Twelfth Night, or What You Will: Act 1, Scene 1 Translation

A side-by-side translation of Act 1, Scene 1 of Twelfth Night, or What You Will from the original Shakespeare into modern English.

Original Text	Translated Text
Source: Folger Shakespeare Library
Enter Orsino, Duke of Illyria, Curio, and other Lords, with Musicians playing. ORSINO If music be the food of love, play on. Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting, The appetite may sicken and so die. That strain again! It had a dying fall. O, it came o’er my ear like the sweet sound 5 That breathes upon a bank of violets, Stealing and giving odor. Enough; no more. ’Tis not so sweet now as it was before. O spirit of love, how quick and fresh art thou, That, notwithstanding thy capacity 10 Receiveth as the sea, naught enters there, Of what validity and pitch soe’er, But falls into abatement and low price Even in a minute. So full of shapes is fancy That it alone is high fantastical. 15	Hanging out in his court in Illyria, the moody Duke Orsino listens to the live band he keeps around on retainer and talks about love. At first, he says he can't get enough of music because it really puts him in the mood for lovin'. But, in the very next breath, Orsino tells the musicians to get lost—he's sick of music and doesn't want to hear it anymore.
CURIO Will you go hunt, my lord? ORSINO What, Curio? CURIO The hart. ORSINO Why, so I do, the noblest that I have. O, when mine eyes did see Olivia first, 20 Methought she purged the air of pestilence. That instant was I turned into a hart, And my desires, like fell and cruel hounds, E’er since pursue me.	When Curio asks the Duke if he wants to go hunting for hart (deer) instead of lounging around, Orsino gushes that the thought of killing Bambi reminds him of the time he first laid eyes on Olivia.
Enter Valentine. How now, what news from her? 25 VALENTINE So please my lord, I might not be admitted, But from her handmaid do return this answer: The element itself, till seven years’ heat, Shall not behold her face at ample view, But like a cloistress she will veilèd walk, 30 And water once a day her chamber round With eye-offending brine—all this to season A brother’s dead love, which she would keep fresh And lasting in her sad remembrance.	Valentine enters the room with bad news—he wasn't able to deliver Orsino's love note to Olivia because, when he showed up at the Countess's place, her handmaid told him to get lost. Olivia's also sent the Duke a little message—she's really bummed about her dead brother, so she's decided to mourn for the next seven years. (Yep, you read that right. She's going to mourn for seven years.) This will involve traipsing around her place in an all black getup, complete with a dark veil and big, salty tears that will splash all over the ground.
ORSINO O, she that hath a heart of that fine frame 35 To pay this debt of love but to a brother, How will she love when the rich golden shaft Hath killed the flock of all affections else That live in her; when liver, brain, and heart, These sovereign thrones, are all supplied, and filled 40 Her sweet perfections with one self king! Away before me to sweet beds of flowers! Love thoughts lie rich when canopied with bowers. They exit.	When the clueless Orsino hears this, he says he admires Olivia's devotion to her family and thinks that, if she's this devoted to her dead brother, then she's really going to be a great lover when Cupid's arrow makes her fall for a living man. Orsino announces he wants to loll around on "sweet beds of flowers" while he thinks about love. (We're not making this up. Orsino really runs around talking like this.)