A Grave Subject

Angels, in the early morning
by Emily Dickinson

Angels, in the early morning
May be seen the Dews among,
Stooping -- plucking -- smiling -- flying --
Do the Buds to them belong?

Angels, when the sun is hottest
May be seen the sands among,
Stooping -- plucking -- sighing -- flying --
Parched the flowers they bear along.


Calvinists believed that men were saved by faith, not works. Folk belief told that the soul expired with the last breath. The imps of death would try to grab the soul, but an angel would be on hand to take the soul breath to a better world. That is why so many of the gravestones of the period show a round angel face buttressed by wings. Sometimes the soul is shown as a heart. Sometimes the angels were shown as spirals or pinwheels or rosettes. Many in New England were expecting the Last Days soon, so they were buried with head to the west and feet to the east so the bodies would rise facing east where they would travel to meet the Light of the World. Marlow NH. Historical Society

Very rainy and dark today. I had to do an early errand and took my camera along. The Center Cemetery, in Hanover is very beautiful in the Autumn. This year the leaves have not changed enough to make it as vivid and colorful as other years, but they are always enhanced when wet. It's a lovely old cemetery, built in 1727 and listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Hanover was granted the land from Scituate, it's mother town. Unfortunately it was beginning to pelt and pour when I arrived, so it was just a quick visit. These graves , some of the oldest in the cemetery belong to distant relations, Josselyns & Stockbridges who were early settlers in Hanover & Scituate.

The area of Hanover was first settled in 1649 when it was part of Scituate in Plymouth Colony. The area was placed in Plymouth County when counties were formed in 1685. For a brief time, the area was part of the Dominion of New England from 1686 to 1689. The area is still in Plymouth County, though was in limbo, until the "Colony" was merged with Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1691 that became the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The area was set off from Scituate and some parts from Abington in 1727.
Family Search

For the Record,
This day came in dark and rainy with cool Autumn temps.