I. v. 31. tables up. Tables of flat leaves hinged together and placed on trestles were often used. When removed they were turned up.
I. v. 97–110. These lines form a sonnet. The following lines begin another sonnet, and incomplete sonnets may be found elsewhere in the play.
I. v. 98. the gentle sin. If my touch be a profanation, it is that of the pious pilgrim who has come to do honor to the shrine of a saint. Perhaps the 'gentle' sin is to touch with the lips instead of the rough hand. This whole dialogue derives its point from Romeo's being costumed as a pilgrim. His dress is represented by Inigo Jones as a long loose gown, with large sleeves, a round cape, a broad-leafed hat turned up in front and fastened with a cockle-shell and in the left hand a pilgrim's staff.
I. v. 122. Romeo means that Juliet has brought him into what may be a costly relation with his enemies; for he must pay with his life if Juliet be taken from him.
II. i. 2. dull earth. I.e., my body. As the particles of earth seek their center, so Romeo seeks what is now the center of his existence.
II. i. 13. Abraham Cupid. Cupid is so called 'in derision of the eternal boyhood of Cupid, though in fact he was at least as old as Father Abraham.' (Schmidt.) Perhaps there is also reference to 'Abraham men,' i.e., vagabonds who feigned madness. Other suggestions are that the phrase means 'the light-haired Cupid,' since 'auburn' was sometimes spelled 'abram'; or 'naked Cupid' (Jensen, MLN. 30. 62).
shot so true. This refers to a stanza from the ballad of King Cophetua and the Beggar-Maid (see Child's Ballads):
'The blinded boy that shoots so trim
From heaven down did hie,
He drew a dart and shot at him,
In place where he did lie.'
