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All Site ContentRomeo and JulietAct 2Scene 2
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The sport of falconry
Cultural Reference
Act 2,
Scene 2
Lines 156b-165

An explanation of Juliet’s wish for a “falconer’s voice” in Act 2, Scene 2 of myShakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

Juliet

                              A thousand times good night!
[Exit, above]

Romeo

A thousand times the worse, to want thy light.
Love goes toward love, as schoolboys from their books,
But love from love, toward school with heavy looks.
[Romeo retiring slowly. Re-Enter Juliet, above]

Juliet

Hist, Romeo, hist! O, for a falc'ner's voice                  
To lure this tassel-gentle back again!
Bondage is hoarse, and may not speak aloud;
Else would I tear the cave where Echo lies,
And make her airy tongue more hoarse than mine,
With repetition of my 'Romeo.'

Training falcons was a popular sport and form of hunting in Shakespeare's day.  Juliet wishes she had the skill to lure Romeo back with her voice, just as a falconer can call his tassel-gentle, his male peregrine falcon.