Monthly Archives: August 2012

A Poem

Because I Could Not Stop For Death, by Emily Dickinson   Because I could not stop for Death, He kindly stopped for me; The carriage held but just ourselves And Immortality.   We slowly drove away, he knew no haste, … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Among the Dead

The Old Dutch Church Burying Ground in Sleepy Hollow, New York, is one of the oldest graveyards in America.  Though it was established in 1685, some say that the first burials were much earlier than that.  The cemetery has many … Continue reading

Posted in Epitaphs | Leave a comment

The Severed Bud

Cemeteries have many symbols that represent children–shoes, seedpods, cribs, cherubs–but one of the most common is the hanging bud. The broken bud represents the flower that did not bloom into full blossom, the life that was cut short before it … Continue reading

Posted in Symbolism | Leave a comment

Union Deposit Cemetery

The cemetery gate in the photo is of a small cemetery in rural Pennsylvania, just outside Hershey.  The gate is typical of many of the small cemetery gates that are made of iron rod and steel construction.  What struck me … Continue reading

Posted in Cemetery Gates | Leave a comment

Coffin-shaped Table Top Tomb

The coffin-shaped tombstone in the photograph is also a type of gravestone called a table tomb for an obvious reason—it looks like a table. Usually the table tomb has four or six legs supporting a stone tablet which carries the … Continue reading

Posted in Symbolism, Tombs | Leave a comment

Coffin-shaped Tombstone, Part 2

Coffins come in many shapes and sizes, though, technically, a coffin is a six-sided container or box for burial.  A casket is generally understood to have four sides and be rectangular. The six-sided coffin tombstone found in the Groveport Cemetery … Continue reading

Posted in Symbolism, Tombs | Leave a comment