Original: I will be brief, for my short date of breath
Modern: I’ll keep this short because I don’t have much time left to live

Original: Is not so long as is a tedious tale.
Modern: and my story shouldn’t drag on forever.

Original: Romeo, there dead, was husband to that Juliet;
Modern: Romeo, lying dead over there, was married to Juliet;

Original: And she, there dead, that Romeo’s faithful wife:
Modern: And she, also dead, was Romeo’s devoted wife.

Original: I married them; and their stol’n marriage-day
Modern: I performed their secret wedding ceremony, and that same day

Original: Was Tybalt’s dooms-day, whose untimely death
Modern: Was the day Tybalt died too soon, and his death

Original: Banish’d the new-made bridegroom from the city,
Modern: Got the newlywed Romeo banished from Verona.

Original: For whom, and not for Tybalt, Juliet pined.
Modern: Juliet grieved for Romeo, not for her cousin Tybalt.

Original: You, to remove that siege of grief from her,
Modern: You, trying to end her overwhelming sadness,

Original: Betroth’d and would have married her perforce
Modern: Arranged for her to marry Count Paris against her will.

Original: To County Paris: then comes she to me,
Modern: Then she came to me,

Original: And, with wild looks, bid me devise some mean
Modern: And with desperate eyes, begged me to find some way

Original: To rid her from this second marriage,
Modern: To free her from this second marriage,

Original: Or in my cell there would she kill herself.
Modern: Or else she would kill herself right there in my room.

Original: Then gave I her, so tutor’d by my art,
Modern: So I gave her, using my knowledge of medicine,

Original: A sleeping potion; which so took effect
Modern: A sleeping potion that worked exactly

Original: As I intended, for it wrought on her
Modern: As I planned—it made her appear

Original: The form of death: meantime I writ to Romeo,
Modern: To be dead. Meanwhile, I wrote to Romeo

Original: That he should hither come as this dire night,
Modern: Telling him to come here on this terrible night

Original: To help to take her from her borrow’d grave,
Modern: To help me get her out of her temporary tomb

Original: Being the time the potion’s force should cease.
Modern: Right when the potion’s effects would wear off.

Original: But he which bore my letter, Friar John,
Modern: But the messenger who carried my letter, Friar John,

Original: Was stay’d by accident, and yesternight
Modern: Was delayed by an accident, and last night

Original: Return’d my letter back. Then all alone
Modern: Brought my letter back undelivered. So I went alone

Original: At the prefixed hour of her waking,
Modern: At the planned time when she would wake up

Original: Came I to take her from her kindred’s vault;
Modern: To get her out of her family’s tomb,

Original: Meaning to keep her closely at my cell,
Modern: Planning to hide her secretly in my room

Original: Till I conveniently could send to Romeo:
Modern: Until I could find a good way to contact Romeo.

Original: But when I came, some minute ere the time
Modern: But when I arrived, just a few minutes before

Original: Of her awaking, here untimely lay
Modern: She was supposed to wake up, I found lying here

Original: The noble Paris and true Romeo dead.
Modern: The honorable Paris and faithful Romeo, both dead.

Original: She wakes; and I entreated her come forth,
Modern: She woke up, and I begged her to come with me

Original: And bear this work of heaven with patience:
Modern: And accept this tragedy as God’s will with strength.

Original: But then a noise did scare me from the tomb;
Modern: But then a sound frightened me away from the tomb,

Original: And she, too desperate, would not go with me,
Modern: And she was too grief-stricken to leave with me.

Original: But, as it seems, did violence on herself.
Modern: Instead, it appears she killed herself.

Original: All this I know; and to the marriage
Modern: This is everything I know. The Nurse also knew about

Original: Her nurse is privy: and, if aught in this
Modern: The marriage. And if anything that went wrong

Original: Miscarried by my fault, let my old life
Modern: Was my fault, then let me die

Original: Be sacrificed, some hour before his time,
Modern: Even sooner than I would naturally,

Original: Unto the rigour of severest law.
Modern: By the harshest punishment the law allows.

In Act V, Scene 3 of Romeo and Juliet, the final tragic events unfold in the Capulet tomb. Romeo arrives at the burial vault where Juliet lies, apparently dead, and encounters Paris, who has come to mourn. The two men fight, and Romeo kills Paris before entering the tomb. Finding Juliet’s seemingly lifeless body, Romeo delivers his final speech and drinks poison to join her in death. Moments after Romeo dies, Juliet awakens from Friar Lawrence’s sleeping potion to discover Romeo’s corpse beside her.

Unable to live without Romeo, Juliet takes his dagger and stabs herself. Friar Lawrence arrives too late to prevent the double suicide, followed shortly by the Prince, the Capulets, and Montagues. The Friar explains the tragic chain of events that led to the young lovers’ deaths, revealing the secret marriage and the plan that went awry. Confronted with the devastating consequences of their feud, both Lord Capulet and Lord Montague pledge to end their families’ ancient hatred. The Prince concludes the play by pronouncing that the lovers’ deaths have brought a sorrowful peace to Verona, with all parties sharing responsibility for the tragedy that has claimed young lives.

“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.