Romeo and Juliet: Act 2, Scene 4
Enter BENVOLIO and MERCUTIO.
MERCUTIO
1 Where the devil should this Romeo be?
2. tonight: last night.
2 Came he not home tonight?
BENVOLIO
3. his man: his servant.
3 Not to his father's; I spoke with his man.
MERCUTIO
4 Ah, that same pale hard-hearted wench, that Rosaline,
5 Torments him so, that he will sure run mad.
BENVOLIO
6 Tybalt, the kinsman of old Capulet,
7 Hath sent a letter to his father's house.
MERCUTIO
8 A challenge, on my life.
BENVOLIO
9 Romeo will answer it.
MERCUTIO
10 Any man that can write may answer a letter.
BENVOLIO
11. he will answer ... being dared: i.e., because he has been dared to a fight, Romeo will fight the author of the letter (Tybalt) in whatever manner Tybalt chooses.
11 Nay, he will answer the letter's master, how he
12 dares, being dared.
MERCUTIO
13 Alas poor Romeo! he is already dead;
14 stabbed with a white wench's black eye; run through
15. very pin: exact center
16. the . . . butt-shaft: i.e., Cupid's arrow. Cupid was depicted as a small boy, blindfolded, carrying a bow. A "butt-shaft" is an arrow without barbs, used for practice, and therefore suitable for boys, including Cupid.
16. the . . . butt-shaft: i.e., Cupid's arrow. Cupid was depicted as a small boy, blindfolded, carrying a bow. A "butt-shaft" is an arrow without barbs, used for practice, and therefore suitable for boys, including Cupid.
15 the ear with a love-song; the very pin of his heart
16 cleft with the blind bow-boy's butt-shaft; and is he a
17 man to encounter Tybalt?
BENVOLIO
18 Why, what is Tybalt?
MERCUTIO
19. prince of cats: In the folk tale, Reynard the Fox, the Prince of Cats is named Tybalt. 20. captain of compliments: master of ceremonies (in duelling). 21. as you sing prick-song: i.e., by the book.
22. proportion: rhythm. | minim rests: short rests in music. 23. butcher ... button: Tybalt is such an expert duellist that he can hit any of his opponent's buttons he chooses.
24-25. the very first house: the very best school of fencing.
25. the first and second cause:
26. passado: forward thrust. punto reverso: backhanded thrust. hay: home thrust. 27. The what?: Apparently Benvolio has never heard of the "hay" before. Benvolio's ignorance of the term helps to make Mercutio's point.
22. proportion: rhythm. | minim rests: short rests in music. 23. butcher ... button: Tybalt is such an expert duellist that he can hit any of his opponent's buttons he chooses.
24-25. the very first house: the very best school of fencing.
25. the first and second cause:
26. passado: forward thrust. punto reverso: backhanded thrust. hay: home thrust. 27. The what?: Apparently Benvolio has never heard of the "hay" before. Benvolio's ignorance of the term helps to make Mercutio's point.
19 More than prince of cats, I can tell you. O, he is
20 the courageous captain of compliments. He fights
21 as you sing prick-song, keeps time, distance, and
22 proportion; rests his minim rests, one, two, and the
23 third in your bosom: the very butcher of a silk button,
24 a duellist, a duellist; a gentleman of the very first
25 house, of the first and second cause: ah, the
26 immortal passado! the punto reverso! the hay!
BENVOLIO
27 The what?
MERCUTIO
28-29. The . . . phantasimes: may the plague take such fantastical, jargon-speaking, affected coxcombs.
29. new tuners of accents: those who pride themselves on using the latest slang. 30. tall: brave. 30-31. a very good whore:
31. grandsire: Mercutio continues his mockery by pretending that he and Benvolio are old men complaining about the follies of the young. 33. flies ... pardon-me's: 34. form: 1) manners or conduct; 2) bench 35. bones: Mercutio is still punning. The coxcombs he is condemning were likely to affect the French word for "good," "bon"; also, sexually transmitted diseases were said to make the bones ache.
29. new tuners of accents: those who pride themselves on using the latest slang. 30. tall: brave. 30-31. a very good whore:
31. grandsire: Mercutio continues his mockery by pretending that he and Benvolio are old men complaining about the follies of the young. 33. flies ... pardon-me's: 34. form: 1) manners or conduct; 2) bench 35. bones: Mercutio is still punning. The coxcombs he is condemning were likely to affect the French word for "good," "bon"; also, sexually transmitted diseases were said to make the bones ache.
28 The pox of such antic, lisping, affecting
29 phantasimes; these new tuners of accents! "By Jesu,
30 a very good blade! a very tall man! a very good
31 whore!" Why, is not this a lamentable thing, grandsire,
32 that we should be thus afflicted with these strange
33 flies, these fashion-mongers, these pardon-me's, who
34 stand so much on the new form, that they cannot sit at
35 ease on the old bench? O, their bones, their bones!
Enter ROMEO.
BENVOLIO
36 Here comes Romeo, here comes Romeo.
MERCUTIO
37 Without his roe, like a dried herring: O flesh,
38-39. Now is he for the numbers that Petrarch flowed in: i.e., now he is nothing but love poetry. 39. to: in comparison with.
38 flesh, how art thou fishified! Now is he for the numbers
39 that Petrarch flowed in. Laura to his lady was a
40 kitchen-wench; marry, she had a better love to
41 be-rhyme her; Dido a dowdy; Cleopatra a gipsy;
42. hildings: good-for-nothings. 42-43. Thisbe a grey eye or so: 43. but not to the purpose: but not worth mentioning.
44-45. French slop: i.e., fancy pants.
45. fairly: very well.
44-45. French slop: i.e., fancy pants.
45. fairly: very well.
42 Helen and Hero hildings and harlots; Thisbe a grey
43 eye or so, but not to the purpose. Signior Romeo,
44 bon jour! there's a French salutation to your French
45 slop. You gave us the counterfeit fairly last night.
ROMEO
46 Good morrow to you both. What counterfeit did I
47 give you?
MERCUTIO
48. The slip: Counterfeit coins were called "slips." can you not conceive?: i.e., don't you get the joke?
48 The slip, sir, the slip; can you not conceive?
ROMEO
49 Pardon, good Mercutio, my business was great;
50-51. strain courtesy: stretch the limits of good manners.
50 and in such a case as mine a man may strain
51 courtesy.
MERCUTIO
52 That's as much as to say, such a case as yours
53. bow in the hams: bow from the waist. But Mercutio hints that Romeo's "case" makes him double over with the pain of venereal disease.
53 constrains a man to bow in the hams.
ROMEO
54. cur'sy: curtsy, make a polite bow.
54 Meaning, to cur'sy.
MERCUTIO
55. Thou hast most kindly hit it: you have most naturally interpreted my meaning. Mercutio may also be suggesting that Romeo has managed to avoid the bawdy meaning of "bow in the hams." 56. exposition: explanation, interpretation.
55 Thou hast most kindly hit it.
ROMEO
56 A most courteous exposition.
MERCUTIO
57. pink: flower, bloom. Mercutio is jokingly boasting that he is the acme of courtesy.
Pinked Shoes
Image Source: Wikipedia
Pinked Shoes
Image Source: Wikipedia
57 Nay, I am the very pink of courtesy.
ROMEO
58 Pink for flower.
MERCUTIO
59 Right.
ROMEO
60. pump: shoe. flower'd: Romeo is punning on another meaning of "pink," which is to perforate in a decorative pattern.
60 Why, then is my pump well flower'd.
MERCUTIO
61-64. Follow . . . singular: Keep jesting with me until you have worn out your shoe, so that when the flimsy sole of it is worn out, the jest will still live, utterly unique.
61 Sure wit! Follow me this jest now till thou hast
62 worn out thy pump, that when the single sole of it
63 is worn, the jest may remain, after the wearing, solely
64 singular.
ROMEO
65-66. O single-soled jest, solely singular for the singleness: Oh thin, feeble jest, only singular for its foolishness.
65 O single-soled jest, solely singular for the
66 singleness.
MERCUTIO
67 Come between us, good Benvolio; my
68 wits faint.
ROMEO
69 Swits: switch, riding crop.
69-70. Swits and spurs, swits and spurs! or I'll cry a match: i.e., flog your wits to a gallop; keep up the race of wits, or I'll claim the victory.
69-70. Swits and spurs, swits and spurs! or I'll cry a match: i.e., flog your wits to a gallop; keep up the race of wits, or I'll claim the victory.
69 Swits and spurs, swits and spurs! or I'll cry
70 a match.
MERCUTIO
71. wild-goosechase: mounted follow-the-leader. 71-72. I have done: I'm done for.
71 Nay, if thy wits run the wild-goose chase, I have
72 done, for thou hast more of the wild-goose in one of
73 thy wits than, I am sure, I have in my whole five.
74. Was I with you there for the goose?: wasn't I right in calling you a goose?
74 Was I with you there for the goose?
ROMEO
75 Thou wast never with me for any thing when thou
76. for the goose: (1) behaving like a goose; (2) looking for a prostitute.
76 wast not there for the goose.
MERCUTIO
77 I will bite thee by the ear for that jest.
ROMEO
78 Nay, good goose, bite not.
MERCUTIO
79. sweeting: a tart apple, or the sauce made from that apple.
79 Thy wit is a very bitter sweeting; it is a most
80 sharp sauce.
ROMEO
81 And is it not well served in to a sweet
82 goose?
MERCUTIO
83. cheveril: kid leather, easily stretched.
84. ell: 45 inches.
84. ell: 45 inches.
83 O here's a wit of cheveril, that stretches from an
84 inch narrow to an ell broad!
ROMEO
85 I stretch it out for that word "broad"; which
86 added to the goose, proves thee far and wide
87. broad: big (i.e., obvious).
87 a broad goose.
MERCUTIO
88 Why, is not this better now than groaning
89 for love? Now art thou sociable, now art thou
90 Romeo; now art thou what thou art, by art as well
91 as by nature, for this drivelling love is like a great
92 natural, that runs lolling up and down to hide his
93 bauble in a hole.
BENVOLIO
94 Stop there, stop there.
MERCUTIO
95-96. against the hair: against my wish.
95 Thou desirest me to stop in my tale against the
96 hair.
BENVOLIO
97 Thou wouldst else have made thy tale large.
MERCUTIO
98 O, thou art deceived; I would have made it short:
99 for I was come to the whole depth of my tale; and
100 meant, indeed, to occupy the argument no longer.
ROMEO
101. gear: stuff. Romeo is praising the wit of his friends, and also adding a sexual innuendo of his own.
101 Here's goodly gear!
Enter NURSE and her man [PETER].
102. A sail, a sail!: i.e., something interesting is coming this way.
102 A sail, a sail!
BENVOLIO
103. a shirt and a smock: i.e., a man and a woman.
Peter and the Nurse by Sir John Gilbert
Peter and the Nurse by Sir John Gilbert
103 Two, two; a shirt and a smock.
Nurse
104 Peter!
PETER
105 Anon!
Nurse
106 My fan, Peter.
MERCUTIO
107 Good Peter, to hide her face; for her fan's the
108 fairer face.
Nurse
109. God ye good morrow: God give you a good morning.
110. God ye good den: Good give you a good afternoon.
110. God ye good den: Good give you a good afternoon.
109 God ye good morrow, gentlemen.
MERCUTIO
110 God ye good den, fair gentlewoman.
Nurse
111 Is it good den?
MERCUTIO
112 'Tis no less, I tell you, for the bawdy hand of the
113. prick: (1) mark on a sundial or clock; (2) prick.
113 dial is now upon the prick of noon.
Nurse
114. what a man: what kind of man.
114 Out upon you! what a man are you?
ROMEO
115-116. for himself to mar: for Mercutio himself to spoil.
115 One, gentlewoman, that God hath made, for himself
116 to mar.
Nurse
117. By my troth: By my faith; i.e., truly, indeed. 118. quoth 'a?: say you?
117 By my troth, it is well said; "for himself to mar,"
118 quoth a'? Gentlemen, can any of you tell me where
119 I may find the young Romeo?
ROMEO
120 I can tell you; but young Romeo will be older
121 when you have found him than he was when you
122-123. for fault of a worse: for lack of a worse name. [Romeo is being wittily modest.]
122 sought him. I am the youngest of that name, for
123 fault of a worse.
Nurse
124 You say well.
MERCUTIO
125. took: understood. Mercutio is mocking the Nurse's lack of understanding of Romeo's witticism.
125 Yea, is the worst well? very well took, i' faith;
126 wisely, wisely.
Nurse
127. confidence: The Nurse means "conference," a serious conversation. This kind of mistake is called a "malapropism."
127 If you be he, sir, I desire some confidence
128 with you.
BENVOLIO
129. indite: write. Benvolio uses an intentional malapropism—"indite" for "invite"—in order to mock the Nurse's malapropism.
129 She will indite him to some supper.
MERCUTIO
130. A bawd, a bawd, a bawd! So ho!: "So ho!" is a hunter's cry when sighting prey. "Bawd" is a dialect word for "hare," and hare, like "stale" in line 133 and "meat" in line 136, is slang for "prostitute."
130 A bawd, a bawd, a bawd! So ho!
ROMEO
131 What hast thou found?
MERCUTIO
132. hare: hare, wild rabbit, with a pun on "whore." lenten pie: 133. something: somewhat. | hoar: moldy. | ere it be spent: before it is eaten up. Mercutio is punning at the expense of the Nurse; he says that she's not a whore unless she's a stale and moldy one who would only be tasted when nothing else is available.
132 No hare, sir; unless a hare, sir, in a lenten pie,
133 that is something stale and hoar ere it be spent.
[Sings.]
134 An old hare hoar,
135 And an old hare hoar,
136 Is very good meat in Lent;
137 But a hare that is hoar
138. too much for a score: not worth paying for. A "score" is a bill, for drink, food, etc.
138 Is too much for a score,
139 When it hoars ere it be spent.
140 Romeo, will you come to your father's? we'll
141. dinner: Now (C.E. 2015) in the U.S.A, this mid-day meal is called "lunch."
141 to dinner, thither.
ROMEO
142 I will follow you.
MERCUTIO
143 Farewell, ancient lady; farewell,
[Singing.]
144. lady, lady, lady: a common ballad refrain.
144 "lady, lady, lady."
Exeunt [MERCUTIO and BENVOLIO].
Nurse
145-146. saucy merchant: i.e., flippant salesman, con man. ropery: tricks, witticisms, b.s.
145 Marry, farewell! I pray you, sir, what saucy
146 merchant was this, that was so full of his ropery?
ROMEO
147 A gentleman, nurse, that loves to hear himself talk,
148-149. stand to: back up, make good.
148 and will speak more in a minute than he will stand
149 to in a month.
Nurse
150-152. An a' speak ... Jacks:
150 An a' speak any thing against me, I'll take him
151 down, an a' were lustier than he is, and twenty
152 such Jacks; and if I cannot, I'll find those that shall.
153. flirt-gills: flirty girls, loose women.
153 Scurvy knave! I am none of his flirt-gills; I am
154 none of his skains-mates. [To Peter.] And thou must
155 stand by too, and suffer every knave to use me at his
156 pleasure!
PETER
157 I saw no man use you at his pleasure; if I had, my
158. weapon: (1) sword; (2) male member.
158 weapon should quickly have been out, I warrant you.
159 I dare draw as soon as another man, if I see occasion
160 in a good quarrel, and the law on my side.
Nurse
161 Now, afore God, I am so vexed, that every part about
162 me quivers. Scurvy knave! [To Romeo.] Pray you, sir,
163 a word: and as I told you, my young lady bade me inquire
164 you out; what she bade me say, I will keep to myself.
165 But first let me tell ye, if ye should lead her into
166 a fool's paradise, as they say, it were a very gross
167 kind of behavior, as they say: for the gentlewoman
168 is young; and, therefore, if you should deal double
169 with her, truly it were an ill thing to be offered
170. weak: contemptible.
170 to any gentlewoman, and very weak dealing.
ROMEO
171 Nurse, commend me to thy lady and mistress. I
172. protest: vow, promise. Romeo is about to say something like, "I promise you that I will always love and honor Juliet," but the Nurse interrupts him because she misunderstands the word "protest" as meaning "propose marriage."
172 protest unto thee—
Nurse
173 Good heart, and, i' faith, I will tell her as much.
174 Lord, Lord, she will be a joyful woman.
ROMEO
175. thou dost not mark me: you are not paying attention to what I am actually saying.
175 What wilt thou tell her, nurse? thou dost not mark
176 me.
Nurse
177 I will tell her, sir, that you do protest; which, as
178 I take it, is a gentlemanlike offer.
ROMEO
179 Bid her devise
180. shrift: confession.
180 Some means to come to shrift this afternoon;
181 And there she shall at Friar Laurence' cell
182. Here is for thy pains: Romeo offers her money.
182 Be shrived and married. Here is for thy pains.
Nurse
183 No truly sir; not a penny.
ROMEO
184 Go to; I say you shall.
Nurse
185 This afternoon, sir? well, she shall be
186 there.
ROMEO
187 And stay, good nurse— behind the abbey wall:
188 Within this hour my man shall be with thee
189. cords made like a tackled stair: rope ladder. 190. top-gallant: highest mast and sail of a ship. The top-gallant of a ship would be reached by a "tackled stair." 191. convoy: means of passage.
192. I'll quit thy pains: I'll reward you for your trouble.
192. I'll quit thy pains: I'll reward you for your trouble.
189 And bring thee cords made like a tackled stair;
190 Which to the high top-gallant of my joy
191 Must be my convoy in the secret night.
192 Farewell; be trusty, and I'll quit thy pains.
193 Farewell; commend me to thy mistress.
Nurse
194 Now God in heaven bless thee! Hark you, sir.
ROMEO
195 What say'st thou, my dear nurse?
Nurse
196. secret: trustworthy, able to keep a secret.
196 Is your man secret? Did you ne'er hear say,
197. Two may keep counsel, putting one away: This proverb means, "Two people may be able to keep a secret if one of them is far away."
197 Two may keep counsel, putting one away?
ROMEO
198 I warrant thee, my man's as true as steel.
NURSE
199 Well, sir; my mistress is the sweetest lady—Lord,
200 Lord! when 'twas a little prating thing:—O, there
201-202. would fain lay knife aboard: is eager to stake a claim [to Juliet].
201 is a nobleman in town, one Paris, that would fain
202 lay knife aboard; but she, good soul, had as lief
203 see a toad, a very toad, as see him. I anger her
204. properer: more handsome.
204 sometimes and tell her that Paris is the properer
205 man; but, I'll warrant you, when I say so, she looks
206. clout ... versal world:
207. begin both with a letter: both begin with the same letter.
207. begin both with a letter: both begin with the same letter.
206 as pale as any clout in the versal world. Doth not
207 rosemary and Romeo begin both with a letter?
ROMEO
208 Ay, nurse; what of that? both with an R.
Nurse
209 Ah, mocker! that's the dog's name; R is for the
210 —No; I know it begins with some other letter:
211. the prettiest sententious of it: the most clever, memorable saying about it. The Nurse uses "sententious" for "sentence," which means "a memorable saying."
211 —and she hath the prettiest sententious of it, of you
212 and rosemary, that it would do you good to hear it.
ROMEO
213 Commend me to thy lady.
Nurse
214 Ay, a thousand times.
[Exit Romeo.]
215 Peter!
PETER
216 Anon!
Nurse
217. Before and apace: go ahead of me and walk fast.
217 Before and apace.
Exit [after Peter].