's comments are
loaded with paradoxes--absurd, self-contradictory ideas.
Friar Lawrence is
referring to the "violent delights" of 's hormone-driven passion for(as they are about
to be wed). He realizes that Romeo's passion, like that of most young men, will pass with time
and leave him with the woman he married who he doesn't even really know at this
point.
When he says "These violent delights have violent
ends," he means that the overwhelming passion the two feel now will die as quickly as it
rose. He adds that they will "in their triumph die"--a , as those who triumph as
usually the ones left living. He compares youthful passion to "fire and powder, / Which, as
they kiss consume," which is somewhat paradoxical in the sense that kisses normally fuel
passion--not consume it.
Consider also that "the sweetest honey / Is
loathsome in his own deliciousness / And in the taste confounds the appetite." More
paradox: How can something sweet be "loathsome" because it
is so delicious? How can it be so delicious that you don't want any of
it?
He ends his speech by warning them to "love moderately"
because "long love doth so"--that is, those who have loved for many years and made
their passion last have not spent it too quickly. Then ends with this odd paradox: "Too
swift arrives as tardy as too slow." The meaning of this line is unclear, but it seems to
suggest that it's important for the lovers to choose the right "pace" for their
passion, as too fast or too slow can destroy it. He states it in a way that makes no rational
sense, though: how can something that is too fast be as "tardy" as something that's
too slow?
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