Original: Have at you, then, affection’s men at arms.
Modern: Alright then, let me attack you soldiers who fight for love.

Original: Consider what you first did swear unto,
Modern: Think about what you originally promised,

Original: To fast, to study, and to see no woman;
Modern: To give up pleasure, to study hard, and to avoid women;

Original: Flat treason ‘gainst the kingly state of youth.
Modern: That’s complete betrayal against the royal nature of being young.

Original: Say, can you fast? your stomachs are too young;
Modern: Tell me, can you really deny yourselves? You’re too young for that;

Original: And abstinence engenders maladies.
Modern: And denying yourself creates sickness.

Original: And where that you have vow’d to study, lords,
Modern: And as for your vow to study, gentlemen,

Original: In that each of you have forsworn his book,
Modern: Since each of you has given up his books,

Original: Can you still dream and pore and thereon look?
Modern: Can you still focus and concentrate on them?

Original: For when would you, my lord, or you, or you,
Modern: Because when would you, sir, or you, or you,

Original: Have found the ground of study’s excellence
Modern: Have discovered the foundation of true learning

Original: Without the beauty of a woman’s face?
Modern: Without looking at a beautiful woman’s face?

Original: From women’s eyes this doctrine I derive;
Modern: I learned this truth from women’s eyes;

Original: They are the ground, the books, the academes
Modern: They are the foundation, the textbooks, the universities

Original: From whence doth spring the true Promethean fire
Modern: From which comes the true spark of inspiration and life

Original: Why, universal plodding poisons up
Modern: Because studying everything mindlessly poisons

Original: The nimble spirits in the arteries,
Modern: The quick energy in our blood,

Original: As motion and long-during action tires
Modern: Just as constant movement and long activity exhausts

Original: The sinewy vigour of the traveller.
Modern: The muscular strength of a traveler.

Original: Now, for not looking on a woman’s face,
Modern: Now, by refusing to look at a woman’s face,

Original: You have in that forsworn the use of eyes
Modern: You have in doing so given up the purpose of having eyes

Original: And study too, the causer of your vow;
Modern: And also given up study itself, which was the reason for your vow;

Original: For where is any author in the world
Modern: Because where is any writer in the world

Original: Teaches such beauty as a woman’s eye?
Modern: Who teaches beauty like a woman’s eye does?

Original: Learning is but an adjunct to ourself
Modern: Knowledge is just an addition to who we are

Original: And where we are our learning likewise is:
Modern: And wherever we are, our knowledge is there too:

Original: Then when ourselves we see in ladies’ eyes,
Modern: So when we see our reflection in women’s eyes,

Original: Do we not likewise see our learning there?
Modern: Don’t we also see our knowledge reflected there?

Original: O, we have made a vow to study, lords,
Modern: Oh, we made a promise to study, gentlemen,

Original: And in that vow we have forsworn our books.
Modern: And by making that vow we’ve actually abandoned our books.

Original: For when would you, my liege, or you, or you,
Modern: Because when would you, my lord, or you, or you,

Original: In leaden contemplation have found out
Modern: Through dull, heavy thinking have discovered

Original: Such fiery numbers as the prompting eyes
Modern: Such passionate poetry as the inspiring eyes

Original: Of beauty’s tutors have enrich’d you with?
Modern: Of beautiful women have given you?

Original: Other slow arts entirely keep the brain;
Modern: Other boring subjects occupy only the mind;

Original: And therefore, finding barren practisers,
Modern: And therefore, finding unproductive students,

Original: Scarce show a harvest of their heavy toil:
Modern: Barely show any results from their hard work:

Original: But love, first learned in a lady’s eyes,
Modern: But love, first experienced through a woman’s eyes,

Original: Lives not alone immured in the brain;
Modern: Doesn’t stay locked up only in the mind;

Original: But, with the motion of all elements,
Modern: But, moving like all the forces of nature,

Original: Courses as swift as thought in every power,
Modern: Flows as quickly as thought through every ability,

Original: And gives to every power a double power,
Modern: And gives each ability twice its strength,

Original: Above their functions and their offices.
Modern: Beyond their normal purposes and duties.

Original: It adds a precious seeing to the eye;
Modern: It gives the eye valuable improved vision;

Original: A lover’s eyes will gaze an eagle blind;
Modern: A lover’s eyes can see better than an eagle;

Original: A lover’s ear will hear the lowest sound,
Modern: A lover’s ear will hear the quietest sound,

Original: When the suspicious head of theft is stopp’d:
Modern: When even a suspicious thief’s ear cannot hear:

Original: Love’s feeling is more soft and sensible
Modern: Love’s sense of touch is more gentle and sensitive

Original: Than are the tender horns of cockl’d snails;
Modern: Than even the delicate antennae of snails;

Original: Love’s tongue proves dainty Bacchus gross in taste:
Modern: Love’s sense of taste makes even the god of wine seem crude:

Original: For valour, is not Love a Hercules,
Modern: As for courage, isn’t Love like Hercules,

Original: Still climbing trees in the Hesperides?
Modern: Always attempting impossible heroic tasks?

Original: Subtle as Sphinx; as sweet and musical
Modern: As clever as the Sphinx; as sweet and musical

Original: As bright Apollo’s lute, strung with his hair:
Modern: As the sun god Apollo’s beautiful lute:

Original: And when Love speaks, the voice of all the gods
Modern: And when Love speaks, it’s as if all the gods are speaking

Original: Makes heaven drowsy with the harmony.
Modern: Making heaven itself sleepy with the beautiful music.

Original: Never durst poet touch a pen to write
Modern: No poet has ever dared to put pen to paper

Original: Until his ink were temper’d with Love’s sighs;
Modern: Until his ink was mixed with the sighs of love;

Original: O, then his lines would ravish savage ears
Modern: Oh, only then would his words delight even uncivilized listeners

Original: And plant in tyrants mild humility.
Modern: And create gentle humility in cruel dictators.

Original: From women’s eyes this doctrine I derive:
Modern: I learned this truth from women’s eyes:

Original: They sparkle still the right Promethean fire;
Modern: They still shine with the true spark of life and inspiration;

Original: They are the books, the arts, the academes,
Modern: They are the textbooks, the arts, the universities,

Original: That show, contain and nourish all the world:
Modern: That teach, hold and feed everything in the world:

Original: Else none at all in ought proves excellent.
Modern: Otherwise nothing at all would be excellent.

Original: Then fools you were these women to forswear,
Modern: So you were fools to give up these women,

Original: Or keeping what is sworn, you will prove fools.
Modern: Or if you keep your oath, you will prove yourselves to be fools.

Original: For wisdom’s sake, a word that all men love,
Modern: For the sake of wisdom, something all men value,

Original: Or for love’s sake, a word that loves all men,
Modern: Or for the sake of love, something that embraces all men,

Original: Or for men’s sake, the authors of these women,
Modern: Or for men’s sake, the fathers of these women,

Original: Or women’s sake, by whom we men are men,
Modern: Or for women’s sake, who make us into real men,

Original: Let us once lose our oaths to find ourselves,
Modern: Let us break our promises this once to discover who we really are,

Original: Or else we lose ourselves to keep our oaths.
Modern: Or else

Act IV, Scene iii of Love’s Labour’s Lost opens with Berowne entering alone, lamenting that he has fallen in love with Rosaline and cursing himself for breaking his oath of study. He hides when the King enters, also lovesick and reading aloud a poem he has written to the Princess of France. The King in turn hides when Longaville enters, reading his own sonnet written to Maria. When Dumaine then enters to read his poem to Katherine, Longaville steps out to rebuke him — only to be rebuked in turn by the King, who scolds both of them for breaking their vows. Berowne then emerges to rebuke all three, positioning himself as the only faithful one — until Jaquenetta and Costard arrive and deliver a letter that exposes Berowne as equally guilty, having accidentally sent his love poem to Rosaline via Costard instead of his intended messenger.

With all four men exposed as oath-breakers and lovers, Berowne leads them in a spirited group defense of their situation. He delivers a lengthy argument that loving women is not a distraction from learning but is itself the highest form of learning, as the beauty of women teaches men to perceive and understand the world more fully. The four men celebrate their shared condition, agreeing to abandon their pretense of scholarly devotion and pursue the ladies openly. They begin to plot how they will woo the Princess and her ladies-in-waiting, planning to court them with revels, gifts, and entertainments. The scene ends with the four lords departing together, united in their new purpose.

“Love’s Labour’s Lost” opens with Ferdinand, the King of Navarre, and his three courtiers—Berowne, Longaville, and Dumain—taking a solemn oath to dedicate three years to scholarly pursuits while forswearing the company of women, fasting, and sleeping only three hours per night. Their noble intentions are immediately complicated by the arrival of the Princess of France and her three attending ladies—Rosaline, Maria, and Katharine—who come on a diplomatic mission regarding Aquitaine. Despite their vows, all four men quickly fall in love with the visiting ladies, though they initially attempt to hide their feelings from one another.

The romantic complications intensify when each man tries to secretly woo his chosen lady while believing himself to be the only oath-breaker. Comic relief is provided by a cast of eccentric characters including Don Armado, a bombastic Spanish knight who loves the country wench Jaquenetta; Costard, a simple clown; and the pedantic schoolmaster Holofernes. The ladies, aware of the men’s affections, decide to test their suitors’ sincerity by disguising themselves at a masque, leading to a delightful scene of mistaken identities where each man woos the wrong woman.

The play builds toward what seems like a conventional comic resolution with multiple betrothals, but Shakespeare subverts expectations in the final act. News arrives that the Princess’s father, the King of France, has died, casting a somber shadow over the festivities. The ladies impose a year-long trial on their suitors—the men must prove their love’s constancy through a period of good works and patient waiting. The play concludes unusually for a Shakespearean comedy, with promises of future union rather than immediate marriages, ending with the famous songs of Spring and Winter that celebrate the eternal cycle of seasons and human nature.