Peter. I saw no man use you at his pleasure; if I had, my weapon should quickly have been out, I warrant you: I dare draw as soon as another man, if I see occasion in a good quarrel, and the law on my side.

Nurse. Now, afore Heaven, I am so vexed, that every part about me quivers. Scurvy knave!— Pray you, sir, a word: and as I told you, my young lady bade me enquire you out; what she bade me say, I will keep to myself: but first let me tell ye, if ye should lead her into a fool's paradise, as they say, it were a very gross kind of behaviour, as they say for the gentlewoman is young; and, therefore, if you should deal double with her, truly it were an ill thing to be offered to any gentlewoman, and very weak dealing.71

Rom, Nurse, commend me to thy lady and mistress. I protest unto thee,

Nurse. Good heart, and, i' faith, I will tell her as much lord, lord, she will be a joyful woman. Rom. What wilt thou tell her, nurse? thou dost not mark me.

Nurse. I will tell her, sir,-that you do protest; which, as I take it, is a gentlemanlike offer.

Rom. Bid her devise some means to come to shrift This afternoon;

And there she shall at Friar Laurence' cell 72
Be shriv'd and married. Here is for thy pains.
Nurse. No, truly, sir; not a penny.
Rom. Go to; I say you shall.

Nurse. This afternoon, sir? well, she shall be there.

71. Very weak dealing. It has been proposed that 'wicked' should be substituted for "weak" here; but that would be to destroy the point of the passage, which is, that the nurse intends to use a most forcible expression, and blunders upon a most feeble one.

72. This afternoon; and there she shall, &c. "There" is used in the present passage just as "where" is used in those pointed out in Note 46, Act v., "Merchant of Venice," and Note "Twelfth Night." 73. Like a tackled stair. Like stairs of rope in the tackle of a ship.' "A stair," for a flight of stairs, was formerly in

Act v., 40,

common use.

74. Quit. 'Requite,' 'reward.'

75. I anger her sometimes. By this expression, Shakespeare gives the effect of long time here. But a few hours have in fact elapsed since last night's interview between the lovers, when Juliet said, "To-morrow I will send," until now, when her messenger is speaking; yet the dramatic effect of a longer period is thus given to the interval, by the introduction of the single word "sometimes."

76. R is for the dog. No; I know, &c. The old copies print this R. is for the no, I know,' &c. We adopt Tyrrwhitt's insertion of the word "dog," and follow his punctuation. That R was known as 'the dog's letter,' or, according to the 'nurse, "the dog's name," is a point proved by many quotations from other writers. For instance, Ben Jonson, in his English Grammar, says, "R is the dog's letter, and hirreth in the sound;" Nashe, in "Summer's Last Will and Testament," speaking of dogs, says, "They arre and

Within this hour my man shall be with thee,
And bring thee cords made like a tackled stair;73
Which to the high top-gallant of my joy
Must be my convoy in the secret night.
Farewell; be trusty, and I'll quit1 thy pains:
Farewell; commend me to thy mistress.

Nurse. Now Heaven bless thee!-Hark you, sir.
Rom. What say'st thou, my dear nurse?
Nurse. Is your man secret? Did you ne'er
hear say,

Two may keep counsel, putting one away?
Rom. I warrant thee, my man's as true as steel.
Nurse. Well, sir; my mistress is the sweetest
lady-lord, lord! when 'twas a little prating thing,
Oh, there is a nobleman in town, one Paris, that
would fain lay knife aboard; but she, good soul,
had as lief see a toad, a very toad, as see him. I
anger her sometimes,75 and tell her that Paris is the
properer man; but, I'll warrant you, when I say
so, she looks as pale as any clout in the varsal
world. Doth not rosemary and Romeo begin
both with a letter?

Rom. Ay, nurse; what of that? both with an R. Nurse. Ah, mocker! that's the dog's name; R is for the dog. No; I know it76 begins with some other letter:-and she hath the prettiest sententious of it, of you and rosemary,77 that it would do you good to hear it.

Rom. Commend me to thy lady.

Nurse. Ay, a thousand times. [Exit ROMEO.] -Peter!

Peter. Anon?

Nurse. Peter, take my fan, and go before. [Exeunt.

barke at night against the moone;" Barclay, in his "Ship of Fooles," says,

"This man malicious which troubled is with wrath, Naught else soundeth but the hoorse letter R, Though all be well, yet he none answere hath, Save the dogges letter glowming with nar, nar;" and Florio, in the Preface to his "Second Frutes," speaking of critics, says, "Demonstrative rhetoric is their studie, and the doggs letter they can snarle alreadie." We think that the nurse is made to say "the dog's name" instead of 'the dog's letter,' partly because Shakespeare has a mode of using a popularly known phrase and giving it a touch of his own peculiar fashion (see Note 35, Act iv., "Coriolanus"), partly because it gives an effect of blunder and confusion to the old woman's diction here, and partly because the word name" thus introduced forms the antecedent to "it" in the next clause of the sentence; "I know it begins with some other letter," meaning 'the name I am thinking of,-Romeo.' We have been thus particular in stating our views of this passage, because its meaning has been differently interpreted in an allusion made to it by Mr. Gerald Massey; who at the same time gives a most pleasant guess at the enigma involved in the clause, "it begins with some other letter," believing the solution to have been an allusion to "Wriothesley," the Earl of Southampton's familyname, which is sounded as though it began with an R,

77. The prettiest sententious of it, of you and rosemary. Sententious" is the nurse's blunder for 'sentences,' 'sentential fancies.' "Rosemary" is aptly and significantly brought in here, as being a type of fond remembrance and a herb used at weddings.

SCENE V.-CAPULET's Garden.

Enter JULIET.

foot, and a body,-though they be not to be talked on, yet they are past compare: he is not the flower of courtesy, but, I'll warrant him, as gentle as a

nurse;

In half an hour she promis'd to return.

Perchance she cannot meet him:-that's not so.—
Oh, she is lame! love's heralds should be thoughts,
Which ten times faster glide than the sun's beams,
Driving back shadows over lowering hills:
Therefore do nimble-pinion'd doves draw love,
And therefore hath the wind-swift Cupid wings.
Now is the sun upon the highmost hill
Of this day's journey; and from nine till twelve
Is three long hours,-yet she is not come.
Had she affections and warm youthful blood,
She would be as swift in motion as a ball;
My words would bandy her to my sweet love,
And his to me :

But old folks, many feign as they were dead;
Unwieldy, slow, heavy and pale as lead.-
O Heaven, she comes!

Enter Nurse and PETER.

Oh, honey nurse, what news? Hast thou met with him? Send thy man away. Nurse. Peter, stay at the gate. [Exit PETER. Jul. Now, good sweet nurse,-O Lord, why

look'st thou sad?

Though news be sad, yet tell them merrily;
If good, thou sham'st the music of sweet news
By playing it to me with so sour a face.

Nurse. I am a-weary, give me leave awhile:— Fie, how my bones ache! what a jaunt have I had !78 Jul. I would thou hadst my bones, and I thy news:79

Nay, come, I pray thee, speak ;-good, good nurse, speak.

Nurse. What haste? can you not stay awhile? Do you not see that I am out of breath?

Jul. How art thou out of breath, when thou hast breath

To say to me that thou art out of breath? The excuse that thou dost make in this delay Is longer than the tale thou dost excuse. Is thy news good, or bad? answer to that; Say either, and I'll stay the circumstance: Let me be satisfied, is 't good or bad? Nurse. Well, you have made a simple choice; you know not how to choose a man: Romeo! no, not he; though his face be better than any man's, yet his leg excels all men's; and for a hand, and a

78. What a jaunt have I had! What a fatiguing expedition have I had!' See Note 67, Act v., "Richard II.," for the origin of the words "jaunt" and 'jaunting.'

79. I would thou hadst my bones, and I thy news. Oh, true prodigality and eagerness of youth! And oh, truest true Shakespeare!

have you dined at home ?so

Jul. No, no: but all this did I know before. What says he of our marriage? what of that? Nurse. Lord, how my head aches! what a head have I!

It beats as it would fall in twenty pieces.
My back! o' t'other side:-Oh, my back, my
back!-

Beshrew your heart for sending me about,
To catch my death with jaunting up and down!
Jul. I' faith, I am sorry that thou art not well.
Sweet, sweet, sweet nurse, tell me, what says my
love ?

Nurse. Your love says, like an honest gentleman, And a courteous, and a kind, and a handsome, And, I warrant, a virtuous,-Where is your mother?

Jul. Where is my mother!--why, she is within; Where should she be? How oddly thou repliest! "Your love says, like an honest gentleman,— Where is mother?" your Nurse. O Heaven's lady dear! Are you so hot? marry, come up, I trow; Is this the poultice for my aching bones ? Henceforward do your messages yourself. Jul.

Here's such a coil!81-come, what says Romeo?

Nurse. Have you got leave to go to shrift to-day? Jul. I have.

Nurse. Then hie you hence to Friar Laurence'
cell;

There stays a husband to make you a wife:
Now comes the wanton blood up in your cheeks,
They'll be in scarlet straight at any news.
Hie you to church; I must another way,
To fetch a ladder, by which your love
Must climb a bird's nest soon when it is dark:
I am the drudge, and toil in your delight;
Go; I'll to dinner; hie you to the cell.

Jul.

Hie to high fortune!-honest nurse, farewell. [Exeunt.

SCENE VI.-Friar LAURENCE's Cell.

Enter Friar LAURENCE and ROMEO. Fri. L. So smile the heavens upon this holy act, That after-hours with sorrow chide us not!

80. What! have you dined at home? An idiomatic way of saying Have you all at home already dined?' 'Is dinner over?" 81. Here's such a coil! "Coil" really meant 'noise,' ' turmoil;' but Shakespeare sometimes uses it to express what is signified in modern common parlance by 'fuss,' 'to-do.' See Note 23, Act i., "Two Gentlemen of Verona."

Rom. Amen! Amen! but come what sorrow can, It cannot countervail the exchange of joy That one short minute gives me in her sight: Do thou but close our hands with holy words, Then love-devouring death do what he dare, — It is enough I may but call her mine.

Fri. L. These violent delights have violent ends, And in their triumph die; like fire and powder, Which, as they kiss, consume: the sweetest honey Is loathsome in his own deliciousness, And in the taste confounds the appetite : Therefore, love moderately; long love doth so; Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow.92. Here comes the lady :—Oh, so light a foot Will ne'er wear out the everlasting flint: A lover may bestride the gossamer That idles in the wanton summer air, And yet not fall; so light is vanity,83

Enter JULIET.

Jul. Good even to my ghostly confessor.

Fri. L. Romeo shall thank thee, daughter, for us both.

Jul. As much to him, else are his thanks too much.84

Rom. Ah! Juliet, if the measure of thy joy Be heap'd like mine, and that thy skill be

more

To blazon it, then sweeten with thy breath
This neighbour air, and let rich music's tongue
Unfold the imagin'd happiness that both
Receive in either by this dear encounter.
Jul. Conceit,85 more rich in matter than in
words,

Brags of his substance, not of ornament:
They are but beggars that can count their worth;
But
my true love has grown to such excess,

I cannot sum up half my sum of wealth.86
Fri. L. Come, come with me, and we will make

short work;

For, by your leaves, you shall not stay alone
Till holy church incorporate two in one. [Exeunt.

SCENE I.-A Public Place.

Enter MERCUTIO, BENVOLIO, Page, and Servants. Ben. I pray thee, good Mercutio, let's retire: The day is hot, the Capulets abroad, And, if we meet, we shall not scape a brawl; For now, these hot days, is the mad blood stirring.1 Mer. Thou art like one of those fellows that, when he enters the confines of a tavern, claps me his sword upon the table and says, "Heaven send me no need of thee!" and, by the operation of the second cup, draws it on the drawer, when, indeed,

there is no need.

82. Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow. A Shakespearian version of the old proverb, 'Most haste, least speed.'

83. Vanity. Here used for 'trivial pursuit,' 'vain delight.' The word was much employed in this sense by divines in Shakespeare's time; and with much propriety is so put into the good old friar's mouth.

84. Else are his thanks too much. The Folio prints 'in,' and the earlier Quartos is,' for "are" here; which is the reading of the 1637 Quarto, and which we adopt, being unwilling to spoil the line by adherence to an antique form that may very probably have been a misprint in this instance: for though "thanks was sometimes treated as a noun singular, we do not believe that Shakespeare's ear would have allowed him to write 'As much to him, else is his thanks too much.' 85. Conceit. Imagination,' 'mental conception.' See Note 53, Act ii., "Richard II."

86. I cannot sum up half my sum of wealth. The Folio prints this line thus-'I cannot sum up some of halfe my wealth;' and

1. For now, these hot days, is the mad blood stirring. Sir Thomas Smith, in his "Commonwealth of England,” 1583, says, "And commonly every yeere or each second yeere in the beginning of sommer or afterwards (for in the warme time the people for the most part be more unruly) even in the calin time of peace, the prince with his counsell chooseth out," &c.

2. Am I like such a fellow? The quietness of this retort, with the slight but significant emphasis which we imagine thrown upon the "I" in the sentence, admirably gives point to the humorous effect of Mercutio's lecturing Benvolio,-the sedate and peace-making Benvolio, and lectured by Mercutio of all people for the sin of quarrelsomeness.

3. And what to? The old copies read 'and what too?' Those who retain this reading explain it to mean 'and what else?' or 'what more?' We think it more likely to be a misprint for "and what to?" (Pope's correction) meaning 'and moved to what?'

spy out such a quarrel? thy head is as full of quarrels as an egg is full of meat; and yet thy head hath been beaten as addle as an egg, for quarrelling thou hast quarrelled with a man for coughing in the street, because he hath wakened thy dog that hath lain asleep in the sun: didst thou not fall out with a tailor for wearing his new doublet before Easter? with another, for tying his new shoes with old riband? and yet thou wilt tutor me from quarrelling!

Ben. An I were so apt to quarrel as thou art, any man should buy the fee-simple of my life for an hour and a quarter.

Mer. The fee-simple! oh, simple!

4. The fee-simple. A legal term used to express 'possession for ever.' See Note 67, Act iv., "All's Well."

5. Mercutio, thou consort'st with Romeo. This demonstrates that Mercutio, who was an invited guest at Capulet's feast (see

Ben. Mer.

Act II. Scene VI.

By my head, here come the Capulets. By my heel, I care not.

Enter TYBALT and others.

Tyb. Follow me close, for I will speak to them.

Gentlemen, good den: a word with one of you. Mer. And but one word with one of us? couple it with something; make it a word and a blow. Tyb. You shall find me apt enough to that, sir, an you will give me occasion.

Mer. Could you not take some occasion without giving?

Tyb. Mercutio, thou consort'st with Romeo,—

Note 38, Act i.), is so much an intimate of that family that one of its members thinks he has a right to call him to account for his constant association with Romeo, son to the head of the rival house of Montague.