A Beautiful Spot

"Yesterday I was at Mount Auburn, and saw my own grave dug; that is, my own tomb. I assure you, I looked quietly down into it, without one feeling of dread. It is a beautiful spot."

- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)




This is the grave of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Longfellow is one of the best known American poets, and I'm guessing most Americans are familiar with the lines, "Listen, my children, and you shall hear, Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere...."

Longfellow is also known as the author of The Song of Hiawatha, an epic poem, and for his translation of Dante's Divine Comedy. Something of an international celebrity in his time, he is the only American poet with a bust in Westminster Abbey's Poet's Corner.

The quote I chose is a bit strange, I admit -- stranger still that I found it in the 'Planning Ahead' brochure for the Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts. But I have to say it's a fitting quote for Longfellow's grave and the cemetery where it's located. I don't expect this to be my last blip there. To show you what a beautiful spot it is, even in November, here is a view from the front of Longfellow's grave.

This is my sixth 'famous grave' blip. And yes, there are a lot of well known people buried in Massachusetts :)