Home › Glossary › Letter M

Memorial epitaph

Form
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Words inscribed to commemorate the deceased, typically on monuments.

Detailed Definition
Verses written specifically for gravestones and monuments to commemorate deceased individuals. Must compress life's meaning or death's significance into brief, enduring form suitable for carving. Ben Jonson's epitaphs for his children exemplify moving memorial epitaphs balancing personal grief with public commemoration. Can be serious or witty, formal or intimate, but must work as both poetry and physical inscription enduring through weather and time. Should speak meaningfully to contemporaries and future generations encountering the memorial.
Example
Example in poetry:
Ben Jonson’s epitaph: “Rest in soft peace” exemplifies memorial epitaph; Emily Dickinson’s “After great pain, a formal feeling comes” functions as memorial epitaph; Contemporary poet Lucille Clifton’s “jasper texas 1998” serves as memorial epitaph for James Byrd; W.H. Auden’s “In Memory of W.B. Yeats” blends epitaph with elegy; Robert Frost’s “The Draft Horse” acts as memorial epitaph for rural life; Ocean Vuong’s “Aubade with Burning City” serves as memorial epitaph for Saigon.
Additional Notes
Verses written for gravestones and monuments to commemorate the deceased. Must be brief, meaningful, and enduring. Ben Jonson's epitaphs for his children are moving examples. Can be serious or witty. Should capture essence of a life in minimal words. Related to epitaph composition and grave inscription.
Also Known As
gravestone verse funeral epitaph memorial inscription commemorative verse Epitaph
Skip to main content