Original: He jests at scars that never felt a wound.
Modern: It’s easy to make fun of scars when you’ve never been hurt yourself.

Original: But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?
Modern: Wait! What’s that light coming from that window over there?

Original: It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.
Modern: It’s coming from the east, and Juliet is like the sun.

Original: Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,
Modern: Rise up, beautiful sun, and outshine the jealous moon,

Original: Who is already sick and pale with grief,
Modern: Who is already sickly and pale with sadness,

Original: That thou her maid art far more fair than she:
Modern: Because you, her servant, are much more beautiful than she is.

Original: Be not her maid, since she is envious;
Modern: Don’t be her servant, since she’s jealous of you.

Original: Her vestal livery is but sick and green
Modern: Her pale uniform looks sickly and greenish,

Original: And none but fools do wear it; cast it off.
Modern: And only fools would wear it—take it off!

Original: It is my lady, O, it is my love!
Modern: It’s my lady! Oh, it’s my love!

Original: O, that she knew she were!
Modern: Oh, if only she knew that she is my love!

Original: She speaks yet she says nothing: what of that?
Modern: She’s moving her lips but not saying anything—so what?

Original: Her eye discourses; I will answer it.
Modern: Her eyes are speaking to me; I should respond to them.

Original: I am too bold, ‘tis not to me she speaks:
Modern: I’m being too forward—she’s not actually speaking to me.

Original: Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven,
Modern: Two of the most beautiful stars in the entire sky,

Original: Having some business, do entreat her eyes
Modern: Having some business to attend to, have asked her eyes

Original: To twinkle in their spheres till they return.
Modern: To shine in their place until they come back.

Original: What if her eyes were there, they in her head?
Modern: What if her eyes were up there, and the stars were in her head?

Original: The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars,
Modern: The glow of her cheek would make those stars look dim,

Original: As daylight doth a lamp; her eyes in heaven
Modern: Like sunlight makes a lamp look weak; if her eyes were in heaven,

Original: Would through the airy region stream so bright
Modern: They would shine so brightly through the sky

Original: That birds would sing and think it were not night.
Modern: That birds would start singing, thinking it was daytime.

Original: See, how she leans her cheek upon her hand!
Modern: Look how she rests her cheek on her hand!

Original: O, that I were a glove upon that hand,
Modern: Oh, I wish I were a glove on that hand,

Original: That I might touch that cheek!
Modern: So that I could touch that cheek!

In Act II, Scene 2 of Romeo and Juliet, Romeo enters the Capulet orchard after the feast, unable to leave without seeing Juliet again. He hides beneath her balcony as she appears at her window above. Unaware of his presence, Juliet speaks aloud her thoughts about Romeo, lamenting that he is a Montague and therefore her family’s enemy. She questions why names must divide them, famously declaring “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet,” and wishes Romeo would abandon his name so they could be together.

Romeo reveals himself and responds to her soliloquy, startling Juliet with his presence in her family’s garden. Despite her initial concern for his safety should her kinsmen discover him there, the two engage in an exchange of love vows. Juliet, embarrassed that Romeo overheard her private thoughts, attempts to maintain some formality, but Romeo presses his devotion. Their conversation builds to mutual declarations of love, with Juliet ultimately proposing that if Romeo’s intentions are honorable and he wishes to marry her, he should send word to her the following day. The Nurse calls from within, forcing Juliet to leave and return multiple times to continue their hurried arrangements before finally parting, with Romeo promising to contact her about their wedding plans.

“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.