The Washington herald., 1907-05-12
A LAY SERMON.
by A LAYMAN.


How weary stale, fat aad nnpraa1abls seems 70
me al the uses Of this wosld Shakespeare { Ham
let'9.
This is the language Of a moody man
a naisanthrope When the grave diggers
were preparing for Ophelia's burial Ham
let ana his friend entered the churchyard.
There they found two grave diggers.
one Of them singing this song while he
dug:
In youth. when did love did love.
Methought it Bas very sweet
To contract. o! the time for an my behove
o methouglt there vas nothing to meet.
This annoyed Hamlet He did not ap-
preciaIe that we are such creatures OF
habit that death itself is divested of its
.awfuiness by familiarity with It's work.
Here is a grave-maker VINO is growing
old, and knows that some one must at
no distant day make a grave for him;
bat he can joke over his grewsome task
and sing while he digs and sing a love
song.
Is 1t not better so? How could that
grave-digger endure life If he had to share
the grief Of all the mourners who come
aware Of Ophellas death. and he asked:
"Fas this fellow no feeling Of his busl-
ness that he sings at grave-mahng?
Horatio explains. Custom hath made it
in him property Of easiness Hamlet
replies. "'Tis cen so; the hand OF little
employment hath the daintier sense. %
Then comes Hamiet- sollloquy over the
skull of Yorick.
The earth which we inhabit is one vast
graveyard. Death spares neither genius,
courage. nor physical charm.
AS H0rattO suggested. Hamlet did in
quire TOO curiously." His remarkable re-
nectiOns and his elaborate conceits were,
perhaps, the result of his Joy IN living.
Coleridge says that In Hamlet, Shake
speare seems 10 have wished to exemplify
the moral necessity OF a due balance be-
tween our attention 20 the objects of our
senses ana our meditation on the work
ings of our mine an equilibrium between
this real and the imaginary worlds.
But I'm Hamlet this balance is disturbed.
dis thoughts. and the images of his fancy
are far more vivid than his actual per-
ceptiOns. and his very perceptions acquire
form and color not naturally his own.
/ did not intend in this sermon a criti-
cism Of the play Of Hamlet. but / think
profitable lessons can be drawn from &.
People die and they must be buried
somewhere and by some person. Youth.
beauty, and strength are at the best, bur
as flowers which soon fade. Hamlets
thoughts and the images Of his fancy are
far more vivid than his actual percep-
tions, which acquire a form and color NOT
naturally their own
Shakespeare delineati0n Of Hamlet
shows him as brave and careless OF
death but he vaclllates from sensibility
and procrastinates from thought, and
seems to lose the power Of action in the
energy Of resolve
This theory is Ingenious. and finds a
degree of support In the distinctive fea-
lures OF the great dramatst's style.
Hamlet's speech over Y0rick's skull
shows great philosophy:
Here hung these lips ] have kissed / know not
how of. Where ~ yOIr gibcs Dow. your gambos
yoar songs sou flashes Of merriment that were wont
70 SET the table IN T1ars Not one now TO mock
your cFu griHning. Qalte clapfaeu. Nos set yog
20 my ladys chamber, and tell her, iet her PAINT
her face inch thick 20 this favor she must come
3iake her laugh az that,
Then he argues that the noble dust OF
Alexander might possibly be found stop
ping the bunghole Of a beer barrel, and
that
Imperial Caesar. dead and turned % claT.
Might stop a hole TO seep the sind away
The teaching of this Is that death
makes all meu equal