Page:Los bandos de Verona, Montescos y Capeletes.pdf/19

 I love, am lov'd, and yet, alas! I weep; And weep because I love.

I love, alas! lacking that guerdon, which Love ever claims as faithful lovers' due.

Thou knowest my lover and my lord, who loves Me as none other loves?

I love my lord as loving lover loves; While he, alas! chills love with cold neglect.

Julia here relates at considerable length the causes and effects of the bitter feud then raging between the Capeletes and Montescos, the "Bandos de Verona." This feud arose thus:—At a friendly jousting, or passage of arms, Otavio Romeo, the head of the Montesco faction, and father of Elena Romeo, slew accidentally Luis Capelete, the brother of Julia, his lance-point entering between the bars of his opponent's helmet. The Capeletes are furious, and Otavio Romeo is ultimately slain.

Verona three long years this strife hath seen, This rivalry of two most ancient houses,