Here is the line-by-line paraphrase of Juliet’s monologue:

Original: The clock struck nine when I did send the nurse;
Modern: It was nine o’clock when I sent the Nurse on her errand;

Original: In half an hour she promised to return.
Modern: She promised to come back in half an hour.

Original: Perchance she cannot meet him: that’s not so.
Modern: Maybe she can’t find him—no, that can’t be it.

Original: O, she is lame! love’s heralds should be thoughts,
Modern: Oh, she’s so slow! Love’s messengers should be as fast as thoughts,

Original: Which ten times faster glide than the sun’s beams,
Modern: Which move ten times faster than sunlight,

Original: Driving back shadows over louring hills:
Modern: Pushing shadows away from dark hills:

Original: Therefore do nimble-pinion’d doves draw love,
Modern: That’s why quick-winged doves pull love’s chariot,

Original: And therefore hath the wind-swift Cupid wings.
Modern: And that’s why Cupid has wings as fast as the wind.

Original: Now is the sun upon the highmost hill
Modern: Now the sun is at the highest point

Original: Of this day’s journey, and from nine till twelve
Modern: Of its daily path, and from nine until noon

Original: Is three long hours, yet she is not come.
Modern: Is three endless hours, but she still hasn’t returned.

Original: Had she affections and warm youthful blood,
Modern: If she had feelings and the warm blood of youth,

Original: She would be as swift in motion as a ball;
Modern: She would move as quickly as a bouncing ball;

Original: My words would bandy her to my sweet love,
Modern: My message would bounce her quickly to my sweet Romeo,

Original: And his to me:
Modern: And his message back to me:

Original: But old folks, many feign as they were dead;
Modern: But old people often act like they’re already dead;

Original: Unwieldy, slow, heavy and pale as lead.
Modern: Clumsy, slow, sluggish and gray as lead.

Original: O God, she comes!
Modern: Oh God, here she comes!

In Act II, Scene 5 of Romeo and Juliet, Juliet anxiously awaits the Nurse’s return from her meeting with Romeo. The scene opens with Juliet alone, impatiently lamenting how slowly time passes as she waits for news about Romeo’s response to her marriage proposal. She reflects on how the Nurse, being old, moves slowly and feels emotions less keenly than young people do.

When the Nurse finally arrives, she deliberately delays delivering Romeo’s message, complaining about being out of breath, having aches and pains, and being tired from her errand. Despite Juliet’s eager questioning and pleas for immediate news, the Nurse draws out the suspense by asking irrelevant questions and making tangential comments about Romeo’s appearance and character. Eventually, after much teasing and frustration on Juliet’s part, the Nurse reveals that Romeo has arranged for them to be married that very afternoon at Friar Lawrence’s cell, and that Juliet should go to confession as a pretense for meeting him there.

“Romeo and Juliet” tells the story of two young lovers from feuding families in Verona. Romeo Montague attends a Capulet feast in disguise, where he meets and instantly falls in love with Juliet Capulet. They meet secretly that night on her balcony and decide to marry the next day. Friar Lawrence agrees to perform the ceremony, hoping their union might end the family feud.

After the secret wedding, Romeo encounters Juliet’s cousin Tybalt, who challenges him to a duel. When Romeo refuses to fight, his friend Mercutio accepts the challenge and is killed by Tybalt. In revenge, Romeo kills Tybalt and is banished from Verona by Prince Escalus. Meanwhile, Juliet’s parents, unaware of her secret marriage, arrange for her to wed Count Paris.

Desperate to avoid this second marriage, Juliet seeks help from Friar Lawrence, who gives her a potion that will make her appear dead. The plan is for Romeo to return and take her away when she awakens in the Capulet tomb. However, Romeo never receives the friar’s message explaining the scheme. Believing Juliet truly dead, he purchases poison and drinks it beside her tomb.

Juliet awakens to find Romeo’s lifeless body and, in despair, kills herself with his dagger. The tragic deaths of their children finally reconcile the Montague and Capulet families, who vow to end their ancient hatred. Prince Escalus concludes that all are punished by this sorrowful outcome of the families’ bitter feud.