ROMEO: Lady, by yonder blessed moon I vow, That tips with silver all these fruit-tree tops- JULIET: O, swear not by the moon, th' inconstant moon, That monthly changes in her circled orb, Lest that thy love prove likewise variable.

Not the velvet softness of Earth's night with its inconstant moon and scattering of stars.

When ever smiled the inconstant moon On a pair so true?

Never smiled the inconstant moon On a pair so true.

Welcome to the domain of Shakespeare's "inconstant moon."

Like the inconstant moon, it has waxed and waned, never quite disappearing from planning documents and state legislation, steadily changing as it collided with great and small events, from World War II to demographic shifts to budget problems.

For instance, when Romeo swears his love to Juliet by the moon, she protests "O swear not by the moon, th'inconstant moon, / That monthly changes in her circled orb, / Lest that thy love prove likewise variable."

I can still hear her making with "Oh, swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon, that monthly changes in her circled orb, lest that thy love prove likewise variable."

The major problem now was the inconstant moon.

O, swear not by the moon, th' inconstant moon, That monthly changes in her circled orb, Lest that thy love prove likewise variable.