John Keats<\/b>, great poet, who died in 1821 (and I think his birthday was Sunday), wrote his own epitaph, which is now rightly famous:<\/p>\n
“Here lies one whose name was writ in water.”<\/p>\n
But actually, the full epitaph reads like this:<\/p>\n
This Grave
\ncontains all that was Mortal
\nof a
\nYoung English Poet
\nWho
\non his Death Bed
\nin the Bitterness of his Heart
\nat the Malicious Power of his Enemies
\nDesired
\nthese words to be engraved on his Tomb Stone
\n“Here lies One Whose Name was writ in Water.”<\/p>\n
\n“the Malicious Power of his Enemies” …<\/p>\n
Woah. A bit of bitterness there.<\/p>\n
As children, the O’Malley siblings had to memorize William Butler Yeats’ <\/b>epitaph, in order to get our allowance of 50 measly cents. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, could knock that epitaph out of my brain.<\/p>\n
It is:<\/p>\n
Cast a cold eye
\nOn life On death
\nHorseman pass by<\/p>\n
Damn. Now that is something. I could ponder that forever.<\/p>\n
There are a couple of other relatively famous epitaphs I am familiar with – (I used to plan out, as a teenager, what I wanted on my tombstone – Finally, I settled on “After life’s fitful fever, she sleeps” – Shakespeare – I was insane. I was 15 years old, picking out the best epitaph for myself.)<\/p>\n
Anyway, speaking of Shakespeare<\/b>, here is his epitaph, written on his grave in Stratford-on-Avon:<\/p>\n
Good friend for Jesus’s sake forbear
\nTo dig the dust enclosed here
\nBlest be the man that spares these stones
\nAnd cursed be he that moves my bones<\/p>\n
Got it, Bill. We won’t move your bones. We promise.<\/p>\n
Other epitaphs I know by heart – I don’t know if any of my readers out there also have an interest in this kind of thing – but if you do, feel free to pipe up.<\/p>\n
Jack Dempsey’s<\/b> epitaph was (and I LOVE this):<\/p>\n
A Gentle Man and a Gentleman<\/p>\n
Robert Frost<\/b> has as his epitaph (and this is certainly something to keep me up at night, pondering):<\/p>\n
I had A Lover’s Quarrel With The World<\/p>\n
Emily Dickinson<\/b>, like Keats, wrote her own. It says it all:<\/p>\n
Called Back<\/p>\n
F. Scott Fitzgerald<\/b> has, as his epitaph, the famous last line of Gatsby:<\/p>\n
So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.<\/p>\n
(Come to think of it, I wouldn’t mind having that as my epitaph either … Must make a note of it.)<\/p>\n
Sir Christopher Wren<\/b>, architect, has as his epitaph (he is buried in St. Paul’s Cathedral – his greatest achievement):<\/p>\n
“Lector Si Monumentum Requiris Circumspice” (Reader, if you seek his monument, look about you).<\/p>\n
Thomas Jefferson<\/b> wrote his own:<\/p>\n
Here was buried Thomas Jefferson,
\nauthor of the Declaration of American Independence,
\nof the statute of Virginia for religious freedom,
\nand father of the University of Virginia.<\/p>\n
(Very eloquent that he did not mention being President of the United States.)<\/p>\n
And of course, the epitaph of the Unknown Soldier<\/b>, which everybody knows:<\/p>\n
Here Rests in
\nHonored Glory
\nAn American
\nSoldier
\nKnown But to God<\/p>\n
And finally – Jack London <\/b>– who has this as his epitaph:<\/p>\n
The Stone the Builders Rejected<\/p>\n
(The end of that phrase in the Bible is: “…has become the capstone.” But London only put the first part on his tombstone.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
John Keats, great poet, who died in 1821 (and I think his birthday was Sunday), wrote his own epitaph, which is now rightly famous: “Here lies one whose name was writ in water.” But actually, the full epitaph reads like … Continue reading