Tyb. I am for you.

[Drawing
Rom. Gentle Mercutio, put thy rapier up.
Mer. Come, sir, your passado. [They fight.

Rom. Draw, Benvolio;
Beat down their weapons:-Gentlemen, for shame
Forbear this outrage; -Tybalt-Mercutio-
The prince expressly hath forbid this bandying
In Verona streets:-hold, Tybalt;-good Mercutio.

[Exeunt Tybalt and his Partizans.
Mer. I am hurt;-
A plague o' both the houses!—I am sped:-
Is he gone, and hath nothing?
Ben.

What, art thou hurt?
Mer. Ay, ay, a scratch, a scratch; marry, 'tis

enough.Where is my page?-go, villain, fetch a surgeon.

[Exit Page. Rom. Courage, man; the hurt cannot be much.

Mer. No, 'tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church-door; but 'tis enough, 'twill serve: ask for me to-morrow, and you shall find me a grave man. I am peppered, I warrant, for this world :A plague o’both your houses !— 'Zounds, a dog, a rat, a mouse, a cat, to scratch a man to death! a braggart, a rogue, a villain, that fights by the book of arithmetick!—Why, the devil, came you between us? I was hurt under your arm.

Rom. I thought all for the best.

Mer. Help me into some house, Benvolio,
Or I shall faint.—A plague o'both your houses !
They have made worm's meat of me:
I have it, and soundly too :-Your houses !

[Exeunt Mercurio and Benvolio.
Rom. This gentleman, the prince's near ally,
My very friend, hath got his mortal hurt
In my behalf; my reputation stain'd
With Tybalt's slander, Tybalt, that an hour

Hath been my kinsman:-0 sweet Juliet,
Thy beauty hath made me effeminate,
And in my temper soften'd valour's steel.

Re-enter Benvolio. Ben. O Romeo, Romeo, brave Mercutio's dead; That gallant spirit hath aspir’d the clouds, Which too untimely here did scorn the earth. Rom. This day's black fate on more days doth

depend;* This but begins the woe, others must end.

Re-enter TYBALT.

Ben. Here comes the furious Tybalt back again.

Rom. Alive! in triumph! and Mercutio slain! Away to heaven, respective lenity,' And fire-ey'd fury be my conduct now! Now, Tybalt, take the villain back again, That late thou gav’st me; for Mercutio's soul Is but a little way above our heads, Staying for thine to keep him company; Either thou, or I, or both, must go with him. Tyb. Thou, wretched boy, that didst consort him

here, Shalt with him hence. Rom.

This shall determine that.

[They fight; TYBALT falls. Ben. Romeo, away, be gone! The citizens are up, and Tybalt slain :Stand not amaz’d:—the prince will doom thee death, If thou art taken:-hence !—be gone!-away!

* This day's black fate on more days doth depend;] This day's unhappy destiny hangs over the days yet to come. There will yet be more mischief.

respective lenity,) Cool, considerate gentleness.
be my conduct now!] Conduct for conductor.

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Rom. O! I am fortune's fool!
Ben.

Why dost thou stay?

[Exit Romeo.

Enter Citizens, &c. i Cit. Which way ran he, that killid Mercutio ? Tybalt, that murderer, which way ran he?

Ben. There lies that Tybalt. ] Cit.

Up, sir, go with me; I charge thee in the prince's name, obey.

Enter Prince, attended; Montague, CAPULET,

their Wives, and Others. Prin. Where are the vile beginners of this fray?

Ben. O noble Prince, I can discover all The unlucky manage of this fatal brawl: There lies the man, slain by young Romeo, That slew thy kinsman, brave Mercutio. La. Cap. Tybalt, my cousin !-O my brother's

child! Unhappy sight! ah me, the blood is spillid Of my

dear kinsman !- Prince, as thou art true, For blood of ours, shed blood of Montague.O cousin, cousin!

Prin. Benvolio, who began this bloody fray?
Ben. Tybalt, here slain, whom Romeo's hand did

slay;
Romeo that spoke him fair, bade him bethink
How nice the quarrel was, and urg'd withal
Your high displeasure:-All this—uttered
With gentle breath, calm look, knees humbly

bow'd, Could not take truce with the unruly spleen

7

as thou art true,] As thou art just and upright. How nice-] How slight, how unimportant, how petty.

Of Tybalt deaf to peace, but that he tilts
With piercing steel at bold Mercutio's breast;
Who, all as hot, turns deadly point to point,
And, with a martial scorn, with one hand beats
Cold death aside, and with the other sends
It back to Tybalt, whose dexterity
Retorts it: Romeo he cries aloud,
Hold, friends! friends, part! and, swifter than his

tongue,
His agile arm beats down their fatal points,
And 'twixt them rushes; underneath whose arm
An envious thrust from Tybalt hit the life
Of stout Mercutio, and then Tybalt fled:
But by and by comes back to Romeo,
Who had but newly entertain'd revenge,
And to't they go like lightning; for, ere I
Could draw to part them, was stout Tybalt slain;
And, as he fell, did Romeo turn and fly:
This is the truth, or let Benvolio die.

La. Cap. He is a kinsman to the Montague,
Affection makes him false," he speaks not true:
Some twenty of them fought in this black strife,
And all those twenty could but kill one life:
I beg for justice, which thou, prince, must give;
Romeo slew Tybalt, Romeo must not live.

Prin. Romeo slew him, he slew Mercutio; Who now the price of his dear blood doth owe? Mon. Not Romeo, prince, he was Mercutio's

friend; His fault concludes but, what the law should end, The life of Tybalt.

• Affection makes him false,] The charge of falsehood on Benvolio, though produced at hazard, is very just. The author, who seems to intend the character of Benvolio as good, meant perhaps to show, how the best minds, in a state of faction and discord, are detorted to criminal partiality. JOHNSON.

Prin.

And, for that offence, Immediately we do exíle him hence: I have an interest in your hates' proceeding, My blood for your rude brawls doth lie a bleeding; But I'll amerce you with so strong a fine, That you shall all repent the loss of mine : I will be deaf to pleading and excuses; Nor tears, nor prayers, shall purchase out abuses, Therefore use none: let Romeo hence in haste, Else, when he's found, that hour is his last. Bear hence this body, and attend our will: Mercy but murders, pardoning those that kill.

[Exeunt.

SCENE II.

A Room in Capulet's House.

Enter Juliet.
Jul. Gallop apace, you fiery-footed steeds,
Towards Phoebus' mansion; such a waggoner
As Phaeton would whip you to the west,
And bring in cloudy night immediately.-
Spread thy close curtain, love-performing night!
That run-away's eyes may wink;' and Romeo
Leap to these arms, untalk'd of, and unseen !--
Lovers can see to do their amorous rites
By their own beauties: or, if love be blind,

,

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Spread thy close curtain, love-performing night!

That run-away's eyes may wink; &c.] Juliet first wishes for the absence of the sun, and then invokes the night to spread its curtain close around the world:

Spread thy close curtain, lore-performing night! Next, recollecting that the night would seem short to her, she speaks of it as of a run-away, whose fight she would wish to retard, and whose eyes she would blind, lest they should make discoveries.