Romeo and Juliet Group

Question:

malfoyxx321
malfoyxx321
Student
High School - 9th Grade

What do these lines from Act 2, Scene 6 of "Romeo and Juliet" mean?

These violent delights have violent ends
And in their triumph die, like fire and powder,
Which as they kiss consume: the sweetest honey
Is loathsome in his own deliciousness
And in the taste confounds the appetite:
Therefore love moderately; long love doth so;
Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow.

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Posted by malfoyxx321 on Thursday February 12, 2009 at 2:56 AM and tagged with friar laurence, hasty, juliet, marriage, meaning, romeo, romeo and juliet, shakespeare, speed, violent delights.

Answers:


  1. robertwilliam

    eNotes Editor

    Best answer as selected by question asker.

    Here's a rough paraphrase of Friar Laurence's lines, and I've tried to keep it in the same line configuration as Shakespeare does so you can see which line refers to which:

    Violently-begun affections end violently,
    And, as they come to fruition, they die. Just like fire and gunpowder,
    Which, as you put them together ("kiss") blow up. The sweetest honey
    Can be sickly in being too sweet,
    And tasting it can make you not want to eat it.
    Therefore, Romeo, love moderately: long-lasting loves do that.
    Too quick, in the end, comes as late as too slow does.

     

    These violent delights have violent ends
    And in their triumph die, like fire and powder,
    Which as they kiss consume: the sweetest honey
    Is loathsome in his own deliciousness
    And in the taste confounds the appetite:
    Therefore love moderately; long love doth so;
    Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow.

    Hope it helps!

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/romeo/themes

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    Posted by robertwilliam on Thursday February 12, 2009 at 3:22 AM