Original: In faith, I will. Let me peruse this face.
Modern: Yes, I will. Let me look closely at this face.

Original: Mercutio’s kinsman, noble County Paris!
Modern: It’s Mercutio’s relative, the noble Count Paris!

Original: What said my man, when my betossed soul
Modern: What did my servant say when my troubled mind

Original: Did not attend him as we rode? I think
Modern: wasn’t paying attention to him as we traveled? I think

Original: He told me Paris should have married Juliet:
Modern: he told me Paris was supposed to marry Juliet.

Original: Said he not so? or did I dream it so?
Modern: Didn’t he say that? Or did I dream it?

Original: Or am I mad, hearing him talk of Juliet,
Modern: Or am I crazy, hearing him talk about Juliet,

Original: To think it was so? O, give me thy hand,
Modern: to think that was true? Oh, give me your hand,

Original: One writ with me in sour misfortune’s book!
Modern: you who are written with me in the book of bitter bad luck!

Original: I’ll bury thee in a triumphant grave;
Modern: I’ll bury you in a glorious grave—

Original: A grave? O no! a lantern, slaughter’d youth,
Modern: A grave? Oh no! It’s like a lantern, murdered young man,

Original: For here lies Juliet, and her beauty makes
Modern: because here lies Juliet, and her beauty makes

Original: This vault a feasting presence full of light.
Modern: this tomb like a grand celebration hall full of light.

Original: Death, lie thou there, by a dead man interr’d.
Modern: Death, you lie there, buried by a man who’s about to be dead.

Original: How oft when men are at the point of death
Modern: How often when men are about to die

Original: Have they been merry! which their keepers call
Modern: have they been cheerful! Their guards call this

Original: A lightning before death: O, how may I
Modern: a sudden burst of energy before death. Oh, how can I

Original: Call this a lightning? O my love! my wife!
Modern: call this a burst of energy? Oh my love! My wife!

Original: Death, that hath suck’d the honey of thy breath,
Modern: Death, which has sucked the sweetness of your breath,

Original: Hath had no power yet upon thy beauty:
Modern: hasn’t had any power over your beauty yet.

Original: Thou art not conquer’d; beauty’s ensign yet
Modern: You are not defeated; beauty’s flag still

Original: Is crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks,
Modern: is red in your lips and in your cheeks,

Original: And death’s pale flag is not advanced there.
Modern: and death’s pale flag hasn’t been raised there.

Original: Tybalt, liest thou there in thy bloody sheet?
Modern: Tybalt, do you lie there in your bloody shroud?

Original: O, what more favour can I do to thee,
Modern: Oh, what greater favor can I do for you

Original: Than with that hand that cut thy youth in twain
Modern: than with this same hand that cut your young life in half

Original: To sunder his that was thine enemy?
Modern: to cut apart the one who was your enemy?

Original: Forgive me, cousin! Ah, dear Juliet,
Modern: Forgive me, cousin! Ah, dear Juliet,

Original: Why art thou yet so fair? shall I believe
Modern: why are you still so beautiful? Should I believe

Original: That unsubstantial death is amorous,
Modern: that bodiless death is in love,

Original: And that the lean abhorred monster keeps
Modern: and that the thin, disgusting monster keeps

Original: Thee here in dark to be his paramour?
Modern: you here in darkness to be his lover?

Original: For fear of that, I still will stay with thee;
Modern: Because I’m afraid of that, I will stay with you;

Original: And never from this palace of dim night
Modern: and never from this palace of darkness

Original: Depart again: here, here will I remain
Modern: will I leave again. Here, here I will remain

Original: With worms that are thy chamber-maids; O, here
Modern: with worms that are your servants. Oh, here

Original: Will I set up my everlasting rest,
Modern: I will settle down forever,

Original: And shake the yoke of inauspicious stars
Modern: and shake off the burden of unlucky fate

Original: From this world-wearied flesh. Eyes, look your last!
Modern: from this world-weary body. Eyes, take your last look!

Original: Arms, take your last embrace! and, lips, O you
Modern: Arms, take your last hug! And lips, oh you

Original: The doors of breath, seal with a righteous kiss
Modern: gates of breathing, seal with a faithful kiss

Original: A dateless bargain to engrossing death!
Modern: an eternal contract with all-consuming death!

Original: Come, bitter conduct, come, unsavoury guide!
Modern: Come, bitter escort, come, unpleasant guide!

Original: Thou desperate pilot, now at once run on
Modern: You reckless captain, now crash at once onto

Original: The dashing rocks thy sea-sick weary bark!
Modern: the smashing rocks, you seasick, exhausted ship!

Original: Here’s to my love!
Modern: Here’s to my love!

Original: O true apothecary!
Modern: Oh, honest pharmacist!

Original: Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die.
Modern: Your drugs work fast. And so with a kiss I die.

In Act V, Scene iii of “Romeo and Juliet,” the final tragic sequence unfolds in the Capulet tomb. Paris arrives at the churchyard to mourn Juliet and scatter flowers on her grave. Romeo and Balthasar soon appear, and Romeo instructs his servant to leave while he opens the tomb, threatening death if Balthasar interferes. Paris, recognizing Romeo as the banished man who killed Tybalt and believing him responsible for Juliet’s grief-induced death, attempts to arrest him. Romeo pleads with Paris to leave, but Paris refuses, and they fight. Romeo kills Paris, who with his dying breath asks to be laid beside Juliet. Romeo honors this request and, upon entering the tomb and seeing Juliet, marvels at her lifelike appearance. He drinks the poison he purchased in Mantua and dies beside her.

Friar Laurence arrives at the tomb and discovers the bodies of Paris and Romeo. Juliet awakens, and the Friar, hearing the watch approaching, urges her to flee with him, but she refuses to leave. The Friar exits alone, and Juliet, discovering Romeo’s body and finding the poison cup empty, kisses his poisoned lips before taking his dagger and stabbing herself. The watch enters with the Friar and Balthasar, and the Prince arrives with the Capulets and Montagues. After hearing testimony from the Friar, Balthasar, and Paris’s page, the Prince reveals that Romeo was his kinsman and admonishes both families for their feud. Capulet and Montague, grief-stricken, reconcile and promise to erect golden statues honoring their children, ending the play with the Prince’s lament about the tragic cost of their enmity.

“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.