In Memory of
Mr. THOMAS HAMILTON
who Died
Octr 28, 1820.
AE 80
Could you but know as much as I
How soon you would prepare to die.
In contrast to the traditional text of The Classic (“As you are now / So once was I / As I am now / So you shall be…”), this epitaph introduces a remarkable change in the character of the narrator. Usually he or she addresses us in a warning voice, but essentially just states that ‘I was once alive, you will soon be dead, so prepare yourself.” Here, the narrator is a more nuanced, a more animated presence. The voice of Thomas Hamilton teases us with the idea that ‘I know something you don’t know.’ We are given a glimpse the interior state of the deceased, not just his physical condition. I would be interested to know if old Thomas composed these lines himself, in his old age, and thus expresses something of his own personality.
