Page:Romeo and Juliet (Dowden).djvu/180

Par.	God shield I[C 1][E 1] should disturb devotion!— Juliet, on Thursday early will I rouse ye:[C 2] Till then, adieu; and keep this holy kiss.[Exit.

Jul.	O,[C 3] shut the door, and when thou hast done so, Come weep with me; past hope, past cure,[C 4][E 2] past help!45

Fri.	Ah,[C 5] Juliet, I already know thy grief! It strains[C 6] me past the compass of my wits: I hear thou must, and nothing may prorogue[E 3] it, On Thursday next be married to this county.

Jul.

Tell me not, friar, that thou hear'st of this,50 Unless thou tell me how I may prevent it: If in thy wisdom thou canst give no help, Do thou but call my resolution wise, And with this[C 7] knife[E 4] I'll help it presently. God join'd my heart and Romeo's, thou our hands;55 And ere this hand, by thee to Romeo[C 8] seal'd, Shall be the label[E 5] to another deed, Or my true heart with treacherous revolt

1. 41. God shield I] Q 5, Godshield, I Q, Godshield: I F.
2. 42. ye] Q, F; you Theobald and others.
3. 44. O,] Q, F; Go Q 1.
4. 45. cure] Q 1, Q 5; care Q, F.
5. 46. Ah] Q 1; O Q, F.
6. 47. strains] Q, streames F.
7. 54. with this] Q, with' his F.
8. 56. Romeo] F, Romeos Q, Romeo's Q 5 and some editors.

1. 41. God shield] Schmidt explains God forbid; a shield may both repel and protect; so, perhaps, equivalent to God defend us! in Midsummer Night's Dream, III. i. 31: "to bring in—God shield us—a lion among ladies."
2. 45. cure] Some editors prefer care Q, F, on the ground that past cure and past help are substantially the same. In Love's Labour's Lost, V. ii. 28, we have: "past cure is still past care."
3. 48. prorogue] See II. ii. 78.
4. 54. knife] White: "The ladies of Shakespeare's day customarily wore knives at their girdles."
5. 57. label] The seals of deeds, as Malone explains, in Shakespeare's time were appended on slips or labels affixed to the deed. See Richard II. V. ii. 56.