In Memory
Of Daniel 3d
Son of Daniel
& Lucinda
Clay, who died August
4th 1802, Aged [beneath grade
Parental Affection
Has Placed this
Monument over
The Remains of
Guy Carleton
Clay, Second
Son of Daniel &
Lucinda Clay,
Who died August
7th 1802 aged
3 Y, 11 , 10 D
In Memory of Ste-
phen, Son of Daniel &
Lucinda Clay, who
Died August 14th 1802
Aged 5 Y, 7 M, 11 D
Oh Death, thou insatiate
Archer! Could not Once
Suffice: Thy Shafts
Flew thrice & thrice
My Parents peace
Was Slain, And
Thrice, ere once yon
Moon had fill’d her horn
Pause for a moment, reader, and try to imagine the feelings of Lucinda and Daniel, the boys’ bereaved parents, as they commissioned three little gravestones for three sons who died within 10 days of each other, of small pox I believe.
The source for their epitaph is Edward Young’s Night Thoughts, from Night the First. The insatiate archer was widely popular: the same lines are chosen, sometimes slightly altered, for epitaphs in Provincetown, Westfield, and Richmond MA. Young’s plaintive cry “insatiate Archer, could not one suffice?” became a common phrase throughout the nineteenth century, used to poke fun at someone prone to repetition (‘Stop saying the same thing over and over! I heard you the first time!’).
Several other entries in this blog have epitaphs from other passages in Night Thoughts. I continue to be impressed by how widely Young was read, the extent to which these people internalized his ideas and words, how often they turned to Young to help process their grief and mourning — and yet how utterly forgetten he and his great work are today.
I am grateful to Bob Drinkwater for this image from a burial ground I have yet to explore in person.
