Act 2, Scene 6

Friar Lawrence's Cell.

[Enter Friar Lawrence and Romeo.]
Friar Lawrence
1365 So smile the heavens upon this holy act
1366 That after-hours with sorrow chide us not!
Romeo
1367 Amen, amen! but come what sorrow can,
1368 It cannot countervail the exchange of joy
1369 That one short minute gives me in her sight:
1370 Do thou but close our hands with holy words,
1371 Then love-devouring death do what he dare,—
1372 It is enough I may but call her mine.
Friar Lawrence
1373 These violent delights have violent ends,
1374 And in their triumph die; like fire and powder,
1375 Which, as they kiss, consume: the sweetest honey
1376 Is loathsome in his own deliciousness,
1377 And in the taste confounds the appetite:
1378 Therefore love moderately: long love doth so;
1379 Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow.
1380 Here comes the lady:—O, so light a foot
1381 Will ne'er wear out the everlasting flint:
1382 A lover may bestride the gossamer
1383 That idles in the wanton summer air
1384 And yet not fall; so light is vanity.
[Enter Juliet.]
Juliet
1385 Good-even to my ghostly confessor.
Friar Lawrence
1386 Romeo shall thank thee, daughter, for us both.
Juliet
1387 As much to him, else is his thanks too much.
Romeo
1388 Ah, Juliet, if the measure of thy joy
1389 Be heap'd like mine, and that thy skill be more
1390 To blazon it, then sweeten with thy breath
1391 This neighbour air, and let rich music's tongue
1392 Unfold the imagin'd happiness that both
1393 Receive in either by this dear encounter.
Juliet
1394 Conceit, more rich in matter than in words,
1395 Brags of his substance, not of ornament:
1396 They are but beggars that can count their worth;
1397 But my true love is grown to such excess,
1398 I cannot sum up sum of half my wealth.
Friar Lawrence
1399 Come, come with me, and we will make short work;
1400 For, by your leaves, you shall not stay alone
1401 Till holy church incorporate two in one.
[Exeunt.]

Notes

TLN 1381archaic vocab

“Will ne'er wear out the everlasting flint”

'Flint' is very hard stone used for striking sparks; 'everlasting flint' means stone so hard it cannot be worn down. The Friar is saying Juliet walks so lightly she could tread on stone forever without leaving a mark. The next image deepens it: a lover could balance on 'gossamer' — the fine threads of spider silk that drift on summer air — and not fall. 'Vanity' in the last line means 'something insubstantial, belonging to this fleeting world,' not egotism; Friar Lawrence is calling love (or Juliet's lightness) as weightless as a spider's thread.

TLN 1385archaic vocab

“Good-even to my ghostly confessor”

'Ghostly' here means 'spiritual,' not 'pertaining to a ghost.' A 'ghostly confessor' is a priest who hears confession — a spiritual father or director of conscience. The word comes from the Old English 'gast,' meaning 'spirit' or 'soul.' Juliet is greeting Friar Lawrence in his religious role as her confessor, the same role that lets her visit his cell without arousing suspicion at home.

historical Shrift: the sacrament of confession

TLN 1394archaic vocab

“Conceit, more rich in matter than in words”

'Conceit' here means 'mental understanding' or 'the depth of what is conceived in the mind' — not vanity or egotism, which are the word's modern meanings. Juliet is saying: true understanding is richer than the words that try to express it. She then extends the thought: only beggars can count their wealth, because rich people have more than can be tallied. Her love is so large she cannot add it up — 'I cannot sum up sum of half my wealth.' The near-pun on 'sum' (arithmetic total) and 'some' (any) makes the line work on two levels at once.