What Is Your Favourite Epitaph, If You Enjoy Reading Them?

Question

I recently came across the epitaph on the stone of American author Raymond Clevie Carver (1938-1988)...it's currently my favourite...

And did you get what

you wanted from this life, even so?

I did.

And what did you want?

To call myself beloved, to feel myself

beloved on the Earth. 

Answer 1

He fought like seven devils.

"He served and died in hell.

"Grant this Marine a rest, Lord.

"He did his duty well."

His comrades nailed this epitaph

Upon his shallow grave,

And prayed the Lord to guard the road

Of glory that he paved.

Guadalcanal was fertile

With the graves wherein he lay.

And Tarawa was taken

With the blood and guts he paid.

They saw him die on Bougainville

And buried in the sand

Upon that bloody beach of Guam,

Tinian and Saipan.

The flag upon that rocky mound.

Comments

Oh it is very poignant, HItman...an epitaph for the brave soldiers...

Answer 2

I remember seeing a moving epitaph on an ancient Egyptian tomb exhibited in the British Museum some years ago. A grieving husband addresses his deceased wife with words to the effect, "If you can hear me, O Beloved, tell the Lords of Eternity that your husband longs for you, and wishes to be with you, wheresoever you may be." 

It brought tears to my eyes.

Comments

Oh, Tink...how exquisitely poignant...all the more so, over the millennia...I hope it happened for those two lovers beyond time.

Thank you.

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YW, Virginia, I hope so too.

Answer 3

Maybe not a full epitaph but pretty good ones none the less. 

Comments

Oh they are both wonderful, ty Rooster!

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@ Rooster,

When I first saw this Patton quote, I thought maybe it meant something like Crazy Horse's (attributed) exhortation to his braves, as they were riding to the attack at the Little Bighorn, "Hóka-héy! Today is a good day to die!".

But as it turns out, Patton said that when he realized he was going to die of the injuries he suffered in an auto accident after the fighting was over.  I think he would have much preferred to fall in battle.

https://books.google.com/books?id=s8xwDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT515&lpg=PT515&dq=%22this+is+a+hell+of+a+way+to+die%22+patton+meaning&source=bl&ots=Ij8dW6TxZq&sig=gWZMKawiKXl1jf0cJH-0bonQxsE&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiqqM_v9eDTAhVs9IMKHb5FB2wQ6AEIKDAD#v=onepage&q=%22this%20is%20a%20hell%20of%20a%20way%20to%20die%22%20patton%20meaning&f=false

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O'Tink, your link is an intriguing book, came out only last October! I have a long reading list, but thinking about adding that one...except I would have to do ILL, as our library does not have it.

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Virginia, here is another Patton link. The introduction gives a good idea of Patton's personality, and how proud his troops were to have served with him, even though he was often feared and sometimes hated.

"Our blood and his guts."

https://books.google.com/books?id=kMwRiVV0y_YC&pg=PA6&lpg=PA6&dq=%22our+blood+and+his+guts%22&source=bl&ots=lPjtxGPTcz&sig=MG2yDM5rfiF3-LLjNCyBpE_H8Mk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjnvpa8huHTAhXj34MKHardDDkQ6AEISTAH#v=onepage&q=%22our%20blood%20and%20his%20guts%22&f=false

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@ Tink : Wasn't he something? I would have proud to serve under him! 

The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his. George S. Patton

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This is interesting and informative link, O'Tink...talks about his 'blue' language; the most intense expletives people had ever heard. I may post a Q about cursing, because old-time loggers did it also, I am wondering if somehow it really helps a life-threatening situation.

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@ Rooster:

Yes indeed he was. He got the job done and didn't mess around.

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@ Virginia,
 Yes, he was famous for his blue language.  His drill sergeants at VMI and West Point would have been proud of him.

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@Rooster: Yep! Sounds like you old man! 

Answer 4

Here's a touching epitaph, which is moving (from Vladimir Mayakovsky's Poems):

“The love boat has crashed against the everyday
You and I, we are quits
And there is no use listing mutual hurts, sorrows, and pains.”

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/21998465-selected-poems

Comments

Marianne thank you...I went to his biography on your link, and he was a famous poet in Stalin's Russia. He believed in communism, but then became disillusioned with the direction Stalin was going; tragically suicided out 1930, shot himself only age 36...

Have you read his poetry?

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Unfortunately not much (even a bookworm cannot read all the books, and I had to read a lot of professional literature), and I forgot a lot, as it was long ago - anyway, in many cases, I had to be happy with translations. Actually, I learnt about the tragic life of Mayakovsky in French literature, translations and articles.

My "to read" list is still very long.

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Oh yes Marianne, so tragic...I did read a few articles of Mayakovsky's life...just sorrow.

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@Virginia

Yes, there are and have been too many tragic lives to learn about ...

And I did not mention women and children who paid the "heaviest toll".