SCENE III. A churchyard; in it a tomb belonging to the
Capulets.
Enter PARIS, and his
Page bearing flowers and a torch
PARIS
Give me thy torch, boy:
hence, and stand aloof:
Yet put it out, for I
would not be seen.
Under yond yew-trees lay
thee all along,
Holding thine ear close
to the hollow ground;
So shall no foot upon
the churchyard tread,
Being loose, unfirm,
with digging up of graves,
But thou shalt hear it:
whistle then to me,
As signal that thou
hear'st something approach.
Give me those flowers.
Do as I bid thee, go.
PAGE
[Aside] I am almost
afraid to stand alone
Here in the churchyard;
yet I will adventure.
Retires
PARIS
Sweet flower, with
flowers thy bridal bed I strew,--
O woe! thy canopy is
dust and stones;--
Which with sweet water
nightly I will dew,
Or, wanting that, with
tears distill'd by moans:
The obsequies that I for
thee will keep
Nightly shall be to
strew thy grave and weep.
The Page whistles
The boy gives warning
something doth approach.
What cursed foot wanders
this way to-night,
To cross my obsequies
and true love's rite?
What with a torch!
muffle me, night, awhile.
Retires
Enter ROMEO and BALTHASAR,
with a torch, mattock, & c
ROMEO
Give me that mattock and
the wrenching iron.
Hold, take this letter;
early in the morning
See thou deliver it to
my lord and father.
Give me the light: upon
thy life, I charge thee,
Whate'er thou hear'st or
seest, stand all aloof,
And do not interrupt me
in my course.
Why I descend into this
bed of death,
Is partly to behold my
lady's face;
But chiefly to take
thence from her dead finger
A precious ring, a ring
that I must use
In dear employment:
therefore hence, be gone:
But if thou, jealous,
dost return to pry
In what I further shall
intend to do,
By heaven, I will tear
thee joint by joint
And strew this hungry
churchyard with thy limbs:
The time and my intents
are savage-wild,
More fierce and more
inexorable far
Than empty tigers or the
roaring sea.
BALTHASAR
I will be gone, sir, and
not trouble you.
ROMEO
So shalt thou show me
friendship. Take thou that:
Live, and be prosperous:
and farewell, good fellow.
BALTHASAR
[Aside] For all this
same, I'll hide me hereabout:
His looks I fear, and
his intents I doubt.
Retires
ROMEO
Thou detestable maw,
thou womb of death,
Gorged with the dearest
morsel of the earth,
Thus I enforce thy
rotten jaws to open,
And, in despite, I'll
cram thee with more food!
Opens the tomb
PARIS
This is that banish'd
haughty Montague,
That murder'd my love's
cousin, with which grief,
It is supposed, the fair
creature died;
And here is come to do
some villanous shame
To the dead bodies: I
will apprehend him.
Comes forward
Stop thy unhallow'd
toil, vile Montague!
Can vengeance be pursued
further than death?
Condemned villain, I do
apprehend thee:
Obey, and go with me;
for thou must die.
ROMEO
I must indeed; and
therefore came I hither.
Good gentle youth, tempt
not a desperate man;
Fly hence, and leave me:
think upon these gone;
Let them affright thee.
I beseech thee, youth,
Put not another sin upon
my head,
By urging me to fury: O,
be gone!
By heaven, I love thee
better than myself;
For I come hither arm'd
against myself:
Stay not, be gone; live,
and hereafter say,
A madman's mercy bade
thee run away.
PARIS
I do defy thy
conjurations,
And apprehend thee for a
felon here.
ROMEO
Wilt thou provoke me?
then have at thee, boy!
They fight
PAGE
O Lord, they fight! I will
go call the watch.
Exit
PARIS
O, I am slain!
Falls
If thou be merciful,
Open the tomb, lay me
with Juliet.
Dies
ROMEO
In faith, I will. Let me
peruse this face.
Mercutio's kinsman,
noble County Paris!
What said my man, when
my betossed soul
Did not attend him as we
rode? I think
He told me Paris should
have married Juliet:
Said he not so? or did I
dream it so?
Or am I mad, hearing him
talk of Juliet,
To think it was so? O,
give me thy hand,
One writ with me in sour
misfortune's book!
I'll bury thee in a
triumphant grave;
A grave? O no! a
lantern, slaughter'd youth,
For here lies Juliet,
and her beauty makes
This vault a feasting
presence full of light.
Death, lie thou there,
by a dead man interr'd.
Laying PARIS in the tomb
How oft when men are at
the point of death
Have they been merry!
which their keepers call
A lightning before
death: O, how may I
Call this a lightning? O
my love! my wife!
Death, that hath suck'd
the honey of thy breath,
Hath had no power yet
upon thy beauty:
Thou art not conquer'd;
beauty's ensign yet
Is crimson in thy lips
and in thy cheeks,
And death's pale flag is
not advanced there.
Tybalt, liest thou there
in thy bloody sheet?
O, what more favour can
I do to thee,
Than with that hand that
cut thy youth in twain
To sunder his that was
thine enemy?
Forgive me, cousin! Ah,
dear Juliet,
Why art thou yet so
fair? shall I believe
That unsubstantial death
is amorous,
And that the lean
abhorred monster keeps
Thee here in dark to be
his paramour?
For fear of that, I
still will stay with thee;
And never from this
palace of dim night
Depart again: here, here
will I remain
With worms that are thy
chamber-maids; O, here
Will I set up my
everlasting rest,
And shake the yoke of
inauspicious stars
From this world-wearied
flesh. Eyes, look your last!
Arms, take your last
embrace! and, lips, O you
The doors of breath,
seal with a righteous kiss
A dateless bargain to
engrossing death!
Come, bitter conduct,
come, unsavoury guide!
Thou desperate pilot,
now at once run on
The dashing rocks thy
sea-sick weary bark!
Here's to my love!
Drinks
O true apothecary!
Thy drugs are quick.
Thus with a kiss I die.
Dies
Enter, at the other end
of the churchyard, FRIAR LAURENCE, with a lantern, crow, and spade
FRIAR LAURENCE
Saint Francis be my
speed! how oft to-night
Have my old feet
stumbled at graves! Who's there?
BALTHASAR
Here's one, a friend,
and one that knows you well.
FRIAR LAURENCE
Bliss be upon you! Tell
me, good my friend,
What torch is yond, that
vainly lends his light
To grubs and eyeless
skulls? as I discern,
It burneth in the
Capel's monument.
BALTHASAR
It doth so, holy sir;
and there's my master,
One that you love.
FRIAR LAURENCE
Who is it?
BALTHASAR
Romeo.
FRIAR LAURENCE
How long hath he been
there?
BALTHASAR
Full half an hour.
FRIAR LAURENCE
Go with me to the vault.
BALTHASAR
I dare not, sir
My master knows not but
I am gone hence;
And fearfully did menace
me with death,
If I did stay to look on
his intents.
FRIAR LAURENCE
Stay, then; I'll go
alone. Fear comes upon me:
O, much I fear some ill
unlucky thing.
BALTHASAR
As I did sleep under
this yew-tree here,
I dreamt my master and
another fought,
And that my master slew
him.
FRIAR LAURENCE
Romeo!
Advances
Alack, alack, what blood
is this, which stains
The stony entrance of
this sepulchre?
What mean these
masterless and gory swords
To lie discolour'd by
this place of peace?
Enters the tomb
Romeo! O, pale! Who
else? what, Paris too?
And steep'd in blood?
Ah, what an unkind hour
Is guilty of this
lamentable chance!
The lady stirs.
JULIET wakes
JULIET
O comfortable friar!
where is my lord?
I do remember well where
I should be,
And there I am. Where is
my Romeo?
Noise within
FRIAR LAURENCE
I hear some noise. Lady,
come from that nest
Of death, contagion, and
unnatural sleep:
A greater power than we
can contradict
Hath thwarted our
intents. Come, come away.
Thy husband in thy bosom
there lies dead;
And Paris too. Come,
I'll dispose of thee
Among a sisterhood of
holy nuns:
Stay not to question,
for the watch is coming;
Come, go, good Juliet,
Noise again
I dare no longer stay.
JULIET
Go, get thee hence, for
I will not away.
Exit FRIAR LAURENCE
What's here? a cup,
closed in my true love's hand?
Poison, I see, hath been
his timeless end:
O churl! drunk all, and
left no friendly drop
To help me after? I will
kiss thy lips;
Haply some poison yet
doth hang on them,
To make die with a
restorative.
Kisses him
Thy lips are warm.
First Watchman
[Within] Lead, boy:
which way?
JULIET
Yea, noise? then I'll be
brief. O happy dagger!
Snatching ROMEO's dagger
This is thy sheath;
Stabs herself
there rust, and let me
die.
Falls on ROMEO's body,
and dies
Enter Watch, with the
Page of PARIS
PAGE
This is the place;
there, where the torch doth burn.
First Watchman
The ground is bloody;
search about the churchyard:
Go, some of you, whoe'er
you find attach.
Pitiful sight! here lies
the county slain,
And Juliet bleeding,
warm, and newly dead,
Who here hath lain these
two days buried.
Go, tell the prince: run
to the Capulets:
Raise up the Montagues:
some others search:
We see the ground
whereon these woes do lie;
But the true ground of
all these piteous woes
We cannot without
circumstance descry.
Re-enter some of the
Watch, with BALTHASAR
Second Watchman
Here's Romeo's man; we
found him in the churchyard.
First Watchman
Hold him in safety, till
the prince come hither.
Re-enter others of the
Watch, with FRIAR LAURENCE
Third Watchman
Here is a friar, that
trembles, sighs and weeps:
We took this mattock and
this spade from him,
As he was coming from
this churchyard side.
First Watchman
A great suspicion: stay
the friar too.
Enter the PRINCE and
Attendants
PRINCE
What misadventure is so
early up,
That calls our person
from our morning's rest?
Enter CAPULET, LADY
CAPULET, and others
CAPULET
What should it be, that
they so shriek abroad?
LADY CAPULET
The people in the street
cry Romeo,
Some Juliet, and some
Paris; and all run,
With open outcry toward
our monument.
PRINCE
What fear is this which
startles in our ears?
First Watchman
Sovereign, here lies the
County Paris slain;
And Romeo dead; and
Juliet, dead before,
Warm and new kill'd.
PRINCE
Search, seek, and know
how this foul murder comes.
First Watchman
Here is a friar, and
slaughter'd Romeo's man;
With instruments upon
them, fit to open
These dead men's tombs.
CAPULET
O heavens! O wife, look
how our daughter bleeds!
This dagger hath
mista'en--for, lo, his house
Is empty on the back of
Montague,--
And it mis-sheathed in
my daughter's bosom!
LADY CAPULET
O me! this sight of
death is as a bell,
That warns my old age to
a sepulchre.
Enter MONTAGUE and
others
PRINCE
Come, Montague; for thou
art early up,
To see thy son and heir
more early down.
MONTAGUE
Alas, my liege, my wife
is dead to-night;
Grief of my son's exile
hath stopp'd her breath:
What further woe
conspires against mine age?
PRINCE
Look, and thou shalt
see.
MONTAGUE
O thou untaught! what
manners is in this?
To press before thy
father to a grave?
PRINCE
Seal up the mouth of
outrage for a while,
Till we can clear these
ambiguities,
And know their spring,
their head, their
true descent;
And then will I be
general of your woes,
And lead you even to
death: meantime forbear,
And let mischance be
slave to patience.
Bring forth the parties
of suspicion.
FRIAR LAURENCE
I am the greatest, able
to do least,
Yet most suspected, as
the time and place
Doth make against me of
this direful murder;
And here I stand, both
to impeach and purge
Myself condemned and
myself excused.
PRINCE
Then say at once what
thou dost know in this.
FRIAR LAURENCE
I will be brief, for my
short date of breath
Is not so long as is a
tedious tale.
Romeo, there dead, was
husband to that Juliet;
And she, there dead,
that Romeo's faithful wife:
I married them; and
their stol'n marriage-day
Was Tybalt's dooms-day,
whose untimely death
Banish'd the new-made
bridegroom from the city,
For whom, and not for
Tybalt, Juliet pined.
You, to remove that
siege of grief from her,
Betroth'd and would have
married her perforce
To County Paris: then
comes she to me,
And, with wild looks,
bid me devise some mean
To rid her from this
second marriage,
Or in my cell there
would she kill herself.
Then gave I her, so
tutor'd by my art,
A sleeping potion; which
so took effect
As I intended, for it
wrought on her
The form of death:
meantime I writ to Romeo,
That he should hither
come as this dire night,
To help to take her from
her borrow'd grave,
Being the time the
potion's force should cease.
But he which bore my
letter, Friar John,
Was stay'd by accident,
and yesternight
Return'd my letter back.
Then all alone
At the prefixed hour of
her waking,
Came I to take her from
her kindred's vault;
Meaning to keep her
closely at my cell,
Till I conveniently
could send to Romeo:
But when I came, some
minute ere the time
Of her awaking, here
untimely lay
The noble Paris and true
Romeo dead.
She wakes; and I
entreated her come forth,
And bear this work of
heaven with patience:
But then a noise did
scare me from the tomb;
And she, too desperate,
would not go with me,
But, as it seems, did
violence on herself.
All this I know; and to
the marriage
Her nurse is privy: and,
if aught in this
Miscarried by my fault,
let my old life
Be sacrificed, some hour
before his time,
Unto the rigour of
severest law.
PRINCE
We still have known thee
for a holy man.
Where's Romeo's man?
what can he say in this?
BALTHASAR
I brought my master news
of Juliet's death;
And then in post he came
from Mantua
To this same place, to
this same monument.
This letter he early bid
me give his father,
And threatened me with
death, going in the vault,
I departed not and left
him there.
PRINCE
Give me the letter; I
will look on it.
Where is the county's
page, that raised the watch?
Sirrah, what made your
master in this place?
PAGE
He came with flowers to
strew his lady's grave;
And bid me stand aloof,
and so I did:
Anon comes one with
light to ope the tomb;
And by and by my master
drew on him;
And then I ran away to
call the watch.
PRINCE
This letter doth make
good the friar's words,
Their course of love,
the tidings of her death:
And here he writes that
he did buy a poison
Of a poor 'pothecary,
and therewithal
Came to this vault to
die, and lie with Juliet.
Where be these enemies?
Capulet! Montague!
See, what a scourge is
laid upon your hate,
That heaven finds means
to kill your joys with love.
And I for winking at
your discords too
Have lost a brace of
kinsmen: all are punish'd.
CAPULET
O brother Montague, give
me thy hand:
This is my daughter's
jointure, for no more
Can I demand.
MONTAGUE
But I can give thee
more:
For I will raise her
statue in pure gold;
That while Verona by
that name is known,
There shall no figure at
such rate be set
As that of true and faithful
Juliet.
CAPULET
As rich shall Romeo's by
his lady's lie;
Poor sacrifices of our
enmity!
PRINCE
A glooming peace this
morning with it brings;
The sun, for sorrow,
will not show his head:
Go hence, to have more
talk of these sad things;
Some shall be pardon'd,
and some punished:
For never was a story of
more woe
Than this of Juliet and
her Romeo.
If I was Shakespeare, I would start the scene with Romeo talking to Juliet though she’s still lying and unconscious.
-Romeo in the churchyard; in it a tomb belonging to the
Capulets, talking to Juliet.-
Romeo: O my love, my wife?
Why?
Why? You have already faced death?
Thought
you’d wait for me
Why my
love, why?
-Romeo sobs then kisses Juliet.-
O my
love, will you wake up?
Can you
still?
If you
will not, here’s a poison in my hand
For you
I would drink this
Then,
we could be together, forever.
O my
wife, till death do us part.
-Romeo kisses Juliet again. Then opens the bottle with
poison and is about to drink the poison.-
-Juliet’s hands start to move. Romeo notices it. He held her
hand.-
O my
love, my wife!
Miracle!
Miracle! You woke up! What a miracle?
Or I
must have been dreaming.
-Romeo kisses the hand of Juliet.-
Juliet: O Romeo! Romeo! Romeo, my love.
Romeo: You spoke, this isn’t a dream, this is a miracle!
Juliet: And, there you are, my love. You came, the plan
worked!
Romeo: What plan are you referring to, Juliet?
Juliet: When you were in Mantua, my parents wanted me to
marry Paris.
But I
can’t, I won’t.
I’ve already made a vow.
I asked Friar Lawrence for an
advice,
He gave me a vile. He told me that
if I drank it,
I would be unconscious, I’ll feel nothing.
My body would become pale, my eyes
would shut down.
I’d be dead for forty-eight hours,
but after that I’ll wake up.
The night before our marriage is supposed to
happen,
I drank it.
Romeo: O I see, my love. But.. how will I know it, the plan?
Juliet: Friar sent you a letter.
Romeo: There came no letter.
-They both heard a voice at the backstage.-
-Friar Lawrence entered.-
Friar Lawrence: Romeo! Juliet! How great!
There’s
the two of you again, my children.
Juliet: Thanks to you, Friar, but why is it Romeo wasn’t
able to receive the letter you sent him?
Friar Lawrence: Friar John, didn’t make it. He wasn’t able
to hand the letter to Romeo.
Romeo: Enough of that, what matters is that we are all here
now.
Friar Lawrence: This, we shall announce.
-Nurse enters, sees Juliet.-
Nurse: O Juliet!
-Nurse faints.-
-Friar, Juliet and Romeo went out of the tomb, Capulet sees
them.-
Capulet: Juliet?!
Juliet: Father!
Friar Lawrence: -to Capulet- Forgive me!
I’ll
explain everything.
-Friar Lawrence explains everything.-
Capulet: A Montague?
-Capulet draws his sword.-
Juliet: Don’t father, don’t!
I love
him. I love him very much.
If you
would kill him, then kill me too.
There’s
no point of living without him.
-Paris hears Juliet.-
Capulet: Why to a Montague?
He’s an
enemy!
Juliet: He is not to me.
Capulet: But, he is, to our family.
Juliet: But father, I love him, he loves me.
Just let
me, let us.
Why don’t
we end this feud?
Paris: I’ve already heard enough.
Let them,
they love each other and that’s the truth.
We can’t
do anything about it.
Capulet: But he’s a Montague!
Juliet: What then if he’s a Montague? What is a Montague?
Montague’s
just a name, father. He might be your enemy, but he is not to me.
Romeo: I love your daughter. Believe me.
I love
her more than anything else.
I’m
ready to face death for her.
-Lady Capulet enters.-
Lady Capulet: What is this? Juliet, my daughter?!
-Lady Capulet runs to Juliet.-
Juliet: Forgive me, mother.
Lady Capulet: You’re alive, you’re alive!
Juliet: Mother, let’s stop this feud.
I’m in
love with a Montague.
Mother,
listen, please, I love Romeo.
He’s
not an enemy.
Lady Capulet: But, daughter..
Juliet: Montague’s just a name.
I love
him, he loves me too.
Our feelings
are for real.
Romeo: -to Lady Capulet- I love your daughter.
I can change my name, forget about my name.
Capulet: Enough. Enough! Romeo, I dare you a sword fight.
If you
win, that would be enough to prove to me that you deserve my daughter’s hand.
And, I,
myself, will end this feud between our families.
Romeo: I accept your challenge, sir.
Capulet: But if I win, you’ll stay away from my daughter.
Romeo: If ever, I promise to.
-Capulet calls the page.-
Capulet: Tell the prince that I’ve made my decision.
-Romeo and Capulet fought. Romeo won but does not kill
Capulet.-
Prince: After many years, the feud between the Capulets and
Montagues has gone to an end.
Capulet
made his decision; Romeo won over Capulet,
Therefore Romeo and Juliet can now love each
other freely.
The day after that, Romeo and Juliet exchanged vows again,
but this time, with their family at peace.
