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TOMBSTONES & TAPHOPHELIA
THE ART OF DEATH
Exploring the world of Taphophelia
The living come with grassy tread
To read the gravestones on the hill;
The graveyard draws the living still,
But never any more the dead.
The verses in it say and say:
‘The ones who living come today
To read the stones and go away
Tomorrow dead will come to stay.’
So sure of death the marbles rhyme,
Yet can’t help marking all the time
How no one dead will seem to come.
What is it men are shrinking from?
It would be easy to be clever
And tell the stones: Men hate to die
And have stopped dying now forever.
I think they would believe the lie.
In a Disused Graveyard
By Robert Frost
ABOUT
I have created this site to share my love of cemeteries, graveyards, mausoleums and all things funerary.
I have, for many years, enjoyed the serenity and stillness of these places. I marvel at the art and the architecture, I wonder about the stories of the silent sleepers below me, I read their names and epitaphs. I gaze at the dereliction of one grave and the objects of devotion adorning another.
They are not morbid or macabre places.
They are us.....
COMMON CEMETERY PLANTS AND TREES
ASH
The Ash tree is thought to deter evil sprits from menacing the dead.
The burning of Ash wood would also ward off these evil spirits.
It is also known as a healing tree, but I think it may be a little too late for the interred!
CYPRESS
The Cypress tree is a sign of immortality and an emblem of ascension to heaven and of mourning.
The word is derived from Greek mythology where the young Cyparissus is transformed by grief into a tree.
No Roman funeral would be complete without the Cypress making an appearance. It's branches would decorate the vestibule where a body lay in state and would also be carried by mourners as a sign of respect.
YEW
The Yew tree, native to the UK, represents death and resurrection. The branches of old yew trees that touch the ground can root and form new trees which gives rise to this symbolism.
Planted in graveyards and cemeteries as protection, it is a genuine ice age survivor and has been referred to in ancient literature as the Tree of God.
Did you know that the Yew tree is actually classed as a living fossil? They can live as long as 1500 years...maybe even longer.
OAK
The oak tree naturally symbolises power, strength and authority. The acorn represents immortality and such imagery can often be found on headstones or mausolea.
The oak is strong and seems to withstand natures events such as lightening and bough-ripping storms fairly well, which is why we call it the mighty oak!
IVY
The ivy symbolises eternal life. It grows naturally in cemeteries and graveyards with some tombs seemingly swamped by it. It often adds to the atmosphere in a derelict and romantic kind of way in my book.
Ivy etched into the stone of a grave is seen to represent friendship and immortality.
WILLOW
The Weeping Willow tree represents mourning of course.
The imagery of a person bent over in grief is evoked by the drooping and swaying branches. The rustle of its leaves in the wind could almost be the whispers of the dead communing with you..