|
READ THIS
Romeo has spent the night with Juliet but they have overslept and it is already dawn. Should he be found
in the city, he will be executed for the murder of Tybalt and so he must make haste and depart.
READ THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE:
JULIET
Wilt thou be gone? it is not yet near day:
It was the nightingale, and not the lark,
That pierc'd the fearful hollow of thine ear;
Nightly she sings on yond pomegranate tree:
Believe me, love, it was the nightingale.
ROMEO
It was the lark, the herald of the morn,
No nightingale: look, love, what envious streaks
Do lace the severing clouds in yonder east:
Night's candles are burnt out, and jocund day
Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.
I must be gone and live, or stay and die.
Have you looked at the questions
in the right column?
|
TEST YOURSELF!
Read the left column and then answer
the following questions:
"Wilt thou be gone? it is not yet near day:
It was the nightingale, and not the lark,
That pierc'd the fearful hollow of thine ear."
- Where are Romeo and Juliet? Why are they there? (2)
[Need help?]
Romeo and Juliet are in Juliet's bedchamber. They had married secretly the previous day and were in
her bedchamber consummating their marriage.
|
- Where is Romeo going? Why? (2)
[Need help?]
Romeo is going into exile because he has killed Tybalt in a fight and has therefore been banished from
Verona.
|
- Why should there be a difference whether it is the nightingale or the lark that is
singing? (2)
[Need help?]
If it is the nightingale that is singing, then it is still night-time. However, if it is the lark that is singing, then
it is daytime and Romeo needs to flee from Verona.
|
"Night's candles are burnt out, and jocund day
Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.
I must be gone and live, or stay and die."
- What does Romeo mean when he says that "Night's candles are burnt out"? (2)
[Need help?]
The "night's candles" are the stars. They have "burnt out" means that they have been
extinguished, because it is now daytime.
|
- Why should the day be "jocund"? (2)
[Need help?]
The day is "jocund" because the sun is already rising. It also expresses the joy that Romeo and
Juliet have because they are now married.
|
- Why should the day stand "tiptoe on the misty mountain tops"? (2)
[Need help?]
The mountain tops are presumably high. The sun is already rising high into the dawn sky, and is
described therefore as standing on tiptoes to see over the mountain top.
|
- Why would Romeo live if he goes but die if he stays? (2)
[Need help?]
If Romeo goes into exile, he is allowed to live. But if he should be found within the walls of Verona, then
his life is forfeit and he must be executed for the slaying of Tybalt.
|
|
