The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliette
The Prologue
Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
Do with their death bury their parents' strife.
The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,
And the continuance of their parents' rage,
Which, but their children's end, nought could remove,
Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage;
The which if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
Do with their death bury their parents' strife.
The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,
And the continuance of their parents' rage,
Which, but their children's end, nought could remove,
Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage;
The which if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.
The prologue is in the form of a sonnet.
What is a ‘sonnet’?
Why would someone write a sonnet?
What is the form/structure of a Shakespearean sonnet?
Extension: find out some basic facts about the poet Petrarch – who was he, when/where did he live? What ldo think is the ink between Petrarch and Shakespeare?
Write a short paragraph defining and explaining sonnets.
Extra challenges:
1 learn the prologue by heart – prize if you can recite it when asked!
2 Can you write your own sonnet? Here are the first two lines (but you can choose your own setting if you want to). There will be a prize for the one that the English Department judge to be the best!
Two classrooms, quite unlike in atmosphere,
Inside this building, (where I write this rhyme),
