ACT II. | |
Scene V. Capulet's Garden. | |
| [Enter Juliet.] |
Juliet. | |
| The clock struck nine when I did send the nurse; |
| In half an hour she promis'd to return. |
| Perchance she cannot meet him: that's not so.-- |
| O, she is lame! love's heralds should be thoughts, |
| Which ten times faster glide than the sun's beams, |
| Driving back shadows over lowering hills: |
| Therefore do nimble-pinion'd doves draw love, |
| And therefore hath the wind-swift Cupid wings. |
| Now is the sun upon the highmost hill |
| Of this day's journey; and from nine till twelve |
| Is three long hours,--yet she is not come. |
| Had she affections and warm youthful blood, |
| She'd be as swift in motion as a ball; |
| My words would bandy her to my sweet love, |
| And his to me: |
| But old folks, many feign as they were dead; |
| Unwieldy, slow, heavy and pale as lead.-- |
| O God, she comes! |
| [Enter Nurse and Peter]. |
| O honey nurse, what news? |
| Hast thou met with him? Send thy man away. |
Nurse. | |
| Peter, stay at the gate. |
| [Exit Peter.] |
Juliet. | |
| Now, good sweet nurse,--O Lord, why look'st thou sad? |
| Though news be sad, yet tell them merrily; |
| If good, thou sham'st the music of sweet news |
| By playing it to me with so sour a face. |
Nurse. | |
| I am aweary, give me leave awhile;-- |
| Fie, how my bones ache! what a jaunt have I had! |
Juliet. | |
| I would thou hadst my bones, and I thy news: |
| Nay, come, I pray thee speak;--good, good nurse, speak. |
Nurse. | |
| Jesu, what haste? can you not stay awhile? |
| Do you not see that I am out of breath? |
Juliet. | |
| How art thou out of breath, when thou hast breath |
| To say to me that thou art out of breath? |
| The excuse that thou dost make in this delay |
| Is longer than the tale thou dost excuse. |
| Is thy news good or bad? answer to that; |
| Say either, and I'll stay the circumstance: |
| Let me be satisfied, is't good or bad? |
Nurse. | |
| Well, you have made a simple choice; you know not how to |
| choose a man: Romeo! no, not he; rhough his face be better than |
| any man's, yet his leg excels all men's; and for a hand and a |
| foot, and a body,--though they be not to be talked on, yet they |
| are past compare: he is not the flower of courtesy,--but I'll |
| warrant him as gentle as a lamb.--Go thy ways, wench; serve God.- |
| -What, have you dined at home? |
Juliet. | |
| No, no: but all this did I know before. |
| What says he of our marriage? what of that? |
Nurse. | |
| Lord, how my head aches! what a head have I! |
| It beats as it would fall in twenty pieces. |
| My back o' t' other side,--O, my back, my back!-- |
| Beshrew your heart for sending me about |
| To catch my death with jauncing up and down! |
Juliet. | |
| I' faith, I am sorry that thou art not well. |
| Sweet, sweet, sweet nurse, tell me, what says my love? |
Nurse. | |
| Your love says, like an honest gentleman, |
| And a courteous, and a kind, and a handsome; |
| And, I warrant, a virtuous,--Where is your mother? |
Juliet. | |
| Where is my mother?--why, she is within; |
| Where should she be? How oddly thou repliest! |
| 'Your love says, like an honest gentleman,-- |
| 'Where is your mother?' |
Nurse. | |
| O God's lady dear! |
| Are you so hot? marry,come up, I trow; |
| Is this the poultice for my aching bones? |
| Henceforward,do your messages yourself. |
Juliet. | |
| Here's such a coil!--come, what says Romeo? |
Nurse. | |
| Have you got leave to go to shrift to-day? |
Juliet. | |
| I have. |
Nurse. | |
| Then hie you hence to Friar Lawrence' cell; |
| There stays a husband to make you a wife: |
| Now comes the wanton blood up in your cheeks, |
| They'll be in scarlet straight at any news. |
| Hie you to church; I must another way, |
| To fetch a ladder, by the which your love |
| Must climb a bird's nest soon when it is dark: |
| I am the drudge, and toil in your delight; |
| But you shall bear the burden soon at night. |
| Go; I'll to dinner; hie you to the cell. |
Juliet. | |
| Hie to high fortune!--honest nurse, farewell. |
| [Exeunt.] |