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All Site ContentRomeo and JulietAct 4Scene 1
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"long"
Wordplay
Act 4,
Scene 1
Lines 60-67

An explanation of the wordplay on “long” in Act 4, Scene 1 of myShakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

Juliet

Therefore, out of thy long-experienced time,                
Give me some present counsel; or behold,
'Twixt my extremes and me this bloody knife
Shall play the umpire, arbitrating that
Which the commission of thy years and art
Could to no issue of true honor bring.
Be not so long to speak; I long to die
If what thou speak'st speak not of remedy.

In this moment of wordplay, Juliet tells the friar to not take so long to speak, because if he doesn't have a solution to her problems then she longs to die.