SCENE 3: FRIAR LAURENCE'S CELL. — Shakespeare Retold

[Enter FRIAR LAURENCE, with a basket]

FRIAR LAURENCE

The grey-eyed morn smiles on the frowning night,

The misty morning breaks the dark of night

Chequering the eastern clouds with streaks of light,

And interlaces clouds with streaks of light,

And flecked darkness like a drunkard reels

And breaking darkness, like a drunkard, staggers

From forth day's path and Titan's fiery wheels:

As day breaks, like the Sun God’s wagon swaggers:

Now, ere the sun advance his burning eye,

Before the sun appears up in the sky

The day to cheer and night's dank dew to dry,

To cheer us up, and dew of night to dry,

I must up-fill this osier cage of ours

I have to fill this willow bowl of ours

With baleful weeds and precious-juiced flowers.

With harmful weeds and nectar-giving flowers.

The earth that's nature's mother is her tomb;

The earth is nature’s mother and her tomb;

What is her burying grave that is her womb,

It is the grave for what’s born from her womb,

And from her womb children of divers kind

And from her womb come animals and plants

We sucking on her natural bosom find,

That feed on earth as she her bounty grants,

Many for many virtues excellent,

And each one has a virtue of its own

None but for some and yet all different.

Yet all are different, though from earth are grown.

O, mickle is the powerful grace that lies

There’s such abundant power and grace enclosed

In herbs, plants, stones, and their true qualities:

In herbs and plants and stones, their strengths exposed:

For nought so vile that on the earth doth live

For nothing on this earth is so disgusting

But to the earth some special good doth give,

It won’t enhance the earth with sweet adjusting.

Nor aught so good but strained from that fair use

And nothing is so good that overuse

Revolts from true birth, stumbling on abuse:

Would stop it turning bad from the abuse.

Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied;

A strength that is exploited gets corrupted

And vice sometimes by action dignified.

And this can turn to good if it’s disrupted.

Within the infant rind of this small flower

Within the new-formed petals of this flower

Poison hath residence and medicine power:

Lives poison, yet it has medicinal power:

For this, being smelt, with that part cheers each part;

For if you smell it, that’s the cheerful part;

Being tasted, slays all senses with the heart.

But if you taste it, it will stop your heart.

Two such opposed kings encamp them still

These two opposing forces both appear

In man as well as herbs, grace and rude will;

In men as well as herbs, kind and severe;

And where the worser is predominant,

And when the worst trait is predominant,

Full soon the canker death eats up that plant.

That evil trait will soon consume the plant.

[Enter ROMEO]

ROMEO

Good morrow, father.

Good morning, father.

FRIAR LAURENCE

Benedicite!

Blessings of the morn!

What early tongue so sweet saluteth me?

Who’s greeting me as sweetly as the dawn?

Young son, it argues a distempered head

Young man, it does suggest a troubled mind

So soon to bid good morrow to thy bed:

You’re up so early, leaving bed behind.

Care keeps his watch in every old man's eye,

Old people have their worries running deep,

And where care lodges, sleep will never lie;

And where there’s worry, people never sleep;

But where unbruised youth with unstuffed brain

But when you’re young and carefree, unconcerned

Doth couch his limbs, there golden sleep doth reign:

By anything, you’ll sleep once you’ve adjourned.

Therefore thy earliness doth me assure

And hence your early rising does suggest

Thou art up-roused by some distemperature;

That you’ve been woken up by some unrest;

Or if not so, then here I hit it right,

Or if not that, I think I’ve guessed it right

Our Romeo hath not been in bed to-night.

That you have not been home to bed tonight.

ROMEO

That last is true; the sweeter rest was mine.

That last point’s true; the sweetest rest was mine.

FRIAR LAURENCE

God pardon sin! Wast thou with Rosaline?

Forgive your sin! Were you with Rosaline?

ROMEO

With Rosaline, my ghostly father? No;

With Rosaline, my holy father? No;

I have forgot that name, and that name's woe.

I have forgotten her, and all that woe.

FRIAR LAURENCE

That's my good son: but where hast thou been, then?

That’s good news, son; but where have you been then?

ROMEO

I'll tell thee, ere thou ask it me again.

I’ll tell you now, before you ask again.

I have been feasting with mine enemy,

I have been feasting with my enemy,

Where on a sudden one hath wounded me,

Where suddenly one of them wounded me,

That's by me wounded: both our remedies

And I wounded them back; but we’ll be healed

Within thy help and holy physic lies:

If, at your holy powers, we both be kneeled.

I bear no hatred, blessed man, for, lo,

I bear no hate to them on which I’ll dwell;

My intercession likewise steads my foe.

My prayer will help my enemy as well.

FRIAR LAURENCE

Be plain, good son, and homely in thy drift;

Speak clearly son, and tell me your intention;

Riddling confession finds but riddling shrift.

Confused confessions make confused redemption.

ROMEO

Then plainly know my heart's dear love is set

Then speaking clearly, all my heart is set

On the fair daughter of rich Capulet:

As mine on hers, so hers is set on mine;

Like my heart loves her, her heart loves me too;

And all combined, save what thou must combine

We two are one, except what you can do

By holy marriage: when and where and how

Through holy marriage. When and where and how

We met, we wooed and made exchange of vow,

We met and wooed and made our marriage vow,

I'll tell thee as we pass; but this I pray,

I’ll tell you in good time; but now I pray

That thou consent to marry us to-day.

That you’ll agree to marry us today.

FRIAR LAURENCE

Holy Saint Francis, what a change is here!

Is Rosaline, whom thou didst love so dear,

Is Rosaline, who you did love so dear,

So soon forsaken? Young men's love then lies

So soon rejected? Young men’s love thus lies

Not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes.

Jesu Maria, what a deal of brine

Jesus and Mary, you’ve shed many tears

Hath washed thy sallow cheeks for Rosaline!

For Rosaline, they left your cheeks with smears!

How much salt water thrown away in waste,

How much salt water from your tears is wasted

To season love, that of it doth not taste!

For love that, after all, you never tasted!

The sun not yet thy sighs from heaven clears,

Your condensed breath the sun is yet to clear,

Thy old groans ring yet in my ancient ears;

And all your moans still ring in my old ear;

Lo, here upon thy cheek the stain doth sit

Look, here upon your cheek there is a stain

Of an old tear that is not washed off yet:

And, though you’ve washed, the marks of tears remain.

If e'er thou wast thyself and these woes thine,

If you were you when all you did was whine,

Thou and these woes were all for Rosaline:

Then all of that was just for Rosaline:

And art thou changed? Pronounce this sentence then,

Have you now changed? Repeat these words I speak:

Women may fall, when there's no strength in men.

A woman falters when her man is weak.

ROMEO

Thou chid'st me oft for loving Rosaline.

You mock me lots for loving Rosaline.

FRIAR LAURENCE

For doting, not for loving, pupil mine.

I mock for doting, not for love benign.

ROMEO

And bad'st me bury love.

You told me, ‘bury love.’

FRIAR LAURENCE

Not in a grave,

Not in a tomb

To lay one in, another out to have.

You lay a love in, then new love resume.

ROMEO

I pray thee, chide not; she whom I love now

Don’t mock me, please; the one I now adore

Doth grace for grace and love for love allow;

Is kind and loves me back, of that I’m sure;

The other did not so.

The other one did not.

FRIAR LAURENCE

O, she knew well

She understood

Thy love did read by rote and could not spell.

You learnt the words of love the best you could.

But come, young waverer, come, go with me,

Come with me, wavering youth, without resistance,

In one respect I'll thy assistant be;

For there’s a way I might be some assistance;

For this alliance may so happy prove,

This union might have a happy ending

To turn your households' rancour to pure love.

By leading to both houses’ hatred mending.

ROMEO

O, let us hence; I stand on sudden haste.

Let’s do this right away; I’m quick and ready.

FRIAR LAURENCE

Wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast.

Go wise and slow; for haste makes one unsteady.

[Exeunt]