Original: Peace, ho, for shame! confusion’s cure lives not
Modern: Stop this noise, you should be ashamed! Creating more chaos won’t solve anything

Original: In these confusions. Heaven and yourself
Modern: with all this confusion. Both God and you

Original: Had part in this fair maid; now heaven hath all,
Modern: had a share in creating this beautiful girl; now God has her completely,

Original: And all the better is it for the maid:
Modern: and she’s much better off for it:

Original: Your part in her you could not keep from death,
Modern: The part of her that came from you couldn’t save her from dying,

Original: But heaven keeps his part in eternal life.
Modern: but God keeps his part of her alive forever.

Original: The most you sought was her promotion;
Modern: All you ever wanted was for her to rise up in the world;

Original: For ‘twas your heaven she should be advanced:
Modern: it was your greatest dream that she would be elevated:

Original: And weep ye now, seeing she is advanced
Modern: So why are you crying now, when you can see she has been elevated

Original: Above the clouds, as high as heaven itself?
Modern: above the clouds, as high as heaven itself?

Original: O, in this love, you love your child so ill,
Modern: Oh, in this love of yours, you love your child so badly

Original: That you run mad, seeing that she is well:
Modern: that you go crazy when you see that she’s actually doing well:

Original: She’s not well married that lives married long;
Modern: A woman isn’t truly well married if she lives a long married life;

Original: But she’s best married that dies married young.
Modern: but she’s best married if she dies while still young and married.

Original: Dry up your tears, and stick your rosemary
Modern: Stop crying, and place your rosemary

Original: On this fair corse; and, as the custom is,
Modern: on this beautiful body; and, as tradition demands,

Original: In all her best array bear her to church:
Modern: dress her in her finest clothes and carry her to church:

Original: For though fond nature bids us an lament,
Modern: Because even though our natural feelings tell us to mourn,

Original: Yet nature’s tears are reason’s merriment.
Modern: what seems tragic to our emotions is actually joyful when we think rationally.

In Act IV, Scene 5 of Romeo and Juliet, the Nurse discovers Juliet’s apparently lifeless body on the morning of her scheduled wedding to Paris. The Nurse’s cries of alarm bring Lady Capulet rushing to the chamber, where she too believes her daughter has died. Lord Capulet arrives and joins in the lamentation, followed by Friar Lawrence and Paris, who have come for the wedding ceremony. The family members express their grief through elaborate speeches about death having taken their beloved Juliet as a bride instead of Paris.

Friar Lawrence attempts to console the mourning family, reminding them that Juliet is now in heaven and urging them to prepare for her funeral rather than continuing their laments. The scene shifts in tone when Peter, the Capulet servant, remains behind with the musicians who had come to play at the wedding feast. Peter engages in wordplay and banter with the musicians, asking them to play a sad song to ease his sorrow. The musicians initially refuse but eventually agree to stay for dinner, ending the scene on a notably lighter note despite the tragic circumstances that have just unfolded.

“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.