80
ROMEO AND JULIET
[ACT II.
| Rom. | Bid[E 1] her devise Some means to come to shrift this afternoon;[C 1] And there she shall at Friar Laurence'[C 2] cell Be shrived and married. Here is for thy pains.200 |
| Nurse. | No, truly, sir; not a penny. |
| Rom. | Go to; I say you shall. |
| Nurse. | This afternoon, sir? well, she shall be there. |
| Rom. | And stay,[C 3] good nurse;[E 2] behind the abbey-wall[C 4] Within this hour my man shall be with thee,205 And bring thee cords made like a tackled stair;[E 3] Which to the high top-gallant[E 4] of my joy Must be my convoy in the secret night. Farewell; be trusty, and I'll quit[C 5] thy pains; Farewell; commend me to thy mistress.[E 5]210 |
| Nurse. | Now God in heaven bless thee! Hark you, sir. |
| Rom. | What say'st thou, my dear nurse? |
| Nurse. | Is your man secret? Did you ne'er hear say, Two may keep counsel, putting one away?[C 6][E 6] |
- ↑ 197, 198. Bid … afternoon] Delius; two lines ending shrift and afternoon Capell; one line Q, F; prose Qq 4, 5.
- ↑ 199. Laurence'] Pope; Lawrence Q, F.
- ↑ 204. stay] Q, stay thou F;
- ↑ nurse; … wall] Grant White; nurse … wall, Q, F; nurse, … wall: Pope and many editors.
- ↑ 209. quit] Q, quite F.
- ↑ 213, 214. Is … away?] verse Rowe; prose Q, F.
- ↑ 197. Bid] Hudson very ingeniously emends:
"Bid her devise some means to come to shrift
This afternoon at Friar Laurence' cell;
And there she shall be shrived and married. Here
Is for thy pains." - ↑ 204. nurse;] The pointing is G. White's; Romeo cannot wish to delay the Nurse on her return to Juliet. See Scene v. 76, 77.
- ↑ 206. stair] series of steps, as in Paradise Lost, iii. 540.
- ↑ 207. high top-gallant] Steevens quotes Markham, English Arcadia, 1607: "the high top-gallant of his valour." Top-gallant masts, small masts fixed to the heads of the main and fore top-masts.
- ↑ 210. mistress] frequently a tri-syllable. See Walker, Shakespeare's Versification, p. 47.
- ↑ 214. Two … away] So Titus Andronicus, iv. ii. 144: "Two may
