The Works of William Shakespeare [Cambridge Edition] [Vol. 7 of 9]Shakespeare, William
General
The Works of William Shakespeare [Cambridge Edition] [Vol. 7 of 9]
Shakespeare, William
English drama
_Nurse._ There's no trust,[877] 85
No faith, no honesty in men; all perjured,[877]
All forsworn, all naught, all dissemblers.[877][878]
Ah, where's my man? give me some aqua vitæ:
These griefs, these woes, these sorrows make me old.
Shame come to Romeo!
_Jul._ Blister'd be thy tongue[879] 90
For such a wish! he was not born to shame:
Upon his brow shame is ashamed to sit;
For 'tis a throne where honour may be crown'd
Sole monarch of the universal earth.
O, what a beast was I to chide at him![880] 95
_Nurse._ Will you speak well of him that kill'd your cousin?[881]
_Jul._ Shall I speak ill of him that is my husband?
Ah, poor my lord, what tongue shall smooth thy name,
When I, thy three-hours wife, have mangled it?
But wherefore, villain, didst thou kill my cousin? 100
That villain cousin would have kill'd my husband:
Back, foolish tears, back to your native spring;
Your tributary drops belong to woe,
Which you mistaking offer up to joy.[882]
My husband lives, that Tybalt would have slain; 105
And Tybalt's dead, that would have slain my husband:[883]
All this is comfort; wherefore weep I then?
Some word there was, worser than Tybalt's death,[884]
That murder'd me: I would forget it fain;[885]
But, O, it presses to my memory, 110
Like damned guilty deeds to sinners' minds:
'Tybalt is dead, and Romeo banished;'
That 'banished,' that one word 'banished,'
Hath slain ten thousand Tybalts. Tybalt's death
Was woe enough, if it had ended there: 115
Or, if sour woe delights in fellowship
And needly will be rank'd with other griefs,[886]
Why follow'd not, when she said 'Tybalt's dead,'[887]
Thy father, or thy mother, nay, or both,
Which modern lamentation might have moved?[888] 120
But with a rear-ward following Tybalt's death,[889]
'Romeo is banished:' to speak that word,[890]
Is father, mother, Tybalt, Romeo, Juliet,
All slain, all dead. 'Romeo is banished.'
There is no end, no limit, measure, bound, 125
In that word's death; no words can that woe sound.
Where is my father, and my mother, nurse?
_Nurse._ Weeping and wailing over Tybalt's corse:[891]
Will you go to them? I will bring you thither.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account