ТОП просматриваемых книг сайта:
Epitaphs for Country Churchyards. Augustus John Cuthbert Hare
Читать онлайн.Название Epitaphs for Country Churchyards
Год выпуска 0
isbn 4064066454227
Автор произведения Augustus John Cuthbert Hare
Жанр Языкознание
Издательство Bookwire
There are also many beautiful and touching Epitaphs in our own English tongue; - some in the simple language of our forefathers, written on mouldering and mossy grave-stones of bygone centuries, and some by eminent divines of our own time, less known, but not less beautiful.
Who that has visited the Lady-chapel of Worcester Cathedral, does not remember the small tablet to the wife of the famous Izaak Walton? –
"Here lyeth buried, soe much as could die, of Anne, wife of Izaak Walton, who was a woman of remarkable prudence and of the primitive piety: her great and generall knowledge, being adorned with soe much true humility, and blest with soe much Christian meeknesse, as made her worthy of a more memorable monument.
She died (alas, that she is dead!) the 17th of April, 1662, aged 52.
Study to be like her."
In Claverton Church is a Latin inscription, which, from its simplicity, well deserves the English translation, which is already well-known: -
"In the hope of a blessed resurrection, here the body (formerly the abode of a most holy mind) of a young wife shall return to dust - Mary, the wife of Moses Tryon of Harringworth, in the county of Northampton, the eldest daaghter of William Bassett, Esq. - Whilst she lived, a dear wife; who having brought forth one infant, returned her soul to her Creator calmly, and with great faith in Christ. This lasting monument of his grief, and in memorial of his love for her precious dust, her husband has erected.
The mother went before, May 13,
The infant followed, May 23, 1628.
. . . . . "Ye shall haste to heaven together."
The poor do not need long Epitaphs, - they do not care for any depth of meaning or poetry of expression; the more simple the words and thoughts, the more suited are they to their minds, and the more does the Epitaph come home to their hearts. It is the want of Epitaphs such as these which makes them have recourse to the old worn-out rhymes over and over again. They would write better if they could, but they cannot. It is a want of this kind which this little book is intended to supply. However inefficient this attempt may be to supply the deficiency, I hope it may be the means of stirring up others to take the work in hand, who will be better able to carry it out.
The greater part of the verses and sentences contained in this volume are collected from well-known, though various, sources, and will easily be recognised by the larger portion of my readers; some few are original; and many, received from different sources, now appear in print for the first time.
The object of an Epitaph should be threefold: first, to commemorate the dead; secondly, to comfort the mourners; and thirdly, to teach a lesson to those who read it.
The first of these objects is accomplished in that part of an Epitaph which usually gives the name and the date. It has been, and often is still, the custom to add to this a sort of history of the deceased, a catalogue of their Christian graces and perfections: and it may be asked why I do not give some forms for the expression of these; but, as has been observed by one of the greatest of our living poets, "an Epitaph is not intended to be a biography." Is it not, therefore, better simply to give the name of the person over whose grave the stone is raised, - the age, perhaps, or the dates of birth and death? There may be occasions when it is well that some particular incident, either of life or death, should be recorded on the tomb, when some record should be written, even there, of what the deceased was or did in life; but as a general rule, it is better to make the inscription as simple as possible. This inscription may be commenced in many ways: - the words "In memory of;" "In loving memory of;" are among the most suitable expressions. The subjoined is from a German inscription at Basle: -
"In the hope
of a joyful meeting
in the land of everlasting love
the earthly tabernacle
of Valeria Marian Hoffne
was laid in the bosom of the earth."
* * * * *
The second and third objects I have mentioned are fulfilled in the latter part of the Epitaph; and this is done either by a text of Scripture, a sentence of hope and comfort, or by lines of poetry; and to assist in the choice of these, these pages are intended.
I shall therefore divide them into three parts. The first will contain texts chosen from Holy Scripture, - and in most cases these are the best and the simplest Epitaphs; for what can be more blessed than that hope and comfort with which Christ, still speaking through His Word, calms and comforts the troubled mind, even as He once comforted the sisters of Bethany with His blessed words, "I am the Resurrection and the Life?" The second part will contain brief sentences; and the third, verses of poetry. Would that they might be the means of bringing comfort to one sorrowing heart would that they might lead one soul to prepare for that Resurrection, when all those who are in the graves shall go forth to meet their God, and when graves and Epitaphs shall be needed no more!
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.