Doubt about Shakespeare
"For God's sake, let us sit upon the ground
And tell sad stories of the death of kings;
How some have been deposed; some slain in war,
Some haunted by the ghosts they have deposed;
Some poison'd by their wives: some sleeping kill'd;
All murder'd: for within the hollow crown
That rounds the mortal temples of a king
Keeps Death his court and there the antic sits,
Scoffing his state and grinning at his pomp..."

What does "antic" mean there?

Question

Doubt about Shakespeare
"For God's sake, let us sit upon the ground
And tell sad stories of the death of kings;
How some have been deposed; some slain in war,
Some haunted by the ghosts they have deposed;
Some poison'd by their wives: some sleeping kill'd;
All murder'd: for within the hollow crown
That rounds the mortal temples of a king
Keeps Death his court and there the antic sits,
Scoffing his state and grinning at his pomp..."

What does "antic" mean there?

Answer

Both answers are correct antic here means Jester or fool. Jesters were professional clowns employed by a king or nobleman especially during the Middle Ages. Here Shakespeare describes Death as a grotesque jester.

Answer

I think it could be a clown, or a fool

Answer

A buffoon sits.

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