ACT 3 SCENE 2

JULIET:
Hurry up, you fast horses of the sun,
Race towards the place where Phoebus rests,
A driver like Phaëton would whip you to the west
And bring in the cloudy night instantly.
Close thy curtains, night of love,
So that runaway eyes may blink,
And Romeo can leap into my arms
Unseen and unheard.
Lovers can see to do their loving deeds
By their own beauty, or if love is blind,
It fits well with the night. Come, civilized night,
Thou sober-suited matron all in black,
Teach me how to lose a winning game,
Played for a pair of pure maidenhoods.
Cover my uncontrolled blushing cheeks
With your dark veil, until strange love grows bold,
And true love is acted with modesty.
Come, night. Come, Romeo. Come, day in
night,
For you will lie upon the wings of night
Whiter than new snow on a black raven's back.
Come, gentle night, come, loving black-browed night,
Bring me my Romeo, and when I die,
Take him and cut him out in little stars,
And he will make the face of heaven so beautiful
That all the world will be in love with night
And pay no attention to the garish sun.
Oh, I have purchased a love,
But I have not yet possessed it, and even though I am sold,
I have not yet enjoyed it. This day is as tedious
As the night before some festival
To an impatient child who has new clothes
But cannot wear them.

(Enter Nurse with cords.)

Oh, here comes my nurse,

And she brings news, and every tongue that speaks
But Romeo's name speaks heavenly eloquence.
Now, nurse, what news? What do you have there? The cords
That Romeo asked you to bring?

NURSE:
Yes, yes, the cords.
(Drops the rope ladder.)

JULIET:
Oh no, what news? Why are you wringing your hands?

NURSE:
Alas, he's dead, he's dead, he's dead!
We are ruined, my lady, we are ruined.
Oh, woe is me, he's gone, he's killed, he's dead.

JULIET:
Can heaven be so cruel?

NURSE:
Romeo can be cruel,
Though heaven cannot. Oh, Romeo, Romeo,
Whoever would have thought it? Romeo!

JULIET:
What devil are you that torments me like this?
This torture should be screamed in dismal hell.
Has Romeo killed himself? Just say "Yes,"
And that bare vowel "I" will poison me more
Than the death-darting eye of a snake.
I am not myself if there is such an "I,"
Or if those eyes that make you answer "Yes" are closed.
If he is dead, say "Yes," or if not, "No."
My fate is determined by these brief sounds.

NURSE:
I saw the wound. I saw it with my own eyes
(God save the mark!) here on his manly chest.
A pitiful corpse, a bloody pitiful corpse,
Pale as ashes, all covered in blood,
All in gore. I fainted at the sight.

JULIET:
Oh, break my heart, poor bankrupt, break at once!
Eyes, go to prison, never look at freedom again.
Vile earth, take back my body, let it end here,
And let Romeo and I share a heavy bier.

NURSE
Oh Tybalt, Tybalt, he was like my BFF!
So kind and polite, a true gentleman.
I can't believe he's gone and I'm still here.

JULIET
What's happening? Why is everything going wrong?
Is Romeo hurt? Is Tybalt really dead?
He was my cousin and my husband too!
It's like everything's falling apart now.
If they're gone, what's the point of anything?

NURSE
Tybalt is gone and Romeo's been banished,
Romeo who killed him, now outcasted.

JULIET
Oh God, did Romeo really kill Tybalt?

NURSE
Yes, he did, and it's a sad, sad fault.

JULIET
Deceitful serpent, hiding behind a handsome face,
Did any dragon keep such a beautiful place?
Tyrant, a fiend in angel's guise,
A raven with dove's feathers, a lamb in wolf's guise,
An empty shell of divinity's show,
Contradicting all that it seemed to know,
A damned saint, an honorable villain,
Oh nature, why did you let the spirit of a fiend,
Take such sweet flesh in mortal paradise, it's obscene.
Was there ever a book so vile,
Bound so beautifully with deceitful guile?
NURSE
There's no trust, honesty, or faith in men,
All liars, oath-breakers, deceivers, to the end.
Ah, where's my drink? I need some aqua vitae,
All this grief and sorrow make me feel ancient and gray.
Shame on Romeo, he deserves it!

JULIET
May your tongue be blistered for such a wish,
He was not born to be shamed, he's not like this.
Shame can't sit on his brow, for it's a throne,
Where honor can be crowned, and glory can be shown.
Oh, how foolish I was to chide him,

NURSE
How can you speak well of the man who killed your kin?

JULIET
How can I speak ill of the man who's my husband?
Ah, poor my lord, how can I smooth your name,
When I, your wife for just three hours, have caused you shame?
But why, villain, did you kill my cousin?
That villain would have killed my husband without reason.
Back, tears, back to where you belong,
You belong to sorrow, not joy, don't get it wrong.
My husband lives, and Tybalt's dead,
The comfort in that is what needs to be said.
Why do I weep? There's something worse than Tybalt's death,
That's killing me, I want to forget it, but it's taking my breath.
Oh, it's like a guilty deed to a sinner's mind,
"Romeo's been banished," is the word that's unkind.
That one word has slain ten thousand Tybalts, it's true,
Tybalt's death was enough, but now this too?
If sorrow loves company, and likes to stick around,
Why didn't she say, "Your father," or "Your mother," now they're not around?
But she followed Tybalt's death with Romeo's banishment instead,
That one word killed them all, father, mother, Tybalt, Romeo, Juliet, all dead.
There's no end to this, no limit, no measure, no bound.

NURSE
Crying and mourning over Tybalt's body. Do you want to go to them? I can take you there.

JULIET
Are they crying and washing his wounds with tears? I will spend my tears when theirs have dried
up because Romeo is banished.
Pick up that rope ladder. Poor ladder, both you and I were deceived. Romeo made you to be the
path to my bed, but I, a virgin, will die as a virgin widow. Come, ladder, come, Nurse. I'll go to my
wedding bed, and death, not Romeo, will take my virginity.

NURSE
Go to your chamber. I'll find Romeo for you. I know where he is. Your Romeo will be here tonight.
I'll go to him. He's hiding in Friar Lawrence's cell.

JULIET
Oh, please find him! (Juliet gives the Nurse a ring) Give this ring to my true love and tell him to
come and say his last goodbye.