Read the following extract from the play, and then follow the instructions and discuss the questions included.
IMAGES OF LIGHT &
DARKNESS
Enter ROMEO and JULIET above, at the window)
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.
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.
JULIET: Yon light is not day-light, I know it, I.
It is some meteor that the sun exhales,
To be to thee this night a torch-bearer,
And light thee on thy way to Mantua.
Therefore stay yet: thou need' st not to be gone.
ROMEO: Let me be ta' en, let me be put to death:
I am content, so thou wilt have it so.
I'll say yon grey is not the morning's eye,
'Tis but the pale reflex of Cynthia's brow:
Nor that is not the lark, whose notes do beat
The vaulty heaven so high above our heads.
I have more care to stay than will to go.
Come, death, and welcome! Juliet wills it so.
How is't, my soul? let's talk; it is not day.
JULIET: It is, it is: hie hence, be gone, away!
It is the lark that sings so out of tune,
Straining harsh discords and unpleasing sharps.
Some say the lark makes sweet division;
This doth not so, for she divideth us.
Some say the lark and loathed toad change eyes,
0, now I would they had changed voices too!
Since arm from arm that voice doth us affray.
Hunting thee hence with hunt's-up to the day.
O, now be gone; more light and light it grows.
#nightengale
stillnight
ROMEO: More light and light: more dark and dark our woes!
NURSE: Madam!
JULIET: Nurse?
[Enter NURSE]
NURSE Your lady mother is coming to your chamber:
The day is broke: be wary, look about.
[Exit]
JULIET: Then, window, let day in, and let life out.
ROMEO: Farewell, farewell! one kiss, and I'll descend.
INSTRUCTIONS:
1) Take 2 different colored pens (or
highlighters) and underline all words to do
with night, darkness or death
in one
color,& all words to do with day, light
or life in the other color.
2) For each of the speakers turn, write a
hashtag (or a few) to summarize what
they are saying. The first one has been
done for you.
3) Find and label three examples of
personification
4) Look up "Cynthia's brow" and
annotate what this means in the context
of Romeo's words.
5) Identify the point when Romeo and
Juliet switch arguments, and draw a
star there.
6) Identify a line which foreshadows
what is to come, and label it.
7) Identify and label 2 examples of
alliteration.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1) Why all the imagery of light and
darkness used in this extract? What is
the relation to the greater themes of th
play?
2) What is the tone of this piece? If y
were the director, how would you inst
the actors to recite these lines? Woul
there be a change at any point? If so
where and what would it be?
3) What do you think of Romeo and
at this point in the play? Explain you
opinion