This Skull Could Sing Once

page 243
scene 1 lines 76-82

Hamlet:

"That skull had a tongue in it and could sing
once. How the knave jowls it to the ground as if
'twere Cain's jawbone, that did the first murder!
This might be the pate of a politician which this ass
now o'erraches, one that would circumvent God,
might it not?"

The context surrounding this passage is incredibly important. This is the scene where Hamlet and Horatio wander into the graveyard and the Gravedigger is singing while he goes about his job. Hamlet finds this offensive and heartless. This passage stems from him feeling as if the Gravedigger is disrespecting the lives of the skulls because every skull was someone at some point.

In this passage Hamlet is extremely unhappy with the Gravedigger and the way he conducts business. Hamlet mocks the singing Gravedigger by saying "that skull had a tongue in it and could sing once". This is Hamlet implying that the skull could do what the Gravedigger is doing when it was alive. Hamlet calls the Gravedigger a "knave", which is a dishonest or unscrupulous man. That shows how unimpressed Hamlet is with him. Hamlet describes the Gravedigger's action of putting the skull in the grave as "jowls" or dashing it. A "pate" is a person's head. He says of the skull that it might have been a "politician". Hamlet is taking guesses of who the dead body was when it was alive and he is trying to point out that it could have been anyone for all he knows. He calls the Gravedigger an "ass" which highlights his utter disgust with the worker. He says that the  "ass now o'erraches", or gets the better of, the "politician". Hamlet is really not pleased that the Gravedigger is taking advantage of the dead by disrespecting them.

Hamlet references God twice in this short passage. He alludes to the Bible and says that the Gravedigger is handling the skull "as if 'twere Cain's jawbone, that did the first murder. The story of Cain and Abel is also known as the first murder because in the Bible it is the first recording of a human killing a fellow human. Cain kills his brother Abel out of jealousy and God punishes him by making the soil that Cain has to yield no crops. He also marks Cain so that no one can kill Cain for killing his brother. When Hamlet references this, he is saying that the Gravedigger treats the skull with extreme disregard and disgust because any moral person would not treat Cain, a murderer, well. The second time God is referenced is when Hamlet says "one that would circumvent God". Hamlet is trying to say that this dead person could have been a smart enough politician to outwit God and the Gravedigger still treats it with carelessness.

This passage shows that Hamlet actually values human life. He is upset with the way the Gravedigger handles dead people because their lives could have mattered before. He speculates on who the skull could have been before. It could have been anyone and thus deserves respect.