National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-04-04
"RoNEo AND JULLRTn Nv TERog4

J. NN-n1N Avn SOLIEl xH f6hOnds
In the whole Shaksperian catalogue there Is no
play more thoroughly italian than "Romeo and
Juliet" Enthusiasm for the mighty master may
Do the parent Of such opinion, you may surmise,
but Just take through ticket by the Victor
Emmanuel railway, and leave the train at the
Porta Nuovs, Verona, and trot on the next day to
Mantua, and you will come to be Of my mind
Gorgeous as Mr.. John George Gilbert's illustra-
lions to the Routledge edition, his superb designs
when he touches the italian dramas, seem to me
meagre and shrivelled- 1t is in the text that YOU
must look for the genuine local coiornu, the
choice Italian. There you will feel the real Ital-
Ian sushine, the balmy nights, the bath Of moon
light, the lounging lazy lives of the men and
women, the saunterings, and sighings and whis-
pertngs, ehequered every now and then by fierce
outbreaks Of passion-by the sharp scream, the
torrent OF passionate invective, the quick curse,
the sudden stab. Upon my word not six weeks
since at Verona saw Sampson biting his thumb
at Aoram, and Gregory backing him up; and then
there was rire and the Capulet women rushed
out OF their houses and slapped the Montague
children violently, and Benvolio strove in vain to
quell the turmoil, and old Capulet In his gown
The carried on the profession Of money-chaneer.
and had been disturbed from his siesta) came
shutting out Of his shop, with Lady Capulet, in q
dingy bedgown, clinging to him, and then the ven
cradle Montague (uho had subsidized into the
ages) issued from his back parlor, accompanied
BY his lady, and gave Cspulet piece Of his mind;
and then the women scolded and the
men stormed, and the dogs barked, and
everybody bit his or her thumb, or
snapped their fingers at everybody else; and
people who had seemingly nothing on earth to do
with the fray flung open third-hoor easements
and Joined with shrill yerbiage in It; and there
was, on the whole, devil Of . commotion. Il
did not concern me; but felt so excited, that
had had q weapon on my thigh, am
afraid I should have drawn, and had lunge
at SO melody. As it was, found myself in fierce
parley with an old woman who sold Lemonade un-
der an old archuay; and where II would have
ended know not, had not, in the nick Of time,
Prince Escalus represented for the nonce BY an
Austrian corporals guard with fixed bayonetsl
come up, and abused the combatants all around
in Teutonic Italian. Some cne-I believe Gregg
ry-was marched of to the guard-house; and I
made my peace with the old lady who sold lemon
ade; and Capulet went back to bis Eiesta, and
Montague to his sausages But until I Iet We
roma by the Porta Vescovs, was in q perpetual
day-dream about Romeo and Juliet" When
ever the road bifurgated I expected to meet the
fiery Tybalt, his sword drawn, raging up one
thoroughfare, in search Of the pacific BenvoIio,
ian Italian Quaker he,) who was quietly trotting
down another. What o man Of men he was, that
Tybaltl Shakespeare knew that he would be
possible nowhere but in Italy; so he put him in
Verona. The heat Of the climate made him mad.
His sword turned red-hot In Its scabbard, and
burnt through the leather, and scorched his
thigh. Then he went at It, hammer and tongs.
"They wish neither to avoid the combat, to
parry the blows, nor to fly. Skill hath no part in
the conflict; their thrusts are no maks-belieYes-
now straightforward, now oblique. Rage and
hatred rob them Of the resources of art Hear the
horrible shock OF their swords, cashing togetherI
Their feet are firm and motionless; their hands
always on the move. Not Q blow is given in vain;
not q thrust is lost"
Here is the real Tybalt for you, when he has
steel. He Is good swordsman; but IN his craze
for killing he despises carte and tIerce and reason
demonstrative. Here is Tybalt, foaming at the
mouth, blind with fury, hacking, hewing, slash
ing, stabbing away. Surely Shakespeare must
have read these burning lines Of the old italian
poet, and conjured up the fiery Tybalt from the
ringing rhyme. That "Odi 10 spade orribiIments
utarsi q mezzo IL ferroI" was amply sufficient for
the clairvoyant. And, indeed, I am, In this sur
mise, not winnoving the wind, for there is every
likelihood that William Shakespeare did read the
lines have transcribed. They are quoted by
Montaigne, and Montaigne's Essays were, we
know from an undoubted autograph, the fa7orite
reading Of our poet.
never heard q burst of laughter coming from
q cafe that afternoon in Verona without peeping
in to see the gallant Mercutio swinging his legs
on q marble table, and bantering the love-lorn
Romeo signing over his sugarand-wster. went
to see the socalled tomb Of the illstarred lovers
but that apocryphal monument did not help my
illusion. The streets were enough for me. What
does it matter, I asked myself whence the master
obtained his plot, or who the lovers really were;
whet Their, Mr.. Donce essayed to prove, the orig
Inal tale comes from Crock author, one Xene-
phon Ephesius, or whether the events recorded
took place, not at Verona, but at Sienna, Romeo
being "a young man Of good family, named Ma
riotti Mignaletti," and Juliet o certain Donna
Gianozza? All these are triles. Whether the
romance was Of Luigi do Portals making, or Of
Bandellos, or Of Boistean's, thence translated by
Arthur Brooke frets me q little. It Is enough
that Shakespeare, from lovely legend, was per-
mitted to make an immortal drama; that he has
laid the scene in Italy; and that the play Is tall
an tothe very core.
In what part Of the Continent, II you please,
save Italy, would that garden scene have been
feasible2 Italy is the country where, AFTER the
searching day, comes cool and temperate night.
Italy is the land where young people sic up all
night to make love, and where, too they do
tumble into love with one another at first sight.
In dscorous England, Juliet's sudden passion for
Romeo might have been considered improper. In
Italy nothing could have been more natural. II
Is where the sun Is so warm that the corn ripens
so quickly. And the impromptu masquerade,
and the pretty ib told by Juliet that she was
going out to confession, when she Is bent on being
married. In England young lady would have told
her mamma that she was going to Nudes or to
Regent street to purchase two yards and 3 half
Of maize-eolored ribbon. And then the change Of
scene, the frequent dialogues that took place '.n
Q street," another street," 80 public placer
Italy is the country above all others where people