May do much danger: Friar John, go hence; John. Brother, I'll go and bring it thee. [Exit Lau. Now muft I to the monument alone; And keep her at my cell 'till Romeo come; Poor living corfe, clos'd in a dead man's tomb ! SCENE III. [Exit A church-yard; in it, a monument belonging to the Capulets. Enter Paris, and his Page with a torch. Par. Give me thy torch, boy; Hence, and ftand aloof; Yet put it out, for I would not be feen. A line in King Richard III. fully fupports Mr. Steevens's interpretation: My lord, this argues confcience in your grace, MALONE. 5 Within these three hours will fair Juliet wake;] Instead of this line, and the concluding part of the fpeech, the quarto, 1597, reads only: "Left that the lady fhould before I come "To free her from the tombe of miferie." STEEVENS As As fignal that thou hear'ft fomething approach. Here in the church-yard; yet I will adventure. [Exit. bed: [Strewing flowers. Sweet tomb, that in thy circuit doft contain The perfect model of eternity; "Fair Juliet, that with angels doft remain, [The boy whistles. Enter Romeo, and Balthafar with a torch, &c. Rom. Give me that mattock, and the wrenching iron. Hold, take this letter; early in the morning Fair Juliet, that with angels, &c.] Thefe four lines from the old edition. POPE. The folio has these lines: "Sweet flow'r, with flow'rs thy bridal bed I ftrew; "Which with fweet water nightly I will dew, "Or, wanting that, with tears diftill'd by moans. "The obfequies which I for thee will keep, JOHNSON. Mr. Pope his followed no copy with exactnefs; but took the first and fourth lines from the elder quarto, omitting the two intermediate verses, which I have restored. STEEVINS. VOL. X. M And And do not interrupt me in my course. But, chiefly, to take thence from her dead finger 'In dear employment: therefore hence, be gone :But if thou, jealous, doft return to pry On what I further fhall intend to do, And ftrew this hungry church-yard with thy limbs : Than empty tygers, or the roaring fea. Balth. I will be gone, fir, and not trouble you. Rom. So fhalt thou fhow me friendfhip.-Take thou that: Live, and be profperous; and farewel, good fellow. Balth. For all this fame, I'll hide me hereabout; His looks I fear, and his intents I doubt. [Exit Balth. Rom. Thou deteftable' maw, thou womb of death, Gorg'd with the deareft morfel of the earth, Thus I enforce thy rotten jaws to open. .G. [Breaking up the monument. Gems 7dear employment,] That is, action of importance. were fuppofed to have great powers and virtues. JOHNSON. Ben Jonfon uses the word dear in the fame fense: "Put your known talents on fo dear a business." Catiline, acti Again, in Chapman's verfion of the 10th book of the Odyffey: 66 -full pitching on "The deareft joint his head was plac'd upon." STEEVENS. -favage-wild ;] Here the fpeech concludes in the old copy. STEEVENS. 9-deteftable- This word, which is now accented on the fecond fyllable, was once accented on the first; therefore this line did not originally feem to be inharmonious. So, in the Tragedie of Crafus, 1604: "Court with vain words and deteftable lyes." Again, in Shakspeare's K. John, act iii. fc. 3: "And I will kifs thy deteftable bones." STEEVENS. And And, in defpight, I'll cram thee with more food! And here is come to do fome villainous shame Rom. I muft, indeed; and therefore came I hither.- By urging me to fury :-O, be gone! And The 1 Pull not &c.] The quarto, 1597, reads:-heap not. quartos 1599 and 1609, and all the folios: - Put not.-Mr. Rowe first made the change, which may be discontinued at the reader's pleasure. STEEVENS. I do defy, &c.] The quarto 1597, reads, 1 do defy thy conjuration, Paris conceived Romeo to have burst open the monument for no other purpose than to do fome villainous fhame on the dead bodies, fuch as witches are reported to have practifed; and therefore tells him he defies him, and the magic arts which he fufpects he is preparing to use. So, in Painter's tranflation of the novel, tom. ii. p. 244: "the watch of the city by chance paffed by, and feeing light within the grave, fufpected straight that they were necromancers which had opened the tombs to abuse the dead bodies for aide of their arte. The folio reads: I do defy thy commiferation. To defy, anciently meant to refufe or deny. See vol. ii. p. 90. 81. 306. V. M 2 Paris And apprehend thee for a felon here. Rom. Wilt thou provoke me? then have at thee, boy. [They fight, Paris falls. Page. Olord! they fight: I will go call the watch. Par. O, I am flain!-If thou be merciful, Open the tomb, lay me with Juliet [Dies Rom. In faith, I will:-Let me perufe this face ;Mercutio's kinfman, noble county Paris :What faid my man, when my betoffed foul Did not attend him as we rode ? I think, He told me, Paris fhould have marry'd Juliet: Said he not fo? or did I dream it fo? Or am I mad, hearing him talk of Juliet, To think it was fo O, give me thy hand, One writ with me in four misfortune's book! I'll bury thee in a triumphant grave,A grave? O, no; a lanthorn, flaughter'd youth, For here lies Juliet, and her beauty makes This vault a feafting 3 prefence full of light. Death, lie thou there, by a dead man interr'd. [Laying Paris in the monument. How oft when men are at the point of death Have they been merry? which their keepers call A lightning before death: O, how may I Call Paris may, however, mean-I refufe to do as thou conjures me to do, i. e. to depart. STEEVENS. 3-prefence-] A prefence is a public room. JOHNSON. This thought, extravagant as it is, is borrowed by Middleton in his comedy of Blurt Mafter Conflable, 1602: "The darkest dungeon which fpite can devise O, how may 1 ?. Call this a lightning ?—] I think we should read, Call this a lightning? JOHNSON. How is certainly right and proper. Romeo had juft before, been in high fpirits, a fymptom, which he obferves, was fome |