Romeo and Juliet: Prologue Translation

A side-by-side translation of Prologue of Romeo and Juliet from the original Shakespeare into modern English.

Original Text	Translated Text
Source: Folger Shakespeare Library
Enter Chorus. Two households, both alike in dignity (In fair Verona, where we lay our scene), From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. From forth the fatal loins of these two foes 5 A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life; Whose misadventured piteous overthrows Doth with their death bury their parents’ strife. The fearful passage of their death-marked love And the continuance of their parents’ rage, 10 Which, but their children’s end, naught could remove, Is now the two hours’ traffic of our stage; The which, if you with patient ears attend, What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend. Chorus exits.	The Chorus (kind of like a narrator) appears on stage and gives us the lowdown on the play we're about to watch (or read): It's set in Verona, where there are two families in the same socioeconomic class who've hated each other for a really long time. Their old grudge erupts in new violence, and blood is shed. What's more, two "star-crossed" lovers will commit suicide, finally putting an end to their parents' feud. This, which is the whole play in a nutshell, is what the Chorus tells us we'll be getting in the performance, which will take about two hours. So...sit back and be patient. Everything that's been left out of the prologue will be explained in the play. Brain Snack: In director Baz Luhrmann's 1996 film adaptation of the play (Romeo + Juliet), the Chorus is replaced by a TV anchorwoman who delivers the lines as an evening news story.

Original Text

Translated Text

Enter Chorus.

Two households, both alike in dignity
(In fair Verona, where we lay our scene),
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes 5
A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life;
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
Doth with their death bury their parents’ strife.
The fearful passage of their death-marked love
And the continuance of their parents’ rage, 10
Which, but their children’s end, naught could remove,
Is now the two hours’ traffic of our stage;
The which, if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.

Chorus exits.

The Chorus (kind of like a narrator) appears on stage and gives us the lowdown on the play we're about to watch (or read): It's set in Verona, where there are two families in the same socioeconomic class who've hated each other for a really long time. Their old grudge erupts in new violence, and blood is shed. What's more, two "star-crossed" lovers will commit suicide, finally putting an end to their parents' feud. This, which is the whole play in a nutshell, is what the Chorus tells us we'll be getting in the performance, which will take about two hours. So...sit back and be patient. Everything that's been left out of the prologue will be explained in the play.

Brain Snack: In director Baz Luhrmann's 1996 film adaptation of the play (Romeo + Juliet), the Chorus is replaced by a TV anchorwoman who delivers the lines as an evening news story.

Romeo and Juliet: Prologue Translation

A side-by-side translation of Prologue of Romeo and Juliet from the original Shakespeare into modern English.

Original Text

Translated Text

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