Shakespeare Portal

Act 5, Scene 3

A churchyard; in it a Monument belonging to the Capulets.

  1. [Enter Paris, and his Page bearing flowers and a torch.]
  2. Paris
  3. 2740 Give me thy torch, boy: hence, and stand aloof;—
  4. 2741 Yet put it out, for I would not be seen.
  5. 2742 Under yond yew tree lay thee all along,
  6. 2743 Holding thine ear close to the hollow ground;
  7. 2744 So shall no foot upon the churchyard tread,—
  8. 2745 Being loose, unfirm, with digging up of graves,—
  9. 2746 But thou shalt hear it: whistle then to me,
  10. 2747 As signal that thou hear'st something approach.
  11. 2748 Give me those flowers. Do as I bid thee, go.
  12. [Aside.]
  13. Page
  14. 2749 I am almost afraid to stand alone
  15. 2750 Here in the churchyard; yet I will adventure.
  16. [Retires.]
  17. Paris
  18. 2751 Sweet flower, with flowers thy bridal bed I strew:
  19. 2752 O woe! thy canopy is dust and stones!
  20. 2753 Which with sweet water nightly I will dew;
  21. 2754 Or, wanting that, with tears distill'd by moans:
  22. 2755 The obsequies that I for thee will keep,
  23. 2756 Nightly shall be to strew thy grave and weep.
  24. [The Page whistles.]
  25. Paris
  26. 2757 The boy gives warning something doth approach.
  27. 2758 What cursed foot wanders this way to-night,
  28. 2759 To cross my obsequies and true love's rite?
  29. 2760 What, with a torch! muffle me, night, awhile.
  30. [Retires.]
  31. [Enter Romeo and Balthasar with a torch, mattock, &c.]
  32. Romeo
  33. 2761 Give me that mattock and the wrenching iron.
  34. 2762 Hold, take this letter; early in the morning
  35. 2763 See thou deliver it to my lord and father.
  36. 2764 Give me the light; upon thy life I charge thee,
  37. 2765 Whate'er thou hear'st or seest, stand all aloof
  38. 2766 And do not interrupt me in my course.
  39. 2767 Why I descend into this bed of death
  40. 2768 Is partly to behold my lady's face,
  41. 2769 But chiefly to take thence from her dead finger
  42. 2770 A precious ring,—a ring that I must use
  43. 2771 In dear employment: therefore hence, be gone:—
  44. 2772 But if thou, jealous, dost return to pry
  45. 2773 In what I further shall intend to do,
  46. 2774 By heaven, I will tear thee joint by joint,
  47. 2775 And strew this hungry churchyard with thy limbs:
  48. 2776 The time and my intents are savage-wild;
  49. 2777 More fierce and more inexorable far
  50. 2778 Than empty tigers or the roaring sea.
  51. Balthasar
  52. 2779 I will be gone, sir, and not trouble you.
  53. Romeo
  54. 2780 So shalt thou show me friendship.—Take thou that:
  55. 2781 Live, and be prosperous: and farewell, good fellow.
  56. Balthasar
  57. 2782 For all this same, I'll hide me hereabout:
  58. 2783 His looks I fear, and his intents I doubt.
  59. [Retires.]
  60. Romeo
  61. 2784 Thou detestable maw, thou womb of death,
  62. 2785 Gorg'd with the dearest morsel of the earth,
  63. 2786 Thus I enforce thy rotten jaws to open,
  64. [Breaking open the door of the monument.]
  65. Romeo
  66. 2787 And, in despite, I'll cram thee with more food!
  67. Paris
  68. 2788 This is that banish'd haughty Montague
  69. 2789 That murder'd my love's cousin,—with which grief,
  70. 2790 It is supposed, the fair creature died,—
  71. 2791 And here is come to do some villanous shame
  72. 2792 To the dead bodies: I will apprehend him.—
  73. [Advances.]
  74. Paris
  75. 2793 Stop thy unhallow'd toil, vile Montague!
  76. 2794 Can vengeance be pursu'd further than death?
  77. 2795 Condemned villain, I do apprehend thee;
  78. 2796 Obey, and go with me; for thou must die.
  79. Romeo
  80. 2797 I must indeed; and therefore came I hither.—
  81. 2798 Good gentle youth, tempt not a desperate man;
  82. 2799 Fly hence and leave me:—think upon these gone;
  83. 2800 Let them affright thee.—I beseech thee, youth,
  84. 2801 Put not another sin upon my head
  85. 2802 By urging me to fury: O, be gone!
  86. 2803 By heaven, I love thee better than myself;
  87. 2804 For I come hither arm'd against myself:
  88. 2805 Stay not, be gone;—live, and hereafter say,
  89. 2806 A madman's mercy bid thee run away.
  90. Paris
  91. 2807 I do defy thy conjurations,
  92. 2808 And apprehend thee for a felon here.
  93. Romeo
  94. 2809 Wilt thou provoke me? then have at thee, boy!
  95. [They fight.]
  96. Page
  97. 2810 O lord, they fight! I will go call the watch.
  98. [Exit.]
  99. Paris
  100. 2811 O, I am slain!
  101. [Falls.]
  102. Paris
  103. 2812 If thou be merciful,
  104. 2813 Open the tomb, lay me with Juliet.
  105. [Dies.]
  106. Romeo
  107. 2814 In faith, I will.—Let me peruse this face:—
  108. 2815 Mercutio's kinsman, noble County Paris!—
  109. 2816 What said my man, when my betossed soul
  110. 2817 Did not attend him as we rode? I think
  111. 2818 He told me Paris should have married Juliet:
  112. 2819 Said he not so? or did I dream it so?
  113. 2820 Or am I mad, hearing him talk of Juliet,
  114. 2821 To think it was so?—O, give me thy hand,
  115. 2822 One writ with me in sour misfortune's book!
  116. 2823 I'll bury thee in a triumphant grave;—
  117. 2824 A grave? O, no, a lanthorn, slaught'red youth,
  118. 2825 For here lies Juliet, and her beauty makes
  119. 2826 This vault a feasting presence full of light.
  120. 2827 Death, lie thou there, by a dead man interr'd.
  121. [Laying Paris in the monument.]
  122. Romeo
  123. 2828 How oft when men are at the point of death
  124. 2829 Have they been merry! which their keepers call
  125. 2830 A lightning before death: O, how may I
  126. 2831 Call this a lightning?—O my love! my wife!
  127. 2832 Death, that hath suck'd the honey of thy breath,
  128. 2833 Hath had no power yet upon thy beauty:
  129. 2834 Thou art not conquer'd; beauty's ensign yet
  130. 2835 Is crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks,
  131. 2836 And death's pale flag is not advanced there.—
  132. 2837 Tybalt, liest thou there in thy bloody sheet?
  133. 2838 O, what more favour can I do to thee
  134. 2839 Than with that hand that cut thy youth in twain
  135. 2840 To sunder his that was thine enemy?
  136. 2841 Forgive me, cousin!—Ah, dear Juliet,
  137. 2842 Why art thou yet so fair? Shall I believe
  138. 2843 That unsubstantial death is amorous;
  139. 2844 And that the lean abhorred monster keeps
  140. 2845 Thee here in dark to be his paramour?
  141. 2846 For fear of that I still will stay with thee,
  142. 2847 And never from this palace of dim night
  143. 2848 Depart again: here, here will I remain
  144. 2849 With worms that are thy chambermaids: O, here
  145. 2850 Will I set up my everlasting rest;
  146. 2851 And shake the yoke of inauspicious stars
  147. 2852 From this world-wearied flesh.—Eyes, look your last!
  148. 2853 Arms, take your last embrace! and, lips, O you
  149. 2854 The doors of breath, seal with a righteous kiss
  150. 2855 A dateless bargain to engrossing death!—
  151. 2856 Come, bitter conduct, come, unsavoury guide!
  152. 2857 Thou desperate pilot, now at once run on
  153. 2858 The dashing rocks thy sea-sick weary bark!
  154. 2859 Here's to my love!
  155. [Drinks.]
  156. Romeo
  157. 2860 —O true apothecary!
  158. 2861 Thy drugs are quick.—Thus with a kiss I die.
  159. [Dies.]
  160. [Enter, at the other end of the Churchyard, Friar Lawrence, with a lantern, crow, and spade.]
  161. Friar Lawrence
  162. 2862 Saint Francis be my speed! how oft to-night
  163. 2863 Have my old feet stumbled at graves!—Who's there?
  164. 2864 Who is it that consorts, so late, the dead?
  165. Balthasar
  166. 2865 Here's one, a friend, and one that knows you well.
  167. Friar Lawrence
  168. 2866 Bliss be upon you! Tell me, good my friend,
  169. 2867 What torch is yond that vainly lends his light
  170. 2868 To grubs and eyeless skulls? as I discern,
  171. 2869 It burneth in the Capels' monument.
  172. Balthasar
  173. 2870 It doth so, holy sir; and there's my master,
  174. 2871 One that you love.
  175. Friar Lawrence
  176. 2872 Who is it?
  177. Balthasar
  178. 2873 Romeo.
  179. Friar Lawrence
  180. 2874 How long hath he been there?
  181. Balthasar
  182. 2875 Full half an hour.
  183. Friar Lawrence
  184. 2876 Go with me to the vault.
  185. Balthasar
  186. 2877 I dare not, sir;
  187. 2878 My master knows not but I am gone hence;
  188. 2879 And fearfully did menace me with death
  189. 2880 If I did stay to look on his intents.
  190. Friar Lawrence
  191. 2881 Stay then; I'll go alone:—fear comes upon me;
  192. 2882 O, much I fear some ill unlucky thing.
  193. Balthasar
  194. 2883 As I did sleep under this yew tree here,
  195. 2884 I dreamt my master and another fought,
  196. 2885 And that my master slew him.
  197. Friar Lawrence
  198. 2886 Romeo!
  199. [Advances.]
  200. Friar Lawrence
  201. 2887 Alack, alack! what blood is this which stains
  202. 2888 The stony entrance of this sepulchre?—
  203. 2889 What mean these masterless and gory swords
  204. 2890 To lie discolour'd by this place of peace?
  205. [Enters the monument.]
  206. Friar Lawrence
  207. 2891 Romeo! O, pale!—Who else? what, Paris too?
  208. 2892 And steep'd in blood?—Ah, what an unkind hour
  209. 2893 Is guilty of this lamentable chance!—The lady stirs.
  210. [Juliet wakes and stirs.]
  211. Juliet
  212. 2894 O comfortable friar! where is my lord?—
  213. 2895 I do remember well where I should be,
  214. 2896 And there I am:—where is my Romeo?
  215. [Noise within.]
  216. Friar Lawrence
  217. 2897 I hear some noise.—Lady, come from that nest
  218. 2898 Of death, contagion, and unnatural sleep:
  219. 2899 A greater power than we can contradict
  220. 2900 Hath thwarted our intents:—come, come away!
  221. 2901 Thy husband in thy bosom there lies dead;
  222. 2902 And Paris too:—come, I'll dispose of thee
  223. 2903 Among a sisterhood of holy nuns:
  224. 2904 Stay not to question, for the watch is coming.
  225. 2905 Come, go, good Juliet
  226. [noise within]
  227. Friar Lawrence
  228. 2906 ,—I dare no longer stay.
  229. Juliet
  230. 2907 Go, get thee hence, for I will not away.—
  231. [Exit Friar Lawrence.]
  232. Juliet
  233. 2908 What's here? a cup, clos'd in my true love's hand?
  234. 2909 Poison, I see, hath been his timeless end:—
  235. 2910 O churl! drink all, and left no friendly drop
  236. 2911 To help me after?—I will kiss thy lips;
  237. 2912 Haply some poison yet doth hang on them,
  238. 2913 To make me die with a restorative.
  239. [Kisses him.]
  240. Juliet
  241. 2914 Thy lips are warm!
  242. [Within.]
  243. First Watchman
  244. 2915 Lead, boy:—which way?
  245. Juliet
  246. 2916 Yea, noise?—Then I'll be brief.—O happy dagger!
  247. [Snatching Romeo's dagger.]
  248. Juliet
  249. 2917 This is thy sheath
  250. [stabs herself]
  251. Juliet
  252. 2918 ; there rest, and let me die.
  253. [Falls on Romeo's body and dies.]
  254. [Enter Watch, with the Page of Paris.]
  255. Page
  256. 2919 This is the place; there, where the torch doth burn.
  257. First Watchman
  258. 2920 The ground is bloody; search about the churchyard:
  259. 2921 Go, some of you, whoe'er you find attach.
  260. [Exeunt some of the Watch.]
  261. First Watchman
  262. 2922 Pitiful sight! here lies the county slain;—
  263. 2923 And Juliet bleeding; warm, and newly dead,
  264. 2924 Who here hath lain this two days buried.—
  265. 2925 Go, tell the prince;—run to the Capulets,—
  266. 2926 Raise up the Montagues,—some others search:—
  267. [Exeunt others of the Watch.]
  268. First Watchman
  269. 2927 We see the ground whereon these woes do lie;
  270. 2928 But the true ground of all these piteous woes
  271. 2929 We cannot without circumstance descry.
  272. [Re-enter some of the Watch with Balthasar.]
  273. Second Watchman
  274. 2930 Here's Romeo's man; we found him in the churchyard.
  275. First Watchman
  276. 2931 Hold him in safety till the prince come hither.
  277. [Re-enter others of the Watch with Friar Lawrence.]
  278. Third Watchman
  279. 2932 Here is a friar, that trembles, sighs, and weeps:
  280. 2933 We took this mattock and this spade from him
  281. 2934 As he was coming from this churchyard side.
  282. First Watchman
  283. 2935 A great suspicion: stay the friar too.
  284. [Enter the Prince and Attendants.]
  285. Prince Escalus
  286. 2936 What misadventure is so early up,
  287. 2937 That calls our person from our morning's rest?
  288. [Enter Capulet, Lady Capulet, and others.]
  289. Capulet
  290. 2938 What should it be, that they so shriek abroad?
  291. Lady Capulet
  292. 2939 The people in the street cry Romeo,
  293. 2940 Some Juliet, and some Paris; and all run,
  294. 2941 With open outcry, toward our monument.
  295. Prince Escalus
  296. 2942 What fear is this which startles in our ears?
  297. First Watchman
  298. 2943 Sovereign, here lies the County Paris slain;
  299. 2944 And Romeo dead; and Juliet, dead before,
  300. 2945 Warm and new kill'd.
  301. Prince Escalus
  302. 2946 Search, seek, and know how this foul murder comes.
  303. First Watchman
  304. 2947 Here is a friar, and slaughter'd Romeo's man,
  305. 2948 With instruments upon them fit to open
  306. 2949 These dead men's tombs.
  307. Capulet
  308. 2950 O heaven!—O wife, look how our daughter bleeds!
  309. 2951 This dagger hath mista'en,—for, lo, his house
  310. 2952 Is empty on the back of Montague,—
  311. 2953 And it mis-sheathed in my daughter's bosom!
  312. Lady Capulet
  313. 2954 O me! this sight of death is as a bell
  314. 2955 That warns my old age to a sepulchre.
  315. [Enter Montague and others.]
  316. Prince Escalus
  317. 2956 Come, Montague; for thou art early up,
  318. 2957 To see thy son and heir more early down.
  319. Montague
  320. 2958 Alas, my liege, my wife is dead to-night;
  321. 2959 Grief of my son's exile hath stopp'd her breath:
  322. 2960 What further woe conspires against mine age?
  323. Prince Escalus
  324. 2961 Look, and thou shalt see.
  325. Montague
  326. 2962 O thou untaught! what manners is in this,
  327. 2963 To press before thy father to a grave?
  328. Prince Escalus
  329. 2964 Seal up the mouth of outrage for a while,
  330. 2965 Till we can clear these ambiguities,
  331. 2966 And know their spring, their head, their true descent;
  332. 2967 And then will I be general of your woes,
  333. 2968 And lead you even to death: meantime forbear,
  334. 2969 And let mischance be slave to patience.—
  335. 2970 Bring forth the parties of suspicion.
  336. Friar Lawrence
  337. 2971 I am the greatest, able to do least,
  338. 2972 Yet most suspected, as the time and place
  339. 2973 Doth make against me, of this direful murder;
  340. 2974 And here I stand, both to impeach and purge
  341. 2975 Myself condemned and myself excus'd.
  342. Prince Escalus
  343. 2976 Then say at once what thou dost know in this.
  344. Friar Lawrence
  345. 2977 I will be brief, for my short date of breath
  346. 2978 Is not so long as is a tedious tale.
  347. 2979 Romeo, there dead, was husband to that Juliet;
  348. 2980 And she, there dead, that Romeo's faithful wife:
  349. 2981 I married them; and their stol'n marriage day
  350. 2982 Was Tybalt's doomsday, whose untimely death
  351. 2983 Banish'd the new-made bridegroom from this city;
  352. 2984 For whom, and not for Tybalt, Juliet pin'd.
  353. 2985 You, to remove that siege of grief from her,
  354. 2986 Betroth'd, and would have married her perforce,
  355. 2987 To County Paris:—then comes she to me,
  356. 2988 And with wild looks, bid me devise some means
  357. 2989 To rid her from this second marriage,
  358. 2990 Or in my cell there would she kill herself.
  359. 2991 Then gave I her, so tutored by my art,
  360. 2992 A sleeping potion; which so took effect
  361. 2993 As I intended, for it wrought on her
  362. 2994 The form of death: meantime I writ to Romeo
  363. 2995 That he should hither come as this dire night,
  364. 2996 To help to take her from her borrow'd grave,
  365. 2997 Being the time the potion's force should cease.
  366. 2998 But he which bore my letter, Friar John,
  367. 2999 Was stay'd by accident; and yesternight
  368. 3000 Return'd my letter back. Then all alone
  369. 3001 At the prefixed hour of her waking
  370. 3002 Came I to take her from her kindred's vault;
  371. 3003 Meaning to keep her closely at my cell
  372. 3004 Till I conveniently could send to Romeo:
  373. 3005 But when I came,—some minute ere the time
  374. 3006 Of her awaking,—here untimely lay
  375. 3007 The noble Paris and true Romeo dead.
  376. 3008 She wakes; and I entreated her come forth
  377. 3009 And bear this work of heaven with patience:
  378. 3010 But then a noise did scare me from the tomb;
  379. 3011 And she, too desperate, would not go with me,
  380. 3012 But, as it seems, did violence on herself.
  381. 3013 All this I know; and to the marriage
  382. 3014 Her nurse is privy: and if ought in this
  383. 3015 Miscarried by my fault, let my old life
  384. 3016 Be sacrific'd, some hour before his time,
  385. 3017 Unto the rigour of severest law.
  386. Prince Escalus
  387. 3018 We still have known thee for a holy man.—
  388. 3019 Where's Romeo's man? what can he say in this?
  389. Balthasar
  390. 3020 I brought my master news of Juliet's death;
  391. 3021 And then in post he came from Mantua
  392. 3022 To this same place, to this same monument.
  393. 3023 This letter he early bid me give his father;
  394. 3024 And threaten'd me with death, going in the vault,
  395. 3025 If I departed not, and left him there.
  396. Prince Escalus
  397. 3026 Give me the letter,—I will look on it.—
  398. 3027 Where is the county's page that rais'd the watch?—
  399. 3028 Sirrah, what made your master in this place?
  400. Page
  401. 3029 He came with flowers to strew his lady's grave;
  402. 3030 And bid me stand aloof, and so I did:
  403. 3031 Anon comes one with light to ope the tomb;
  404. 3032 And by-and-by my master drew on him;
  405. 3033 And then I ran away to call the watch.
  406. Prince Escalus
  407. 3034 This letter doth make good the friar's words,
  408. 3035 Their course of love, the tidings of her death:
  409. 3036 And here he writes that he did buy a poison
  410. 3037 Of a poor 'pothecary, and therewithal
  411. 3038 Came to this vault to die, and lie with Juliet.—
  412. 3039 Where be these enemies?—Capulet,—Montague,—
  413. 3040 See what a scourge is laid upon your hate,
  414. 3041 That heaven finds means to kill your joys with love!
  415. 3042 And I, for winking at your discords too,
  416. 3043 Have lost a brace of kinsmen:—all are punish'd.
  417. Capulet
  418. 3044 O brother Montague, give me thy hand:
  419. 3045 This is my daughter's jointure, for no more
  420. 3046 Can I demand.
  421. Montague
  422. 3047 But I can give thee more:
  423. 3048 For I will raise her statue in pure gold;
  424. 3049 That while Verona by that name is known,
  425. 3050 There shall no figure at such rate be set
  426. 3051 As that of true and faithful Juliet.
  427. Capulet
  428. 3052 As rich shall Romeo's by his lady's lie;
  429. 3053 Poor sacrifices of our enmity!
  430. Prince Escalus
  431. 3054 A glooming peace this morning with it brings;
  432. 3055 The sun for sorrow will not show his head.
  433. 3056 Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things;
  434. 3057 Some shall be pardon'd, and some punished;
  435. 3058 For never was a story of more woe
  436. 3059 Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.
  437. [Exeunt.]