kind of saint, a being far beyond the reaches of ordinary humans. He therefore humbly beseeches her to allow him penitence for having "profaned" (i.e. desecrated) this place consecrated to her.

" ... the gentle fine is this:
My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand
To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss." 

The punishment for his disrespect would be "a gentle fine" in which he would smooth away the roughness of his unworthy touch. This fine should be in the form of a tender kiss.

The metaphor of a shrine for the saint, Juliet, is extended when Romeo names his lips "two blushing pilgrims". The implication is that his lips are embarrassed and shy and as "pilgrims", he suggests that they have made a long journey to show their allegiance and veneration for their saint (Juliet).

Pilgrims often undertake long and arduous journeys to a holy place as a symbol of their humility and to show their allegiance to, and respect for, a saint or heroic character.  

In these few words, Romeo displays his deep attraction, respect and affection for Juliet. She is beyond ordinary and should be served and treated like a sacred entity. 

It is clear that Juliet understands the allusion when she says:

"Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much,
Which mannerly devotion shows in this;
For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch,
And palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss."

Romeo's comparison of her to a saint quaintly encourages her to call him a "pilgrim" which is an apt title within the context of their tete-a-tete.  

When Romeo and Juliet first meet at the party at the Capulet's mansion, Romeo is clearly overwhelmed by his first sight of Juliet, and when he has asked a servingman the identity of this mystery woman, and received no answer, he goes on to describe her in the most glowing of terms, comparing her a precious jewel being used for an earring:

It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night

As a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear--

Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear!

Romeo thus compares her to a "rich jewel" hanging in an "Ethiop's ear," suggesting that she almost represents a star hanging in the night sky, because of her beauty. Note the way in which the value of this "jewel" is highlighted as being "too rich for use" but also so beautiful and precious that it is "too dear" for earth. Romeo therefore describes Juliet in the most glowing of terms when he first lays eyes upon her.

Romeo, never at a loss for words, compares Juliet to the morning sun rising in the east. As if that were not enough, Romeo then compares Juliet's eyes to twinkling stars, saying they are so bright they must be substituting for real stars that are away on business:

Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven,

Having some business, do entreat her eyes

To twinkle in their spheres till they return.

Not being one to stop when he is on a roll, Romeo goes to say the brightness of Juliet's cheeks would shame the stars, just as the brightness of the sun overshadows a lamp. He states that the brightness of her eye is so like the sun that the birds, if they saw it, would think it was morning and start to sing.

In other words, Romeo is enraptured by Juliet's beauty. He is as drawn to her as if she were the sun in the sky and the brightest of all the shining stars. He can't help but be dazzled by her and wishes he were the glove on her hand so that he could touch her cheek.

Romeo first compares Juliet to the sun, so radiant is her beauty. He says that, like the sun, Juliet has the power to drive away the darkness. Then he goes on to compare her eyes to stars, which could bring light to the night, and says the "brightness of her cheek" could outshine the stars "as daylight does a lamp." Finally, he calls her a "bright angel." Clearly, at this point, Romeo is smitten with Juliet, and his repeated use of light imagery suggests the power of love to overcome the darkness of hate (he knows she is a Capulet). We are also meant to recognize that Juliet is a young lady of considerable beauty. At this point, Romeo's attraction to his future wife seems to transcend the physical, and his repeated emphasis on her luminescence emphasizes this.

It is interesting, too, how Romeo's comparisons are linked to contemporary interests. The previous educator's mention of the comparison that Romeo draws between Juliet's beauty and "a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear" is a reference to ostentation and a reminder of the ways in which Europeans, at the dawn of the Age of Exploration, tended to associate exaggerated ornamentation with people from Africa and the Middle East.

During the balcony scene, he compares her not only to light and the sun but also to an ethereal, supernatural creature:

O, speak again, bright angel! for thou art 
As glorious to this night, being o'er my head 
As is a winged messenger of heaven 
Unto the white-upturned wondering eyes 
Of mortals that fall back to gaze on him 
When he bestrides the lazy-pacing clouds 
And sails upon the bosom of the air. (2.2.28-34)

This language, rather religious in nature, contrasts with the earlier astronomical comparisons to the stars and Juliet as the "sun" that "[kills] the envious moon." She is like an angel, "as glorious to his night...as is a winged messenger of heaven." She is an object to be gazed at by "mortals," as mortals would gaze at that winged messenger, a possible reference to Mercury in Roman mythology, or Hermes in Greek mythology—the messenger god of travelers and merchants.

In the balcony scene of Act II, Romeo compares Juliet to the sun.

This lovely scene of Romeo and Juliet is part of Romeo's monologue that exemplifies well the use of light/dark image patterns that prevail throughout the play. Interestingly, Juliet's beauty of light is most apparent in the night against which there is the greatest contrast. Earlier, in Act I, Scene 5, when Romeo first sees Juliet, for instance, he remarks, 

Oh, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!
Like a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear-- (1.5.44-45)

It is interesting that Juliet is perceived by Romeo in terms of the sun, burning torches, and other images of light because, as it turns out, the light is dangerous for them. For, it is only in the darkness that they can safely meet. It is also in the darkness that they consummate their marriage and, when the dawn begins to break, Romeo must part from his fair Juliet.   

Romeo sees Juliet for the first time when he crashes the Capulets' party with his friends Benvolio and Mercutio. As soon as he lays eyes on Juliet, Romeo is captivated, asking who she is. Romeo then makes his first comparison, likening her to a brilliant jewel gleaming on the ear of a black person ("Ethiope"). He states,