Romeo and Juliet — Act 5, Scene 3in modern English, side by side
A churchyard; in it a Monument belonging to the Capulets · Paris, Page, Romeo, Balthasar, Friar Lawrence, Juliet, First Watch, Second Watch, Third Watch, Prince, Capulet, Lady Capulet, Montague
Everything has gone wrong: Romeo believes Juliet is truly dead and has arrived from Mantua with poison, since Friar Lawrence's letter explaining the faked death never reached him. Juliet lies drugged in the Capulet tomb and is due to wake at any moment — while Paris, her intended husband, has come to the churchyard to mourn her.
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Enter Paris, and his Page bearing flowers and a torch
Paris
Give me thy torch, boy.
Give me your torch, boy.
Hence and stand aloof.
Go off and keep your distance.
Yet put it out, for I would not be seen.
No — put it out; I don't want to be seen.
Under yond yew tree lay thee all along,
Holding thy ear close to the hollow ground;
Lie down flat under that yew tree over there and press your ear to the hollow ground.
So shall no foot upon the churchyard tread,5
Being loose, unfirm, with digging up of graves,
But thou shalt hear it.
The soil in this churchyard is loose and soft from all the grave-digging, so no foot can step here without you hearing it.
Whistle then to me,
As signal that thou hear’st something approach.
When you do hear something coming, whistle to me as a signal.
Give me those flowers.
Give me those flowers.
Do as I bid thee, go.
Do as I tell you — go.
Aside.
Page
I am almost afraid to stand alone10
Here in the churchyard; yet I will adventure.
I'm almost afraid to stand here alone in the churchyard — but I'll risk it.
_Retires._
Paris
Sweet flower, with flowers thy bridal bed I strew.
Sweet flower, I scatter flowers over your bridal bed.
O woe, thy canopy is dust and stones,
Which with sweet water nightly I will dew,
Or wanting that, with tears distill’d by moans.15
Oh, grief — your canopy is nothing but dust and stones. Every night I'll water it with sweet perfumed water or, if I have none, with tears distilled from my moans.
The obsequies that I for thee will keep,
Nightly shall be to strew thy grave and weep.
The funeral rites I will keep for you are these: every night I'll strew your grave with flowers, and weep.
_The Page whistles._
Paris
The boy gives warning something doth approach.
The boy is warning me — something's coming.
What cursed foot wanders this way tonight,
To cross my obsequies and true love’s rite?20
Whose cursed foot wanders this way tonight, interrupting my mourning and the rites of true love?
What, with a torch!
What — he's carrying a torch!
Muffle me, night, awhile.
Night, hide me for a while.
_Retires._
Enter Romeo and Balthasar with a torch, mattock, &c
Romeo
Give me that mattock and the wrenching iron.
Give me that pickaxe and the crowbar.
Hold, take this letter; early in the morning
See thou deliver it to my lord and father.
Here, take this letter — early tomorrow morning, make sure you deliver it to my lord and father.
Give me the light;25
Give me the light.
upon thy life I charge thee,25
Whate’er thou hear’st or seest, stand all aloof
And do not interrupt me in my course.
On your life, I command you: whatever you hear or see, stay well back and don't interrupt me in what I'm doing.
Why I descend into this bed of death
Is partly to behold my lady’s face,
But chiefly to take thence from her dead finger30
A precious ring, a ring that I must use
In dear employment.
I'm climbing down into this bed of death partly to look at my lady's face, but mainly to take a precious ring from her dead finger — a ring I need for an important purpose.
Therefore hence, be gone.
So go on, get out of here.
But if thou jealous dost return to pry
In what I further shall intend to do,
By heaven I will tear thee joint by joint,35
And strew this hungry churchyard with thy limbs.
But if you get curious and come back to spy on what else I intend to do, I swear by heaven I'll tear you apart joint by joint and scatter this hungry churchyard with your limbs.
The time and my intents are savage-wild;
More fierce and more inexorable far
Than empty tigers or the roaring sea.
This hour, and what I intend, are savage and wild — fiercer and far more relentless than starving tigers or the roaring sea.
Balthasar
I will be gone, sir, and not trouble you.40
I'll go, sir, and I won't trouble you.
Romeo
So shalt thou show me friendship.
That's how you'll show me friendship.
Take thou that.
Here, take this money.
Live, and be prosperous, and farewell, good fellow.
Live, and be prosperous — and farewell, good fellow.
Balthasar
For all this same, I’ll hide me hereabout.
All the same, I'll hide somewhere near here.
His looks I fear, and his intents I doubt.
His face frightens me, and I don't trust what he means to do.
_Retires_
Romeo
Thou detestable maw, thou womb of death,45
Gorg’d with the dearest morsel of the earth,
Thus I enforce thy rotten jaws to open,
You detestable gut, you womb of death, gorged with the dearest morsel on earth — like this I force your rotten jaws open,
_Breaking open the door of the monument._
Romeo
And in despite, I’ll cram thee with more food.
and to spite you, I'll cram you with one more body.
Paris
This is that banish’d haughty Montague
That murder’d my love’s cousin,—with which grief,50
It is supposed, the fair creature died,—
This is that banished, arrogant Montague — the man who murdered my love's cousin, the grief that supposedly killed the beautiful girl.
And here is come to do some villainous shame
To the dead bodies.
And now he's come here to commit some vile outrage on the dead bodies.
I will apprehend him.
I'll arrest him.
_Advances._
Paris
Stop thy unhallow’d toil, vile Montague.
Stop your unholy work, vile Montague!
Can vengeance be pursu’d further than death?55
Can revenge be chased beyond death itself?
Condemned villain, I do apprehend thee.
Condemned criminal, I'm placing you under arrest.
Obey, and go with me, for thou must die.
Obey me and come along — because you must die.
Romeo
I must indeed; and therefore came I hither.
I must indeed — that's exactly why I came here.
Good gentle youth, tempt not a desperate man.
Good, gentle young man, don't tempt a desperate one.
Fly hence and leave me.60
Run away and leave me.
Think upon these gone;60
Let them affright thee.
Think about these dead bodies — let them scare you off.
I beseech thee, youth,
Put not another sin upon my head
By urging me to fury.
I'm begging you, young man: don't put another sin on my head by driving me to fury.
O be gone.
Oh, just go!
By heaven I love thee better than myself;
For I come hither arm’d against myself.65
I swear by heaven I care more about you than about myself, because I came here armed against myself.
Stay not, be gone, live, and hereafter say,
A madman’s mercy bid thee run away.
Don't stay — go, live — and afterward you can say that a madman's mercy told you to run away.
Paris
I do defy thy conjuration,
And apprehend thee for a felon here.
I reject your warnings, and I'm arresting you right here as a felon.
Romeo
Wilt thou provoke me?70
So you'll provoke me?
Then have at thee, boy!70
Then take this, boy!
_They fight._
Page
O lord, they fight!
Oh Lord, they're fighting!
I will go call the watch.
I'll go call the watch.
_Exit._
Paris
O, I am slain! [_Falls._]
Oh, I'm killed!
If thou be merciful,
Open the tomb, lay me with Juliet.
If you have any mercy, open the tomb and lay me beside Juliet.
_Dies._
Romeo
In faith, I will.
I honestly will.
Let me peruse this face.
Let me look at this face.
Mercutio’s kinsman, noble County Paris!75
Mercutio's kinsman — the noble Count Paris!
What said my man, when my betossed soul
Did not attend him as we rode?
What was it my servant said as we rode, when my churning mind wasn't listening?
I think
He told me Paris should have married Juliet.
I think he told me Paris was supposed to marry Juliet.
Said he not so?
Didn't he say that?
Or did I dream it so?
Or did I dream it?
Or am I mad, hearing him talk of Juliet,80
To think it was so?
Or am I mad — hearing him speak of Juliet — and only imagining he said it?
O, give me thy hand,
One writ with me in sour misfortune’s book.
Oh, give me your hand, you whose name is written next to mine in bitter misfortune's book.
I’ll bury thee in a triumphant grave.
I'll bury you in a triumphant grave.
A grave?
A grave?
O no, a lantern, slaught’red youth,
For here lies Juliet, and her beauty makes85
This vault a feasting presence full of light.
Oh no — a lantern, slaughtered youth, a chamber full of light: because Juliet lies here, and her beauty turns this vault into a royal banquet hall, glowing bright.
Death, lie thou there, by a dead man interr’d.
Dead man, lie there — laid to rest by a dead man.
_Laying Paris in the monument._
Romeo
How oft when men are at the point of death
Have they been merry!
How often men are cheerful at the very point of death!
Which their keepers call
A lightning before death.90
The ones who nurse them call it the lightning before death.
O, how may I90
Call this a lightning?
Oh, how can I call this a lightning?
O my love, my wife,
Death that hath suck’d the honey of thy breath,
Hath had no power yet upon thy beauty.
My love! My wife! Death, which has sucked the honey from your breath, has had no power yet over your beauty.
Thou art not conquer’d.
You are not conquered.
Beauty’s ensign yet
Is crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks,95
And death’s pale flag is not advanced there.
Beauty's flag is still crimson in your lips and your cheeks; death's pale flag has not advanced there.
Tybalt, liest thou there in thy bloody sheet?
Tybalt — is that you lying there in your bloody shroud?
O, what more favour can I do to thee
Than with that hand that cut thy youth in twain
To sunder his that was thine enemy?100
Oh, what better favor can I do you than to use the same hand that cut your youth in two to cut down the man who was your enemy?
Forgive me, cousin.
Forgive me, cousin.
Ah, dear Juliet,
Why art thou yet so fair?
Ah, dear Juliet, why are you still so beautiful?
Shall I believe
That unsubstantial death is amorous;
And that the lean abhorred monster keeps
Thee here in dark to be his paramour?105
Should I believe that bodiless Death is in love with you — that the lean, hated monster keeps you here in the dark to be his mistress?
For fear of that I still will stay with thee,
And never from this palace of dim night
Depart again.
For fear of exactly that, I'll stay with you forever, and never again leave this palace of dim night.
Here, here will I remain
With worms that are thy chambermaids.
Here — here I'll remain, with the worms that are your chambermaids.
O, here
Will I set up my everlasting rest;110
And shake the yoke of inauspicious stars
From this world-wearied flesh.
Oh, here I'll set up my everlasting rest, and shake the yoke of hostile stars off this world-weary flesh.
Eyes, look your last.
Eyes, look your last.
Arms, take your last embrace!
Arms, take your last embrace.
And, lips, O you
The doors of breath, seal with a righteous kiss
A dateless bargain to engrossing death.115
And lips — you doors of breath — seal with a righteous kiss an eternal bargain with Death, who takes everything.
Come, bitter conduct, come, unsavoury guide.
Come, bitter guide; come, foul-tasting escort.
Thou desperate pilot, now at once run on
The dashing rocks thy sea-sick weary bark.
You desperate pilot, run this seasick, weary ship onto the crushing rocks at last.
Here’s to my love! [_Drinks._]
Here's to my love!
O true apothecary!
Thy drugs are quick.120
Oh, honest apothecary — your drugs are fast.
Thus with a kiss I die.120
And so, with a kiss, I die.
_Dies._
Enter, at the other end of the Churchyard, Friar Lawrence, with a
lantern, crow, and spade
Friar Lawrence
Saint Francis be my speed.
Saint Francis, speed me on my way.
How oft tonight
Have my old feet stumbled at graves?
How many times tonight have my old feet stumbled over graves?
Who’s there?
Who's there?
Who is it that consorts, so late, the dead?
Who keeps company with the dead this late?
Balthasar
Here’s one, a friend, and one that knows you well.
A friend, sir — and one who knows you well.
Friar Lawrence
Bliss be upon you.125
Bliss be upon you.
Tell me, good my friend,125
What torch is yond that vainly lends his light
To grubs and eyeless skulls?
Tell me, my good friend, what torch is that over there, wasting its light on grubs and eyeless skulls?
As I discern,
It burneth in the Capels’ monument.
As far as I can make out, it's burning inside the Capulets' monument.
Balthasar
It doth so, holy sir, and there’s my master,
One that you love.130
It is, holy sir — and my master is in there, someone you love.
Friar Lawrence
Who is it?
Who is it?
Balthasar
Romeo.
Romeo.
Friar Lawrence
How long hath he been there?
How long has he been there?
Balthasar
Full half an hour.
A full half hour.
Friar Lawrence
Go with me to the vault.135
Come with me to the vault.
Balthasar
I dare not, sir;
I don't dare, sir.
My master knows not but I am gone hence,
And fearfully did menace me with death
If I did stay to look on his intents.
My master thinks I've gone away, and he threatened me terribly — with death — if I stayed to watch what he was doing.
Friar Lawrence
Stay then, I’ll go alone.140
Stay here, then — I'll go alone.
Fear comes upon me.140
Fear is creeping over me.
O, much I fear some ill unlucky thing.
Oh, I'm very afraid some evil, unlucky thing has happened.
Balthasar
As I did sleep under this yew tree here,
I dreamt my master and another fought,
And that my master slew him.
While I was sleeping under this yew tree here, I dreamed that my master fought with another man, and that my master killed him.
Friar Lawrence
Romeo! [_Advances._]145
Romeo!
Alack, alack, what blood is this which stains
The stony entrance of this sepulchre?
Oh, no — what blood is this, staining the stone entrance of this tomb?
What mean these masterless and gory swords
To lie discolour’d by this place of peace?
Whose are these abandoned, bloody swords, lying discolored in this place of peace?
_Enters the monument._
Friar Lawrence
Romeo!150
Romeo!
O, pale!150
Oh — so pale!
Who else?150
Who else?
What, Paris too?150
What, Paris too?
And steep’d in blood?
And soaked in blood?
Ah what an unkind hour
Is guilty of this lamentable chance?
Ah, what a cruel hour is guilty of this heartbreaking disaster!
The lady stirs.
— The lady is stirring.
_Juliet wakes and stirs._
Juliet
O comfortable Friar, where is my lord?
Oh, comforting Friar! Where is my lord?
I do remember well where I should be,155
And there I am.
I remember perfectly well where I'm supposed to be, and here I am.
Where is my Romeo?
Where is my Romeo?
_Noise within._
Friar Lawrence
I hear some noise.
I hear noise.
Lady, come from that nest
Of death, contagion, and unnatural sleep.
Lady, come out of that nest of death, contagion, and unnatural sleep.
A greater power than we can contradict
Hath thwarted our intents.160
A power too great for us to oppose has wrecked our plans.
Come, come away.160
Come — come away.
Thy husband in thy bosom there lies dead;
And Paris too.
Your husband lies there dead against your breast, and Paris too.
Come, I’ll dispose of thee
Among a sisterhood of holy nuns.
Come, I'll find you a place among a sisterhood of holy nuns.
Stay not to question, for the watch is coming.
Don't stop to ask questions — the watch is coming.
Come, go, good Juliet.165
Come, go, good Juliet.
I dare no longer stay.165
I don't dare stay any longer.
Juliet
Go, get thee hence, for I will not away.
Go — get out of here, because I am not leaving.
_Exit Friar Lawrence._
Juliet
What’s here?
What's this?
A cup clos’d in my true love’s hand?
A cup, closed in my true love's hand?
Poison, I see, hath been his timeless end.
Poison, I see, has ended his life before its time.
O churl.
Oh, you miser!
Drink all, and left no friendly drop
To help me after?170
You drank it all, and didn't leave one friendly drop to help me follow you?
I will kiss thy lips.170
I'll kiss your lips.
Haply some poison yet doth hang on them,
To make me die with a restorative.
Maybe some poison still clings to them — enough to let me die by a medicine that restores me to you.
_Kisses him._
Juliet
Thy lips are warm!
Your lips are warm!
Within.
First Watch
Lead, boy.
Lead on, boy.
Which way?
Which way?
Juliet
Yea, noise?175
What — a noise?
Then I’ll be brief.175
Then I'll be quick.
O happy dagger.175
Oh, happy dagger!
_Snatching Romeo’s dagger._
Juliet
This is thy sheath. [_stabs herself_]
This is your sheath.
There rest, and let me die.
Rest there, and let me die.
_Falls on Romeo’s body and dies._
Enter Watch with the Page of Paris
Page
This is the place.
This is the place
There, where the torch doth burn.
— there, where the torch is burning.
First Watch
The ground is bloody.
The ground is covered in blood.
Search about the churchyard.
Search all around the churchyard.
Go, some of you, whoe’er you find attach.
Some of you go — and arrest anyone you find.
_Exeunt some of the Watch._
First Watch
Pitiful sight!180
What a pitiful sight!
Here lies the County slain,180
And Juliet bleeding, warm, and newly dead,
Who here hath lain this two days buried.
Here lies the Count, murdered, and Juliet bleeding — warm, and newly dead — though she was buried here two days ago.
Go tell the Prince;
Go tell the Prince.
run to the Capulets.
Run to the Capulets.
Raise up the Montagues,
Wake up the Montagues.
some others search.
The rest of you, keep searching.
_Exeunt others of the Watch._
First Watch
We see the ground whereon these woes do lie,185
But the true ground of all these piteous woes
We cannot without circumstance descry.
We can see the ground where all these sorrows lie, but the true ground of them — the real cause — we can't discover without more evidence.
Re-enter some of the Watch with Balthasar
Second Watch
Here’s Romeo’s man.
Here's Romeo's servant.
We found him in the churchyard.
We found him in the churchyard.
First Watch
Hold him in safety till the Prince come hither.
Keep him under guard until the Prince arrives.
Re-enter others of the Watch with Friar Lawrence
Third Watch
Here is a Friar that trembles, sighs, and weeps.190
Here is a friar who trembles, sighs, and weeps.
We took this mattock and this spade from him
As he was coming from this churchyard side.
We took this pickaxe and this spade from him as he was coming from this side of the churchyard.
First Watch
A great suspicion.
Very suspicious.
Stay the Friar too.
Hold the friar too.
Enter the Prince and Attendants
Prince
What misadventure is so early up,
That calls our person from our morning’s rest?195
What disaster is up so early that it calls me away from my morning's rest?
Enter Capulet, Lady Capulet and others
Capulet
What should it be that they so shriek abroad?
What can have happened, that people are shrieking about it all over town?
Lady Capulet
O the people in the street cry Romeo,
Some Juliet, and some Paris, and all run
With open outcry toward our monument.
Oh — the people in the street are crying 'Romeo,' some 'Juliet,' some 'Paris,' and they're all running, shouting, toward our monument.
Prince
What fear is this which startles in our ears?200
What is this fear that startles our ears?
First Watch
Sovereign, here lies the County Paris slain,
And Romeo dead, and Juliet, dead before,
Warm and new kill’d.
Sovereign, here lies Count Paris, murdered; and Romeo, dead; and Juliet — dead before — warm, and newly killed.
Prince
Search, seek, and know how this foul murder comes.
Search, seek, and find out how this foul murder came about.
First Watch
Here is a Friar, and slaughter’d Romeo’s man,205
With instruments upon them fit to open
These dead men’s tombs.
Here is a friar, and dead Romeo's servant, carrying tools fit for opening these dead men's tombs.
Capulet
O heaven!
Oh, heaven!
O wife, look how our daughter bleeds!
Oh, wife — look how our daughter bleeds!
This dagger hath mista’en, for lo, his house
Is empty on the back of Montague,210
And it mis-sheathed in my daughter’s bosom.
This dagger went astray — look, its sheath hangs empty on Montague's back, and the blade has sheathed itself, by terrible mistake, in my daughter's breast.
Lady Capulet
O me! This sight of death is as a bell
That warns my old age to a sepulchre.
Oh, this sight of death is like a bell, tolling my old age toward the grave.
Enter Montague and others
Prince
Come, Montague, for thou art early up,
To see thy son and heir more early down.215
Come, Montague. You are up early — to see your son and heir brought down even earlier.
Montague
Alas, my liege, my wife is dead tonight.
Grief of my son’s exile hath stopp’d her breath.
Alas, my liege, my wife died tonight — grief over my son's exile stopped her breath.
What further woe conspires against mine age?
What further sorrow is conspiring against my old age?
Prince
Look, and thou shalt see.
Look, and you will see.
Montague
O thou untaught!220
Oh, you ill-mannered boy!
What manners is in this,220
To press before thy father to a grave?
What kind of manners is this — pushing ahead of your father into the grave?
Prince
Seal up the mouth of outrage for a while,
Till we can clear these ambiguities,
And know their spring, their head, their true descent,
Seal up your cries of outrage for a while, until we can clear up these mysteries and learn their source, their origin, how all this truly came about.
And then will I be general of your woes,225
And lead you even to death.
Then I myself will lead you in your grief, even if it leads to death.
Meantime forbear,
And let mischance be slave to patience.
Until then, hold back, and let misfortune be the slave of patience.
Bring forth the parties of suspicion.
Bring forward the suspects.
Friar Lawrence
I am the greatest, able to do least,
Yet most suspected, as the time and place230
Doth make against me, of this direful murder.
I am the chief suspect — the least capable of such a thing, yet the most suspected, since the time and the place point against me in this dreadful murder.
And here I stand, both to impeach and purge
Myself condemned and myself excus’d.
And here I stand, both to accuse myself and to clear myself — condemned by my own account, and excused by it.
Prince
Then say at once what thou dost know in this.
Then tell us at once what you know about this.
Friar Lawrence
I will be brief, for my short date of breath235
Is not so long as is a tedious tale.
I will be brief, for what little breath I have left won't last as long as a tedious story.
Romeo, there dead, was husband to that Juliet,
And she, there dead, that Romeo’s faithful wife.
Romeo, lying dead there, was husband to that Juliet, and she, lying dead there, was Romeo's faithful wife.
I married them;
I married them.
and their stol’n marriage day
Was Tybalt’s doomsday, whose untimely death240
Banish’d the new-made bridegroom from this city;
Their secret wedding day was the day Tybalt died — and Tybalt's untimely death banished the brand-new bridegroom from this city.
For whom, and not for Tybalt, Juliet pin’d.
It was for Romeo, not for Tybalt, that Juliet pined.
You, to remove that siege of grief from her,
Betroth’d, and would have married her perforce
To County Paris.245
You, trying to lift that siege of grief from her, engaged her to Count Paris and would have married her to him by force.
Then comes she to me,245
And with wild looks, bid me devise some means
To rid her from this second marriage,
Or in my cell there would she kill herself.
Then she came to me, and with a wild look begged me to devise some way to save her from this second marriage — otherwise she would kill herself right there in my cell.
Then gave I her, so tutored by my art,
A sleeping potion, which so took effect250
As I intended, for it wrought on her
The form of death.
So, guided by my training, I gave her a sleeping potion, which worked exactly as I intended: it gave her the appearance of death.
Meantime I writ to Romeo
That he should hither come as this dire night
To help to take her from her borrow’d grave,
Being the time the potion’s force should cease.255
Meanwhile I wrote to Romeo, telling him to come here on this terrible night to help take her out of her borrowed grave, since that was when the potion's effect would wear off.
But he which bore my letter, Friar John,
Was stay’d by accident; and yesternight
Return’d my letter back.
But the man carrying my letter, Friar John, was held up by accident, and last night he returned the letter to me.
Then all alone
At the prefixed hour of her waking
Came I to take her from her kindred’s vault,260
Meaning to keep her closely at my cell
Till I conveniently could send to Romeo.
So, all alone, at the exact hour she was due to wake, I came to take her out of her family's vault, meaning to hide her at my cell until I could get word to Romeo.
But when I came, some minute ere the time
Of her awaking, here untimely lay
The noble Paris and true Romeo dead.265
But when I arrived, a few minutes before she woke, here lay the noble Paris and the true Romeo, dead before their time.
She wakes; and I entreated her come forth
And bear this work of heaven with patience.
She woke, and I begged her to come out and bear this act of heaven with patience.
But then a noise did scare me from the tomb;
And she, too desperate, would not go with me,
But, as it seems, did violence on herself.270
But then a noise scared me out of the tomb, and she, too desperate, refused to come with me — and, it appears, did violence to herself.
All this I know;
That is everything I know.
and to the marriage
Her Nurse is privy.
Her Nurse was in on the marriage.
And if ought in this
Miscarried by my fault, let my old life
Be sacrific’d, some hour before his time,
Unto the rigour of severest law.275
And if any part of this went wrong through my fault, let my old life be sacrificed, a few hours before its natural end, to the full harshness of the law.
Prince
We still have known thee for a holy man.
We have always known you to be a holy man.
Where’s Romeo’s man?
Where's Romeo's servant?
What can he say to this?
What can he add to this?
Balthasar
I brought my master news of Juliet’s death,
And then in post he came from Mantua
To this same place, to this same monument.280
I brought my master the news of Juliet's death, and he immediately rode at full speed from Mantua to this very place, this very monument.
This letter he early bid me give his father,
And threaten’d me with death, going in the vault,
If I departed not, and left him there.
He ordered me to give this letter to his father early in the morning, and as he went into the vault he threatened me with death if I didn't leave him there alone.
Prince
Give me the letter, I will look on it.
Give me the letter — I'll look at it.
Where is the County’s Page that rais’d the watch?285
Where is the Count's page, the one who called the watch?
Sirrah, what made your master in this place?
You, boy — what was your master doing in this place?
Page
He came with flowers to strew his lady’s grave,
And bid me stand aloof, and so I did.
He came with flowers to scatter over his lady's grave, and he told me to keep my distance, so I did.
Anon comes one with light to ope the tomb,
And by and by my master drew on him,290
And then I ran away to call the watch.
Soon someone came with a light to open the tomb, and before long my master drew his sword on him — and then I ran away to call the watch.
Prince
This letter doth make good the Friar’s words,
Their course of love, the tidings of her death.
This letter confirms the Friar's account — the course of their love, and the news of her death.
And here he writes that he did buy a poison
Of a poor ’pothecary, and therewithal295
Came to this vault to die, and lie with Juliet.
And here he writes that he bought poison from a poor apothecary and came with it to this vault, to die and lie with Juliet.
Where be these enemies?
Where are these enemies?
Capulet, Montague,
See what a scourge is laid upon your hate,
That heaven finds means to kill your joys with love!
Capulet! Montague! See what a scourge has been laid upon your hatred: heaven has found a way to kill the things you loved most — using love itself.
And I, for winking at your discords too,300
Have lost a brace of kinsmen.
And I, for closing my eyes to your feuding, have lost two kinsmen of my own.
All are punish’d.
Everyone is punished.
Capulet
O brother Montague, give me thy hand.
Oh, brother Montague, give me your hand.
This is my daughter’s jointure, for no more
Can I demand.
This handclasp is my daughter's marriage settlement — I can ask for nothing more.
Montague
But I can give thee more,305
But I can give you more.
For I will raise her statue in pure gold,
That whiles Verona by that name is known,
There shall no figure at such rate be set
As that of true and faithful Juliet.
I will raise a statue of her in pure gold, so that as long as Verona is known by that name, no figure will be valued as highly as that of true and faithful Juliet.
Capulet
As rich shall Romeo’s by his lady’s lie,310
Poor sacrifices of our enmity.
Romeo's statue will lie just as richly beside his lady's — the two of them, poor sacrifices to our feud.
Prince
A glooming peace this morning with it brings;
The sun for sorrow will not show his head.
This morning brings a dark peace with it; the sun, in sorrow, will not show his head.
Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things.
Go now, to talk further about these sad events.
Some shall be pardon’d, and some punished,315
Some will be pardoned, and some punished.
For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.
For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo.
_Exeunt._
Famous lines in this scene
“Eyes, look your last. / Arms, take your last embrace!” line 112
Romeo says a formal, deliberate goodbye to his own body, part by part — eyes, arms, lips — before drinking the poison. The lines turn suicide into a solemn ceremony: his last kiss becomes a legal “seal” on a permanent contract with death, showing how completely he has chosen this ending.
“O true apothecary! / Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die.” line 120
Romeo’s dying words, spoken as the poison takes effect mid-kiss. “True” praises the apothecary for honest, fast-working goods — grim wit in his final second. The line fuses the play’s two great forces, love and death, into a single gesture: his last act of love is literally the act that kills him.
“O happy dagger. / This is thy sheath. There rest, and let me die.” line 176
Juliet’s last words as she stabs herself with Romeo’s dagger. “Happy” means lucky or opportune — the dagger is fortunate to be at hand, and to die in her body. Calling her breast its “sheath” turns the weapon’s proper home into her heart, a shocking image of marriage and death made one.
“For never was a story of more woe / Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.” line 316
The Prince’s closing couplet, and the play’s final judgment on itself: no tale has ever been sadder. The rhyme of “woe” and “Romeo” seals the tragedy like an epitaph, and putting Juliet’s name first quietly gives her equal billing — this is the story of both lovers, punished for their families’ hate.
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.
Free side-by-side translation — polytranslator.com/shakespeare/romeo-and-juliet/act-5-scene-3