Dead Clever

William Shakespeare is still the uncontested heavyweight champion of writers more than 400 years after his passing. This is neither a falsehood or fraud, my dear friends. (Excuse the unnecessary iambic pentameter.) Due to his razor-sharp wit, "The Bard" had the means to immortalize himself by having a witty epitaph etched above his gravestone.

Shakespeare's remains was interred within Holy Trinity Church in his hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon when he passed away on April 23, 1616, at the age of 52. The verse over his grave (modern translation) serves as a warning to potential grave robbers who loot England's cemeteries at the time:

“Good friend, for Jesus’ sake forbeare,

To dig the dust enclosed here.

Blessed be the man that spares these stones,

And cursed be he that moves my bones.”