On the starry road

From Warwick Cemetery, Warwick, MA:

This stone calls to our remembrance
a truly pious + devout man: Mr. Abram Barnes,
who died 9 July 1816, AE 84
This grave holds fast in icy arms
the body of the virtuous Barnes.
Death hurled his shaft
up through the starry road.
His soul is triumphant,
so Elijah went to God.

Under the elms

From Riverside Cemetery, Sunderland, MA:

She rests under the shade
of Elm trees
And the winter snows
that she loved.

The chilling blast

From St James Churchyard, Arlington, VT:

It was a sweet little flower
Too tender to stay
In this worlds chilling blast
It has wither'd away.

The cheerful toiler

From Cutting Cemetery, Whitingham, VT:

Toiling often into the small hours of the night
she cheerfully gave her whole life's work to
benefit and gladden the hearts of others.
We all dearly loved her.

Sackcloth

From West Cemetery, Pelham, MA:

Weep not for her ye friends so dear
But lay your sackecloth by:
She's left this world so lone and drear,
To dwell with God on high.


[sackcloth: a coarse cloth of goat or camel's hair or of flax, hemp, or cotton; a garment of sackcloth worn as a sign of mourning or penitence] PS: The spelling, 'sackecloth', is as it appears on the stone.

O Death

Eternal solitude

From Phillipston Center Cemetery, Phillipston, MA:

The earth has fallen cold and deep
Upon his narrow bier;
No wintry winds can break his sleep;
No thunders reach his ear;
The mourner's parting steps are gone
And silent in death he sleeps alone.

The end of a personal history

From Leyden Road Cemetery, Leyden, MA:

Matthew Severance
Born in Fort Dummer.
Brattleboro, VT.
June 1735
Died in Leyden.
Mar. 14, 1816
Matthew Strange, whose parents lived in Deerfield,
was the first white child born in VT., served in
French and Indian War. While on a scout near
Lake George, taken captive by the Indians,
to Canada, run the gauntlet, and made his
escape by hiding three nights and two days
in a hollow log. Settled in Greenfield. In
old age came to Leyden to his son's.

["Running the gauntlet is a form of physical punishment wherein a man is compelled to run between two rows —a gauntlet— of soldiers who strike him as he passes." from WikiPedia]

Angels watch the soft repose.

From Sugarloaf Street Cemetery, S. Deerfield, MA:

Mr. Sylvester D. Stebbins
died at Palmer 3 Sept. 1826, AE 35.
His death was caused by
a wound received on his
head Aug. 31 by a piece of
a rock blown 20 rods from
where he was at work.
Nor pain nor grief nor anxious fear
Invade thy bounds, no mortal woes
Can reach the peaceful sleeper here.
While angels watch the soft repose.

[A rod equals 16.5 feet.]

The dark pall of fate

From West Branch Cemetery, Colrain, MA:

From its orbit another
bright planet has fled
And the dark pall of fate
encurtains the dead.
He has passed from this earth
like a beautiful flower
which bloom'd, was exhaled,
and died in an hour.

The rolling waves

From a cemetery in Searsport, ME:

In memory of Capt. John P. Pendleton
who was lost at sea
Probably on Georges Shoales
together with all his crew
Dec. 2, 1817 E. 40 yrs. + 8 mos.
He died upon the rolling wave
Far from his native shore
No friendship's tear bedews his grave
Though friends his loss deplore.

She hears the bells.

From Main Street Cemetery, Keene, NH:

Then as these eyes grow dim,
Chant ye her best loved hymn
While from yon church lower's brim
A soft chime swells
Her freed soul floats in bliss,
To unseen worlds from this
Nor knows in which it is
She hears the bells.

Death's arrow

From the First Congregational Church Cemetery, Beckett, MA:

In memory of Micah Higley
who was shot, + died instantly
Decr. 19th 1788 in the 35th year of his age.
Death's arrows are often
unexpected and unseen.

No warning given

From Shelburne Falls Road Cemetery, Conway, MA:

In memory of Charles Baker Esq.
of Pittsfield Mass.,
Son of Mr. Isaac + Mrs. Louis Baker of Conway
who was killed instantly in this town by lightning
May 20, 1829
in the 31st year of his age.
No warning given
Unceremonious fall:
A sudden rush from
Lifes meridian joys.
When lightnings shine,
And thunders roar,
let earth adore
The hand divine.

Swift the moments

From Meadow Road Cemetery, Bernardston, MA:

The grave is near the cradle seen.
And swift the moments pass between.

His unhappy fate

From the First Congregational Church Cemetery, Beckett, MA:

In memory of Mr. Jonathan Wadsworth
who died August 2d 1798 in the 76th year
of his age.
He was kill'd by a bull. He left to morn his
unhappy Fate, a wife, 8 children, 41 Gr. children,
12 Gr. Gr. children living in Beckett
My children round me seem to weep
Behold I am but fell a sleep.
In the bright morning shall arise
And dwell with God above the skies.

The grindstone

From an unnamed cemetery in Plainfield, MA:

William
Son of William + Charlotte Alcott
Killed in Goshen Mass.
by bursting of a grindstone
Mar. 13, 1884
AE. 22 yrs 1 mo. 15d.
A loving son and brother
a trustful and upright man.

The foe that none can conquer.

From an unnamed cemetery in Plainfield, MA:

The soldier's work was finished
And his feet were homeward turned
But the foe that none can conquer
Stalked in treachery by his side.
And ere he reached the threshold
Of the home for which he yearned
The fatal arrow smote him
And he laid him down and died.

Oh, to be young forever.

From Old Bennington Cemetery, Bennington, VT:

Old age, with all her dismal train,
Invades your golden years
With sighs + groans + raging pain
And Death that never spares.

With silent tread

An epitaph from First Congregational Church Burying-yard, East Machias, ME:

There is no death! An angel form
Walks o'er the earth with silent tread;
He bears our best lov'd things away,
And then we call them dead.