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Free Literature Study Guides
The Great Gatsby
Hamlet

Free Literature Study Guides
The Great Gatsby
Hamlet

Hamlet Quotes

Horatio, I am dead;
Thou livest; report me and my cause aright
To the unsatisfied.

– William Shakespeare

Hamlet, Act 5, Scene 2. As Hamlet is dying, he asks his friend Horatio to share the truth of what has happened. He wants Horatio to live and stops him from committing suicide so he can tell Hamlet’s story and preserve his reputation.

I am more an antique Roman than a Dane.

– William Shakespeare

Hamlet, Act 5, Scene 2. Horatio is referring to Brutus and Cassius, who conspired in the assassination of Julius Caesar and committed suicide when their defeat was certain. Horatio attempts to take the cup of poisoned wine as he would rather die than be without his "sweet prince," but Hamlet stops him.

If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart,
Absent thee from felicity awhile,
And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain,
To tell my story.

– William Shakespeare

Hamlet, Act 5, Scene 2. Hamlet appeals to Horatio to postpone death for a while and remain in this harsh world to tell his story. Horatio had wanted to join his beloved prince in death. But Hamlet prevails on his friend to live to tell the truth to the world and protect his memory behond the grave.

The rest is silence.

– William Shakespeare

Hamlet, Act 5, Scene 2. Hamlet’s enigmatic last words. After his existential struggle, Hamlet is looking forward to the peace that death will bring. He is also punning about death: "rest" as in "sleep" as in "death."

Now cracks a noble heart. Good-night, sweet prince,
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!

– William Shakespeare

Hamlet, Act 5, Scene 2. Hamlet’s best friend Horatio holds his dying friend in his arms and pays this tribute, eloquently sending his beloved Hamlet to heaven on angels’ wings. The "noble" Hamlet is now at rest after pursuing revenge in his unconditional love for his murdered father. Hamlet stayed loyal and faithful to country and family.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead.

– William Shakespeare

Hamlet, Act 5, Scene 2. An ambassador from England arrives to make this blunt announcement about the demise of Hamlet’s disloyal schoolfriends.

Let four captains
Bear Hamlet, like a soldier, to the stage;
For he was likely, had he been put on,
To have proved most royally.

– William Shakespeare

Hamlet, Act 5, Scene 2. At the end of the play Fortinbras enters to a scene of carnage, the path now cleared for him to claim the throne of Denmark. He has the last lines in the tragedy, saying that if Hamlet only had the chance he would have proved a great king. Fortinbras orders a funeral befitting a fallen soldier for Hamlet.

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