The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1883-03-22
CaURCHYARD POETRY.
Quaint Epitaphs in some Old Eng
lish Burial Places.


tons are to be found in ancient grave
yards in Americas, but we cannot rival
England in this regard. MacMillan's
Magazine for February contains an arti-
Gle by the the Rev. F. Bsyiord Harrison
on "Churchyard Poetry" in which he
presents = great many curious speci-
mems gathered from out-o!-the-way
hooks and corners of the British king
dom from which We copy anumber,
with the authors comments in some in
stances. a.#4 s5i
"It seems hardly fair to place on the
tombstone OF one who cannot expos.
tulate or resist SUCH lines 40 these, which
may be seen in churchyard in the Isle
of Wight: s."se@* : 4z4@ls-G
To the memory Of Min Martha Grin. p,
She was 30 very pure within, a 4.
She cracked the shell OF her earthly skin,
And Matched herself cherubi.n.
''In . cemetery near Windsor this
verse Of holy scripture appears on a
headstone beneath the name of man
who died. advanced in years:
5. Behold, I come % thief"
"Given thus without any context, the
6rst suggestion is that the deceased saws
to the passer-by: ''Behold, come Is
thief! One requires some time and
some thought fully to take in the object
of tho epitaph, If one may call it 60:
which 10, doubtless, to act as a warning
to those now living. as we may suppose
it once acted to the dead man at our
feet. t :sr
OF . lawyer his tombstone bore testi-
mony to his unprofessional conduct by
recording that he was so great a lover
of peace that when contention arose
between life and death, he Immediately
yielded up the ghost to end this dispute
"A Charles Lamb, not the Ella with
whom and for whom We have laughed
and wept, sleeps beneath an epitaph of
which even the authors OF the words of
comic songs might be ashamed:
Here lies the body Of poor Charles Lamb,
Killed by tree that fell slap bang. !
"Who will not wonder at and admire
the skill. the originality, of the genius
whose brains furnished him with the
means of putting into verse the sad event
. which he has thus recorded: j.
The wedding day appointed was,
The wedding clothes provided;
But ere the wedding day arrived
|. cater this instance of a poets in
genuity in overcoming the exigencies
and difficulties Of rhyme, it may be as
we'll to point out how another genins
did not overcome, but eyaded, similar
difficulties. The following appears in a
churchyard in Devonshire, and Dew
onshire men pride themselves on their
indomitable energy and pluck:
Here lies John Meadow
Who passed away like . shadow
N. B. His name was Field,
But it ~ould not rhyme.
"This is really very neat. end much
more worthy of record than any coup
let ending in shield, yield, or WELD
wculd have been.
''Here is an epitaph of which the lead.
ing idea is 90 uncommon, yet 30 true,
thatitis well worth producing:
1909
Alex Me6en
Chief. constable Stirlineshiro
Our lite is but winter day
Some only breakfast and away
Others to dinner stay
and are full fed
the Oldest man but supa
and goes to bed
large is his debt
that iinge,s out the day
he that goes soonest
Has the least to pay.
"Here is one of q forced and affected
sort:
Here lies piece Of Christ; star in dust
A vein of gold; china dish that must
Be used in heaven, when God shall feast thu
just.
1.-THE declension from q piece of Christ