Page:Romeo and Juliet (1917) Yale.djvu/62

50  Rom. And stay, good nurse; behind the abbey wall:

Within this hour my man shall be with thee,

And bring thee cords made like a tackled stair;

Which to the high top-gallant of my joy

Must be my convoy in the secret night.

Farewell! Be trusty, and I'll quit thy pains.

Farewell! Commend me to thy mistress.

Nurse. Now God in heaven bless thee! Hark you, sir.

Rom. What sayst thou, my dear nurse?

Nurse. Is your man secret? Did you ne'er hear say,

Two may keep counsel, putting one away?

Rom. I warrant thee my man's as true as steel.

Nurse. Well, sir; my mistress is the sweetest

lady—Lord, Lord!—when 'twas a little prating

thing, O! there's a nobleman in town, one

Paris, that would fain lay knife aboard; but

she, good soul, had as lief see a toad, a very

toad, as see him. I anger her sometimes and

tell her that Paris is the properer man; but, I'll

warrant you, when I say so, she looks as pale as

any clout in the versal world. Doth not rose-

mary and Romeo begin both with a letter?

Rom. Ay, nurse: what of that? both with

an R.

Nurse. Ah! mocker; that's the dog's name.

R is for the—No; I know it begins with some

other letter: and she had the prettiest senten-

tious of it, of you and rosemary, that it would

do you good to hear it.

 203 tackled stair: rope-ladder

204 top-gallant: summit

205 convoy: means of going

206 quit: requite

210 secret: trustworthy

219 properer: handsomer

221 clout: rag

versal: universal

222 a: the same

225 dog's name; cf. n.

227 sententious: for sentences 