Question

Read the passage from Hamlet, Act I, Scene iii.

Hamlet: ... but tell
Why thy canoniz’d bones, hearsed in death,
Have burst their cerements; why the sepulchre,
Wherein we saw thee quietly inurn’d,55
Hath op’d his ponderous and marble jaws,
To cast thee up again. What may this mean,
That thou, dead corse, again in complete steel
Revisit’st thus the glimpses of the moon ...

Which phrases provide clues that sepulchre means "grave”? Choose three answers.

canoniz’d bones
hearsed in death
we saw thee
ponderous and marble jaws
the glimpses of the moon

Answer 1

Answers: canoniz’d bones; hearsed in death; ponderous and marble jaws.

Briefly: "canoniz’d bones" signals physical remains, "hearsed in death" implies being laid out/covered/buried, and "ponderous and marble jaws" describes the heavy stone mouth of a tomb—together indicating "sepulchre" = grave.