Funeral reading
The Body of B. Franklin, Printer — his own mock epitaph
Benjamin Franklin
“The Body of B. Franklin, Printer — his own mock epitaph” by Benjamin Franklin is a prose reading read at a funeral or memorial service. It takes about 30 seconds read aloud, usually by the officiant. It is in the public domain, so the full text is printed on this page and goes straight into a ceremony script.
The full text
The Body of B. Franklin, Printer; like the Cover of an old Book, Its Contents torn out, And stripped of its Lettering and Gilding, Lies here, Food for Worms. But the Work shall not be wholly lost; For it will, as he believed, appear once more, In a new & more perfect Edition, Corrected and amended By the Author.
Public domain, so these words can be printed in a ceremony script or an order of service.
Where it comes from
Franklin wrote this mock epitaph for himself in 1728, at the age of 22. The Library of Congress shows a transcription of Franklin’s handwritten copy in its exhibition Benjamin Franklin: In His Own Words.
What it says
Franklin, a printer, describes his own dead body as an old book with its pages torn out and its gold lettering stripped off, lying in the ground as food for worms. But the work will not be lost: he believes it will appear again in a new and more perfect edition, corrected and amended by the Author. The joke is a printer’s joke, and the hope underneath it is real; the Author is God, and the new edition is resurrection.
A mock epitaph he wrote for himself as a young man — it is not on his actual gravestone, and say so if you use it. Thirty seconds. Read at a funeral or memorial service. Themes: the body of B. Franklin, printer · like the cover of an old book · a new and more perfect edition · a mock epitaph · a printer, a bookbinder, a writer · wry about death · very short · a closing line.
Who it suits
A printer, bookbinder, publisher, editor, librarian, writer or teacher, or anyone who lived among books. It suits a wry person who took faith seriously and themselves less so, and a family who want a smile without a laugh. It is not what is cut on Franklin’s grave, so if you use it, do not say it is; say he wrote it for himself as a young man.
Where it goes in the ceremony
As a closing line at the end of the eulogy, or the last words before the committal. The officiant usually reads it. At about half a minute it works best set inside other words rather than as a standalone reading.
Reading it aloud
The text on this page is 58 words. At a ceremony pace of about 130 words a minute, which is slower than conversation, that comes to about 25 seconds of reading.
- Name it before you read it: Benjamin Franklin’s own mock epitaph, written when he was in his twenties.
- Read it as one sentence that turns at “But”. The first half is dry and a little grim; the second half lifts.
- “A new & more perfect Edition” is read as “a new and more perfect edition”.
- Give “By the Author” its own line and a short pause before it. That is where the smile comes.
Questions about reading it aloud
How long does “The Body of B. Franklin, Printer — his own mock epitaph” take to read aloud?
“The Body of B. Franklin, Printer — his own mock epitaph” takes about 30 seconds read aloud at a ceremony pace, which is slower than conversation — roughly 130 words a minute. That is the figure the run-sheet uses when it works out the timing for the whole service.
Who usually reads “The Body of B. Franklin, Printer — his own mock epitaph”?
Usually the officiant rather than a guest reader. “The Body of B. Franklin, Printer — his own mock epitaph” runs about 30 seconds, which sits inside the part of the service the officiant is already leading, and keeping it there means it is carried by the person who has rehearsed it.
Can “The Body of B. Franklin, Printer — his own mock epitaph” be printed in a ceremony script?
Yes. It is in the public domain, so the full text is on this page and can be printed in a script or an order of service.
Where this text was checked
Checked word for word against a full-text edition that is itself the authority — a Project Gutenberg or Wikisource transcription, a publisher’s own edition, or the issuing body’s page.
Checked
A reading is two minutes of the hour.
The rest is the welcome, the life, the remembrances, the committal — and knowing what comes next. Answer some questions about them and get the whole service, written out, with this reading in its place.
Other readings that suit the same service
- On His Books10 secondsAnother two-line joke for someone who lived among books
- My Own Epitaph10 secondsA poet’s own epitaph, which really is on his monument
- 1 Corinthians 15:51–57a minute and a halfWe shall all be changed, the scripture behind the joke
- Death Is Nothing At Alltwo minutesHenry Scott Holland
- Gone From My Sight — the shipa minute and a halfAttributed to Luther F. Beecher; widely printed as Henry Van Dyke
- No Man Is an Island (Meditation XVII)40 secondsJohn Donne