![The day will come](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/The_day_will_come.jpg)
An epitaph (; ) is a short text honoring a deceased person. Strictly speaking, it refers to text that is inscribed on a tombstone or plaque, but it may also be used in a figurative sense. Some epitaphs are specified by the person themselves before their death, while others are chosen by those responsible for the burial. An epitaph may be written in
prose
Prose is a form of written or spoken language that follows the natural flow of speech, uses a language's ordinary grammatical structures, or follows the conventions of formal academic writing. It differs from most traditional poetry, where the f ...
or in
poem verse.
Most epitaphs are
brief
Brief, briefs, or briefing may refer to:
Documents
* A letter
* A briefing note
* Papal brief, a papal letter less formal than a bull, sealed with the pope's signet ring or stamped with the device borne on this ring
* Design brief, a type of educ ...
records of the family, and perhaps the career, of the deceased, often with a common expression of love or respect—for example, "beloved father of ..."—but others are more ambitious. From the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
to the 19th century in Western culture, epitaphs for notable people became increasingly lengthy and pompous descriptions of their family origins, career, virtues and immediate family, often in Latin. Notably, the
Laudatio Turiae
''Laudatio Turiae'' ("In praise of Turia") is a tombstone engraved with a carved epitaph that is a husband's eulogy of his wife. It was made in the late 1st century BC. It portrays the love of a husband for his loyal wife.
Tombstone
The freque ...
, the longest known
Ancient Roman
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...
epitaph, exceeds almost all of these at 180 lines; it celebrates the virtues of an honored wife, probably of a
consul
Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...
.
Some are quotes from holy texts, or
aphorisms
An aphorism (from Ancient Greek, Greek ἀφορισμός: ''aphorismos'', denoting 'delimitation', 'distinction', and 'definition') is a concise, terse, laconic, or memorable expression of a general truth or principle. Aphorisms are often hand ...
. One approach of many epitaphs is to "speak" to the reader and warn them about their own mortality. A wry trick of others is to request the reader to get off their resting place, inasmuch as the reader would have to be standing on the ground above the coffin to read the inscription. Some record achievements (e.g., past politicians note the years of their terms of office). Nearly all (excepting those where this is impossible by definition, such as the
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
A Tomb of the Unknown Soldier or Tomb of the Unknown Warrior is a monument dedicated to the services of an unknown soldier and to the common memories of all soldiers killed in war. Such tombs can be found in many nations and are usually high-prof ...
) note name, year or date of birth, and date of death. Many list family members and the relationship of the deceased to them (for example, "Father / Mother / Son / Daughter of").
History
The history of epitaphs extends as far back as the
ancient Egyptians and have differed in delivery.
The
ancient Greeks
Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cultu ...
utilised emotive expression, written in
elegiac verse, later in prose.
Ancient Romans
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom ...
' use of epitaphs was more blunt and uniform, typically detailing facts of the deceased – as did the earliest epitaphs in English churches.
"May the earth lie light upon thee" was a common inscription for them.
Due to the influence of Roman occupiers, the dominant language of epitaphs was Latin, evidenced by the oldest existing epitaphs in Britain. French and English came into fashion around the 13th and 14th centuries, respectively.
By the 16th century, epitaphs had become more literary in nature and those written in verse were involved in trade.
In America and Britain, comedic epitaphs are common in the form of acrostics, palindromes, riddles, and puns on names and professions –
Robert Burns
Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...
, the most prolific pre-Romantic epitaphist, wrote 35 pieces, them being largely satirical.
The rate of literary epitaphs has been historically overshadowed by "popular sepulchral inscriptions which are produced in countless numbers at all time"; "strictly literary" epitaphs were most present during the start of the
Romantic period
Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...
.
The
Lake Poets
The Lake Poets were a group of English poets who all lived in the Lake District of England, United Kingdom, in the first half of the nineteenth century. As a group, they followed no single "school" of thought or literary practice then known. They ...
have been credited with providing success to epitaph-writing adjacent to that of poetry significance – Robert Southey, in focusing simultaneously upon transience and eternity, contributed substantially.
General interest for epitaphs was waning at the cusp of the 19th century, in contrast to a considerable burgeoning intellectual interest.
Critical essays had been published before on the matter, possibly contributing towards its flourishing in the latter half of the 18th century.
Epitaphs never became a major poetic form and, according to Romantic scholar Ernest Bernhardt-Kabisch, they had "virtually disappeared" by 1810. "The art of the epitaph was largely lost in the 20th century", wrote Encyclopedia Britannica.
Format
Sarcophagi and coffins were the choice of ancient Egyptians for epitaphs;
brasses
A monumental brass is a type of engraved church monument, sepulchral memorial, which in the 13th century began to partially take the place of three-dimensional church monument, monuments and effigy, effigies carved in stone or wood. Made of hard l ...
was the prominent format for a significant period of time.
Epitaphs upon stone monuments became a common feature by the
Elizabethan era
The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personifi ...
.
Epitaphs in England
Medieval era
![SirJohnHarsyck 1384 SouthAcreChurch Norfolk](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/SirJohnHarsyck_1384_SouthAcreChurch_Norfolk.jpg)
Stock phrases or standard elements present in epitaphs on mediaeval church monuments and
ledger stone
A ledger stone or ledgerstone is an inscribed stone slab usually laid into the floor of a church to commemorate or mark the place of the burial of an important deceased person. The term "ledger" derives from the Middle English words ''lygger'', '' ...
s in England include:
*''Hic jacet..'' (here lies...)
*''... cuius animae propitietur deus amen'' (generally abbreviated to ''cuius aie ppitiet ds ame'' with
tilde
The tilde () or , is a grapheme with several uses. The name of the character came into English from Spanish, which in turn came from the Latin '' titulus'', meaning "title" or "superscription". Its primary use is as a diacritic (accent) in ...
s indicating the omitted letters) ("whose soul may God look upon with favour Amen")
*''Memoriae sacrum ...'' / ''MS'' ("Sacred to the memory (of) ...")
Modern era
*''Requiescat in pace'' / ''RIP'' ("may he rest in peace")
Notable examples
Poets, playwrights and other writers
Statesmen
Mathematicians
)
, author=
Paul Erdős
Paul Erdős ( hu, Erdős Pál ; 26 March 1913 – 20 September 1996) was a Hungarian mathematician. He was one of the most prolific mathematicians and producers of mathematical conjectures of the 20th century. pursued and proposed problems in ...
)
, author=
David Hilbert
David Hilbert (; ; 23 January 1862 – 14 February 1943) was a German mathematician, one of the most influential mathematicians of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Hilbert discovered and developed a broad range of fundamental ideas in many a ...
Soldiers
Entertainers
)
, source=
Spike Milligan
Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish actor, comedian, writer, musician, poet, and playwright. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Raj, British Colonial India, where h ...
Other
Monuments with epitaphs
File:SSACRAM 64.JPG, Epitaph painted by Guidon Reni, for the knight van Ertborn de Witte
File:Selena Quintanilla-Perez's grave.jpg, Grave of Selena
Selena Quintanilla Pérez (; April 16, 1971 – March 31, 1995), known mononymously as Selena, was an American Tejano singer. Called the " Queen of Tejano music", her contributions to music and fashion made her one of the most celebrated Mex ...
at Seaside Memorial Park in Corpus Christi, Texas citing Isaiah
Isaiah ( or ; he, , ''Yəšaʿyāhū'', "God is Salvation"), also known as Isaias, was the 8th-century BC Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named.
Within the text of the Book of Isaiah, Isaiah himself is referred to as "the ...
25:8 writings
File:Epitaph for heart of Frédéric Chopin in Holy Cross Church in Warsaw.PNG, Epitaph for heart of Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leadin ...
Image:Grave of W. B. Yeats; Drumecliff, Co Sligo.jpg, Grave of W. B. Yeats
William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish liter ...
; Drumecliff, Co. Sligo
Image:Grabplatte Johann Wauer Hochkirch.jpg, Lengthy epitaph for Johann Wauer a (German pastor), died 1728, concluding with a short Biblical quotation
Image:Mel Blanc 4-15-05.JPG, The epitaph on voice actor Mel Blanc
Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank ; May 30, 1908July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio, he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for comedy ra ...
's tombstone
Heather O'Rourke crypt 2.jpg, Inscription at Heather O'Rourke
Heather Michele O'Rourke (December 27, 1975 – February 1, 1988) was an American child actress. She had her breakthrough starring as Carol Anne Freeling in the Horror film, supernatural horror film ''Poltergeist (1982 film), Poltergeist'' (1982), ...
's crypt
File:Sahabi tomb.jpg, Ezzatollah Sahabi
Ezzatollah Sahabi (9 May 1930 – 31 May 2011) was an Iranian politician and journalist. He was a parliament member from 1980 to 1984.
Early life
Sahabi was born on 9 May 1930 in Tehran, Iran. His father, Yadollah Sahabi, was an influential fig ...
, Glory of Iran and his patriotic daughter Haleh
File:Garner headstone with eitaph, Houghton, Cambridgeshire.jpg, A folksy epitaph to an English village blacksmith in Houghton, Cambridgeshire
Houghton is a village in Cambridgeshire, England, approximately east of Huntingdon on the A1123 road, and south of RAF Wyton. It lies on the north bank of the River Great Ouse, by Houghton Mill.
Houghton is in the civil parish of Houghton a ...
, UK
File:Spike Milligan gravestone, Winchelsea, East Sussex.jpg, The gravestone of comedian, writer and actor Spike Milligan
Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish actor, comedian, writer, musician, poet, and playwright. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Raj, British Colonial India, where h ...
showing the notable epitaph
File:Mary Kay Bergman Grave.JPG, Grave of Mary Kay Bergman
Mary Kay Bergman (June 5, 1961 – November 11, 1999), also credited as Shannen Cassidy, was an American voice actress and voice-over teacher. She was the lead female voice actress on ''South Park'' from the show's 1997 debut until her death. Thr ...
, at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills). Note that it features etchings of characters she voiced on ''South Park
''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boys Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand th ...
''.
File:The epitaph of the preacher Berthold de Wyrbna in Szprotawa Poland.jpg, The epitaph of the preacher Berthold de Wyrbna (Dominican) from 1316 in Szprotawa
Szprotawa (german: Sprottau) is a town in western Poland, in Żagań County, Lubusz Voivodeship. It has 11,820 inhabitants (2019).
History
The region was part of Poland after the emergence of the Piast monarchy in the 10th century. The first me ...
, the oldest tombstone in Silesia
Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...
, Poland.
In music
In a more figurative sense, the term may be used for music composed in memory of the deceased. Igor Stravinsky composed in 1958 ''
Epitaphium'' for flute, clarinet and harp. In 1967
Krzysztof Meyer
Krzysztof Meyer (born 11 August 1943) is a Polish composer, pianist, and music scholar, formerly Dean of the Department of Music Theory (1972–1975) at the State College of Music (now Academy of Music in Kraków), and president of the Union of P ...
called his Symphony No. 2 for choir and orchestra ''Epitaphium Stanisław Wiechowicz in memoriam''.
Jeffrey Lewis
Jeffrey Lewis (born November 20, 1975) is an American singer-songwriter and comic book artist.
Early life
Lewis was born in New York City and grew up on the Lower East Side. He attended State University of New York at Purchase, graduating in ...
composed ''Epitaphium – Children of the Sun'' for narrator, chamber choir, piano, flute, clarinet and percussion. In 1969,
King Crimson
King Crimson are a progressive rock band formed in 1968 in London, England. The band draws inspiration from a wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical, jazz, folk, heavy metal, gamelan, industrial, electronic, experime ...
released the song ''Epitaph'', giving a reference to epitaphs within the song.
Bronius Kutavičius
Bronius Kutavičius (13 September 1932 – 29 September 2021) was a Lithuanian composer and academic composition teacher. He wrote numerous oratorios and operas, often inspired by ancient Lithuanian polytheistic beliefs and music. He also compose ...
composed in 1998 ''Epitaphium temporum pereunti''.
Valentin Silvestrov
Valentyn Vasylyovych Sylvestrov ( uk, Валенти́н Васи́льович Сильве́стров; born 30 September 1937) is a Ukrainian composer and pianist, who plays and writes contemporary classical music.
Biography
Valentyn Vasylyo ...
composed in 1999 ''Epitaph L.B.'' (Епітафія Л.Б.) for viola (or cello) and piano. In 2007
Graham Waterhouse
Graham Waterhouse (born 2 November 1962) is an English composer and cellist who specializes in chamber music. He has composed a cello concerto, ''Three Pieces for Solo Cello'' and ''Variations for Cello Solo'' for his own instrument, and string ...
composed ''
Epitaphium'' for string trio as a tribute to the memory of his father
William Waterhouse. The South African poet Gert Vlok Nel wrote an (originally) untitled song, which appeared on his first music album "Beaufort-Wes se Beautiful Woorde" as "Epitaph", because his producer Eckard Potgieter told him that the song sounded like an epitaph.
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
's final album, ''
Blackstar
''Blackstar'' is an American animated science fantasy television series, produced in 1981 by Lou Scheimer and Norm Prescott for Filmation. The series was Filmation's second fantasy epic, the first being '' The Freedom Force'', a segment of ''T ...
'', released in 2016, is generally seen as his musical epitaph, with singles "
Blackstar
''Blackstar'' is an American animated science fantasy television series, produced in 1981 by Lou Scheimer and Norm Prescott for Filmation. The series was Filmation's second fantasy epic, the first being '' The Freedom Force'', a segment of ''T ...
" and "
Lazarus" often singled out.
In space
In the late 1990s, a unique epitaph was flown to the Moon along with the
ashes
Ashes may refer to:
*Ash, the solid remnants of fires.
Media and entertainment Art
* ''Ashes'' (Munch), an 1894 painting by Edvard Munch
Film
* ''The Ashes'' (film), a 1965 Polish film by director Andrzej Wajda
* ''Ashes'' (1922 film), a ...
of geologist and planetary scientist
Eugene Shoemaker
Eugene Merle Shoemaker (April 28, 1928 – July 18, 1997) was an American geologist. He co-discovered Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 with his wife Carolyn S. Shoemaker and David H. Levy. This comet hit Jupiter in July 1994: the impact was televise ...
.
At the suggestion of colleague
Carolyn Porco
Carolyn C. Porco (born March 6, 1953) is an American planetary scientist who explores the outer Solar System, beginning with her imaging work on the Voyager missions to Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune in the 1980s. She led the imaging scienc ...
, Shoemaker's ashes were launched aboard the ''
Lunar Prospector
''Lunar Prospector'' was the third mission selected by NASA for full development and construction as part of the Discovery Program. At a cost of $62.8 million, the 19-month mission was designed for a low polar orbit investigation of the Moon, ...
'' spacecraft on January 6, 1998.
The ashes were accompanied by a laser-engraved epitaph on a small piece of foil.
The spacecraft, along with the ashes and epitaph, crashed on command into the south polar region of the Moon on July 31, 1999.
See also
*
Chronogram
A chronogram is a sentence or inscription in which specific letters, interpreted as numerals (such as Roman numerals), stand for a particular date when rearranged. The word, meaning "time writing", derives from the Greek words ''chronos'' (χ ...
*
Cenotaph
A cenotaph is an empty tomb or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although the vast majority of cenot ...
*
Death poem
The death poem is a genre of poetry that developed in the literary traditions of East Asian cultures—most prominently in Japan as well as certain periods of Chinese history and Joseon Korea. They tend to offer a reflection on death—both in g ...
*
Epigraph
*
''Epitaph'' (TV series)
*
Eulogy
A eulogy (from , ''eulogia'', Classical Greek, ''eu'' for "well" or "true", ''logia'' for "words" or "text", together for "praise") is a speech or writing in praise of a person or persons, especially one who recently died or retired, or as a ...
*
''Epitaphios logos'' (ancient Greek funeral oration)
*
Hero stone
A hero stone (Vīragallu in Kannada, Naṭukal in Tamil) is a memorial commemorating the honorable death of a hero in battle. Erected between the second half of the first millennium BC and the 18th century AD, hero stones are found all over India ...
*
Seikilos epitaph
The Seikilos epitaph is the oldest surviving complete musical composition, including musical notation, from anywhere in the world. The epitaph has been variously dated, but seems to be either from the 1st or the 2nd century CE. The song, the melo ...
*
Epitaph Records
Epitaph Records is an American independent record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, most acts signed to the label were punk and pop punk acts, while there are many post-hardcore and emo bands ...
References
Bibliography
*Vidor, Gian Marco (2014). Satisfying the mind and inflaming the heart: emotions and funerary epigraphy in nineteenth-century Italy. ''Mortality'' (Routledge), on-line edition. http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/fByCJS8IEiui62NK5wrq/full#.U_HCzFOBq3o
*Bertrand, Régis (2005). Que de vertus. Les épitaphes édifiantes des débuts du XIXe siècle. In R. Bertrand, A. Carol, & J.-N. Pelen (Eds.), ''Les narrations de la mort'' (pp. 241–255). Aix-en-Provence: Publications de l'Universite' de Provence.
*Guthke, K. S. (2003). ''Epitaph culture in the west. Variations on a theme in cultural history''. Lewiston, NY: Mellen.
External links
*
Kohima Epitaph
{{Authority control
Acknowledgements of death
Inscriptions by type