The graveyards of old New England hold an incredible range of poetic messages in the epitaphs etched into the gravestones, each a profound expression of emotion, culture, religion, and literature. These epitaphs are old, but their themes are timeless: mourning and faith, grief and hope, loss, and memory. This book tells the story of a years-long walk among gravestones and shares insights gained along the way. It identifies the source texts and authors chosen for these stones; interprets something of the tastes and beliefs of the people who did the choosing; offers some hypotheses on the various ways these texts were accessible to readers in remote towns and villages; gives a brief summary of the religious context of the times; and reflects on how the language and literature chosen for these epitaphs express these peoples' conflicted and evolving attitudes towards life, death, and eternity.
A generous selection of poems by a major Victorian writer, a virtuoso of traditional forms who came to be recognized as a uniquely inventive and original voice in modern poetry This selection of poems by Thomas Hardy (1840–1928), edited by David Bromwich, covers the range of Hardy’s extraordinary work: songs, ballads, and sonnets, dramatic monologues and elegies, along with poems that mark epochal events, such as the end of the Great War. This selection shows why Hardy has been admired as the most inward and personal of the moderns, yet also the most accessible and widely read. Included here is the full and integral text of Chosen Poems of Thomas Hardy, the final selection of his own work that Hardy chose to publish. Bromwich has selected more than one hundred fifty additional poems that cover the length of Hardy’s career, from Wessex Poems to Winter Words. His critical and biographical introduction sets Hardy’s achievement in the context of a career in prose and poetry that has no parallel.
Become an undeniable winner every day with this daily reading companion for You Can, You Will from Lakewood Church pastor and #1 New York Times bestselling author Joel Osteen. There is a winner in all of us. The key is to get it out. With daily readings from his smash hit, You Can, You Will, Joel Osteen guides readers day-by-day through the eight undeniable qualities of a winner. With practical tools, advice, and encouragement, it is designed to guide, encourage, and uplift you every day of the year. Readers will be inspired daily to discover the eight traits of success from a new perspective as they are challenged by insightful reflection questions, motivated by specific calls to action, and inspired by relevant Scripture verses.
A dark, edgy novel from a master of Irish crime fiction who “is threatening to become a mass cult figure in the U.S. as well as a critical favorite” (The Atlantic). An elderly priest is nearly beaten to death. A special-needs boy is brutally attacked. Evil has many guises, and private investigator Jack Taylor has encountered most of them. But nothing before has ever truly terrified him until he confronts a group calling itself Headstone, responsible for a series of random violent crimes in Galway, Ireland. As Headstone barrels along its deadly path right to the center of Taylor’s life, he will need to call upon his own capacity for brutality in order to stop them, in this suspenseful novel from a writer called “a Celtic Dashiell Hammett” (The Philadelphia Inquirer). “A nonstop rampage of intrigue, mayhem, lunacy and dark-dark-dark humor.” —Shelf Awareness
A Graveyard Preservation Primer has proven itself to be a time-tested resource for those who are seeking information regarding the protection and preservation of historic graveyards. It was first written to help stewards of early burial grounds responsibly and effectively preserve their graveyards. Much information found in the first edition of the book remains valid today. Still, much has changed in the twenty-five years since its first publication, and the new edition reflects these changes. Attitudes and the understanding of historic graveyards as an important cultural resource have grown and developed over the years. Likewise, changes in treatments have also taken place. Perhaps the most dramatic change in burial ground preservation is in the world of technology. Changes in computers and the way we use them have also changed preservation practices in historic graveyards. Discussion of technological changes in the new edition includes those in mapping, surveying, photography, archaeology, and other areas of evaluation and planning. Consideration is given, too, to maintenance and conservation treatments, including both traditional and newer treatments for stone, concrete, and metals. Metals were not discussed in the earlier editions, and protection and preservation of the landscape as it relates to graveyards is an expanded focus of this book. The historic preservation of cemeteries and burial grounds is an aspect within the discipline of historic preservation that is unknown to many. Those whose responsibility is the care of these historic sites may be unfamiliar with appropriate approaches to such areas as documentation, planning, maintenance, and conservation. Unwitting personnel can do irreparable harm to these important cultural resources. The Primer is an effort to protect historic cultural resources by breaching the gap between maintenance staff, cemetery boards, friends’ groups, and graveyard preservation professionals by offering readily available, responsible information regarding graveyard protection and preservation. It is also designed to assist those who would undertake a preservation project in the reclaiming of a neglected or abandoned historic cemetery. The book is generously illustrated with diagrams and photos illustrating procedures and gravemarker and graveyard forms, styles, and materials. The appendix section is completely updated and expanded, offering a worthwhile resource in itself.
My Wishes is a practical guide to planning for the inevitable-offering information, sample forms and resource contacts. It provides solutions to the questions all of us think about but do not discuss.
