Original: No more, you petty spirits of region low,
Modern: Enough, you lesser spirits from the underworld,

Original: Offend our hearing; hush! How dare you ghosts
Modern: Stop offending my ears with your complaints; be quiet! How dare you ghosts

Original: Accuse the thunderer, whose bolt, you know,
Modern: Blame the god of thunder, whose lightning bolt, as you well know,

Original: Sky-planted batters all rebelling coasts?
Modern: Strikes down from heaven and destroys all who rebel against divine will?

Original: Poor shadows of Elysium, hence, and rest
Modern: You faint spirits from paradise, go away now, and find peace

Original: Upon your never-withering banks of flowers:
Modern: On your eternal flowery shores:

Original: Be not with mortal accidents opprest;
Modern: Don’t trouble yourselves with human misfortunes;

Original: No care of yours it is; you know ‘tis ours.
Modern: It’s not your responsibility; you know it’s ours to handle.

Original: Whom best I love I cross; to make my gift,
Modern: Those I love most, I test with hardships; to make my blessing,

Original: The more delay’d, delighted. Be content;
Modern: More appreciated when it finally comes. Be satisfied;

Original: Your low-laid son our godhead will uplift:
Modern: Your son who has been brought low, we gods will raise up:

Original: His comforts thrive, his trials well are spent.
Modern: His happiness will flourish, his suffering has served its purpose well.

Original: Our Jovial star reign’d at his birth, and in
Modern: Jupiter’s favorable star ruled when he was born, and in

Original: Our temple was he married. Rise, and fade.
Modern: My temple was he wed. Now rise up, and disappear.

Original: He shall be lord of lady Imogen,
Modern: He will become the husband of lady Imogen,

Original: And happier much by his affliction made.
Modern: And made much happier because of the hardships he has endured.

Original: This tablet lay upon his breast, wherein
Modern: Place this tablet on his chest, on which

Original: Our pleasure his full fortune doth confine:
Modern: My will determines his complete destiny:

Original: and so, away: no further with your din
Modern: and now, go away: don’t continue with your noise

Original: Express impatience, lest you stir up mine.
Modern: To show your impatience, or you’ll provoke my anger.

Original: Mount, eagle, to my palace crystalline.
Modern: Fly upward, eagle, to my crystal palace.

In Act V, Scene 4 of Cymbeline, Posthumus finds himself imprisoned and tormented by guilt over ordering Imogen’s death. Alone in his cell, he reflects on his actions and expresses deep remorse for believing Iachimo’s false testimony about his wife’s infidelity. As he sleeps, the ghosts of his deceased family members - his father Sicilius Leonatus, his mother, and his two brothers - appear to him in a vision. These spirits petition Jupiter, the king of the gods, to intervene on Posthumus’s behalf, arguing that he has suffered enough and deserves divine mercy.

Jupiter himself descends from the heavens in response to their pleas, riding upon an eagle amid thunder and lightning. The god chastises the spirits for questioning divine will and assures them that Posthumus’s fortunes will improve. Jupiter reveals that happiness will come to both Posthumus and Britain, though his prophecy is delivered in cryptic, riddling language. Before departing, Jupiter leaves behind a tablet containing a mysterious prophecy. When Posthumus awakens, he discovers the tablet but cannot decipher its meaning. A jailer then arrives to summon him, as he has been called to appear before King Cymbeline, setting the stage for the play’s final resolution.

Cymbeline tells the story of King Cymbeline of Britain, whose daughter Imogen secretly marries Posthumus Leonatus against her father’s wishes. Cymbeline banishes Posthumus to Rome, where he boasts of Imogen’s virtue and fidelity. The cunning Iachimo wagers that he can seduce Imogen and prove her unfaithful. When his direct attempts fail, Iachimo hides in a trunk in Imogen’s bedchamber, emerges while she sleeps, and steals her bracelet while noting intimate details of her body and room.

Returning to Rome with his false evidence, Iachimo convinces Posthumus that Imogen has been unfaithful. Enraged, Posthumus orders his servant Pisanio to kill Imogen. Instead, Pisanio reveals the plot to Imogen and helps her escape by disguising her as a young man named Fidele. She flees to the Welsh mountains, where she unknowingly encounters her long-lost brothers, Guiderius and Arviragus, who were kidnapped as infants and raised by the banished lord Belarius.

Meanwhile, Cymbeline’s evil Queen (Imogen’s stepmother) plots to poison Imogen and place her own son Cloten on the throne. Cloten pursues Imogen to Wales, where Guiderius kills him in combat. The Queen’s physician Cornelius has secretly given her a sleeping potion instead of poison, but when Imogen takes it believing it to be medicine, she falls into a death-like sleep beside Cloten’s headless corpse, whom she mistakes for Posthumus upon awakening.

The play culminates when Roman forces invade Britain. During the battle, the disguised Imogen serves the Romans while her unknown brothers and Belarius fight for Britain. After Britain’s victory, all deceptions are revealed: Iachimo confesses his lies, the Queen dies after admitting her evil plots, Imogen’s true identity and virtue are established, the royal brothers are restored to their father, and Posthumus and Imogen are reunited. Cymbeline makes peace with Rome and pardons all offenders.