Romeo and Juliet Juliet Quotes

Juliet

Quote 16

JULIET
[…] Although I joy in thee,
I have no joy of this contract tonight.
It is too rash, too unadvised, too sudden,
Too like the lightning, which doth cease to be
Ere one can say 'It lightens.' Sweet, good night.
This bud of love, by summer's ripening breath,
May prove a beauteous flower when next we meet.
(2.2.123-129)

Juliet claims that she's frightened by the sudden power of her and Romeo's love, and she's worried that it will burn itself out. She decides to say goodnight to him to prolong their love until their next meeting. Hmmhmm. Sounds like someone's been reading The Rules.

Juliet

Quote 17

JULIET
What's here? A cup, closed in my true love's hand?
Poison, I see, hath been his timeless end.—
O churl, drunk all, and left no friendly drop
To help me after! I will kiss thy lips.
Haply some poison yet doth hang on them,
To make die with a restorative. (5.3.166-171)

Juliet thinks suicide will let her be with Romeo forever, which… well, whether or not this is true depends on how you feel about the afterlife.

Juliet > Romeo

Quote 18

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.
(3.5.1-5)

Juliet denies the passing of time (made evident by the sunrise and the sound of the morning birds twittering) because she knows that the passing of time means that Romeo's going to have to jet. Brain Snack: this kind of poem is called an "aubade," or "morning song."