Romeo and Juliet - Act 3 Scene 5 lyrics

Enter ROMEO and JULIET aloft

JULIET

Wilt thou be gone? It is not yet near day.

It was the nightingale, and not the lark,

That pierced the fearful hollow of thine ear.

Nightly she sings on yon pomegranate tree.

Believe me, love, it was the nightingale.

ROMEO

It was the lark, the herald of the morn,

No nightingale. Look, love, what envious streaks

Do lace the severing clouds in yonder east.

Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day

Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.

I must be gone and live, or stay and die.

JULIET

Yon light is not daylight, I know it, I.

It is some meteor that the sun exhales

To be to thee this night a torchbearer,

And light thee on thy way to Mantua.

Therefore stay yet. Thou need’st not to be gone.

ROMEO

Let me be ta'en. Let me be put to death.

I am content, so thou wilt have it so.

I’ll say yon grey is not the morning’s eye.

'Tis but the pale reflex of Cynthia’s brow.

Nor that is not the lark, whose notes do beat

The vaulty heaven so high above our heads.

I have more care to stay than will to go.

Come, death, and welcome! Juliet wills it so.—

How is ’t, my soul? Let’s talk. It is not day.

JULIET

It is, it is. Hie hence! Be gone, away!

It is the lark that sings so out of tune,

Straining harsh discords and unpleasing sharps.

Some say the lark makes sweet division.

This doth not so, for she divideth us.

Some say the lark and loathèd toad change eyes.

Oh, now I would they had changed voices too,

Since arm from arm that voice doth us affray,

Hunting thee hence with hunt’s-up to the day.

O, now be gone. More light and light it grows.

ROMEO

More light and light, more dark and dark our woes!

Enter NURSE

NURSE

Madam.

JULIET

Nurse?

NURSE

Your lady mother is coming to your chamber.

The day is broke. Be wary, look about.

Exit NURSE

JULIET

Then, window, let day in and let life out.

ROMEO

Farewell, farewell. One kiss, and I’ll descend.

Kiss. ROMEO goes down

JULIET

Art thou gone so, love, lord? Ay, husband, friend,

I must hear from thee every day in the hour,

For in a minute there are many days.

Oh, by this count I shall be much in years

Ere I again behold my Romeo.

ROMEO

Farewell!

I will omit no opportunity

That may convey my greetings, love, to thee.

JULIET

Oh, think’st thou we shall ever meet again?

ROMEO

I doubt it not, and all these woes shall serve

For sweet discourses in our time to come.

JULIET

O God, I have an ill-divining soul.

Methinks I see thee now, thou art so low

As one dead in the bottom of a tomb.

Either my eyesight fails, or thou look’st pale.

ROMEO

And trust me, love, in my eye so do you.

Dry sorrow drinks our blood. Adieu, adieu!

Exit ROMEO

JULIET

O fortune, fortune! All men call thee fickle.

60If thou art fickle, what dost thou with him

That is renowned for faith? Be fickle, fortune,

For then, I hope, thou wilt not keep him long,

But send him back.

• Artist:William Shakespeare
• Album:Romeo and Juliet