Original: What angel shall
Modern: What heavenly being will

Original: Bless this unworthy husband? he cannot thrive,
Modern: Bless this worthless husband? He cannot succeed,

Original: Unless her prayers, whom heaven delights to hear,
Modern: Unless her prayers, which heaven loves to listen to,

Original: And loves to grant, reprieve him from the wrath
Modern: And loves to answer, save him from the anger

Original: Of greatest justice. Write, write, Rinaldo,
Modern: Of God’s judgment. Write, write, Rinaldo,

Original: To this unworthy husband of his wife;
Modern: To this worthless husband of her;

Original: Let every word weigh heavy of her worth
Modern: Let every word emphasize her true value

Original: That he does weigh too light: my greatest grief,
Modern: That he takes too lightly: my deepest sorrow,

Original: Though little he do feel it, set down sharply.
Modern: Though he barely feels it, write it down harshly.

Original: Dispatch the most convenient messenger:
Modern: Send the fastest messenger available:

Original: When haply he shall hear that she is gone,
Modern: When he happens to hear that she has left,

Original: He will return; and hope I may that she,
Modern: He will come back; and I hope that she,

Original: Hearing so much, will speed her foot again,
Modern: Hearing this news, will hurry back here,

Original: Led hither by pure love. Which of them both
Modern: Brought here by true love. Which of these two

Original: Is dearest to me I have no skill in sense
Modern: Is more precious to me I have no ability

Original: To make distinction. Provide this messenger.
Modern: To decide. Arrange for this messenger.

Original: My heart is heavy and mine age is weak;
Modern: My heart is sad and my old age makes me frail;

Original: Grief would have tears, and sorrow bids me speak.
Modern: My grief wants to cry, and my sadness makes me talk.

In Act III, Scene iv of “All’s Well That Ends Well,” Helena receives a letter from her husband Bertram while she is staying with the Countess of Rossillion. The letter coldly informs Helena that Bertram has fled France to avoid her and will never return to consummate their marriage until she can obtain the ring from his finger and bear his child - conditions he believes impossible to fulfill. Bertram declares that until these seemingly impossible tasks are completed, she cannot call him husband. The letter devastates Helena, who realizes that her forced marriage has driven Bertram away and made him hate her presence.

Overwhelmed with guilt and believing that her pursuit of Bertram has endangered him by driving him to seek glory in dangerous wars, Helena decides to leave Rossillion secretly. She resolves to embark on a pilgrimage to the shrine of Saint Jacques le Grand (Santiago de Compostela), hoping that her departure will allow Bertram to return home safely. Helena writes a letter to the Countess explaining her decision to leave, expressing her love for Bertram and her determination to remove herself as an obstacle to his happiness and safety. She departs under cover of night, beginning the journey that will ultimately lead to her pursuit of Bertram to Florence.

“All’s Well That Ends Well” follows Helena, a physician’s daughter living in the household of the Countess of Rousillon, who is deeply in love with the Countess’s son, Bertram. When the King of France falls gravely ill, Helena travels to court and offers to cure him using remedies learned from her late father. She succeeds in healing the King, who grants her any husband of her choosing as reward. Helena selects Bertram, but he reluctantly marries her and immediately departs for the wars in Italy, declaring he will never consummate the marriage until she can obtain his ancestral ring and bear his child - conditions he believes impossible to fulfill.

Helena returns to Rousillon, where she learns of Bertram’s conditions through a letter. Disguising herself as a pilgrim, she travels to Florence, where Bertram is staying and pursuing Diana, a young woman whose mother keeps a lodging house. Helena reveals her identity to Diana and her mother, proposing a bed trick: Diana will agree to meet Bertram secretly, but Helena will take her place in the darkness. During their encounter, Helena obtains Bertram’s ring and gives him another ring that the King had previously given her.

Helena spreads word of her own death and returns to France, where Bertram has come to seek a new wife with the King’s blessing. When Bertram presents Helena’s ring to his prospective bride, the King recognizes it and suspects Bertram of murdering Helena. Diana arrives and presents Bertram’s ring as proof of their relationship, leading to confusion until Helena appears, pregnant with Bertram’s child and wearing his family ring. Faced with the fulfillment of his impossible conditions, Bertram accepts Helena as his true wife, and the King promises to arrange Diana’s marriage to a suitable husband.