“To live in hearts we leave behind, is not to die.”
This line from Scottish poet Thomas Campbell’s poem “Hallowed Ground” is one I’ve often quoted. I like how it conveys the message that physical death does not take away the essence of a person. I like how it sends the message that it’s okay to continue to hold our deceased loved ones in our hearts. I like how it tells us that love continues after death. And I like how it brings comfort to many people.
This line does not say it doesn’t hurt, or that we won’t miss our loved one’s physical presence. It simply says that memory and love are important and continue.
These words from Campbell were affirmed for me in a major way a couple of years ago on a visit to my paternal grandparents’ grave. My husband and I were cleaning the headstone when I noticed words etched at the bottom in a place usually covered by grass. I moved the grass aside, and for the first time I read the words they had chosen to communicate with all the people they were leaving behind. And, of course, those words were, “To live in hearts we leave behind, is not to die.”
I was touched and wondered, could my grandparents be living in my heart and continuing to shape me?
Reading the message they left on their grave assured me of the answer. Not only that, but I appreciated thinking about it and recognized that if Campbell’s words were true, my grandparents had not died.
With my strong connection to this quote from “Hallowed Ground,” I was curious about the rest of the poem. I was not disappointed.
Here’s the closing stanza:
“What’s hallowed ground? ’Tis what gives birth
To sacred thoughts in souls of worth!—
Peace! Independence! Truth! go forth
Earth’s compass round;
And your high priesthood shall make earth
All hallowed ground.”
To my way of thinking, Campbell is saying here that when we live with peace, independence, and truth, everywhere is hallowed ground. We take the hallowed ground with us.
Then connecting that concept to the line, “To live in hearts we leave behind, Is not to die,” means that the people who live on in our hearts, are those who lived with and instilled in us the qualities of peace, independence, and truth. It also means that our memories themselves are hallowed ground.
Campbell makes it seem so simple. Live a life of integrity, and we’ll live on in the sacred memories and hearts of those we leave behind. And for those we leave behind, remembering the deceased can bring comfort and hallowed ground. All of this wisdom from someone who lived two centuries ago from 1777 to 1844, long before the 1990’s development of the continuing bonds grief theory that encourages an ever changing connection with the deceased.
Perhaps this is a piece of eternal wisdom and Campbell is offering us a roadmap with an invitation. Will we accept?
