Romeo and Juliet: Act IX

During Act XIII (the final Act) of the performance

Wataru: “Romeo? Romeo! where hast thou gone?
‘Twas said that thou art kept within the woods,
And hid away inside this little church!
That issue would arise if the suspect
Met trouble before her trial, I heard.
So that no harm may come to the accus’d,
She will be properly protected thus...
Thus saith our fair Verona’s prince to me.
He is a thoughtful man. O Romeo,
Prithee respond! Art thou here? Answer me,
For there is something that I must tell thee!
I know I made a terrible mistake!
Awoke I to the truth too late an hour!
Come laugh at what a foolish girl am I!
I wish not to part from thee, Romeo!
And whether thou art banish’d, or perhaps
To lose thy head to the gallows tonight,
That thou may’st be taken forever where
Thy hand is out beyond my reach, my love!
Before that, I wish to take thee away!
To somewhere far from here! That we may go
Together, hand in hand, and escape this!
The wild or hell, ‘tis no concern to me!
Wherever thou art by my side, that place
Will be but heaven to me! My angel,
My sun who brought day to my pitch-dark world!
My dearest Romeo, I prithee speak!”

“...?”

“...My lady? Why dost thou stay silent?
Ah, Romeo... what has become of thee?
That cold thing there is...? Skin ashen and dark,
Hair fallen out, and vestments stained with blood...!
Is this my beautiful, dear Romeo?
What’s here? a cup, closed in my true love’s hand?
Poison, I see, hath been her timeless end.
Then, didst thy noble self choose not to face
The crowd of jeers and insult at thy crime,
But flee instead to heaven and leave me?
O churl! drunk all, and left no friendly drop
To help me after? Didst thou think falsely
That there existed no soul who would love
Thee to thy grave and follow after thee?
My fault! We could escape not from the toil
Of our families’ discord. All around
Myself our kin went mad to thrust the swords
Of hate into each other. In a world
So absent of love, ‘twas I alone who
Could give that sweetest affection to thee!

Wataru: And though I did love, I neglected thee—
I thought myself clever, that I acted
For thy sake... and turned mine eyes from thy face,
Mine ears from your song, and rejected thee.
Is this the reason thou liest here, cold?”

“......”

“My love, if I can be forgiven for
My sins, might I journey along with thee?
Art thou not lonely there in solitude?
In hell or heaven, I will love thee there.
No longer will I lie to mine own heart:
I will return thy love. Doff thy cold mask...
Drink not of heartless poison that takes life;
I brought sweet wine, that we may share as one.
It is a great wine, which will warm thy world
And make rich thy life. And... like this, again,
will kiss thy lips, a million times;

Wataru: Haply some poison yet doth hang on them,
To make die with a restorative.”^[1]

“Amen.”

“......”

Hokuto: “...I feel a presence. Does someone go there?
For but a moment brief, I had a dream,
So happy to forget my woes today:
The lady Juliet came to this church,
And found me dead. In her sorrow and grief,
She kiss’d upon my lips a hundred times,
As if to bid adieu. Each kiss was life
She breath’d back into me, and by God’s grace
I rose to life again, as flowers bloom.
Rejoiceful we two met, then travel’d far
To Eden’s earthly garden, where bounty
Gave offer as banquet for our wedding.
O dream of dreams! but what a dream! how sweet!
A shadow of a glorious future,
Yet shadow touches mine heart and delights:
Were truth so sweet as dream that she give love
To me, in what rapture might I delight?
...No answer comes, but I am not alone.”

“......”

“Ah... am I still asleep? but what nightmare!
O Juliet! Why hast come to this place,
Within such darkness...? Mark, help! someone help!
Say it jest, lady, that my love dies here!
What fate, good God? My faith hath turn’d to hate!
My love! my lady! Thou couldst not share thy
Love, but a fragment, even to thy death?
That there remain’d such poison on his lips
To take thee from this world... Didst thou love him
That devil so much? This man lying here
With deathly pallor like a wither’d tree...
He is the man your fiancé, Paris.”