Wheeler English | |||
Lines & Rhymes: Epitaphs |
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from The teachers and Writers Handbook of Poetic Forms, edited by Ron Padgett.
Epitaph on Elizabeth, L.H. -Ben
Johnson |
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An epitaph (from Greek, meaning "upon a tomb") is an inscription on a tomb,
or writing suitable for that purpose.
The epitaph can be in prose or poetry; if poetry, it can be in any rhythmical
pattern or none, rhymed or unrhymed. It should not be confused with the
elegy, which, although often similar to the epitaph in subject and tone,
is quite a bit longer.
Epitaphs range from the lofty to the coarse, from the sublimely serious
to the shockingly hilarious. Some people have used satire to write their
enemy's epitaph long before the enemy died. The earliest examples of epitaphs, carved in stone, are
from ancient Egypt. The Greeks and Romans became conscious of the epitaph
as a literary form. Elegies were written throughout the Middle Ages, too,
but it wasn't until the 15th century in England that the epitaph developed
into an exceptionally high art. |
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Here are some examples of epitaphs.
Underneath this sod lies John Round, For
a girl dead at seventeen:
and another:
The following prose epitaph was written to commemorate a man who was scalded
to death: |