By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
‘But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?’ is a speech made by Romeo at the beginning of Act II Scene 2 in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The whole of the speech beginning ‘But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?’ represents the consolidation and confirmation of Romeo’s love for Juliet, as he echoes his initial paean to her beauty (from Act I Scene 5), but the intensity of his feeling is seen to develop.