Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Gravestone of the Day

Aaron Cutter, 1768, Arlington, MA

Here lyes Buried ye Body
of Ar. AARON CUTTER,
Who departed this Life
July the 9th 1768 in ye
47th Year of His Age.
Farewel, bright soul, a short farewel,
Till we shall meet again above
Til we from bands of clay releas'd
Spring out and climb the shining road.

3 comments:

Robert J. said...

I tracked down the origin of that verse a while ago, as it appears in a variant form in Fitchburg as well. It's from On the Sudden Death of Mrs. Mary Peacock, an Isaac Watts elegy.

—RJO

Caitlin GD Hopkins said...

They sure loved Isaac Watts. Anytime I don't recognize a verse, there's a 50% chance I'll find it in one of his hymns.

Robert J. said...

Sister Charity and her kind were very effective (even if the hymn on the following page is not Watts but Billings, who is commemorated at the entrance to the burying ground on Boston Common).