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All Site ContentRomeo and JulietAct 2Scene 4
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Word Nerd: "convoy"
Context and Language Videos
Act 2,
Scene 4
Lines 161-167

An explanation of the word "convoy" in Act 2, Scene 4 of myShakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. 

myShakespeare | Romeo and Juliet 2.4 Word Nerd: "convoy"

Romeo

And stay, good nurse, behind the abbey wall.               
Within this hour my man shall be with thee
And bring thee cords made like a tackled stair;
Which to the high top-gallant of my joy
Must be my convoy in the secret night.
Farewell, be trusty, and I'll quit thy pains.
Farewell; commend me to thy mistress.
Video Transcript: 

SARAH: Convoy derives from the latin words con – with, and via – way. originally, a convoy was a person who accompanies you along your way.

RALPH: Today, convoy often refers to a group of vehicles travelling together, like a group of merchant ships protected by a warship.

SARAH: Here Shakespeare uses convoy to means any form of transport, of “conveyance”.

RALPH: Continuing the nautical metaphor, he compares the rope ladder to a ship’s rigging leading to the top-gallant, the highest point of the ship’s mast.