O mischief! thou are swift
To enter in the thoughts of desperate men!
I do remember an apothecary, &c.
This famous passage is so beautiful as to be self-justified; yet, in addition, what a fine preparation it is for the tomb scene!
'Ib.' sc. 3. Romeo's speech:—
Good gentle youth, tempt not a desperate man,
Fly hence and leave me.
The gentleness of Romeo was shown before, as softened by love; and now it is doubled by love and sorrow and awe of the place where he is.
'Ib.' Romeo's speech:—
How oft when men are at the point of death
Have they been merry! which their keepers call
A lightning before death. O, how may I
Call this a lightning?—O, my love, my wife! &c.
Here, here, is the master example how beauty can at once increase and modify passion!
'Ib.' Last scene.
How beautiful is the close! The spring and the winter meet;—winter assumes the character of spring, and spring the sadness of winter.