Romeo and Juliet — Prologuein modern English, side by side

Prologue · Chorus

The play opens with a direct address to the audience explaining what's about to happen. Two noble Verona families are locked in an old feud, and their conflict will destroy their own children before it ends.

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Enter Chorus

Chorus

Two households, both alike in dignity,

In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,

Two families of equal social standing live in the beautiful city of Verona, where our story takes place.

From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,

Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.

An old grudge between them erupts into fresh violence, and the blood of ordinary citizens stains the hands of ordinary citizens.

From forth the fatal loins of these two foes5

A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life;

Whose misadventur’d piteous overthrows

Doth with their death bury their parents’ strife.

From the doomed wombs of these two feuding families come a pair of star-crossed lovers, whose tragic, ill-fated deaths finally put an end to their parents' hatred.

The fearful passage of their death-mark’d love,

And the continuance of their parents’ rage,10

Which, but their children’s end, nought could remove,

Is now the two hours’ traffic of our stage;

The frightening course of their death-marked love, and the way it stubbornly carries on their parents' rage — a rage that nothing but the children's deaths could ever stop — is what we perform for you in the two hours upon this stage.

The which, if you with patient ears attend,

What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.

If you listen patiently, we'll do our best to make up for anything this telling leaves out.

Famous lines in this scene

“Two households, both alike in dignity,” line 1

The play's opening line, and one of the most recognized first lines in English drama. It instantly sets up the central conflict — two families of equal social rank locked in mutual hostility — and its steady, formal rhythm signals that the story to follow is fated, almost like a piece of history being recited rather than invented.

“A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life;” line 6

The source of the phrase 'star-crossed lovers,' now a common expression for couples doomed by fate. In Shakespeare's time people believed the stars controlled human destiny, so this line tells the audience upfront that Romeo and Juliet's deaths are inevitable, not accidental — removing suspense in favor of dramatic irony.

Confused by a different line? Paste any Shakespeare — any play, any edition — and get it in modern English.

Studying the language itself? Our Shakespearean English course teaches thou/thee, the verbs, and the meter — free through Unit 2. Or try the Shakespearean English translator.