Poetry · Chapter
Yorick explained
A solitary figure, Yorick, sits in an excavated street holding a yellow skull and delivers a monologue to it, reminiscing about the rough-and-tumble days of early San Francisco, recalling characters like Jim Peters, Casey, James King of Wil
What happens
A solitary figure, Yorick, sits in an excavated street holding a yellow skull and delivers a monologue to it, reminiscing about the rough-and-tumble days of early San Francisco, recalling characters like Jim Peters, Casey, James King of William, Long Mary, and Jake the Kangaroo, and musing on the skull's possible identity and past.
Themes in this chapter
Mortality and Regret
Yorick's address to a skull reflects on death, lost youth, and the passage of time.
Characters to notice
- Unknown
The speaker, Yorick, who addresses the skull and recalls past acquaintances.
- William Perry Peters
Mentioned as Jim Peters who ran a faro game behind Wells Fargo.
- Long Mary
Recalled as taking a shine to the skull's owner and throwing over Jake the Kangaroo.
Key passages
“Who are you? Did you come ‘der blains agross,’ Or ‘Horn aroundt’? In days o’ ’49 Did them thar eye-holes see the Southern Cross From the Antarctic Sea git up an’ shine?”
Yorick asks the skull if it arrived via the plains or around Cape Horn, and whether its eye sockets witnessed the Southern Cross during the Gold Rush.
Reflects the two main routes to California during the 1849 Gold Rush.
“Was you in Frisco when the water came Up to Montgum’ry street? and do you mind The time when Peters run the faro game— Jim Peters from old Mississip—behind Wells Fargo’s, where he subsequent was bust By Sandy, as regards both bank and crust?”
Yorick asks if the skull remembers the flood that reached Montgomery Street and the gambling operation run by Jim Peters, which was later ruined by Sandy.
References a historical flood and a notorious faro game in early San Francisco.
“I wonder was you here when Casey shot James King o’ William? And did you attend The neck-tie dance ensuin’? I did not, But j’ined the rush to Go Creek with my friend Ed’ard McGowan; for we was resolved In sech diversions not to be involved.”
Yorick wonders if the skull witnessed Casey's murder of James King of William and the subsequent lynching, but says he avoided it by joining the rush to Go Creek.
Alludes to the 1856 vigilante execution of James King of William by James Casey.
“Maybe you had that claim adjoinin’ mine Up thar in Calaveras. Was it you To which Long Mary took a mighty shine, An’ throwed squar’ off on Jake the Kangaroo?”
Yorick speculates that the skull might belong to the owner of a neighboring mining claim in Calaveras County, who was favored by Long Mary over Jake the Kangaroo.
References a love triangle among miners in Calaveras County.