Enter Friar Lawrence and Romeo. FRIAR LAWRENCE
So smile the heavens upon this holy act
That after-hours with sorrow chide us not. ROMEO
Amen, amen. But come what sorrow can,
It cannot countervail the exchange of joy
That one short minute gives me in her sight. 5
Do thou but close our hands with holy words,
Then love-devouring death do what he dare,
It is enough I may but call her mine. FRIAR LAWRENCE
These violent delights have violent ends
And in their triumph die, like fire and powder, 10
Which, as they kiss, consume. The sweetest honey
Is loathsome in his own deliciousness
And in the taste confounds the appetite.
Therefore love moderately. Long love doth so.
Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow. 15 Enter Juliet. Here comes the lady. O, so light a foot
Will ne’er wear out the everlasting flint.
A lover may bestride the gossamers
That idles in the wanton summer air,
And yet not fall, so light is vanity. 20 | Back at Friar Lawrence's place, the priest tries to convince Romeo to calm down a little. Marriage is for the long term, you see. "These violent delights have violent ends," he warns. Brain Snack: If you're a Twilight fan, you might recognize that quote. Stephenie Meyer uses it as an epigraph for the novel New Moon. It's also a repeated and pivotal line for Dolores in HBO's Westworld, a show where moneyed visitors can live out their fantasies without consequence at a theme park. |
JULIET
Good even to my ghostly confessor. FRIAR LAWRENCE
Romeo shall thank thee, daughter, for us both. JULIET
As much to him, else is his thanks too much. ROMEO
Ah, Juliet, if the measure of thy joy
Be heaped like mine, and that thy skill be more 25
To blazon it, then sweeten with thy breath
This neighbor air, and let rich music’s tongue
Unfold the imagined happiness that both
Receive in either by this dear encounter. JULIET
Conceit, more rich in matter than in words, 30
Brags of his substance, not of ornament.
They are but beggars that can count their worth,
But my true love is grown to such excess
I cannot sum up sum of half my wealth. | Juliet runs in. The room's hormone level skyrockets. Romeo and Juliet can barely keep their hands off each other, even in the presence of a priest. |
FRIAR LAWRENCE
Come, come with me, and we will make short work, 35
For, by your leaves, you shall not stay alone
Till Holy Church incorporate two in one. They exit. | Friar Lawrence takes them off to marry them so they can move on to the highly anticipated honeymoon phase. |