Final Thoughts 3/29/12

The Day is Past and Gone.  The Night of Death is Near.

 By Stephanie Lincecum

The word epitaph is from the Greek word epitaphios and translates literally to “on the gravestone.” Epitaphs take on many forms, from simply a name with dates, to a long dissertation about the deceased. It might be in the form of a quote, poem, Bible scripture, or a humorous one-liner.  Whatever the form, the epitaph is a public “final thought” regarding the individual lying beneath it.

A couple of years ago, I came across an epitaph etched in a box tomb that seemed intriguing:

The day is past and gone

The evening shade appear

O! may you all remember well

The night of Death is near.

A bit of research resulted in the finding of a hymn written in 1792 by John Leland, the title being the first line of the first verse above.  The rest of it reads this way:

We lay our garments by,

Upon our beds to rest;

So death shall soon disrobe us all

Of what is here possessed.

Lord, keep us safe this night,

Secure from all our fears;

May angels guard us while we sleep,

Till morning light appears.

The greatest discovery to me, though, was how those words written centuries ago have carried on.  Rousing gospel renditions of The Day is Past and Gone were common in the 1960’s.  My favorite version to come across was beautifully sung by Marion Williams.  I invite you to take a listen on You Tube (address below).  I think you’ll like it.

Don‘t dismiss that four-line verse in an epitaph -- you never know where it might lead.

[Address to Marion Williams singing The Day is Past and Gone - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPjXX_EfpwI ]

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Stephanie Lincecum is a genealogist, amateur historian, avid reader, and budding photographer. She has been researching her family history for more than fifteen years and during that time discovered her true passion for cemeteries. Stephanie is the author of two cemetery blogs, including Southern Graves at http://blog.southerngraves.net . It chronicles her journey and findings through cemetery research in the southern United States. Currently enrolled at the National Institute for Genealogical Studies, her constant goal is to preserve the past -- one tombstone at a time.