, 1862-03-20

Poems and epitaphs are but stun,
Here hes Robert Barras, and that's enough"
What opportunities had Mr. Robert Barras,
while upon earth, instead Of earth being upon him
to enable him ospeak Of eptaphs in this fashion
Was he ghoul, and therefore peculiarly familiar
with our churchyard literatureH II is not likely.
Had he Travelled all over England and Wales, leav
ing no lgrave) stone unturned in efforts to obtain
employment, and chiseling end ring virtues out Of
nothing, and blank surfaces, as have donef
think not. Did be keep little book for the ex-
press purpose Of noting down any remarkable ep-
taphs that he might come across, with the yards
where he took them from in the margin, 70 prevent
mistakes2 It would be q very singular coincidence
il be did. have such d notebook, at oil events
and here are some Of my notes: ....
Here lies the body Of poor Charles Lamb,
Killed by tree that fell slap bang"
This gives me but on III opinion Of our colonial
epitaph writers. The rhyme does not seem to me
TO sound right. In England, when we can't rhyme
better than that, we don't often attempt II, but
prefer to express our ideas in blank verse as in
the following example, upon rich merchants wife
in Coventry yard:
"She was What was, .-..
But words arc wanting to say what One!
What Wife should be,
She was that"
Wives would be downright ashamed to put over
their husbands heads such things as often zee
written over wives. Look at this:
Here lies my wife, poor Molly; let her lie.
She finds repose at last, and 80 do l."
And here IS what Cornish gentleman finds II ip
his heart to inscribe upon his dear departed:
"My wife Is dead, and here she lies,
No man laughs and no man cries,
Where she's gone. or how she fares,
Nobody knows and nobody cares"
The following was clearly not composed BY Mr..
sexton, but by the husband Of the lady who re-
poses in her immediate neighbOrhOod;
"Here lies the body Of Sarah SextOnj
She was q wife who never vexed one,
can't say as much for her at the next stone"
What sort of matrimonial existence must Mr.. Dent
Of Winchester have passed, wonder; who, as
soon as his Deborah was grassed over could indite
upon her so aippaut couplet as thisf
HHere lies the body Of Deborah Dent,
She kicked up her heels and away she went"
We will charitably hope that It was the extreme
seductiveness Of the rhyme which caused him to
represent the lady as having departed 50 very sum.
marily. Our epitaph makers will 60 deal out Of
Illelf way IOF u HUOu auug WAteh ivy
dissylabIe to match with another, they hesitate at
nothing in order TO bring Il IN. AT AtDODcaSter, Tor
instance, read:
Here lies two brothers BY misfortune surrounded,
One died Of his wounds, and The other VA droundsa
And again, at Bideford, Devon:
"Her marriage day appointed was,
And weddlng-clothes provided,
But when the day arrived did.
She aiekenpd and she died did"
This one, from Saint Adams, on the Other hand, Is
50 full Of an original and striking idea. that the
sound becomes secondary object, II even that:
"Sacred to the memory Of Miss Martha GrOyn
She was so very pure within.
She burst the outward shell OF sin,
And hatched herself q cherubim."
And here again, at Dorchester, 0xon, Is an exam
Die Of bard IN despair for couplet. who contents
himself with stating creditabe fact in indfnefent
prose: .--.... ...
Z" Here lies entombed one Roger Morton,
Whose sudden death was early brought oni
Irving one day his corn to NOV on
The razor slipped and cut his toe ohi
The toe, or rather what It grew to,
An Inflammation quickly flew to; .r.
The parts they took to notifying,
And poor dear Roger took to dying"
And here Is a still more entertaining one, upon q
certain lady in DevonFhire. singulariy free from
any nousensical pretence or idle bFaVado;
"Here lies Betsy Cruden,
She wood leafd but she coOden,
Twas ma grief ma sorrow as made she decay,
But this bad leg as Card she away"
Whenever read land Il Is Oien) Of folks who were
nasuionateIy desirous to leave this vale Of tears,
Shake nv Iead. and quote the simpleminded Bet
ty !" For ell this" say !, they wood leat d.
There Is distressing iuaecuracy Of metaphor in
the following south country elegy; but the mean
| ing Is painfully distinct:
"Here lies two babes as dead as nits,
They was cut Of by ague fits"
Adoctor Of divinity, who lies in the neighbOrhcod
Of Oxford, has his complaint stated for him with
unusual brevity, as well as his place Of intermen'
"He died Of q quinsy, ....
And was buried at Binsy"
To complete these medical extracts. ! may qT",e
this warning cypressaOwer, euled from Ohe-
tenham cemetery;
"Here lies and my three daughters,
Killed by drinking of the Che'enham WaterSi )
II we had stuck to EPSON salts,
We'd not been lying in these here vaults"
There is, to my mind, touching sorrow con
yeyed in the following most ungammatical yersss,
evidently composed by one Of the unlettered Wilt
shire parents themselves; ..r
Beneath this stone bis own dear child,
| Whose gone from we
For ever more unto eternity;
Where Ae do hope that we shall 60 to be,
But him can never more come back to we.
And something Of the same kind, although 10