Wilt thou be gone? it is not yet near day:
It was the nightingale, and not the lark,
That pierced the fearful hollow of thine ear.
– William Shakespeare
Romeo and Juliet, Act 3, Scene 5. After their night of love, Romeo prepares to leave Juliet’s room just before dawn. In the scene’s opening words Juliet tries to convince Romeo that he didn’t hear the lark but the nightingale. She doesn’t want him to leave and is trying to persuade him to stay a little longer. The lark is the herald of the morning, signaling Romeo must go, while the nightingale is the bird of night. Romeo has been banished from Verona over killing Tybalt and is fearful of being caught in the city. Their love is only safe under the cloak of darkness and the couple are fearful of the coming day. In the passage Juliet gives human qualities to the hollow of an ear, a good example of personification.