Shadow Buddy

SHADOW'S MEMORIAL
OUR BEST BUDDY

JANUARY 1988 - OCTOBER 2002
BELOVED FAMILIAR & COMPANION
FOR NEARLY FIFTEEN YEARS

In memory of one who...
Possessed Beauty without Vanity,
Strength without Insolence,
Courage without Ferocity,
and all the Virtues of Man without his Vices.
This praise, which would be unmeaning Flattery,
if inscribed over human Ashes,
is but a just Tribute to the memory of
SHADOW

from epitaph for Boatswain (1803-1808)
Dog of Lord Byron
circa 1808
George Gordon Byron (1788-1824)

SHADOW MOVED ON TO
THE GREENER PASTURES OF
THE SUMMERLAND,
WHERE THERE ARE TANKS TO SWIM IN,
COOL RIVERS TO DRINK FROM,
SQUIRRELS WHO LOVE THE CHASE,
AND A SOFT WARM PLACE TO
SLEEP AT NIGHT.
A PLACE WHERE NO ONE MINDS
IF YOU TRACK IN SNOW
OR IF YOUR FEET ARE A BIT MUDDY
JUST LIKE HOME...

...WE MISS YOU SHADOW BUDDY...
October 8, 2002

Full text of Epitaph to a Dog

Near this Spot
are deposited the Remains of one
who possessed Beauty without Vanity,
Strength without Insolence,
Courage without Ferocity,
and all the virtues of Man without his Vices.

This praise, which would be unmeaning Flattery
if inscribed over human Ashes,
is but a just tribute to the Memory of
Boatswain, a Dog
who was born in Newfoundland May 1803
and died at Newstead Nov. 18th, 1808

When some proud Son of Man returns to Earth,
Unknown to Glory, but upheld by Birth,
The sculptor’s art exhausts the pomp of woe,
And storied urns record who rests below.
When all is done, upon the Tomb is seen,
Not what he was, but what he should have been.
But the poor Dog, in life the firmest friend,
The first to welcome, foremost to defend,
Whose honest heart is still his Master’s own,
Who labours, fights, lives, breathes for him alone,
Unhonoured falls, unnoticed all his worth,
Denied in heaven the Soul he held on earth –
While man, vain insect! hopes to be forgiven,
And claims himself a sole exclusive heaven.

Oh man! thou feeble tenant of an hour,
Debased by slavery, or corrupt by power –
Who knows thee well, must quit thee with disgust,
Degraded mass of animated dust!
Thy love is lust, thy friendship all a cheat,
Thy tongue hypocrisy, thy heart deceit!
By nature vile, ennobled but by name,
Each kindred brute might bid thee blush for shame.
Ye, who behold perchance this simple urn,
Pass on – it honours none you wish to mourn.
To mark a friend’s remains these stones arise;
I never knew but one -- and here he lies.