On Ash Wednesday, it is customary to hear the words that conclude Genesis 3:19, man’s curse due to the sin of Adam: “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return” (KJV).
Genesis 3:19 was then picked up in “The Order for the Burial of the Dead” in The Book of Common Prayer:
Then, while the earth shall be cast upon the Body by some standing by, the Minister shall say,
Unto Almighty God we commend the soul of our brother departed, and we commit his body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection unto eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ; at whose coming in glorious majesty to judge the world, the earth and the sea shall give up their dead; and the corruptible bodies of those who sleep in him shall be changed, and made like unto his own glorious body; according to the mighty working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself.[1]
The phrase in bold then has, in turn, its own afterlife. I give two examples.
First is Quintin Hogg‘s version of Catullus 101. Catullus wrote the original to commemorate a visit to the grave of his brother, who had died in the Troad and whose name we don’t know. Hogg wrote his version to mark the death of his own brother, Edward, “in a poem that quietly replaces Roman ritual with Christian liturgy and symbolism.”[2]
Over sea and land come I,
Brother dear, to say goodbye;
To hear the ancient words I dread
Muttered softly o'er the dead:
"Ash to ash and dust to dust."
Though you hear not, speak I must
And tell your silent body how
In bitter grief I mourn you now.
Custom's servant, not her slave,
Stand I weeping at the grave.
Take this wreath, as tolls the bell:
Brother dear, a long farewell.
Second, the song “And So It Goes,” written by Paul Overstreet and Don Schlitz and performed by John Denver with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band on Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Volume Two.
A mansion on a hill is a lovely sight to see
But like any other house, it's only temporary
Home is anywhere you choose to put your heart;
If there's no love inside, it'll soon fall apart
Ashes to ashes, dust into dust
Buildings will crumble, bridges will rust
Mountains will disappear, rivers will dry up
And so it goes with everything but love
(And so it goes) with everything but love
(So it goes)
You can drive around in a long limousine
If you don't know where you're going, it don't mean a thing
He who'd walk a mile, just to hold an empty hand
Knows what it means, to be a wealthy man
Ashes to ashes, dust into dust
Houses will crumble, bridges will rust
Mountains will disappear, rivers will dry up
And so it goes with everything but love
(So it goes) with everything but love
(So it goes)
Worldly treasures will all pass away
There's just one thing that's put here to stay
Ashes to ashes, dust into dust
Kingdoms will crumble, bridges will rust
Mountains will disappear, rivers will dry up
And so it goes with everything but love
(So it goes) with everything but love
(So it goes) with everything but love
(So it goes) with everything but love...