yorick

     

Yorick was the eceased court jester whose skull is exhumed by the gravedigger in Act 5, Scene 1, of Shakespeare's Hamlet. The sight of Yorick's skull evokes a monologue from Prince Hamlet on the vile effects of death:

Trivia about yorick

  • Name shared by a fanciful clergyman in "Tristram Shandy" & a dead jester in "Hamlet" --- Alas!
  • Hamlet says of him, "Here hung these lips that I have kissed I know not how oft"
  • This jester makes an appearance in the last act of "Hamlet" when a gravedigger uncovers his skull
  • The king's jester; alas, do you know him?
  • Looking at a skull, Hamlet says, "Alas, poor" this fellow of infinite jest
  • Alas, this deceased court jester in "Hamlet" was "A fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy"

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