Scene II

Capulet's orchard.

Enter Juliet alone.

JUL:

Gallop apace, you fiery-footed steeds,
Towards Phoebus’ lodging! Such a wagoner
As Phaeton would whip you to the west
And bring in cloudy night immediately.
Spread thy close curtain, love-performing night,(5)
That runaway eyes may wink, and Romeo
Leap to these arms untalk'd of and unseen.
Lovers can see to do their amorous rites
By their own beauties; or, if love be blind,(10)
It best agrees with night. Come, civil night,
Thou sober-suited matron, all in black,
And learn me how to lose a winning match,
Play'd for a pair of stainless maidenhoods.
Hood my unmann'd blood, bating in my cheeks,(15)
With thy black mantle till strange love, grown bold,
Think true love acted simple modesty.
Come, night; come, Romeo; come, thou day in night;
For thou wilt lie upon the wings of night
Whiter than new snow upon a raven's back.(20)
Come, gentle night; come, loving, black-brow'd night;
Give me my Romeo; and, when he shall die,
Take him and cut him out in little stars,
And he will make the face of heaven so fine
That all the world will be in love with night(25)
And pay no worship to the garish sun.
O, I have bought the mansion of a love,
But not possess'd it; and though I am sold,
Not yet enjoy'd. So tedious is this day
As is the night before some festival(30)
To an impatient child that hath new robes
And may not wear them. O, here comes my nurse,
And she brings news; and every tongue that speaks
But Romeo's name speaks heavenly eloquence.

Enter Nurse, with cords.

Now, nurse, what news? What hast thou there? the cords(35)
That Romeo bid thee fetch?

JUL:

Gallop quickly, you horses with fiery flames for feet,
Towards the Sun god’s house. Such a wagon driver
As Phaeton (the son of the Sun god) would whip you to the west
And bring in a cloudy night immediately.
Close your curtain, love-performing night, so
That rude eyes may look away, and Romeo can
Leap to these arms, un-talked about and unseen.
Lovers can see to do their love making
By their own beauties. or, if love is blind,
It best agrees with night. Come, civil night,
You sober-suited matron, all in black,
And teach me how to lose a winning match,
Played for a pair of stainless maidens.
Conceal my virgin blood, fluttering in my cheeks,
With your black mantle, until unknown love, grown bold,
Thinks that true love is an act of simple modesty.
Come, night. Come, Romeo. come, you day in night;
For you will lie upon the wings of night,
Whiter than new snow upon a raven's back.
Come, gentle night; come, loving, black-browed night,
Give me my Romeo; and, when he shall die,
Take him and cut him out in little stars,
And he will make the face of heaven so fine
That all the world will be in love with night,
And pay no worship to the glaring sun.
O, I have bought the mansion of a love,
But I have not moved in, and, though I am sold,
I have not yet been enjoyed. So boring this day is,
As the night before some festival is
To an impatient child that has new clothes,
And can’t wear them. O, here comes my nurse,
And she brings news, and every tongue that speaks
Only Romeo's name, speaks with heavenly eloquence

Now, nurse, what news? What have you got there? The ropes
That Romeo asked you to fetch?

NURSE:

Ay, ay, the cords.

NURSE:

Yes, yes, the ropes.

Throws them down.

JUL:

Ay me! what news? Why dost thou wring thy hands?

JUL:

Ah me! What news? Why are you wringing your hands?

NURSE:

Ah, well-a-day! he's dead, he's dead, he's dead!
We are undone, lady, we are undone!(40)
Alack the day! he's gone, he's kill'd, he's dead!

NURSE:

Ah, alas! he's dead, he's dead, he's dead!
We are ruined, lady, we are ruined!
Shame on this day! he's gone, he's killed, he's dead!

JUL:

Can heaven be so envious?

JUL:

Can heaven be so jealous?

NURSE:

Romeo can,
Though heaven cannot. O Romeo, Romeo!
Who ever would have thought it? Romeo!(45)

NURSE:

Romeo can,
Though heaven cannot. O Romeo, Romeo!
Who ever would have thought it? Romeo!

JUL:

What devil art thou that dost torment me thus?
This torture should be roar'd in dismal hell.
Hath Romeo slain himself? Say thou but ‘I,’
And that bare vowel ‘I’ shall poison more
Than the death-darting eye of cockatrice.(50)
I am not I, if there be such an ‘I’;
Or those eyes shut that make thee answer ‘I.’
If he be slain, say ‘I’; or if not, ‘no.’
Brief sounds determine of my weal or woe.

JUL:

What devil are you that torments me like this?
This torture should make a loud noise in dismal hell.
Has Romeo killed himself? You say only “I,”
And I shall poison that bare vowel more
Than the death-darting eye of the serpent hatched from an egg.
I am not “I,” if there be such an “I,”
Or those eyes shut that make you answer “I.”
If he is slain, say “I;” or if not, say “No.”
Brief sounds determine my wealth or sorrows.

NURSE:

I saw the wound, I saw it with mine eyes,(55)
(God save the mark!) here on his manly breast.
A piteous corse, a bloody piteous corse;
Pale, pale as ashes, all bedaub'd in blood,
All in gore-blood. I swounded at the sight.

NURSE:

I saw the wound. I saw it with my own eyes,
God save the mark! here on his manly breast.
A piteous corpse, a bloody piteous corpse;
Pale, pale as ashes, all covered in blood,
All in gory blood; I fainted at the sight.

JUL:

O, break, my heart! poor bankrout, break at once!(60)
To prison, eyes; ne'er look on liberty!
Vile earth, to earth resign; end motion here,
And thou and Romeo press one heavy bier!

JUL:

O, break, my heart! poor bankrupt, break at once!
Eyes, go to prison. Never look on freedom!
Evil earth, die; end all motion here;
And you and Romeo lay in a heavy tomb!

NURSE:

O Tybalt, Tybalt, the best friend I had!
O courteous Tybalt! honest gentleman(65)
That ever I should live to see thee dead!

NURSE:

O Tybalt, Tybalt! The best friend I had!
O courteous Tybalt! honest gentleman!
That I should ever live to see you dead!

JUL:

What storm is this that blows so contrary?
Is Romeo slaught'red, and is Tybalt dead?
My dear-lov'd cousin, and my dearer lord?
Then, dreadful trumpet, sound the general doom!(70)
For who is living, if those two are gone?

JUL:

What kind of storm is this that blows so opposed to nature?
Is Romeo slaughtered, and is Tybalt dead?
My dear-loved cousin, and my dearer lord?
Then, dreadful trumpet, sound the general doom!
For who is living, if those two are gone?

NURSE:

Tybalt is gone, and Romeo banished;
Romeo that kill'd him, he is banished.

NURSE:

Tybalt is gone, and Romeo banished;
Romeo killed him; he is banished.

JUL:

O God! Did Romeo's hand shed Tybalt's blood?

JUL:

O God! did Romeo's hand shed Tybalt's blood?

NURSE:

It did, it did! alas the day, it did!(75)

NURSE:

It did, it did; shame the day, it did!

JUL:

O serpent heart, hid with a flow'ring face!
Did ever dragon keep so fair a cave?
Beautiful tyrant! fiend angelical!
Dove-feather'd raven! wolvish-ravening lamb!
Despised substance of divinest show!(80)
Just opposite to what thou justly seem'st—
A damned saint, an honourable villain!
O nature, what hadst thou to do in hell
When thou didst bower the spirit of a fiend
In mortal paradise of such sweet flesh?(85)
Was ever book containing such vile matter
So fairly bound? O, that deceit should dwell
In such a gorgeous palace!

JUL:

O serpent heart, hidden by a handsome face!
Did a dragon ever keep so beautiful a cave?
Beautiful tyrant! Fiend angelical!
Dove-feathered raven! Wolfish-rabid lamb!
Despised substance of the most divine show!
Just opposite to what you justly seem,
A damned saint, an honorable villain!
O nature, what did you have to do in hell
When you sheltered the spirit of a fiend
In a deadly paradise of such sweet flesh?
Was there ever a book containing such vile matter
So beautifully bound? O, that deceit should dwell
In such a gorgeous palace!

NURSE:

There's no trust,
No faith, no honesty in men; all perjur'd,(90)
All forsworn, all naught, all dissemblers.
Ah, where's my man? Give me some aqua vitae.
These griefs, these woes, these sorrows make me old.
Shame come to Romeo!

NURSE:

There's no trust,
No faith, no honesty in men; all are liars,
All swear falsely, all nothing, all deceivers.
Ah, where's my man? Give me some whiskey.
These griefs, these woes, these sorrows make me old.
Shame come to Romeo!

JUL:

Blister'd be thy tongue(95)
For such a wish! He was not born to shame.
Upon his brow shame is asham'd to sit;
For 'tis a throne where honour may be crown'd
Sole monarch of the universal earth.
O, what a beast was I to chide at him!(100)

JUL:

Your tongue should be blistered
For such a wish! He was not born to shame.
Upon his brow, shame is ashamed to sit;
For it’s a throne where honor may be crowned
The only king of the universal earth.
O, what a beast was I to scold him!

NURSE:

Will you speak well of him that kill'd your cousin?

NURSE:

Will you speak well of him that killed your cousin?

JUL:

Shall I speak ill of him that is my husband?
Ah, poor my lord, what tongue shall smooth thy name
When I, thy three-hours’ wife, have mangled it?
But wherefore, villain, didst thou kill my cousin?(105)
That villain cousin would have kill'd my husband.
Back, foolish tears, back to your native spring!
Your tributary drops belong to woe,
Which you, mistaking, offer up to joy.
My husband lives, that Tybalt would have slain;(110)
And Tybalt's dead, that would have slain my husband.
All this is comfort; wherefore weep I then?
Some word there was, worser than Tybalt's death,
That murdered me. I would forget it fain;
But O, it presses to my memory(115)
Like damned guilty deeds to sinners’ minds!
‘Tybalt is dead, and Romeo banished.’
That ‘banished,’ that one word ‘banished,’
Hath slain ten thousand Tybalts. Tybalt's death
Was woe enough, if it had ended there;(120)
Or, if sour woe delights in fellowship
And needly will be rank'd with other griefs,
Why followed not, when she said ‘Tybalt's dead,’
Thy father, or thy mother, nay, or both,
Which modern lamentation might have mov'd?(125)
But with a rearward following Tybalt's death,
‘Romeo is banished’— to speak that word
Is father, mother, Tybalt, Romeo, Juliet,
All slain, all dead. ‘Romeo is banished’—
There is no end, no limit, measure, bound,(130)
In that word's death; no words can that woe sound.
Where is my father and my mother, nurse?

JUL:

Shall I speak ill of him that is my husband?
Ah, poor my lord, what tongue shall clear your name,
When I, your wife for three hours, have mangled it?
But why, villain, did you kill my cousin?
That villain cousin would have killed my husband.
Back, foolish tears, back to your native spring.
Your drops of tribute belong to sorrow,
Which you, mistaken, have offered up to joy.
My husband lives, that Tybalt would have slain,
And Tybalt's dead, that would have slain my husband.
All this is comfort. why do I weep then?
Some word there was, worse than Tybalt's death,
That murdered me. I would gladly forget it,
But, O, it presses into my memory
Like damned guilty deeds press into sinners' minds.
“Tybalt is dead, and Romeo banished.”
That “banished,” that one word “banished,”
Has killed ten thousand Tybalts. Tybalt's death
Was sorrow enough, if it had ended there.
Or, if misery loves company,
And necessarily will be ranked with other sorrows,
Why didn’t it follow, when she said, “Tybalt's dead,”
Your father, or your mother, no, or both,
Which modern grief might have moved me?
But with a rear-ward following Tybalt's death,
”Romeo is banished.” To speak that word
Is father, mother, Tybalt, Romeo, Juliet,
All slain, all dead. “Romeo is banished.”
There is no end, no limit, measure, or boundary,
In that word's death. No words can that sorrow ease.
Where are my father and my mother, nurse?