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| Monument Plaque in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon |
For those of you who assume that he is entombed in Westminster Abbey you are wrong, although such a final resting place was hotly debated after his death in 1616.
William Shakespeare's final resting place is to be found in is family's parish church in Stratford-upon-Avon. He and other members of his family are entombed in Holy Trinity Church beneath the floor of the church in the chancel area. There is a bust mounted on the Northern wall of the church depicting the prosperous citizen and favorite son holding a quill in his right hand and a paper in his left. This monument was in place before the printing of the First Folio in 1623. It was created by the Flemish sculptor Geraert Janssen. The monument plaque is below the bust and reads (in English): A Pylus (King Nestor) in judgement, a Socrates in genius, a Maro (Virgil) in art. Earth buries him, the people mourn him, Olympus has him. Beneath this inscription are the lines:
Stay, passenger, why goest thou by so fast?
Read, if thou canst, whom envious Death hath placed
Within this monument: Shakespeare, with whom
Quick nature died, whose name doth deck this tomb
Far more than cost, since all that he hath written
Leaves living art, but page, to serve his wit.
The cause of death of the immortal playwright is unknown. He may have felt time was closing upon him because he made a first draft of his will in January 1616 and signed the final copy on March 25, 1616. One report places the blame upon a night of drinking and merriment with Ben Jonson and Drayton who "had a merry meeting and it seems drank too hard for Shakespeare died of a fever there contracted." We will never know.
In 1616, lesser poet William Basse wrote "Renowned Spenser, lie a thought more nigh to learned Chaucer; and rare Beamont, lie a little nearer Spenser; to make room for Shakespeare in your threefold fourfold tomb." This sentiment opens the dispute as to the most fitting resting place for the Bard. Basse clearly feels that Shakespeare should rest in the Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey. In 1623 Ben Jonson proclaims his choice: Soul of the age!
The applause, delight, the wonder of our stage!
My Shakespeare rise; I will not lodge thee by
Chaucer or Spenser, or bid Beaumont lie
A little farther, to make thee a room;
Thou art a monument, without a tomb,
And art alive still, while thy book doth live,
And we have wits to read, and praise to give.
John Milton felt the need to add his opinion on the matter in 1630:
What needs my Shakespeare for his honor'd bones,
The labor of an age in piled stones,
Or that his hallow'd relics should be hid
Under a star-y-pointing pyramid?
Dear son of memory, great heir of fame,
What need'st thou such weak witness of thy name?
Shakespeare was not buried amongst the great in the Abbey. It wasn't until 1740 that a monument to one of the greatest poets of England was honored in the Abbey. A life-sized marble statue was erected by the Earl of Burlington, Dr. Richard Mead, Alexander Pope, and Tom Martin. According to the Abbey's website, "Charles Fleetwood of the Drury Lane Theatre and John Rich of Covent Garden Theatre gave a benefit to help raise funds for the public subscription. The monument was designed by William Kent and executed by Peter Scheemakers, and both signed it, with the date 1740. The Dean and Chapter of Westminster charged no fee for its erection." Faint praise indeed.
Some say that there is a cautionary warning on his grave in Holy Trinity Church, and that Shakespeare himself wrote the imprecation:
Good friend for Jesus sake forbeare,
To digg the dust encloased heare,
Blest be the man that spares these stones,
And curst be he that moves my bones.
Dust to dust. Rest in Peace.
