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All Site ContentRomeo and JulietAct 3Scene 2
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"tributary"
Metaphor
Act 3,
Scene 2
Lines 97-106

An explanation of the “tributary” metaphor in Act 3, Scene 2 of myShakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

Juliet

Shall I speak ill of him that is my husband?
Ah, poor my lord, what tongue shall smooth thy name,
When I, thy three-hours wife, have mangled it?
But wherefore, villain, didst thou kill my cousin?       
That villain cousin would have killed my husband.
Back, foolish tears, back to your native spring;
Your tributary drops belong to woe,
Which you, mistaking, offer up to joy.
My husband lives, that Tybalt would have slain,
And Tybalt's dead, that would have slain my husband.
  • Juliet’s tears flow like a tributary feeding a larger river. (This links to the “native spring” in the line above.)
  • The tears are mistakenly offering a tribute to Romeo.