Scene V.—
2. [Shift a trencher.] "Trenchers [wooden plates] were still used by persons of good fashion in our author's time. In the Household Book of the Earls of Northumberland, compiled at the beginning of the same century, it appears that they were common to the tables of the first nobility" (Percy). To shift a trencher was a technical term. For scrape a trencher, cf. Temp. ii. 2. 187: "Nor scrape trencher, nor wash dish."
7. [Joint-stools.] A kind of folding-chair. Cf. 1 Hen. IV. ii. 4. 418, 2 Hen. IV. ii. 4. 269, etc.
8. [Court-cupboard.] Sideboard. Steevens quotes Chapman, Monsieur D'Olive, 1606: "Here shall stand my court-cupboard with its furniture of plate;" and his May-Day, 1611: "Court-cupboards planted with flaggons, cans, cups, beakers," etc. Cotgrave defines dressoir as "a court-cupboord (without box or drawer), onely to set plate on."
[Good thou.] For this vocative use of good, cf. Temp. i. 1. 3, 16, 20, C. of E. iv. 4. 22, etc.
9. [Marchpane.] A kind of almond-cake, much esteemed in the time of S. Nares gives the following from one of the old English receipt-books, Delightes for Ladies, 1608: "To make a marchpane.—Take two poundes of almonds being blanched, and dryed in a sieve over the fire, beate them in a stone mortar, and when they be small mix them with two pounde of sugar beeing finely beaten, adding two or three spoonefuls of rosewater, and that will keep your almonds from oiling: when your paste is beaten fine, drive it thin with a rowling pin, and so lay it on a bottom of wafers, then raise up a little edge on the side, and so bake it, then yce it with rosewater and sugar, then put it in the oven againe, and when you see your yce is risen up and drie, then take it out of the oven and garnish it with pretie conceipts, as birdes and beasts being cast out of standing moldes. Sticke long comfits upright in it, cast bisket and carrowaies in it, and so serve it; guild it before you serve it: you may also print of this marchpane paste in your molds for banqueting dishes. And of this paste our comfit makers at this day make their letters, knots, armes, escutcheons, beasts, birds, and other fancies." Castles and other figures were often made of marchpane, to decorate splendid desserts, and were demolished by shooting or throwing sugar-plums at them. Cf. Beaumont and Fletcher, Faithful Friends, iii. 2:—
"They barr'd their gates,
Which we as easily tore unto the earth
As I this tower of marchpane."
16. [Cheerly.] Cheerily, briskly. Cf. Temp. i. 1. 6, 29, etc.
16. [The longer liver take all.] A proverbial expression.
18. [Toes.] Pope thought it necessary to change this to "feet." Malone remarks that the word "undoubtedly did not appear indelicate to the audience of Shakespeare's time, though perhaps it would not be endured at this day." We smile at this when we recollect some of the words that were endured then; but it shows how fashions change in these matters.
21. [Deny.] Refuse. Cf. L. L. L. v. 2. 228: "If you deny to dance;" T. of S. ii. 1. 180: "If she deny to wed," etc. Makes dainty = affects coyness. Cf. K. John, iii. 4. 138:—
"And he that stands upon a slippery place
Makes nice of no vile hold to stay him up."
22. [Am I come near ye now?] Do I touch you, or hit you, now? Cf. 1 Hen IV. i. 2. 14: "Indeed, you come near me now, Hal." Schmidt is clearly wrong in giving T.N. ii. 5. 29 as another example of the phrase in this sense. He might have given T.N. iii. 4. 71.
23. [Welcome, gentlemen!] Addressed to the masked friends of Romeo.
28. [A hall, a hall!] This exclamation occurs frequently in the old comedies, and is = make room. Cf. Doctor Dodypoll, 1600: "Room! room! a hall! a hall!" and Jonson, Tale of a Tub: "Then cry, a hall! a hall!"
29. [Turn the tables up.] The tables in that day were flat leaves hinged together and placed on trestles; when removed they were therefore turned up (Steevens).
30. [The fire.] S. appears to have forgotten that the time was in summer. See p. 19 above.
32. [Cousin.] The "uncle Capulet" of i. 2. 70. The word was often used loosely = kinsman in S. Cf. iii. 1. 143 below: "Tybalt, my cousin! O my brother's child!"
37. [Nuptial.] The regular form in S. In the 1st folio nuptials occurs only in Per. v. 3. 80.
43. [What lady is that,] etc. Cf. Brooke's poem:—
"At length he saw a mayd, right fayre of perfect shape:
Which Theseus, or Paris would haue chosen to their rape.
Whom erst he neuer sawe, of all she pleasde him most:
Within himselfe he sayd to her, thou iustly mayst thee boste.
Of perfit shapes renoune, and Beauties sounding prayse:
Whose like ne hath, ne shalbe seene, ne liueth in our dayes.
And whilest he fixd on her his partiall perced eye,
His former loue, for which of late he ready was to dye,
Is nowe as quite forgotte, as it had neuer been."
47. [Her beauty hangs.] The reading of the later folios, adopted by many editors. The quartos and 1st folio have "It seemes she hangs." As Verplanck remarks, it is quite probable that the correction was the poet's own, obtained from some other MS. altered during the poet's life; it is besides confirmed by the repetition of beauty in 49. Delius, who retains it seems, thinks that the boldness of the simile led the poet to introduce it in that way; but it is Romeo who is speaking, and the simile is not over-bold for him. The commentators often err in looking at the text from the "stand-point" of the critic rather than that of the character.
48. [Ethiope's ear.] For the simile, cf. Sonn. 27. 11: "Which, like a jewel hung in ghastly night," etc. Holt White quotes Lyly, Euphues: "A fair pearl in a Morian's ear."
55. [I ne'er saw,] etc. Cf. Hen. VIII. i. 4. 75:—
"The fairest hand I ever touch'd! O beauty,
Till now I never knew thee!"
57. [What dares,] etc. How dares, or why dares, etc. Cf. 2 Hen. IV. i. 2. 129: "What tell you me of it? be it as it is;" A. and C. v. 2. 316: "What should I stay?" etc.
58. [Antic face.] Referring to Romeo's mask. Cf. ii. 4. 29 below.
59. [Fleer.] Sneer, mock; as in Much Ado, v. 1. 58, etc. For scorn at, cf. A.Y.L. iii. 5. 131, K. John, i. 1. 228, etc. We find scorn without the preposition in L. L. L. iv. 3. 147: "How will he scorn!" Solemnity here expresses only the idea of ceremony, or formal observance. Cf. the use of solemn = ceremonious, formal; as in Macb. iii. 1. 14: "To-night we hold a solemn supper, sir;" T. of S. iii. 2. 103: "our solemn festival," etc. Hunter quotes Harrington, Ariosto:—
"Nor never did young lady brave and bright
Like dancing better on a solemn day."
64. [In spite.] In malice; or, as Schmidt explains it, "only to defy and provoke us." Cf. i. 1. 75 above.
67. [Content thee.] "Compose yourself, keep your temper" (Schmidt). Cf. Much Ado, v. 1. 87, T. of S. i. 1. 90, 203, ii. 1. 343, etc. So be contented; as in M.W. iii. 3. 177, Lear, iii, 4. 115, etc.
68. [Portly.] The word here seems to mean simply "well-behaved, well-bred," though elsewhere it has the modern sense; as in M.W. i. 3. 69: "my portly belly;" 1 Hen. IV. ii. 4. 464: "A goodly portly man, i' faith, and a corpulent," etc.
72. [Do him disparagement.] Do him injury. Cf. "do danger" (J.C. ii. 1. 17), "do our country loss" (Hen. V. iv. 3. 21), "do him shame" (R. of L. 597, Sonn. 36. 10, L. L. L. iv. 3. 204), etc. See also iii. 3. 118 below.
77. [It fits.] Cf. A.W. ii. 1. 147: "where hope is coldest, and despair most fits," etc.
81. [God shall mend my soul!] Cf. A.Y.L. iv. 1. 193: "By my troth, and in good earnest, and so God mend me, and by all pretty oaths that are not dangerous," etc. See also 1 Hen. IV. iii. 1. 255.
83. [Cock-a-hoop.] "Of doubtful origin" (New. Eng. Dict.), though the meaning is clear. Set cock-a-hoop = play the bully. S. uses the word only here.
86. [Scathe.] Injure. S. uses the verb nowhere else; but cf. the noun in K. John, ii. 1. 75: "To do offence and scathe in Christendom;" Rich. III. i. 3. 317: "To pray for them that have done scathe to us," etc.
87. [Contrary.] Oppose, cross; the only instance of the verb in S. Steevens quotes Greene, Tully's Love: "to contrary her resolution;" Warner, Albion's England: "his countermand should have contraried so," etc. The accent in S. is variable. Cf. the adjective in iii. 2. 64 below.
88. [Well said.] Well done. Cf. Oth. ii. 1. 169, v. 1. 98, etc. Princox = a pert or impertinent boy; used by S. only here. Steevens quotes The Return from Parnassus, 1606: "Your proud university princox." Cotgrave renders "un jeune estourdeau superbe" by "a young princox boy."
Coleridge remarks here: "How admirable is the old man's impetuosity, at once contrasting, yet harmonized with young Tybalt's quarrelsome violence! But it would be endless to repeat observations of this sort. Every leaf is different on an oak-tree; but still we can only say, our tongues defrauding our eyes, This is another oak leaf!"
91. [Patience perforce.] Compulsory submission; a proverbial expression. Nares quotes Ray's Proverbs: "Patience perforce is a medicine for a mad dog" (or "a mad horse," as Howell gives it). Cf. Spenser, F.Q. ii. 3. 3:—
"Patience perforce: helplesse what may it boot
To frett for anger, or for griefe to mone?"
94. [Convert.] For the intransitive use, cf. R. of L. 592, Much Ado, i. 1. 123, Rich. II. v. 1. 66, v. 3. 64, etc. Some make it transitive, with now seeming sweet (= "what now seems sweet") as its object; but this seems too forced a construction.
96. [The gentle fine.] The sweet penance for the offence; that is, for the rude touch of my hand. For fine the early eds. have "sin" or "sinne." The emendation is due to Warburton; but some editors retain "sin."
105. [Let lips do,] etc. Juliet has said that palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss. She afterwards says that palmers have lips that they must use in prayer. Romeo replies that the prayer of his lips is that they may do what hands do, that is, that they may kiss.
109. [As Malone remarks,] kissing in a public assembly was not then thought indecorous. Cf. Hen. VIII. i. 4. 28.
White remarks: "I have never seen a Juliet on the stage who appeared to appreciate the archness of the dialogue with Romeo in this scene. They go through it solemnly, or at best with staid propriety. They reply literally to all Romeo's speeches about saints and palmers. But it should be noticed that though this is the first interview of the lovers, we do not hear them speak until the close of their dialogue, in which they have arrived at a pretty thorough understanding of their mutual feeling. Juliet makes a feint of parrying Romeo's advances, but does it archly, and knows that he is to have the kiss he sues for. He asks, 'Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too?' The stage Juliet answers with literal solemnity. But it was not a conventicle at old Capulet's. Juliet was not holding forth. How demure is her real answer: 'Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use—in prayer!' And when Romeo fairly gets her into the corner, towards which she has been contriving to be driven, and he says, 'Thus from my lips, by thine, my sin is purg'd,' and does put them to that purgation, how slyly the pretty puss gives him the opportunity to repeat the penance by replying, 'Then have my lips the sin that they have took!'"
114. [What.] Who; as often. Cf. 130 below.
119. [Shall have the chinks.] This seems much like modern slang. S. uses it only here; but Tusser (Husbandry, 1573) has both chink and chinks in this sense, and the word is found also in Florio, Cotgrave, Holinshed, Stanihurst, and other old writers.
120. [My life,] etc. "He means that, as bereft of Juliet he should die, his existence is at the mercy of his enemy, Capulet" (Staunton). Cf. Brooke:—
"So hath he learnd her name, and knowth she is no geast.
Her father was a Capilet, and master of the feast.
Thus hath his foe in choyse to geue him lyfe or death:
That scarsely can his wofull brest keepe in the liuely breath."
124. [Foolish.] A mere repetition of the apologetic trifling. Banquet sometimes meant a dessert, as here and in T. of S. v. 2. 9:—
"My banquet is to close our stomachs up,
After our great good cheer."
Nares quotes Massinger, Unnatural Combat:—
"We'll dine in the great room, but let the music
And banquet be prepared here;"
and Taylor, Pennilesse Pilgrim: "our first and second course being threescore dishes at one boord, and after that alwayes a banquet." Towards = ready, at hand (Steevens). So toward; as in M.N.D. iii. 1. 81: "What, a play toward!"
125. [Is it e'en so?] The 1st quarto has here the stage-direction: "They whisper in his eare;" that is, whisper the reason of their departure.
128. [By my fay.] That is, by my faith. Cf. Ham. ii. 2. 271, etc.
130. [Come hither, nurse,] etc. Cf. Brooke:—
"As carefull was the mayde what way were best deuise
To learne his name, that intertaind her in so gentle wise.
Of whome her hart receiued so deepe, so wyde a wound,
An aucient dame she calde to her, and in her eare gan rounde.[5]
This old dame in her youth, had nurst her with her mylke,
With slender nedle taught her sow, and how to spin with silke.
What twayne are those (quoth she) which prease vnto the doore,
Whose pages in theyr hand doe beare, two toorches light before.
And then as eche of them had of his household name,
So she him namde yet once agayne the yong and wyly dame.
And tell me who is he with vysor in his hand
That yender doth in masking weede besyde the window stand.
His name is Romeus (said shee) a Montegewe.
Whose fathers pryde first styrd the strife which both your householdes rewe."
136. [If he be married,] etc. "Uttered to herself while the Nurse makes inquiry" (Dowden). Married is here a trisyllable.
142. [Prodigious.] Portentous. Cf. M.N.D. v. 1. 419, K. John, iii. 1. 46, Rich. III. i. 2. 23, etc.