EPITAPH

:''For other uses of the term Epitaph, please see Epitaph (disambiguation).''
An 'epitaph' ( literally: "''on the gravestone''" in ancient Greek) is text honoring the deceased, most commonly inscribed on a tombstone or plaque. Traditionally an epitaph is in verse, but there are exceptions. Many poets have been known to compose their own epitaphs prior to their death.
Many are quotes from holy texts, or aphorisms. A good epitaph is considered to be one that is memorable, or at least makes one think. A wry trick of many successful epitaphs is to 'speak' to the reader and warn them about their own mortality; another is a request of the reader to get off their resting place, as often it would require the reader to stand 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) but nearly all (excepting the tomb of the unknown soldier, where this is impossible) note name, date of birth and date of death.

Contents

Famous epitaphs

Other Epitaphs

References

See also

External links

Famous epitaphs

''

''.''

''O xein', angellein Lakedaimoniois hoti têde''

''keimetha tois keinôn rhêmasi peithomenoi''

''Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by''

''that here, obedient to their law, we lie.''
:— Simonides's epigram at Thermopylae
''I lie somewhere over here''

:— Werner Heisenberg, as in Uncertainty Principle.
''When You Go Home, Tell Them Of Us And Say,''

''For Their Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today''

:The Kohima Epitaph which is on the World War II War Memorial for the Allied fallen at the battle of Kohima. Written by John Maxwell Edmonds (1875-1958), an English classicist, suggested for the memorial by Major John Etty-Leal, the GSO II of the 2nd Division, another classical scholar. In fact this is a misquotation. The correct version runs:
''When you go home, tell them of us, and say,''

''For your tomorrows these gave their today.''

Edmonds was a Fellow of Jesus College Cambridge and one of his contemporaries, and his friend and executor, Dr Freddy Brittain, another eminent Jesuan wrote of him, ‘always courteous, (he) used to say that he would not have minded the misattribution of authorship or the breaches of copyright, if only the text had not been commonly misquoted, as it is on the Kohima memorial and even in the Ashenden Press editions of his epitaphs.'
''Hodie mihi, cras tibi''
''Today for me, tomorrow for thee''
:— Famous Latin epitaph
''No greater friend, no worse enemy''
:— Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Roman Dictator
''Non fui, fui, non sum, non curo''
''I was not, I was, I am not, I do not care''
:— Famous Latin epitaph
''Don't Try''
:— Poet Charles Bukowski
''Good friend, for Jesus' sake forbear, ''

''To dig the dust enclosed here. ''

''Blest be the man that spares these stones,''

''And cursed be he that moves my bones.''

:— From the grave of William Shakespeare
''Here lie the ashes of Dorothy Parker (1893-1967) Humorist, writer, critic, defender of human and civil rights. For her epitaph she suggested "Excuse My Dust". This memorial garden is dedicated to her noble spirit which celebrated the oneness of humankind, and to the bonds of everlasting friendship between black and Jewish people.''
:— From the grave of Dorothy Parker
''Nature, and nature's laws, lay hid in night,''

''God said, let Newton be! And all was light.''

:— from the grave of Newton, a poem from Alexander Pope
''SWIFT has sailed into his rest;''

''Savage indignation there''

''Cannot lacerate his breast.''

''Imitate him if you dare,''

''World-besotted traveller; he''

''Served human liberty.''
:— by and for Jonathan Swift, translated from Latin by William Butler Yeats
''Cast a cold eye''

''On life, on death''

''Horseman, pass by!''
:— W.B. Yeats
''Stranger by the roadside, do not smile''

''When you see this grave, though it is only a dog's,''

''My master wept when I died, and his own hand''

''Laid me in earth and wrote these lines on my tomb.''
:— (unknown origin)
''This Grave''

''contains all that was mortal''

''of a''

''YOUNG ENGLISH POET''

''who''

''on his Death-Bed''

''in the Bitterness of his heart''

''at the Malicious Power of his enemies''

''desired these words to be engraven on his Tomb Stone''

''"HERE LIES ONE''

'' WHOSE NAME WAS WRIT IN WATER"''

''FEB 24 1821''
:— John Keats
''She did it the hard way.''
:— Bette Davis
''Here lies one of the most intelligent animals who ever appeared on the face of the earth.''
:— Benito Mussolini
''Never Born, Never Died—Only visited this planet Earth between December 11, 1931 and January 19, 1990.''
:— Rajneesh
''That's all folks!''
:— Mel Blanc
''Love Will Tear Us Apart''
:— Ian Curtis
''Δεν ελπίζω τίποτε. Δεν φοβούμαι τίποτε. Είμαι λεύτερος''
''I hope for nothing. I fear nothing. I am free.''
:— Nikos Kazantzakis, Greek author.
''Dúirt mé leat go raibh mé breoite''
(Gaelic for ''I told you I was ill'')
:— Spike Milligan, Irish comic, writer, musician
J. R. R. Tolkien is buried next to his wife, and on their tombstone the names "''Beren''" and "''Lúthien''" are engraved, a fact that sheds light on the love story of Beren and Lúthien which is recorded in several versions in his works.
''3.14159265358979323846264338327950288...''
:— Ludolph van Ceulen, he was so proud of his achievement, computing π (pi) to 35 digits, that he ordered it to be inscribed on his tombstone.
''Finally I am becoming stupider no more''
:— Paul Erdos, Hungarian mathematician.
''Här det jordiska af Kraus, det himmelska lefver i hans toner''
''Here the earthly of Kraus, the heavenly live in his music''
:— Joseph Martin Kraus, German-Swedish composer.
''Here lies Jiri Wolker, poet, who loved world,''

''and for its justice wanted to fight.''

''Before he could jerk his heart into battle out,''

''he died, only when he twentyfour was.''
:— Jiri Wolker, Czech poet.
''Here was buried Thomas Jefferson''

''Author of the Declaration of American Independence''

''Of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom''

''And Father of the University of Virginia''
:— While a fairly bland epitaph in itself, it is notable for what it does ''not'' do: it does not mention the fact that Thomas Jefferson had been President of the United States for a full two terms.
''Life's a jest, and all things show it.''

''I thought so once, and now I know it.''

:— John Gay, English poet.
''The Best is yet to come.''

:— Frank Sinatra, American singer.
''I seen a rainbow yesterday but too many storms have come and gone leavin' a trace of not one God-given ray is it because my life is ten shades of gray I pray all ten fade away seldom praise Him for the sunny days And like His promise is true only my faith can undo the many chances I blew to bring my life to anew clear blue and unconditional skies have dried the tears from my eyes no more lonely cries my only bleedin' hope is for the folk who can't cope wit such an endurin' pain that it keeps 'em in the pourin' rain who's to blame for tootin' caine in your own vein what a shame you shoot and aim for someone else's brain you claim the insane and name this day and time for fallin' prey to crime I say the system got you victim to your own mind dreams are hopeless aspirations in hopes of comin' true believe in yourself the rest is up to me and you.''

:— Lisa "Left-Eye" Lopes, American rapper from trio TLC.

Other Epitaphs

''Beware ye people passing by,''

''As you are now, so once was I,''

''And as I am now, so must you be,''

''Prepare for death and follow me.''
:— Birdville Cemetery, Haltom City, Texas
''Here Lies Lester Moore,''

''Four Slugs From A 44,''

''No Les, No More''
:— Boot Hill Cemetery, Tombstone, Arizona
''He called Pete Smith a liar.''
:— On a nameless tombstone in Wichita, Kansas
''He went too far in the search of flowers.'' (translated)
:— China, from a father on his son's tombstone
'' 'Here lies Diophantus,' the wonder behold. Through art algebraic, the stone tells how old: 'God gave him his boyhood one-sixth of his life, One twelfth more as youth while whiskers grew rife; And then yet one-seventh ere marriage begun; In five years there came a bouncing new son. Alas, the dear child of master and sage After attaining half the measure of his father's life chill fate took him. After consoling his fate by the science of numbers for four years, he ended his life.' ''
:— Diophantus of Alexandria (upon solving the riddle, his age at death is found to be 84)
''Poor John Gray, here he lies,''

''No one laughs, and no one cries,''

''Where he's gone, and how he fares,''

''No one knows, and no one cares.''
:— John Gray, unsubstantial English Citizen
''Posterity will ne'er survey''

''A nobler grave than this''

''Here lie the bones of Castlereagh''

''Stop, traveller, and piss.''
:— Viscount Castlereagh, written by Lord Byron

References

See also

★ Chronogram

★ Epigraph

★ Hero stone

External links

★ What is the Kohima Epitaph?

★ Kohima Epitaph