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Haggai, 3. Expect, 4. Ruhamah, 5. Desire. by James Russell Lowell

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This poem takes the form of a mock-genealogical document, where Lowell adopts the persona of a dry, pedantic local historian tracing the Wilber family from colonial New England.

Poet
James Russell Lowell
Themes
identity, memory, mortality
The PoemFull text

Haggai, 3. Expect, 4. Ruhamah, 5. Desire.

James Russell Lowell

'Here lyes y'e bodye of Mrs. Expect Wilber, Ye crewell salvages they kil'd her Together w'th other Christian soles eleaven, October y'e ix daye, 1707. Y'e stream of Jordan sh' as crost ore And now expeacts me on y'e other shore: I live in hope her soon to join; Her earthlye yeeres were forty and nine.' _From Gravestone in Pekussett, North Parish._ This is unquestionably the same John who afterward (1711) married Tabitha Hagg or Ragg. But if this were the case, she seems to have died early; for only three years after, namely, 1714, we have evidence that he married Winifred, daughter of Lieutenant Tipping. He seems to have been a man of substance, for we find him in 1696 conveying 'one undivided eightieth part of a salt-meadow' in Yabbok, and he commanded a sloop in 1702. Those who doubt the importance of genealogical studies _fuste potius quam argumento erudiendi_. I trace him as far as 1723, and there lose him. In that year he was chosen selectman. No gravestone. Perhaps overthrown when new hearse-house was built, 1802. He was probably the son of John, who came from Bilham Comit. Salop. circa 1642. This first John was a man of considerable importance, being twice mentioned with the honorable prefix of _Mr._ in the town records. Name spelt with two _l-s_. 'Hear lyeth y'e bod [_stone unhappily broken_.] Mr. Ihon Wilber [Esq.] [_I inclose this in brackets as doubtful. To me it seems clear_.] Ob't die [_illegible; looks like xviii_.].... iii [_prob. 1693_.] ... paynt ... deseased seinte: A friend and [fath]er untoe all y'e opreast, Hee gave y'e wicked familists noe reast, When Sat[an bl]ewe his Antinomian blaste. Wee clong to [Willber as a steadf]ast maste. [A]gaynst y'e horrid Qua[kers] ...' It is greatly to be lamented that this curious epitaph is mutilated. It is said that the sacrilegious British soldiers made a target of the stone during the war of Independence. How odious an animosity which pauses not at the grave! How brutal that which spares not the monuments of authentic history! This is not improbably from the pen of Rev. Moody Pyram, who is mentioned by Hubbard as having been noted for a silver vein of poetry. If his papers be still extant, a copy might possibly be recovered.

Public domain

Sourced from Project Gutenberg

§01Quick summary

What this poem is about

This poem takes the form of a mock-genealogical document, where Lowell adopts the persona of a dry, pedantic local historian tracing the Wilber family from colonial New England. He includes fake gravestone inscriptions, footnotes, and scholarly asides. The humor lies in the “historian’s” obsession with trivial details—who married whom and a fraction of a salt-meadow—while the real human drama—massacres, early deaths, lost graves—goes almost unnoticed. It’s a deadpan comedy that illustrates how history can bury people under a mountain of paperwork.

§02Themes

Recurring themes

§03Line by line

Stanza by stanza, with notes

  1. 'Here lyes y'e bodye of Mrs. Expect Wilber, / Ye crewell salvages they kil'd her'

    Editor's note

    The opening gravestone inscription sets the tone right away. The old-fashioned spelling ('lyes', 'y'e', 'crewell') perfectly captures the period's style. Mrs. Expect Wilber — a first name that reflects Puritan virtue — was killed in a Native American raid in 1707, along with eleven others. The inscription is straightforward and unsentimental, much like real colonial epitaphs often were, but the name 'Expect' adds an ironic twist that the poem will subtly explore: she anticipated being reunited with her husband on the other side, and the rest of the poem reveals just how completely that expectation was shattered.

  2. 'Y'e stream of Jordan sh' as crost ore / And now expeacts me on y'e other shore:'

    Editor's note

    The Jordan River is a traditional Protestant symbol representing the divide between earthly existence and heaven. Here, the husband's voice chimes in—he vows to join her soon. The misspelling 'expeacts' (a play on her name, Expect) seems like either a mistake by the stonemason or a clever nod from Lowell. The couplet stands alone as genuinely moving, but the prose notes that follow quickly undermine it: the husband remarried within four years.

  3. This is unquestionably the same John who afterward (1711) married / Tabitha Hagg or Ragg.

    Editor's note

    The narrator's flat 'unquestionably' immediately hints at his role as a comic character — a genealogist so sure of his own guesswork that he presents speculation as if it's fact. The fact that John married a woman with the last name 'Hagg' or 'Ragg' (he can't quite remember which) is a brilliant touch of humor. The heartfelt promise on the gravestone has only aged four years.

  4. But if this were the case, she seems to have died early; for only three / years after, namely, 1714, we have evidence that he married Winifred

    Editor's note

    Wife number three arrives with the same bureaucratic calm. Lowell's narrator doesn't pass any moral judgment — he's purely focused on the chain of evidence. The comedy intensifies as the reader takes on the emotional accounting that the narrator avoids: John's serious promise to join Expect 'soon' has been quietly set aside twice now.

  5. He seems to have been a man of substance, for we find him in 1696 / conveying 'one undivided eightieth part of a salt-meadow'

    Editor's note

    The mention of the salt-meadow is easily the funniest line in the poem. Citing just an eightieth of a meadow as evidence of something substantial is hilariously minor, yet the narrator presents it with utter seriousness. The Latin phrase — *fuste potius quam argumento erudiendi* ('to be taught by a cudgel rather than by argument') — targets those who doubt genealogy, showcasing the narrator's arrogance: he seems ready to force you into accepting that this is important.

  6. I trace him as far as 1723, and there lose him. In that year he was / chosen selectman.

    Editor's note

    John disappears from the record just as he experiences a small civic victory. The note 'No gravestone. Perhaps overthrown when new hearse-house was built, 1802' hits hard: the man who vowed to reunite with his murdered wife in heaven has no marker whatsoever. The bureaucratic reasoning behind it (a hearse-house construction project) only makes the erasure seem more unintentional and uncaring.

  7. He was probably the son of John, who came from Bilham Comit. Salop. / circa 1642.

    Editor's note

    The narrator shifts back a generation, tracing the family to Shropshire, England. The older John receives the title 'Mr.' on two occasions in the town records—a detail the narrator considers worth noting. The fractured inscription on the gravestone, filled with blanks and uncertainties, reflects the incomplete nature of this history: we uncover fragments instead of full stories.

  8. 'Hee gave y'e wicked familists noe reast, / When Sat[an bl]ewe his Antinomian blaste.'

    Editor's note

    The epitaph of elder John paints him as a staunch Puritan enforcer — a foe of Familists, Antinomians, and Quakers, who were the early religious dissenters in New England. The stone bears damage, reportedly inflicted by British soldiers during the Revolution, and the narrator's outrage feels both sincere and exaggerated: 'How odious an animosity which pauses not at the grave!' The irony is thick — the narrator grieves over a monument to a man who was hardly merciful to others. The closing thought that the epitaph might be written by 'Rev. Moody Pyram,' known for 'a silver vein of poetry,' adds a final humorous touch: the poem concludes in pursuit of a ghost author of a damaged stone.

§04Tone & mood

How this poem feels

The tone is deadpan and comedic, laced with a subtle irony that remains unspoken. The narrator's voice feels earnest, particular, and somewhat pompous — the humor arises from the contrast between his serious scholarly demeanor and the human chaos he describes without awareness. Beneath the humor lies a real sadness: lives distilled into dates, marriages, and mere fragments of salt-meadows.

§05Symbols & metaphors

Symbols & metaphors

The Jordan River
The traditional Protestant view depicts death as crossing a river into heaven. This idea is reflected in a gravestone inscription, conveying a heartfelt promise of reunion — which is, however, subtly undermined by the husband's later remarriages. The symbol maintains its dignity; the poem simply allows reality to coexist alongside it without any judgment.
The broken gravestone
The elder John's mutilated stone reflects how fragile historical memory can be. The missing parts of the inscription resemble the gaps in the narrator's understanding, and the use of the stone for target practice by soldiers introduces a sense of violent indifference — history is literally riddled with holes.
The salt-meadow
Lowell uses one eightieth of a salt meadow as a comic symbol to highlight the absurdity of genealogical 'substance.' It turns a human life into little more than a tiny property record.
The missing gravestone
John Wilber, the husband of Expect, doesn't have a grave marker—likely toppled for a hearse-house. This absence highlights the poem's deepest irony: the man who vowed to accompany his wife to the other shore has been completely erased from the physical record.
Archaic spelling
The period orthography ('lyes', 'y'e', 'crewell', 'expeacts') is more than a mere imitation—it adds a layer of distance that makes the people seem genuinely remote while still feeling authentic. These misspellings give a human touch to the stonemasons and scribes, just as they do to those who have passed away.
The name 'Expect'
Puritan virtue-names like Patience, Prudence, Hope, and Expect were intended to represent a person's aspirations in life. The name Expect takes on a bitter irony: she anticipated her husband's return, and the poem captures the length of time that expectation remained unfulfilled.

§06Historical context

Historical context

James Russell Lowell (1819–1891) was a Boston Brahmin poet, critic, and satirist, making him one of the most significant American literary figures of the nineteenth century. This piece reflects a style of his work that employs a comic persona and mock-scholarship to critique New England antiquarianism, a popular interest among the educated classes at the time. During the mid-to-late nineteenth century, genealogical societies and local history publications were thriving, and Lowell was well-acquainted with these trends. The colonial New England backdrop — complete with Puritan virtue-names, Native American raids, and contentious religious sects (like Antinomians, Quakers, and Familists) — is rooted in history. The raid of 1707 aligns with the period of Queen Anne's War (1702–1713), when frontier settlements in Massachusetts faced frequent assaults. Lowell’s satire doesn’t target the historical events themselves but rather the pedantic and emotionally detached manner in which they are recorded and celebrated.

§07FAQ

Questions readers ask

It's both, and that's intentional. The piece starts with a heartfelt verse epitaph in rhyming couplets and then transitions into a playful, scholarly footnote style. Lowell is experimenting with the line between poetry and documentation — the 'poem' encompasses the entire work, combining the gravestone inscription with its pedantic commentary. The humor only lands because these two styles contrast with each other.

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Themes in this poem

Poems about identityPoems about memoryPoems about mortalityPoems about sorrow