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JULIET By and by, I come.—
To cease thy strife and leave me to my grief.
155Tomorrow will I send.
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JULIET Alright, I’m coming!—I beg you to stop trying
for me and leave me to my sadness. Tomorrow I’ll send the
messenger.
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ROMEO So thrive my soul—
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ROMEO My soul depends on it—
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JULIET A thousand times good night!
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JULIET A thousand times good night.
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Exit JULIET, above
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JULIET exits.
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ROMEO A thousand times the worse to want thy light.
Love goes toward love as schoolboys from their books,
160But love from love, toward school with heavy looks.
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ROMEO Leaving you is a thousand times worse than being near you. A lover
goes toward his beloved as enthusiastically as a schoolboy leaving
his books, but when he leaves his girlfriend, he feels as miserable
as the schoolboy on his way to school.
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Moves to exit Reenter JULIET, above
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ROMEO starts to leave.
JULIET returns, on her balcony.
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JULIET Hist! Romeo, hist!—Oh, for a falconer’s
voice,
To lure this tassel-gentle back again!
Bondage is hoarse, and may not speak aloud,
Else would I tear the cave where Echo lies,
165And make her airy tongue more hoarse than mine,
With repetition of “My Romeo!”
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JULIET Hist, Romeo! Hist! Oh, I wish I could make a
falconer’sJuliet is trying to call to Romeo as if he was a falcon. falconer’s call, so I could bring my little falcon back again. I’m trapped in my family’s house, so I must be quiet. Otherwise I would rip open the cave whereEchoEcho, a mythical woman who was scorned by Narcissus, withered with sadness repeating his name, and after her death, her voice still reverberated in caves, which is why we have the word “echo.” Echo sleeps. I would make her repeat his name until her voice grew more hoarse than mine by repeating, “My Romeo!” |
ROMEO It is my soul that calls upon my name.
How silver-sweet sound lovers' tongues by night,
Like softest music to attending ears!
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ROMEO My soul is calling out my name. The sound of lovers calling each
others names through the night is silver-sweet. It’s the
sweetest sound a lover ever hears.
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