A Reference
Properly Cultured
QuoteAges 14–15 · The Moral Imagination
I have of late — but wherefore I know not — lost all my mirth, forgone all custom of exercises; and indeed it goes so heavily with my disposition that this goodly frame, the earth, seems to me a sterile promontory.
Hamlet (William Shakespeare), 1601
Hamlet, Act II, Scene ii

Hamlet describing his state to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Preceding the 'what a piece of work is a man' passage.

Britishshakespearemelancholy