EPITAPH

An epitaph is a poem written on a dead person and it is mostly inscribed on their grave.

 

It is derived from the Greek words,  ‘epi ‘and ‘taphos’ meaning upon and tomb respectively.

 

 

Epitaphs can either be written by somebody for their dead friend or someone who wishes for a particular epitaph on their grave could write it before they die. Well the epitaphs inscribed upon the graves of some of our beloved poets are self- written.

 

For example Shakespeare’s

 

Epitaph reads:

 

“Good friend, for Jesus’ sake forebeare

 To digg the dust enclosed heare

Bleste be the man that spares thes stones,

And curst be he that moves my bones.”

 

In this epitaph, Shakespeare curses any person who tried to steal his bones as you can clearly see.

He was very afraid of exhumation which was very common those days and his fear is also depicted in 16 of his 37 plays.

 

 

And here’s the one by John Keats:

 

“Here lies One Whose Name was writ in Water”

 

These were the very last words of John Keats, who died an untimely death at the age of 25 because of tuberculosis. I think he probably refers to how he could not complete his life’s endeavors. He thought he will disappear into oblivion and his name will disappear like a name written in water.

 

 

Other similar terms

EULOGY:

 Eulogy refers to a speech that is made on a dead person in his funeral.

ELEGY:

 Elegy is a poem wherein someone laments a dead person’s death.

ORBITUARY:

It is a notice in newspaper about a departed person.

 

Well, that’s about epitaph in brief. Last words of people are sure an amazing enigma.

Note: None of the poems we present belong to us. We present an organized record and analysis of them. All copyrights are reserved to the original author and we are not using plagiarized work. The originality of the writes is verified to the fullest extent we can.

- Radhuga ( member of team PoeTreeForest)