William Shakespeare has three
epitaphs, the first over his grave, the second under a bust of him in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-Upon-Avon, where he is buried, and the third at his memorial in
Poets' Corner in
Westminster Abbey.
Note: The letter "y" in these epitaphs stands for the letters "th."
Good friend for Jesus sake forbeare,
To digg the dust encloased heare:
Bles'e be ye man yt spares thes stones,
And curst be he yt moves my bones.
...
Ivdicio Pylium, genio Socratem, arte Maronem,
Terra tegit, Populus Maeret, Olympus habet
Stay Passenger, why goest thou by so fast?
Read if thou canst, whom envious death hath plast,
With in this monument Shakespeare: with whome,
quick nature dide: Whose name doth deck ys Tombe,
Far more than cost: Sieh all, yt He hath writt,
Leaves living art, but page, to serve his witt.
Obit ano do 1616
Aetatis*53 Die 23 Apr.
...
The Cloud capt Tow'rs,
The Gorgeous Palaces,
The Solemn Temples,
The Great Globe itself,
Yea all which it Inherit,
Shall Dissolve;
And like the baseless Fabrick of a Vision
Leave not a wreck behind.
Adapted from words spoken by Prospero in Shakespeare's play The Tempest, these are found on a scroll being gestured to by the left hand of a life-sized, period-costumed statue of Shakespeare.