Romeo & Juliet Original Text: Act 2, Prologue

This page contains the original text of Act 2, Prologue of Romeo & Juliet. Shakespeare’s original Romeo & Juliet text is extremely long, so we’ve split the text into one Act & Scene per page. All acts & scenes are listed on the Romeo & Juliet original text page, or linked to from the bottom of this page.

ROMEO & JULIET ACT 2 PROLOGUE

Enter Chorus

Chorus
Now old desire doth in his death-bed lie,
And young affection gapes to be his heir;
That fair for which love groan’d for and would die,
With tender Juliet match’d, is now not fair.
Now Romeo is beloved and loves again,
Alike betwitched by the charm of looks,
But to his foe supposed he must complain,
And she steal love’s sweet bait from fearful hooks:
Being held a foe, he may not have access
To breathe such vows as lovers use to swear;
And she as much in love, her means much less
To meet her new-beloved any where:
But passion lends them power, time means, to meet
Tempering extremities with extreme sweet.

Exit

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Read more scenes from Romeo & Juliet in modern English, or as original text:

Romeo & Juliet in Modern English	|	Romeo & Juliet original text
	|
Modern Romeo & Juliet Act 1, Prologue	|	Romeo & Juliet text Act 1, Prologue
Modern Romeo & Juliet Act 1, Scene 1	|	Romeo & Juliet text Act 1, Scene 1
Modern Romeo & Juliet Act 1, Scene 2	|	Romeo & Juliet text Act 1, Scene 2
Modern Romeo & Juliet Act 1, Scene 3	|	Romeo & Juliet text Act 1, Scene 3
Modern Romeo & Juliet Act 1, Scene 4	|	Romeo & Juliet text Act 1, Scene 4
	|
Modern Romeo & Juliet Act 2, Prologue	|	Romeo & Juliet text Act 2, Prologue
Modern Romeo & Juliet Act 2, Scene 1	|	Romeo & Juliet text Act 2, Scene 1
Modern Romeo & Juliet Act 2, Scene 2	|	Romeo & Juliet text Act 2, Scene 2
Modern Romeo & Juliet Act 2, Scene 3	|	Romeo & Juliet text Act 2, Scene 3
Modern Romeo & Juliet Act 2, Scene 4	|	Romeo & Juliet text Act 2, Scene 4
Modern Romeo & Juliet Act 2, Scene 5	|	Romeo & Juliet text Act 2, Scene 5
Modern Romeo & Juliet Act 2, Scene 6	|	Romeo & Juliet text Act 2, Scene 6
	|
Modern Romeo & Juliet Act 3, Scene 1	|	Romeo & Juliet text Act 3, Scene 1
Modern Romeo & Juliet Act 3, Scene 2	|	Romeo & Juliet text Act 3, Scene 2
Modern Romeo & Juliet Act 3, Scene 3	|	Romeo & Juliet text Act 3, Scene 3
Modern Romeo & Juliet Act 3, Scene 4	|	Romeo & Juliet text Act 3, Scene 4
Modern Romeo & Juliet Act 3, Scene 5	|	Romeo & Juliet text Act 3, Scene 5
	|
Modern Romeo & Juliet Act 4, Scene 1	|	Romeo & Juliet text Act 4, Scene 1
Modern Romeo & Juliet Act 4, Scene 2	|	Romeo & Juliet text Act 4, Scene 2
Modern Romeo & Juliet Act 4, Scene 3	|	Romeo & Juliet text Act 4, Scene 3
	|
Modern Romeo & Juliet Act 4, Scene 5	|	Romeo & Juliet text Act 4, Scene 5
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Modern Romeo & Juliet Act 5, Scene 1	|	Romeo & Juliet text Act 5, Scene 1
Modern Romeo & Juliet Act 5, Scene 2	|	Romeo & Juliet text Act 5, Scene 2
Modern Romeo & Juliet Act 5, Scene 3	|	Romeo & Juliet text Act 5, Scene 3

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