Chippings with a Chisel by Nathaniel Hawthorne
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Chippings with a chisel

from twice told Tales

by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Passing a summer, several years since, at Edgartown, on_the island of Martha's vineyard, I became acquainted with a certain carver of tombstones, who had travelled and voyaged thither from_the interior of Massachusetts, in search of professional employment . the speculation had turned out so successful, that my friend expected to transmute slate and marble into silver and gold, to_the amount of at_least a thousand dollars, during the few_months of_his sojourn at Nantucket and_the vineyard . the secluded life, and_the simple and primitive spirit which still characterizes the inhabitants of_those islands, especially of Martha's vineyard, insure their dead friends a longer and dearer remembrance than_the daily novelty and revolving bustle of_the world can elsewhere afford to beings of_the past . yet while every family is anxious to erect a memorial to its departed members, the untainted breath of ocean bestows such health and length of days upon_the people of_the isles, as would cause a melancholy dearth of business to a resident artist in_that line . his own monument, recording his disease by starvation, would probably be an early specimen of_his skill .Gravestones, therefore, have generally been an article of imported merchandise .

in my walks through_the burial- ground of Edgartown,-- where the dead have lain so_long that_the soil, once enriched by their decay, has returned to its original barrenness,-- in_that ancient burial- ground I noticed much variety of monumental sculpture . the elder stones, dated a century back, or more, have borders elaborately carved with flowers, and_are adorned with a multiplicity of death's-heads, cross-bones, scythes, hour-glasses, and other lugubrious emblems of mortality, with here and there a winged cherub to direct the mourner's spirit upward . these productions of Gothic taste must_have been quite beyond the colonial skill of_the day, and were probably carved in London, and brought across the ocean to commemorate the defunct worthies of_this lonely isle . the more recent monuments are mere slabs of slate, in_the ordinary style, without any superfluous flourishes to set off the bald inscriptions . but others-- and those far the most impressive, both to my taste and feelings-- were roughly hewn from_the gray rocks of_the island, evidently by_the unskilled hands of surviving friends and relatives . on some there were merely the initials of a name; some were inscribed with misspelt prose or rhyme, in deep letters, which the moss and wintry rain of many years had_not_been able to obliterate . these, these were graves where loved ones slept ! it_is an old theme of satire, the falsehood and vanity of monumental eulogies; but when affection and sorrow grave the letters with their own painful labor, then we may_be_sure that_they copy from_the record on their hearts .

my acquaintance, the sculptor,-- he_may share that title with Greenough, since_the dauber of signs is a painter as_well as Raphael, -- had found a ready market for all his blank slabs of marble, and full occupation in lettering and ornamenting them . he_was an elderly man, a descendant of_the old Puritan family of Wigglesworth, with a certain simplicity and singleness, both of heart and mind, which, methinks, is more rarely- found among us Yankees than in any_other community of people . in_spite of_his gray head and wrinkled brow, he_was quite like a child in all matters save what had some reference to_his own business; he_seemed, unless my fancy misled me, to view mankind in no other relation than as people in want of tombstones; and_his literary attainments evidently comprehended very little, either of prose or poetry, which had_not, at one_time or other, been inscribed on slate or marble . his sole task and office among_the immortal pilgrims of_the tomb-- the duty for_which Providence had sent the old man into_the world, as it were with a chisel in_his hand-- was to label the dead bodies, lest their names should_be forgotten at_the resurrection . yet he had_not failed, within a narrow scope, to gather a few sprigs of earthly, and more than earthly, wisdom,-- the harvest of many a grave .

and lugubrious as his calling might appear, he_was as cheerful an old soul as health, and integrity, and lack of care, could make him, and used to set to work upon one sorrowful inscription or another with_that sort of spirit which impels a man to sing at his labor . on_the whole, I_found Mr Wigglesworth an entertaining, and often instructive, if_not an interesting character; and partly for_the charm of_his society, and still more because his work has an invariable attraction for " man that_is born of woman," i_was accustomed to_spend some hours a day at his workshop . the quaintness of_his remarks, and their not infrequent truth,--a truth condensed and pointed by_the limited sphere of_his view,-- gave a raciness to_his talk, which mere worldliness and general cultivation would at once have destroyed .

Sometimes we_would discuss the respective merits of_the various qualities of marble, numerous slabs of_which were resting against the walls of_the shop; or sometimes an hour or two would pass quietly, without a word on either side, while I watched how neatly his chisel struck out letter after letter of_the names of_the Nortons, the Mayhews, the Luces, the Daggets, and other immemorial families of_the vineyard . often, with an artist's pride, the good old sculptor would speak of favorite productions of_his skill, which were scattered throughout_the village graveyards of new England . but my chief and most instructive amusement was to witness his interviews with_his customers, who held interminable consultations about_the form and fashion of_the desired monuments, the buried excellence to_be commemorated, the anguish to_be expressed, and finally, the lowest price in dollars and cents for_which a marble transcript of_their feelings might_be obtained . really, my mind received many fresh ideas, which, perhaps, may remain in_it even longer than Mr Wigglesworth's hardest marble will retain the deepest strokes of_his chisel .

an elderly lady came to bespeak a monument for her first love, who had_been killed by a whale in_the pacific ocean no less_than forty years before . it_was singular that so strong an impression of early feeling should_have survived through_the changes of her subsequent life, in_the course of_which she had_been a wife and a mother, and, so_far as I_could judge, a comfortable and happy woman .Reflecting within myself, it appeared to_me that_this lifelong sorrow-- as, in all good faith, she deemed it-- was one_of_the_most fortunate circumstances of her history . it had given an ideality to her mind; it had kept her purer and less earthly than she_would otherwise have_been, by drawing a portion of her sympathies apart from earth .Amid the throng of enjoyments, and_the pressure of worldly care, and all the warm materialism of_this life, she had communed with a vision, and had_been the better for such intercourse . faithful to_the husband of her maturity, and loving him with a far more real affection than she ever could_have felt for_this dream of her girlhood, there had still been an imaginative faith to_the ocean-buried, so_that an ordinary character had thus been elevated and refined . her sighs had_been the breath of heaven to her soul . the good lady earnestly desired that_the proposed monument should_be ornamented with a carved border of marine plants, intertwined with twisted sea-shells, such as were probably waving over her lover's skeleton, or strewn around it, in_the far depths of_the pacific . but Mr Wigglesworth's chisel being inadequate to_the task, she was forced to content herself with a rose, hanging its head from a broken stem . after her departure, I remarked that_the symbol was none_of_the most apt .

" and yet," said my friend the sculptor, embodying in_this image the thoughts that had_been passing through my own mind, " that broken rose has shed its sweet smell through forty years of_the good woman's life ."

it_was seldom that I_could find such pleasant food for contemplation as in_the above instance . none off the applicants, i_think, affected me more disagreeably than an old man who came, with_his fourth wife hanging on_his arm, to bespeak gravestones for_the three former occupants of_his marriage- bed .I watched with some anxiety to_see whether his remembrance of either were more affectionate than of_the other two, but could discover no symptom of_the kind . the three monuments were all to_be of_the same material and form, and each decorated, in bas-relief, with two weeping-willows, one_of_these sympathetic trees bending over its fellow, which_was to_be broken in_the midst and rest upon a sepulchral urn . this, indeed, was Mr Wigglesworth's standing emblem of conjugal bereavement .I shuddered at_the gray polygamist, who had so utterly lost the holy sense of individuality in wedlock, that methought he_was fain to reckon upon his fingers how_many women, who had once slept by his side, were now sleeping in their graves . there_was even-- if I wrong him it_is no great matter--a glance sidelong at his living spouse, as_if he were inclined to drive a thriftier bargain by bespeaking four gravestones in alot . i_was better pleased with a rough old whaling captain, who gave directions for a broad marble slab, divided into two compartments, one of which_was to contain an epitaph on_his deceased wife, and_the other to_be left vacant, till death should engrave his own name there . as is frequently the case among_the whalers of Martha's vineyard, so_much of_this stormbeaten widower's life had_been tossed away on distant seas, that out of twenty years of matrimony he had spent scarce three, and those at scattered intervals, beneath his own roof . thus the wife of_his youth, though she died in_his and her declining age, retained the bridal dewdrops fresh around her memory .

my observations gave_me the idea, and Mr Wigglesworth confirmed it, that husbands were more faithful in setting up memorials to_their dead wives than widows to_their dead husbands . i_was not ill-natured enough to fancy that women, less_than men, feel so sure of_their own constancy as to_be willing to_give a pledge of it in marble . it_is more probably the fact, that while men are able to reflect upon their lost companions as remembrances apart from themselves, women, on_the other hand, are conscious that a portion of_their being has gone with_the departed whithersoever he has gone . soul clings to soul; the living dust has a sympathy with_the dust of_the grave; and, by_the very strength of_that sympathy, the wife of_the dead shrinks the more sensitively from reminding the world of_its existence . the link is already strong enough; it needs no visible symbol . and, though a shadow walks ever by her side, and_the touch of a chill hand is on her bosom, yet life, and perchance its natural yearnings, may still be warm within her, and inspire her with new hopes of happiness . then would she mark out the grave, the scent of_which would_be perceptible on_the pillow of_the second bridal ? no-- but rather level its green mound with_the surrounding earth, as_if, when she dug up again her buried heart, the spot had ceased to_be a grave . yet, in_spite of_these sentimentalities, i_was prodigiously amused by an incident, of_which I had_not the good fortune to_be a witness, but which Mr Wigglesworth related with considerable humor .agentlewoman of_the town, receiving news of her husband's loss at sea, had bespoken a handsome slab of marble, and came daily to watch the progress of_my friend's chisel . one afternoon, when_the good lady and_the sculptor were in_the very midst of_the epitaph, which the departed spirit might_have_been greatly comforted to read, who_should walk into_the workshop but the deceased himself, in substance as_well as spirit ! he had_been picked up at sea, and stood in no present need of tombstone or epitaph .

" and how," inquired I, " did his wife bear the shock of joyful surprise ? "

" why," said the old man, deepening the grin of a death's- head, on_which his chisel was just then employed, "I really felt for_the poor woman; it_was one of_my best pieces of marble,-- and to_be thrown away on aliving man ! "

a comely woman, with a pretty rosebud of a daughter, came to select a gravestone for a twin- daughter, who had died a month before . i_was impressed with_the different nature of_their feelings for_the dead; the mother was calm and wofully resigned, fully conscious of her loss, as of a treasure which she had_not always possessed, and, therefore, had_been aware that_it might_be taken from her; but the daughter evidently had no real knowledge of what death's doings were . her thoughts knew, but not her heart . it seemed to_me, that by_the print and pressure which the dead sister had left upon_the survivor's spirit, her feelings were almost the same as_if she still stood side by side, and arm in arm, with_the departed, looking at_the slabs of marble; and once_or_twice she glanced around with a sunny smile, which, as its sister smile had faded forever, soon grew confusedly overshadowed . perchance her consciousness was truer than her reflection,-- perchance her dead sister was a closer companion than in life . the mother and daughter talked a long while with Mr Wigglesworth about a suitable epitaph, and finally chose an ordinary verse of ill- matched rhymes, which had already been inscribed upon innumerable tombstones . but, when we ridicule the triteness of monumental verses, we forget that sorrow reads far deeper in_them than we_can, and finds a profound and individual purport in what seems so vague

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