Shakespeare's Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare (best book series to read txt) π
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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.
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Page. [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,
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.β [The Page whistles.
The boy gives warning something doth approach.
What cursed foot wanders this way to-night,
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To cross my obsequies and true love's rite?
What, with a torch!βmuffle me, night, awhile. [Retires.
Enter Romeo and Balthasar, with a torch, mattock, etc.
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.
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,
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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,
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.
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Balthasar. 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. Thou detestable maw, thou womb of death,
Gorg'd 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
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That murther'd my love's cousin,βwith which grief,
It is supposed, the fair creature died,β
And here is come to do some villanous shame
To the dead bodies; I will apprehend him.β [Advances.
Stop thy unhallow'd toil, vile Montague!
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.
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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;
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
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And apprehend thee for a felon here.
Romeo. 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!β[Falls.] If thou be merciful,
Open the tomb, lay me with Juliet. [Dies.
Romeo. In faith, I will.βLet 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;
Said he not so? or did I dream it so?
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Or am I mad, hearing him talk of Juliet,
To think it was so?βO, give me thy hand,
One writ with me in sour misfortune's book!
I'll bury thee in a triumphant grave,β
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.β [Laying Paris in the tomb.
How oft when men are at the point of death
Have they been merry! which their keepers call
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A lightning before death; O, how may I
Call this a lightning?βO my love! my wife!
Death, that hath suck'd the honey of thy breath,
Hath had no power yet upon thy beauty.
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.β
Tybalt, liest thou there in thy bloody sheet?
O, what more favour can I do to thee
Than with that hand that cut thy youth in twain
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To sunder his that was thine enemy?
Forgive me, cousin!βAh, dear Juliet,
Why art thou yet so fair? shall I believe
That unsubstantial Death is amorous,
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
With worms that are thy chamber-maids; O, here
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Will I set up my everlasting rest,
And shake the yoke of inauspicious stars
From this world-wearied flesh.βEyes, look your last!
Arms, take your last embrace! and, lips, O you
The doors of breath, seal with a righteous kiss
A dateless bargain to engrossing death!β
Come, bitter conduct, come, unsavoury guide!
Thou desperate pilot, now at once run on
The dashing rocks thy sea-sick weary bark!
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Here's to my love! [Drinks.]βO true apothecary!
Thy drugs are quick.βThus 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!βWho's there?
Balthasar. 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 Capels' monument.
Balthasar. It doth so, holy sir; and there's my master,
One that you love.
Friar Laurence. Who is it?
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Balthasar.Romeo.
Friar Laurence. How long hath he been there?
Balthasar.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
If I did stay to look on his intents.
Friar Laurence. Stay, then; I 'll go alone.βFear 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,
And that my master slew him. [Exit.
Friar Laurence. Romeo!β [Advances.
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Alack, alack, what blood is this, which stains
The stony entrance of this sepulchre?β
What mean these masterless and gory swords
To lie discolour'd by this place of peace?β [Enters the tomb.
Romeo! O, pale!βWho else? what, Paris too?
And steep'd in blood?βAh, what an unkind hour
Is guilty of this lamentable chance!β
The lady stirs. [Juliet wakes.
Juliet. O comfortable friar! where is my lord?β
I do remember well where I should be,
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And there I am.βWhere is my Romeo? [Noise within.
Friar Laurence. I hear some noise.βLady, come from that nest
Of death, contagion, and unnatural sleep;
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.
Stay not to question, for the watch is coming;
Come, go, good Juliet. [Noise again.]βI dare no longer stay.
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Juliet. Go, get thee hence, for I will not away. [Exit Friar Laurence.
What's here? a cup, clos'd in my true love's hand?
Poison, I see, hath been his timeless end.β
O churl! drunk all, and left no friendly drop
To help me after?βI will kiss thy lips;
Haply some poison yet doth hang on them,
To make me die with a restorative. [Kisses him.
Thy lips are warm.
1 Watch. [Within] Lead, boy; which way?
Juliet. Yea, noise? then I'll be brief.βO happy dagger! [Snatching Romeo's dagger.
This is thy sheath [Stabs herself]; there rest, and let me die.
[Falls on Romeo's body, and dies.
Enter Watch, with the Page of Paris
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Page. This is the place; there, where the torch doth burn.
1 Watch. The ground is bloody; search about the churchyard.
Go, some of you, whoe'er you find attach.β
[Exeunt some.
Pitiful sight! here lies the county slain;
And Juliet bleeding, warm, and newly dead,
Who here hath lain these two days buried.β
Go, tell the prince;βrun to the Capulets;β
Raise up the Montagues;βsome others search.β [Exeunt other Watchmen.
We see the ground whereon these woes do lie;
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But the true ground of all these piteous woes
We cannot without circumstance descry.
Re-enter some of the Watch, with Balthasar
2 Watch. Here's Romeo's man; we found him in the churchyard.
1 Watch. Hold him in safety till the prince come hither.
Re-enter others of the Watch, with Friar Laurence
3 Watch. Here is a friar, that trembles, sighs, and weeps.
We took this mattock and this spade from him,
As he was coming from this churchyard side.
1 Watch. 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
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Capulet. What should it be that they so shriek abroad?
Lady Capulet. 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?
1 Watch. Sovereign, here lies the County Paris