Romeo and Juliet — Act 5, Scene 2

original text and modern English, side by side

Friar Lawrence’s Cell · Friar John, Friar Lawrence

Friar Lawrence had sent Friar John to Mantua carrying the crucial letter that tells Romeo Juliet's death is fake — she has only taken a sleeping potion. Meanwhile Romeo, hearing only that Juliet is dead, has already bought poison and is riding for her tomb.

Enter Friar John

Friar John

Holy Franciscan Friar!

Holy Franciscan friar!

Brother, ho!

Brother, hello!

Enter Friar Lawrence

Friar Lawrence

This same should be the voice of Friar John.

That must be Friar John's voice.

Welcome from Mantua.

Welcome back from Mantua!

What says Romeo?

What does Romeo say?

Or, if his mind be writ, give me his letter.

Or, if he put his thoughts in writing, give me his letter.

Friar John

Going to find a barefoot brother out,

One of our order, to associate me,

Here in this city visiting the sick,

I went to find a barefoot brother of our order to travel with me — he was here in the city, visiting the sick.

And finding him, the searchers of the town,

Suspecting that we both were in a house

Where the infectious pestilence did reign,

Seal’d up the doors, and would not let us forth,

But when I found him, the town's health inspectors, suspecting we had both been in a house where the infectious plague was raging, sealed up the doors and wouldn't let us out.

So that my speed to Mantua there was stay’d.

So my journey to Mantua was stopped right there.

Friar Lawrence

Who bare my letter then to Romeo?

Then who carried my letter to Romeo?

Friar John

I could not send it,—here it is again,—

Nor get a messenger to bring it thee,

So fearful were they of infection.

I couldn't send it — here it is, back again — and I couldn't even find a messenger to return it to you, they were so terrified of infection.

Friar Lawrence

Unhappy fortune!

What miserable luck!

By my brotherhood,

The letter was not nice, but full of charge,

Of dear import, and the neglecting it

May do much danger.

I swear by my holy order, that letter was no trivial note — it carried instructions of vital importance, and neglecting it may cause terrible harm.

Friar John, go hence,

Get me an iron crow and bring it straight

Unto my cell.

Friar John, go now: get me an iron crowbar and bring it straight to my cell.

Friar John

Brother, I’ll go and bring it thee.

Brother, I'll go and bring it to you.

Exit.

Friar Lawrence

Now must I to the monument alone.

Now I must go to the monument alone.

Within this three hours will fair Juliet wake.

Within three hours the fair Juliet will wake.

She will beshrew me much that Romeo

Hath had no notice of these accidents;

She will curse me bitterly that Romeo was never told what has happened.

But I will write again to Mantua,

And keep her at my cell till Romeo come.

But I'll write again to Mantua, and keep her here at my cell until Romeo comes.

Poor living corse, clos’d in a dead man’s tomb.

Poor living corpse — shut up in a dead man's tomb!

Exit.

Romeo and Juliet Act 5, Scene 2 summary

Who appears in this scene

Friar John, Friar Lawrence — Friar Lawrence’s Cell.

Famous lines in Romeo and Juliet Act 5, Scene 2, explained

“Poor living corse, clos’d in a dead man’s tomb.” (line 30): Friar Lawrence’s description of Juliet — a living body sealed in a tomb — compresses the play’s obsession with the blurred line between life and death into a single oxymoron. “Living corse” (living corpse) captures her drugged false death, and it darkly foreshadows the real deaths the undelivered letter is about to cause.

Keep reading

About this translation: the original text follows the public-domain Project Gutenberg Globe edition; the modern English translation was written in-house for Polytranslator and is reviewed on an ongoing basis (last revised August 2026). Free to print and photocopy for classroom use. Cite as: “Romeo and Juliet, Act 5, Scene 2. Polytranslator side-by-side translation, polytranslator.com/shakespeare/romeo-and-juliet/act-5-scene-2.”

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.