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"earth", "hope"
Wordplay
Act 1,
Scene 2
Lines 14-15

A pun is made by Capulet on the words "earth" and "hope" in myShakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Act 1, Scene 2.

Capulet

The earth hath swallowed all my hopes but she;
She's the hopeful lady of my earth.

Capulet continues his clever wordplay by making a pun on “earth” and “hope” as he describes Juliet: “The earth hath swallowed all my hopes but she.” That is, Juliet is the only one of the Capulet’s children to survive; all of his other children are buried, swallowed by the “earth.” And when he says “She is the hopeful lady of my earth,” the expression “lady of the earth” refers to an heiress who will inherit a large estate. As his only surviving child, the “hopeful” (promising) Juliet represents Capulet’s last "hope" to have future generations of descendants.