William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet tells the tale of two "star-crossed lovers", divided by family but united by love.
William Shakespeare's plays, sonnets and poems at AbsoluteShakespeare.com
Home Plays Sonnets Poems Quotes Summaries Essays Glossary Links Help

HOME > Plays > Romeo and Juliet > Act II. Scene I.

Romeo and Juliet

Study Guides
Hamlet
Julius Caesar
King Henry IV
King Lear
Macbeth
Merchant of Venice
Othello
Romeo and Juliet
The Tempest
Twelfth Night

Trivia
Authorship
Bard Facts
Bibliography
Biography
FAQ
Films
Globe Theatre
Pictures
Quiz
Timeline

Act II. Scene I.

Act II. Scene I.—Verona. A Lane by the wall
of CAPULET'S Orchard.

Enter ROMEO.

Rom. Can I go forward when my heart is
here?
Turn back, dull earth, and find thy centre out.
[He climbs the wall, and leaps down
within it.

Enter BENVOLIO and MERCUTIO.
Ben. Romeo! my cousin Romeo!
Mer. He is wise;
And, on. my life, hath stolt'n him home to bed.
Ben. He ran this way, and leap'd this orchard
wall:
Call, good Mercutio.
Mer. Nay, I'll conjure too.
Romeo! humours! madman! passion! lover!
Appear thou m the likeness of a sigh:
Speak but one rime and I am satisfied;
Cry but 'Ay me!' couple but 'love' and
'dove;'
Speak to my gossip Venus one fair word.
One nickname for her purblind son and heir,
Young Adam Cupid, he that shot so trim
When King Cophetua lov'd the beggar-maid.
He heareth not, he stirreth not, he moveth not;
The ape is dead, and I must conjure him.
I conjure thee by Rosaline's bright eyes,
By her high forehead, and her scarlet lip,
By her fine foot, straight leg, and quivering
thigh,
And the demesnes that there adjacent lie,
That in thy likeness thou appear to us.
Ben. An if he hear thee, thou wilt anger him.
Mer. This cannot anger him: 'twould anger
him
To raise a spirit in his mistress' circle
Of some strange nature, letting it there stand
Till she had laid it, and conjur'd it down;
That were some spite: my invocation
Is fair and honesty and in his mistress' name
I conjure only but to raise up him.
Ben. Come, he hath hid himself among these
trees,
To be consorted with the humorous night:
Blind is his love and best befits the dark.
Mer. If love be blind, love cannot hit the mark.
Now will he sit under a medlar tree,
And wish his mistress were that kind of fruit
As maids call medlars, when they laugh alone.
O Romeo! that she were, O! that she were
An open et cætera, thou a poperin pear.
Romeo, good night: I'll to my truckle-bed;
This field-bed is too cold for me to sleep:
Come, shall we go?
Ben. Go, then; for 'tis in vain
To seek him here that means not to be found.
[Exeunt.
< PREVIOUS
Copyright © 2000-2005 AbsoluteShakespeare.com. All rights reserved.  Contact Us  Privacy  Awards