----_Yorick's_ last breath was hanging upon his trembling lips ready to depart as he uttered this: ----yet still it was uttered with something of a _Cervantick_ tone; ----and as he spoke it, _Eugenius_ could perceive a stream of lambent fire lighted up for a moment in his eyes; ----faint picture of those flashes of his spirit, which (as _Shakespeare_ said of his ancestor) were wont to set the table in a roar!
_Eugenius_ was convinced from this, that the heart of his friend was broke: he squeezed his hand, ----and then walked softly out of the room, weeping as he walked. _Yorick_ followed _Eugenius_ with his eyes to the door, --he then closed them, --and never opened them more.
[Illustration (full-page black tombstone)]
He lies buried in the corner of his churchyard, in the parish of ------, under a plain marble slab, which his friend _Eugenius_, by leave of his executors, laid upon his grave, with no more than these three words of inscription, serving both for his epitaph and elegy. ____________________ | | | Alas, poor YORICK! | |____________________|
Ten times a day has _Yorick's_ ghost the consolation to hear his monumental inscription read over with such a variety of plaintive tones, as denote a general pity and esteem for him; ----a foot-way crossing the churchyard close by the side of his grave, --not a passenger goes by without stopping to cast a look upon it, --and sighing as he walks on,
Alas, poor YORICK!
Yorick's last breath was hanging upon his trembling lips as he uttered this: yet still it was said with something of a Cervantick tone; and as he spoke, Eugenius perceived a fire light up for a moment in his eyes; a faint reflection of those flashes of his spirit, which (as Shakespeare said of his ancestor) were wont to set the table in a roar!
Eugenius was convinced from this, that his friend's heart was broken: he squeezed his hand, and then walked softly out of the room, weeping. Yorick followed Eugenius with his eyes to the door: he then closed them, and never opened them more.
He lies buried in the corner of his churchyard, in the parish of ___, under a plain marble slab, which his friend Eugenius laid upon his grave, with no more than these three words of inscription serving both for his epitaph and elegy.
ALAS, POOR YORICK!
Ten times a day has Yorick's ghost the consolation of hearing this inscription read over with a variety of plaintive tones, denoting pity and esteem: no-one goes by the grave without stopping to cast a look upon it, and sighing as he walks on,
' Alas, poor Yorick!'