Here are a pair of stones from Otis, Massachusetts, that feature an interesting combination of the old, Classic, Calvinist “as you are now so once was I” message with a gentler, melancholy carving of the urn-and-willow motif. The first is from East Otis Cemetery, the second from the Norton Cemetery.

There are many variations of The Classic message, admonishing the reader to take the lesson of the grave to heart and prepare for eternity. In Hampden Massachusetts this singularly short and direct version appears.