An epitaph is a short piece of writing about someone who is dead, often carved on their grave. a short piece of writing on the stone over someone's grave (=place in the ground where someone is buried) (épitaphe, from epitaphion, from epi- ( EPICENTER) + taphos ). Inscription in verse or prose on a tomb, or, by extension, anything written as if to be inscribed on a tomb. Probably the earliest surviving epitaphs are those written on ancient Egyptian sarcophagi and coffins. Ancient Greek examples are often of literary interest. In Elizabethan times epitaphs began to assume a more literary character. Many of the best known are literary memorials (often deliberately witty) not intended for a tomb
a burial inscription, often in verse Philip Reder's Epitaphs (London: Michael Joseph, 1969) collected authentic examples, largely from British gravestones Here are two: Here lies Robert Wallis, Clerk of All Hallows, King of good fellows, And maker of bellows He bellows did make till the day of his death, But he that made bellows could never make breath (p 53; Newcastel-upon-Tyne) I poorly lived, and poorly died, And when I was buried, nobody cried (p 89; Lillington) Dorothy Parker's "Epitaph for a Darling Lady" makes light of the form
A brief poem or statement in memory of someone who is deceased, used as -- or suitable for -- a tombstone inscription; a commemorative lamentation (See also Dirge, Elegy, Monody)
A commemorative inscription on a memorial marker or monument Funeral Director - A licensed, professional individual who arranges and conducts a funeral or memorial, and burial services in keeping with the family's wishes
Not to be confused with epithet or epigram, an epitaph refers literally to an inscription carved on a gravestone In a more general sense, an epitaph is the final statement spoken by a character before his death In many of Shakespeare's plays, it is common for the last words a character speaks to come true, especially if he utters a curse Shakespeare's own epitaph in the chancel of Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon, is rather famous: GOOD FREND FOR IESVS SAKE FORBEARE TO DIGG THE DVST ENCLOASED HEARE BLESTE BE Y MAN Y SPARES THES STONES AND CVRST BE HE Y MOVES MY BONES " The Norton Facsimile of the First Folio of Shakespeare provides the best available photo-facsimile of it Other famous epitaphs include John Keats grave inscription: "Here lies one whose name was writ in water " A long list of such literary epitaphs can be found here