| Hamlet | “Alas, poor Yorick. I knew him.”Meaning: Oh, poor Yorick! I used to know him |
| Hamlet | “What! The fair Ophelia?”Meaning: What, the beautiful Ophelia? |
| Gertrude | “Sweets to the sweet. Farewell.”Meaning: Sweet flowers for a sweet girl. Goodbye! (she scatters flowers) |
| Laertes | “Hold off the earth awhile til I have caught her once more in my arms.”Meaning: Hold off burying her until I’ve caught her in my arms once more. |
| Claudius | “Gertrude, do not drink.”Meaning: Gertrude, don’t drink that. |
| Laertes | “I am justly killed with mine own treachery.”Meaning: Like a mouse caught in my own trap, Osric. (he collapses) I’ve been killed by my own evil tricks. |
| Gertrude | “The drink, the drink. I am poisoned.”Meaning: The drink, the drink! I’ve been poisoned. (she dies) |
| Horatio | “Good night, sweet prince, and flights o angels sing thee to thy rest.”Meaning: Good night, sweet prince. May hosts of angels sing you to sleep. |
| Fortinbras | “Let four captains bear Hamlet like a soldier to the stage.”Meaning: Let four captains carry Hamlet like a soldier onto the stage. |
| Hamlet | “Here hung those lips that I have kissed I know not how oft. Where be your gibes now? Your gambols? Your songs?”Meaning: I don’t know how many times I kissed the lips that used to be right here. Where are your jokes now? Your pranks? Your songs? |
| Gravedigger (aka Clown) | “You lie out on’t, sir, and therefore ’tis not yours. For my part, I do not lie in’t, yet it is mine.”Meaning: And you’re lying outside of it, so it’s not yours. As for me, I’m not lying to you in it—it’s really mine. |
| Hamlet | “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.”Meaning: If you ever loved me, then please postpone the sweet relief of death awhile, and stay in this harsh world long enough to tell my story. |
| Hamlet | I do prophesy the election lights on Fortinbras. He has my dying voice.”Meaning: I bet Fortinbras will win the election to the Danish crown. He’s got my vote as I die. |
| Hamlet | “Cat will mew but dog will have its day.”Meaning: Can’t keep cats from acting like cats, and dogs like dogs |
Hamlet Act 5 Study Guide
August 22, 2019