Unknown and mysterious, death is a very powerful thing for all of us… and something this page tries to tap into with a range of Shakespeare quotes about death.
Although no one knows what happens after death, billions have their own ideas about it, which differ from culture to culture and person to person. Because of the power of the word, writers and poets tend to make the most of it to arouse emotions in the imagination of the reader.
Shakespeare was no exception, using the word ‘death’ a great deal throughout his works – sometimes simply referring to death, often using death as a simile, and sometimes personifying death (death seen as a tyrant, a lover, an executioner etc.). Below is a range of Shakespeare death quotes, categorized into a selection of types of quotes about death:
Shakespeare death quotes where he refers to death as something that simply happens to us
1. ‘This thought is as a death’
Sonnet 64
2. ‘For now they kill me with a living death’
King Richard III
3. ‘Thou detestable maw, thou womb of death’
(Romeo & Juliet)
4. ‘Death-counterfeiting sleep’
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
5. ‘The gloomy shade of death’
King Henry VI, Part I
6. ‘What ugly sights of death within mine eyes!’
King Richard III
7. ‘O wretched state! o bosom black as death!’
Hamlet
8. ‘On pain of death, no person be so bold’
King Richard II
9. ‘Tired with all these, for restful death I cry’
Sonnet 66
10. ‘Cowards die many times before their deaths’
Julius Caesar
11. ‘What is thy sentence then but speechless death’
King Richard II
12. ‘Look upon thy death’
Romeo & Juliet
13. ‘To rush into the secret house of death’
Antony & Cleopatra
14. ‘The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes’
Julius Caesar
15. ‘Why, thou owest god a death’
King Henry IV, Part 1
16. ‘The valiant never taste of death but once’
Julius Caesar
17. ‘Speak me fair in death’
Merchant of Venice
18. ‘Let me be boiled to death with melancholy’
Twelfth Night
19. ‘Dream on, dream on, of bloody deeds and death’
King Richard III
20. ‘Whose heart the accustom’d sight of death makes hard’
As You Like It
21. ‘Muddy death’
Hamlet
22. ‘Thou ominous and fearful owl of death’
King Henry VI, Part 1
23. ‘Ay, but to die, and go we know not where‘
Measure for Measure
Shakespeare using death as a metaphor, or part of a metaphor
24. ‘For in that sleep of death what dreams may come’
Hamlet
25. ‘This thought is as a death’
Sonnet 64
27. ‘Thou detestable maw, thou womb of death’
Romeo & Juliet
28. ‘Death-counterfeiting sleep’
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
29. ‘The gloomy shade of death’
King Henry VI, Part 1
30. ‘What ugly sights of death within mine eyes!’
King Richard III
31. ‘O wretched state! o bosom black as death!’
Hamlet
32. ‘On pain of death, no person be so bold’
King Richard II
Shakespeare death quotes where Shakespeare personifies death
33. ‘When that churl Death my bones with dust shall cover’
Sonnet 5
34. ‘O Death, made proud with pure and princely beauty!’
King John
35. ‘Though Death be poor, it ends a mortal woe’
King Richard II
36. ‘So shalt thou feed on Death, that feeds on men’
Sonnet 146
37. ‘Death, that hath suck’d the honey of thy breath’
Romeo & Juliet
38. ‘Death lies on her like an untimely frost’
Romeo & Juliet
39. ‘Death is my son-in-law, death is my heir’
Romeo & Juliet
40. Crack’d in pieces by malignant Death’
King Richard III
41. ‘Death, not Romeo, take my maidenhead!’
Romeo & Juliet
42. ‘Where hateful Death put on his ugliest mask’
King Henry IV, Part 2
43. ‘When Death doth close his tender dying eyes’
King Henry VI, Part 1
44. ‘Till our King Henry had shook hands with Death’
King Henry VI, Part 3
45. ‘Then have we a prescription to die when Death is our physician’
Othello
46. ‘The worst is Death, and death will have his day’
King Richard II
47. ‘The sudden hand of Death close up mine eye!’
Love’s Labour’s Lost
48. ‘Unsubstantial Death is amorous’
Romeo & Juliet
49. ‘Death rock me asleep’
King Henry IV, Part 2
50. ‘Then love-devouring Death do what he dare’
Romeo & Juliet
That’s it folks! What’s your favorite Shakespeare quote about death, and why? Share in the comments section below.
Quotes from Shakespeare are invigorating.
Death be not proud
John Donne (Sonnet X), not WS
This thought is as a death…… (Sonnet)
Death-counterfeiting sleep….. (A midsummer night dream)
For now they kill me with a living death….. (King Richard III)
When I read down the list those 3 sounded like they belonged together….
I think it’s beautiful.
Poetry
Is this quote ” Death is a jester without stage sense ” from any Shakespear play? wish to know
I heard you were a poet but a poet with no words
“It is either a grand sleep..or something more.”. Is this Shakespeare?