1. William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet
The Prologue

2. THE PROLOGUE Enter CHORUS. Chorus.
Enter CHORUS.
Chorus.
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-crossed lovers take their life;
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
Do with their death bury their parents’ strife.
The fearful passage of their death-marked love,
And the continuance of their parents’ rage,
Which, but their children’s end, naught 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.

3. Quatrain #1 Two households, both alike in dignity, A
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, B
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, A
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. B
Quatrain: a 4-lined unit
Quatrain #1 Rhyme Scheme: ABAB
What information do we learn about the setting, characters, and conflict?

4. Quatrain #2 From forth the fatal loins of these two foes C
A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life; D
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows C
Do with their death bury their parents’ strife.D
Quatrain #2 Rhyme Scheme: CDCD
What information do we learn about the lovers? What happens to them?

5. Quatrain #3 The fearful passage of their death-marked love, E
And the continuance of their parents’ rage, F
Which, but their children’s end, naught could remove, E
Is now the two hours’ traffic of our stage; F
Quatrain #3 Rhyme Scheme: EFEF
What is the result of “their death-marked love”? How long will this play take?

6. Couplet The which if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.
Couplet: 2-lined unit that rhymes
What is the Chorus asking the audience to do?

7. Shakespearean Sonnet Sonnet: 14-lined poem
Two households, both alike in dignity, A
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, B
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, A
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. B
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes C
A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life; D
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows C
Do with their death bury their parents’ strife. D
The fearful passage of their death-marked love, E
And the continuance of their parents’ rage, F
Which, but their children’s end, naught could remove, E
Is now the two hours’ traffic of our stage; F
The which if you with patient ears attend, G
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend. G
Sonnet: 14-lined poem
Shakespearean Sonnet: a 14-lined poem with 3 quatrains and a couplet; has the rhyme scheme ABABCDCDEFEFGG.