So that my speed to Mantua there was stay’d.

Lau. Who bare my letter then to Romeo ?

John. I could not send it,--here it is again,--
Nor get a messenger to bring it thee,
So fearful were they of infection.

Lau. Unhappy fortune! by my brotherhood,
The letter was not nice, but full of charge,
Of dear import; and the neglecting it
May do much danger: Friar John, go hence ;
Get me an iron crow, and bring it straight
Unto

my

cell. John. Brother, I'll go and bring't thee. [Exit.

Lau. Now must I to the monument alone;
Within this three hours will fair Juliet wake;
She will beshrew me much, that Romeo
Hath had no notice of these accidents ;
But I will write again to Mantua,
And keep her at my cell till Romeo come;
Poor living corse, clos'd in a dead man's tomb!

[Erit.

SCENE III.

A Church-Yard; in it, a Monument belonging to the

Capulets.

Enter Paris, and his Page, bearing Flowers and a

Torch.
Par. Give me thy torch, boy: Hence, and stand

aloof;
Yet put it out, for I would not be seen.
Under yon yew-trees lay thee all along,
Holding thine ear close to the hollow ground;
So shall no foot upon the churchyard tread,

3.

was not nice,] i. e. was not written on a trivial or idle

subject.

(Being loose, unfirm, with digging up of graves,)
But thou shalt hear it: whistle then to me,
As signal that thou hear’st something approach,
Give me those flowers. Do as I bid thee, go.

Page. I am almost afraid to stand alone
Here in the churchyard ; yet I will adventure.

[Retires. Par. Sweet flower, with flowers I strew thy bri

dal bed :
Sweet tomb, that in thy circuit dost contain
The perfect model of eternity;
Fair Juliet, that with angels dost remain,
Accept this latest favour at my hands ;
That living honour'd thee, and, being dead,
With funeral praises do adorn thy tomb !

[The Boy whistles.
The boy gives warning, something doth approach.
What cursed foot wanders this way to-night,
To cross my obsequies, and true love's rites?
What, with a torch !--muffle me, night, a while.

[Retires

Enter Romeo and BALTHASAR with a Torch,

Mattock, &c.

Rom. Give me that mattock, and the wrenching

iron. Hold, take this letter ; early in the morning. See thou deliver it to my lord and father. Give me the light: Upon thy life I charge thee, Whate'er thou hear'st or seest, stand all aloof, And do not interrupt me in my course. Why I descend into this bed of death, Is, partly, to behold my lady's face : But, chiefly, to take thence from her dead finger A precious ring; a ring, that I must use

In dear employment:* therefore hence, be gone:
But if thou, jealous, dost return to pry
In what I further shall intend to do,
By heaven, I will tear thee joint by joint,
And strew this hungry churchyard with thy limbs:
The time and my intents are savage-wild;
More fierce, and more inexorable far,
Than empty tigers, or the roaring sea.

Bal. I will be gone, sir, and not trouble you. .
Rom. So shalt thou show me friendship.—Take

thou that: Live, and be prosperous; and farewell, good fellow.

Bal. For all this same, Pll hide me hereabout; His looks I fear, and his intents I doubt. [Retires.

Rom. Thou détestable maw, thou womb of death, Gorg d with the dearest morsel of the earth, Thus I enforce thy rotten jaws to open,

[Breaking open the Door of the Monument. And, in despite, I'll cram thee with more food!

Par. This is that banish'd haughty Montague, That murder'd my love's cousin ;--with which grief, It is supposed, the fair creature died, And here is come to do some villainous shame To the dead bodies : I will apprehend him.

[ Advances. Stop thy unhallow'd toil, vile Montague; Can yengeance be pursu'd further than death ? : Condemned villain, I do apprehend thee: Obey, and

go with me; for thou must die. Rom. I must, indeed; and therefore came I

hither. Good gentle youth, tempt not a desperate man, Fly hence and leave me ;-think upon these gone; Let them affright thee.--I beseecli thee, youth,

4 dear employment :) That is, action of importance. Gems were supposed to have great powers and virtues.

5

Heap not another sin upon my head,
By urging me to fury :-0, be gone!
By heaven, I love thee better than myself ;
For I come hither arm'd against myself:
Stay not, be gone ;-live, and hereafter say-
A madman's mercy bade thee run away.

Par. I do defy thy conjurations,
And do attach thee as a felon here.
Rom. Wilt thou provoke me? then have at thec,
boy.

[They fight Page. O lord! they fight: I will go call the watch.

[Exit Page. Par. O, I am slain! [Falls.] ---If thou be mer

ciful, Open the tomb, lay me with Juliet. [Dies.

Rom. In faith, I will :--Let me peruse this face;--Mercutio's kinsman, noble county Paris :What said my inan, when my betossed soul Did not attend him as we rode? I think, He told me, Paris should have married Juliet : Said he not so? or did I dream it so? Or am I mad, bearing him talk of Juliet, To think it was so ?-0, give me thy hand, One writ with me in sour misfortune's book! I'll bury thee in a triumphant grave,—. A grave? O, no; a lantern,' slaughter'd youth,

$ I do defy thy conjurations,] Paris conceived Romeo to have burst open the monument for no other purpose than to do some villainous shame on the dead bodies, such as witches are reported to have practised; and therefore tells him he defies him, and the magick arts which he suspects he is preparing to use. But perhaps the true meaning here is, “ I refuse to do as thou conjurest me to do, i.e. to depart."

6 A grave? O, no; a lantern,] A lantern may not, in this instance, signify an enclosure for a lighted candle, but a louvre, or what in ancient records is styled lanternium, i. e. a spacious round or octagonal turret full of windows, by means of which cathedrals, and sometimes halls, are illuminated.

For here lies Juliet, and her beauty makes
This vault a feasting presence? 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: 0, how may I
Call this a lightning?'_0, my love! my wife !
Death, that hath suck’d the honey of thy breath,
Hath had no power yet upon thy beauty :
Thou art not conquer'd; beauty's ensign yet
Is crimson in thy lips, and in thy cheeks,
And death's pale flag is not advanced there.
Tybalt, liest thou there in thy bloody sheet?
0, what more favour can I do to thee,
Than with that hand that cut thy youth in twain,
To sunder his that was thine enemy?
Forgive me, cousin !--Ah, dear Juliet,
Why art thou yet so fair? Shall I believe
That unsubstantial death is amorous;
And that the lean abhorred monster keeps
Thee here in dark to be his paramour ?
For fear of that, I will still stay with thee;
And never from this palace of dim night
Depart again ; here, here will I remain
With worms that are thy chamber-maids ; O, here
Will I set up my everlasting rest;
And shake the yoke of inauspicious stars
From this world-wearied flesh.-Eyes, look your last!

8

9

may

presence -] A presence is a publick room.

by a dead man interr'd.] Romeo being now determined to put an end to his life, considers himself as already dead.

0, how I Call this a lightning?] Romeo had, just before, been in high. spirits, a symptom, which he observes, was sometimes called a lightning before death: but how, says he, (for no situation can exempt Shakspeare's characters from the vice of punning) can I term this sad and gloomy prospect a lightning?