The towne of Juliet's byrth was wholly bufied
About her obfequies, to fee theyr darling buried.
Now is the parentes' myrth quite chaunged into mone,
And now to forow is retornde the joy of every one;

And now the wedding weades for mourning weades they chaunge,
And Hymena into a dyrge ;-alas! it feemeth ftraunge:
Infteade of mariage gloves, now funerall gownes they have,
And whom they thould fee married, they follow to the grave.
The feast that should have been of pleafure and of joy,
Hath every dish and cup fild full of forow and annoye.
Now throughout Italy this common ufe they have,

That all the best of every stocke are earthed in one grave;
For every houfhold, if it be of any fame,

Doth bylde a tombe, or digge a vault, that beares the houfholde's

name;

Wherein, if any of that kindred hap to dye,

They are beftowde; els in the fame no other corps may lye.
The Capilets her corps in fuch a one did lay,

Where Tybalt flaine of Romeus was laide the other day.
An other ufe there is, that whofoever dyes,

Borne to their church with open face upon the beere helyes,

In wonted weede attyrde, not wrapt in winding fheet.

So, as by chaunce he walked abrode, our Ronicus' man did meete His master's wife; the fight with forow ftraight did wounde

His honest hart; with teares he faw her lodged under ground. And, for he had been fent to Verone for a fpre,

The doinges of the Capilets by wifdome to deferye,

And, for he knew her death dyd tooch his mailler moft,
Alas! too foone, with heavy newes, he hyed away in poft;
And in his houfe he found his mailler Romeus,

Where he, befprent with many teares, began to fpeake him thus :
"Syr, unto you of late is chaunced fo gicat a harme,
That fure, except with conftancy you fecke yourfelfe to arme,
I feare that straight you will breathe out your latter breath,
And I, moft wretched wight, fhall be thoccafion of your death.
Know fyr, that yesterday, my lady and your wife,

I wot not by what fodain greefe, hath made exchaunge of lyfe;
And for becaufe on earth the found nought but unreit,
In heaven hath the fought to fynde a place of quiet rett;
And with thefe weping eyes my felie have feene her layde
Within the tombe of Capilets ;"--and herewithall he fayde.
This fodayne meffage' founde, fent forth with fighes and teares,
Our Romeus receaved too foone with open liftening eares;
And therby hath fonke fuch forow in his hart,

That loe, his fprite annoyed fore with torment and with smart,
Was like to break out of his prifon-house perforce,

And that he might flye after hers, would leave the mafly corce :

But

But earnest love that will not fayle him till his ende,
This fond and fodain fantasy into his head dyd fende
That if near unto her he offred up his breath,

;

That than an hundred thoufand parts more glorious were his

death:

Eke fhould his painful heart a great deal more be eased,
And more alfo, he vainely thought, his lady better pleased.
Wherefore when he his face hath wafht with water cleane,
Left that the staynes of dryed teares might on his checkes be
feene,

And fo his forow should of every one be spyde,

Which he with all his care did feeke from every one to hyde,
Straight, wery of the house, he walketh forth abrode;
His fervant, at the master's heft, in chaumber still abode :
And then fro ftreate to ftreate he wandreth up and downe,
To fee if he in any place may fynde, in all the towne,
A falve meet for his fore, an oyle fit for his wounde;
And feeking long, alac too foone! the thing he fought, he founde.
An apothecary fate unbufied at his doore,

Whom by his heavy countenaunce he geffed to be poore.

And in his fhop he faw his boxes were but few,

And in his window of his wares there was fo fmall a fhew;

Wherefore our Romeus affuredly hath thought,

What by no fiendship fhould be got, with money could be bought;
For nedy lacke is like the poor man to compell

To fell that which the citie's lawe forbiddeth him to fell.
Then by the hand he drew the nedy man apart,

And with the fight of glittering gold inflamed hath his hart:
"Take fiftie crownes of gold (quoth he) I geve them thee,
So that, before I part from hence, thou straight deliver me
Somme poyfon ftrong, that may in leffe than halfe an howre
Kill him whofe wretched hap thall be the potion to devowre."
The wretch by covetife is wonne, and doth affent

To fell the thing, whofe fale ere long, too late, he doth repent.
In hafte he poyfon fought, and closely he it bounde,

And then beganne with whispering voyce thus in his eare to rounde: "Fayre fyr, quoth he, be fure this is the fpeding gere,

And more there is than you fhall nede; for halfe of that is there
Will ferve, I undertake, in leffe than halfe an howre

To kill the ftrongeft man alive; fuch is the poyfon's power."
Then Romeus, fomewhat eafd of one part of his care,
Within his bofome putteth up his dere unthrifty ware.
Retoorning home agayne, he fent his man away,

To Verone towne, and chargeth him that he, without delay,
Provyde both inftruments to open wide the toombe,

And lightes to fhew him Juliet; and stay till he fhall comme,
Nere to the place whereas his loving wife doth rest,

And chargeth him not to bewray the dolours of his breft,

VOL. X.

R

Peter,

Peter, thefe heard, his leave doth of his master take ;
Betimes he commes to towne, fuch haft the painfull man dyd

make:

And then with bufy care he feeketh to fulfill,

But doth difclofe unto no wight his wofull master's will.
Would God, he had herein broken his mafter's heft!
Would God, that to the frier he had difclofed all his breft!
But Romeus the while with many a dedly thought
Provoked much, hath caufed inke and paper to be brought,
And in few lines he did of all his love dyfcoorfe,

How by the frier's helpe, and by the knowledge of the noorfe,
The wedlocke knot was knit, and by what meane that night
And many moe he did enjoy his happy hart's delight;
Where he the poyfon bought, and how his lyfe fhould ende;
And fo his waileful tragedy the wretched man hath pend.
The letters cloid and feald, directed to his fyre,

He locketh in his purfe, and then a poft-hors doth he hyre,
When he approched nere, he warely lighted downe;
And even with the shade of night he entred Verone towne ;
Where he hath found his man, wayting when he should comme,
With lanterne, and with inftruments to open Juliet's toomme.
Helpe Peter, helpe, quode he, helpe to remove the ftone,
And ftraight when I am gone fro thee, my Juliet to bemone,
See that thou get thee hence, and on the payne of death
I charge thee that thou come not nere while I abyde beneath,
Ne fecke thou not to let thy mafter's enterprife,
Which he hath fully purpofed to doe, in any wife.
Take there a letter, which, as foone at he fall ryfe,
Prefent it in the morning to my loving father's eyes;
Which unto him perhaps farre pleafanter shall feeme,
Than eyther I do mynd to fay, or thy grofe head can deeme.
Now Peter, that knew not the purpose of his hart,
Obediently a little way withdrewe himselfe apart;
And then our Romeus, the vault ftone fet upright,
Defcended downe, and in his hand he bare the candle light.
And then with piteous eye the body of his wyfe

He gan behold, who furely was the organ of his lyfe;
For whom unhappy now he is, but crit was blyft;

He watred her with teares, and then a hundred times her kyft;
And in his folded armes full ftraightly he her plight,
But no way could his greedy eyes be filled with her fight:
His fearfull handes he laide upon her ftomach colde,
And them on divers partes befyde the wofull wight did hold.
But when he could not fynd the fignes of lyfe he fought,
Out of his curfed box he drew the poyfon that he bought;
Whereof he gredely devowrde the greater part,

And then he cryde, with dedly figh fetcht from his mourning

hart

"Oh Juliet, of whom the world unworthy was,

From which, for worlde's unworthines thy worthy goft did paffe,
What death more pleasant could my hart wish to abyde

Then that which here it fuffreth now, fo nere thy frendly fyde?
Or els fo glorious tombe how could my youth have craved,
As in one felfe fame vaulte with thee haply to be engraved ?
What epitaph more worth, or halfe fo excellent,

To confecrate my memorye, could any man invent,
As this our mutual and our piteous facrifice

Of lyfe, fet light for love?"but while he talketh in this wife,
And thought as yet a while his dolours to enforce,

His tender hart began to faynt, preft with the venom's force;
Which little and little gan to overcomme his hart,

And whilft his bufy eyne he threw about to every part,
He faw, hard by the corce of fleeping Juliet,

Bold Tybalt's carkas dead, which was not all confumed yet.
To whom, as having lyfe, in this fort fpeaketh he:

"Ah cofin dere, Tybalt, where fo thy restles fprite now be,
With stretched handes to thee for mercy now I crye,
For that before thy kindly howre I forced thee to dye.
But if with quenched lyfe not quenched be thine yre,
But with revenging luft as yet thy hart be fet on fyre,
What more amendes, or cruell wrecke defyreft thou

To fee on me, then this which here is fhewd forth to thee now?
Who reft by force of armes from thee thy loving breath,

The fame with his owne hand, thou feeft, doth poyson himselfe to death.

And for he caused thee in tombe too foone to lye,

Too foon alfo, younger than thou, himfelfe he layeth by."
Thefe fayd, when he gan feele the poyfon's force prevayle,
And little and little maftred lyfe for aye began to fayl,
Kneeling upon his knees, he faid with voyce full lowe-
"Lord Chrift, that fo to rauniome me defcended long agoe
Out of thy father's bofome, and in the virgin's wombe
Didft put on flefhe, oh let my plaint out of this hollow toombe,
Perce through the ayre, and graunt my fute may favour finde;
Take pity on my finneful and my poor affected mynde!
For well enough I know, this body is but clay,
Nought but a maffe of finne, to frayle, and fubject to decay."
Then preffed with extreme greefe he threw with fo great force
His overpreffed parts upon his ladie's wayled corps,
That now his weakened hart, weakened with tormentes paft,
Unable to abyde this pang, the fharpest and the last,
Remayned quite deprived of fenfe and kindly strength,

And fo the long imprifoned foul hath freedome wonne at length..
Ah cruell death, too foone, too foone was this devorse,

Twixt youthfull Romeus' heavenly fprite, and his fayre earthly

@orfe.

The fryer that knew what time the powder had been taken,
Knew eke the very inftant when the fleper fhould awaken ;
But wondring that he could no kinde of aunfwer heare,
Of letters which to Romeus his fellow fryer did bare.
Out of Saint Frauncis' church hymfelfe alone dyd fare,
And for the opening of the tombe meete inftrumentes he bare.
Approching nigh the place, and feeing there the light,
Great horror felt he in his hart, by firaunge and fodaine fight;
Till Peter, Romeus' man, his coward hart made bolde,
When of his mafter's being there the certaine newes he tolde :
"There hath he been, quoth he, this halfe howre at the leaft,
And in this time, I dare well fay, his plaint hath fill increaft,"
Then both they entered in, where they alas! dyd fynde
The breatheles corps of Romeus, formaken of the mynde;
Where they have made fuch mone, as they may best conceve,
That have with perfect frendship loved, whofe frend feerce death
dyd reve.

But whilft with piteous playnt they Romeus fate bewepe,
An howre to late fayre Juliet awaked out of flepe *;

And

In the original Italian Novel Juliet awakes from her trance before the death of Romeo. Shakspeare has been arraigned for departing from it, and lofing fo happy an opportunity of introducing an affecting fcene. He was mifled, we fee, by the piece now before us. The curious reader may perhaps not be difpleafed to compare the conclufion of this celebrated flory, as it flands in the Giulietta of Luigi da Porto, with the prefent poem. It is as follows:

A quefto ultimo penfiero si gli fu la fortuna favorevole, chę la fera del di feguente, che la donna era ftata feppellita, in Verona, fenza eller da perfona conofciuto, entrò, e afpettava la notte; c gia fentendo ogni parte di filenzio piena, al luogo de' frati Minori, ove l'arca era fi ridute. Era quefta Chiefa nella Citadella, ove questi frati in quel tempo flavono: e avvegnacchè dipoi', non só come, lafciandola, veniffero a ftare nel borgo di S. Zeno, nel luogo, che ora fanto Bernardino fi noma, pure fu ella dal proprio fanto Francefco già abitata: preffo le mura della quale, dal canto di fuori, erano allora lucghi fuori delle chiefe veggiamo: ung de quali antica fepoltura de tutti e Cappelletti era, e nel quale la bella giovane fi ftava. A quello accoflatofi Romeo, (che forfe verfo le quattro ore effer poteva) e come uomo di gran nerbo, che egli era, per forza il coperchio levatogli, e con certi legni che feco portati aveva in modo puntellato avendolo, che contra fua voglia chiuder non fi poteva, dentro vi entró, e lo richiufe. Aveva feço il fventurato giovane recato una lume orba, per la fua donna alquanto vedere; la quale, rinchiufo nell arca, di fubito tirò fuori e aperfe. Et ivi la fua bella Giulietta tra offa e ftracci di molti morti, come morta vide giacere. Onde immantinente forte piagnendo, cocì comminciò: O occhi, che agli occhi miei fofte, mentre al cielo piacqe, chiare luei! O bocca, da me mille volte si dolcemente bafciata, e dalla quale così faggie parole fi udiyano! O bel petto che il mio cuore intanta letizia albergafti"! ove

jo