Fri. L.
On Thursday, sir? the time is very short.

Par.
My father Capulet will have it so;
And I am nothing ^note slow to slack his ^note haste.

Fri. L.
You say you do not know the lady's mind:

Uneven is ^note the course; I like it not.

Par.
Immoderately she weeps for Tybalt's death,
And therefore have I little talk'd ^note of love,
For Venus smiles not in a house of tears.
Now, sir, her father counts it dangerous
That she doth ^note give her sorrow so much sway ^note,
And in his wisdom hastes our marriage,
To stop the inundation of her tears,
Which, too much minded by herself alone,
May be put from her by society:
Now do you know the reason of this haste. ^note

Fri. L. [Aside ^note]
I would I knew not why it should be slow'd.
Look, sir, here comes the lady toward ^note my cell. Enter Juliet.

Par.
Happily met ^note, my lady and my wife ^note!

Jul.
That may be, sir, when I may be a wife.

Par.
That may be must be, love, on Thursday next.

Jul.
What must be shall be.

Fri. L.
That's a certain text.

Par.
Come you to make confession to this father?

Jul.
To answer that, I should ^note confess to you.

Par.
Do not deny to him that you love me.

Jul.
I will confess to you that I love him.

Par.
So will ye ^note, I am sure, that you love me.

Jul.
If I do so, it will be of more price,
Being ^note spoke behind your back, than to your face.

Par.
Poor soul, thy face is much abused with tears.

Jul.
The tears have got small victory by that;
For it was bad enough before their spite.

Par.
Thou wrong'st it more than tears with that report.

Jul.
That is no ^note slander, sir, which is a truth ^{note note},
And what I spake, I spake ^note it to my ^note face.

Par.
Thy face is mine, and thou hast slander'd it.

Jul.
It may be so, for it is not mine own.
Are you at leisure, holy father, now;
Or shall I come to you at evening mass?

Fri. L.
My leisure serves me, pensive daughter, now.
My lord, we ^note must entreat the time alone.

Par.
God shield I ^note should disturb devotion!
Juliet, on Thursday early will I rouse ye:
Till then, adieu, and keep this holy kiss. ^note [Exit. ^note

Jul.
O, ^note shut the door, and when thou hast done so,
Come weep with me; past hope, past cure ^note, past help!

Fri. L.
Ah ^note, Juliet, I already know thy ^note grief;
It strains ^note me past the compass of my wits ^note:
I hear thou must, and nothing may prorogue it,
On Thursday next be married to this county ^note.

Jul.
Tell me not, friar, that thou hear'st ^note of this,
Unless thou tell me how I may prevent it:
If in thy wisdom thou canst give no help,
Do thou but call my resolution wise,
And with this ^note knife I'll help it presently.
God join'd my heart and Romeo's, thou our hands;
And ere this hand, by thee to Romeo's ^note seal'd,

Shall be the label to another deed,
Or my true heart with treacherous revolt
Turn to another, this shall slay them both:
Therefore, out of thy long-experienced ^note time,
Give me some present counsel; or, behold,
'Twixt my extremes and me this bloody knife
Shall play the umpire ^note, arbitrating that
Which the commission of thy ^note years and art
Could to no issue of true honour bring.
Be not so long to speak; I long to die ^note,
If what thou speak'st speak not of remedy.

Fr. L.
Hold, daughter: I do spy a kind of hope,
Which craves as desperate an ^note execution
As that is desperate which we would prevent.
If, rather than to marry County Paris,
Thou hast the strength of will ^note to slay ^note thyself,
Then is it ^note likely thou wilt undertake
A thing like death to chide away this shame,
That copest ^note with death himself to 'scape from ^note it; ^note
And, if ^note thou darest, I'll give thee remedy.

Jul.
O, bid me leap, rather than marry Paris,
From off ^note the battlements of yonder ^note tower;
Or walk in thievish ways; or bid me lurk
Where serpents are; chain me with roaring bears ^note;
Or shut ^note me nightly in a charnel-house,
O'er-cover'd ^note quite with dead men's rattling bones,

With reeky ^note shanks and yellow ^note chapless ^note skulls;
Or bid me go into a new-made grave,
And hide me with a dead man in his shroud ^note;
Things that to hear them told ^note, have made me tremble;
And I will do it without fear or doubt,
To live an unstain'd ^note wife to my sweet love.

Fri. L.
Hold, then; go home, be merry, give consent
To marry Paris: Wednesday ^note is to-morrow;
To-morrow night look that thou lie alone,
Let not thy nurse ^note lie with thee in thy chamber:
Take thou this vial, being then in bed ^note,
And this distilled ^note liquor drink thou off:
When presently through all thy veins shall run
A cold and drowsy humour; for no pulse
Shall keep his native progress, but surcease ^note:
No warmth, no breath ^note, shall testify thou livest;
The roses in thy lips and cheeks shall fade ^note
To paly ^note ashes; thy ^note eyes' windows fall;
Like death, when he shuts ^note up the day of life;
Each part, deprived of supple government,
Shall, stiff and stark and cold, appear like death ^note:
And in this borrow'd ^note likeness of shrunk death
Thou shalt continue two and forty hours,
And then awake as from a pleasant sleep.
Now, when the bridegroom in the morning comes
To rouse thee ^note from thy bed, there art thou dead:

Then, as the manner of our country is,
In ^note thy best robes uncover'd ^note on the bier ^note
Thou shalt ^note be borne to that same ancient vault
Where all the kindred of the Capulets lie.
In the mean time, against thou shalt awake,
Shall Romeo by my letters know our drift;
And hither shall he come: and he and I
Will watch thy waking ^note, and that very night
Shall Romeo bear thee hence to Mantua.
And this shall free thee from this present shame ^note,
If no inconstant ^note toy ^note nor womanish fear
Abate thy valour in the acting it. ^note

Jul.
Give me, give me! O, tell not me ^note of fear ^note!

Fri. L.
Hold; get you gone, be strong and prosperous
In this resolve: I'll send a friar with speed
To Mantua, with my letters to thy lord.

Jul.
Love give me strength! and strength shall help afford ^note.
Farewell, dear father! [Exeunt. ^{note note}

Previous section

Next section