Blind is his love, and best befits the dark. 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, As maids call medlars, when they laugh alone."―

Romeo, good night :-I'll to my truckle-bed; 2
This field-bed is too cold for me to sleep:
Come, shall we go?

Ben.
Go, then; for 't is in vain
To seek him here, that means not to be found

SCENE II. Capulet's Garden.

Enter ROMEO.

[Exeunt.

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,b 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, 't is not to me she speaks :

& There are two lines here omitted in the text of Steevens' edition, which Malone has restore to the text. The lines are gross, but the grossness is obscure, and, if it were understood, could scarcely be called corrupting. The freedoms of Mercutio arise out of his dramatic character;-his exuberant spirits betray him into levities which are constantly opposed to the intellectual refinement which rises above such baser matter. But Pope rejected these lines-Pope, who, in the Rape of the Lock, has introduced one couplet, at least, that would have disgraced the age of Elizabeth. We do not print the two lines of Shakspere, for they can only interest the verbal critic. But we distinctly record their omission. As far as we have been able to trace-and we have gone through the old editions with an especial reference to this matter these two lines constitute the only passage in the original editions which has been omitted by modern editors. With this exception, there is not a passage in Shakspere which is not reprinted in every edition except that of Mr. Bowdler. And yet the writer in Lardner's Cyclopædia (Lives of Literary and Scientific Men), has ventured to make the following assertion: "Whoever has looked into the original editions of his dramas will be disgusted with the obscenity of his allusions. They absolutely teem with the grossest improprieties -more gross by far than can be found in any contemporary dramatist." The insinuation that the original editions contain improprieties that are not to be found in modern editions, is difficult to characterise without using expressions that had better be avoided.

b Be not a votary to Diana,-the

"Queen and huntress, chaste and fair,"

of Ben Jonson's beautiful hymn.

Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven,
Having some business, do entreat her eyes
To twinkle in their spheres till they return.
What if her eyes were there, they in her head?
The brightness of her cheek would shame those
stars,

As daylight doth a lamp; her eye in heaven
Would through the airy region stream so bright,
That birds would sing and think it were not
night.

See, how she leans her cheek upon her hand!
O, that I were a glove upon that hand,
That I might touch that cheek!

Jul.

Rom.

Ah me!

She speaks

Jul. O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou
Romeo?

Deny thy father, and refuse thy name;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I'll no longer be a Capulet.

b

Rom. Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this? [Aside. Jul. 'Tis but thy name that is my enemy;— Thou art thyself, though not a Montague. What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot, Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!" What's in a name? that which we call a rose, By any other name would smell as sweet; So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd, Retain that dear perfection which he owes, Without that title:-Romeo, doff thy name; And for thy name, which is no part of thee, Take all myself.

e

My name, dear saint, is hateful to myself,
Because it is an enemy to thee;

Had I it written I would tear the word.

Jul. My ears have yet not drunk a hundred words

Of thy tongue's uttering, yet I know the sound; Art thou not Romeo, and a Montague?

Rom. Neither, fair maid, if either thee dislike." Jul. How cam'st thou hither, tell me? and wherefore?

The orchard walls are high and hard to climb; And the place death, considering who thou art, If any of my kinsmen find thee here.

Rom. With love's light wings did I o'er-perch these walls;

For stony limits cannot hold love out :
And what love can do, that dares love attempt;
Therefore thy kinsmen are no stop to me.

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.

e

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, that first did prompt me to inquire;

eyes.

He lent me counsel, and I lent him
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

Or, if thou think'st I am too quickly won,

I'll frown, and be perverse, aud say thee nay, So thou wilt woo; but, else, not for the world. In truth, fair Montague, I am too fond; And therefore thou may'st think my haviour light:

But trust me, gentleman, I'll prove more true That those that have more cunning to be strange.

I should have been more strange, I must confess,
But that thou overheard'st, ere I was ware,
My true love's passion: therefore pardon me;
And not impute this yielding to light love,
Which the dark night hath so discovered.

Rom. Lady, by yonder blessed moon I swear,b That tips with silver all these fruit-tree tops,— Jul. O, swear not by the moon, the inconstant

moon

That monthly changes in her circled orb,
Lest that thy love prove likewise variable.
Rom. What shall I swear by?
Jul.
Do not swear at all;
Or, if thou wilt, swear by thy gracious self,
Which is the god of my idolatry,
And I'll believe thee.

Rom.
If my heart's dear love-
Jul. Well, do not swear:3 although I joy in
thee,

I have no joy of this contract to-night:
It is too rash, too unadvis'd, too sudden;
Too like the lightning, which doth cease to be.
Ere one can say-It lightens. Sweet, good
night!

This bud of love, by summer's ripening breath, May prove a beauteous flower when next we meet.

Good night, good night! as sweet repose and

The more I have, for both are infinite

[Nurse calls within. I hear some noise within; Dear love, adieu! Anon, good nurse!-Sweet Montague, be true. Stay but a little, I will come again. [Exit. Rom. O blessed, blessed night! I am afeard, Being in night, all this is but a dream, Too flattering-sweet to be substantial.

Re-enter JULIET, above.

Jul. Three words, dear Romeo, and good night, indeed.

If that thy bent of love be honourable,
Thy purpose marriage, send me word to-morrow,
By one that I'll procure to come to thee,
Where, and what time, thou wilt perform the rite;
And all my fortunes at thy foot I'll lay,
And follow thee my lord throughout the world.
Nurse. [Within.] Madam.

Jul. I come, anon :-But if thou mean'st not well,

Rom. By the hour of nine. Jul. I will not fail; 't is twenty years till then. I have forgot why I did call thee back.

Rom. Let me stand here till thou remember it. Jul. I shall forget, to have thee still stand there, Remem'bring how I love thy company.

Rom. And I'll still stay, to have thee still forget,

Forgetting any other home but this.

Jul. "Tis almost morning, I would have thee gone:

And yet no further than a wanton's bird;
Who lets it hop a little from her hand,
Like a poor prisoner in his twisted gyves,
And with a silk thread plucks it back again,
So loving-jealous of his liberty.

Rom. I would I were thy bird.
Jul.

Sweet, so would I : Yet I should kill thee with much cherishing. Good night, good night! parting is such sweet

sorrow,

That I shall say good night, till it be morrow.

[Eril. Rom. Sleep dwell upon thine eyes, peace in thy breast!

'Would I were sleep and peace, so sweet to rest! Hence will I to my ghostly friar's close" cell; His help to crave, and my dear hap to tell. [Exit.

SCENE III.--Friar Laurence's Cell.
Enter Friar LAURENCE, with a basket.

Fri. The grey-ey'd morn smiles on the frowning night,

Checkering the eastern clouds with streaks of

for My neece, which is the reading of the first folio, and of the second and third quartos. In the first quarto we have Madam, which Malone adopts. But in the first quarto there is no interruption at all by the Nurse; whilst in the second quarto she has twice before used the word Madam; --and, consequently, the poet, in his amended copy, avoided the use by Romeo of a title which had just been used by the Nurse. We believe that the word Neece is altogether a mistake, that the word Nurse was written, as denoting a third interruption by her-and that Madam, the use of which was the form of the interruption, was omitted acci dentally, or was supposed to be implied by the word Nurse. As we have printed the passage the metre is correct; and it is to be observed that in the second quarto and the subsequent copies, at before "what o'clock," which was in the first quarto, is omitted, showing that a word of two syllables was wanted after my when at was rejected. Zachary Jackson, instead of niece, would read novice.

I must up-fill this osier cage of ours,
With baleful weeds, and precious-juiced flowers.
The earth, that's nature's mother, is her tomb;"
What is her burying grave, that is her womb :
And from her womb children of divers kind
We sucking on her natural bosom find:
Many for many virtues excellent,
None but for some, and yet all different."
O, mickle is the powerful grace, that lies
In herbs, plants, stones, and their true qualities:
For nought so vile that on the earth doth live,
But to the earth some special good doth give;
Nor aught so good, but, strain'd from that fair

What early tongue so sweet saluteth me? -
Young son, it argues a distemper 'd head,
So soon to bid good morrow to thy bed:
Care keeps his watch in every old man's eye,
And where care lodges, sleep will never lie;
Bat were unbruised youth with unstuff'd brain
Doth couch his limbs, there golden sleep doth
reign :

Therefore thy earliness doth me assure,
Thou art up-rous 'd by some distemp❜rature,
Or if not so, then here I hit it right—
Our Romeo hath not been in bed to-night.

Rom. That last is true, the sweeter rest was mine.

of the first copy of the change of a word or so, and leaving the MS upon the page, without obliterating the original passage, it came to be inserted twice. The lines, as given to Romeo, stand thus in the quarto of 1609, and in the folio.The grey-ey'd morn smiles on the frowning night, Checkering the eastern clouds with streaks of light; And darkness fleckel'd, like a drunkard reels From forth day's path-way, made by Titan's wheels." Six lines, ending with this line, are not in (4).

bin (A), small.

In (4), foes. In the other ancient editions, kings. Opposed foes has not the propriety of opposed kings-a thoroughly Shaksperean phrase.

C 2

Fri. God pardon sin! wast thou with Rosaline?

Rom. With Rosaline, my ghostly father? no; I have forgot that name, and that name's woe. Fri. That's my good son: But where hast thou been then?

Rom. I'll tell thee, ere thou ask it me again. I have been feasting with mine enemy; Where, on a sudden, one hath wounded me, That's by me wounded; both our remedies Within thy help and holy physic lies; " I bear no hatred, blessed man; for, lo, My intercession likewise steads my foe.

6

Fri. Be plain, good son, and homely in thy drift;

Riddling confession finds but riddling shrift. Rom. Then plainly know, my heart's dear love is set

On the fair daughter of rich Capulet:
As mine on hers, so hers is set on mine;
And all combin'd, save what thou must combine
By holy marriage: When, and where, and how,
We met, we wooed, and made exchange of vow,
I'll tell thee as we pass; but this I pray,
That thou consent to marry us to-day.

Fri. Holy Saint Francis! what a change is
here!

Is Rosaline, that thou didst love so dear,
So soon forsaken? young men's love then lies
Not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes.
Jesu Maria! what a deal of brine
Hath wash'd thy sallow cheeks for Rosaline!
How much salt water thrown away in waste,
To season love, that of it doth not taste!
The sun not yet thy sighs from heaven clears,
Thy old groans ring yet in my ancient ears;
Lo, here upon thy cheek the stain doth sit
Of an old tear that is not wash'd off yet:
If e'er thou wast thyself, and these woes thine,
Thou and these woes were all for Rosaline;
And art thou chang'd? pronounce this sentence
then-

Women may fall, when there's no strength in

Torments him so, that he will sure run mad.
Ben. Tybalt, the kinsman of old Capulet,
Hath sent a letter to his father's house.
Mer. A challenge, on my life.

Ben. Romeo will answer it.

Mer. Any man, that can write, may answer a letter.

Ben. Nay, he will answer the letter's master, how he dares, being dared.

Mer. Alas, poor Romeo, he is already dead! stabbed with a white wench's black eye; shot thorough the ear with a love-song; the very pin of his heart cleft with the blind bow-boy's buttshaft; And is he a man to encounter Tybalt?

Ben. Why, what is Tybalt?

Mer. More than prince of cats, I can tell you. O, he is the courageous captain of compliments. He fights as you sing prick-song keeps time, distance, and proportion; rests me his minim rest, one, two, and the third in your bosom : the very butcher of a silk button, a duellist, a duellist; a gentleman of the very first house,-of the first and second cause: Ah, the immortal passado! the puncto reverso! the hay!

Ben. The what?

Mer. The pox of such antic, lisping, affecting fantasticoes; these new tuners of accents!By Jesu, a very good blade !—a very tall man!a very good whore !-Why, is not this a lament

The centre of the target, where the pin fastened the clout.

b Tybert is the name given to the cat in the story of Reynard the Fox.

c Prick-song, music pricked, or noted, down, so as to read according to rule; in contradistinction to music learnt by the ear, or sung from memory.

able thing, grandsire, that we should be thus afflicted with these strange flies, these fashionmongers, these pardon-mes, who stand so much on the new form, that they cannot sit at ease on the old bench? O, their bons, their bons!

Enter ROMEO.

Ben. Here comes Romeo, here comes Romeo. Mer. Without his roe, like a dried herring :O, flesh, flesh, how art thou fishified!-Now is he for the numbers that Petrarch flowed in: Laura, to his lady, was but a kitchen-wench;— marry, she had a better love to be-rhyme her: Dido, a dowdy; Cleopatra, a gipsy; Helen and Hero, hildings and harlots; Thisbé, a grey eye or so, but not to the purpose.-Signior Romeo, bon jour! there's a French salutation to your French slop. You gave us the counterfeit fairly last night.

Rom. Good morrow to you both. What counterfeit did I give you?

Mer. The slip, sir, the slip; Can you not conceive?

Rom. Pardon, good Mercutio, my business was great; and, in such a case as mine, a man may strain courtesy.

Mer. That's as much as to say-such a case as yours constrains a man to bow in the hams. Rom. Meaning-to court'sy..

Mer. Thou hast most kindly hit it.
Rom. A most courteous exposition.
Mer. Nay, I am the very pink of courtesy.
Rom. Pink for flower.

Mer. Right.

Rom. Why, then is my pump well flowered.

Mer. Sure wit. Follow me this jest now, till thou hast worn out thy pump; that, when the single sole of it is worn, the jest may remain, after the wearing, solely singular.

Rom. O single-soled jest, solely singular for the singleness!

Mer. Come between us, good Benvolio; my wits faint.

Rom. Switch and spurs, switch and spurs ; or I'll cry a match.

Mer. Nay, if our wits run the wild-goose chase," I have done; for thou hast more of the wildgoose in one of thy wits, than, I am sure, I have in my whole five: Was I with you there for the goose?