Poetic Epitaphs

Reading the epitaphs, our only salvation lies in resurrecting the dead and burying the living.
~Paul Eldridge

From The Franklin Institute:

When Benjamin Franklin was 22 years old, he wrote the epitaph that he imagined might be carved on his tombstone. By the time he actually died at age 84, he had changed his mind.

The Epitaph of Young Benjamin Franklin

The body of
B. Franklin, Printer
(Like the Cover of an Old Book
Its Contents torn Out
And Stript of its Lettering and Gilding)
Lies Here, Food for Worms.
But the Work shall not be Lost;
For it will (as he Believ'd) Appear once More
In a New and More Elegant Edition
Revised and Corrected
By the Author.

Benjamin Franklin's Final Epitaph

Benjamin and Deborah Franklin: 1790

~~~~~~~~~

John Donne (1572-1631)

Reader, I am to let thee know,

Donne's body only lies below;

For could the grave his soul comprise,

Earth would be richer than the skies.

~~~~~~~~~

Mrs. Aphra Behn (1640-89)

Here lies a Proof that Wit can never be

Defence enough against Mortality.

~~~~~~~~~

David Hume

(1711-1776)

Within this circular idea

Called vulgarly a tomb,

The ideas and impressions lie

That constituted Hume

~~~~~~~~~

Peter Robinson (19th century)

Here lies the preacher, judge, and poet, Peter

Who broke the laws of God, and man, and metre.

~~~~~~~~~ 

Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

And alien tears will fill for him

Pity's long broken urn,

For his mourners will be outcast men,

And outcasts always mourn.

~~~~~~~~~ 

Olivia Susan Clemens (1866-1890)

[Daughter of Mark Twain]

Warm summer sun, shine kindly here;

Warm southern wind, blow softly here;

Green sod above, lie light, lie light --

Good-night, dear heart, good-night, good-night.

~~~~~~~~~

William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)

Cast a cold eye

On life, on death

Horseman, pass by.

 

Amy LV at The Poem Farm is our Poetry Friday host today.