Original Text |
Translated Text |
| Source: Folger Shakespeare Library |
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Enter Romeo and Juliet aloft. JULIET
Wilt thou be gone? It is not yet near day.
It was the nightingale, and not the lark,
That pierced the fearful hollow of thine ear.
Nightly she sings on yond pomegranate tree.
Believe me, love, it was the nightingale. 5 ROMEO
It was the lark, the herald of the morn,
No nightingale. Look, love, what envious streaks
Do lace the severing clouds in yonder east.
Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day
Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain-tops. 10
I must be gone and live, or stay and die. | Romeo and Juliet wake after their first and (spoiler alert) only night together. They don't want to say good-bye, so Juliet tries to say the bird they hear is the nightingale (meaning it's still night), not the lark (meaning it's morning). It's cute, but Romeo reminds her that if he stays, he'll be killed. |
JULIET
Yond light is not daylight, I know it, I.
It is some meteor that the sun exhaled
To be to thee this night a torchbearer
And light thee on thy way to Mantua. 15
Therefore stay yet. Thou need’st not to be gone. ROMEO
Let me be ta’en; let me be put to death.
I am content, so thou wilt have it so.
I’ll say yon gray is not the morning’s eye;
’Tis but the pale reflex of Cynthia’s brow. 20
Nor that is not the lark whose notes do beat
The vaulty heaven so high above our heads.
I have more care to stay than will to go.
Come death and welcome. Juliet wills it so.
How is ’t, my soul? Let’s talk. It is not day. 25 | Juliet tries again, this time saying the light they see isn't from the sun, but from some meteor or other, so it's not day yet. Romeo goes along with her this time and says she's right: it's not the lark, it's not the sun, it's not morning. He ends by welcoming death, since Juliet seems to want him to die (because she keeps trying to get him to stay). |
JULIET
It is, it is. Hie hence, begone, away!
It is the lark that sings so out of tune,
Straining harsh discords and unpleasing sharps.
Some say the lark makes sweet division.
This doth not so, for she divideth us. 30
Some say the lark and loathèd toad changed eyes.
O, now I would they had changed voices too,
Since arm from arm that voice doth us affray,
Hunting thee hence with hunt’s-up to the day.
O, now begone. More light and light it grows. 35 ROMEO
More light and light, more dark and dark our woes. | Reality sinks in for Juliet and she tells Romeo he has to get up and get moving. Romeo says that the lighter it gets outside, the darker things get for them. |
Enter Nurse. NURSE Madam. JULIET Nurse? NURSE
Your lady mother is coming to your chamber.
The day is broke; be wary; look about. She exits. 40 JULIET
Then, window, let day in, and let life out. ROMEO
Farewell, farewell. One kiss and I’ll descend. They kiss, and Romeo descends. | The Nurse comes in and tells Juliet her mother is on her way. Romeo and Juliet share a last kiss, and Romeo climbs down the ladder. |
JULIET
Art thou gone so? Love, lord, ay husband, friend!
I must hear from thee every day in the hour,
For in a minute there are many days. 45
O, by this count I shall be much in years
Ere I again behold my Romeo. ROMEO Farewell.
I will omit no opportunity
That may convey my greetings, love, to thee. 50 JULIET
O, think’st thou we shall ever meet again? ROMEO
I doubt it not; and all these woes shall serve
For sweet discourses in our times to come. JULIET
O God, I have an ill-divining soul!
Methinks I see thee, now thou art so low, 55
As one dead in the bottom of a tomb.
Either my eyesight fails or thou lookest pale. ROMEO
And trust me, love, in my eye so do you.
Dry sorrow drinks our blood. Adieu, adieu. He exits. JULIET
O Fortune, Fortune, all men call thee fickle. 60
If thou art fickle, what dost thou with him
That is renowned for faith? Be fickle, Fortune,
For then I hope thou wilt not keep him long,
But send him back. | As Romeo descends the ladder, Juliet makes him promise to keep in touch. They have a hard time saying goodbye, but Romeo assures Juliet everything will work out. Juliet isn't so sure—she has a bad feeling about this. She even says that as she's looking down at Romeo (who's climbing down the ladder) it's as though she's seeing him at the bottom of a tomb. She says he looks pale, and he says that she does, too. They leave it at that, and Juliet begs Fortune to send Romeo back to her. |
Enter Lady Capulet. LADY CAPULET Ho, daughter, are you up? 65 JULIET
Who is ’t that calls? It is my lady mother.
Is she not down so late or up so early?
What unaccustomed cause procures her hither? Juliet descends. LADY CAPULET
Why, how now, Juliet? JULIET Madam, I am not well. 70 | Before Juliet has time to fix her hair or anything, her mother comes in. |
LADY CAPULET
Evermore weeping for your cousin’s death?
What, wilt thou wash him from his grave with tears?
An if thou couldst, thou couldst not make him live.
Therefore have done. Some grief shows much of
love, 75
But much of grief shows still some want of wit. JULIET
Yet let me weep for such a feeling loss. LADY CAPULET
So shall you feel the loss, but not the friend
Which you weep for. JULIET Feeling so the loss, 80
I cannot choose but ever weep the friend. LADY CAPULET
Well, girl, thou weep’st not so much for his death
As that the villain lives which slaughtered him. JULIET
What villain, madam? LADY CAPULET That same villain, Romeo. 85 JULIET, aside
Villain and he be many miles asunder.—
God pardon him. I do with all my heart,
And yet no man like he doth grieve my heart. LADY CAPULET
That is because the traitor murderer lives. JULIET
Ay, madam, from the reach of these my hands. 90
Would none but I might venge my cousin’s death! LADY CAPULET
We will have vengeance for it, fear thou not.
Then weep no more. I’ll send to one in Mantua,
Where that same banished runagate doth live,
Shall give him such an unaccustomed dram 95
That he shall soon keep Tybalt company.
And then, I hope, thou wilt be satisfied. JULIET
Indeed, I never shall be satisfied
With Romeo till I behold him—dead—
Is my poor heart, so for a kinsman vexed. 100
Madam, if you could find out but a man
To bear a poison, I would temper it,
That Romeo should, upon receipt thereof,
Soon sleep in quiet. O, how my heart abhors
To hear him named and cannot come to him 105
To wreak the love I bore my cousin
Upon his body that hath slaughtered him. | They manage to have a conversation about "that villain Romeo" in which Lady Capulet misinterprets 99.9% of everything that Juliet says. Juliet is pretty clever with her wording here so that every time she's talking about how much she loves Romeo and longs to be with him, her mother interprets it as hatred for Romeo and a desire to see him punished for killing Tybalt. |
LADY CAPULET
Find thou the means, and I’ll find such a man.
But now I’ll tell thee joyful tidings, girl. JULIET
And joy comes well in such a needy time. 110
What are they, beseech your Ladyship? LADY CAPULET
Well, well, thou hast a careful father, child,
One who, to put thee from thy heaviness,
Hath sorted out a sudden day of joy
That thou expects not, nor I looked not for. 115 JULIET
Madam, in happy time! What day is that? LADY CAPULET
Marry, my child, early next Thursday morn
The gallant, young, and noble gentleman,
The County Paris, at Saint Peter’s Church
Shall happily make thee there a joyful bride. 120 | But enough talk about death and vengeance. Lady Capulet says she has good news: in two days, Juliet will be marrying Paris. |
JULIET
Now, by Saint Peter’s Church, and Peter too,
He shall not make me there a joyful bride!
I wonder at this haste, that I must wed
Ere he that should be husband comes to woo.
I pray you, tell my lord and father, madam, 125
I will not marry yet, and when I do I swear
It shall be Romeo, whom you know I hate,
Rather than Paris. These are news indeed! | No way, says Juliet. She tells her mother she'd rather marry Romeo—which, of course, Lady Capulet doesn't know is: a) 100% true, and b) already done. |
LADY CAPULET
Here comes your father. Tell him so yourself,
And see how he will take it at your hands. 130 Enter Capulet and Nurse. | Lady Capulet says, "Oh really? Well you can be the one to tell your dad. Here he comes." |
CAPULET
When the sun sets, the earth doth drizzle dew,
But for the sunset of my brother’s son
It rains downright.
How now, a conduit, girl? What, still in tears?
Evermore show’ring? In one little body 135
Thou counterfeits a bark, a sea, a wind.
For still thy eyes, which I may call the sea,
Do ebb and flow with tears; the bark thy body is,
Sailing in this salt flood; the winds thy sighs,
Who, raging with thy tears and they with them, 140
Without a sudden calm, will overset
Thy tempest-tossèd body.—How now, wife?
Have you delivered to her our decree? | Capulet enters, pleased with himself for arranging such a great marriage for his daughter. He knows his plan will fix everything, and he asks his wife if she's delivered the good news yet. |
LADY CAPULET
Ay, sir, but she will none, she gives you thanks.
I would the fool were married to her grave. 145 | Lady Capulet says, yep, she did, but Juliet won't marry Paris. Lady Capulet adds that she wishes Juliet were "married to her grave," as in dead. (Hm. We think she's going to regret that choice of wording...) |
CAPULET
Soft, take me with you, take me with you, wife.
How, will she none? Doth she not give us thanks?
Is she not proud? Doth she not count her blessed,
Unworthy as she is, that we have wrought
So worthy a gentleman to be her bride? 150 JULIET
Not proud you have, but thankful that you have.
Proud can I never be of what I hate,
But thankful even for hate that is meant love. CAPULET
How, how, how, how? Chopped logic? What is this?
“Proud,” and “I thank you,” and “I thank you not,” 155
And yet “not proud”? Mistress minion you,
Thank me no thankings, nor proud me no prouds,
But fettle your fine joints ’gainst Thursday next
To go with Paris to Saint Peter’s Church,
Or I will drag thee on a hurdle thither. 160
Out, you green-sickness carrion! Out, you baggage!
You tallow face! | Lord Capulet blows up. He tells Juliet she'll get her butt to the church or he'll drag her there. Then he starts calling her names. |
LADY CAPULET Fie, fie, what, are you mad? JULIET, kneeling
Good father, I beseech you on my knees,
Hear me with patience but to speak a word. 165 CAPULET
Hang thee, young baggage, disobedient wretch!
I tell thee what: get thee to church o’ Thursday,
Or never after look me in the face.
Speak not; reply not; do not answer me.
My fingers itch.—Wife, we scarce thought us 170
blessed
That God had lent us but this only child,
But now I see this one is one too much,
And that we have a curse in having her.
Out on her, hilding. 175 | It's so bad, Lady Capulet tries to rein him in and Juliet begs him to listen to her for just a second. But Capulet has lost it. He throws some more nasty names at Juliet and then says that having her for a daughter is a curse. |
NURSE God in heaven bless her!
You are to blame, my lord, to rate her so. CAPULET
And why, my Lady Wisdom? Hold your tongue.
Good Prudence, smatter with your gossips, go. NURSE
I speak no treason. 180 CAPULET O, God ’i’ g’ eden! NURSE
May not one speak? CAPULET Peace, you mumbling fool!
Utter your gravity o’er a gossip’s bowl,
For here we need it not. 185 LADY CAPULET You are too hot. CAPULET God’s bread, it makes me mad.
Day, night, hour, tide, time, work, play,
Alone, in company, still my care hath been
To have her matched. And having now provided 190
A gentleman of noble parentage,
Of fair demesnes, youthful, and nobly ligned,
Stuffed, as they say, with honorable parts,
Proportioned as one’s thought would wish a man—
And then to have a wretched puling fool, 195
A whining mammet, in her fortune’s tender,
To answer “I’ll not wed. I cannot love.
I am too young. I pray you, pardon me.”
But, an you will not wed, I’ll pardon you!
Graze where you will, you shall not house with me. 200
Look to ’t; think on ’t. I do not use to jest.
Thursday is near. Lay hand on heart; advise.
An you be mine, I’ll give you to my friend.
An you be not, hang, beg, starve, die in the streets,
For, by my soul, I’ll ne’er acknowledge thee, 205
Nor what is mine shall never do thee good.
Trust to ’t; bethink you. I’ll not be forsworn. He exits. | Both the Nurse and Lady Capulet try to intervene, but Lord Capulet is too hot under the collar to stop yelling and listen. He tells Juliet that she's his, and he wants to give her to his friend. (Ick.) He adds that if she doesn't marry Paris, he'll throw her out in the street; she can beg for food or starve. |
JULIET
Is there no pity sitting in the clouds
That sees into the bottom of my grief?—
O sweet my mother, cast me not away. 210
Delay this marriage for a month, a week,
Or, if you do not, make the bridal bed
In that dim monument where Tybalt lies. LADY CAPULET
Talk not to me, for I’ll not speak a word.
Do as thou wilt, for I have done with thee. 215 She exits. | After Lord Capulet storms out, Juliet turns to her mother for help. How could a mother turn her own daughter out of the house? Juliet begs her mother to find a way even to delay the marriage with Paris. But Lady Capulet says she's done with Juliet, and she storms out, too. |
JULIET, rising O God! O nurse, how shall this be prevented?
My husband is on Earth, my faith in heaven.
How shall that faith return again to Earth
Unless that husband send it me from heaven
By leaving Earth? Comfort me; counsel me.— 220
Alack, alack, that heaven should practice stratagems
Upon so soft a subject as myself.—
What sayst thou? Hast thou not a word of joy?
Some comfort, nurse. | With no one else to turn to, Juliet seeks comfort from the Nurse. Juliet makes a case for not abandoning her hubby: She's already married, so marrying Paris would be a sin against God, as well as an unthinkable betrayal of Romeo. |
NURSE Faith, here it is. 225
Romeo is banished, and all the world to nothing
That he dares ne’er come back to challenge you,
Or, if he do, it needs must be by stealth.
Then, since the case so stands as now it doth,
I think it best you married with the County. 230
O, he’s a lovely gentleman!
Romeo’s a dishclout to him. An eagle, madam,
Hath not so green, so quick, so fair an eye
As Paris hath. Beshrew my very heart,
I think you are happy in this second match, 235
For it excels your first, or, if it did not,
Your first is dead, or ’twere as good he were
As living here and you no use of him. JULIET
Speak’st thou from thy heart? NURSE
And from my soul too, else beshrew them both. 240 | The Nurse disagrees. Romeo is gone, and Paris is here. And marrying Paris would be a step up on the social ladder. He's better looking and a much better catch. Also, he's not a hated enemy, and um, there's no other option. (Unless you count starving on the street which, clearly, the Nurse does not.) Juliet asks her if that's her final answer, and the Nurse says it absolutely is. |
JULIET Amen. NURSE What? JULIET
Well, thou hast comforted me marvelous much.
Go in and tell my lady I am gone,
Having displeased my father, to Lawrence’ cell 245
To make confession and to be absolved. NURSE
Marry, I will; and this is wisely done. She exits. JULIET
Ancient damnation, O most wicked fiend!
Is it more sin to wish me thus forsworn
Or to dispraise my lord with that same tongue 250
Which she hath praised him with above compare
So many thousand times? Go, counselor.
Thou and my bosom henceforth shall be twain.
I’ll to the Friar to know his remedy.
If all else fail, myself have power to die. 255 She exits. | Juliet cannot believe this is happening. Even the nurse isn't on her side anymore. Juliet has only one ally left: Friar Lawrence. If he can't help her, suicide might be her only option. |