Shakespeare Portal

Act 2, Scene 1

An open place adjoining Capulet's Garden.

  1. [Enter Chorus.]
  2. Chorus
  3. 738 Now old desire doth in his deathbed lie,
  4. 739 And young affection gapes to be his heir;
  5. 740 That fair for which love groan'd for, and would die,
  6. 741 With tender Juliet match'd, is now not fair.
  7. 742 Now Romeo is belov'd, and loves again,
  8. 743 Alike bewitched by the charm of looks;
  9. 744 But to his foe suppos'd he must complain,
  10. 745 And she steal love's sweet bait from fearful hooks:
  11. 746 Being held a foe, he may not have access
  12. 747 To breathe such vows as lovers us'd to swear;
  13. 748 And she as much in love, her means much less
  14. 749 To meet her new beloved anywhere:
  15. 750 But passion lends them power, time means, to meet,
  16. 751 Tempering extremities with extreme sweet.
  17. [Exit.]
  18. [Enter Romeo.]
  19. Romeo
  20. 752 Can I go forward when my heart is here?
  21. 753 Turn back, dull earth, and find thy centre out.
  22. [He climbs the wall and leaps down within it.]
  23. [Enter Benvolio and Mercutio.]
  24. Benvolio
  25. 754 Romeo! my cousin Romeo!
  26. Mercutio
  27. 755 He is wise;
  28. 756 And, on my life, hath stol'n him home to bed.
  29. Benvolio
  30. 757 He ran this way, and leap'd this orchard wall:
  31. 758 Call, good Mercutio.
  32. Mercutio
  33. 759 Nay, I'll conjure too.—
  34. 760 Romeo! humours! madman! passion! lover!
  35. 761 Appear thou in the likeness of a sigh:
  36. 762 Speak but one rhyme, and I am satisfied;
  37. 763 Cry but 'Ah me!' pronounce but Love and dove;
  38. 764 Speak to my gossip Venus one fair word,
  39. 765 One nickname for her purblind son and heir,
  40. 766 Young auburn Cupid, he that shot so trim
  41. 767 When King Cophetua lov'd the beggar-maid!—
  42. 768 He heareth not, he stirreth not, he moveth not;
  43. 769 The ape is dead, and I must conjure him.—
  44. 770 I conjure thee by Rosaline's bright eyes,
  45. 771 By her high forehead and her scarlet lip,
  46. 772 By her fine foot, straight leg, and quivering thigh,
  47. 773 And the demesnes that there adjacent lie,
  48. 774 That in thy likeness thou appear to us!
  49. Benvolio
  50. 775 An if he hear thee, thou wilt anger him.
  51. Mercutio
  52. 776 This cannot anger him: 'twould anger him
  53. 777 To raise a spirit in his mistress' circle,
  54. 778 Of some strange nature, letting it there stand
  55. 779 Till she had laid it, and conjur'd it down;
  56. 780 That were some spite: my invocation
  57. 781 Is fair and honest, and, in his mistress' name,
  58. 782 I conjure only but to raise up him.
  59. Benvolio
  60. 783 Come, he hath hid himself among these trees,
  61. 784 To be consorted with the humorous night:
  62. 785 Blind is his love, and best befits the dark.
  63. Mercutio
  64. 786 If love be blind, love cannot hit the mark.
  65. 787 Now will he sit under a medlar tree,
  66. 788 And wish his mistress were that kind of fruit
  67. 789 As maids call medlars when they laugh alone.—
  68. 790 Romeo, good night.—I'll to my truckle-bed;
  69. 791 This field-bed is too cold for me to sleep:
  70. 792 Come, shall we go?
  71. Benvolio
  72. 793 Go then; for 'tis in vain
  73. 794 To seek him here that means not to be found.
  74. [Exeunt.]