When Romeo and Juliet first meet in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, they share a sonnet.
Their first exchange at the Capulet feast forms a fourteen-line sonnet, with Romeo and Juliet alternating lines. The poem develops a religious image: Romeo describes Juliet as a saint and himself as a pilgrim seeking contact. Their dialogue therefore becomes a formal poetic collaboration as well as a scene of immediate attraction.
This structure is easy to miss because the sonnet is embedded in ordinary stage dialogue. It is not simply a speech by Romeo, and it is not the opening prologue, which is also a sonnet but is spoken by the Chorus. The lovers’ shared sonnet ends with their kiss, after which the Nurse tells Romeo that Juliet is a Capulet, revealing the danger surrounding their meeting.