The wretch by covetise is wonne, and doth assent To sell the thing, whose sale ere long, too late, he doth repent. In haste he poyson sought, and closely he it bounde, And then began with whispering voyce thus in his eare to rounde: "Fayr syr, quoth he, be sure this is the speding gere, And more there is than you shall nede; for halfe of that is there To Verone towne, and chargeth him that he, without delay, And lightes to shew him Juliet; and stay, till he shall comme, And chargeth him not to bewray the dolours of his brest. Betimes he commes to towne, such hast the painfull man dyẻ make: And then with busy care he seeketh to fulfill, But doth disclose unto no wight his wofull masters will. Would God, that to the frier he had disclosed all his brest! Provoked much, hath caused inke and paper to be brought, How by the friers helpe, and by the knowledge of the noorse, He locketh in his purse, and then a post-hors doth he hyre. Than eyther I do mynd to say, or thy grose head can deeme. And then with piteous eye the body of his wyfe He gan behold, who surely was the organ of his lyfe; He watred her with teares, and then a hundred times her kyst; But no way could his greedy eyes be filled with her sight: And them on diverse parts besyde the wofull wight did hold. And then he cryde, with dedly sigh fetcht from his mourning hart "Oh Juliet, of whom the world unworthy was, From which, for worldes unworthines thy worthy gost did passe, To consecrate my memorye, could any man invent, As this our mutual and our piteous sacrifice Of lyfe, set light for love?"--but while he talketh in this wise, His tender hart began to faynt, prest with the venoms force; And whilst his busy eyne he threwe about to every part, Bold Tybalts carkas dead, which was not all consumed yet. "Ah cosin dere, Tybalt, where so thy restles sprite now be, To see on me, then this which here is shewd forth to thee now? And for he caused thee in tombe too soone to lye Too soone also, yonger then thou, himselfe he layeth by." Nought but a masse of sinne, to frayle, and subject to decay." Then pressed with extreme greefe he threw with so great force That now his weakened hart, weakened with tormentes past, corse. The fryer that knew what time the powder had been taken, But whilst with piteous playnt they Romeus fate bewepe, * In the original Italian Novel Juliet awakes from her trance before the death of Romeo. Shakspeare has been arraigned for departing from it, and losing so happy an opportunity of introducing an affecting scene. He was misled, we see, by the piece now before us. The curious reader may perhaps not be displeased to compare the conclusion of this celebrated story as it stands in the Giulietta of Luigi da Porto, with the present poem. It is as follows: "So favourable was fortune to this his last purpose, that on the evening of the day subsequent to the lady's funeral, undiscovered by any, he entered Verona, and there awaited the coming of night; and now perceiving that all was silent, he betook himself to the monastery of the Minor Friars, where was the vault. The church, where these monks then dwelt, was in the citadel, though since, for what reason I know not, they have transferred their habitation to the Borgo di S. Zeno, in that place which is now called Santo Bernardino; yet is it certain that their former mansion had been inhabited by Saint Francis himself. Near the walls of this church, on the outside, were at that time certain buildings, such as we usually see adjoining to churches, one of which was the ancient sepulcher of the Capelletti family, and in this the fair damsel had been deposited. At this place, about four hours after mid 1 And much amasde to see in tombe so great a light, She wist not if she saw a dreame, or sprite that walkd by night. night, Romeo being arrived, and having, as a man of superior strength, by force raised the stone which covered the vault, and, with certain wedges, which he had brought with him for that purpose, having so prop'd it that it could not be fastened down contrary to his desire, he entered, and reclosed the entrance. "The unhappy youth, that he might behold his lady, had brought with him a dark lantern, which, after closing the vault, he drew forth, and opened; and there, amidst the bones and fragments of many dead bodies, he beheld the fair Julietta lying as if dead. Whence suddenly breaking out into a flood of tears, he thus began: O eyes, which, while it pleased the Heavens, were to my eyes the brightest lights! O lips, by me a thousand times so sweetly kissed, and from whence were heard the words of wisdom! O beauteous breast, in which my heart rejoiced to dwell! where do I now find you, blind, mute, and cold? how without you do I see, do I speak, do I live? Alas, my miserable lady, whither hast thou been conducted by that love, whose will it now is that this narrow space shall both destroy and lodge two wretched lovers! Ah me! an end like this my hope promised not, nor that desire which first inflamed me with love for you! O unfortunate life, why do I support you? and so saying, he covered with kisses her eyes, her lips, her breast, bursting every instant into more abundant lamentation; in the midst of which he cried, O, ye walls, which hang over me, why do you not render my life still more short by crushing me in your ruin' But since death is at all times in our power, it is dastardly to desire it, and not to snatch it: and, with these words, he drew forth from his sleeve the vial of deadly poison, which he had there concealed, and thus proceeded: I know not what destiny conducts me to die in the midst of my enemies, of those by me slain, and in their sepulcher; but since, O my soul, thus near my love it delights us to die, here let us die! and, approaching to his lips the mortal draught, he received it entire into his bosom; when embracing the beloved maid, and strongly straining her to his breast, he cried,- thou beauteous body, the utmost limit of all my desires, if, after the soul is departed, any sentiment yet remains in you, or, if that sou! now beholds my cruel fate, let it not be displeasing to you, that, unable to live with you joyfully and openly, at the least I should die with you sadly and secretly;-and holding the body straitly embraced, he awaited death. "The hour was now arrived, when by the natural heat of the damsel the cold and powerful effects of the powder should have been overcome, and when she should awake; and accordingly embraced and violently agitated by Romeo, she awoke in his arms, and, starting into life, after a heavy sigh, she cried, Alas, where am I? who is it thus embraces me? by whom am I thus kissed? and, believing it was the Frier Lorenzo, she exclaimed, Do you thus, O friar, keep your faith with Romeo? is it thus you Q ૧૩ But cumming to her selfe she knew them, and said thus: safely conduct me to him? Romeo, perceiving the lady to be alive, wondered exceedingly, and thinking perhaps on Pigmalion, he said, Do you not know me, O my sweet lady? see you not that I am your wretched spouse, secretly and alone come from Mantua to perish by you? Julietta seeing herself in the monument, and perceiving that she was in the arms of one who called himself Romeo, was well nigh out of her senses, and pushing him a little from her, and gazing on his face, she instantly knew him, and embracing gave him a thousand kisses, saying, What folly has excited you, with such imminent danger, to enter here? Was it not sufficient to have understood by my letters how I had contrived, with the help of Friar Lorenzo, to feign death, and that I should shortly have been with you? The unhappy youth, then perceiving his fatal mistake, thus began: O miserable lot! O wretched Romeo! O, by far the most afflicted of all lovers! On this subject never have I received your letters! and he then proceeded to inform her how Pietro had given him intelligence of her pretended death, as if it had been real, whence, believing her dead, he had, in order to accompany her, in death, even there close by her, taken the poison, which, as most subtile, he already felt, had sent forth death through all his limbs. "The unfortunate damsel hearing this, remained so overpowered with grief, that she could do nothing but tear her lovely locks, and beat and bruise her innocent breast; and at length to Romeo, who already lay supine, kissing him often, and pouring over him a flood of tears, more pale than ashes, and trembling all over, she thus spoke: Must you then, O, lord of my heart, must you then die in my presence, and through my means! and will the heavens permit that I should survive you, though but for a moment? Wretched me! O, that I could at least transfer my life to you, and die alone!-to which, with a languid voice, the youth replied: If ever my faith and my love were dear to you, live, O my best hope! by these I conjure you, that after my death, life should not be displeasing to you, if for no other reason, at least that you may think on him, who, penetrated with passion, for your sake, and before your dear eyes, now perishes! To this the damsel answered: If for my pretended death you now die, what ought I to do for yours which is real? It only grieves me that here, in your presence, I have not the means of death, and, inasmuch as I survive you, I detest myself! yet still will I hope that ere long, as I have been the cause, so shall I be the companion of your death: And, having with difficulty spoken these words, she fainted, and, again returning to life, busied herself in sad endeavours to gather with her sweet lips the extreme breath of her dearest lover, whe now hastily approached his end. "In this interval Friar Lorenzo had been informed how and when the damsel had drink the potion, as alse that upon a sup |