Editing Epitaph (section)

== History ==
The history of epitaphs extends as far back as the [[ancient Egypt]]ians and have differed in delivery.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=June 20, 2019|title=Epitaph {{!}} poetic form|url=https://www.britannica.com/art/epitaph-poetic-form|access-date=2021-08-05|website=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]]}}</ref> The [[Ancient Greece|ancient Greeks]] utilised emotive expression, written in [[Elegiac couplet|elegiac verse]], later in prose.<ref name=":0" /> [[Ancient Rome|Ancient Romans]]' use of epitaphs was more blunt and uniform, typically detailing facts of the deceased – as did the earliest epitaphs in English churches.<ref name=":0" /> "May the earth lie light upon thee" was a common inscription for them.<ref name=":0" /> Due to the influence of Roman occupiers, the dominant language of epitaphs was Latin, evidenced by the oldest existing epitaphs in Britain. French and English came into fashion around the 13th and 14th centuries, respectively.<ref name=":0" />

By the 16th century, epitaphs had become more literary in nature and those written in verse were involved in trade.<ref name=":0" /> In America and Britain, comedic epitaphs are common in the form of acrostics, palindromes, riddles, and puns on names and professions – [[Robert Burns]], the most prolific pre-Romantic epitaphist, wrote 35 pieces, them being largely satirical.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> The rate of literary epitaphs has been historically overshadowed by "popular sepulchral inscriptions which are produced in countless numbers at all time"; "strictly literary" epitaphs were most present during the start of the [[Romanticism|Romantic period]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Bernhardt-Kabisch|first=Ernest|date=1967|title=The Epitaph and the Romantic Poets: A Survey|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3816994|journal=Huntington Library Quarterly|volume=30|issue=2|pages=113–146|doi=10.2307/3816994|jstor=3816994|issn=0018-7895}}</ref>

The [[Lake Poets]] have been credited with providing success to epitaph-writing adjacent to that of poetry significance – Robert Southey, in focusing simultaneously upon transience and eternity, contributed substantially.<ref name=":1" /> General interest for epitaphs was waning at the cusp of the 19th century, in contrast to a considerable burgeoning intellectual interest.<ref name=":1" /> Critical essays had been published before on the matter, possibly contributing towards its flourishing in the latter half of the 18th century.<ref name=":1" /> Epitaphs never became a major poetic form and, according to Romantic scholar Ernest Bernhardt-Kabisch, they had "virtually disappeared" by 1810. "The art of the epitaph was largely lost in the 20th century", wrote the ''[[Encyclopedia Britannica]]''.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

=== Format ===
Sarcophagi and coffins were the choice of ancient Egyptians for epitaphs; [[Monumental brass|brasses]] was the prominent format for a significant period of time.<ref name=":0" /> Epitaphs upon stone monuments became a common feature by the [[Elizabethan era]].<ref name=":0" />