The Prologue to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet simply tells the audience what will happen in the play. It immediately reveals the ending by telling the audience,
A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life
In the final three lines Shakespeare tells us it will take two hours for this story to be told (a dubious claim since it takes at least three if everything is included). He indicates the audience should listen closely ("with patient ears attend") to his story. This is important because Shakespeare's story is not so much about plot, but about the words he uses to spin his tale. Moreover, he tells the audience if there's anything he's missed in the Prologue, he will work hard to fill in those gaps in the overall telling ("our toil shall strive to mend").
The Prologue is also a Shakespearean sonnet in its construction. It is written in iambic pentameter (five stressed and five unstressed syllables per line) and rhymes ababcdcdefefgg. Fourteen lines with alternating rhymes and a couplet at the end.
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