ROMEO
Lady, by yonder blessèd moon I vow
That tips with silver all these fruit-tree tops—
JULIET
O, swear not by the moon, th' inconstant moon,
That monthly changes in her circled orb,
Lest that thy love prove likewise variable.
(2.2.112-116)
Juliet's right—much better to swear by the stars, which at least are constant. (If equally cliché.)
Quote 23
ROMEO
Come hither, man. I see that thou art poor.
He offers money.
Hold, there is forty ducats. Let me have
A dram of poison, such soon-speeding gear
As will disperse itself through all the veins,
That the life-weary taker may fall dead,
And that the trunk may be discharged of breath
As violently as hasty powder fired
Doth hurry from the fatal cannon's womb.
APOTHECARY
Such mortal drugs I have; but Mantua's law
Is death to any he that utters them.
ROMEO
Art thou so bare and full of wretchedness,
And fearest to die? Famine is in thy cheeks,
Need and oppression starveth in thine eyes,
Contempt and beggary hangs upon thy back.
The world is not thy friend nor the world's law.
The world affords no law to make thee rich.
Then be not poor, but break it, and take this.
(5.1.62-78)
Romeo wants a swift and instantaneous demise. He is already so prepared for death that he sees it all around him, even personified in the character of the sickly looking Apothecary.
Quote 24
ROMEO
Thou detestable maw, thou womb of death,
Gorged with the dearest morsel of the earth,
Thus I enforce thy rotten jaws to open,
And in despite I'll cram thee with more food.
(5.3.45-48)
Romeo describes the Capulet family tomb as a "womb" that has swallowed Juliet's dead body. That … brings whole new meaning to the phrase "womb to tomb."