Romeo and Juliet: Act 3, Scene 5
aloft: i.e., in the second-story acting space above the back of the main stage.
Enter ROMEO and JULIET aloft.
JULIET
1 Wilt thou be gone? it is not yet near day:
2 It was the nightingale, and not the lark,
3 That pierced the fearful hollow of thine ear;
4 Nightly she sings on yon pomegranate-tree:
5 Believe me, love, it was the nightingale.
ROMEO
6 It was the lark, the herald of the morn,
7 No nightingale. Look, love, what envious streaks
8 Do lace the severing clouds in yonder east.
9. Night's candles: i.e., the stars.
9 Night's candles are burnt out, and jocund day
10 Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.
11 I must be gone and live, or stay and die.
JULIET
12 Yon light is not daylight, I know it, I:
13. some meteor that the sun exhal'd: Meteors were thought to be luminous vapors which the sun's heat drew from the earth.
13 It is some meteor that the sun exhal'd,
14 To be to thee this night a torch-bearer,
15 And light thee on thy way to Mantua.
16 Therefore stay yet; thou need'st not to be gone.
ROMEO
17. ta'en: taken, arrested.
17 Let me be ta'en, let me be put to death;
18 I am content, so thou wilt have it so.
19 I'll say yon grey is not the morning's eye,
20. reflex of Cynthia's brow: i.e., moonlight.
21-22. beat / The vaulty heaven: echo in the arched heaven.
21-22. beat / The vaulty heaven: echo in the arched heaven.
20 'Tis but the pale reflex of Cynthia's brow;
21 Nor that is not the lark, whose notes do beat
22 The vaulty heaven so high above our heads.
23. care: desire.
23 I have more care to stay than will to go:
24 Come, death, and welcome! Juliet wills it so.
25 How is't, my soul? let's talk; it is not day.
JULIET
26. hie hence: hasten away from here.
26 It is, it is: hie hence, be gone, away!
27 It is the lark that sings so out of tune,
28. Straining: straining its voice with. sharps: high notes. 29. division: variations on a melody.
30. This: i.e., this lark that we hear singing now.
31-32. Some say ... changed voices too: 31. change: exchange
30. This: i.e., this lark that we hear singing now.
31-32. Some say ... changed voices too: 31. change: exchange
28 Straining harsh discords and unpleasing sharps.
29 Some say the lark makes sweet division;
30 This doth not so, for she divideth us.
31 Some say the lark and loathed toad change eyes,
32 O, now I would they had changed voices too,
33. arm from arm: out of each other's arms. affray: frighten.
33 Since arm from arm that voice doth us affray,
34 Hunting thee hence with hunt's-up to the day.
35 O, now be gone; more light and light it grows.
ROMEO
36 More light and light; more dark and dark our woes!
Enter NURSE.
Nurse
37 Madam!
JULIET
38 Nurse?
Nurse
39 Your lady mother is coming to your chamber:
40 The day is broke; be wary, look about.
[Exit Nurse.]
JULIET
41 Then, window, let day in, and let life out.
ROMEO
42 Farewell, farewell! one kiss, and I'll descend.
[Romeo climbs down from Juliet's window.]
JULIET
43. friend: lover.
43 Art thou gone so? love, lord, ay, husband, friend!
44 I must hear from thee every day in the hour,
45 For in a minute there are many days:
46. by this count: i.e., by my way of counting (in which every minute away from you counts as a day). much in years: very old.
46 O, by this count I shall be much in years
47 Ere I again behold my Romeo!
ROMEO [From below.]
48 Farewell!
49 I will omit no opportunity
50 That may convey my greetings, love, to thee.
JULIET
51 O think'st thou we shall ever meet again?
ROMEO
52 I doubt it not; and all these woes shall serve
53 For sweet discourses in our time to come.
JULIET
54. ill-divining: prophesying of evil.
54 O God, I have an ill-divining soul!
55 Methinks I see thee, now thou art below,
56 As one dead in the bottom of a tomb.
57 Either my eyesight fails, or thou look'st pale.
ROMEO
58 And trust me, love, in my eye so do you:
59. Dry sorrow drinks our blood: thirsty sorrow drinks up our blood [and so we both look bloodless, pale].
59 Dry sorrow drinks our blood. Adieu, adieu!
Exit.
JULIET
60 O Fortune, Fortune! all men call thee fickle:
61. what dost thou: what business have you. him / That is renown'd for faith: him who is honored for his faithfulness [i.e., Romeo].
61 If thou art fickle, what dost thou with him
62 That is renown'd for faith? Be fickle, fortune;
63 For then, I hope, thou wilt not keep him long,
64 But send him back.
LADY CAPULET [Within.]
64 Ho, daughter! are you up?
JULIET
65 Who is't that calls? is it my lady mother?
66. not down: not yet in bed.
67. What unaccustom'd cause procures her hither?: what extraordinary reason brings her here?
She goeth down from the window:
67. What unaccustom'd cause procures her hither?: what extraordinary reason brings her here?
She goeth down from the window:
66 Is she not down so late, or up so early?
67 What unaccustom'd cause procures her hither?
[She goeth down from the window.]
Enter Mother [LADY CAPULET].
LADY CAPULET
68. how now, Juliet!: i.e., what's the matter with you, Juliet?
68 Why, how now, Juliet!
JULIET
68 Madam, I am not well.
LADY CAPULET
69. your cousin's: i.e., Tybalt's.
69 Evermore weeping for your cousin's death?
70 What, wilt thou wash him from his grave with tears?
71. An if: even if.
71 An if thou couldst, thou couldst not make him live;
72 Therefore, have done: some grief shows much of love,
73. shows still some want of wit: always shows some lack of good sense.
73 But much of grief shows still some want of wit.
JULIET
74. feeling: affecting.
74 Yet let me weep for such a feeling loss.
LADY CAPULET
75-76. So shall you feel the loss, but not the friend / Which you weep for: [weeping as you are now doing] will make you feel the loss of your friend, but won't allow you to embrace the friend that you are weeping for.
75 So shall you feel the loss, but not the friend
76 Which you weep for.
JULIET
76 Feeling so the loss,
77. ever weep the friend: continually weep for the friend.
77 I cannot choose but ever weep the friend.
LADY CAPULET
78 Well, girl, thou weep'st not so much for his death,
79 As that the villain lives which slaughter'd him.
JULIET
80 What villain madam?
LADY CAPULET
80 That same villain, Romeo.
JULIET [Aside.]
81 Villain and he be many miles asunder.—
82 God pardon him! I do, with all my heart;
83. like: so much as. Juliet allows her mother to believe that her heart grieves for Tybalt and has a grievance against Romeo because Romeo killed Tybalt, but we know that Juliet really grieves because Romeo is gone. Juliet continues to use the same kind of double meanings in the following lines.
83 And yet no man like he doth grieve my heart.
LADY CAPULET
84 That is because the traitor murderer lives.
JULIET
85 Ay, madam, from the reach of these my hands:
86. venge: avenge.
86 Would none but I might venge my cousin's death!
LADY CAPULET
87 We will have vengeance for it, fear thou not:
88 Then weep no more. I'll send to one in Mantua,
89. runagate: renegade.
90. unaccustom'd dram: i.e., poison. Lady Capulet is making a bitter pun on "dram" as meaning a small drink of liquor which will make one feel good.
90. unaccustom'd dram: i.e., poison. Lady Capulet is making a bitter pun on "dram" as meaning a small drink of liquor which will make one feel good.
89 Where that same banish'd runagate doth live,
90 Shall give him such an unaccustom'd dram,
91 That he shall soon keep Tybalt company:
92 And then, I hope, thou wilt be satisfied.
JULIET
93 Indeed, I never shall be satisfied
94 With Romeo, till I behold him—dead—
95 Is my poor heart so for a kinsman vex'd.
96 Madam, if you could find out but a man
97. To bear a poison: to deliver a poison [to Romeo]. temper it: modify the poison.
97 To bear a poison, I would temper it,
98 That Romeo should, upon receipt thereof,
99 Soon sleep in quiet. O, how my heart abhors
100 To hear him named, and cannot come to him
101. wreak: take revenge. But we know that Juliet's revenge on Romeo would be to have him in her bed again.
102. his body that: the body of him who.
102. his body that: the body of him who.
101 To wreak the love I bore my cousin
102 Upon his body that slaughter'd him!
LADY CAPULET
103 Find thou the means, and I'll find such a man.
104 But now I'll tell thee joyful tidings, girl.
JULIET
105 And joy comes well in such a needy time:
106 What are they, I beseech your ladyship?
LADY CAPULET
107. careful father: father full of care [for your welfare].
108. to . . . heaviness: in order to relieve you of your sorrow.
109. sorted out: picked out. sudden: soon to come.
108. to . . . heaviness: in order to relieve you of your sorrow.
109. sorted out: picked out. sudden: soon to come.
107 Well, well, thou hast a careful father, child;
108 One who, to put thee from thy heaviness,
109 Hath sorted out a sudden day of joy,
110 That thou expect'st not nor I look'd not for.
JULIET
111 Madam, in happy time, what day is that?
LADY CAPULET
112 Marry, my child, early next Thursday morn,
113 The gallant, young and noble gentleman,
114 The County Paris, at Saint Peter's Church,
115 Shall happily make thee there a joyful bride.
JULIET
116 Now, by Saint Peter's Church and Peter too,
117 He shall not make me there a joyful bride.
118 I wonder at this haste; that I must wed
119 Ere he, that should be husband, comes to woo.
120 I pray you, tell my lord and father, madam,
121 I will not marry yet; and, when I do, I swear,
122 It shall be Romeo, whom you know I hate,
123 Rather than Paris. These are news indeed!
LADY CAPULET
124 Here comes your father; tell him so yourself,
125 And see how he will take it at your hands.
Enter CAPULET and NURSE.
CAPULET
126. drizzle dew: i.e., become misty.
127. the sunset of my brother's son: i.e., the death of Tybalt.
129. conduit: water pipe, fountain.
127. the sunset of my brother's son: i.e., the death of Tybalt.
129. conduit: water pipe, fountain.
126 When the sun sets, the air doth drizzle dew;
127 But for the sunset of my brother's son
128 It rains downright.
129 How now! a conduit, girl? what, still in tears?
130 Evermore showering? In one little body
131. Thou counterfeit'st: You appear to be the image of. bark: sailing ship.
131 Thou counterfeit'st a bark, a sea, a wind;
132 For still thy eyes, which I may call the sea,
133 Do ebb and flow with tears; the bark thy body is,
134 Sailing in this salt flood; the winds, thy sighs;
135 Who, raging with thy tears, and they with them,
136. Without a sudden calm: unless there is a sudden calm. overset: capsize.
136 Without a sudden calm, will overset
137 Thy tempest-tossed body. How now, wife!
138 Have you deliver'd to her our decree?
LADY CAPULET
139. but she will none, she gives you thanks: i.e., but she says "No, thank you."
139 Ay, sir; but she will none, she gives you thanks.
140 I would the fool were married to her grave!
CAPULET
141. Soft!: wait a minute, what's this? take me with you: let me understand what you mean.
143. proud: elated [at the news of her wedding to Paris].
144. wrought: worked hard to secure.
145. bride: bridegroom.
143. proud: elated [at the news of her wedding to Paris].
144. wrought: worked hard to secure.
145. bride: bridegroom.
141 Soft! take me with you, take me with you, wife.
142 How! will she none? doth she not give us thanks?
143 Is she not proud? doth she not count her blest,
144 Unworthy as she is, that we have wrought
145 So worthy a gentleman to be her bride?
JULIET
146. Not proud, you have; but thankful, that you have: [I am] not elated [that] you have [arranged this marriage]; but [I am] thankful that you have [arranged this marriage, out of love for me].
146 Not proud, you have; but thankful, that you have:
147 Proud can I never be of what I hate;
148 But thankful even for hate, that is meant love.
CAPULET
149. chopp'd logic: illogical logic, shallow argument.
149 How, how, how, how, chopp'd logic! What is this?
150 "Proud," and "I thank you," and "I thank you not";
151. minion: spoiled darling.
151 And yet "not proud." Mistress minion, you,
152 Thank me no thankings, nor, proud me no prouds,
153. fettle: prepare, fix up. This word was usually used in reference to horses. 'gainst: against; i.e., in preparation for.
155. hurdle: a sledge used to drag prisoners to the gallows.
156. Out: an exclamation of indignant reproach. green-sickness: the proverbial pallor of young, unmarried women. carrion: corpse, rotten meat. baggage: good-for-nothing.
157. tallow-face: Tallow is "a hard fatty substance made from rendered animal fat, used in making candles and soap." Fie, fie! what, are you mad?: Maybe Lady Capulet says this to her husband and means that Capulet has gone too far. Or maybe Lady Capulet is joining her husband in abusing their daughter.
155. hurdle: a sledge used to drag prisoners to the gallows.
156. Out: an exclamation of indignant reproach. green-sickness: the proverbial pallor of young, unmarried women. carrion: corpse, rotten meat. baggage: good-for-nothing.
157. tallow-face: Tallow is "a hard fatty substance made from rendered animal fat, used in making candles and soap." Fie, fie! what, are you mad?: Maybe Lady Capulet says this to her husband and means that Capulet has gone too far. Or maybe Lady Capulet is joining her husband in abusing their daughter.
153 But fettle your fine joints 'gainst Thursday next,
154 To go with Paris to Saint Peter's Church,
155 Or I will drag thee on a hurdle thither.
156 Out, you green-sickness carrion! Out, you baggage!
157 You tallow-face!
LADY CAPULET
157 Fie, fie! what, are you mad?
JULIET
158 Good father, I beseech you on my knees,
159 Hear me with patience but to speak a word.
CAPULET
160 Hang thee, young baggage! disobedient wretch!
161 I tell thee what: get thee to church o' Thursday,
162 Or never after look me in the face:
163 Speak not, reply not, do not answer me;
164. My fingers itch: i.e., I can hardly resist slapping you down.
164 My fingers itch. Wife, we scarce thought us blest
165 That God had lent us but this only child;
166 But now I see this one is one too much,
167 And that we have a curse in having her.
168. hilding: worthless person.
168 Out on her, hilding!
Nurse
168 God in heaven bless her!
169. rate: berate.
169 You are to blame, my lord, to rate her so.
CAPULET
170 And why, my Lady Wisdom? hold your tongue,
171. smatter: chatter.
171 Good Prudence; smatter with your gossips, go.
Nurse
172 I speak no treason.
CAPULET
172. God-i-god-en: literally, "God yield ye [give you] good evening," but here, an impatient exclamation equivalent to "for God's sake!"
172 O, God-i-god-en.
Nurse
173 May not one speak?
CAPULET
173 Peace, you mumbling fool!
174. Utter your gravity o'er a gossip's bowl: say your wisdom over a bowl you share with one of your cronies.
174 Utter your gravity o'er a gossip's bowl;
175 For here we need it not.
LADY CAPULET
175 You are too hot.
CAPULET
176. God's bread!: literally, Christ's sacrament, but Capulet is just cursing.
176 God's bread! it makes me mad! Day, night, work, play,
177 Alone, in company, still my care hath been
178 To have her match'd, and having now provided
179 A gentleman of noble parentage,
180. demesnes: estates. nobly lien'd: well connected.
180 Of fair demesnes, youthful, and nobly lien'd,
181 Stuff'd, as they say, with honourable parts,
182 Proportion'd as one's thought would wish a man;
183. puling: whimpering.
184. mammet: doll-baby. in her fortune's tender: when good fortune is offered her.
186-187. pardon me . . . pardon you: excuse me . . . set you free.
184. mammet: doll-baby. in her fortune's tender: when good fortune is offered her.
186-187. pardon me . . . pardon you: excuse me . . . set you free.
183 And then to have a wretched puling fool,
184 A whining mammet, in her fortune's tender,
185 To answer "I'll not wed; I cannot love,
186 I am too young; I pray you, pardon me."
187 But, as you will not wed, I'll pardon you:
188 Graze where you will you shall not house with me:
189. I do not use to jest: i.e., I'm not kidding.
190. advise: consider well.
191-192. An . . . And: if . . . if.
190. advise: consider well.
191-192. An . . . And: if . . . if.
189 Look to't, think on't, I do not use to jest.
190 Thursday is near; lay hand on heart, advise.
191 An you be mine, I'll give you to my friend;
192 And you be not, hang, beg, starve, die in the streets,
193 For, by my soul, I'll ne'er acknowledge thee,
194 Nor what is mine shall never do thee good:
195. I'll not be forsworn: I'll never go back on my word.
195 Trust to't, bethink you; I'll not be forsworn.
Exit.
JULIET
196 Is there no pity sitting in the clouds,
197 That sees into the bottom of my grief?
198 O, sweet my mother, cast me not away!
199 Delay this marriage for a month, a week;
200 Or, if you do not, make the bridal bed
201 In that dim monument where Tybalt lies.
LADY CAPULET
202 Talk not to me, for I'll not speak a word.
203 Do as thou wilt, for I have done with thee.
Exit.
JULIET
204 O God!—O nurse, how shall this be prevented?
205. my faith in heaven: my marriage vow is registered in heaven. 206-8. How shall that faith ... leaving earth?:
205 My husband is on earth, my faith in heaven;
206 How shall that faith return again to earth,
207 Unless that husband send it me from heaven
208. counsel me: advise me.
209. practise stratagems: play dirty tricks.
209. practise stratagems: play dirty tricks.
208 By leaving earth? Comfort me, counsel me!
209 Alack, alack, that heaven should practise stratagems
210 Upon so soft a subject as myself!
211 What say'st thou? Hast thou not a word of joy?
212 Some comfort, nurse.
Nurse
212 Faith, here it is.
213. all the world to nothing: i.e., it's a safe bet.
214. ne'er: never. challenge: claim.
214. ne'er: never. challenge: claim.
213 Romeo is banish'd; and all the world to nothing,
214 That he dares ne'er come back to challenge you;
215 Or, if he do, it needs must be by stealth.
216 Then, since the case so stands as now it doth,
217 I think it best you married with the county.
218 O, he's a lovely gentleman!
219. Romeo's . . . him: Romeo's a dish-rag in comparison to him.
220. so . . . eye: so fresh, so lively, so beautiful an eye.
221. Beshrew my very heart: curse my own heart; i.e., my heart be cursed if I'm not right.
220. so . . . eye: so fresh, so lively, so beautiful an eye.
221. Beshrew my very heart: curse my own heart; i.e., my heart be cursed if I'm not right.
219 Romeo's a dishclout to him. An eagle, madam,
220 Hath not so green, so quick, so fair an eye
221 As Paris hath. Beshrew my very heart,
222 I think you are happy in this second match,
223 For it excels your first: or if it did not,
224 Your first is dead; or 'twere as good he were,
225. As living here and you no use of him: since he is living here [on earth], but you can't have any use of him [as a husband].
225 As living here and you no use of him.
JULIET
226 Speakest thou from thy heart?
Nurse
227. beshrew: curse.
227 And from my soul too, else beshrew them both.
JULIET
228. Amen: There is a hidden meaning in Juliet's "Amen!" Juliet has asked if the Nurse's advice to marry Paris comes from her heart, and the Nurse has replied that it comes from both her heart and soul, "else beshrew [curse] them both." So, when Juliet says, "Amen," she means "cursed indeed be your heart and soul for giving such advice."
228 Amen!
Nurse
229 What?
JULIET
230 Well, thou hast comforted me marvellous much.
231 Go in: and tell my lady I am gone,
232 Having displeased my father, to Laurence' cell,
233 To make confession and to be absolved.
Nurse
234 Marry, I will; and this is wisely done.
[Exit.]
JULIET
235. Ancient damnation: damned old woman.
235 Ancient damnation! O most wicked fiend!
236 Is it more sin to wish me thus forsworn,
237 Or to dispraise my lord with that same tongue
238 Which she hath praised him with above compare
239 So many thousand times? Go, counsellor;
240. bosom: private thoughts. twain: separated.
240 Thou and my bosom henceforth shall be twain.
241 I'll to the friar, to know his remedy;
242 If all else fail, myself have power to die.
Exit.