Scene VI.—
9. [These violent delights,] etc. Malone compares R. of L. 894: "These violent vanities can never last." He might have added Ham. ii. 1. 102:—
"This is the very ecstasy of love,
Whose violent property fordoes itself."
10. [Like fire and powder.] For the simile, cf. iii. 3. 132 and v. 1. 64 below.
12. [His.] Its; as often. Its was just coming into use when S. wrote. Cf. v. 3. 203 below.
13. [Confounds.] Destroys; as often. Cf. Macb. ii. 2. 12, iv. 1. 54, iv. 3. 99, etc. So confusion often = destruction, ruin; as in iv. 5. 61 below.
15. [Too swift,] etc. "The more haste, the worse speed."
17. [Will ne'er wear out,] etc. White thinks that the reading of the 1st quarto, "So light a foot ne'er hurts the trodden flower," is "a daintier and more graceful, and therefore, it would seem, a more appropriate figure." The quarto, it is true, gives the "daintier" figure, which has been used by the poets from Pope's description of Camilla flying "o'er the unbending corn" to Tennyson's Olivia in The Talking Oak:—
"The flower she touch'd on dipt and rose,
And turn'd to look at her."
It would be appropriate in the Friar's mouth if he were in the fields, as in ii. 3, and Juliet had met him there. Very likely S. at first wrote it as in the quarto, but his poetic instinct led him to change it in revising the play. The speaker is now in his cell, with its stone floor worn by the tread of many heavy feet—such as one sees in old churches and monasteries in Europe—but Juliet's light step will not thus wear "the everlasting flint." The comparison is natural and apt.
18. [Gossamer.] Light filaments floating in the air, especially in autumn. Their origin was formerly not understood, but they are now known to be the webs of certain species of spiders. Cf. Lear, iv. 6. 49: "Hadst thou been aught but gossamer, feathers, air." S. uses the word only twice.
20. [Vanity.] "Here used for 'trivial pursuit,' 'vain delight.' The word was much used in this sense by divines in Shakespeare's time, and with much propriety is so put into the good old Friar's mouth" (Clarke).
21. [Confessor.] For the accent on the first syllable, cf. M. for M. iv. 3. 133: "One of our covent and his confessor;" and Hen. VIII. i. 2. 149: "His confessor, who fed him every minute," etc. See also iii. 3. 49 below.
25. [And that.] And if. This use of that (in place of a preceding conjunction) is common in S. Cf. L. L. L. v. 2. 813, T. and C. ii. 2. 179, etc.
26. [Blazon it.] Set it forth. Cf. Oth. ii. 1. 63: "One that excels the quirks of blazoning pens," etc.
29. [Encounter.] Meeting. It is often used, as here, of the meeting of lovers. Cf. Much Ado, iii. 3. 161, iv. 1. 94, M.W. iii. 5. 74, etc.
30. [Conceit.] Conception, imagination. Cf. Ham. iii. 4. 114: "Conceit in weakest bodies strongest works," etc. So conceited = imaginative in R. of L. 1371: "the conceited painter," etc.
32. [They are but beggars,] etc. Cf. A. and C. i. 1. 15: "There's beggary in the love that can be reckon'd." Worth = wealth.
36. [Leaves.] The plural is used because the reference is to more than one person; a common construction in S. Cf. Rich. II. iv. 1. 314: "your sights," etc.