Romeo and Juliet – Act 2 Prologue

CHORUS

Now old desire doth in his death-bed lie,

Romeo’s love of Rosaline lies dying,

And young affection gapes to be his heir;

And in her place, a new love is parading;

That fair for which love groaned for and would die,

The beauty he would die for love whilst crying,

With tender Juliet matched, is now not fair.

Is matched by Juliet; old beauty’s fading.

Now Romeo is beloved and loves again,

Now Romeo is loved, and loves again –

Alike betwitched by the charm of looks,

Both smitten by their looks and by their charm –

But to his foe supposed he must complain,

But now his love’s a foe, and that’s a pain;

And she steal love's sweet bait from fearful hooks:

She’s swallowed bait of love that risks her harm.

Being held a foe, he may not have access

Because he is a foe, he is refrained

To breathe such vows as lovers use to swear;

To whisper vows of love, as lovers do;

And she as much in love, her means much less

And she, as much in love, is more constrained

To meet her new-beloved any where:

To find a place to meet her lover new.

But passion lends them power, time means, to meet

But passion gives them strength and time to meet,

Tempering extremities with extreme sweet.

So risks involved make time and love more sweet.