and Hamlet at his death comes to the self-same word:
“The rest is silence.”
The scene with the gaoler is from Hamlet's soul; Posthumus jests with his keeper as Hamlet with the gravedigger:
“So, if I prove a good repast to the spectators, the
ship pays the shot;”
and the Hamlet melancholy:
“I am merrier to die than them art to live;”
and the Hamlet riddle still unsolved:
“I tell thee, fellow, there are none want eyes to direct
them the way I am going; but such as wink, and will
not use them.”
When the messenger comes to bring him to the king, Posthumus cries:
“Thou bringest good news, I am called to be made
free,”