Mer. But I'll be hang'd, sir, if he wear your livery:
Marry, go before to field, he'll be your follower;
Your worship, in that sense, may call him-man.
Tyb. Romeo, the hate I bear thee', can afford
No better term than this-thou art a villain.
Rom. Tybalt, the reason that I have to love thee
Doth much excuse the appertaining rage
To such a greeting' :-villain am I none;
Therefore farewell: I see, thou know'st me not.
Tyb. Boy, this shall not excuse the injuries
That thou hast done me; therefore, turn and draw.
Rom. I do protest, I never injur'd thee;
But love thee better than thou canst devise,
Till thou shalt know the reason of my love:
And so, good Capulet,-which name I tender
As dearly as mine own,-be satisfied.

Mer. Oh calm, dishonourable, vile submission!
A la stoccata carries it away.

Tybalt, you rat-catcher, will you walk?

Tyb. What wouldst thou have with me?

[Draws.

Mer. Good king of cats, nothing, but one of your nine lives; that I mean to make bold withal, and, as you shall use me hereafter, dry-beat the rest of the eight. your sword out of his pilcher by the ears? mine be about your ears ere it be out. Tyb. I am for you".

Rom. Gentle Mercutio, put thy rapier up.
Mer. Come, sir, your passado.

Rom. Draw, Benvolio;

Will you pluck make haste, lest

[Drawing.

[They fight.

4 - the HATE I bear thee,] So the 4to, 1597. Subsequent copies have," the love," &c., but altered to "hate" in the corr. fo. 1632.

To such a greeting:] In the 4to, 1597, it is "Tybalt, the love I bear thee doth excuse the appertaining rage to such a word:" the other variations here are less important. For "excuse the corr. fo. 1632 has exceed, making the meaning to be, that the love Romeo bears Tybalt goes far beyond the rage he should otherwise have felt at such a greeting.

6 - your sword out of his PILCHER by the ears?] So all the later editions but the first, which has scabbard, thereby explaining what was meant by "pilcher." A pilch is a covering of leather, as appears by Nash's "Pierce Penniless," 1592, Sign. B, and several other examples; but no other instance has been adduced of the use of the word "pilcher" in this way in any other author. Very likely the last syllable was accidentally added by the printer, and that Mercutio said "Pluck your sword out of his pilch."

7 I am for you.] In the 4to, 1597, we have nothing more till after the exit of Tybalt and his partisans, the following stage-direction being substituted, "Tybalt, under Romeo's arm, thrusts Mercutio in, and flies."

Beat down their weapons!-gentlemen, for shame
Forbear this outrage!-Tybalt-Mercutio—
The prince expressly hath forbid this bandying
In Verona streets.-Hold, Tybalt!-good Mercutio!

Mer. I am hurt ;—

[Exeunt TYBALT and his Partisans.

A plague o' both the houses!—I am sped :—
Is he gone, and hath nothing?

Ben.

What! art thou hurt?

Mer. Ay, ay, a scratch, a scratch; marry, 'tis enough.— Where is my page ?-go, villain, fetch a surgeon.

[Exit Page. Rom. Courage, man; the hurt cannot be much. Mer. No, 'tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church door; but 'tis enough, 'twill serve: ask for me to-morrow, and you shall find me a grave man. I am peppered, I warrant, for this world:-a plague o' both your houses!-'Zounds! a dog, a rat, a mouse, a cat, to scratch a man to death! a braggart, a rogue, a villain, that fights by the book of arithmetic!Why, the devil, came you between us? I was hurt under

your arm.

Rom. I thought all for the best.

Mer. Help me into some house, Benvolio,

Or I shall faint.-A plague o' both your houses!

They have made worms' meat of me :

I have it, and soundly too:-your houses!

[Exeunt MERCUTIO and BENVOLIO. Rom. This gentleman, the prince's near ally, My very friend, hath got his mortal hurt In my behalf; my reputation stain'd With Tybalt's slander, Tybalt, that an hour Hath been my cousin ;-Oh, sweet Juliet'! Thy beauty hath made me effeminate, And in my temper soften'd valour's steel.

Re-enter BENVOLIO.

Ben. O Romeo, Romeo! brave Mercutio's dead;

That gallant spirit hath aspir'd the clouds,

8 as a CHURCH door;] "As a barn door," 4to, 1597, where Mercutio's speech is shorter.

9 Hath been my COUSIN ;-Oh, SWEET Juliet!] The 4to, 1597, has kinsman for "cousin," and omits "sweet." Five lines farther on it reads scorn'd the lowly earth, for "here did scorn the earth."

Which too untimely here did scorn the earth.

Rom. This day's black fate on more days doth depend; This but begins the woe, others must end.

Re-enter TYBALT.

Ben. Here comes the furious Tybalt back again.
Rom. Alive! in triumph! and Mercutio slain!
Away to heaven, respective lenity,

And fire-ey'd fury' be my conduct now!-
Now, Tybalt, take the villain back again,
That late thou gav'st me; for Mercutio's soul
Is but a little way above our heads,
Staying for thine to keep him company:
Either thou, or I, or both, must go with him.

Tyb. Thou, wretched boy, that didst consort him here,
Shalt with him hence.

Rom.

This shall determine that.

[They fight; TYBALT falls.

Ben. Romeo, away! be gone!

The citizens are up, and Tybalt slain :

Stand not amaz'd:-the prince will doom thee death,
If thou art taken.-Hence !-be gone!-away!

Rom. Oh! I am fortune's fool.

Ben.

Why dost thou stay?

[Exit ROMEO.

Enter Citizens, &c.

1 Cit. Which way ran he that kill'd Mercutio?

Tybalt, that murderer, which way ran he?

Ben. There lies that Tybalt.

1 Cit.

Up, sir:-go with me;

I charge thee in the prince's name, obey.

Enter the Prince, attended; MONTAGUE, CAPULET, their Wives, and others.

Prin. Where are the vile beginners of this fray?
Ben. Oh noble prince! I can discover all

The unlucky manage of this fatal brawl:

1 And fire-EY'D fury] So the 4to, 1597. The 4to, 1599, and later copies read, poorly, "And fire and fury." The epithet "fire-ey'd" is restored in the corr. fo. 1632,-possibly from the earliest 4to, but more probably from correct recitation on the stage.

There lies the man, slain by young Romeo,

That slew thy kinsman, brave Mercutio.

La. Cap. Tybalt, my cousin!-Oh my brother's child! Oh prince! Oh cousin! husband! Oh, the blood is spill'd Of my dear kinsman !-Prince, as thou art true,

For blood of our's shed blood of Montague.

Oh cousin, cousin!

Prin. Benvolio, who began this bloody fray?

Ben. Tybalt, here slain, whom Romeo's hand did slay :
Romeo, that spoke him fair, bade him bethink
How nice the quarrel was2; and urg'd withal
Your high displeasure:-all this, uttered

With gentle breath, calm look, knees humbly bow'd,
Could not take truce with the unruly spleen

Of Tybalt, deaf to peace, but that he tilts
With piercing steel at bold Mercutio's breast;
Who, all as hot, turns deadly point to point,

And, with a martial scorn, with one hand beats
Cold death aside, and with the other sends
It back to Tybalt, whose dexterity

Retorts it home. Romeo he cries aloud,

"Hold, friends! friends, part!" and, swifter than his tongue,

4

His agile arm beats down their fatal points,

And 'twixt them rushes; underneath whose arm,

An envious thrust from Tybalt hit the life

Of stout Mercutio, and then Tybalt fled;
But by and by comes back to Romeo,
Who had but newly entertain'd revenge,
And to't they go like lightning; for ere I
Could draw to part them was stout Tybalt slain;
And as he fell did Romeo turn and fly.
This is the truth, or let Benvolio die.

La. Cap. He is a kinsman to the Montague;
Affection makes him false, he speaks not true.

2 How NICE the quarrel was ;] i. e. How trifling, how slight or insignificant, as frequently before; and the word is used again precisely in the same sense in A. v. sc. 2 of this play.

3 Retorts it HOME.] The word "home," necessary to the metre and giving force to the line, is from the corr. fo. 1632. We can readily suppose that it had dropped out in the press.

4 His AGILE arm] So the 4to, 1597. The 4tos, 1599 and 1600, and the folio, 1623, read, "His aged arm," which the folio, 1632, corrected to "His able arm.'" It therefore stands " able arm "" in the folios, 1664 and 1685, but the old annotator on the folio, 1632, erased able and inserted “agile" in the margin.

Some twenty of them fought in this black strife,
And all those twenty could but kill one life.
I beg for justice, which thou, prince, must give:
Romeo slew Tybalt, Romeo must not live.

Prin. Romeo slew him, he slew Mercutio';
Who now the price of his dear blood doth owe?
Mon. Not Romeo, prince, he was Mercutio's friend;
His fault concludes but what the law should end,
The life of Tybalt.

Prin.

And for that offence,
Immediately we do exile him hence:

I have an interest in your hate's proceeding,
My blood for your rude brawls doth lie a bleeding;
But I'll amerce you with so strong a fine,
That you shall all repent the loss of mine.
I will be deaf to pleading and excuses,

Nor tears, nor prayers, shall purchase out abuses;
Therefore, use none: let Romeo hence in haste,
Else, when he's found, that hour is his last.
Bear hence this body, and attend our will:
Mercy but murders, pardoning those that kill'.

[Exeunt.

SCENE II.

A Room in CAPULET'S House.

Enter JULIET.

Jul. Gallop apace, you fiery-footed steeds, Towards Phoebus' mansion"; such a waggoner As Phaeton would whip you to the west,

5 Romeo slew him, he slew Mercutio;] This and the three following lines have no place in the 4to, 1597, which, besides minor variations which we need not particularly specify, omits "Affection makes him false, he speaks not true," in the preceding speech.

6 in your HATE's proceeding,] All editions, but the first, read corruptly, "in your heart's proceeding;" but it is amended to "hate's proceeding" in the corr. fo. 1632, though, as usual, it does not appear from whence the better text was obtained.

7 Mercy BUT murders, pardoning those that kill.] So the 4tos, 1599 and 1609: the folio, 1623, "Mercy not murders," &c., another of the many places in which the old printers confounded " but " and not.

8 Towards Phoebus' MANSION ;] "Mansion" is from the 4to, 1597: the later 4tos, and folio, substitute lodging.