This second sonnet prologue mirrors the first but with a crucial difference: the first prologue spoke of hate and death; this one speaks of love and desire. The structure creates a deliberate parallel that underscores the play's central tension between love and hate."Old desire" (Rosaline) dying on its "deathbed" while "young affection" (Juliet) rises is a metaphor of succession — one love replaces another almost instantaneously, which subtly questions whether Romeo's new love is any more substantial than the old.The couplet — "passion lends them power, time means, to meet / Tempering extremities with extreme sweet" — is the prologue's thesis: love will overcome obstacles, but only by "tempering" (balancing) extreme danger with extreme sweetness. The word "extremities" foreshadows the extreme measures both lovers will eventually take.Shakespeare may have intended this prologue to be cut in performance — many productions omit it. Its function is primarily structural: marking the transition from Act I's setup to Act II's romantic development....
Act II, Prologue
Romeo & Juliet
Act II, Prologue
Scene Summary
The Chorus returns in sonnet form to summarize the shift: Romeo's infatuation with Rosaline is dead, replaced by mutual love with Juliet. Both face obstacles — he is her family's enemy, she has limited freedom — but passion will find a way.
Translation Style
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✨ Character Voice Translations
PREMIUM
Original Text
CHORUS.
Now old desire doth in his deathbed lie,
And young affection gapes to be his heir.
That fair for which love groaned for and would die,
With tender Juliet matched, is now not fair.
Now Romeo is beloved and loves again,
Alike bewitched 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 anywhere.
But passion lends them power, time means, to meet,
Tempering extremities with extreme sweet.
Modern English
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