All Over Albany

Stopping by a Bennington cemetery on a spring morning

Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day;
And give us not to think so far away
As the uncertain harvest; keep us here
All simply in the springing of the year.
-- Robert Frost, "A Prayer in Spring," 1915

Why do I like cemeteries so much?

There's a satisfactory melancholy to a cemetery ramble on an autumn day. But in the spring, there's a different feeling. Here come the tips of green, poking through the earth. The branches are still bare, but they're lively with chickadees. And the tombstones' shadows stretch in the cool light of April.

Renewal is in the air. A perfect time to stop and think about the inevitability of death.

Taking a ramble in an old, old cemetery is a privilege that's easy to come by here in the Northeast. And the Old First Church cemetery in Bennington, Vermont, is one of the best.

This church could be the Platonic form of New England churches. Its cemetery is beautifully maintained. And it's made especially good by the preponderance -- and the readability -- of epitaphs inscribed on the tombstones. The epitaphs tantalize us to imagine beyond names and dates; they offer glimpses of the deceased that help humanize the past.

Plus, Robert Frost is buried here, under a memorable epitaph of his own.

(there's more)