Question

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' traffick of our stage

—Romeo and Juliet,
William Shakespeare

Paraphrase these lines from the prologue in two to three sentences.

Answer 1

These lines say the play will tell the tragic story of a love doomed to death and the long‑lasting hatred between the lovers’ families — a feud nothing could end except the deaths of the children. That doomed tale is what we will see acted out over the next two hours.