Saturday, May 16, 2009

"Happie are the Youth"

This John Stevens I stone has a verse that appears to be an original. At least, I can't find another example of the poem (or any part of it) on the internet. The awkward grammar and smug rhyme support the idea that it may have been composed for the occasion.
HERE LIETH Ye BODY
OF JANE CUTLER WHO
DEPARTED THIS LIFE
SEPTEMR Ye 26th 1720
AND Ye BODY OF WILLM
HALL WHO DIED
JUNE Ye 21 1721
Happie are the youth
That dy in ye truth
And establishes righteousness

Another interesting thing about this stone is that the two people commemorated are not obviously related. Jane Cutler and William Hall are not called siblings and they are buried in the white section of the Newport Common Burying Ground, so it is unlikely that they were spouses in an unrecognized marriage. Were they cousins? Neighbors? The verse suggests that the deceased were children, and I've seen one or two stones where young friends or cousins are buried together, but it's very unusual.

Jane Cutler and William Hall
Newport, RI, 1721
carved by John Stevens I

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