Nurse. She's dead, deceas'd, she's dead; lack the day!

Lady C. Alack the day! she's dead, she's dead, she's dead.

Cap. Ha! let me see her. Out, alas! she's cold; Her blood is settled; and her joints are stiff; Life and these lips have long been separated: Death lies on her, like an untimely frost Upon the sweetest flower of all the field." Nurse. O, lamentable day!

Lady C.

O, woful time! Cap. Death, that hath ta'en her hence to make

me wail,

Ties up my tongue, and will not let me speak.

Enter Friar LAURENCE and PARIS, with Musicians.

Fri. Come, is the bride ready to go to church? Cap. Ready to go, but never to return. son! the night before thy wedding-day Hath death lain with thy wife : — - there she lies, Flower as she was, deflowered by him. Death is my son-in-law, death is my heir; My daughter he hath wedded! I will die,

And leave him all; life, living, all is death's.3

Par. Have I thought long to see this morning's

face,*

And doth it give me such a sight as this?

In the first quarto, this speech stands thus:

"Stay! let me see all pale and wan.
Accursed time! unfortunate old man!"

H.

8 So in the old copies, but commonly changed in modern e‹idons to, "life leaving, all is death's."

4 The quarto of 1597 continues the speech of Paris thus

"And doth it now present such prodigies?

Accurst, unhappy, miserable man,

Forlorn, forsaken, destitute I am;

H.

Lady C. Accurs'd, unhappy, wretched, hateful

day!

Most miserable hour, that e'er time saw

In lasting labour of his pilgrimage!

But one, poor one, one poor and loving child,
But one thing to rejoice and solace in,

And cruel death hath catch'd it from my sight.

Nurse. O woe! O woeful, woeful, woeful day! Most lamentable day! most woeful day,

That ever, ever, I did yet behold!

O day! O day! O day! O hateful day!
Never was seen so black a day as this:
O woeful day, O woeful day!

Par. Beguil'd, divorced, wronged, spited, slain ! Most detestable death, by thee beguil'd,

By cruel, cruel thee quite overthrown!

O love! O life! —not life, but love in death!
Cap. Despis'd, distressed, hated, martyr'd, kill'd!
Uncomfortable time! why cam'st thou now
To murder, murder our solemnity?·

O child! O child!—my soul, and not my child!
Dead art thou! alack! my child is dead;
And with my child my joys are buried!

Fri. Peace, ho, for shame! confusion's cur lives not

In these confusions.

Heaven and yourself

Had part in this fair maid; now Heaven hath all, And all the better is it for the maid:

Your part in her you could not keep from death; But Heaven keeps His part in eternal life.

The most you sought was her promotion;

Born to the world to be a slave in it:
Distrest, remediless, and unfortunate.

Oh heavens! Oh nature! wherefore did you make me
To live so vile, so wretched as I shall ?"

For 'twas your heaven she should be advanc'd:
And weep ye now, seeing she is advanc'd
Above the clouds, as high as heaven itself?
child so ill,

O! in this love love
you your
That you run mad, seeing that she is well:
She's not well married that lives married long,
But she's best married that dies married young.
Dry up your tears, and stick your rosemary
On this fair corse; and, as the custom is,
In all her best array bear her to church;
For though fond nature bids us all lament,"
Yet nature's tears are reason's merriment.

Cap. All things, that we ordained festival, Turn from their office to black funeral : Our instruments, to melancholy bells; Our wedding cheer, to a sad burial feast, Our solemn hymns to sullen dirges change; Our bridal flowers serve for a buried corse, And all things change them to the contrary. Fri. Sir, go you in, and, madam, go with

him;

And go, sir Paris: -every one prepare
To follow this fair corse unto her grave.
The heavens do lower upon you, for some ill;
Move them no more, by crossing their high will.

[Exeunt CAP., Lady CAP., PARIS, and Friar. 1 Mus. 'Faith, we may put up our pipes, and be gone.

Nurse. Honest good fellows, ah! put up, put up; For, well you know, this is a pitiful case. [Exit. 1 Mus. Ay, by my troth, the case may be amended.

All the old copies except the folio of 1632 have some instead of fond. In all, of the preceding line, is from the first quarto; the later copies having And in.

H

Enter PETER.R

Pet. Musicians, O, musicians! "Heart's Ease, Heart's Ease; "O! an you will have me live, play "Heart's Ease."

1 Mus. Why "Heart's Ease?"

997

Pet. O, musicians! because my heart itself plays "My heart is full of woe." O! play me some merry dump, to comfort me.

2 Mus. Not a dump we: 'tis no time to play now. Pet. You will not, then?

2 Mus. No.

Pet. I will, then, give it you soundly.

1 Mus. What will you give us?

Pet. No money, on my faith; but the gleek: I will give you the minstrel.

8

1 Mus. Then will I give you the serving-creature.

Such is the stage-direction of the undated quarto and the folio of 1623. The quartos of 1599 and 1609 have, "Enter Will Kemp;" which shows that Kemp was the original performer of Peter's part. It seems not unlikely that this part of the scene was written on purpose for Kemp to display his talents in, as there could hardly be any other reason for such a piece of buffoonery. Cole ridge has the following upon it: "As the audience know that Juliet is not dead, this scene is, perhaps, excusable. But it is a strong

warning to minor dramatists not to introduce at one time many separate characters agitated by one and the same circumstance. It is difficult to understand what effect, whether that of pity or of laughter, Shakespeare meant to produce; the occasion and the characteristic speeches are so little in harmony! For example, what the Nurse says is excellently suited to the Nurse's character, but grotesquely unsuited to the occasion."

H.

7 This is the burthen of the first stanza of A Pleasant New Bal lad of Two Lovers: "Hey hoe! my heart is full of woe.". A dump was formerly the term for a grave or melancholy strain in music, vocal or instrumental. It also signified a kind of poetical elegy. A merry dump is no doubt a purposed absurdity put into the mouth of Master Peter. 8 A pun is here intended. A gleekman, or gligman; is a minstrel. To give the gleek meant also to pass a jest upon a person, to make him appear ridiculous; a gleek being a jest or scoff.

Pet. Then will I lay the serving-creature's dagger on your pale. I will carry no crotchets: I'll re you, I'll fa you: Do you note me?

1 Mus. An you re us, and fa us, you note us. 2 Mus. 'Pray you, put up your dagger, and put out your wit.

Pet. Then have at you with my wit: I will drybeat you with an iron wit, and put up my iron dagger.. Answer me like men:

When griping grief the heart doth wound,
And doleful dumps the mind oppress,

Then music, with her silver sound,9.

Why, "silver sound?" why, "music, with her silver sound?" What say you, Simon Catling?

10

1 Mus. Marry, sir, because silver hath a sweet sound.

11

Pet. Pretty! What 2 Mus. I say

sound for silver.

say you, Hugh Rebeck? —“silver sound," because musicians

Pet. Pretty too!

post?

What say you, James Sound

3 Mus 'Faith, I know not what to say.

Pet. (), I cry you mercy! you are the singer :

This is part of a song by Richard Edwards, to be found in the Paradice of Dainty Devices. Another copy of this song is to be found in Percy's Reliques of Ancient English Poetry. The second line of Peter's quotation is wanting in all the old copies except the first quarto; and in all the old copies the words, "Then have at you with my wit," are made a part of the preceding speech.

H.

This worthy takes his name from a small lutestring made of catgut; his companion the fiddler, from an instrument of the same name mentioned by many of our old writers, and recorded by Milton as an instrument of mirth:

"When the merry bells ring round,
And the joyful rebecks sound."

11 So the first quarto; the other old copies, Prates, or Pratest

H