Act 2, Scene 2

Capulet's Garden.

[Enter Romeo.]
Romeo
795 He jests at scars that never felt a wound.—
[Juliet appears above at a window.]
Romeo
796 But soft! what light through yonder window breaks?
797 It is the east, and Juliet is the sun!—
798 Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,
799 Who is already sick and pale with grief,
800 That thou her maid art far more fair than she:
801 Be not her maid, since she is envious;
802 Her vestal livery is but sick and green,
803 And none but fools do wear it; cast it off.—
804 It is my lady; O, it is my love!
805 O, that she knew she were!—
806 She speaks, yet she says nothing: what of that?
807 Her eye discourses, I will answer it.—
808 I am too bold, 'tis not to me she speaks:
809 Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven,
810 Having some business, do entreat her eyes
811 To twinkle in their spheres till they return.
812 What if her eyes were there, they in her head?
813 The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars,
814 As daylight doth a lamp; her eyes in heaven
815 Would through the airy region stream so bright
816 That birds would sing and think it were not night.—
817 See how she leans her cheek upon her hand!
818 O that I were a glove upon that hand,
819 That I might touch that cheek!
Juliet
820 Ah me!
Romeo
821 She speaks:—
822 O, speak again, bright angel! for thou art
823 As glorious to this night, being o'er my head,
824 As is a winged messenger of heaven
825 Unto the white-upturned wondering eyes
826 Of mortals that fall back to gaze on him
827 When he bestrides the lazy-pacing clouds
828 And sails upon the bosom of the air.
Juliet
829 O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?
830 Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
831 Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
832 And I'll no longer be a Capulet.
[Aside.]
Romeo
833 Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?
Juliet
834 'Tis but thy name that is my enemy;—
835 Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
836 What's Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot,
837 Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
838 Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
839 What's in a name? that which we call a rose
840 By any other name would smell as sweet;
841 So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
842 Retain that dear perfection which he owes
843 Without that title:—Romeo, doff thy name;
844 And for that name, which is no part of thee,
845 Take all myself.
Romeo
846 I take thee at thy word:
847 Call me but love, and I'll be new baptiz'd;
848 Henceforth I never will be Romeo.
Juliet
849 What man art thou that, thus bescreen'd in night,
850 So stumblest on my counsel?
Romeo
851 By a name
852 I know not how to tell thee who I am:
853 My name, dear saint, is hateful to myself,
854 Because it is an enemy to thee.
855 Had I it written, I would tear the word.
Juliet
856 My ears have yet not drunk a hundred words
857 Of that tongue's utterance, yet I know the sound;
858 Art thou not Romeo, and a Montague?
Romeo
859 Neither, fair saint, if either thee dislike.
Juliet
860 How cam'st thou hither, tell me, and wherefore?
861 The orchard walls are high and hard to climb;
862 And the place death, considering who thou art,
863 If any of my kinsmen find thee here.
Romeo
864 With love's light wings did I o'erperch these walls;
865 For stony limits cannot hold love out:
866 And what love can do, that dares love attempt;
867 Therefore thy kinsmen are no let to me.
Juliet
868 If they do see thee, they will murder thee.
Romeo
869 Alack, there lies more peril in thine eye
870 Than twenty of their swords: look thou but sweet,
871 And I am proof against their enmity.
Juliet
872 I would not for the world they saw thee here.
Romeo
873 I have night's cloak to hide me from their sight;
874 And, but thou love me, let them find me here.
875 My life were better ended by their hate
876 Than death prorogued, wanting of thy love.
Juliet
877 By whose direction found'st thou out this place?
Romeo
878 By love, that first did prompt me to enquire;
879 He lent me counsel, and I lent him eyes.
880 I am no pilot; yet, wert thou as far
881 As that vast shore wash'd with the furthest sea,
882 I would adventure for such merchandise.
Juliet
883 Thou knowest the mask of night is on my face;
884 Else would a maiden blush bepaint my cheek
885 For that which thou hast heard me speak to-night.
886 Fain would I dwell on form, fain, fain deny
887 What I have spoke; but farewell compliment!
888 Dost thou love me, I know thou wilt say Ay;
889 And I will take thy word: yet, if thou swear'st,
890 Thou mayst prove false; at lovers' perjuries,
891 They say Jove laughs. O gentle Romeo,
892 If thou dost love, pronounce it faithfully:
893 Or if thou thinkest I am too quickly won,
894 I'll frown, and be perverse, and say thee nay,
895 So thou wilt woo: but else, not for the world.
896 In truth, fair Montague, I am too fond;
897 And therefore thou mayst think my 'haviour light:
898 But trust me, gentleman, I'll prove more true
899 Than those that have more cunning to be strange.
900 I should have been more strange, I must confess,
901 But that thou overheard'st, ere I was 'ware,
902 My true-love passion: therefore pardon me;
903 And not impute this yielding to light love,
904 Which the dark night hath so discovered.
Romeo
905 Lady, by yonder blessed moon I swear,
906 That tips with silver all these fruit-tree tops,—
Juliet
907 O, swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon,
908 That monthly changes in her circled orb,
909 Lest that thy love prove likewise variable.
Romeo
910 What shall I swear by?
Juliet
911 Do not swear at all;
912 Or if thou wilt, swear by thy gracious self,
913 Which is the god of my idolatry,
914 And I'll believe thee.
Romeo
915 If my heart's dear love,—
Juliet
916 Well, do not swear: although I joy in thee,
917 I have no joy of this contract to-night;
918 It is too rash, too unadvis'd, too sudden;
919 Too like the lightning, which doth cease to be
920 Ere one can say It lightens. Sweet, good night!
921 This bud of love, by summer's ripening breath,
922 May prove a beauteous flower when next we meet.
923 Good night, good night! as sweet repose and rest
924 Come to thy heart as that within my breast!
Romeo
925 O, wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied?
Juliet
926 What satisfaction canst thou have to-night?
Romeo
927 The exchange of thy love's faithful vow for mine.
Juliet
928 I gave thee mine before thou didst request it;
929 And yet I would it were to give again.
Romeo
930 Would'st thou withdraw it? for what purpose, love?
Juliet
931 But to be frank and give it thee again.
932 And yet I wish but for the thing I have;
933 My bounty is as boundless as the sea,
934 My love as deep; the more I give to thee,
935 The more I have, for both are infinite.
936 I hear some noise within: dear love, adieu!—
[Nurse calls within.]
Juliet
937 Anon, good nurse!—Sweet Montague, be true.
938 Stay but a little, I will come again.
[Exit.]
Romeo
939 O blessed, blessed night! I am afeard,
940 Being in night, all this is but a dream,
941 Too flattering-sweet to be substantial.
[Enter Juliet above.]
Juliet
942 Three words, dear Romeo, and good night indeed.
943 If that thy bent of love be honourable,
944 Thy purpose marriage, send me word to-morrow,
945 By one that I'll procure to come to thee,
946 Where and what time thou wilt perform the rite;
947 And all my fortunes at thy foot I'll lay
948 And follow thee, my lord, throughout the world.
[Within.]
Nurse
949 Madam!
Juliet
950 I come anon.— But if thou meanest not well,
951 I do beseech thee,—
[Within.]
Nurse
952 Madam!
Juliet
953 By-and-by I come:—
954 To cease thy suit and leave me to my grief:
955 To-morrow will I send.
Romeo
956 So thrive my soul,—
Juliet
957 A thousand times good night!
[Exit.]
Romeo
958 A thousand times the worse, to want thy light!—
959 Love goes toward love as schoolboys from their books;
960 But love from love, towards school with heavy looks.
[Retirong slowly.]
[Re-enter Juliet, above.]
Juliet
961 Hist! Romeo, hist!—O for a falconer's voice
962 To lure this tassel-gentle back again!
963 Bondage is hoarse and may not speak aloud;
964 Else would I tear the cave where Echo lies,
965 And make her airy tongue more hoarse than mine
966 With repetition of my Romeo's name.
Romeo
967 It is my soul that calls upon my name:
968 How silver-sweet sound lovers' tongues by night,
969 Like softest music to attending ears!
Juliet
970 Romeo!
Romeo
971 My dear?
Juliet
972 At what o'clock to-morrow
973 Shall I send to thee?
Romeo
974 At the hour of nine.
Juliet
975 I will not fail: 'tis twenty years till then.
976 I have forgot why I did call thee back.
Romeo
977 Let me stand here till thou remember it.
Juliet
978 I shall forget, to have thee still stand there,
979 Remembering how I love thy company.
Romeo
980 And I'll still stay, to have thee still forget,
981 Forgetting any other home but this.
Juliet
982 'Tis almost morning; I would have thee gone:
983 And yet no farther than a wanton's bird;
984 That lets it hop a little from her hand,
985 Like a poor prisoner in his twisted gyves,
986 And with a silk thread plucks it back again,
987 So loving-jealous of his liberty.
Romeo
988 I would I were thy bird.
Juliet
989 Sweet, so would I:
990 Yet I should kill thee with much cherishing.
991 Good night, good night! parting is such sweet sorrow
992 That I shall say good night till it be morrow.
[Exit.]
Romeo
993 Sleep dwell upon thine eyes, peace in thy breast!—
994 Would I were sleep and peace, so sweet to rest!
995 Hence will I to my ghostly father's cell,
996 His help to crave and my dear hap to tell.
[Exit.]

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Notes

TLN 798classical allusion
“kill the envious moon, Who is already sick and pale with grief”
The moon is Diana, goddess of chastity, who is 'envious' because her maid (Juliet) outshines her. Romeo urges Juliet to abandon Diana's service — the life of a vestal virgin — and embrace love instead. The moon's 'sick and green' color was associated with chlorosis, a pallor thought to afflict young women who suppressed natural desire.
classical Diana, virgin goddess of the moon
TLN 802archaic vocab
“Her vestal livery is but sick and green”
'Vestal' means belonging to the Vestal Virgins, Rome's sacred chaste priestesses who tended an eternal flame and swore lifelong chastity. 'Livery' is the distinctive uniform worn by servants of a particular household or master. Together the phrase means Juliet wears the white robe of chastity as a servant of the moon-goddess Diana — and Romeo urges her to take it off.
TLN 809historical topical
“Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven, Having some business, do entreat her eyes To twinkle in their spheres”
Elizabethan cosmology held that stars and planets were fixed in transparent crystalline 'spheres' — hollow glass-like shells nested around the earth — and that each sphere rotated, carrying its star with it. Romeo imagines two stars borrowing Juliet's eyes as temporary substitutes while the stars do their 'business' elsewhere in the sky.
TLN 822biblical allusion
“bright angel! for thou art As glorious to this night, being o'er my head, As is a winged messenger of heaven”
Romeo calls Juliet a 'bright angel' and a 'winged messenger of heaven' — imagery drawn from biblical descriptions of angels as radiant, sky-traversing beings who carry God's messages to mortals. The comparison elevates Juliet to a supernatural order and explains why the ordinary men below 'fall back to gaze' on her.
TLN 829archaic vocab
“wherefore art thou Romeo?”
'Wherefore' means 'why,' not 'where.' Juliet is not asking where Romeo is — she knows he is below; she is asking why he has to be Romeo, a Montague, her family's enemy. The famous line is commonly misread because 'wherefore' has shifted in meaning.
TLN 839rhetorical device
“that which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet”
Juliet uses a logical analogy: a rose's fragrance does not depend on what word we use to name it, so Romeo's worth does not depend on the word 'Montague.' The argument is a reductio — if names were meaningful, changing the name should change the thing; since it does not, names are arbitrary labels that can be discarded.
TLN 842archaic vocab
“dear perfection which he owes”
'Owes' here means 'owns' or 'possesses,' not 'is indebted for.' In Early Modern English, 'owe' and 'own' had not fully separated, and 'owe' routinely meant 'to have as one's own.' Juliet is saying that Romeo's inner qualities belong to him personally and are not the property of his family name.
TLN 843archaic vocab
“Romeo, doff thy name”
'Doff' means to remove or take off, especially an article of clothing — the opposite of 'don' (to put on). Juliet is telling Romeo to strip off the name 'Montague' as if it were a garment he could simply remove, leaving the person beneath unchanged.
TLN 847biblical allusion
“I'll be new baptiz'd”
Baptism in Christian practice gave an infant its name as well as washing away original sin — so to be 're-baptized' would mean receiving an entirely new identity and a new name. Romeo offers to undergo this symbolic rebirth, taking the name 'love' in place of 'Romeo,' so that his Montague identity is erased and only his love for Juliet remains.
TLN 864archaic vocab
“With love's light wings did I o'erperch these walls”
'O'erperch' means to fly over and perch on the other side — as a bird perches on a branch. Romeo is saying love gave him wings to fly over the orchard walls as easily as a bird clears a fence. The word combines 'over' and 'perch,' a hawking term for a bird's resting-place.
TLN 876archaic vocab
“death prorogued, wanting of thy love”
'Prorogued' means postponed or deferred — the same word used for adjourning a parliament. Romeo is saying a death that is merely delayed (by his enemies' failure to find him) is a worse fate than dying here tonight if Juliet does not love him.
TLN 890classical allusion
“at lovers' perjuries, They say Jove laughs”
Juliet quotes a proverbial classical tag: Jupiter (Jove), king of the gods, laughs at lovers' broken oaths rather than punishing them. The saying goes back to ancient comedy and was a well-known Latin proverb in Shakespeare's day, suggesting that love-vows occupy a special, unjudged category.
TLN 907rhetorical device
“swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon, That monthly changes in her circled orb”
Juliet refuses to let Romeo swear by the moon because the moon visibly changes its shape every night — it waxes and wanes through its monthly cycle. An oath sworn by an inconstant thing would be fitting only for an inconstant love. The objection is both practical (find a stable oath-object) and a veiled warning: do not let your love be as changeable as the moon.
TLN 933rhetorical device
“My bounty is as boundless as the sea, My love as deep; the more I give to thee, The more I have”
Juliet uses a paradox to describe her love: unlike a material gift that diminishes when shared, love increases the more it is given away. The sea is the comparison because the ocean is so vast that no single tide or gift of water reduces it. The figure is called paradox — an apparent contradiction that reveals a deeper truth.
TLN 961historical topical
“O for a falconer's voice To lure this tassel-gentle back again”
A 'tassel-gentle' (or 'tiercel-gentle') is a male peregrine falcon — one of the most prized birds in Elizabethan falconry. 'Tassel' comes from French 'tiercelet,' meaning a third smaller (male hawks are roughly a third smaller than females). A falconer 'lures' a hawk back to the glove with a swung piece of meat. Juliet compares Romeo to an expensive, free-spirited bird of prey she wants to call back but cannot call loudly.
TLN 983archaic vocab
“no farther than a wanton's bird; That lets it hop a little from her hand, Like a poor prisoner in his twisted gyves”
'Wanton' here means a playful, capricious person — specifically a young woman who keeps a pet bird on a string. 'Gyves' are iron ankle-fetters worn by prisoners; Juliet compares the bird's tethered hop to a prisoner's clanking shuffle in leg-irons. The image captures her wish: she wants Romeo close but feels guilty about confining him.
TLN 995historical topical
“Hence will I to my ghostly father's cell”
'Ghostly father' is an Early Modern term for a spiritual father or confessor — a priest to whom one regularly confesses sins and who gives spiritual guidance. 'Cell' is the small private room of a monk or friar. Romeo is going to Friar Lawrence, his confessor, to tell him of the night's meeting and to ask for help arranging the marriage.
historical Shrift: the sacrament of confession