by Robert Laurence
Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio; a fellow of infinite jest, of the
most excellent fancy; he hath borne me on his back a thousand times; and
now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! my gorge rises at it. Here hung
those lips that I have kissed, I know not how oft. Where be your jibes
now? Your gambols? Your songs? Your flashes of merriment, that were wont
to set the table on a roar? Not one now to mask your own grinning? Quite
chop-fallen? Now get you to my lady's chamber, and tell her, let her paint
an inch thick, to this favour she must come; make her laugh at that.
This famous passage from Hamlet where the Prince holds the old jester's
skull in his hand and reflects on the vanity of life is thought by many to
be a funeral oration commemorating the most noted of English clowns,
Richard Tarlton (d.l588). A very short, broad man who was one of the
Queen's players, Tarlton was immensely popular in his day for his quick
wit, jests, jig-dancing, singing and comic acting. Shakespeare may well
have known him when he was a boy and Tarlton may even have carried little
Willie on his back on one of his visits to Stratford as a travelling
actor.