Yorick
Skull in graveyard
Yorick is a character in Shakespeare's *Hamlet*, known only through his skull, which the gravedigger unearths and Hamlet famously addresses: Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio.
Once the king's jester, Yorick becomes a meditation on mortality and the fate of all flesh.
The name now evokes memento mori imagery and theatrical skull-holding poses, and occasionally appears as a given name with literary pretensions.
Head's bone casing
- graveyardPlot for interring the dead
- gravediggerOne who digs burial plots
- soliloquyDramatic speech to oneself
- HoratioClassical male name
mortality · Ophelia · Elsinore · Denmark · tragedy · ghost · revenge · madness
Head's bone casing
- deathCessation of life
- decayGradual organic breakdown
- transienceBrevity of existence
- impermanenceQuality of not lasting
finitude · grave · dust · bones · vanity · contemplation · inevitability · passing
skull
Head's bone casing
- graveyardPlot for interring the dead
- gravediggerOne who digs burial plots
- soliloquyDramatic speech to oneself
Horatio · mortality · Ophelia · Elsinore · Denmark · tragedy · ghost · revenge · madness · Claudius
skull
Head's bone casing
- deathCessation of life
- decayGradual organic breakdown
- transienceBrevity of existence
impermanence · finitude · grave · dust · bones · vanity · contemplation · inevitability · passing · remains
cranium
Skull bone structure
gravedigger · excavation · unearthed · jawbone · relic · iconic · symbol · cemetery · burial · earth
fool
Unwise, gullible person
entertainer · wit · humor · laughter · gibes · gambols · songs · flashes · motley · bells
- HamletHamlet, Claudius, Ophelia, Gertrude, Polonius
- jestersjester, fool, court jester, court fool, buffoon
- Shakespearean FoolsTouchstone, jester, clown, wise fool, court fool
YorickHamlet
Danish prince's revenge tragedy
Falstaff · Puck · carpe diem · joie de vivre · Touchstone
- poor YorickLamented deceased entertainer