Rom. Alive! in triumph! and Mercutio slain!
Away to heaven, respective lenity,

And fire-ey'd fury be my conduct now !—
Now, Tybalt, take the villain back again,
That late thou gav'st me; for Mercutio's soul
Is but a little way above our heads,
Staying for thine to keep him company;
Either thou, or I, or both, must go with him.

Tyb. Thou, wretched boy, that didst consort him here, Shalt with him hence.

Rom.

This shall determine that.

[They fight; TYBALT falls.

Ben. Romeo, away, be gone!

The citizens are up, and Tybalt slain :

Stand not amaz'd:-the prince will doom thee death,

If thou art taken :-hence !-be gone!-away!

Rom. O! I am fortune's fool!

Ben.

Why dost thou stay?

[Exit ROMEO.

Enter Citizens, &c.

I Cit. Which way ran he, that kill'd Mercutio? Tybalt, that murderer, which way ran he?

Ben. There lies that Tybalt.

1 Cit.

Up, sir, go with me;

I charge thee in the prince's name, obey.

Enter Prince, attended; MONTAGUE, CAPULET, their
Wives, and Others.

Prin. Where are the vile beginners of this fray?
Ben. O noble prince, I can discover all
The unlucky manage of this fatal brawl:
There lies the man, slain by young Romeo,
That slew thy kinsman, brave Mercutio.

5

6

respective lenity,] Cool, considerate gentleness.
my conduct now !] Conduct for conductor.

be

La. Cap. Tybalt, my cousin!-O my brother's child! Unhappy sight! ah me, the blood is spill'd

Of my dear kinsman !-Prince, as thou art true',
For blood of ours, shed blood of Montague.-

O cousin, cousin!

Prin. Benvolio, who began this bloody fray?ta Ben. Tybalt, here slain, whom Romeo's hand did

slay;

Romeo that spoke him fair, bade him bethink

8

How nice the quarrel was, and urg'd withal

Your high displeasure:-All this-uttered

With gentle breath, calm look, knees humbly bow'd,-
Could not take truce with the unruly spleen
Of Tybalt deaf to peace, but that he tilts
With piercing steel at bold Mercutio's breast;
Who, all as hot, turns deadly point to point,
And, with a martial scorn, with one hand beats
Cold death aside, and with the other sends
It back to Tybalt, whose dexterity

Retorts it: Romeo he cries aloud,

Hold, friends! friends, part! and swifter than his tongue, His agile arm beats down their fatal points,

And 'twixt them rushes; underneath whose arm

An envious thrust from Tybalt hit the life
Of stout Mercutio, and then Tybalt fled:
But by and by comes back to Romeo,
Who had but newly entertain'd revenge,
And to't they go like light'ning; for, ere I
Could draw to part them, was stout Tybalt slain;
And, as he fell, did Romeo turn and fly;
This is the truth, or let Benvolio die.

La. Cap. He is a kinsman to the Montague,
Affection makes him false', he speaks not true :

7 as thou art true,] as thou art just and upright.
8 How nice] How slight, how unimportant, how petty.

• Affection "makes him false,] The charge of falsehood on Benvolio, though produced at hazard, is very just. The author,

Some twenty of them fought in this black strife,
And all those twenty could but kill one life:
I beg for justice, which thou, prince, must give;
Romeo slew Tybalt, Romeo must not live.

Prin. Romeo slew him, he slew Mercutio; Who now the price of his dear blood doth owe? Mon. Not Romeo, prince, he was Mercutio's friend ; His fault concludes but, what the law should end, The life of Tybalt.

Prin.

And, for that offence,
Immediately we do exíle him hence:

I have an interest in your hates' proceeding,
My blood for your rude brawls doth lie a bleeding;
But I'll amerce you with so strong a fine,
That you shall all repent the loss of mine:
I will be deaf to pleading and excuses;
Nor tears, nor prayers, shall purchase out abuses,
Therefore use none: let Romeo hence in haste,
Else, when he's found, that hour is his last.
Bear hence this body, and attend our will:

Mercy but murders, pardoning those that kill. [Exeunt.

SCENE II.

A Room in Capulet's House.

Enter JULIET.

Jul. Gallop apace, you fiery-footed steeds,
Towards Phoebus' mansion; such a waggoner
As Phaeton would whip you to the west,
And bring in cloudy night immediately.—
Spread thy close curtain, love-performing night!

who seems to intend the character of Benvolio as good, meant perhaps to show, how the best minds, in a state of faction and discord, are detorted to criminal partiality. JOHNSON.

That run-away's eyes may wink'; and Romeo
Leap to these arms, untalk'd of, and unseen!-
Lovers can see to do their amorous rites
By their own beauties: or, if love be blind,
It best agrees with night.-Come, civil night 2,
Thou sober-suited matron, all in black,

And learn me how to lose a winning match,
Play'd for a pair of stainless maidenhoods:

Hood my unmann'd blood bating in my cheeks', With thy black mantle; till strange love, grown bold, Think true love acted, simple modesty.

Come, night!-Come, Romeo! come, thou day in night! For thou wilt lie upon the wings of night

Whiter than new snow on † a raven's back.

Come, gentle night; come, loving, black-brow'd night,
Give me my Romeo: and, when he shall die,
Take him and cut him out in little stars,
And he will make the face of heaven so fine,
That all the world will be in love with night,
And pay no worship to the garish sun‘.
O, I have bought the mansion of a love,
But not possess'd it; and, though I am sold,
Not yet enjoy'd: So tedious is this day,

1 Spread thy close curtain, love-performing night!

That run-away's eyes may wink; &c.] Juliet first wishes for the absence of the sun, and then invokes the night to spread its curtain close around the world:

Spread thy close curtain, love-performing night!

Next, recollecting that the night would seem short to her, she speaks of it as of a run-away, whose flight she would wish to retard, and whose eyes she would blind, lest they should make discoveries.

2 Come, civil night,] Civil is grave, decently solemn.

3 Hood my unmann'd blood bating in my cheeks,] These are terms of falconry. An unmanned hawk is one that is not brought to endure company. Bating, (not baiting, as it has hitherto been printed,) is fluttering with the wings as striving to fly away.

† "upon"-MALONE.

4

the garish sun.] Garish is gaudy, showy.

As is the night before some festival

To an impatient child, that hath new robes,

And may not wear them. O, here comes my nurse,

Enter Nurse, with Cords.

And she brings news; and every tongue, that speaks
But Romeo's name, speaks heavenly eloquence.-
Now, nurse, what news? What hast thou there? the

cords,

That Romeo bade thee fetch?

Nurse.

Ay, ay, the cords.
[Throws them down.

Jul. Ah me! what news? why dost thou wring thy

hands?

Nurse. Ah well-a-day! he's dead, he's dead, he's dead!

We are undone, lady, we are undone !—

Alack the day!-he's gone, he's kill'd, he's dead!

Jul. Can heaven be so envious?

Nurse.

Romeo can,

Though heaven cannot:-O Romeo, Romeo!—

Who ever would have thought it ?-Romeo!

Jul. What devil art thou, that dost torment me thus? This torture should be roar'd in dismal hell.

Hath Romeo slain himself? say thou but I3,
And that bare vowel I shall poison more

Than the death-darting eye of cockatrice :
I am not I, if there be such an I;

Or those eyes shut, that make thee answer, I.
If he be slain, say-I; or if not, no:

Brief sounds determine of my weal, or woe.

5

Nurse. I saw the wound, I saw it with mine eyes,

say thou but I.] In Shakspeare's time the affirmative particle ay was usually written I, and here it is necessary to retain the old spelling.