Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?

Hamlet:
To what base uses we may return, Horatio!
Why may not imagination trace the noble dust of
Alexander till he find it stopping a bunghole?
Horatio:
'Twere to consider too curiously to consider
so.
Hamlet:
  No, faith, not a jot; but to follow him thither,
  with modesty enough and likelihood to lead it, <as
  thus:> Alexander died, Alexander was buried,
  Alexander returneth to dust; the dust is earth; of earth
  we make loam; and why of that loam whereto he
  was converted might they not stop a beer barrel?
Imperious Caesar, dead and turned to clay,
Might stop a hole to keep the wind away.
O, that that earth which kept the world in awe
Should patch a wall t' expel the <winter's> flaw!

    Death is constantly on Hamlet's mind. Be it in a good light, such as when he is fantasizing about suicide, or a bad light, such as thinking about his father's death: it is always there. Here, Hamlet discusses the degradation of corpses and their reintegration into the environment. This is something Hamlet has been preoccupied with before, and it is similar to philosophy employed by existentialist writers. He has mentioned previously to Claudius that kings will become worm food, just as everyone else. Here he uses rulers as examples as well, albeit rulers more famous that Claudius or King Hamlet.
    Hamlet starts by chronicling the processes of dying and decomposing. He previously made a statement about Alexander the Great "stopping a bunghole," so he now goes on to explain how Alexander got there. First, he dies, then is buried, and he "returneth to dust;" at this point, Alexander is completely decomposed. As Hamlet sees it, this dust is earth, and it can be put to any use, such as a stop in a beer barrel.
    Next, Hamlet discusses the case of the Roman emperor Julius Caesar. He claims that Caesar is "dead and turned to clay," which might be used to patch a hole in a home, to keep the wind out. He then adds some emotion to his explanation. He cries out, cursing the irony of Caesar's once great position being shifted to a patch in a wall.
    This passage is incredibly similar to existentialist writings. First, Hamlet muses about death and its implications. Thinking about death or nothingness is commonly found in existentialist writings. The passage ends with Hamlet crying out to the universe or God, presumably, about the cruel irony of this process. If it only it were raining and he were on his knees, this passage would all-the-more recognizable to the modern film fanatic.