Original: Anon he finds him,
Modern: Soon Pyrrhus finds Priam,

Original: Striking too short at Greeks. His antique sword,
Modern: The old king swinging weakly at Greek soldiers. His ancient sword,

Original: Rebellious to his arm, lies where it falls,
Modern: Too heavy for his weak arm, drops wherever it lands,

Original: Repugnant to command. Unequal match’d,
Modern: Refusing to obey him. Completely outmatched,

Original: Pyrrhus at Priam drives, in rage strikes wide;
Modern: Pyrrhus charges at Priam and swings wildly in his fury;

Original: But with the whiff and wind of his fell sword
Modern: But just the rush of air from his deadly sword

Original: Th’ unnerved father falls. Then senseless Ilium,
Modern: Knocks the weakened old man down. Then the lifeless city of Troy,

Original: Seeming to feel this blow, with flaming top
Modern: As if feeling this attack, with its burning towers

Original: Stoops to his base, and with a hideous crash
Modern: Collapses to its foundations, and with a terrible crash

Original: Takes prisoner Pyrrhus’ ear. For lo! his sword,
Modern: Captures Pyrrhus’s attention. Look! His sword,

Original: Which was declining on the milky head
Modern: Which was coming down on the white-haired head

Original: Of reverend Priam, seem’d i’ th’ air to stick.
Modern: Of the respected Priam, seemed to freeze in mid-air.

Original: So, as a painted tyrant, Pyrrhus stood,
Modern: So, like a tyrant in a painting, Pyrrhus stood still,

Original: And, like a neutral to his will and matter,
Modern: And, as if disconnected from his intent and purpose,

Original: Did nothing.
Modern: Did nothing.

Original: But, as we often see, against some storm,
Modern: But, as we often see before a storm,

Original: A silence in the heavens, the rack stand still,
Modern: A silence in the sky, the clouds standing motionless,

Original: The bold winds speechless, and the orb below
Modern: The strong winds quiet, and the earth below

Original: As hush as death- anon the dreadful thunder
Modern: As silent as death—then suddenly the terrible thunder

Original: Doth rend the region; so, after Pyrrhus’ pause,
Modern: Tears through the air; so, after Pyrrhus’s pause,

Original: Aroused vengeance sets him new awork;
Modern: His awakened desire for revenge sets him back in motion;

Original: And never did the Cyclops’ hammers fall
Modern: And never did the one-eyed giants’ hammers strike

Original: On Mars’s armour, forg’d for proof eterne,
Modern: On the war god’s armor, forged to last forever,

Original: With less remorse than Pyrrhus’ bleeding sword
Modern: With less mercy than Pyrrhus’s blood-covered sword

Original: Now falls on Priam.
Modern: Now falls on Priam.

Original: Out, out, thou strumpet Fortune! All you gods,
Modern: Away, away, you whore Fortune! All you gods,

Original: In general synod take away her power;
Modern: In a universal council take away her power;

Original: Break all the spokes and fellies from her wheel,
Modern: Break all the spokes and rims from her wheel of fortune,

Original: And bowl the round nave down the hill of heaven,
Modern: And roll the round hub down from heaven’s heights,

Original: As low as to the fiends!
Modern: All the way down to the devils in hell!

In Act III, Scene 2, line 132 of Hamlet, the scene occurs within the larger context of the performance of “The Mousetrap” play before the Danish court. At this specific moment, Hamlet is interacting with the players and the assembled court, having arranged for the traveling actors to perform a play that mirrors the circumstances of his father’s murder. The Players perform their show, which depicts a king being poisoned in his garden by a man who then seduces the queen, while Hamlet provides commentary and watches King Claudius’s reaction intently.

Around line 132, the action focuses on the Player King and Player Queen’s scene, where they discuss themes of love, mortality, and remarriage. The Player Queen vows never to remarry if her husband dies, protesting that such an act would be a betrayal of their love. Hamlet engages with his mother Queen Gertrude about the performance, asking her opinion of the play, while he simultaneously observes Claudius for signs of guilt. This moment serves as the setup for Claudius’s eventual disruption of the performance when the murder scene grows too close to the truth of his crime.

Hamlet tells the story of Prince Hamlet of Denmark, who is visited by the ghost of his recently deceased father. The ghost reveals that he was murdered by Hamlet’s uncle Claudius, who has now married Hamlet’s mother Gertrude and assumed the throne. Commanded by his father’s spirit to seek revenge, Hamlet struggles with doubt, melancholy, and the moral complexity of his task. To investigate the ghost’s claims and plan his revenge, he feigns madness, which creates tension throughout the Danish court.

As Hamlet deliberates, his erratic behavior affects everyone around him, particularly his love interest Ophelia, daughter of the king’s advisor Polonius. To test Claudius’s guilt, Hamlet stages a play mirroring his father’s murder, which confirms the king’s culpability. However, Hamlet’s actions become increasingly destructive—he accidentally kills Polonius while the old man spies on him, and his rejection of Ophelia contributes to her descent into genuine madness and eventual drowning.

The play reaches its climax when Ophelia’s brother Laertes returns to avenge his father’s death. Claudius manipulates Laertes into challenging Hamlet to a duel, secretly poisoning Laertes’s sword and preparing poisoned wine as backup. The final scene erupts in tragedy: during the duel, both Hamlet and Laertes are wounded by the poisoned blade, Gertrude accidentally drinks the poisoned wine, and Hamlet finally kills Claudius. As Hamlet dies, he names Prince Fortinbras of Norway as Denmark’s next ruler, bringing the cycle of revenge and political instability to a close. The play ends with Fortinbras restoring order to the Danish court as bodies are carried off in a funeral march.