This poem is a meditation on mortality and the transience of human life. It describes an old burying ground where the graves of the dead are overgrown with weeds and vines, symbolizing the passage of time and the inevitability of decay. The speaker reflects on the lives of those buried there, noting their accomplishments and failures, but ultimately concluding that all men are equal in death.
By John Greenleaf Whittier · First published 1867 · Genre: Poetry, Nature Writing, Meditative Literature