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Romeo and JulietPart 24

Part 24

"And then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel And shining morning face, creeping like snail Unwillingly to school."

  1. Tassel-gentle. The tassel-gentle or tercel-gentle is the male hawk. Dyce quotes Cotgrave, Fr. Dict.: "Tiercelet. The Tassell or male of any kind of Hawke, so tearmed, because he is, commonly, a third part less than the female;" and Holmes, Academy of Armory: "Tiercell, Tercell, or Tassell is the general name for the Male of all large Hawks." Malone says that the tiercel-gentle was the species of hawk appropriated to the prince, and thinks that on that account Juliet applies it to Romeo. We find tercel in T. and C. iii. 2. 56: "The falcon as the tercel." The hawk was trained to know and obey the falconer's voice. Cf. T. of S. iv. 1. 196:--

"Another way I have to man my haggard, To make her come and know her keeper's call."

For haggard = wild hawk, see Much Ado, iii. 1 36, T.N. iii. 1. 71, etc.

  1. Airy tongue. Cf. Milton, Comus, 208: "And airy tongues, that syllable men's names," etc.

  2. Silver-sweet. Cf. Per. v. 1. 111: "As silver-voic'd." See also iv. 5. 124 below: "Then music with her silver sound," etc. The figure is a very common one.

  3. Attending. Attentive. Cf. T.A. v. 3. 82: "To lovesick Dido's sad attending ear."

  4. I have forgot why I did call thee back. We know, and she knew, that it was only to call him back, parting was "such sweet sorrow."

  5. A wanton's bird. Here wanton means simply a playful girl. It is often used in such innocent sense (cf. i. 4. 35 above), and is sometimes masculine, as in K. John, v. 1. 70 and Rich. II. ii. 3.

  7. Plucks it back. Cf. Sonn. 126. 6: "As thou goest onwards, still will pluck thee back." See also W.T. iv. 4. 476, 762 and A. and C. i. 2. 131. Pluck is a favourite word with S.

  8. Loving-jealous. Compound adjectives are much used by S. Cf. i. 1. 79, 176, 178, i. 2. 25, i. 4. 7, 100, etc., above.

  9. Dear hap. Good fortune. The 1st quarto has "good hap," which occurs in iii. 3. 171 below.

  10. Ghostly. Spiritual; as in ii. 3. 45, ii. 6. 21, and iii. 3. 49 below.

SCENE III.--1. Grey-eyed. Delius says that grey here and in Much Ado, v. 3. 27 is = "bright blue," and Dyce defines it as "blue, azure"; but there is no reason why the word should not have its ordinary meaning. The grey, as in M.N.D. iii. 2. 419, J.C. ii. 1. 103, and iii. 5. 19 below, is the familiar poetic grey of the early morning before sunrise. Whether ascribed, as here, to the eyes of the Morn, or, as in Milton's Lycidas, to her sandals, does not matter. See also on iii. 5. 8 below.

  1. Flecked. Spotted, dappled; used by S. nowhere else.

  2. From forth. Cf. M.W. iv. 4. 53: "Let them from forth a sawpit rush at once," etc. For Titan as the sun-god, cf. V. and A. 177, T. and C. v. 10. 25, Cymb. iii. 4. 166, etc.

  3. Osier cage. Basket. Dowden suggests that of ours is "possibly not merely for the rhyme's sake, but because the Franciscan had no personal property."

  4. Precious-juiced flowers. S. here prepares us for the part which the Friar is afterwards to sustain. Having thus early found him to be a chemist, we are not surprised at his furnishing the sleeping-draught for Juliet. Cf. Brooke's poem:--

"What force the stones, the plants, and metals haue to woorke, And diuers other thinges that in the bowels of earth do loorke, With care I haue sought out, with payne I did then proue; With them eke can I helpe my selfe at times of my behoue," etc.

  1. The earth, etc. Cf. Milton, P.L. ii. 911: "The womb of nature, and perhaps her grave." See also Per. ii. 3. 45:--

"Whereby I see that Time's the king of men, He's both their parent, and he is their grave."

  1. Mickle. Much, great; a word already half obsolete in the time of S. Cf. C. of E. iii. 1. 45: "The one ne'er got me credit, the other mickle blame," etc. Powerful grace = "efficacious virtue" (Johnson); or = gracious power.

  2. Strain'd. Wrenched, forced. Cf. M. of V. iv. 1. 184: "The quality of mercy is not strain'd" (that is, excludes the idea of force or compulsion), etc.

  3. Weak. So all the early eds. except 1st quarto, which has "small." Weak seems the better word as opposed to the following power (Daniel).

  4. With that part. That is, with its odour. Malone and Clarke take part to be = the sense of smell.

  5. Slays. The 2d quarto has "staies" (= stops, paralyzes), which some editors prefer.

  6. Encamp them. For the reflexive use, cf. Hen. V. iii. 6. 180: "we'll encamp ourselves." On the figurative encamp, cf. L.C. 203.

  7. Worser. Cf. iii. 2. 108 below: "worser than Tybalt's death." Predominant was originally an astrological term. See A.W. i. 1. 211, etc.

  8. Canker. Canker-worm. Cf. V. and A. 656: "The canker that eats up Love's tender spring;" T.G. of V. i. 1. 43: "in the sweetest bud The eating canker dwells," etc.

  9. Good morrow. Here = good-by.

  10. Unstuff'd. "Not overcharged" (Schmidt); used by S. only here.

  11. With some. The editors generally adopt "by some" from the 1st quarto; but with = by is so common in S. that the reading of all the other early eds. may be accepted. See on i. 1. 148 and i. 2. 49 above. Distemperature = disorder. Cf. C. of E. v. 1. 82: "Of pale distemperatures and foes to life."

41, 42. Or if not so, etc. Marshall doubts whether S. wrote these lines. Of course, they belong to the first draft of the play.

  1. Both our remedies. The healing of both of us. Cf. A.W. i. 3. 169: "both our mothers" = the mother of both of us. See also Ham. iii.

  2. 42, Cymb. ii. 4. 56, etc.

  3. Lies. Cf. V. and A. 1128:--

"She lifts the coffer-lids that close his eyes, Where lo! two lamps burnt out in darkness lies."

See also Rich. II. iii. 3. 168 and Cymb. ii. 3. 24.

  1. Steads. Benefits, helps. Cf. Temp. i. 2. 165: "Which since have steaded much;" M. of V. i. 3. 7: "May you stead me?" etc.

  2. Homely in thy drift. Simple in what you have to say. Cf. iv. 1. 114 below.

  3. Riddling. Cf. M.N.D. ii. 2. 53: "Lysander riddles very prettily;" and 1 Hen. VI. ii. 3. 57: "a riddling merchant."

  4. When and where and how, etc. An instance of the so-called "chiastic" construction of which S. was fond. Cf. M.N.D. iii. 1. 113, 114, Ham. iii. 1. 158, 159, A. and C. iii. 2. 15-18, etc.

  5. Sighs. Compared to vapours which the sun dispels.

  6. To season love. A favourite metaphor with S., though a homely one; taken from the use of salt in preserving meat. For the reference to salt tears, cf. A.W. i. 1. 55, T.N. i. 1. 30, R. of L. 796, L.C. 18, etc.

  7. Ancient. Aged; as in ii. 4. 133 below. See also Lear, ii. 2. 67, Cymb. v. 3. 15, etc.

  8. Did read by rote, etc. "Consisted of phrases learned by heart, but knew nothing of the true characters of love" (Schmidt).

  9. I stand on sudden haste. I must be in haste. Cf. the impersonal use of stand on or upon = it concerns, it is important to; as in C. of E. iv. 1. 68: "Consider how it stands upon my credit;" Rich. II. ii. 3. 138: "It stands your grace upon to do him right" (that is, it is your duty), etc. Cf. ii. 4. 34 below.

SCENE IV.--2. To-night. Last night. See on i. 4. 50 above.

  1. How he dares. For the play on dare = venture, and dare = challenge, cf. 2 Hen. VI. iii. 2. 203. There is also a play on answer.

  2. A white wench's black eye. Cf. L. L. L. iii. 1. 108:--

"A whitely wanton with a velvet brow, And two pitch-balls stuck in her face for eyes;"

and Rosalind's reference to the "bugle eyeballs" of Phebe in A. Y.L. iii. 5, 47, which the shepherdess recalls as a sneer: "He said mine eyes were black," etc.

Thorough. Through. Cf. M.N.D. ii. 1. 3, 5, W.T. iii. 2. 172, J.C. iii. 1. 136, v. 1. 110, etc.

  1. The very pin, etc. The allusion is to archery. The clout (cf. L. L. L. iv. 1. 136), or white mark at which the arrows were aimed, was fastened by a black pin in the centre. Cf. Marlowe, Tamburlane, 1590:--

"For kings are clouts that every man shoots at, Our crown the pin that thousands seek to cleave."

  1. Butt-shaft. A kind of arrow used for shooting at butts; formed without a barb, so as to be easily extracted (Nares).

  2. Prince of cats. Tybert is the name of the cat in Reynard the Fox. Steevens quotes Dekker, Satiromastix, 1602: "tho' you were Tybert, the long-tail'd prince of cats;" and Have with You, etc.: "not Tibalt, prince of cats." Tibert, Tybert, and Tybalt are forms of the ancient name Thibault. Cf. iii. 1. 77 below.

  3. Captain of compliments. A complete master of etiquette. Cf. L. L. L. i. 1. 169:--

"A man of compliments, whom right and wrong Have chose as umpire of their mutiny."

As Schmidt remarks, the modern distinction of compliment and complement is unknown to the orthography of the old eds. See on ii. 2. 89 above.

  1. Prick-song. Music sung from notes (Schmidt); so called from the points or dots with which it is expressed. S. uses the word only here. When opposed to plain-song, it meant counter-point as distinguished from mere melody. Here, as Elson shows, there is a reference to marking the time "by tapping the foot in time with the music, or, more frequently and more artistically, by waving the hand as the conductor of an orchestra waves his baton."

  2. Me. For the "ethical dative," cf. J.C. i. 2. 270: "He plucked me ope his doublet," etc.

  3. Button. Steevens quotes The Return from Parnassus, 1606: "Strikes his poinado at a button's breadth." Staunton cites George Silver's Paradoxes of Defence, 1599: "Signior Rocco, ... thou that takest upon thee to hit anie Englishman with a thrust upon anie button," etc. Duels were frequent in England in the time of S. The matter had been reduced to a science, and its laws laid down in books. The causes of quarrel had been duly graded and classified, as Touchstone explains in A.Y.L. v. 4. 63 fol.

  4. Of the very first house. Of the first rank among duellists.

  5. Passado. "A motion forwards and thrust in fencing" (Schmidt). Cf. L. L. L. i. 2. 184: "the passado he respects not." The punto reverso was a back-handed stroke. We have punto (= thrust) in M.W. ii. 3. 26: "to see thee pass thy punto." The hay was a home-thrust; from the Italian hai = thou hast it (not "he has it," as Schmidt and others explain it). Johnson gives it correctly: "The hay is the word hai, you have it, used when a thrust reaches the antagonist, from which our fencers, on the same occasion, without knowing, I suppose, any reason for it, cry out ha!"

  6. Fantasticoes. Steevens quotes Dekker, Old Fortunatus: "I have danced with queens, dallied with ladies, worn strange attires, seen fantasticoes," etc.

  7. Grandsire. Addressed to Benvolio in raillery of his staid demeanour.

  8. Fashion-mongers. Cf. Much Ado, v. 1. 94: "fashion-monging boys."

  9. Pardonnez-mois. Fellows who are continually saying pardonnez-moi; a hit at Frenchified affectation. The Cambridge ed. has "perdona-mi's" (Italian, suggested by the "pardona-mees" of the 4th and 5th quartos). Herford reads "pardon-me's."

  10. Form. There is a play on the word, as in L. L. L. i. 1. 209: "sitting with her upon the form ... in manner and form following." Blakeway remarks: "I have heard that during the reign of large breeches it was necessary to cut away hollow places in the benches in the House of Commons, to make room for those monstrous protuberances, without which contrivance they who stood on the new form could not sit at ease on the old bench."

  11. Bons. The early eds. have "bones," which is unintelligible. The correction is due to Theobald, and is generally adopted.

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