The Cache Series
The Thanatopsis series of caches celebrates a life-long interest of
mine, old rural cemeteries. I have also included an Emily Dickinson poem
with each cache, since she wrote many poems about death. The poems themselves
were taken from The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, edited by
Thomas H. Johnson. Emily Dickinson published 1,775 poems. Each poem of
the series follows the numbering of the "Harvard (variorum) edition,"
according to Thomas Johnson. As a heading to each poem, I quote Johnson
in giving the earliest known manuscript for the poem, and its earliest
publication date.
Why "Thanatopsis?" My dictionary defines it as "a meditation upon death."
A final word: All caches may be found without showing any disrespect
for our predecessors. I hope that all finders have an opportunity to pause
and consider what life (and death) must have been like in the North Woods,
more than a century ago.
The Cache
The cache is a match holder covered with camo tape.
The Cemetery
Pine Grove Cemetery
The cemetery, also known as Drywood Cemetery, is over 100 years old,
being established in 1878. A small church, claiming to be Methodist, was
located just to the west of the cemetery. The community considered it nondenominational.
It was never associated with the cemetery. A county vehicle garage now
stands near the same area.
Most in the cemetery are related. In the past each family took care
of its own lot which made for a disorderly look. Some of the families got
together, requested donations, invested the money, and the proceeds of
that money are now used for necessary upkeep. Some of the early burials
are Henry Barlow 1874, Elley Barlow 1876, Artie Chase 1878, and Ezra Chase
1878. (From the Chippewa County Cemetery
Index by Donna Miller Bourget, 1998.)
The Poem
Harvard Number 831. (From The Complete Poems
of Emily Dickinson, edited by Thomas H. Johnson.)
Earliest known manuscript: 1864; First publication: 1894
Dying! To be afraid of thee
One must to thine Artillery
Have left exposed a Friend –
That thine old Arrow is a Shot
Delivered straighter to the Heart
The leaving Love behind.
Not for itself, the Dust is shy,
But, enemy, Beloved be
Thy Batteries divorce.
Fight sternly in a Dying eye
Two Armies, Love and Certainty
And Love and the Reverse.