"Now having seene all this, then shall you see hard byThe pastrie, mealehouse, and the roome whereas the coales do ly."
"Now having seene all this, then shall you see hard byThe pastrie, mealehouse, and the roome whereas the coales do ly."
"Now having seene all this, then shall you see hard byThe pastrie, mealehouse, and the roome whereas the coales do ly."
"Now having seene all this, then shall you see hard by
The pastrie, mealehouse, and the roome whereas the coales do ly."
S. usespastryonly here. For the double meaning of the word, cf.spicery(Fr.épicerie), which was used both for the material (Rich. III.iv. 4. 424) and the place where it was kept.
4.Curfew-bell.As the curfew was rung in the evening, the only way to explain this is to assume that it means "the bell ordinarily used for that purpose" (Schmidt). In the three other instances in which S. has the word (Temp.v. 1. 40,M. for M.iv. 2. 78,Lear, iii. 4. 121), it is used correctly.
5.Bak'd meats.Pastry. S. uses the term only here and inHam.i. 2. 180. Nares says that it formerly meant "a meat pie, or perhaps any other pie." He cites Cotgrave, who definespastisserieas "all kind of pies or bak'd meats;" and Sherwood (English supplement to Cotgrave), who renders "bak'd meats" bypastisserie. Cf.The White Devil:—
"You speak as if a manShould know what fowl is coffin'd in a bak'd meatAfore it is cut up;"
"You speak as if a manShould know what fowl is coffin'd in a bak'd meatAfore it is cut up;"
"You speak as if a manShould know what fowl is coffin'd in a bak'd meatAfore it is cut up;"
"You speak as if a man
Should know what fowl is coffin'd in a bak'd meat
Afore it is cut up;"
that is, what fowl is under the crust of the pie.Good Angelicaperhaps means Lady Capulet, not the Nurse; and, as Dowden suggests,Spare not the costseems more appropriate to the former.It may, however, be the Nurse, who here seems to be treated as a kitchen servant—perhaps to avoid the introduction of another character.
6.Go, you cot-quean,etc. Several editors give this speech to Lady Capulet; on the ground that the Nurse is not present, having been sent for spices. It has also been suggested that a servant would not venture to be so impudent to her master; but, as we have seen, the Nurse is an old and petted servant who is allowed a good deal of liberty. For the same reason she may not have gone for the spices at once, but may have lingered, gossip-like, to hear what Capulet had to say. Acot-queanis a man who meddles with female affairs; used by S. only here.
11.Mouse-hunt.A woman-hunter. Formouseas a term of endearment, seeHam.iii. 4. 183,L. L. L.v. 2. 19, andT.N.i. 5. 69.
13.Jealous-hood.Jealousy; the abstract for the concrete; used by S. only here.
16.Drier logs.For the kitchen; not a slip like that in i. 5. 30.
21.Logger-head.Blockhead. Cf.L. L. L.iv. 3. 204: "Ah, you whoreson loggerhead!" Sologger-headed; as inT. of S.iv. 1. 128: "You logger-headed and unpolish'd grooms!"
3.Sweet-heart.Accented on the last syllable; as regularly in S. (cf.Hen. VIII.i. 4. 94, etc.) except inW. T.iv. 4. 664: "take your sweet-heart's hat." Schmidt would print it as two words (as is common in the old eds.) except in this latter passage.
28.Will not let me speak.Malone remarks: "S. has here followed the poem closely, without recollecting that he had made Capulet, in this scene, clamorous in his grief. InRomeus and Juliet, Juliet's mother makes a long speech, but the old man utters not a word:—
"'But more then all the rest the fathers hart was soSmit with the heauy newes, and so shut vp with sodain woe,Smit with the heauy newes, and so shut vp with sodain woe,That he ne had the powre his daughter to bewepe,Ne yet to speake, but long is forsd his teares and plaint to kepe.'"
"'But more then all the rest the fathers hart was soSmit with the heauy newes, and so shut vp with sodain woe,Smit with the heauy newes, and so shut vp with sodain woe,That he ne had the powre his daughter to bewepe,Ne yet to speake, but long is forsd his teares and plaint to kepe.'"
"'But more then all the rest the fathers hart was soSmit with the heauy newes, and so shut vp with sodain woe,Smit with the heauy newes, and so shut vp with sodain woe,That he ne had the powre his daughter to bewepe,Ne yet to speake, but long is forsd his teares and plaint to kepe.'"
"'But more then all the rest the fathers hart was so
Smit with the heauy newes, and so shut vp with sodain woe,
Smit with the heauy newes, and so shut vp with sodain woe,
That he ne had the powre his daughter to bewepe,
Ne yet to speake, but long is forsd his teares and plaint to kepe.'"
The poem may have suggested Capulet's speech; but S. is not at fault in making him afterwards find his tongue and become "clamorous in his grief." That was perfectly natural.
36.Life, living.There is no necessity for emendation, as some have supposed.Living is= means of living, possessions; as inM. of V.v. 1. 286: "you have given me life and living," etc.
37.Thought.Expected, hoped; as inMuch Ado, ii. 3. 236, etc.
41.Labour.Referring to the toilsome progress of time, as inT. of A.iii. 4. 8 (Delius).
44.Catch'd.Also used for the participle inL. L. L.v. 2. 69 andA. W.i. 3. 176; and for the past tense inCor.i. 3. 68. Elsewhere S. hascaught.
45.O woe!White thinks that in "this speech of mock heroic woe" S. ridicules the translation of Seneca'sTragedies(1581); but it is in keeping with the character. Probably this and the next two speeches belong to the early draft of the play, with much that precedes and follows.
52.Detestable.For the accent on the first syllable (as always in S.), cf.K. John, iii. 4. 29,T. of A.iv. 1. 33, and v. 3. 45 below.
55.Despis'd, distressed,etc. In this line, as in 51, note the mixture of contracted and uncontracted participles.
56.Uncomfortable.Cheerless, joyless; the one instance of the word in S.
60.Buried.A trisyllable here; as in v. 3. 176 below.
61.Confusion's.Here, the word is = ruin, death; but in the next line it is = confused lamentations. Cf.R. of L.445: "fright her with confusion of their cries."
66.His.Its.Heavenis not personified here.
67.Promotion.A quadrisyllable here.
72.Well.Often thus used of the dead. Cf.W.T.v. 1. 30, 2Hen. IV.v. 2. 3,Macb.iv. 3. 179,A. and C.ii. 5. 33, etc. See also v. 1. 17 below.
75.Rosemary.That is, the rosemary that had been brought for the wedding; for it was used at both weddings and funerals. Cf. Herrick,The Rosemarie Branch:—
"Grow for two ends, it matters not at all,Be 't for my bridall or my buriall;"
"Grow for two ends, it matters not at all,Be 't for my bridall or my buriall;"
"Grow for two ends, it matters not at all,Be 't for my bridall or my buriall;"
"Grow for two ends, it matters not at all,
Be 't for my bridall or my buriall;"
and Dekker,Wonderful Year: "The rosemary that was washed in sweet water to set out the bridal, is now wet in tears to furnish her burial." Cf. ii. 4. 198 above.
76.As the custom is.See on iv. 1. 110 above.
78.Fond.Foolish (cf. iii. 3. 52 above), as opposed toreason.
80.All things,etc. Cf. Brooke's poem:—
"Now is the parentes myrth quite chaunged into mone,And now to sorrow is retornde the ioy of euery one;And now the wedding weedes for mourning weedes they chaunge,And Hymene into a Dyrge; alas! it seemeth straunge:In steade of mariage gloues, now funerall gloues they haue,And whom they should see maried, they follow to the graue.The feast that should haue been of pleasure and of ioyHath euery dish and cup fild full of sorow and annoye."
"Now is the parentes myrth quite chaunged into mone,And now to sorrow is retornde the ioy of euery one;And now the wedding weedes for mourning weedes they chaunge,And Hymene into a Dyrge; alas! it seemeth straunge:In steade of mariage gloues, now funerall gloues they haue,And whom they should see maried, they follow to the graue.The feast that should haue been of pleasure and of ioyHath euery dish and cup fild full of sorow and annoye."
"Now is the parentes myrth quite chaunged into mone,And now to sorrow is retornde the ioy of euery one;And now the wedding weedes for mourning weedes they chaunge,And Hymene into a Dyrge; alas! it seemeth straunge:In steade of mariage gloues, now funerall gloues they haue,And whom they should see maried, they follow to the graue.The feast that should haue been of pleasure and of ioyHath euery dish and cup fild full of sorow and annoye."
"Now is the parentes myrth quite chaunged into mone,
And now to sorrow is retornde the ioy of euery one;
And now the wedding weedes for mourning weedes they chaunge,
And Hymene into a Dyrge; alas! it seemeth straunge:
In steade of mariage gloues, now funerall gloues they haue,
And whom they should see maried, they follow to the graue.
The feast that should haue been of pleasure and of ioy
Hath euery dish and cup fild full of sorow and annoye."
95.Case.There is a play upon the other sense of the word (a case for a musical instrument); as inW.T.iv. 4. 844: "but though my case be a pitiful one, I hope I shall not be flayed out of it" (that is, out of my skin).
96.Enter Peter.From the quartos we learn that William Kempe played the part of Peter, as he did that of Dogberry inMuch Ado.
In explanation of the introduction of this part of the scene, Knight remarks: "It was the custom of our ancient theatre to introduce, in the irregular pauses of a play that stood in place of a division into acts, some short diversions, such as a song, a dance, or the extempore buffoonery of a clown. At this point ofR. and J.there is a natural pause in the action, and at this point such an interlude would probably have been presented, whether S. had written one or not.... Will Kempe was the Liston of his day,and was as great a popular favourite as Tarleton had been before him. It was wise, therefore, in S. to find some business for Will Kempe that should not be entirely out of harmony with the great business of his play. The scene of the musicians is very short, and, regarded as a necessary part of the routine of the ancient stage, is excellently managed. Nothing can be more naturally exhibited than the indifference of hirelings, without attachment, to a family scene of grief. Peter and the musicians bandy jokes; and though the musicians think Peter a 'pestilent knave,' perhaps for his inopportune sallies, they are ready enough to look after their own gratification, even amidst the sorrow which they see around them. A wedding or a burial is the same to them. 'Come, we'll in here; tarry for the mourners, and stay dinner.' So S. read the course of the world—and it is not much changed."
"To our minds," says Clarke, "the intention was to show how grief and gayety, pathos and absurdity, sorrow and jesting, elbow each other in life's crowd; how the calamities of existence fall heavily upon the souls of some, while others, standing close beside the grievers, feel no jot of suffering or sympathy. Far from the want of harmony that has been found here, we feel it to be one of those passing discords that produce richest and fullest effect of harmonious contrivance."
Furness states that in Edwin Booth's acting copy this scene of Peter and the musicians is transposed to i. 5. 17 above.
99.Heart's ease.A popular tune of the time, mentioned inMisogonus, a play by Thomas Rychardes, written before 1570.
101.My heart is full of woe.The burden of the first stanza ofA Pleasant new Ballad of Two Lovers: "Hey hoe! my heart is full of woe" (Steevens).
102.Dump.A mournful or plaintive song or melody. Calling itmerryis a joke of Peter's. Cf.T.G. of V.iii. 2. 85: "A deploring dump." See alsoR. of L.1127.
109.Gleek.Scoff. Cf. 1Hen. VI.iii. 2. 123: "Now where's the Bastard's braves, and Charles his gleeks?"To give the gleekwas "to pass a jest upon, to make a person ridiculous." It is impossible to say what is the joke ingive you the minstrel. Some suppose thatgleeksuggestsgleeman, one form of which in Anglo-Saxon wasgligman, but no such form is found in English, if we may trust theNew Eng. Dict.The reply of the musician may perhaps mean "that he will retort by calling Peter the servant to the minstrel" (White).
114.I will carry no crotchets.I will bear none of your whims; with a play oncrotchets, as inMuch Ado, ii. 3. 58. Cf.carry coalsin i. 1. 1 above. The play onnoteis obvious.
120.Drybeat.See on iii. 1. 81 above. Forhave at you, cf. i. 1. 64 above.
122.When griping grief,etc. From a poem by Richard Edwards, in theParadise of Daintie Devises. See also Percy'sReliques.
126.Catling.A small string ofcatgut. Cf.T. and C.iii. 3. 306: "unless the fiddler Apollo get his sinews to make catlings on."
132.Pretty.Some of the German critics are troubled bypretty, because Peter does not intend to praise; and irony, they say, would be out of place. It is simply a jocose patronizing expression = That's not bad in its way, but you haven't hit it. Therebeckwas a kind of three-stringed fiddle. Cf. Milton,L'All.94: "And the jocund rebecks sound," etc.
141.Pestilent.Often used in an opprobrious sense; as inLear, i. 4. 127: "A pestilent gall to me!"Oth.ii. 1. 252: "A pestilent complete knave," etc.
142.Jack.See on iii. 1. 12 above; and forstay= wait for, on ii. 5. 36.
1.The flattering truth.This is apparently = that which bears the flattering semblance of truth. It has perplexedsome of the critics, but their emendations do not better it. Forflatteringin the sense of illusive, cf. ii. 2. 141. Some have wondered that S. here makes the presentiment a hopeful one; but as a writer in theCornhill Magazine(October, 1866) remarks, the presentiment was true, but Romeo did not trust it. Had he done so, his fate would not have been so tragic.
3.My bosom's lord.That is, my heart; not Love, or Cupid, as some would make it. Lines 3-5 seem to me only a highly poetical description of the strange new cheerfulness and hopefulness he feels—a reaction from his former depression which is like his dream of rising from the dead an emperor.
10.Ah me!See onAy me!ii. 1. 10 above. It may be a misprint for "Ay me!" here.
12.Balthasar.Always accented by S. on the first syllable. The name occurs inC. of E.,Much Ado, andM. of V.
17.She is well.See on iv. 5. 72 above.
18.Capel's.The early eds. have "Capels"; the modern ones generally "Capels'." The singular seems better here, on account of the omission of the article; but the plural in v. 3. 127: "the Capels' monument." S. uses this abbreviation only twice. Brooke usesCapelandCapuletindiscriminately. See quotation in note on i. 1. 28 above.
21.Presently.Immediately; the usual meaning in S. Cf. iv. 1. 54 and 95 above.
27.Patience.A trisyllable, as in v. 3. 221 and 261 below.
29.Misadventure.Mischance, misfortune; used by S. only here and in v. 3. 188 below.Misadventuredoccurs only in prol. 7 above.
36.In.Into; as often. Cf. v. 3. 34 below.
37.I do remember,etc. Joseph Warton objects to the detailed description here as "improperly put into the mouth of a person agitated with such passion." "But," as Knight remarks, "the mind once made up, it took a perverse pleasure in going over every circumstance that had suggested the means of mischief. All otherthoughts had passed out of Romeo's mind. He had nothing left but to die; and everything connected with the means of death was seized upon by his imagination with an energy that could only find relief in words. S. has exhibited the same knowledge of nature in his sad and solemn poem ofR. of L., where the injured wife, having resolved to wipe out her stain by death,
"'calls to mind where hangs a pieceOf skilful painting, made for Priam's Troy.'
"'calls to mind where hangs a pieceOf skilful painting, made for Priam's Troy.'
"'calls to mind where hangs a pieceOf skilful painting, made for Priam's Troy.'
"'calls to mind where hangs a piece
Of skilful painting, made for Priam's Troy.'
She sees in that painting some fancied resemblance to her own position, and spends the heavy hours till her husband arrives in its contemplation." SeeR. of L.1366 fol. and 1496 fol.
39.Overwhelming.Overhanging. Cf.V. and A.183: "His lowering brows o'erwhelming his fair sight." See alsoHen. V.iii. 1. 11. Forweeds= garments, seeM.N.D.ii. 2. 71, etc.
40.Simples.Medicinal herbs. Cf.R. of L.530,Ham.iv. 7. 145, etc.
43.An alligator stuff'd.This was a regular part of the furniture of an apothecary's shop in the time of S. Nash, in hisHave With You, etc., 1596, refers to "an apothecary's crocodile or dried alligator." Steevens says that he has met with the alligator, tortoise, etc., hanging up in the shop of an ancient apothecary at Limehouse, as well as in places more remote from the metropolis. In Dutch art, as Fairholt remarks, these marine monsters often appear in representations of apothecaries' shops.
45.A beggarly account,etc. Cf. Brooke's poem:—
"And seeking long (alac too soone) the thing he sought, he founde.An Apothecary sate vnbusied at his doore,Whom by his heauy countenaunce he gessed to be poore.And in his shop he saw his boxes were but fewe,And in his window (of his wares) there was so small a shew,Wherfore our Romeus assuredly hath thought,What by no frendship could be got, with money should be bought;For nedy lacke is lyke the poore man to compellTo sell that which the cities lawe forbiddeth him to sell.Then by the hand he drew the nedy man apart,And with the sight of glittring gold inflamed hath his hart:Take fiftie crownes of gold (quoth he) I geue them thee.* * * * * * *Fayre syr (quoth he) be sure this is the speeding gere,And more there is then you shall nede for halfe of that is thereWill serue, I vnder take, in lesse than halfe an howreTo kill the strongest man aliue; such is the poysons power."
"And seeking long (alac too soone) the thing he sought, he founde.An Apothecary sate vnbusied at his doore,Whom by his heauy countenaunce he gessed to be poore.And in his shop he saw his boxes were but fewe,And in his window (of his wares) there was so small a shew,Wherfore our Romeus assuredly hath thought,What by no frendship could be got, with money should be bought;For nedy lacke is lyke the poore man to compellTo sell that which the cities lawe forbiddeth him to sell.Then by the hand he drew the nedy man apart,And with the sight of glittring gold inflamed hath his hart:Take fiftie crownes of gold (quoth he) I geue them thee.* * * * * * *Fayre syr (quoth he) be sure this is the speeding gere,And more there is then you shall nede for halfe of that is thereWill serue, I vnder take, in lesse than halfe an howreTo kill the strongest man aliue; such is the poysons power."
"And seeking long (alac too soone) the thing he sought, he founde.An Apothecary sate vnbusied at his doore,Whom by his heauy countenaunce he gessed to be poore.And in his shop he saw his boxes were but fewe,And in his window (of his wares) there was so small a shew,Wherfore our Romeus assuredly hath thought,What by no frendship could be got, with money should be bought;For nedy lacke is lyke the poore man to compellTo sell that which the cities lawe forbiddeth him to sell.
"And seeking long (alac too soone) the thing he sought, he founde.
An Apothecary sate vnbusied at his doore,
Whom by his heauy countenaunce he gessed to be poore.
And in his shop he saw his boxes were but fewe,
And in his window (of his wares) there was so small a shew,
Wherfore our Romeus assuredly hath thought,
What by no frendship could be got, with money should be bought;
For nedy lacke is lyke the poore man to compell
To sell that which the cities lawe forbiddeth him to sell.
Then by the hand he drew the nedy man apart,And with the sight of glittring gold inflamed hath his hart:Take fiftie crownes of gold (quoth he) I geue them thee.
Then by the hand he drew the nedy man apart,
And with the sight of glittring gold inflamed hath his hart:
Take fiftie crownes of gold (quoth he) I geue them thee.
* * * * * * *
* * * * * * *
Fayre syr (quoth he) be sure this is the speeding gere,And more there is then you shall nede for halfe of that is thereWill serue, I vnder take, in lesse than halfe an howreTo kill the strongest man aliue; such is the poysons power."
Fayre syr (quoth he) be sure this is the speeding gere,
And more there is then you shall nede for halfe of that is there
Will serue, I vnder take, in lesse than halfe an howre
To kill the strongest man aliue; such is the poysons power."
51.Present.Immediate; as in iv. 1. 61 above. Cf.presentlyin 21 above. Secret poisoning became so common in Europe in the 16th century that laws against the sale of poisons were made in Spain, Portugal, Italy, and other countries. Knight says: "There is no such law in our own statute-book; and the circumstance is a remarkable exemplification of the difference between English and Continental manners." But that this practice of poisoning prevailed to a considerable extent in England in the olden time is evident from the fact that in the 21st year of the reign of Henry VIII. an act was passed declaring the employment of secret poisons to be high-treason, and sentencing those who were found guilty of it to be boiled to death.
60.Soon-speeding gear.Quick-despatching stuff. Cf. the extract from Brooke just above. Forgear, see ii. 4. 97 above.
64.As violently,etc. See on ii. 6. 9 above.
67.Any he.Cf.A. Y. L.iii. 2. 414: "that unfortunate he;" 3Hen. VI.i. 1. 46: "The proudest he;"Id.ii. 2. 97: "Or any he the proudest of thy sort," etc.Utters them= literally, sends themout, or lets them go from his possession; hence, sells them. Cf.L. L. L.ii. 1. 16 andW. T.iv. 4. 330.
70.Starveth.That is, look out hungrily; a bold but not un-Shakespearian expression, for which Otway's "stareth" (adopted by some editors) is a poor substitution. See on i. 1. 216 above; and for the inflection, on prol. 8.
4.A barefoot brother.Friars Laurence and John are evidently Franciscans. "In his kindness, his learning, and hisinclination to mix with and, perhaps, control the affairs of the world, he [Laurence] is no unapt representative of this distinguished order in their best days" (Knight). Warton says that the Franciscans "managed the machines of every important operation and event, both in the religious and political world."
Cf. Brooke's poem:—
"Apace our frier Iohn to Mantua him hyes;And, for because in Italy it is a wonted gyseThat friers in the towne should seeldome walke alone,But of theyr couent ay should be accompanide with oneOf his profession, straight a house he fyndeth out,In mynde to take some frier with him, to walke the towne about."
"Apace our frier Iohn to Mantua him hyes;And, for because in Italy it is a wonted gyseThat friers in the towne should seeldome walke alone,But of theyr couent ay should be accompanide with oneOf his profession, straight a house he fyndeth out,In mynde to take some frier with him, to walke the towne about."
"Apace our frier Iohn to Mantua him hyes;And, for because in Italy it is a wonted gyseThat friers in the towne should seeldome walke alone,But of theyr couent ay should be accompanide with oneOf his profession, straight a house he fyndeth out,In mynde to take some frier with him, to walke the towne about."
"Apace our frier Iohn to Mantua him hyes;
And, for because in Italy it is a wonted gyse
That friers in the towne should seeldome walke alone,
But of theyr couent ay should be accompanide with one
Of his profession, straight a house he fyndeth out,
In mynde to take some frier with him, to walke the towne about."
Each friar has a companion assigned him by the superior when he asks leave to go out; and thus they are a check upon each other (Steevens).
6.Associate me.Accompany me. For the transitive use, cf.T.A.v. 3. 169: "Friends should associate friends in grief and woe."
9.A house.According to both the poem and the novel, this was the convent to which the "barefoot brother" belonged.
16.Infection.A quadrisyllable. Cf, iv. 1. 41 above.
18.Nice.Trifling, unimportant. See on iii. 1. 157 above. Forcharge, cf.W.T.iv. 4. 261: "I have about me many parcels of charge."
19.Dear.Cf. v. 3. 32 below: "dear employment."
20.Do much danger.See on iii. 3. 118 above.
25.This three hours.The singularthisis often thus used; but cf. iv. 3. 40 above: "these many hundred years;" and v. 3. 176 below: "these two days."
26.Beshrew.See on ii. 5. 52 above.
A Churchyard,etc. Hunter says: "It is clear that S., or some writer whom he followed, had in mind the churchyardof Saint Mary the Old in Verona, and the monument of the Scaligers which stood in it." See the cut on p. 136, and cf. Brooke, who refers to the Italian custom of building large family tombs:—
"For euery houshold, if it be of any fame;Doth bylde a tombe, or digge a vault, that beares the housholdes name:Wherein (if any of that kindred hap to dye)They are bestowde; els in the same no other corps may lye.The Capilets her corps in such a one dyd layWhere Tybalt slaine of Romeus was layde the other day."
"For euery houshold, if it be of any fame;Doth bylde a tombe, or digge a vault, that beares the housholdes name:Wherein (if any of that kindred hap to dye)They are bestowde; els in the same no other corps may lye.The Capilets her corps in such a one dyd layWhere Tybalt slaine of Romeus was layde the other day."
"For euery houshold, if it be of any fame;Doth bylde a tombe, or digge a vault, that beares the housholdes name:Wherein (if any of that kindred hap to dye)They are bestowde; els in the same no other corps may lye.The Capilets her corps in such a one dyd layWhere Tybalt slaine of Romeus was layde the other day."
"For euery houshold, if it be of any fame;
Doth bylde a tombe, or digge a vault, that beares the housholdes name:
Wherein (if any of that kindred hap to dye)
They are bestowde; els in the same no other corps may lye.
The Capilets her corps in such a one dyd lay
Where Tybalt slaine of Romeus was layde the other day."
At the close of the poem we are told that—
"The bodies dead, remoued from vaulte where they did dye,In stately tombe, on pillers great of marble, rayse they hye.On euery syde aboue were set, and eke beneath,Great store of cunning Epitaphes, in honor of theyr death.And euen at this day the tombe is to be seene;So that among the monumentes that in Verona been,There is no monument more worthy of the sight,Then is the tombe of Iuliet and Romeus her knight."
"The bodies dead, remoued from vaulte where they did dye,In stately tombe, on pillers great of marble, rayse they hye.On euery syde aboue were set, and eke beneath,Great store of cunning Epitaphes, in honor of theyr death.And euen at this day the tombe is to be seene;So that among the monumentes that in Verona been,There is no monument more worthy of the sight,Then is the tombe of Iuliet and Romeus her knight."
"The bodies dead, remoued from vaulte where they did dye,In stately tombe, on pillers great of marble, rayse they hye.On euery syde aboue were set, and eke beneath,Great store of cunning Epitaphes, in honor of theyr death.And euen at this day the tombe is to be seene;So that among the monumentes that in Verona been,There is no monument more worthy of the sight,Then is the tombe of Iuliet and Romeus her knight."
"The bodies dead, remoued from vaulte where they did dye,
In stately tombe, on pillers great of marble, rayse they hye.
On euery syde aboue were set, and eke beneath,
Great store of cunning Epitaphes, in honor of theyr death.
And euen at this day the tombe is to be seene;
So that among the monumentes that in Verona been,
There is no monument more worthy of the sight,
Then is the tombe of Iuliet and Romeus her knight."
See also the quotation in note on iv. 1. 93 above. Brooke's reference to the "stately tombe, on pillers great," etc., was doubtless suggested by the Tomb of the Scaligers.
3.Lay thee all along.That is, at full length. Cf.A.Y.L.ii. 1. 30: "As he lay along Under an oak;"J.C.iii. 1. 115: "That now on Pompey's basis lies along," etc.
6.Unfirm.Cf.J.C.i. 3. 4,T.N.ii. 4. 34, etc. S. also usesinfirm, as inMacb.ii. 2. 52, etc.
8.Something.The accent is on the last syllable, as Walker notes; and Marshall prints "some thing," as in the folio.
11.Adventure.Cf. ii. 2. 84 above.
14.Sweet water.Perfumed water. Cf.T.A.ii. 4. 6: "call for sweet water;" and see quotation in note on iv. 5. 75 above.
20.Cross.Thwart, interfere with. Cf. iv. 5. 91 above.
21.Muffle.Cover, hide. Cf. i. 1. 168 above; and seeJ.C.iii. 2. 191, etc. Steevens intimates that it was "a low word" in his day; but, if so, it has since regained its poetical character. Tennyson uses it repeatedly; as inThe Talking Oak: "O, muffle round thy knees with fern;"The Princess: "A full sea glazed with muffled moonlight;"In Memoriam: "muffled round with woe," etc. Milton hasunmuffleinComus, 321: "Unmuffle, ye faint stars."
32.Dear.See on v. 2. 19 above.
33.Jealous.Suspicious; as inLear, v. 1. 56,J.C.i. 2. 71, etc.
34.In.Into. See on v. 1. 36 above.
37.Savage-wild.Cf. ii. 2. 141 above.
39.Empty.Hungry. Cf.V. and A.55: "Even as an empty eagle, sharp by fast" (see also 2Hen. VI.iii. 1. 248 and 3Hen. VI.i. 1. 268); andT. of S.iv. 1. 193: "My falcon now is sharp and passing empty."
44.Doubt.Distrust; as inJ.C.ii. 1. 132, iv. 2. 13, etc.
45.Detestable.See on iv. 5. 52 above.
47.Enforce.Force; as often. Cf.Temp.v. 1. 100: "Enforce them to this place," etc.
50.With.Often used to express the relation of cause.
59.Good gentle youth,etc. "The gentleness of Romeo was shown before [iii. 1. 64 fol.] as softened by love, and now it is doubled by love and sorrow, and awe of the place where he is" (Coleridge).
68.Conjurations.Solemn entreaties; as inRich. II.iii. 2. 23,Ham.v. 2. 38, etc. Some have taken it to mean incantations.Defy= refuse; as inK. John, iii. 4. 23: "I defy all counsel," etc.
74.Peruse.Scan, examine. Cf.Ham.iv. 7. 137: "peruse the foils," etc.
76.Betossed.Agitated; used by S. nowhere else.
82.Sour.See on iii. 3. 7 above.
84.Lantern.Used in the architectural sense of "a turret full of windows" (Steevens). Cf. Parker,Glossary of Architecture:"In Gothic architecture the term is sometimes applied tolouvreson the roofs of halls, etc., but it usually signifies a tower which has the whole height, or a considerable portion of the interior, open to the ground, and is lighted by an upper tier of windows; lantern-towers of this kind are common over the centre of cross churches, as at York Minster, Ely Cathedral, etc. The same name is also given to the light open erections often placed on the top of towers, as at Boston, Lincolnshire," etc. The one at Boston was used as a lighthouselanternin the olden time.
86.Presence.Presence-chamber, state apartment; as inRich. II.i. 3. 289 andHen. VIII.iii. 1. 17.
87.Death.The abstract for the concrete. Thedead manis Romeo, who is so possessed with his suicidal purpose that he speaks of himself as dead. Steevens perversely calls it one of "those miserable conceits with which our author too frequently counteracts his own pathos."
88-120.How oft when men,etc. "Here, here, is the master example how beauty can at once increase and modify passion" (Coleridge).
90.A lightning before death."A last blazing-up of the flame of life;" a proverbial expression. Steevens quotesThe Downfall of Robert Earl of Huntington, 1601:—
"I thought it was a lightning before death,Too sudden to be certain."
"I thought it was a lightning before death,Too sudden to be certain."
"I thought it was a lightning before death,Too sudden to be certain."
"I thought it was a lightning before death,
Too sudden to be certain."
Clarke notes "the mingling here of words and images full of light and colour with the murky grey of the sepulchral vault and the darkness of the midnight churchyard, the blending of these images of beauty and tenderness with the deep gloom of the speaker's inmost heart."
92.Suck'd the honey,etc. Cf.Ham.iii. 1. 164: "That suck'd the honey of his music vows." Steevens quotes Sidney,Arcadia: "Death being able to divide the soule, but not the beauty from her body."
96.Death's pale flag.Steevens compares Daniel,Complaint of Rosamond:—