The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet: ACT V , SCENE III. A churchyard; in it a tomb belonging to the Capulets.

The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet: ACT V


	Introduction

	ACT I

	ACT II

	ACT III

	ACT IV

	ACT V

		SCENE I. Mantua. A street.

		SCENE II. Friar Laurence's cell.

		SCENE III. A churchyard; in it a tomb belonging to the Capulets.

	About the Play

	Feedback



	Search:
	for:

SCENE III. A churchyard; in it a tomb belonging to the Capulets.

Enter PARIS, and his Page bearing flowers and a torch

PARIS

      Give me thy torch, boy: hence, and stand aloof:
      Yet put it out, for I would not be seen.
      Under yond yew-trees lay thee all along,
      Holding thine ear close to the hollow ground;
5     So shall no foot upon the churchyard tread,
      Being loose, unfirm, with digging up of graves,
      But thou shalt hear it: whistle then to me,
      As signal that thou hear'st something approach.
      Give me those flowers. Do as I bid thee, go.

PAGE

10 (Aside) I am almost afraid to stand alone
Here in the churchyard; yet I will adventure.

Retires

PARIS

      Sweet flower, with flowers thy bridal bed I strew,--
      O woe! thy canopy is dust and stones;--
      Which with sweet water nightly I will dew,
15    Or, wanting that, with tears distill'd by moans:
      The obsequies that I for thee will keep
      Nightly shall be to strew thy grave and weep.

The Page whistles

      The boy gives warning something doth approach.
      What cursed foot wanders this way to-night,
20    To cross my obsequies and true love's rite?
      What with a torch! muffle me, night, awhile.

Retires

Enter ROMEO and BALTHASAR, with a torch, mattock, &c

ROMEO

      Give me that mattock and the wrenching iron.
      Hold, take this letter; early in the morning
      See thou deliver it to my lord and father.
25    Give me the light: upon thy life, I charge thee,
      Whate'er thou hear'st or seest, stand all aloof,
      And do not interrupt me in my course.
      Why I descend into this bed of death,
      Is partly to behold my lady's face;
30    But chiefly to take thence from her dead finger
      A precious ring, a ring that I must use
      In dear employment: therefore hence, be gone:
      But if thou, jealous, dost return to pry
      In what I further shall intend to do,
35    By heaven, I will tear thee joint by joint
      And strew this hungry churchyard with thy limbs:
      The time and my intents are savage-wild,
      More fierce and more inexorable far
      Than empty tigers or the roaring sea.

BALTHASAR

40 I will be gone, sir, and not trouble you.

ROMEO

So shalt thou show me friendship. Take thou that:
Live, and be prosperous: and farewell, good fellow.

BALTHASAR

(Aside) For all this same, I'll hide me hereabout:
His looks I fear, and his intents I doubt.

Retires

ROMEO

45    Thou detestable maw, thou womb of death,
      Gorged with the dearest morsel of the earth,
      Thus I enforce thy rotten jaws to open,
      And, in despite, I'll cram thee with more food!

Opens the tomb

PARIS

      This is that banish'd haughty Montague,
50    That murder'd my love's cousin, with which grief,
      It is supposed, the fair creature died;
      And here is come to do some villanous shame
      To the dead bodies: I will apprehend him.

Comes forward

      Stop thy unhallow'd toil, vile Montague!
55    Can vengeance be pursued further than death?
      Condemned villain, I do apprehend thee:
      Obey, and go with me; for thou must die.

ROMEO

      I must indeed; and therefore came I hither.
      Good gentle youth, tempt not a desperate man;
60    Fly hence, and leave me: think upon these gone;
      Let them affright thee. I beseech thee, youth,
      Put not another sin upon my head,
      By urging me to fury: O, be gone!
      By heaven, I love thee better than myself;
65    For I come hither arm'd against myself:
      Stay not, be gone; live, and hereafter say,
      A madman's mercy bade thee run away.

PARIS

I do defy thy conjurations,
And apprehend thee for a felon here.

ROMEO

70 Wilt thou provoke me? then have at thee, boy!

They fight

PAGE

O Lord, they fight! I will go call the watch.

Exit

PARIS

O, I am slain!

Falls

If thou be merciful,
Open the tomb, lay me with Juliet.

Dies

ROMEO

75    In faith, I will. Let me peruse this face.
      Mercutio's kinsman, noble County Paris!
      What said my man, when my betossed soul
      Did not attend him as we rode? I think
      He told me Paris should have married Juliet:
80    Said he not so? or did I dream it so?
      Or am I mad, hearing him talk of Juliet,
      To think it was so? O, give me thy hand,
      One writ with me in sour misfortune's book!
      I'll bury thee in a triumphant grave;
85    A grave? O no! a lantern, slaughter'd youth,
      For here lies Juliet, and her beauty makes
      This vault a feasting presence full of light.
      Death, lie thou there, by a dead man interr'd.

Laying PARIS in the tomb

      How oft when men are at the point of death
90    Have they been merry! which their keepers call
      A lightning before death: O, how may I
      Call this a lightning? O my love! my wife!
      Death, that hath suck'd the honey of thy breath,
      Hath had no power yet upon thy beauty:
95    Thou art not conquer'd; beauty's ensign yet
      Is crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks,
      And death's pale flag is not advanced there.
      Tybalt, liest thou there in thy bloody sheet?
      O, what more favour can I do to thee,
100   Than with that hand that cut thy youth in twain
      To sunder his that was thine enemy?
      Forgive me, cousin! Ah, dear Juliet,
      Why art thou yet so fair? shall I believe
      That unsubstantial death is amorous,
105   And that the lean abhorred monster keeps
      Thee here in dark to be his paramour?
      For fear of that, I still will stay with thee;
      And never from this palace of dim night
      Depart again: here, here will I remain
110   With worms that are thy chamber-maids; O, here
      Will I set up my everlasting rest,
      And shake the yoke of inauspicious stars
      From this world-wearied flesh. Eyes, look your last!
      Arms, take your last embrace! and, lips, O you
115   The doors of breath, seal with a righteous kiss
      A dateless bargain to engrossing death!
      Come, bitter conduct, come, unsavoury guide!
      Thou desperate pilot, now at once run on
      The dashing rocks thy sea-sick weary bark!
120   Here's to my love!

Drinks

O true apothecary!
Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die.

Dies

Enter, at the other end of the churchyard, FRIAR LAURENCE, with a lantern, crow, and spade

FRIAR LAURENCE

Saint Francis be my speed! how oft to-night
Have my old feet stumbled at graves! Who's there?

BALTHASAR

125 Here's one, a friend, and one that knows you well.

FRIAR LAURENCE

      Bliss be upon you! Tell me, good my friend,
      What torch is yond, that vainly lends his light
      To grubs and eyeless skulls? as I discern,
      It burneth in the Capel's monument.

BALTHASAR

130 It doth so, holy sir; and there's my master,
One that you love.

FRIAR LAURENCE

Who is it?

BALTHASAR

Romeo.

FRIAR LAURENCE

How long hath he been there?

BALTHASAR

135 Full half an hour.

FRIAR LAURENCE

Go with me to the vault.

BALTHASAR

      I dare not, sir
      My master knows not but I am gone hence;
      And fearfully did menace me with death,
140   If I did stay to look on his intents.

FRIAR LAURENCE

Stay, then; I'll go alone. Fear comes upon me:
O, much I fear some ill unlucky thing.

BALTHASAR

      As I did sleep under this yew-tree here,
      I dreamt my master and another fought,
145   And that my master slew him.

FRIAR LAURENCE

Romeo!

Advances

      Alack, alack, what blood is this, which stains
      The stony entrance of this sepulchre?
      What mean these masterless and gory swords
150   To lie discolour'd by this place of peace?

Enters the tomb

      Romeo! O, pale! Who else? what, Paris too?
      And steep'd in blood? Ah, what an unkind hour
      Is guilty of this lamentable chance!
      The lady stirs.

JULIET wakes

JULIET

155   O comfortable friar! where is my lord?
      I do remember well where I should be,
      And there I am. Where is my Romeo?

Noise within

FRIAR LAURENCE

      I hear some noise. Lady, come from that nest
      Of death, contagion, and unnatural sleep:
160   A greater power than we can contradict
      Hath thwarted our intents. Come, come away.
      Thy husband in thy bosom there lies dead;
      And Paris too. Come, I'll dispose of thee
      Among a sisterhood of holy nuns:
165   Stay not to question, for the watch is coming;
      Come, go, good Juliet,

Noise again

I dare no longer stay.

JULIET

Go, get thee hence, for I will not away.

Exit FRIAR LAURENCE

      What's here? a cup, closed in my true love's hand?
170   Poison, I see, hath been his timeless end:
      O churl! drunk all, and left no friendly drop
      To help me after? I will kiss thy lips;
      Haply some poison yet doth hang on them,
      To make die with a restorative.

Kisses him

175 Thy lips are warm.

First Watchman

(Within) Lead, boy: which way?

JULIET

Yea, noise? then I'll be brief. O happy dagger!

Snatching ROMEO's dagger

This is thy sheath;

Stabs herself

there rust, and let me die.

Falls on ROMEO's body, and dies

Enter Watch, with the Page of PARIS

PAGE

180 This is the place; there, where the torch doth burn.

First Watchman

      The ground is bloody; search about the churchyard:
      Go, some of you, whoe'er you find attach.
      Pitiful sight! here lies the county slain,
      And Juliet bleeding, warm, and newly dead,
185   Who here hath lain these two days buried.
      Go, tell the prince: run to the Capulets:
      Raise up the Montagues: some others search:
      We see the ground whereon these woes do lie;
      But the true ground of all these piteous woes
190   We cannot without circumstance descry.

Re-enter some of the Watch, with BALTHASAR

Second Watchman

Here's Romeo's man; we found him in the churchyard.

First Watchman

Hold him in safety, till the prince come hither.

Re-enter others of the Watch, with FRIAR LAURENCE

Third Watchman

      Here is a friar, that trembles, sighs and weeps:
      We took this mattock and this spade from him,
195   As he was coming from this churchyard side.

First Watchman

A great suspicion: stay the friar too.

Enter the PRINCE and Attendants

PRINCE

What misadventure is so early up,
That calls our person from our morning's rest?

Enter CAPULET, LADY CAPULET, and others

CAPULET

What should it be, that they so shriek abroad?

LADY CAPULET

200   The people in the street cry Romeo,
      Some Juliet, and some Paris; and all run,
      With open outcry toward our monument.

PRINCE

What fear is this which startles in our ears?

First Watchman

      Sovereign, here lies the County Paris slain;
205   And Romeo dead; and Juliet, dead before,
      Warm and new kill'd.

PRINCE

Search, seek, and know how this foul murder comes.

First Watchman

      Here is a friar, and slaughter'd Romeo's man;
      With instruments upon them, fit to open
210   These dead men's tombs.

CAPULET

      O heavens! O wife, look how our daughter bleeds!
      This dagger hath mista'en--for, lo, his house
      Is empty on the back of Montague,--
      And it mis-sheathed in my daughter's bosom!

LADY CAPULET

215 O me! this sight of death is as a bell,
That warns my old age to a sepulchre.

Enter MONTAGUE and others

PRINCE

Come, Montague; for thou art early up,
To see thy son and heir more early down.

MONTAGUE

      Alas, my liege, my wife is dead to-night;
220   Grief of my son's exile hath stopp'd her breath:
      What further woe conspires against mine age?

PRINCE

Look, and thou shalt see.

MONTAGUE

O thou untaught! what manners is in this?
To press before thy father to a grave?

PRINCE

225   Seal up the mouth of outrage for a while,
      Till we can clear these ambiguities,
      And know their spring, their head, their
      true descent;
      And then will I be general of your woes,
230   And lead you even to death: meantime forbear,
      And let mischance be slave to patience.
      Bring forth the parties of suspicion.

FRIAR LAURENCE

      I am the greatest, able to do least,
      Yet most suspected, as the time and place
235   Doth make against me of this direful murder;
      And here I stand, both to impeach and purge
      Myself condemned and myself excused.

PRINCE

Then say at once what thou dost know in this.

FRIAR LAURENCE

      I will be brief, for my short date of breath
240   Is not so long as is a tedious tale.
      Romeo, there dead, was husband to that Juliet;
      And she, there dead, that Romeo's faithful wife:
      I married them; and their stol'n marriage-day
      Was Tybalt's dooms-day, whose untimely death
245   Banish'd the new-made bridegroom from the city,
      For whom, and not for Tybalt, Juliet pined.
      You, to remove that siege of grief from her,
      Betroth'd and would have married her perforce
      To County Paris: then comes she to me,
250   And, with wild looks, bid me devise some mean
      To rid her from this second marriage,
      Or in my cell there would she kill herself.
      Then gave I her, so tutor'd by my art,
      A sleeping potion; which so took effect
255   As I intended, for it wrought on her
      The form of death: meantime I writ to Romeo,
      That he should hither come as this dire night,
      To help to take her from her borrow'd grave,
      Being the time the potion's force should cease.
260   But he which bore my letter, Friar John,
      Was stay'd by accident, and yesternight
      Return'd my letter back. Then all alone
      At the prefixed hour of her waking,
      Came I to take her from her kindred's vault;
265   Meaning to keep her closely at my cell,
      Till I conveniently could send to Romeo:
      But when I came, some minute ere the time
      Of her awaking, here untimely lay
      The noble Paris and true Romeo dead.
270   She wakes; and I entreated her come forth,
      And bear this work of heaven with patience:
      But then a noise did scare me from the tomb;
      And she, too desperate, would not go with me,
      But, as it seems, did violence on herself.
275   All this I know; and to the marriage
      Her nurse is privy: and, if aught in this
      Miscarried by my fault, let my old life
      Be sacrificed, some hour before his time,
      Unto the rigour of severest law.

PRINCE

280 We still have known thee for a holy man.
Where's Romeo's man? what can he say in this?

BALTHASAR

      I brought my master news of Juliet's death;
      And then in post he came from Mantua
      To this same place, to this same monument.
285   This letter he early bid me give his father,
      And threatened me with death, going in the vault,
      I departed not and left him there.

PRINCE

      Give me the letter; I will look on it.
      Where is the county's page, that raised the watch?
290   Sirrah, what made your master in this place?

PAGE

      He came with flowers to strew his lady's grave;
      And bid me stand aloof, and so I did:
      Anon comes one with light to ope the tomb;
      And by and by my master drew on him;
295   And then I ran away to call the watch.

PRINCE

      This letter doth make good the friar's words,
      Their course of love, the tidings of her death:
      And here he writes that he did buy a poison
      Of a poor 'pothecary, and therewithal
300   Came to this vault to die, and lie with Juliet.
      Where be these enemies? Capulet! Montague!
      See, what a scourge is laid upon your hate,
      That heaven finds means to kill your joys with love.
      And I for winking at your discords too
305   Have lost a brace of kinsmen: all are punish'd.

CAPULET

      O brother Montague, give me thy hand:
      This is my daughter's jointure, for no more
      Can I demand.

MONTAGUE

      But I can give thee more:
310   For I will raise her statue in pure gold;
      That while Verona by that name is known,
      There shall no figure at such rate be set
      As that of true and faithful Juliet.

CAPULET

As rich shall Romeo's by his lady's lie;
315 Poor sacrifices of our enmity!

PRINCE

      A glooming peace this morning with it brings;
      The sun, for sorrow, will not show his head:
      Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things;
      Some shall be pardon'd, and some punished:
320   For never was a story of more woe
      Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.

Exeunt

Return to top of page ... or ... Go to next scene