here a trisyllable.

142. _Prodigious._ Portentous. Cf. _M.N.D._ v. 1. 419, _K. John_, iii.

1. 46, _Rich. III._ i. 2. 23, etc.

[Footnote 5: That is, whisper. Cf. _W.T._ i. 2. 217, _K. John_, ii. 1.

566, etc.]

ACT II

_Enter Chorus._ This is generally put at the end of act i., but, as it

refers to the future, rather than the past, it may be regarded as a

prologue to act ii. There is no division of acts or scenes in the early

eds.

2. _Gapes._ Rushton quotes Swinburn, _Briefe Treatise of Testaments and

Last Willes_, 1590: "such personnes as do gape for greater bequests;"

and again: "It is an impudent part still to gape and crie upon the

testator."

3. On the repetition of _for_, cf. _A.W._ i. 2. 29: "But on us both did

haggish age steal on;" _Cor._ ii. 1. 18: "In what enormity is Marcius

poor in?" etc. _Fair_ = fair one; as in _M.N.D._ i. 1. 182, etc.

10. _Use._ Are accustomed. We still use the past tense of the verb in

this sense, but not the present. Cf. _Temp._ ii. 1. 175: "they always

use to laugh at nothing;" _T.N._ ii. 5. 104: "with which she uses to

seal;" _A. and C._ ii. 5. 32: "we use To say the dead are well," etc.

See also Milton, _Lycidas_, 67: "Were it not better done, as others

use," etc.

14. _Extremities._ That is, extreme difficulties or dangers.

SCENE I.--2. _Dull earth._ "Romeo's epithet for his small world of man,

the earthlier portion of himself" (Clarke). Cf. _Sonn._ 146. 1: "Poor

soul, the centre of my sinful earth."

5. _Orchard._ That is, garden; the only meaning in S.

6. _Conjure._ Accented by S. on either syllable, without regard to the

meaning.

7. _Humours!_ Fancies, caprices. Some read "Humour's madman!

Passion-lover!" See on 29 below.

10. _Ay me!_ Often changed here and elsewhere to "Ah me!" which occurs

in the old eds. of S. only in v. 1. 10 below. _Ay me!_ is found thirty

or more times. Milton also uses it often.

11. _My gossip Venus._ Cf. _M. of V._ iii. 1. 7: "if my gossip Report be

an honest woman of her word."

13. _Young Abraham Cupid._ The 2d and 3d quartos have "Abraham: Cupid;"

the other early eds. "Abraham Cupid." Upton conjectured "Adam Cupid,"

with an allusion to the famous archer, Adam Bell, and was followed by

Steevens and others. Theobald suggested "auborn," and it has since been

shown that _abraham_, _abram_, _aborne_, _aborn_, _abron_, _aubrun_,

etc., were all forms of the word now written _auburn_. In _Cor._ ii. 3.

21 the 1st, 2d, and 3d folios read: "our heads are some browne, some

blacke, some Abram, some bald;" the 4th folio changes "Abram" to

"auburn." In _T.G. of V._ iv. 4. 194, the folio has "Her haire is

_Aburne_, mine is perfect _Yellow_." These are the only instances of the

word in S. "Auburn" is adopted by a few editors, and is explained as =

"auburn-haired," but that surely is no _nickname_. Schmidt understands

"Young Abraham Cupid" to be used "in derision of the eternal boyhood of

Cupid, though in fact he was at least as old as father Abraham." Cf.

_L. L. L._ iii. 1. 182: "This senior-junior, giant-dwarf, Dan Cupid;" and

_Id._ v. 2. 10: "For he hath been five thousand years a boy." Furness in

his Variorum ed. gives "Adam," but he now prefers "Abraham" = the young

counterfeit, with his sham make-up, pretending to be _purblind_ and yet

_shooting so trim_. He thinks the allusion to the _beggar-maid_ also

favours this explanation. _Abraham-man_, originally applied to a

mendicant lunatic from Bethlehem Hospital, London, came to be a cant

term for an impostor wandering about and asking alms under pretence of

lunacy. Herford says that "Adam" is made almost certain by _Much Ado_,

i. 1. 260; but it is by no means certain that the allusion there is to

Adam Bell, as he assumes.

_Trim._ The reading of 1st quarto; the other early eds. have "true."

That the former is the right word is evident from the ballad of _King

Cophetua and the Beggar-Maid_ (see Percy's _Reliques_), in which we

read:--

"The blinded boy that shoots so trim

From heaven down did hie,

He drew a dart and shot at him,

In place where he did lie."

For other allusions to the ballad, see _L. L. L._ iv. 1. 66 and _2 Hen._

_IV._ v. 3. 106.

16. _Ape._ As Malone notes, _ape_, like _fool_ (see on i. 3. 31 above),

was sometimes used as a term of endearment or pity. Cf. _2 Hen. IV._ ii.

4. 234: "Alas, poor ape, how thou sweatest!"

22. _Circle._ Alluding to the ring drawn by magicians. Cf. _A.Y.L._ ii.

5. 62: "a Greek invocation, to call fools into a circle." See also _Hen._

_V._ v. 2. 320.

25. _Spite._ Vexation. Cf. i. 5. 64 above.

29. _Humorous._ Humid. Delius (like Schmidt) sees a quibble in the word:

"_moist_ and _capricious_, full of such humours as characterize lovers,

and as whose personification Mercutio had just conjured Romeo under the

collective name _humours_."

32. _Truckle-bed._ Trundle-bed; one made to run under a "standing-bed,"

as it was called. Cf. _M.W._ iv. 5. 7: "his standing-bed and

truckle-bed." The former was for the master, the latter for the servant.

Mercutio uses the term in sport, and adds a quibble on _field-bed_,

which was a camp-bed, or a bed on the ground.

SCENE II.--1. _He jests_, etc. Referring to Mercutio, whom he has

overheard, as the rhyme in _found_ and _wound_ indicates. The Cambridge

ed. suggests that in the old arrangement of the scene the wall may have

been represented as dividing the stage, so that the audience could see

Romeo on one side and Mercutio on the other. Mr. F.A. Marshall thinks

that Romeo "merely stepped to the back of the stage at the beginning of

the scene, and was supposed to be concealed from the others, not coming

out till they had gone. Juliet would appear on the 'upper stage' [the

balcony at the back of the Elizabethan stage], which did duty in the old

plays for so many purposes."

7. _Be not her maid._ Be not a votary to the moon, or Diana (Johnson).

Cf. _M.N.D._ i. 1. 73.

8. _Sick._ The 1st quarto has "pale," which is adopted by some editors.

It has been objected that _sick and green_ is a strange combination of

_colours_ in a livery; but it is rather the _effect_ of the colours that

is meant. Cf. _T.N._ ii. 4. 116: "with a green and yellow melancholy."

Perhaps, as Dowden remarks, the word _green-sickness_ (see iii. 5. 155)

suggested the epithets.

29. _White-upturned._ So Theobald and most of the editors. The early

eds. have "white, upturned," which Marshall prefers as better expressing

"the appearance of an upturned eye by moonlight."

39. _Thou art thyself_, etc. That is, you would be yourself, or what you

now are, even if you were not a Montague; just "as a rose is a rose--has

all its characteristic sweetness and beauty--though it be not called a

rose" (White). The thought is repeated below in _So Romeo would ... that

title_. The passage would not call for explanation if critics had not

been puzzled by it.

46. _Owes._ Possesses; as very often. Cf. _M.N.D._ ii. 2. 79, _Macb._ i.

3. 76, i. 4. 10, iii. 4. 113, etc.

52. _Bescreen'd._ Used by S. only here.

58. _Yet not._ A common transposition. Cf. _Hen. V._ iii. 3. 46: "his

powers are yet not ready;" _Hen. VIII._ ii. 4. 204: "full sick, and yet

not well;" _Cor._ i. 5. 18: "My work hath yet not warm'd me," etc.

61. _Dislike._ Displease. Cf. _Oth._ ii. 3. 49: "I'll do 't; but it

dislikes me." So _like_ = please; as in _Ham._ v. 2. 276: "This likes me

well," etc.

62. _Wherefore._ For the accent on the last syllable, cf. _M.N.D._ iii.

2. 272: "Hate me! Wherefore? O me! what news, my love!"

66. _O'er-perch._ Used by S. nowhere else.

69. _Let._ Hindrance; as in _R. of L._ 330, 646, and _Hen. V._ v. 2. 65.

Cf. the verb in _Ham._ i. 4. 85, etc.

78. _Prorogued._ Delayed; as in iv. 1. 48 below. On _wanting of_, cf. v.

1. 40 below: "Culling of simples."

83. _As that vast shore_, etc. Possibly suggested, as some have thought,

by the voyages of Drake and other explorers to America about the time

when S. was writing.

84. _Adventure._ Venture, try the chance. Cf. _Cymb._ iii. 4. 156:--

"O for such means!

Though peril to my modesty, not death on 't,

I would adventure."

89. _Farewell compliment!_ Away with formality! The early eds. have

"complement" or "complements," as in ii. 4. 19 below and elsewhere.

93. _At lovers' perjuries_, etc. Douce remarks that S. found this in

Ovid's _Art of Love_--perhaps in Marlowe's translation:--

"For Jove himself sits in the azure skies,

And laughs below at lovers' perjuries."

Cf. Greene, _Metamorphosis_: "What! Eriphila, Jove laughs at the

perjurie of lovers."

99. _Haviour._ Not "'haviour," as often printed. It is found in North's

_Plutarch_ and other prose.

101. _To be strange._ To appear coy or shy. Cf. iii. 2. 15 below:

"strange love" (that is, coy love).

103. _Ware._ See on i. 1. 121 above.

106. _Discovered._ Revealed, betrayed. Cf. iii. 1. 145 below, where it

is = tell, explain.

109. _The inconstant moon._ Cf. _M. for M._ iii. 1. 25:--

"For thy complexion shifts to strange effects,

After the moon."

See also _L. L. L._ v. 2. 212, _Lear_, v. 3. 19, and _Oth._ iii. 3. 178.

Hunter quotes Wilson, _Retorique_, 1553: "as in speaking of constancy,

to shew the sun who ever keepeth one course; in speaking of inconstancy,

to shew the moon which keepeth no certain course."

116. _Do not swear._ Coleridge remarks here: "With love, pure love,

there is always an anxiety for the safety of the object, a

disinterestedness by which it is distinguished from the counterfeits of

its name. Compare this scene with the _Temp._ iii. 1. I do not know a

more wonderful instance of Shakespeare's mastery in playing a distinctly

rememberable variation on the same remembered air than in the

transporting love-confessions of Romeo and Juliet and Ferdinand and

Miranda. There seems more passion in the one, and more dignity in the

other; yet you feel that the sweet girlish lingering and busy movement

of Juliet, and the calmer and more maidenly fondness of Miranda, might

easily pass into each other."

117. _Contract._ Accented by S. on either syllable, as suits the

measure. The verb is always _contráct_. See also on i. 4. 103 above.

119. _Like the lightning_, etc. Cf. _M.N.D._ i. 1. 145:--

"Brief as the lightning in the collied night,

That, in a spleen, unfolds both heaven and earth,

And ere a man hath power to say 'Behold!'

The jaws of darkness do devour it up;

So quick bright things come to confusion."

124. _As that_, etc. As to that heart, etc.

131. _Frank._ Bountiful; repeated in _bounty_. Cf. _Sonn._ 4. 4:--

"Nature's bequest gives nothing but doth lend,

And being frank she lends to those are free;"

and _Lear_, iii. 4. 20: "Your old kind father, whose frank heart gave

all."

139. _Afeard_. Used by S. interchangeably with _afraid_ (v. 3. 10

below).

141. _Substantial._ Metrically a quadrisyllable.

142. _Three words_, etc. Cf. Brooke's poem:--

"In few vnfained woords your hidden mynd vnfolde,

That as I see your pleasant face, your heart I may beholde.

For if you doe intende my honor to defile:

In error shall you wander still, as you haue done this whyle,

But if your thought be chaste, and haue on vertue ground,

If wedlocke be the ende and marke which your desire hath found:

Obedience set aside, vnto my parentes dewe:

The quarell eke that long agoe betwene our housholdes grewe:

Both me and myne I will all whole to you betake:

And following you where so you goe, my fathers house forsake."

143. _Bent._ Inclination; as in _J.C._ ii. 1. 210: "I can give his

humour the true bent," etc.

144. _Send me word to-morrow_, etc. This seems rather sudden at first

glance, but her desire for immediate marriage is due, partially at

least, to what she has just learned (i. 3) of the plan to marry her to

Paris.

151. _Madam!_ This forms no part of the verse, and might well enough be

separated from it, like the _Juliet_ in i. 5. 145 above. _By and by_ =

presently; as in iii. 1. 173 and iii. 3. 76 below.

152. _Suit._ The reading of 4th ("sute") and 5th quartos; the other

early eds. have "strife." The expression "To cease your sute" occurs in

Brooke's poem, a few lines below the passage just quoted.

153. _To-morrow._ "In the alternative which she places before her lover

with such a charming mixture of conscious delicacy and girlish

simplicity, there is that jealousy of female honour which precept and

education have infused into her mind, without one real doubt of his

truth, or the slightest hesitation in her self-abandonment; for she

does not even wait to hear his asseverations" (Mrs. Jameson).

157. _Toward school_, etc. Cf. _A.Y.L._ ii. 7. 145:--

"And then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel

And shining morning face, creeping like snail

Unwillingly to school."

160. _Tassel-gentle._ The _tassel-gentle_ or _tercel-gentle_ is the male

hawk. Dyce quotes Cotgrave, _Fr. Dict._: "Tiercelet. The Tassell or male

of any kind of Hawke, so tearmed, because he is, commonly, a third part

less than the female;" and Holmes, _Academy of Armory_: "_Tiercell_,

_Tercell_, or _Tassell_ is the general name for the Male of all large

Hawks." Malone says that the _tiercel-gentle_ was the species of hawk

appropriated to the prince, and thinks that on that account Juliet

applies it to Romeo. We find _tercel_ in _T. and C._ iii. 2. 56: "The

falcon as the tercel." The hawk was trained to know and obey _the

falconer's voice_. Cf. _T. of S._ iv. 1. 196:--

"Another way I have to man my haggard,

To make her come and know her keeper's call."

For _haggard_ = wild hawk, see _Much Ado_, iii. 1 36, _T.N._ iii. 1. 71,

etc.

163. _Airy tongue._ Cf. Milton, _Comus_, 208: "And airy tongues, that

syllable men's names," etc.

166. _Silver-sweet._ Cf. _Per._ v. 1. 111: "As silver-voic'd." See also

iv. 5. 124 below: "Then music with her silver sound," etc. The figure is

a very common one.

167. _Attending._ Attentive. Cf. _T.A._ v. 3. 82: "To lovesick Dido's

sad attending ear."

171. _I have forgot why I did call thee back._ We know, and she knew,

that it was _only_ to call him back, parting was "such sweet sorrow."

178. _A wanton's bird._ Here _wanton_ means simply a playful girl. It is

often used in such innocent sense (cf. i. 4. 35 above), and is

sometimes masculine, as in _K. John_, v. 1. 70 and _Rich. II._ ii. 3.

164.

181. _Plucks it back._ Cf. Sonn. 126. 6: "As thou goest onwards, still

will pluck thee back." See also _W.T._ iv. 4. 476, 762 and _A. and C._

i. 2. 131. _Pluck_ is a favourite word with S.

182. _Loving-jealous._ Compound adjectives are much used by S. Cf. i. 1.

79, 176, 178, i. 2. 25, i. 4. 7, 100, etc., above.

190. _Dear hap._ Good fortune. The 1st quarto has "good hap," which

occurs in iii. 3. 171 below.

189. _Ghostly._ Spiritual; as in ii. 3. 45, ii. 6. 21, and iii. 3. 49

below.

SCENE III.--1. _Grey-eyed._ Delius says that _grey_ here and in _Much

Ado_, v. 3. 27 is = "bright blue," and Dyce defines it as "blue, azure";

but there is no reason why the word should not have its ordinary

meaning. The _grey_, as in _M.N.D._ iii. 2. 419, _J.C._ ii. 1. 103, and

iii. 5. 19 below, is the familiar poetic grey of the early morning

before sunrise. Whether ascribed, as here, to the eyes of the Morn, or,

as in Milton's _Lycidas_, to her sandals, does not matter. See also on

iii. 5. 8 below.

3. _Flecked._ Spotted, dappled; used by S. nowhere else.

4. _From forth._ Cf. _M.W._ iv. 4. 53: "Let them from forth a sawpit

rush at once," etc. For _Titan_ as the sun-god, cf. _V. and A._ 177, _T.

and C._ v. 10. 25, _Cymb._ iii. 4. 166, etc.

7. _Osier cage._ Basket. Dowden suggests that _of ours_ is "possibly not

merely for the rhyme's sake, but because the Franciscan had no personal

property."

8. _Precious-juiced flowers._ S. here prepares us for the part which the

Friar is afterwards to sustain. Having thus early found him to be a

chemist, we are not surprised at his furnishing the sleeping-draught for

Juliet. Cf. Brooke's poem:--

"What force the stones, the plants, and metals haue to woorke,

And diuers other thinges that in the bowels of earth do loorke,

With care I haue sought out, with payne I did then proue;

With them eke can I helpe my selfe at times of my behoue," etc.

9. _The earth_, etc. Cf. Milton, _P.L._ ii. 911: "The womb of nature,

and perhaps her grave." See also _Per._ ii. 3. 45:--

"Whereby I see that Time's the king of men,

He's both their parent, and he is their grave."

15. _Mickle._ Much, great; a word already half obsolete in the time of

S. Cf. _C. of E._ iii. 1. 45: "The one ne'er got me credit, the other

mickle blame," etc. _Powerful grace_ = "efficacious virtue" (Johnson);

or = gracious power.

19. _Strain'd._ Wrenched, forced. Cf. _M. of V._ iv. 1. 184: "The

quality of mercy is not strain'd" (that is, excludes the idea of force

or compulsion), etc.

23. _Weak._ So all the early eds. except 1st quarto, which has "small."

_Weak_ seems the better word as opposed to the following _power_

(Daniel).

25. _With that part._ That is, with its odour. Malone and Clarke take

_part_ to be = the sense of smell.

26. _Slays._ The 2d quarto has "staies" (= stops, paralyzes), which some

editors prefer.

27. _Encamp them._ For the reflexive use, cf. _Hen. V._ iii. 6. 180:

"we'll encamp ourselves." On the figurative _encamp_, cf. _L.C._ 203.

29. _Worser._ Cf. iii. 2. 108 below: "worser than Tybalt's death."

_Predominant_ was originally an astrological term. See _A.W._ i. 1. 211,

etc.

30. _Canker._ Canker-worm. Cf. _V. and A._ 656: "The canker that eats up

Love's tender spring;" _T.G. of V._ i. 1. 43: "in the sweetest bud The

eating canker dwells," etc.

34. _Good morrow._ Here = good-by.

37. _Unstuff'd._ "Not overcharged" (Schmidt); used by S. only here.

40. _With some._ The editors generally adopt "by some" from the 1st

quarto; but _with = by_ is so common in S. that the reading of all the

other early eds. may be accepted. See on i. 1. 148 and i. 2. 49 above.

_Distemperature_ = disorder. Cf. _C. of E._ v. 1. 82: "Of pale

distemperatures and foes to life."

41, 42. _Or if not so_, etc. Marshall doubts whether S. wrote these

lines. Of course, they belong to the first draft of the play.

51. _Both our remedies._ The healing of both of us. Cf. _A.W._ i. 3.

169: "both our mothers" = the mother of both of us. See also _Ham._ iii.

1. 42, _Cymb._ ii. 4. 56, etc.

52. _Lies._ Cf. _V. and A._ 1128:--

"She lifts the coffer-lids that close his eyes,

Where lo! two lamps burnt out in darkness lies."

See also _Rich. II_. iii. 3. 168 and _Cymb._ ii. 3. 24.

54. _Steads._ Benefits, helps. Cf. _Temp._ i. 2. 165: "Which since have

steaded much;" _M. of V._ i. 3. 7: "May you stead me?" etc.

55. _Homely in thy drift._ Simple in what you have to say. Cf. iv. 1.

114 below.

56. _Riddling._ Cf. _M.N.D._ ii. 2. 53: "Lysander riddles very

prettily;" and 1 _Hen. VI._ ii. 3. 57: "a riddling merchant."

61. _When and where and how_, etc. An instance of the so-called

"chiastic" construction of which S. was fond. Cf. _M.N.D._ iii. 1. 113,

114, _Ham._ iii. 1. 158, 159, _A. and C._ iii. 2. 15-18, etc.

73. _Sighs._ Compared to vapours which the _sun_ dispels.

72. _To season love._ A favourite metaphor with S., though a homely one;

taken from the use of salt in preserving meat. For the reference to salt

tears, cf. _A.W._ i. 1. 55, _T.N._ i. 1. 30, _R. of L._ 796, _L.C._ 18,

etc.

74. _Ancient._ Aged; as in ii. 4. 133 below. See also _Lear_, ii. 2. 67,

_Cymb._ v. 3. 15, etc.

88. _Did read by rote_, etc. "Consisted of phrases learned by heart, but

knew nothing of the true characters of love" (Schmidt).

93. _I stand on sudden haste._ I must be in haste. Cf. the impersonal

use of _stand on_ or _upon_ = it concerns, it is important to; as in

_C. of E._ iv. 1. 68: "Consider how it stands upon my credit;" _Rich._

_II._ ii. 3. 138: "It stands your grace upon to do him right" (that is,

it is your duty), etc. Cf. ii. 4. 34 below.

SCENE IV.--2. _To-night._ Last night. See on i. 4. 50 above.

13. _How he dares._ For the play on _dare_ = venture, and _dare_ =

challenge, cf. _2 Hen. VI._ iii. 2. 203. There is also a play on

_answer_.

15. _A white wench's black eye._ Cf. _L. L. L._ iii. 1. 108:--

"A whitely wanton with a velvet brow,

And two pitch-balls stuck in her face for eyes;"

and Rosalind's reference to the "bugle eyeballs" of Phebe in _A. Y.L._

iii. 5, 47, which the shepherdess recalls as a sneer: "He said mine eyes

were black," etc.

_Thorough._ Through. Cf. _M.N.D._ ii. 1. 3, 5, _W.T._ iii. 2. 172,

_J.C._ iii. 1. 136, v. 1. 110, etc.

16. _The very pin_, etc. The allusion is to archery. The _clout_ (cf.

_L. L. L._ iv. 1. 136), or white mark at which the arrows were aimed, was

fastened by a black pin in the centre. Cf. Marlowe, _Tamburlane_,

1590:--

"For kings are clouts that every man shoots at,

Our crown the pin that thousands seek to cleave."

17. _Butt-shaft._ A kind of arrow used for shooting at butts; formed

without a barb, so as to be easily extracted (Nares).

20. _Prince of cats._ _Tybert_ is the name of the cat in _Reynard the

Fox_. Steevens quotes Dekker, _Satiromastix_, 1602: "tho' you were

Tybert, the long-tail'd prince of cats;" and _Have with You_, etc.: "not

Tibalt, prince of cats." _Tibert_, _Tybert_, and _Tybalt_ are forms of

the ancient name _Thibault_. Cf. iii. 1. 77 below.

21. _Captain of compliments._ A complete master of etiquette. Cf.

_L. L. L._ i. 1. 169:--

"A man of compliments, whom right and wrong

Have chose as umpire of their mutiny."

As Schmidt remarks, the modern distinction of _compliment_ and

_complement_ is unknown to the orthography of the old eds. See on ii. 2.

89 above.

22. _Prick-song._ Music sung from notes (Schmidt); so called from the

points or dots with which it is expressed. S. uses the word only here.

When opposed to _plain-song_, it meant counter-point as distinguished

from mere melody. Here, as Elson shows, there is a reference to marking

the time "by tapping the foot in time with the music, or, more

frequently and more artistically, by waving the hand as the conductor of

an orchestra waves his baton."

23. _Me._ For the "ethical dative," cf. _J.C._ i. 2. 270: "He plucked me

ope his doublet," etc.

25. _Button._ Steevens quotes _The Return from Parnassus_, 1606:

"Strikes his poinado at a button's breadth." Staunton cites George

Silver's _Paradoxes of Defence_, 1599: "Signior Rocco, ... thou that

takest upon thee to hit anie Englishman with a thrust upon anie button,"

etc. Duels were frequent in England in the time of S. The matter had

been reduced to a science, and its laws laid down in books. The _causes_

of quarrel had been duly graded and classified, as Touchstone explains

in _A.Y.L._ v. 4. 63 fol.

26. _Of the very first house._ Of the first rank among duellists.

27. _Passado._ "A motion forwards and thrust in fencing" (Schmidt). Cf.

_L. L. L._ i. 2. 184: "the passado he respects not." The _punto reverso_

was a back-handed stroke. We have _punto_ (= thrust) in _M.W._ ii. 3.

26: "to see thee pass thy punto." The _hay_ was a home-thrust; from the

Italian _hai_ = thou hast it (not "he has it," as Schmidt and others

explain it). Johnson gives it correctly: "The _hay_ is the word _hai_,

you _have_ it, used when a thrust reaches the antagonist, from which our

fencers, on the same occasion, without knowing, I suppose, any reason

for it, cry out ha!"

30. _Fantasticoes._ Steevens quotes Dekker, _Old Fortunatus_: "I have

danced with queens, dallied with ladies, worn strange attires, seen

fantasticoes," etc.

32. _Grandsire._ Addressed to Benvolio in raillery of his staid

demeanour.

33. _Fashion-mongers._ Cf. _Much Ado_, v. 1. 94: "fashion-monging boys."

34. _Pardonnez-mois._ Fellows who are continually saying

_pardonnez-moi_; a hit at Frenchified affectation. The Cambridge ed. has

"perdona-mi's" (Italian, suggested by the "pardona-mees" of the 4th and

5th quartos). Herford reads "pardon-me's."

35. _Form._ There is a play on the word, as in _L. L. L._ i. 1. 209:

"sitting with her upon the form ... in manner and form following."

Blakeway remarks: "I have heard that during the reign of large breeches

it was necessary to cut away hollow places in the benches in the House

of Commons, to make room for those monstrous protuberances, without

which contrivance they who stood on the new form could not sit at ease

on the old bench."

36. _Bons._ The early eds. have "bones," which is unintelligible. The

correction is due to Theobald, and is generally adopted.

38. _Without his roe._ "That is, he comes but half himself; he is only a

sigh--_O me!_ that is, _me O!_ the half of his name" (Seymour). It may

mean without his mistress, whom he has had to leave; roe meaning a

female deer as well as the spawn of a fish. Cf. _L. L. L._ v. 2. 309,

where the Princess says: "Whip to our tents, as roes run over land;" and

_T. and C._ v. 1. 68: "a herring without a roe."

42. _Be-rhyme._ Cf. _A.Y.L._ iii. 2. 186: "I was never so be-rhymed,"

etc.

43. _Hildings._ Base menials; used of both sexes. Cf. _T. of S._ ii. 1.

26: "For shame, thou hilding;" _A.W._ iii. 6. 4: "If your lordship find

him not a hilding, hold me no more in your respect," etc. See also iii.

5. 167 below. It is used as an adjective in _2 Hen. IV._ i. 1. 57 and

_Hen. V._ iv. 2. 29.

44. _Grey eye._ Here Malone and others make _grey_ = blue; while

Steevens and Ulrici take the ground that it has its ordinary meaning.

The latter quote _Temp._ i. 2. 269 ("This blue-eyed hag") in proof that

blue eyes were accounted ugly; but the reference there, as in _A.Y.L._

iii. 2. 393 ("a blue eye and sunken"), seems to be to a bluish circle

about the eyes. It is curious that these are the only specific allusions

to blue eyes in S. In _W.T._ i. 2. 136, some make "welkin eye" = blue

eye; but it is more probably = heavenly eye, as Schmidt gives it. In _V.

and A._ 482 ("Her two blue windows faintly she upheaveth") the eyelids,

not the eyes, are meant, on account of their "blue veins" (_R. of L._

440). Cf. _Cymb._ ii. 2. 21:--

"would under-peep her lids,

To see the enclosed lights, now canopied

Under these windows, white and azure lac'd

With blue of heaven's own tinct."

Malone cites both this last passage and _V. and A._ 482 as referring to

blue eyes; but the "azure _lac'd_" ought to settle the question in

regard to the former, and "windows" evidently has the same meaning in

both. If the "blue windows" _were_ blue eyes, Malone would make out his

case, for in _V. and A._ 140 the goddess says "Mine eyes are grey and

bright." But why should the poet call them _blue_ in the one place and

_grey_ in the other, when the former word would suit the verse equally

well in both? In my opinion, when he says _blue_ he means blue, and when

he says _grey_ he means grey. See on ii. 3. 1 above. The _New Eng.

Dict._ does not recognize blue as a meaning of _grey_. It seems,

however, from certain passages in writers of the time that the word was

sometimes = bluish grey or bluish; but never "bright blue" (as Delius

defines it) or clear blue, as Dyce and others assume.

46. _Slop._ For _slops_ (= large loose breeches), see _Much Ado_, iii.

2. 36, etc. _Gave us the counterfeit_ = played a trick on us.

_Counterfeit_ is used for the sake of the coming play on _slip_, which

sometimes meant a counterfeit coin. Cf. Greene, _Thieves Falling Out_,

etc.: "counterfeit pieces of money, being brasse, and covered over with

silver, which the common people call slips." There is also a play upon

the word in the only other instance in which S. uses it, _V. and A._

515:--

"Which purchase if thou make, for fear of slips

Set thy seal-manual on my wax-red lips."

58. _Kindly._ The word literally means "naturally, in a manner suited to

the character or occasion" (Schmidt); hence aptly, pertinently.

63. _Then is my pump_, etc. The idea seems to be, my shoe or _pump_,

being _pinked_ or punched with holes, is well _flowered_. Cf. _unpinked_

in _T. of S._ iv. 1. 136: "And Gabriel's pumps were all unpink'd i' the

heel."

68. _Single-soled._ "With a quibble on _sole_ and _soul_ = having but

one sole, and silly, contemptible" (Schmidt). Steevens gives several

examples of _single-soled_ = mean, contemptible. _Singleness_ here =

simplicity, silliness.

74. _Wild-goose chase._ A kind of horse-race, resembling the flight of

wild geese. Two horses were started together; and if one got the lead

the other was obliged to follow over whatever ground the foremost rider

chose to take (Holt White).

77. _Was I with you_, etc. Was I even with you, have I paid you off? as,

perhaps, in _T. of S._ iv. 1. 170: "What, do you grumble? I'll be with

you straight!" For the allusion to _five wits_ see on i. 4. 47 above.

80. _I will bite thee by the ear._ A playful expression of endearment,

common in the old dramatists.

81. _Good goose, bite not._ A proverbial phrase, found in Ray's

_Proverbs_.

82. _Sweeting._ A kind of sweet apple. The word is still used in this

sense, at least in New England. Steevens quotes Sumner's _Last Will and

Testament_, 1600: "as well crabs as sweetings for his summer fruits."

There was also a variety known as the _bittersweet_. Cf. _Fair Em_: "And

left me such a bitter sweet to gnaw upon."

84. _And is it not well served in_, etc. White remarks that "the passage

illustrates the antiquity of that dish so much esteemed by all boys and

many men--goose and apple-sauce." Cf. the allusions to mutton and capers

in _T.N._ i. 3. 129, and to beef and mustard in _M.N.D._ iii. 1. 197 and

_T. of S._ iv. 3. 23.

86. _Cheveril._ Soft kid leather for gloves, proverbially elastic. Cf.

_Hen. VIII._ ii. 3. 32:--

"which gifts,

Saving your mincing, the capacity

Of your soft cheveril conscience would receive,

If you might please to stretch it."

See also _T.N._ iii. 1. 13: "a cheveril glove," etc.

90. _A broad goose._ No satisfactory explanation of this quibble has

been given. Schmidt defines _broad_ here as "plain, evident." Dowden

suggests that there is a play on _brood-goose_, which occurs in

Fletcher, _Humorous Lieutenant_, ii. 1: "They have no more burden than a

brood-goose" (breeding goose).

95. _Natural._ Fool, idiot. Cf. _Temp._ iii. 2. 37 and _A.Y.L._ i. 2.

52, 57.

97. _Gear._ Matter, business. Cf. _T. and C._ i. 1. 6: "Will this gear

ne'er be mended?" _2 Hen. VI._ i. 4. 17: "To this gear the sooner the

better," etc.

99. _Two, two_, etc. This is given to Mercutio in most of the early

eds., and White doubts whether it belongs to the sober Benvolio; but he

is not incapable of fun. Cf. 125 below.

102. _My fan, Peter._ Cf. _L. L. L._ iv. 1. 147: "To see him walk before a

lady and to bear her fan!" The fans of the time of S. were large and

heavy.

105. _God ye good morrow._ That is, God give ye, etc. For _good den_,

see on i. 2. 57 above.

109. _Prick of noon._ Point of noon. Cf. 3 _Hen. VI._ i. 4. 34: "at the

noontide prick." See also _R. of L._ 781.

123. _Confidence._ Probably meant for _conference_. Cf. _Much Ado_,

iii. 5. 3, where Dogberry says, "Marry, sir, I would have some

confidence with you that decerns you nearly."

125. _Indite._ Probably used in ridicule of the Nurse's _confidence_.

Mrs. Quickly uses the word in the same way in _2 Hen. IV._ ii. 1. 30:

"he is indited to dinner."

126. _So ho!_ The cry of the sportsmen when they find a hare. Hence

Romeo's question that follows.

129. _Hoar._ Often = mouldy, as things grow white from moulding

(Steevens).

134. _Lady, lady, lady._ From the old ballad of _Susanna_, also quoted

in _T.N._ ii. 3. 85: "There dwelt a man in Babylon, lady, lady!"

136. _Merchant._ Used contemptuously, like _chap_, which is a

contraction of _chapman_. Cf. _1 Hen. VI._ ii. 3. 57: "a riddling

merchant;" and Churchyard's _Chance_, 1580: "What saucie merchaunt

speaketh now, saied Venus in her rage?"

137. _Ropery._ Roguery. Steevens quotes _The Three Ladies of London_,

1584: "Thou art very pleasant and full of thy roperye." Cf.

_rope-tricks_ in _T. of S._ i. 2. 112, which Schmidt explains as "tricks

deserving the halter." Nares and Douce see the same allusion in

_ropery_.

143. _Jacks._ For the contemptuous use of the word, cf. _M. of V._ iii.

4. 77: "these bragging Jacks;" _Much Ado_, v. 1. 91: "Boys, apes,

braggarts, Jacks, milksops!" etc.

144. _Flirt-gills._ That is _flirting Gills_ or women of loose

behaviour. _Gill_ or _Jill_ was a familiar term for a woman, as _Jack_

was for a man. Cf. the proverb, "Every Jack must have his Jill;" alluded

to in _L. L. L._ v. 2. 885 and _M.N.D._ iii. 2. 461. The word is a

contraction of _Gillian_ (see _C. of E._ iii. 1. 31), which is a

corruption of _Juliana_. _Gill-flirt_ was the more common form.

145. _Skains-mates._ A puzzle to the commentators. As _skein_ is an

Irish word for knife (used by Warner, Greene, Chapman, and other writers

of the time) Malone and Steevens make _skains-mates_ mean "cut-throat

companions" or fencing-school companions. Schmidt defines it as

"messmates," and Nares as probably = "roaring or swaggering companions."

Various other explanations have been suggested; but there is probably

some corruption in the first part of the compound.

153. _Afore._ Not a mere vulgarism. It is used by Capulet in iii. 4. 34

and iv. 2. 31 below. Cf. _Temp._ iv. 1. 7:--

"here afore Heaven,

I ratify this my rich gift," etc.

158. _In a fool's paradise._ Malone cities _A handfull of Pleasant

Delightes, 1584_:--

"When they see they may her win,

They leave then where they did begin;

They prate, and make the matter nice,

And leave her in fooles paradise."

and Barnaby Rich's _Farewell_: "Knowing the fashion of you men to be

such, as by praisyng our beautie, you think to bring into a fooles

paradize."

162. _Weak._ Explained by Schmidt as "stupid." Clarke thinks that "she

intends to use a most forcible expression, and blunders upon a most

feeble one."

177. _And stay_, etc. The pointing is White's. Most editors follow the

early eds. and read "And stay, good nurse, behind the abbey wall, etc."

180. _A tackled stair._ That is, a rope-ladder. Cf. "ladder-tackle" in

_Per._ iv. 1. 61.

181. _High top-gallant._ The top-gallant mast; figuratively for summit

or climax. Steevens quotes Markham, _English Arcadia_, 1607: "the high

top-gallant of his valour." S. uses the term only here.

183. _Quit._ Requite, reward. Cf. _Ham._ v. 2. 68, 280, etc.

184. _Mistress._ A trisyllable here.

188. _Two may keep counsel._ That is, keep a secret. Cf. _T.A._ iv. 2.

144: "Two may keep counsel when the third's away."

191. _Lord_, etc. Cf. Brooke's poem:--

"A prety babe (quod she) it was when it was yong:

Lord how it could full pretely haue prated with it [its] tong."

194. _Lieve._ Often used for _lief_ in the old eds. It is sometimes

found in good writers of recent date. Mätzner quotes Sheridan: "I had as

lieve be shot."

195. _Properer._ Handsomer. Cf. _A.Y.L._ i. 2. 129, iii. 5. 51, etc. See

also _Hebrews_, xi. 23.

197. _Pale as any clout._ A common simile of which Dowden cites examples

from Bunyan and others. _Versal_ is a vulgarism for _universal_.

198. _A letter._ One letter. Cf. _Ham._ v. 2. 276: "These foils have all

a length," etc. For _rosemary_ as the symbol of remembrance, see _Ham._

iv. 5. 175.

200. _The dog's name._ _R_ was called "the dog's letter." Cf. Jonson,

_Eng. Gram._: "R is the dog's letter and hurreth in the sound." Farmer

cites Barclay, _Ship of Fools_, 1578:--

"This man malicious which troubled is with wrath,

Nought els soundeth but the hoorse letter R.

Though all be well, yet he none aunswere hath

Save the dogges letter glowming with nar, nar."

Dyce remarks: "Even in the days of the Romans, _R_ was called _the dog's

letter_, from its resemblance in sound to the snarling of a dog."

208. _Before, and apace._ Go before, and quickly. For _apace_, cf. iii.

2. 1 below.

SCENE V.--7. _Love._ That is, Venus. Cf. _Temp._ iv. 1. 94:--

"I met her deity

Cutting the clouds towards Paphos, and her son

Dove-drawn with her;"

and _V. and A._ 1190:--

"Thus weary of the world, away she hies,

And yokes her silver doves."

9. _Highmost._ Cf. _Sonn._ 7. 9: "But when from highmost pitch, with

weary ear," etc. We still use _hindmost_, _topmost_, etc.

11. _Hours._ A dissyllable; as in iii. 1. 198.

14. _Bandy._ A metaphor from tennis. Cf. _L. L. L._ v. 2. 29: "Well

bandied both; a set of wit well play'd," etc. See on iii. 1. 91 below.

18. _Honey nurse._ Cf. _L. L. L._ v. 2. 530: "my fair, sweet, honey

monarch;" _T. of S._ iv. 3. 52: "my honey love," etc.

22. _Them._ S. makes _news_ both singular and plural. For the latter,

cf. _Much Ado_, i. 2. 4.

25. _Give me leave._ Let me alone, let me rest. See on i. 3. 7 above.

26. _Ache._ Spelt "ake" in the folio both here and in 49 below. This

indicates the pronunciation of the verb. The noun was pronounced

_aitch_, and the plural was a dissyllable; as in _Temp._ i. 2. 370, _T.

of A._ i. 1. 257, etc.

36. _Stay the circumstance._ Wait for the particulars. Cf. _A.Y.L._ iii.

2. 221: "let me stay the growth of his beard," etc. On _circumstance_,

cf. v. 3. 181 below: "without circumstance" (= without further

particulars). See also _V. and A._ 844, _Ham._ v. 2. 2, etc.

38. _Simple._ Silly; as often. Cf. iii. 1. 35 below, and _simpleness_ in

iii. 3. 77.

43. _Past compare._ Cf. iii. 5. 236 below: "above compare," etc.

50. _As._ As if; a common ellipsis.

51. _O' t'other._ On the other. Cf. i. 1. 44 above: "of our side."

52. _Beshrew._ A mild form of imprecation, often used playfully. Cf.

iii. 5. 221, 227 below.

56-58. _Your love_, etc. Printed as prose by the Cambridge editors,

Daniel, and some others.

66. _Coil._ Ado, "fuss." See _Much Ado_, iii. 3. 100, _M.N.D._ iii. 2.

339, etc.

72. _Straight at any news._ Capell explains it, "at such talk (of love

and Romeo), _any_ talk of that kind." Perhaps, as Dowden suggests, the

meaning is, "It is their way to redden at any surprise."

SCENE VI.--9. _These violent delights_, etc. Malone compares _R. of L._

894: "These violent vanities can never last." He might have added _Ham._

ii. 1. 102:--

"This is the very ecstasy of love,

Whose violent property fordoes itself."

10. _Like fire and powder._ For the simile, cf. iii. 3. 132 and v. 1. 64

below.

12. _His._ Its; as often. _Its_ was just coming into use when S. wrote.

Cf. v. 3. 203 below.

13. _Confounds._ Destroys; as often. Cf. _Macb._ ii. 2. 12, iv. 1. 54,

iv. 3. 99, etc. So _confusion_ often = destruction, ruin; as in iv. 5.

61 below.

15. _Too swift_, etc. "The more haste, the worse speed."

17. _Will ne'er wear out_, etc. White thinks that the reading of the 1st

quarto, "So light a foot ne'er hurts the trodden flower," is "a daintier

and more graceful, and therefore, it would seem, a more appropriate

figure." The quarto, it is true, gives the "daintier" figure, which has

been used by the poets from Pope's description of Camilla flying "o'er

the unbending corn" to Tennyson's Olivia in _The Talking Oak_:--

"The flower she touch'd on dipt and rose,

And turn'd to look at her."

It would be appropriate in the Friar's mouth if he were in the fields,

as in ii. 3, and Juliet had met him there. Very likely S. at first wrote

it as in the quarto, but his poetic instinct led him to change it in

revising the play. The speaker is now in his cell, with its stone floor

worn by the tread of many heavy feet--such as one sees in old churches

and monasteries in Europe--but Juliet's light step will not thus wear

"the everlasting flint." The comparison is natural and apt.

18. _Gossamer._ Light filaments floating in the air, especially in

autumn. Their origin was formerly not understood, but they are now

known to be the webs of certain species of spiders. Cf. _Lear_, iv. 6.

49: "Hadst thou been aught but gossamer, feathers, air." S. uses the

word only twice.

20. _Vanity._ "Here used for 'trivial pursuit,' 'vain delight.' The word

was much used in this sense by divines in Shakespeare's time, and with

much propriety is so put into the good old Friar's mouth" (Clarke).

21. _Confessor._ For the accent on the first syllable, cf. _M. for M._

iv. 3. 133: "One of our covent and his confessor;" and _Hen. VIII._ i.

2. 149: "His confessor, who fed him every minute," etc. See also iii. 3.

49 below.

25. _And that._ And if. This use of _that_ (in place of a preceding

conjunction) is common in S. Cf. _L. L. L._ v. 2. 813, _T. and C._ ii. 2.

179, etc.

26. _Blazon it._ Set it forth. Cf. _Oth._ ii. 1. 63: "One that excels

the quirks of blazoning pens," etc.

29. _Encounter._ Meeting. It is often used, as here, of the meeting of

lovers. Cf. _Much Ado_, iii. 3. 161, iv. 1. 94, M.W. iii. 5. 74, etc.

30. _Conceit._ Conception, imagination. Cf. _Ham._ iii. 4. 114: "Conceit

in weakest bodies strongest works," etc. So _conceited_ = imaginative in

_R. of L._ 1371: "the conceited painter," etc.

32. _They are but beggars_, etc. Cf. _A. and C._ i. 1. 15: "There's

beggary in the love that can be reckon'd." _Worth_ = wealth.

36. _Leaves._ The plural is used because the reference is to more than

one person; a common construction in S. Cf. _Rich. II._ iv. 1. 314:

"your sights," etc.

ACT III

SCENE I.--2. _The day is hot._ "It is observed that in Italy almost all

assassinations are committed during the heat of summer" (Johnson).

3. _Scape._ Not "'scape," as often printed. The word is used in prose;

as in _M. of V._ ii. 2. 174, etc.

6. _Me._ See on ii. 4. 23 above. We have the same construction in _him_,

two lines below, where some eds. have "it" (from 1st quarto).

8. _Operation._ Effect. Cf. _2 Hen. IV._ iv. 3. 104: "A good

sherris-sack hath a twofold operation in it," etc.

11. _Am I_, etc. "The quietness of this retort, with the slight but

significant emphasis which we imagine thrown upon the _I_, admirably

gives point to the humorous effect of Mercutio's lecturing Benvolio--the

sedate and peace-making Benvolio, and lectured by Mercutio, of all

people!--for the sin of quarrelsomeness" (Clarke).

12. _Jack._ See on ii. 4. 127 above.

14. _Moody._ Angry. Cf. _2 Hen. IV._ iv. 4. 39: "But, being moody, give

him line and scope," etc.

31. _Tutor me from._ Teach me to avoid.

39. _Good den._ See on i. 2. 57 above.

43. _Apt enough to._ Ready enough for. Cf. iii. 3. 157 below.

47. _Consort'st with._ Keepest company with. Cf. _V. and A._ 1041,

_M.N.D._ iii. 2. 387, _T. and C._ v. 3. 9, etc.

48. _Consort._ The word (with accent on first syllable) sometimes meant

a company of musicians. Cf. _T.G. of V._ iii. 2. 84:--

"Visit by night your lady's chamber-window

With some sweet consort; to their instruments

Tune a deploring dump," etc.

See also _2 Hen. VI._ iii. 2. 327. In these passages the modern eds.

generally read "concert." Milton has _consort_ in the same sense in the

_Ode at a Solemn Musick_, 27:--

"O, may we soon again renew that song,

And keep in tune with Heaven, till God ere long

To his celestial consort us unite,

To live with him, and sing in endless morn of light!"

Cf. _Ode on Nativ._ 132: "Make up full consort to the angelic symphony;"

_Il Pens._ 145: "With such consort as they keep," etc. "The _consorts_

of S.'s time were not only concerted music, but generally composed of

such instruments as belonged to one family. If, for example, only viols

were employed, the consort was called _whole_, but if virginal, lute, or

flute came into the combination, it was a _broken consort_, or _broken

music_" (Elson). Cf. _A.Y.L._ i. 2. 150, etc.

51. _Zounds._ Like _'swounds_ (see _Ham._ ii. 2. 604), an oath

contracted from "God's wounds!" and generally omitted or changed in the

folio in deference to the statute of James I. against the use of the

name of God on the stage. Here the folio has "Come."

54. _Reason coldly._ Talk coolly or dispassionately. Cf. _M. of V._ ii.

8. 27: "I reason'd with a Frenchman yesterday;" and _Much Ado_, iii. 2.

132: "bear it coldly but till midnight," etc.

"Benvolio presents a triple alternative: either to withdraw to a private

place, or to discuss the matter quietly where they were, or else to part

company; and it is supremely in character that on such an occasion he

should perceive and suggest all these methods of avoiding public

scandal" (White).

55. _Depart._ Perhaps = part. Cf. 3 _Hen. VI._ ii. 6. 43: "A deadly

groan, like life and death's departing," etc. So _depart with_ = part

with; as in _K. John_, ii. 1. 563:--

"John, to stop Arthur's title in the whole,

Hath willingly departed with a part," etc.

In the Marriage Ceremony "till death us do part" was originally "us

depart." The word is used in the same sense in Wiclif's Bible,

_Matthew_, xix. 6. On the other hand, _part_ often = depart; as in

_T.N._ v. 1. 394, _Cor._ v. 6. 73, _T. of A._ iv. 2. 21, etc.

57. _I._ The repetition of the pronoun at the end of the sentence is

common in S. Cf. _T.G. of V._ v. 4. 132: "I care not for her, I;" _Rich._

_III._ iii. 2. 78: "I do not like these several councils, I;" _T.A._ v.

3. 113: "I am no vaunter, I;" _Id._ v. 3. 185: "I am no baby, I," etc.

See also iii. 5. 12 below.

62. _The hate I bear thee._ The reading of 1st quarto. The other early

eds. have "love"; but Tybalt is not given to irony.

64. _Love._ Delius says that this "is of course ironical," but the

reiteration in the next speech shows that it is not. Romeo's love for

Juliet embraces, in a way, all her kindred. His heart, as Talfourd

expresses it in _Ion_,--

"Enlarge'd by its new sympathy with one,

Grew bountiful to all."

65. _Appertaining rage_, etc. That is, the rage appertaining to

(belonging to, or becoming) such a greeting. Cf. _Macb._ iii. 6. 48:--

"our suffering country

Under a hand accurst."

68. _Boy._ Often used contemptuously; as in _Much Ado._ v. 1. 83, 187,

_Cor._ v. 6. 101, 104, 117, etc.

73. _Tender._ Regard, cherish. Cf. _Ham._ i. 3. 107: "Tender yourself

more dearly," etc.

76. _A la stoccata._ Capell's emendation of the "Alla stucatho" or

"Allastucatho" of the early eds. _Stoccata_ is the Italian term for a

thrust or stab with a rapier. It is the same as the "stoccado" of _M.W._

ii. 1. 234, the "stock" of _Id._ ii. 3. 26, and the "stuck" of _T.N._

iii. 4. 303 and _Ham._ iv. 7. 162. _Carries it away_ = carries the day.

79. _King of cats._ See on ii. 4. 20 above. On _nine lives_, cf.

Marston, _Dutch Courtezan_: "Why then thou hast nine lives like a cat,"

etc. A little black-letter book, _Beware the Cat_, 1584, says that it

was permitted to a witch "to take on her a cattes body nine times."

Trusler, in his _Hogarth Moralized_, remarks: "The conceit of a cat's

having nine lives hath cost at least nine lives in ten of the whole race

of them. Scarce a boy in the streets but has in this point outdone even

Hercules himself, who was renowned for killing a monster that had but

three lives."

81. _Dry-beat._ Beat soundly. Cf. _L. L. L._ v. 2. 263: "all dry-beaten

with pure scoff." See also iv. 5. 120 below. S. uses the word only three

times; but we have "dry basting" in _C. of E._ ii. 2. 64.

83. _Pilcher._ Scabbard; but no other example of the word in this sense

has been found. _Pilch_ or _pilche_ meant a leathern coat, and the word

or a derivative of it may have been applied to the leathern sheath of a

rapier.

87. _Passado._ See on ii. 4. 27 above.

89. _Outrage._ A trisyllable here. Cf. _entrance_ in i. 4. 8.

91. _Bandying._ Contending. Cf. 1 _Hen. VI._ iv. 1. 190: "This factious

bandying of their favourites." For the literal sense, see on ii. 5. 14

above.

92. The 1st quarto has here the stage-direction, _"Tibalt under Romeos

arme thrusts Mercutio in and flyes_;" which some modern eds. retain

substantially.

93. _Sped._ Dispatched, "done for." Cf. _M. of V._ ii. 9. 72: "So

begone; you are sped;" _T. of S._ v. 2. 185: "We three are married, but

you two are sped," etc. See also Milton, _Lycidas_, 122: "What need

they? They are sped" (that is, provided for).

100. _Grave._ Farmer cites Lydgate's _Elegy on Chaucer_: "My master

Chaucer now is grave;" and Steevens remarks that we have the same

quibble in _The Revenger's Tragedy_, 1608, where Vindice dresses up a

lady's skull and says: "she has a somewhat grave look with her." Cf.

John of Gaunt's play on his name when on his death-bed (_Rich. II._ ii.

1. 82).

104. _Fights by the book of arithmetic_. Cf. ii. 4. 22 above: "keeps

time, distance," etc.

111. _Your houses!_ "The broken exclamation of a dying man, who has not

breath to repeat his former anathema, 'A plague o' both your houses!'"

(Marshall).

113. _My very friend._ Cf. _T.G. of V._ iii. 2. 41: "his very friend;"

_M. of V._ iii. 2. 226: "my very friends and countrymen," etc.

116. _Cousin._ Some editors adopt the "kinsman" of 1st quarto; but

_cousin_ was often = kinsman. See on i. 5. 32 above.

120. _Aspir'd._ Not elsewhere used transitively by S. Cf. Chapman,

_Iliad_, ix.: "and aspir'd the gods' eternal seats;" Marlowe,

_Tamburlaine_: "our souls aspire celestial thrones," etc.

121. _Untimely._ Often used adverbially (like many adjectives in -_ly_);

as in _Macb._ v. 8. 16, _Ham._ iv. 1. 40, etc. See also v. 3. 258 below.

122. _Depend._ Impend (Schmidt). Cf. _R. of L._ 1615: "In me moe woes

than words are now depending;" and _Cymb._ iv. 3. 23: "our jealousy Doth

yet depend."

126. _Respective._ Considerate. Cf. _M. of V._ v. 1. 156: "You should

have been respective," etc.

127. _Conduct._ Conductor, guide. Cf. _Temp._ v. 1. 244:--

"And there is in this business more than nature

Was ever conduct of;"

_Rich. III._ i. 1. 45: "This conduct to convey me to the Tower," etc.

See also v. 3. 116 below.

129. _For Mercutio's soul_, etc. The passage calls to mind one similar

yet very different in _Hen. V._ iv. 6. 15 fol.:--

"And cries aloud, 'Tarry, dear cousin Suffolk!

My soul shall keep thine company to heaven;

Tarry, sweet soul, for mine, then fly abreast,

As in this glorious and well-foughten field

We kept together in our chivalry!'"

133. _Consort._ Accompany. Cf. _C. of E._ i. 2. 28: "And afterward

consort you till bedtime;" _J.C._ v. 1. 83: "Who to Philippi here

consorted us," etc. For the intransitive use of the word, see on 43

above.

137. _Doom thee death._ Cf. _Rich. III._ ii. 1. 102: "to doom my

brother's death;" _T.A._ iv. 2. 114: "The emperor, in his rage, will

doom her death." _Amazed_ = bewildered, stupefied; as often.

139. _Fortune's fool._ Made a fool of by fortune, the sport of fortune.

Cf. _Lear_, iv. 6. 195: "The natural fool of fortune." See also _Ham._

i. 4. 54: "we fools of nature;" and cf. _M. for M._ iii. 1. 11, _Macb._

ii. 1. 44, etc.

145. _Discover._ Uncover, reveal. See on ii. 2. 106 above.

146. _Manage._ "Bringing about" (Schmidt); or we may say that _all the

manage_ is simply = the whole course. The word means management,

administration, in _Temp._ i. 2. 70: "the manage of my state;" _M. of

V._ iii. 4. 25: "The husbandry and manage of my house," etc. It is

especially used of horses; as in _A.Y.L._ i. 1. 13, etc.

156. _Spoke him fair._ Spoke gently to him. Cf. _M.N.D._ ii. 1. 199: "Do

I entice you? do I speak you fair?" _M. of V._ iv. 1. 275: "Say how I

lov'd you, speak me fair in death" (that is, speak well of me after I am

dead), etc.

157. _Nice._ Petty, trivial. Cf. _Rich. III._ iii. 7. 175: "nice and

trivial;" _J.C._ iv. 3. 8: "every nice offence," etc. See also v. 2. 18

below.

160. _Take truce._ Make peace. Cf. _V. and A._ 82: "Till he take truce

with her contending tears;" _K. John_, iii. 1. 17: "With my vex'd

spirits I cannot take a truce," etc. _Spleen_ = heat, impetuosity. Cf.

_K. John_, iv. 3. 97: "thy hasty spleen;" _Rich. III._ v. 3. 350:

"Inspire us with the spleen of fiery dragons!" etc.

167. _Retorts._ Throws back; as in _T. and C._ iii. 3. 101:--

"Heat them, and they retort that heat again

To the first giver," etc.

171. _Envious._ Malicious; as often.

173. _By and by._ Presently. See on ii. 2. 151 above, and cf. iii. 3. 76

and v. 3. 284 below.

180. _Affection makes him false._ "The charge, though produced at

hazard, is very just. The author, who seems to intend the character of

Benvolio as good, meant, perhaps, to show how the best minds, in a state

of faction and discord, are detorted to criminal partiality" (Johnson).

188. _Concludes._ For the transitive use (= end), cf. _2 Hen. VI._ iii.

1. 153: "Will not conclude their plotted tragedy."

190. _Exile._ Accented by S. on either syllable. So also with the noun

in iii. 3. 20 and v. 3. 211 below.

193. _Amerce._ Used by S. only here.

196. _Purchase out._ Cf. buy out in _C. of E._ i. 2. 5, _K. John_, iii.

1. 164, _Ham._ iii. 3. 60, etc.

198. _Hour._ Metrically a dissyllable; as in ii. 5. 11 above. Cf.

_Temp._ v. 1. 4. etc.

200. _Mercy but murthers_, etc. Malone quotes Hale, _Memorials_: "When I

find myself swayed to mercy, let me remember likewise that there is a

mercy due to the country."

SCENE II.--1. _Gallop apace_, etc. Malone remarks that S. probably

remembered Marlowe's _Edward II._, which was performed before 1593:--

"Gallop apace, bright Phœbus, through the skie,

And dusky night, in rusty iron car;

Between you both, shorten the time, I pray,

That I may see that most desired day;"

and Barnaby Rich's _Farewell_, 1583: "The day to his seeming passed away

so slowely that he had thought the stately steedes had bin tired that

drawe the chariot of the Sunne, and wished that Phaeton had beene there

with a whippe." For the thought, cf. _Temp._ iv. 1. 30.

3. _Phaethon._ For other allusions to the ambitious youth, see _T.G. of

V._ iii. 1. 153, _Rich. II._ iii. 3. 178, and _3 Hen. VI._ i. 4. 33, ii.

6. 12.

6. _That runaways' eyes may wink._ This is the great _crux_ of the play,

and more has been written about it than would fill a volume like this.

The condensed summary of the comments upon it fills twenty-eight octavo

pages of fine print in Furness, to which I must refer the curious

reader. The early eds. have "runnawayes," "run-awayes," "run-awaies," or

"run-aways." Those who retain this as a possessive singular refer it

variously to Phœbus, Phaethon, Cupid, Night, the sun, the moon,

Romeo, and Juliet; those who make it a possessive plural generally

understand it to mean persons running about the streets at night. No one

of the former list of interpretations is at all satisfactory.

Personally, I am quite well satisfied to read _runaways'_, and to accept

the explanation given by Hunter and adopted by Delius, Schmidt, Daniel,

and others. It is the simplest possible solution, and is favoured by the

_untalk'd of_ that follows. White objects to it that "_runaway_ seems to

have been used only to mean one who ran away, and that _runagate_, which

had the same meaning then that it has now, would have suited the verse

quite as well as _runaway_;" but, as Furnivall and others have noted,

Cotgrave apparently uses _runaway_ and _runagate_ as nearly equivalent

terms. In a letter in the _Academy_ for Nov. 30, 1878, Furnivall, after

referring to his former citations in favour of _runaways_ = "runagates,

runabouts," and to the fact that Ingleby and Schmidt have since given

the same interpretation, adds, "But I still desire to cite an instance

in which Shakspere himself renders Holinshed's 'runagates' by his own

'runaways.' In the second edition of Holinshed's _Chronicle_, 1587,

which Shakspere used for his _Richard III._, he found the passage (p.

756, col. 2): 'You see further, how a company of traitors, thieves,

outlaws, and _runagates_, be aiders and partakers of this feate and

enterprise,' etc. And he turned it thus into verse (1st folio, p.

203):--

"'Remember whom you are to cope withall,

A sort of Vagabonds, Rascals, and _Run-awayes_,

A scum of Brittaines, and base Lackey Pezants,

Whom their o're-cloyed Country vomits forth

To desperate Aduentures, and assur'd Destruction.

You sleeping safe, they bring you to vnrest.'" etc.

Herford regards this interpretation as "a prosaic idea;" but it seems to

me perfectly in keeping with the character and the situation. The

marriage was a secret one, and Juliet would not have Romeo, if seen,

supposed to be a paramour visiting her by night. She knows also the

danger he incurs if detected by her kinsmen. Cf. ii. 2. 64 fol. above.

10. _Civil._ Grave, sober. Cf. _M.W._ ii. 2. 101: "a civil modest wife,"

etc.

12. _Learn._ Teach; as often. Cf. _A.Y.L._ i. 2. 5, _Cymb._ i. 5. 12,

etc.

14. _Hood my unmann'd blood_, etc. The terms are taken from falconry.

The hawk was _hooded_ till ready to let fly at the game. Cf. _Hen. V._

iii. 7. 121: "'tis a hooded valour; and when it appears it will bate."

An _unmanned_ hawk was one not sufficiently trained to know the voice of

her keeper (see on ii. 2. 159 above). To _bate_ was to flutter or flap

the wings, as the hawk did when unhooded and eager to fly. Cf. _T. of

S._ iv. 1. 199:--

"as we watch these kites

That bate and beat and will not be obedient."

Dyce quotes Holmes, _Acad. of Armory_: "_Bate_, Bateing or Bateth, is

when the Hawk fluttereth with her Wings either from Pearch or Fist, as

it were striveing to get away; also it is taken from her striving with

her Prey, and not forsaking it till it be overcome."

15. _Strange._ Reserved, retiring.

17. _Come, Night_, etc. Mrs. Jameson remarks: "The fond adjuration,

'Come, Night, come, Romeo, _come thou day in night_!' expresses that

fulness of enthusiastic admiration for her lover which possesses her

whole soul; but expresses it as only Juliet could or would have

expressed it--in a bold and beautiful metaphor. Let it be remembered

that, in this speech, Juliet is not supposed to be addressing an

audience, nor even a confidante; and I confess I have been shocked at

the utter want of taste and refinement in those who, with coarse

derision, or in a spirit of prudery, yet more gross and perverse, have

dared to comment on this beautiful 'Hymn to the Night,' breathed out by

Juliet in the silence and solitude of her chamber. She is thinking

aloud; it is the young heart 'triumphing to itself in words.' In the

midst of all the vehemence with which she calls upon the night to bring

Romeo to her arms, there is something so almost infantine in her perfect

simplicity, so playful and fantastic in the imagery and language, that

the charm of sentiment and innocence is thrown over the whole; and her

impatience, to use her own expression, is truly that of 'a child before

a festival, that hath new robes and may not wear them.' It is at the

very moment too that her whole heart and fancy are abandoned to blissful

anticipation that the Nurse enters with the news of Romeo's banishment;

and the immediate transition from rapture to despair has a most powerful

effect."

18. _For thou_, etc. "Indeed, the whole of this speech is imagination

strained to the highest; and observe the blessed effect on the purity of

the mind. What would Dryden have made of it?" (Coleridge).

20. _Black-brow'd Night._ Cf. _King John_, v. 6. 17: "Why, here walk I

in the black brow of night."

25. _The garish sun._ Johnson remarks: "Milton had this speech in his

thoughts when he wrote in _Il Pens._, 'Till civil-suited morn appear,'

and 'Hide me from day's garish eye.'" S. uses _garish_ only here and in

_Rich. III._ iv. 4. 89: "a garish flag."

26, 27. _I have bought_, etc. There is a strange confusion of metaphors

here. Juliet is first the buyer and then the thing bought. She seems to

have in mind that what she says of herself is equally true of Romeo. In

the next sentence she reverts to her own position.

30. _That hath new robes_, etc. Cf. _Much Ado_, iii. 2. 5: "Nay, that

would be as great a soil in the new gloss of your marriage as to show a

child his new coat and forbid him to wear it." See also _Macb._ i. 7.

34.

40. _Envious._ Malignant; as in i. 1. 148 and iii. 1. 171 above.

45. _But ay._ In the time of S. _ay_ was commonly written and printed

_I_, which explains the play upon the word here. Most editors print "but

'I'" here, but it does not seem necessary to the understanding of the

quibble. Lines 45-51 evidently belong to the first draft of the play.

47. _Death-darting eye_, etc. The eye of the fabled cockatrice or

basilisk was said to kill with a glance. Cf. _T.N._ iii. 4. 215: "they

will kill one another by the look, like two cockatrices;" _Rich. III._

iv. 1. 55:--

"A cockatrice hast thou hatch'd to the world,

Whose unavoided eye is murtherous," etc.

49. _Those eyes._ That is, Romeo's.

51. _Determine of._ Decide. Cf. _2 Hen IV._ iv. 1. 164:--

"To hear and absolutely to determine

Of what conditions we shall stand upon."

See also _T.G. of V._ ii. 4. 181, _Rich. III._ iii. 4. 2, etc.

53. _God save the mark!_ An exclamation of uncertain origin, commonly =

saving your reverence, but sometimes, as here = God have mercy! Cf. _1

Hen. IV._ i. 3. 56. So _God bless the mark_! in _M. of V._ ii. 2. 25,

_Oth._ i. 1. 33, etc.

56. _Gore-blood._ Clotted blood. Forby remarks that the combination is

an East-Anglian provincialism. Halliwell-Phillipps cites Vicars, trans,

of _Virgil_, 1632: "Whose hollow wound vented much black gore-bloud."

_Swounded_ is the reading of the 1st quarto; the other early eds. have

"sounded," "swouned," and "swooned." In _R. of. L._ 1486 we have

"swounds" rhyming with "wounds."

57. _Bankrupt._ The early eds. have "banckrout" or "bankrout," as often

in other passages and other writers of the time.

64. _Contrary._ The adjective is accented by S. on the first or second

syllable. Cf. _Ham._ iii. 2. 221, etc. For the verb, see on i. 5. 87

above.

73. _O serpent heart_, etc. Cf. _Macb._ i. 5. 66:--

"look like the innocent flower,

But be the serpent under it."

Mrs. Jameson remarks on this passage: "This highly figurative and

antithetical exuberance of language is defended by Schlegel on strong

and just grounds; and to me also it appears natural, however critics may

argue against its taste or propriety. The warmth and vivacity of

Juliet's fancy, which plays like a light over every part of her

character--which animates every line she utters--which kindles every

thought into a picture, and clothes her emotions in visible images,

would naturally, under strong and unusual excitement, and in the

conflict of opposing sentiments, run into some extravagance of diction."

Cf. i. 1. 168 fol. above.

83. _Was ever book_, etc. Cf. i. 3. 66 above.

84. _O, that deceit_, etc. Cf. _Temp._ i. 2. 468: "If the ill spirit

have so fair a house," etc.

86, 87. Mr. Fleay improves the metre by a slight transposition, which

Marshall adopts:--

"No faith, no honesty in men; all naught,

All perjur'd, all dissemblers, all forsworn;"

which may be what S. wrote.

_Naught_ = worthless, bad. Cf. _Much Ado_, $1. $2. 157, _Hen. V._ i. 2.

73, etc. The word in this sense is usually spelt _naught_ in the early

eds., but _nought_ when = nothing. _Dissemblers_ is here a

quadrisyllable. See p. 159 above.

90. _Blister'd_, etc. "Note the Nurse's mistake of the mind's audible

struggle with itself for its decisions in _toto_" (Coleridge).

92. _Upon his brow_, etc. Steevens quotes Paynter: "Is it possible that

under such beautie and rare comelinesse, disloyaltie and treason may

have their siedge and lodging?" The image of shame _sitting_ on the brow

is not in Brooke's poem.

98. _Poor my lord._ Cf. "sweet my mother," iii. 5. 198 below. The

figurative meaning of _smooth_ is sufficiently explained by the

following _mangle_. Cf. i. 5. 98 above, and see Brooke's poem:--

"Ah cruell murthering tong, murthrer of others fame:

How durst thou once attempt to tooch the honor of his name?

* * * * *

Whether shall he (alas) poore banishd man, now flye?

What place of succor shall he seeke beneth the starry skye?

Synce she pursueth him, and him defames by wrong:

That in distres should be his fort, and onely rampier strong."

108. _Worser._ Cf. ii. 3. 29 above. S. uses it often, both as adjective

and adverb.

112. _Banished._ Note how the trisyllabic pronunciation is emphatically

repeated in this speech; as in Romeo's in the next scene (19-50).

116. _Sour woe delights_, etc. That is, "misfortunes never come single."

Cf. _Ham._ iv. 5. 78:--

"When sorrows come, they come not single spies,

But in battalions."

117. _Needly will._ Needs must. _Needly_ was not coined by S., as some

have supposed, being found in _Piers Plowman_ and other early English.

He uses it only here.

120. _Modern._ Trite, commonplace; the only meaning of the word in S.

See _A.Y.L._ ii. 7. 156, _Macb._ iv. 3. 170, etc.

121. _Rearward._ Cf. Sonn. 90. 6:--

"Ah! do not, when my heart hath scap'd this sorrow,

Come in the rearward of a conquer'd woe"--

(that is, to attack me anew); and _Much Ado_, iv. 1. 128:--

"Myself would, on the rearward of reproaches,

Strike at thy life."

The metaphor is a military one, referring to a rear-guard or reserve

which follows up the attack of the vanguard or of the main army.

126. _Sound._ Utter, express; or "'to sound as with a plummet' is

possible" (Dowden). _That word's death_ = the death implied in that

word.

130. _Wash they_, etc. That is, let them wash, etc. Some eds. put an

interrogation mark after _tears_, as the 2d quarto does.

137. _Wot._ Know; used only in the present tense and the participle

_wotting_.

SCENE III.--1. _Fearful._ Full of fear, afraid; Cf. _M.N.D._ v. 1. 101,

165, etc.

2. _Parts._ Gifts, endowments. Cf. iii. 5. 181 below: "honourable

parts."

6. _Familiar._ A quadrisyllable here.

7. _Sour company._ Cf. "sour woe" in iii. 2. 116 above, "sour

misfortune" in v. 3. 82 below, etc. The figurative sense is a favourite

one with S.

10. _Vanish'd._ A singular expression, which Massinger has imitated in

_The Renegado_, v. 5: "Upon those lips from which those sweet words

vanish'd." In _R. of L._ 1041 the word is used of the breath.

20. _Exile._ For the variable accent (cf. 13 above and 43 below), see on

iii. 1. 190.

26. _Rush'd aside the law._ Promptly eluded or contravened the law. The

expression is peculiar, and may be corrupt. "Push'd" and "brush'd" have

been suggested as emendations.

28. _Dear mercy._ True mercy. Cf. _Much Ado_, i. 1. 129: "A dear

happiness to women," etc.

29. _Heaven is here_, etc. "All deep passions are a sort of atheists,

that believe no future" (Coleridge).

33. _Validity._ Value, worth. Cf. _A.W._ v. 3. 192:--

"O, behold this ring,

Whose high respect and rich validity

Did lack a parallel."

See also _T.N._ i. 1. 12 and _Lear_, i. 1. 83.

34. _Courtship._ Courtesy, courtliness (as in _L. L. L._ v. 2. 363: "Trim

gallants, full of courtship and of state," etc.); with the added idea of

privilege of courting or wooing. For a similar blending of the two

meanings, cf. _A.Y.L._ iii. 2. 364.

38. _Who._ Cf. i. 1. 109 and i. 4. 97 above.

42. _Free men._ Bitterly sarcastic.

45. _Mean._ Often used by S. in the singular, though oftener in the

plural. Cf. _W.T._ iv. 4. 89:--

"Yet nature is made better by no mean,

But nature makes that mean," etc.

See also v. 3. 240 below.

48. _Howling._ For the association with _hell_, cf. _2 Hen. IV._ ii. 4.

374 and _Ham._ v. 1. 265.

49. _Confessor._ For the accent, see on ii. 6. 21 above.

52. _Fond_ = foolish; as often in S. Cf. iv. 5. 78 below.

55. _Adversity's sweet milk._ Cf. _Macb._ iv. 3. 98: "the sweet milk of

concord," etc.

59. _Displant._ Transplant. S. uses the word only here and in _Oth._ ii.

1. 283: "the displanting of Cassio."

60. _Prevails._ Avails. Cf. _unprevailing_ in _Ham._ i. 2. 107.

62. _When that._ This use of _that_ as a "conjunctional affix" is

common. Cf. ii. 6. 25 above.

63. _Dispute._ That is, reason. The verb is used transitively in a

similar sense in _W.T._ iv. 4. 411 and _Macb._ iv. 3. 220.

70. _Taking the measure_, etc. Cf. _A.Y.L._ ii. 6. 2: "Here lie I down,

and measure out my grave."

77. _Simpleness._ Folly. Elsewhere = simplicity, innocence; as in _Much

Ado_, iii. 1. 70, _M.N.D._ v. 1. 83, etc. Cf. _simple_ in ii. 5. 38 and

iii. 1. 35.

85. _O woful sympathy_, etc. The early eds. give this speech to the

Nurse. Farmer transferred it to the Friar, and is followed by most of

the modern eds.

90. _O._ Grief, affliction. In _Lear_, i. 4. 212, it means a cipher. It

is also used for anything circular; as marks of small-pox (_L. L. L._ v.

2. 45), stars (_M.N.D._ iii. 2. 188), a theatre (_Hen. V._ prol. 13),

and the earth (_A. and C._ v. 2. 81).

94. _Old._ Practised, experienced. Cf. _L. L. L._ ii. 1. 254, v. 2. 552,

_T. and C._ i. 2. 128, ii. 2. 75, etc.

98. _My conceal'd lady._ Not known to the world as my wife. _Conceal'd_

is accented on the first syllable because before the noun.

103. _Level._ Aim; as in _Sonn._ 117. 11: "the level of your frown;"

_Hen. VIII._ i. 2. 2: "the level Of a full-charg'd confederacy," etc.

Cf. the use of the verb in _Much Ado_, ii. 1. 239, _Rich. III._ iv. 4.

202, etc.

106. _Anatomy._ Contemptuous for body; as in _T.N._ iii. 2. 67.

108. _Hold thy desperate hand!_ etc. Up to this point, as Marshall

remarks, the Friar "treats Romeo's utter want of self-control with a

good-humoured tolerance.... It is only when the young man's passion

threatens to go to the point of violating the law of God and man that he

speaks with the authority of a priest, and in the tone of stern rebuke.

This speech is a most admirable composition, full of striking good

sense, eloquent reasoning, and noble piety."

109. _Art thou_, etc. Cf. Brooke's poem:--

"Art thou quoth he a man? thy shape saith, so thou art:

Thy crying and thy weping eyes, denote a womans hart.

For manly reason is quite from of [off] thy mynd outchased,

And in her stead affections lewd, and fancies highly placed.

So that I stoode in doute this howre (at the least)

If thou a man, or woman wert, or els a brutish beast."

113. _Ill-beseeming._ Cf. i. 5. 76 above.

115. _Better temper'd._ Of better temper or quality. Cf. _2 Hen. IV._ i.

1. 115: "the best temper'd courage in his troops."

118. _Doing damned hate._ Cf. v. 2. 20 below: "do much danger," etc.

119. _Why rail'st thou_, etc. Malone remarks that Romeo has not here

railed on his birth, etc., though in Brooke's poem he does:--

"And then, our Romeus, with tender handes ywrong:

With voyce, with plaint made horce, wͭ sobs, and with a foltring tong,

Renewd with nouel mone the dolours of his hart,

His outward dreery cheere bewrayde, his store of inward smart,

Fyrst nature did he blame, the author of his lyfe,

In which his ioyes had been so scant, and sorrowes aye so ryfe:

The time and place of byrth, he fiersly did reproue,

He cryed out (with open mouth) against the starres aboue," etc.

In his reply the Friar asks:--

"Why cryest thou out on loue? why doest thou blame thy fate?

Why dost thou so crye after death? thy life why dost thou hate?"

122. _Wit._ See on i. 4. 47 above.

127. _Digressing._ Deviating, departing. It is = transgressing in _Rich.

II._ v. 3. 66: "thy digressing son."

132. _Like powder_, etc. See on ii. 6. 10 above. Steevens remarks: "The

ancient English soldiers, using match-locks instead of flints, were

obliged to carry a lighted _match_ hanging at their belts, very near to

the wooden _flask_ in which they kept their powder."

134. _And thou_, etc. And thou torn to pieces with thine own means of

defence.

144. _Pout'st upon._ Cf. _Cor._ v. 1. 52: "We pout upon the morning."

151. _Blaze._ Make public. Cf. _blazon_ in ii. 6. 26 above, and

_emblaze_ in _2 Hen. VI._ iv. 10. 76.

154. _Lamentation._ Metrically five syllables.

157. _Apt unto._ Inclined to, ready for. Cf. iii. 1. 32 above.

166. _Here stands_, etc. "The whole of your fortune depends on this"

(Johnson). Cf. ii. 3. 93 and ii. 4. 34 above.

171. _Good hap._ Piece of good luck. Cf. ii. 2. 190 above.

174. _So brief to part._ To part so soon.

SCENE IV.--11. _Mew'd up._ Shut up. Cf. _T of S._ i. 1. 87, 188, etc.

_Mew_ originally meant to moult, or shed the feathers; and as hawks were

then shut up, it got the secondary sense it has here.

12. _Desperate._ Overbold, venturesome.

23. _Keep no great ado._ Elsewhere in S. the phrase is, as now, _make

ado._ Cf. _T.G. of V._ iv. 4. 31, _1 Hen. IV._ ii. 4. 223, _Hen. VIII._

v. 3. 159, etc.

25. _Held him carelessly._ Cf. _3 Hen. VI._ ii. 2. 109: "I hold thee

reverently;" _Id._ ii. 1. 102: "held thee dearly," etc.

28. _And there an end._ Cf. _T.G. of V._ i. 3. 65, ii. 1. 168, _Rich.

II._ v. 1. 69, etc.

32. _Against._ Cf. iv. 1. 113 below: "against thou shalt awake."

34. _Afore me._ "By my life, by my soul" (Schmidt). Cf. _Per._ ii. 1.

84: "Now, afore me, a handsome fellow!" So _before me_, as in _T.N._ ii.

3. 194, _Oth._ iv. 1. 149, etc.

35. _By and by._ Presently. See on ii. 2. 151 above.

SCENE V.--_Juliet's Chamber._ The scene is variously given by the

editors as "The Garden," "Anti-room of Juliet's Chamber," "Loggia to

Juliet's Chamber," "An open Gallery to Juliet's Chamber overlooking the

Orchard," "Juliet's Bedchamber; a Window open upon the Balcony,"

"Capulet's Orchard," etc. As Malone remarks, Romeo and Juliet probably

appeared in the balcony at the rear of the old English stage. "The scene

in the poet's eye was doubtless the large and massy projecting balcony

before one or more windows, common in Italian palaces and not unfrequent

in Gothic civil architecture. The _loggia_, an open gallery, or high

terrace [see cut on p. 85], communicating with the upper apartments of a

palace, is a common feature in Palladian architecture, and would also be

well adapted to such a scene" (Verplanck).

4. _Nightly._ It is said that the nightingale, if undisturbed, sits and

sings upon the same tree for many weeks together (Steevens). This is

because the male bird sings near where the female is sitting. "The

preference of the nightingale for the _pomegranate_ is unquestionable.

'The nightingale sings from the pomegranate groves in the daytime,' says

Russel in his account of Aleppo. A friend ... informs us that throughout

his journeys in the East he never heard such a choir of nightingales as

in a row of pomegranate-trees that skirt the road from Smyrna to

Boudjia" (Knight).

8. _Lace._ Cf. _Macb._ ii. 3. 118: "His silver skin lac'd with his

golden blood;" _Cymb._ ii. 2. 22:--

"white and azure lac'd

With blue of heaven's own tinct," etc.

See on ii. 4. 44 above. We have the word used literally in _Much Ado_,

iii. 4. 20: "laced with silver." On _the severing clouds_, cf. _J.C._

ii. 1. 103:--

"yon grey lines

That fret the clouds are messengers of day;"[6]

and _Much Ado_, v. 3. 25: "Dapples the drowsy east with spots of grey."

9. _Night's candles_, etc. Cf. _Macb._ ii. 1. 5.: "Their candles are all

out." See also _M. of V._ v. 1. 220 and _Sonn._ 21. 12.

13. _Some meteor_, etc. Cf. _1 Hen. IV._ ii. 4. 351: "My lord, do you

see these meteors? do you behold these exhalations?" and _Id._ v. 1. 19:

"an exhal'd meteor."

14. _Torch-bearer._ See on i. 4. 11 above.

[Footnote 6: At the meeting of the new Shakspere Society, Oct. 11, 1878,

the chairman read a paper by Mr. Ruskin on the word _fret_ in this

passage. The following is from the report in the London _Academy_:--

"_Fret_ means primarily the rippling of the cloud--as sea by wind;

secondarily, the breaking it asunder for light to come through. It

implies a certain degree of vexation, some dissolution, much order, and

extreme beauty. The reader should have seen 'Daybreak,' and think what

is broken and by what. The cloud of night is broken up, by Day, which

breaks out, breaks in, as from heaven to earth, with a breach in the

cloud wall of it. The thing that the day breaks up is partly a garment

_rent_, the blanket of the dark torn to be peeped through...."]

19. _Yon grey._ See on ii. 4. 44 above.

20. _The pale reflex of Cynthia's brow._ That is, the pale light of the

moon shining through or reflected from the breaking clouds _Brow_ is put

for face, as in _M.N.D._ v. 1. 11: "Helen's beauty in a brow of Egypt,"

etc. Some critics have thought that a setting moon was meant; but only a

rising moon could light up "the severing clouds" in the way described.

The _reflection_ (if we take _reflex_ in that literal sense) is from

their _edges_, as the light from behind falls upon them. Have these

critics never seen--

"a sable cloud

Turn forth her silver lining on the night"

when the moon was behind it?

21. _Nor that is not._ Double negatives are common in S.

22. _The vaulty heaven._ Cf. _K. John_, v. 2. 52: "the vaulty top of

heaven;" and _R. of L._ 119: "her vaulty prison" (that is, Night's).

29. _Division._ "The breaking of a melody, or its descant, into small

notes. The modern musician would call it variation" (Elson). Cf. _1 Hen.

IV._ iii. 1. 210:--

"Sung by a fair queen in a summer's bower,

With ravishing division, to her lute."

The word is a quadrisyllable here.

31. _The lark_, etc. The toad having beautiful eyes, and the lark very

ugly ones, it was a popular tradition that they had changed eyes.

(Warburton).

33. _Affray._ Startle from sleep; as Chaucer in _Blaunche the Duchess_

(296) is _affrayed_ out of his sleep by "smale foules" (Dowden).

34. _Hunt's-up._ The tune played to wake and collect the hunters

(Steevens). Cf. Drayton, _Polyolbion_: "But hunts-up to the morn the

feather'd sylvans sing;" and again in _Third Eclogue_: "Time plays the

hunts-up to thy sleepy head." We have the full form in _T.A._ ii. 2. 1:

"The hunt is up, the morn is bright and grey." The term was also applied

to any morning song, and especially one to a new-married woman. Cotgrave

(ed. 1632) defines _resveil_ as "a Hunts-up, or morning song, for a

new-maried wife, the day after the mariage."

43. _My lord_, etc. From 1st quarto; the other quartos and 1st folio

have "love, Lord, ay husband, friend," for which Dowden reads:

"love-lord, ay, husband-friend." _Friend_ was sometimes = lover; as in

_Much Ado_, v. 2. 72, _Oth._ iv. 1. 3, _A. and C._ iii. 12. 22, _Cymb._

i. 4. 74, etc. Cf. Brooke's poem, where Juliet referring to Romeo,

says:--

"For whom I am becomme vnto my selfe a foe,

Disdayneth me, his steadfast frend, and scornes my frendship so;"

and of their parting the poet says:--

"With solemne othe they both theyr sorowfull leaue do take;

They sweare no stormy troubles shall theyr steady friendship shake."

44. _Day in the hour._ The hyperbole is explained by what follows.

53. _I have an ill-divining soul._ "This miserable prescience of

futurity I have always regarded as a circumstance particularly

beautiful. The same kind of warning from the mind Romeo seems to have

been conscious of, on his going to the entertainment at the house of

Capulet" (Steevens). See i. 4. 48 and 103 fol. above.

54. _Below._ From 1st quarto; the other early eds. have "so lowe," which

is preferred by some of the modern editors.

58. _Dry sorrow drinks our blood._ An allusion to the old notion that

sorrow and sighing exhaust the blood. Cf. _M.N.D._ iii. 2. 97, _Ham._

iv. 7. 123, _Much Ado_, iii. 1. 78, etc.

65. _Down._ Lying down, abed (Dowden).

66. _Procures her._ Leads her to come. Cf. ii. 2. 145 above. See also

_M.W._ iv. 6. 48: "procure the vicar To stay for me," etc.

67. _Why, how now, Juliet!_ Mrs. Jameson remarks: "In the dialogue

between Juliet and her parents, and in the scenes with the Nurse, we

seem to have before us the whole of her previous education and habits:

we see her, on the one hand, kept in severe subjection by her austere

parents; and, on the other, fondled and spoiled by a foolish old

nurse--a situation perfectly accordant with the manners of the time.

Then Lady Capulet comes sweeping by with her train of velvet, her black

hood, her fan, and rosary--the very beau-ideal of a proud Italian matron

of the fifteenth century, whose offer to poison Romeo, in revenge for

the death of Tybalt, stamps her with one very characteristic trait of

the age and the country. Yet she loves her daughter, and there is a

touch of remorseful tenderness in her lamentations over her, which adds

to our impression of the timid softness of Juliet and the harsh

subjection in which she has been kept."

69. _Wash him from his grave_, etc. The hyperbole may remind us of the

one in _Rich. II._ iii. 3. 166 fol.

72. _Wit._ See on iii. 3. 122 above.

73. _Feeling._ Heartfelt. Cf. "feeling sorrows" in _W.T._ iv. 2. 8 and

_Lear_, iv. 6. 226.

82. _Like he._ The inflections of pronouns are often confounded by S.

84. _Ay, madam_, etc. Johnson remarks that "Juliet's equivocations are

rather too artful for a mind disturbed by the loss of a new lover." To

this Clarke well replies: "It appears to us that, on the contrary, the

evasions of speech here used by the young girl-wife are precisely those

that a mind, suddenly and sharply awakened from previous inactivity, by

desperate love and grief, into self-conscious strength, would

instinctively use. Especially are they exactly the sort of shifts and

quibbles that a nature rendered timid by stinted intercourse with her

kind, and by communion limited to the innocent confidences made by one

of her age in the confessional, is prone to resort to, when first left

to itself in difficulties of situation and abrupt encounter with life's

perplexities."

87. _In Mantua_, etc. No critic, so far as I am aware, has noted the

slip of which S. is guilty here. Romeo is said to be _living_ in

Mantua, but an hour has hardly elapsed since he started for that city;

and how can the lady know of the plan for his going there which was

secretly suggested by the friar the afternoon before?

89. _Shall give._ The ellipsis of the relative is not uncommon.

92. _I never shall be satisfied_, etc. Daniel remarks: "The several

interpretations of which this ambiguous speech is capable are, I

suppose: 1. I never shall be satisfied with Romeo; 2. I never shall be

satisfied with Romeo till I behold him; 3. I never shall be satisfied

with Romeo till I behold him dead; 4. Till I behold him, dead is my poor

heart; 5. Dead is my poor heart, so for a kinsman vext."

96. _Temper._ Compound, mix. Cf. _Ham._ v. 2. 339: "It is a poison

temper'd by himself;" _Cymb._ v. 250: "To temper poisons for her," etc.

97. _That._ So that; as often. _Receipt_ is not elsewhere applied by S.

to the _receiving_ of food or drink, though it is used of _what is

received_ in _R. of L._ 703 and _Cor._ i. 1. 116.

100. _Cousin._ Some editors add "Tybalt" (from 2d folio) to fill out the

measure.

104. _Needy._ Joyless. The word is = needful in _Per._ i. 4. 95: "needy

bread."

105. _They._ S. makes _tidings_, like _news_ (cf. ii. 5. 22 with ii. 5.

35), either singular or plural. Cf. _J.C._ iv. 3. 155: "That tidings;"

_Id._ v. 3. 54: "These tidings," etc.

108. _Sorted out._ Cf. _1. Hen. VI._ ii. 3. 27: "I'll sort some other

time to visit you," etc.

109. _Nor I look'd not._ See on iii. 5. 21 above.

110. _In happy time._ Schmidt explains this as here = "_à propos_, pray

tell me." Elsewhere it is = just in time; as in _A.W._ v. 1. 6, _Ham._

v. 2. 214, _Oth._ iii. 1. 32, etc.

113. _County._ See on i. 3. 83 above.

120. _I swear._ Collier thinks these words "hardly consistent with

Juliet's character;" but, as Ulrici remarks, "they seem necessary in

order to show her violent excitement, and thereby explain her conduct."

They appear to crowd the measure, but possibly "I will not marry yet"

("I'll not marry yet") may count only as two feet.

122. _These are news._ See on 105 above.

125. _The air._ The reading of the 4th and 5th quartos; the other early

eds. have "the earth," which is adopted by many editors. Hudson remarks:

"This is scientifically true; poetically, it would seem better to read

_air_ instead of _earth_." It happens, however, that science and poetry

agree here; for it is the watery vapour in the _air_ that is condensed

into dew. Malone, who also says that the reading _earth_ is

"philosophically true," cites _R. of L._ 1226: "But as the earth doth

weep, the sun being set;" but this only means that the earth is wet with

dew. To speak of the earth as _drizzling_ dew is nonsense; we might as

well say that it "drizzles rain" (_Much Ado_, iii. 3. 111). Elsewhere S.

refers to the "falling" dew; as in _K. John_, ii. 1. 285, _Hen. VIII._

i. 3. 57, _Cymb._ v. 5. 351, etc.

128. _Conduit._ Probably alluding to the human figures that spouted

water in fountains. Cf. _R. of L._ 1234:--

"A pretty while these pretty creatures stand,

Like ivory conduits coral cisterns filling."

See also _W.T._ v. 2. 60.

129-136. _Evermore ... body._ This long-drawn "conceit" is evidently

from the first draught of the play.

134. _Who._ See on i. 1. 109 above.

138. _She will none._ Cf. _M.N.D._ iii. 2. 169: "Lysander, keep thy

Hermia; I will none," etc.

140. _Take me with you._ Let me understand you. Cf. _1 Hen. IV._ ii. 4.

506: "I would your grace would take me with you; whom means your grace?"

143. _Wrought._ "Not = induced, prevailed upon, but brought about,

effected" (Schmidt). Cf. _Henry VIII._ iii. 2. 311: "You wrought to be a

delegate;" _Cor._ ii. 3. 254: "wrought To be set high in place," etc.

144. _Bridegroom._ The 2d quarto has "Bride." This was used of both

sexes in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, but S. never makes it

masculine. _The New Eng. Dict._ quotes Sylvester, _Du Bartas_ (1598):

"Daughter dear ... Isis bless thee and thy Bride," etc.

148. _Chop-logic._ Sophist; used by S. only here.

150. _Minion._ Originally = favourite, darling (as in _Temp._ iv. 1. 98,

_Macb._ i. 2. 19, etc.), then a spoiled favourite, and hence a pert or

saucy person.

151. _Thank me no thankings_, etc. Cf. _Rich. II._ ii. 3. 87: "Grace me

no grace, nor uncle me no uncle," etc.

152. _Fettle._ Prepare, make ready. It is the reading of the quartos and

1st folio; the later folios have "settle," which may be what S. wrote.

He does not use _fettle_ elsewhere, and the long _s_ and _f_ were easily

confounded in printing.

155. _Out_, etc. "Such was the indelicacy of the age of S. that authors

were not contented only to employ these terms of abuse in their own

original performances, but even felt no reluctance to introduce them in

their versions of the most chaste and elegant of the Greek or Roman

poets. Stanyhurst, the translator of Virgil, in 1582, makes Dido call

Æneas _hedge-brat_, _cullion_, and _tar-breech_ in the course of one

speech. Nay, in the interlude of _The Repentance of Mary Magdalene_,

1567, Mary Magdalene says to one of her attendants, '_Horeson_, I

beshrowe your heart, are you here?'" (Steevens).

164. _Lent._ The 1st quarto has "sent," which some editors adopt. Clarke

thinks it may be a misprint for "left," as Capulet (i. 2. 14) speaks as

if he had had other children; but S. is careless in these minor matters.

See on i. 5. 30 and v. 3. 207.

167. _Hilding._ See on ii. 4. 43 above.

171. _God ye god-den._ See on i. 2. 57 above.

172. _Peace._ Theobald repeated the word for the sake of the measure.

_Peace_ may perhaps be metrically a dissyllable, as in _A.Y.L._ ii. 4.

70.

175-177. _God's bread!_ etc. The text of the early eds. is evidently

corrupt here. The reading in the text is Malone's, and perhaps gives

very nearly what S. wrote on the revision of the play.

181. _Stuff'd_, etc. Cf. _Much Ado_, i. 1. 56: "stuffed with all

honourable virtues," etc. For _parts_, cf. iii. 3. 2 above.

184. _Mammet._ Puppet, doll. Cf. _1 Hen. IV._ ii. 3. 95: "To play with

mammets." The word is also written _mawmet_, and is a contraction of

_Mahomet_. _In her fortune's tender_ = when good fortune presents

itself. Cf. iii. 4. 12 above.

189. _Use._ See on ii. chor. 10 above.

190. _Lay hand on heart, advise._ Consider it seriously. Cf. Brooke's

poem:--

"Aduise thee well, and say that thou art warned now,

And thinke not that I speake in sporte, or mynd to breake my vowe."

198. _Sweet my mother._ Cf. iii. 2. 98: "Ah, poor my lord," etc.

209. _Should practise stratagems_, etc. Should, as it were, entrap me

into so painful and perplexing a situation. Schmidt makes _stratagem_

sometimes = "anything amazing and appalling," and cites this passage as

an instance.

212. _Faith, here 'tis_, etc. S. here follows Brooke:--

"She setteth foorth at large the fathers furious rage,

And eke she prayseth much to her the second mariage;

And County Paris now she praiseth ten times more,

By wrong, then she her selfe by right had Romeus praysde before," etc.

Mrs. Jameson remarks: "The old woman, true to her vocation, and fearful

lest her share in these events should be discovered, counsels her to

forget Romeo and marry Paris; and the moment which unveils to Juliet the

weakness and baseness of her confidante is the moment which reveals her

to herself. She does not break into upbraidings; it is no moment for

anger; it is incredulous amazement, succeeded by the extremity of scorn

and abhorrence, which takes possession of her mind. She assumes at once

and asserts all her own superiority, and rises to majesty in the

strength of her despair."

220. _Green._ We have green eyes again in _M.N.D._ v. 1. 342: "His eyes

were green as leeks." Cf. _The Two Noble Kinsmen_, v. 1: "With that rare

green eye." Clarke remarks: "The brilliant touch of green visible in

very light hazel eyes, and which gives wonderful clearness and animation

to their look, has been admiringly denoted by various poets from time

immemorial." In a sonnet by Drummond of Hawthornden, the gods are

represented as debating of what colour a beauty's eyes shall be. Mars

and Apollo vote for black:--

"Chaste Phœbe spake for purest azure dyes,

But Jove and Venus green about the light,

To frame thought best, as bringing most delight,

That to pin'd hearts hope might for aye arise."

Cf. Longfellow, _The Spanish Student_: "Ay, soft emerald eyes;" and

again:--

"in her tender eyes

Just that soft shade of green we sometimes see

In evening skies."

In a note on the former passage, the poet says: "The Spaniards, with

good reason, consider this colour of the eyes as beautiful, and

celebrate it in song.... Dante speaks of Beatrice's eyes as emeralds

(_Purgat._ xxxi. 116). Lami says in his _Annotazioni_, 'Erano i suoi

occhi d' un turchino verdiccio, simile a quel del mare.'"

221. _Beshrew._ See on ii. 5. 52 above.

225. _Here._ Not referring to Verona, but = "in this world" (Johnson).

233. _Ancient damnation._ The abstract for the concrete, explained by

what follows. Steevens cites _The Malcontent_, 1604: "out, you ancient

damnation!"

234. _Is it more sin_, etc. Mrs. Jameson remarks: "It appears to me an

admirable touch of nature, considering the master-passion which, at this

moment, rules in Juliet's soul, that she is as much shocked by the

nurse's dispraise of her lover as by her wicked, time-serving advice.

This scene is the crisis in the character; and henceforth we see Juliet

assume a new aspect. The fond, impatient, timid girl puts on the wife

and the woman: she has learned heroism from suffering, and subtlety from

oppression. It is idle to criticise her dissembling submission to her

father and mother; a higher duty has taken place of that which she owed

to them; a more sacred tie has severed all others. Her parents are

pictured as they are, that no feeling for them may interfere in the

slightest degree with our sympathy for the lovers. In the mind of Juliet

there is no struggle between her filial and her conjugal duties, and

there ought to be none."

236. _Compare._ See on ii. 5. 43 above.

ACT IV

SCENE I.--3. _And I am nothing slow to slack his haste._ Paris here

seems to say the opposite of what he evidently means, and various

attempts have been made to explain away the inconsistency. It appears to

be one of the peculiar cases of "double negative" discussed by Schmidt

in his Appendix, p. 1420, though he does not give it there. "The idea of

negation was so strong in the poet's mind that he expressed it in more

than one place, unmindful of his canon that 'your four negatives make

your two affirmatives.'" Cf. _Lear_, ii. 4. 142:--

"You less know how to value her desert

Than she to scant ["slack" in quartos] her duty;"

that is, you are more inclined to depreciate her than she to scant her

duty.

5. _Uneven._ Indirect. Cf. the use of _even_ in _Ham._ ii. 2. 298: "be

even and direct with me," etc. Sometimes the word is = perplexing,

embarrassing; as in _1 Hen. IV._ i. 1. 50: "uneven and unwelcome news,"

etc.

11. _Marriage._ A trisyllable here; as in _M. of V._ ii. 9. 13, etc. So

also in the quotation from Brooke in note on iii. 5. 212 above.

13. _Alone._ When alone; opposed to _society_ below.

16. _Slow'd._ The only instance of the verb in S.

18-36. This part of the scene evidently came from the first draft of the

play.

20. _That may be must be._ That _may be_ of yours must be.

29. _Abus'd._ Marred, disfigured.

31. _Spite._ Cf. i. 5. 64 above.

38. _Evening mass._ Ritson and others say that Juliet means _vespers_,

as there is no such thing as _evening mass_; and Staunton expresses

surprise that S. has fallen into this error, since he elsewhere shows a

familiarity with the usages of the Roman Catholic Church. It is the

critics who are in error, not S. Walafrid Strabo (_De Rebus Eccles._

xxiii.) says that, while the time for mass is regularly before noon, it

is sometimes celebrated in the evening ("aliquando _ad vesperam_").

Amalarius, Bishop of Trèves (_De Eccles. Off._ iv. 40), specifies Lent

as the season for this hour. The _Generales Rubricæ_ allow this at other

times in the year. In Winkles's _French Cathedrals_, we are told that,

on the occasion of the marriage of Henrietta of France, daughter of

Henry IV., with the Duke of Chevreuse, as proxy for Charles I. of

England, celebrated in Notre Dame at Paris, May 11, 1625, "mass was

celebrated in the evening." See _Notes and Queries_ for April 29 and

June 3, 1876; also M'Clintock and Strong's _Biblical Cyclopædia_, under

_Mass._

40. _We must entreat_, etc. We must beg you to leave us to ourselves.

Cf. _Hen. VIII._ i. 4. 71:--

"Crave leave to view these ladies and entreat

An hour of revels with them."

41. _God shield._ God forbid. Cf. _A.W._ i. 3. 74: "God shield you mean

it not." So "Heaven shield," in _M. for M._ iii. 1. 141, etc. _Devotion_

is here a quadrisyllable.

45. _Past cure_, etc. Cf. _L. L. L._ v. 2. 28: "past cure is still past

care."

48. _Prorogue._ See on ii. 2. 78 above.

54. _This knife._ It was the custom of the time in Italy as in Spain for

ladies to wear daggers at their girdles.

57. _The label._ The seal appended by a slip to a deed, according to the

custom of the day. In _Rich. II._ v. 2. 56, the Duke of York discovers,

by the depending seal, a covenant which his son has made with the

conspirators. In _Cymb._ v. 5. 430, _label_ is used for the deed itself.

62. _Extremes._ Extremities, sufferings. Cf. _R. of L._ 969:--

"Devise extremes beyond extremity,

To make him curse this cursed crimeful night."

The meaning of the passage is, "This knife shall decide the struggle

between me and my distresses" (Johnson).

64. _Commission._ Warrant, authority. Cf. _A.W._ ii. 3. 279: "you are

more saucy with lords and honourable personages than the commission of

your birth and virtue gives you heraldry."

66. _Be not so long to speak._ So slow to speak. Clarke remarks here:

"The constraint, with sparing speech, visible in Juliet when with her

parents, as contrasted with her free outpouring flow of words when she

is with her lover, her father confessor, or her nurse--when, in short,

she is her natural self and at perfect ease--is true to characteristic

delineation. The young girl, the very young girl, the girl brought up as

Juliet has been reared, the youthful Southern maiden, lives and breathes

in every line by which S. has set her before us."

78. _Yonder._ Ulrici "cannot perceive why Juliet must designate a

particular, actual tower, since all that follows is purely imaginary;"

but to me the reference to a tower in sight seems both forcible and

natural, and the transition to imaginary ordeals is equally natural.

83. _Reeky._ Reeking with foul vapours, or simply = foul, as if soiled

with smoke or _reek_. Cf. _reechy_ (another form of the same word) in

_Much Ado_, iii. 3. 143, _Ham._ iii. 4. 184, etc.

93. _Take thou this vial_, etc. Cf. Brooke's poem:--

"Receiue this vyoll small and keepe it as thine eye;

And on the mariage day, before the sunne doe cleare the skye,

Fill it with water full vp to the very brim,

Then drinke it of, and thou shalt feele throughout eche vayne and lim

A pleasant slumber slide, and quite dispred at length

On all thy partes, from euery part reue all thy kindly strength;

Withouten mouing thus thy ydle parts shall rest,

No pulse shall goe, ne hart once beate within thy hollow brest,

But thou shalt lye as she that dyeth in a traunce:

Thy kinsmen and thy trusty frendes shall wayle the sodain chaunce;

The corps then will they bring to graue in this church yarde,

Where thy forefathers long agoe a costly tombe preparde,

Both for them selfe and eke for those that should come after,[7]

Both deepe it is, and long and large, where thou shalt rest, my daughter,

Till I to Mantua sende for Romeus, thy knight;

Out of the tombe both he and I will take thee forth that night."

97. _Surcease._ Cf. _R. of L._ 1766: "If they surcease to be that should

survive;" and _Cor._ iii. 2. 121: "Lest I surcease to honour mine own

truth." For the noun, see _Macb._ i. 7. 74.

100. _Paly._ Cf. _Hen. V._ iv. chor. 8: "paly flames;" and 2 _Hen. VI._

iii. 2. 141: "his paly lips."

105. _Two and forty hours._ It is difficult to make this period agree

with the time of the events that follow. Maginn would read "two and

fifty hours;" and "two and thirty" has been suggested, which is more in

accordance with the dates given in the play. In iv. 1. 90 the Friar says

to Juliet:--

"_Wednesday_ is to-morrow:

To-morrow night look that thou lie alone," etc.

[Footnote 7: For the rhyme of _after_ and _daughter_, cf. _T. of S._ i.

1. 245, 246, _W.T._ iv. 1. 27, 28, and _Lear_, i. 4. 341, 344.]

This agrees with the preceding dates. The conversation in iii. 4 is late

on Monday evening (cf. lines 5 and 18), and Lady Capulet's talk with

Juliet about marrying Paris (iii. 5. 67 fol.) is early the next

(Tuesday) morning. The visit to the Friar is evidently on the same day;

and the next scene (iv. 2) is in the evening of that day. Juliet comes

home and tells her father that she has been to the Friar's, and is ready

to marry Paris. The old man at once decides to have the wedding

"to-morrow morning" (that is, Wednesday) instead of Thursday. Lady

Capulet objects, but finally yields to her husband's persistency; and so

Juliet goes to her chamber, and drinks the potion on _Tuesday_ evening,

or twenty-four hours earlier than the Friar had directed. He of course

is notified of the change in the time for the wedding, as he is to

perform the ceremony, and will understand that Juliet has anticipated

the time of taking the potion, and that she will wake on _Thursday_

morning instead of Friday. If so, instead of extending the "two and

forty hours," as Maginn does, we need rather to shorten the interval. We

may suppose the time of v. 3 to be as early as three o'clock in the

morning. It is summer, and before daylight. Paris and Romeo come with

torches, and the Friar with a lantern. Romeo tells his servant to

deliver the letter to his father "early in the morning." The night

watchmen are still on duty. Since we can hardly send Juliet to bed

before nine in the evening on Tuesday, _thirty_ hours is the most that

can be allowed for the interval, unless we add another day and accept

the fifty-two of Maginn. But this does not seem required by anything in

act v.--not even by the "two days buried" of v. 3. 176, for Thursday

would be the second day that she had lain in the tomb. The marriage was

to be early on Wednesday morning, and the funeral took its place.

Balthasar "presently took post" (v. 1. 21) to tell the news to Romeo at

Mantua, less than twenty-five miles distant. He arrives before evening

(cf. v. 1. 4: "all this day," which indicates the time), and Romeo at

once says, "I will hence _to-night_." He has ample time to make his

preparations and to reach Verona before two o'clock the next morning. He

has been at the tomb only half an hour or so (v. 3. 130) before the

Friar comes. It must have been near midnight (see v. 2. 23) when Friar

John returned to Laurence's cell; so that, even if he had not been

despatched to Mantua until that morning, he would have had time to go

and return, but for his unexpected detention. I see no difficulty,

therefore, in assuming that the drama closes on Thursday morning; the

difficulty would be in prolonging the time to the next morning without

making the action drag.

110. _In thy best robes_, etc. 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 Paynter), S. found particularly

described in _Romeus and Juliet_:--

"Now throughout Italy this common vse they haue,

That all the best of euery stocke are earthed in one graue;

* * * * *

An other vse there is, that whosoeuer dyes,

Borne to their church with open face vpon the beere he lyes,

In wonted weede attyrde, not wrapt in winding sheete."

Cf. _Ham._ iv. 5. 164: "They bore him barefac'd on the bier." Knight

remarks that thus the maids and matrons of Italy are still carried to

the tomb; and he quotes Rogers, _Italy_:--

"And lying on her funeral couch,

Like one asleep, her eyelids closed, her hands

Folded together on her modest breast

As 'twere her nightly posture, through the crowd

She came at last--and richly, gaily clad,

As for a birthday feast."

114. _Drift._ Scheme. Cf. ii. 3. 55 above.

119. _Inconstant toy._ Fickle freak or caprice. Cf. _Ham._ i. 3. 5: "a

fashion and a toy in blood;" _Id._ 1. 4. 75: "toys of desperation;"

_Oth._ iii. 4. 156: "no jealous toy," etc. _Inconstant toy_ and

_womanish fear_ are both from Brooke's poem:--

"Cast of from thee at once the weede of womannish dread,

With manly courage arme thy selfe from heele vnto the head;

* * * * *

God graunt he so confirme in thee thy present will,

That no inconstant toy thee let [hinder] thy promesse to fulfill."

121. _Give me, give me!_ Cf. _Macb._ i. 3. 5: "'Give me,' quoth I."

SCENE II.--2. _Twenty cunning cooks._ Ritson says: "Twenty cooks for

half a dozen guests! Either Capulet has altered his mind strangely, or

S. forgot what he had just made him tell us" (iii. 4. 27). But, as

Knight remarks, "Capulet is evidently a man of ostentation; but his

ostentation, as is most generally the case, is covered with a thin veil

of indifference." Cf. i. 5. 124: "We have a trifling foolish banquet

towards."