Romeo and Juliet

Next: Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Scene 4

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Explanatory Notes for Act 2, Scene 3
From Romeo and Juliet. Ed. K. Deighton. London: Macmillan.
*Line numbers have been adjusted.

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1. grey-eyed, of a pale blue not yet tinted with the coloured rays of the sun.

2. Chequering, interlacing, variegating; a 'chequer' was originally a chess-board, a board divided into squares coloured alternately dark and light, then, among various other senses, an alternation of colours. Cp. M. A. v. 3. 27, "the gentle day, Before the wheels of Phoebus, round about, Dapples the drowsy east with spots of grey;" where "grey" is used as in l. 1, above.

3. flecked, spotted, streaked.

4. From forth ... wheels, out of the path about to be taken by the sun's bright wheels: Titan, the original Titans dwelt in heaven, from which, after a contest, they were hurled by Zeus beneath Tartarus; among their descendants were Helios (the sun) and Selene (the moon); the fiery wheels are those of the chariot which Helios drove round the world each twenty-four hours.

6. dank, moist, damp; according to Skeat, probably a nasalized form of the provincial English dag, dew.

7. osier cage, basket made of withes; the osier is the water-willow: of ours, belonging to our monastery.

8. baleful, poisonous, harmful, i.e. if not properly used, but containing valuable medicinal properties.

9, 10. The earth ... womb, that is the mother of all nature, is also the tomb of all nature; and, conversely, that in which all things are buried, is that from which all things spring.

11. from her womb, sprung from her.

12. We sucking ... find, we find drawing their nourishment from the bosom of their natural mother.

13. virtues, useful properties.

15. mickle ... grace, abundant and mighty is the excellence; mickle, like much, from the A.S. mycal, great, and connected with [Greek].

16. stones, minerals: their true qualities, their properties when turned to their right use.

19, 20. Nor aught ... abuse, nor anything so good that, if diverted from its proper use, does not forswear its original nature and, by the accident of being thus diverted, become harmful; in stumbling the meaning is that its original tendency was good, but that something coming in its way caused it to stagger from its path.

22. And vice ... dignified, and vice sometimes a worthiness by the way in which it works, by the good result it effects, though its intention was evil.

23. infant, as yet undeveloped: for small, the reading of the first quarto, the other copies give weak, which Daniel prefers as marking the contrast with power in the next line.

24. medicine power, medicinal power.

25, 6. For this, ...heart, for this, if smelled, by the property of its odour cheers the frame through every part, whereas, if tasted, it destroys the heart and with it all the senses. It seems better, with Delius, to take that part to mean 'the odour,' than with Malone, to understand it as 'the part that smells, the olfactory nerves.' For slays, the second quarto gives the tempting reading stays, i.e. brings to a standstill, which Mommsen adopts; in H. V. ii. 1. 92, 3, we have the expression "The King has killed his heart," but there it is a metaphor and is put into the mouth of the Hostess.

27. encamp them still, ever pitch their camp.

28. rude will, brutal obstinacy, perverseness.

30. the canker, the worm that preys upon blossoms; Lat. cancer, a crab. Hunter remarks, "The beautiful lines given to the Friar are introduced for the sake of repose; but in the choice of the topic in these seven [eight] lines [i.e. 11. 23-30] the Poet seems to have had a further view. Poison is hereafter to become a main agent in the piece, and the Poet prepares the audience for the use of poison by familiarizing them, in the early portion of the play, with the idea, and thus preparing them to witness the use of it without being so much shocked as they would be were no such preparation made."

31. Benedicite, an ecclesiastical salutation at meeting or parting; literally 'bless, praise,' sc. God.

32. What early ... me? what voice so early greets me so pleasantly?

34. to bid good morrow to, i.e. to leave; literally to salute with the words 'good morning,' i.e. with words used after one has risen.

35. keeps his watch, is ever wakeful, ever present and on the alert.

37. unbruised youth, youth that has not yet known the wounds of time and trouble: unstuff'd brain, brain free from anxieties.

38. golden sleep, calm and invigorating sleep.

40. distemperature, uneasiness of mind, mental disorder; cp. Per. v. 1. 27, "Upon what ground is his distemperature?"

43. the sweeter ... mine, all the sweeter was the rest I enjoyed.

46. that name's woe, the sorrow that name used to cause me, sc. by Rosaline's unkindness to his suit.

47. That's my good son, well done, my son; I am glad to hear that, my son; an exclamation of approval very common in Shakespeare, e.g. Temp. i. 2. 215, "Why, that's my spirit!" Cor. v. 3. 76, "That's my brave boy."

51, 2. both our ... lies, the remedy for the disease of both of us lies in your hands; lies, a confusion of proximity due to the singular nouns help and physic coming between the nominative and the verb; and perhaps in part, as Delius says, because both our remedies is in reality a singular — the remedy of both of us.

53. no hatred, i.e. towards her whom I have called "mine enemy."

54. My intercession ... foe, the intercession I make with you on my own behalf is one which will benefit my foe also.

56. Riddling ... shrift, if your confession is made in riddles, the absolution you will receive from me will be equally ambiguous; for shrift, see note on l. 1. 165, above.

60. And all combined, and the union between us is complete.

63. as we pass, as we walk along.

65. Saint Francis, the patron saint of his Order, the Franciscan.

69. Jesu Maria, Jesus, son of the Virgin Mary; Jesu, the vocative case.

69, 70. what a deal ... Rosaline, what floods of salt tears have coursed down your cheeks on Rosaline's account, and made them pale; sallow, used proleptically.

72. To season ... taste, to give freshness and relish to that love which now no longer has any taste of such seasoning, which now has lost all relish to your palate; cp. T. N. i. 1. 30, "she will veiled walk And water once a day her chamber round With eye offending brine; all this to season A brother's dead love, which she would keep fresh And lasting in her sad remembrance." Daniel conjectures 'that of itself doth taste.'

73. The sun ... clears, the sun has not yet cleared away the vapours caused by your thick sighs for Rosaline; cp. Romeo's words above, "Love is a smoke raised with the fume of sighs."

77, 8. If e'er ... Rosaline, if ever you were really yourself, not a counterfeit, and if these woes you pretended to feel were genuine, then they and you alike belonged to Rosaline and no one else.

80. Women ... men, when men show themselves such weak creatures, there is nothing wonderful in women being frail.

82. doting, loving to excess, foolishly.

83, 4. Not in a grave ... have, I did not bid you bury love in a grave only in order that as soon as you had buried one you should exhume another.

86. Doth grace ... allow, meets kindness with kindness, love with love.

87, 8. she knew ... spell, her refusal to give love in return was only because she knew that your love was but a parrot-like acquaintance with such love.

90. In one respect, in consideration of one point.

92. To turn, as to turn.

93. I stand ... haste, it is imperative upon me to make great haste, I depend, for success, upon losing no time; see Abb. § 204.

94. Wisely ... fast, an adaptation of the Latin saying, Festina lente.

How to cite the explanatory notes:
Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. Ed. K. Deighton. London: Macmillan, 1916. Shakespeare Online. 20 Dec. 2013. < http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/romeo_2_3.html >.

How to cite the sidebar:
Mabillard, Amanda. Notes on Shakespeare. Shakespeare Online. 20 Dec. 2013. < http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/romeo_2_3.html >.

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