The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet (Dowden)/Act 2/Prologue

by William Shakespeare

ACT II

Enter Chorus^{[E 1]}.

Chor.

Now old Desire doth in his death-bed lie, And young Affection gapes[E 2] to be his heir: That fair[E 3] for which love groan'd for and would die, With tender Juliet match'd,[C 1] is now not fair. Now Romeo is beloved and loves again 5 Alike bewitched by the charm of looks, But to his foe supposed he must complain, And she steal love's sweet bait from fearful hooks: Being held a foe, he may not have access To breathe such vows as lovers use to swear; 10 And she as much in love, her means much less To meet her new-beloved any where: But passion lends them power, time means, to meet, Tempering extremities with extreme sweet.[Exit.

Critical notes

1. 4. match'd] F, match Q.

Explanatory notes

1. Chorus] There being no division of Acts or Scenes in the early texts, editors may place the Chorus at end of Act I., or, as here, by way of prologue to Act II. As it refers more to the future than the past, I follow the Cambridge editors in placing it here. Some critics doubt that it is by Shakespeare.
2. 2. gapes] Rushton (Shakespeare's Testamentary Language, p. 29) quotes examples from Swinburn's Briefe Treatise of Testaments, 1590: "such as do gape for greater bequests," and "to gape and crie upon the testator."
3. 3. fair] Frequent in Shakespeare for a beautiful person, and also in the sense of beauty; I think the former is the meaning here. As to the repeated for in this line, compare All's Well, I. ii. 29: "But on us both did haggish age steal on."