Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Tombstone Tuesday: 'Remember me when I am gone away...'

Remember me when I am gone away,
Gone far away into the silent land;
When you can no more hold me by the hand,
Nor I half turn to go, yet turning stay.
Remember me when no more day by day
You tell me of our future that you plann'd:
Only remember me; you understand
It will be late to counsel then or pray.
Yet if you should forget me for a while
And afterwards remember, do not grieve:
For if the darkness and corruption leave
A vestige of the thoughts that once I had,
Better by far you should forget and smile
Than that you should remember and be sad.

The lines of poet Christina Rossetti's 'Remember' are very meaningful to me because I recited the poem at the interment of my own father. I like to keep the poem in mind when I am walking among the tombs of those who have gone before us. It serves as a good reminder to not only observe and record what we see, but to remember that those interred were once real flesh and blood individuals with hopes and dreams, not so different from our own, who want to be remembered.

Click on photographs to view larger version.
All photographs Copyright© J.Geraghty-Gorman 2011.
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