Emily Dickinson Lexicon

EP'I-TAPH, n. [Gr. επι and ταφος, a sepulcher.]

1. An inscription on a monument, in honor or memory of the dead. The epitaphs of the present day are crammcd with fulsome compliments never merited. Encyc. Can you look forward to the honor of a decorated coffin, a splendid funeral, a towering monument – it may be a lying epitaph. W. B. Sprague.
2. An ettlon-, in prose or verse, composed without any intent to be engraven on a monument, as that on Alexander; “Sufficit huic tumulus, cui non sufficeret orbis.” Encyc.