Epitaphs: A Dying Art

by Samuel Fanous (Editor)

Epitaphs are words to be eternally remembered by, short poems or phrases literally written in stone. They can be practical, carrying some variation of the familiar Here Lies, but they can also be brilliantly creative with personally meaningful quotes or words written especially by or for the deceased. From the simple to the cleverly cryptic, epitaphs are meant to leave a lasting impression and many certainly do.
"I Told You I was Sick . . . and Other Epitaphs" brings together more than 250 epitaphs from cemeteries, churchyards, monuments, and historical records. Some announce the cause of death with a surprisingly macabre sense of humor: Here lies John Ross. Kicked by a hoss. Others wryly remind readers of their own impending mortality, such as a tombstone whose rhyming inscription reads As I am now you will surely be. / Prepare thyself to follow me. In death as in life, many of the most famous writers were not at a loss for words. Emily Dickinson s concise wit is evident in her headstone s inscription Called Back. Yeats encouraged the horsemen of the apocalypse to pass by. Shakespeare s funerary monument at Stratford-upon-Avon carries the warning Curst be he that moves my bones, an inscription many believe the Bard himself wrote to prevent his corpse from being exhumed in the name of research, a common practice at the time.
As tribute to a form of expression that is very much alive, "I Told You I was Sick "collects some of the most intriguing examples, many of which perfectly encapsulate the person buried beneath them."

144 pages, Hardcover

First published June 15, 2016

Reviews

[Lorraine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Centuries. Epitaphs A Dying Art edited by Samuel Fanous and published by Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, England, is a wide selection of epitaphs from the 17th c to the present that are found all over the world. I was originally attracted to epitaphs in New England as so many that I read were/are quite humorous. Then my Mom gave me three books, all epitaphs, and I was hooked! Today one does not see epitaphs as often and in some areas not at all, but I still look whenever I am able to stop and wander through an old cemetery. As I walk through an old cemetery, I am also intrigued by the symbols that were used in colonial times, but I digress. This small book with an intriguing collection of epitaphs from England, the US, Canada, and all over the world which hail from ancient times to the 21st c. Epitaphs - “Their appeal is as timeless as life itself:…” “Epitaphs retain their power to move us.” Both of these statements by the editor of this book are found in the introduction, and I heartily concur! “Here lies an honest lawyer, -/ That is Strange” Sir John Strange, judge. 1895.
“Dorothy Cecil unmarried as yet.” These last two are gone, but have been saved in books. The following epitaph is seen in various forms. “Youthful reader, passing by,/As you are now, so once was I,/As I am now, so you must be,/Therefore prepare to follow me.” Woolwich, Kent, England. “Go, tell the Spartans, you who pass by/That here, obedient to their laws, we lie.” Greece, for the 300 Spartans
Killed at the Battle of Thermoplyae circa 480 BCE. Highly recommend. 5 stars.

[Isabel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some made me cry, some made me laugh

[Anita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collected into seven categories (including "Long Life, Love & Friendship" and "Peculiar, Gothic, Whimsical, & Absurd") these are endlessly entertaining glimpses into peoples' lives & personalities.