And the demesnes that there adjacent lie, Ben. An if he hear thee, thou wilt anger him. Mer. This cannot anger him: 'twould anger him To raise a spirit in his mistress' circle Of some strange nature, letting it there stand Is fair and honest, and, in his mistress' name, Ben. Come, he hath hid himself among these trees, To be consorted with the humorous night: Mer. If love be blind, love cannot hit the mark. Now will he sit under a medlar tree, And wish his mistress were that kind of fruit, Ben. Go, then; for 'tis in vain To seek him here, that means not to be found. [Exeunt. That is, the humid, the moist dewy night. The truckle-bed or trundle-bed was a bed for the servant or page, and was so made as to run under the " standing-bed," which was for the master. See The Merry Wives of Windsor Act iv. sc. 5, note 1.- We are not to suppose that Mercutio slept in the servant's bed he merely speaks of his truckle-bed in contrast with the field-bed, that is, the ground. R. SCENE II. CAPULET'S Garden. Enter ROMEO. Rom. He jests at scars, that never felt a wound. [JULIET appears above, at a Window. But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun! Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, Who is already sick and pale with grief, That thou her maid art far more fair than she : Be not her maid,' since she is envious; Her vestal livery is but sick and green, And none but fools do wear it; cast it off. It is my lady; O! it is my love: O, that she knew she were! — She speaks, yet she says nothing: What of that? Her eye discourses, I will answer it. I am too bold, 'tis not to me she speaks: Jul. Rom. Ah me! She speaks: 1 That is, be not a votary to the moon, to Diana. So the first quarto: the other old copies have eye instead of eyes. HI. O, speak again, bright angel! for thou art Jul. O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Deny thy father, and refuse thy name: Rom. Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this? 3 So the quarto of 1597; the other old copies, "lazy-pffing clouds." Mr. Collier's second folio changes puffing to passing. which may be right, the long s, as it was then written, being easily mistaken for f.-"Take notice," says Coleridge, in this enchanting scene of the contrast of Romeo's love with his former fancy; and weigh the skill shown in justifying him from his inconstancy by making us feel the difference of his passion. Yet this, too, is a love in, although not merely of, the imagination." H. The words, "nor any other part," are found only in the first quarto. In the second line below, also, name is from the first quarto; the other old copies reading, "By any other word." H. Rom. I take thee at thy word: Call me but love, and I'll be new baptiz'd; Henceforth I never will be Romeo. Jul. What man art thou, that, thus bescreen'd in night, So stumblest on my counsel ? Rom. By a name I know not how to tell thee who I am : Had I it written, I would tear the word. Jul. My ears have not yet drunk a hundred words Of that tongue's utterance, yet I know the sound. Art thou not Romeo, and a Montague? Rom. Neither, fair saint, if either thee displease. Jul. How cam'st thou hither, tell me? and where fore? The orchard walls are high, and hard to climb; Rom. With love's light wings did I o'erperch these walls; For stony limits cannot hold love out: And what love can do, that dares love attempt; Jul. If they do see thee, they will murder thee. Rom. Alack! there lies more peril in thine eye, Than twenty of their swords: look thou but sweet, And I am proof against their enmity Jul. I would not for the world they saw thee here. * So the quarto of 1597; the other old copies, "thy tongue's uttering." In the next speech, also, all the old copies but the first quarto have maid and dislike instead of saint and displease. That is, no stop, no hinderance. The later copies read, "no stop to me." 11. Thus the quarto of 1597 Rom. I have night's cloak to hide me from their eyes; And, but thou love me,' let them find me here: My life were better ended by their hate, Than death prorogued, wanting of thy love. Jul. By whose direction found'st thou out this place? Rom. By love, who first did prompt me to inquire: I lent me counsel, and I lent him eyes. I am no pilot; yet, wert thou as far As that vast shore wash'd with the farthest sea, I would adventure for such merchandise. Jul. Thou know'st the mask of night is on my face; Else would a maiden blush bepaint my cheek, 7 But is here used in its exceptive sense, without or unless. That is, postponed, delayed or deferred to a more distant pe nod. The whole passage has the following construction: "I have night to screen me :- -yet unless thou love me, let them find me here. It were better that they ended my life at once, than to have death delayed, and to want thy love." That is, farewell attention to forms. 10 This Shakespeare found 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." |