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ROMEO AND JULIET. 105 

Take thou this vial, being then in bed, 

And this distilled liquor drink thou off ; 

When presently through all thy veins shall run 

A cold and drowsy humor, for no pulse 

Shall keep his native progress, but surcease. 

No warmth, no breath, shall testify thou livest ; 

The roses in thy lips and cheeks shall fade 

To paly ashes, thy eyes' windows fall, 

Like death, when he shuts up the day of life ; 

Each part, depriv'd of supple government. 

Shall, stiff and stark and cold, appear like death : 

And in this borrow'd likeness of shrunk death 

Thou shalt continue two and forty hours. 

And then awake as from a pleasant sleep. 

Now, when the bridegroom in the morning comes 

To rouse thee from thy bed, there art thou dead : 

Then, as the manner of our country is. 

In thy best robes uncover'd on the bier 

Thou shalt be borne to that same ancient vault 

Where all the kindred of the Capulets lie. 

In the mean time, against thou shalt awake, 

Shall Eomeo by my letters know our drift. 

And hither shall he come ; and he and I 

Will watch thy waking, and that very night 

Shall Romeo bear thee hence to Mantua. 

And this shall free thee from this present shame, 

If no inconstant toy nor womanish fear 

Abate thy valor in the acting it.