Romeo and Juliet — Page 1
Enter Chorus.
Der Chor tritt auf.
CHORUS.
CHOR.
Two households, both alike in dignity,
Zwei Häuser, beide gleich an Würde,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
Im schönen Verona, wo wir unsere Szene ansiedeln,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Bricht aus altem Groll neuer Aufruhr hervor,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
Wo Bürgerblut die Hände der Bürger befleckt.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
Aus den verhängnisvollen Lenden dieser zwei Feinde
A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;
Entspringt ein Paar unglückseliger, vom Stern gekreuzter Liebender;
Whose misadventur'd piteous overthrows
Deren jammervoll unglücklicher Untergang
Doth with their death bury their parents' strife.
Mit ihrem Tod den Streit der Eltern begräbt.
The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,
Der schaurige Verlauf ihrer todesgezeichneten Liebe,
And the continuance of their parents' rage,
Und die Fortdauer des Zornes ihrer Eltern,
Which, but their children's end, nought could remove,
Den nichts als der Tod ihrer Kinder tilgen konnte,
Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage;
Füllt nun den zweistündigen Gang unserer Bühne;
The which, if you with patient ears attend,
Wenn ihr dem mit geduldigen Ohren folgt,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.
Was hier fehlen mag, wird unser Bemühen zu bessern trachten.
[_Exit.
[_Ab.
Vocabulary
- Chor
- A choir or chorus performing or narrating
- tritt
- Steps, enters, or appears on stage
- auf
- Up, on, or onto; also a separable verb prefix
- Zwei
- The number two
- Häuser
- Houses; noble families or households
- beide
- Both; referring to two things or people equally
- gleich
- Equal, alike, or the same in status
- an
- At, on, or in terms of a quality
- Würde
- Dignity, honor, or noble standing
- schönen
- Beautiful, lovely; adjective modifying a noun
- wo
- Where; relative or interrogative location word
- wir
- We; first-person plural personal pronoun
- unsere
- Our; first-person plural possessive adjective
- Szene
- Scene; the setting or stage of action
- ansiedeln
- To settle or locate something in a place
- Bricht
- Breaks out; third-person singular of 'brechen'
- altem
- Old, ancient; dative form of the adjective 'alt'
- Groll
- Grudge, resentment, or long-held animosity
- neuer
- New, fresh; referring to renewed conflict
- Aufruhr
- Uproar, uprising, or violent civil disorder
- hervor
- Forth, out; prefix indicating emergence or outbreak
- Bürgerblut
- Citizens' blood; compound meaning civic bloodshed
- Hände
- Hands; plural of 'die Hand'
- Bürger
- Citizen or townsperson; member of civil society
- befleckt
- Stained, tainted, or soiled with blood or guilt
- verhängnisvollen
- Fateful, disastrous; adjective describing doomed loins
- Lenden
- Loins; poetic reference to parentage or lineage
- dieser
- Of these; genitive demonstrative pronoun
- zwei
- Two; numeral referring to the two enemy families
- Feinde
- Enemies; plural of 'der Feind'
- Entspringt
- Springs forth, originates; third-person singular verb
- Paar
- A pair or couple of two people
- unglückseliger
- Most wretched, ill-fated; intensified form of 'unglückselig'
- Stern
- Star; fate governed by celestial bodies
- gekreuzter
- Crossed, thwarted; adjective describing star-crossed lovers
- Liebender
- Lovers; genitive plural of those who love
- Deren
- Whose; relative pronoun referring to the lovers
- jammervoll
- Pitiful, lamentable, full of sorrow and grief
- unglücklicher
- Unhappy, unfortunate; comparative or genitive adjective
- Untergang
- Downfall, ruin, or tragic end of someone
- Mit
- With; preposition indicating accompaniment or means
- ihrem
- Their; dative possessive pronoun referring to the lovers
- Tod
- Death; the end of life
- Streit
- Conflict, quarrel, or dispute between parties
- Eltern
- Parents; mother and father collectively
- begräbt
- Buries; third-person singular of 'begraben'
- schaurige
- Dreadful, eerie, horrifying; describes a grim course
- Verlauf
- Course, progression, or unfolding of events
- ihrer
- Their; genitive possessive referring to the lovers' love
- todesgezeichneten
- Death-marked; compound adjective meaning fated to die
- Liebe
- Love; deep romantic affection between two people
- Fortdauer
- Continuation, persistence, or ongoing duration of something
- Zornes
- Of wrath; genitive form of 'der Zorn' meaning anger
- nichts
- Nothing; negating all possibilities
- als
- Than or as; used in comparisons or exceptions
- Kinder
- Children; plural of 'das Kind'
- tilgen
- To erase, eliminate, or put an end to something
- konnte
- Could; past tense of the modal verb 'können'
- Füllt
- Fills; third-person singular of 'füllen'
- nun
- Now; indicating the current moment or situation
- zweistündigen
- Two-hour; adjective describing the play's duration
- Gang
- Course, passage, or running of the performance
- unserer
- Our; genitive possessive pronoun modifying 'Bühne'
- Bühne
- Stage; the performance platform in a theater
- Wenn
- If or when; introduces a conditional or temporal clause
- ihr
- You; second-person plural informal pronoun
- mit
- With; preposition used with dative case
- geduldigen
- Patient; adjective describing attentive, tolerant ears
- Ohren
- Ears; plural of 'das Ohr,' organ of hearing
- folgt
- Follows; third-person singular of 'folgen'
- Was
- What; interrogative or relative pronoun
- hier
- Here; indicating the present location or context
- fehlen
- To be missing, lacking, or absent from something
- mag
- May; modal verb expressing possibility or concession
- wird
- Will; auxiliary verb forming the future tense
- unser
- Our; first-person plural possessive pronoun
- Bemühen
- Effort, endeavor, or striving to improve something
- zu
- To; preposition or infinitive marker
- bessern
- To improve, make better, or correct deficiencies
- trachten
- To strive, aim, or endeavor toward a goal
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