Romeo and Juliet Transience Quotes Page 1

Page (1 of 3) Quotes: 1 2 3

How we cite the quotes:
Citations follow this format: (Act.Scene.Line). Line numbers correspond to the 2008 Norton edition of the play.

Quote #1

LORD CAPULET Welcome, gentlemen! I have seen the day
That I have worn a visor and could tell
A whispering tale in a fair lady's ear,
Such as would please: 'tis gone, 'tis gone, 'tis gone
(1.5.1)

Juliet's father remembers the flirtations of his youth. Lord Capulet's musings about the good ol' days reminds us that youth and love are fleeting. This occurs just before Romeo and Juliet's first meeting, where they fall head over heels in love (at first sight). It seems like Lord Capulet's reminiscence is Shakespeare's way of preparing us for the short-lived (no pun intended) romance between Romeo and Juliet.

Quote #2

LORD CAPULET
Nay, sit, nay, sit, good cousin Capulet;
For you and I are past our dancing days:
How long is't now since last yourself and I
Were in a mask?
SECOND CAPULET
By'r lady, thirty years.
CAPULET
What, man! 'tis not so much, 'tis not so much
(1.5.1)

Lord Capulet reminds everyone that time passes quickly, and that young lovers (like Romeo and Juliet) quickly become parents and grow old.

Quote #3

ROMEO
Lady, by yonder blessed moon I swear
That tips with silver all these fruit-tree tops--
JULIET
O, swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon,
That monthly changes in her circled orb,
Lest that thy love prove likewise variable.
(2.2.11)

Juliet does not want to associate her and Romeo's love with "the inconstant [changeable] moon" –she wants it to endure.

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