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All Site ContentRomeo and JulietAct 3Scene 5
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"Cynthia's brow"
Allusion
Act 3,
Scene 5
Lines 17-25

An explanation of the allusion to Cynthia in Act 3, Scene 5 of myShakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

Romeo

Let me be ta'en, let me be put to death;
I am content, so thou wilt have it so.
I'll say yon grey is not the morning's eye,
'Tis but the pale reflex of Cynthia's brow;
Nor that is not the lark, whose notes do beat                 
The vaulty heaven so high above our heads.
I have more care to stay than will to go.
Come, death, and welcome! Juliet wills it so.
How is't, my soul? Let's talk; it is not day.

Cynthia was one of the names for the Greek goddess of the moon — hence the "pale…brow."