Monday, February 18, 2013

Translate Act ll, scene 2, lines 160–171 between Romeo and Juliet (skipping the exchange between Juliet and the Nurse) into modern-day text messages that you send by phone, being able to recognize some of the famous lines from the text.

The following is a line by line translation of lines 160-171. I have included the original text (in bold) along with a modern translation.
Juliet:Hist, Romeo, hist! O, for a falconer’s voicePsst, Romeo, psst! Man, it would be gr8 if I had better vocals
To lure this tassel-gentle back again!So I could call back my bae smh!
Bondage is hoarse, and may not speak aloud;AH, so I gotta be cool;
Else I would tear the cave where Echo lies,Otherwise I’d bust up Echo’s crib,
And make her airy tongue more hoarse than mine,And make her say my boo’s name,
With repetition of “My Romeo!”Till she CT no more!
Romeo:It is my soul that calls upon my name.My bae is calling me.
How silver-sweet sound lovers’ tongues by night,It sounds so nice when I hear her voice at night,
Like softest music to attending ears!Like the best song I’ve ever heard <3
Juliet:Romeo!Hey!
Romeo:My nyas?Sup bae?
Juliet:At what o’clock tomorrowWhat time
Shall I send to thee?Should I shoot you a text?
Romeo:At the hour of nine.9
Juliet:I will not fail; ‘tis twenty years till then.Ok, but that feels like forever.
I have forgot why I did call thee back.CR why I called.
This translation is obviously highly open to interpretation. Also, in these 11 lines (160–171) there is no exchange between Juliet and the Nurse. The only dialogue is Juliet speaking to herself and then her short conversation with Romeo. To make the translation as close to text language as possible, I dropped some of the superfluous details used in the original that would be considered cumbersome to say while texting. However, because the original precedes each translation, line by line, you should be able to see what has been included and what was left out.


You may mean to begin before line 160, as the nurse is not present between lines 161–170.
This is at the very end of the famous balcony scene in which Romeo and Juliet declare their undying love to each other and plan to marry as soon as possible. Shortly before line 161, the nurse has been calling to Juliet to come back in before someone wonders who she is talking to on the balcony. Juliet goes inside and then returns to speak some more to Romeo. If you are going to include text from before line 160, think about the fact that they are agreeing to get married ASAP and that they love each other. Romeo says he can hardly trust this is real—you might want to include famous wording about him fearing it is all a dream, too "sweet" to be "substantial." Then Juliet says, well, if it's for real, marry me—and he agrees.
A summary of what they say to each other from line 160 is as follows: Juliet calls Romeo back to tell him once again how much she loves him. She says she is a captive of her parent's house, so she has to be silent. However, if she could, she would cry the beloved name Romeo over and over until it echoed everywhere. She says that the mythical Echo would grow hoarse by having to repeat the word Romeo so many times. She is emotional and intense.
Romeo is intense too! He means that their souls are one when he says it is "my soul" calling out his name. He also notes that the sweet sound of lovers' voices calling to each other through the night is like a soft music to those who can hear it.
With that in mind, let's convert this to text messages. We will imagine that Romeo has gone home, and Juliet is in her bedroom, feeling a deep desire to say more to him. This is only an idea of what you could say, so you will want to make it your own! I will tag Juliet's messages "Juliet" and Romeo's "Romeo."
Juliet: Romeo, SCNR. Wish I could pull you back here to me on a string. FWIW, I couldn't risk talking anymore cuz my family might have heard. Just want to say ILY ILY ILY. ILY so much I want to shout out your name over and over. Romeo, Romeo. ILY. ILY. I would shout your name so much that Echo's airy tongue would be hoarse. LYSM.
Romeo: OMG! LYSM times infinity. Hey, it's my soul saying my name. We are one, we are together!!!! I love hearing from you at night. It's a silver-sweet sound, like soft music, when you text me. LOTI with all my heart because we found each other. LYSM.
Juliet: R!
Romeo: What?
Juliet: When tmow?
Romeo: 9 :) :) :)

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