“Death, a necessary end, will come when it will come” (Death is inescapable; it is no use worrying about it; we can only live our lives to the fullest until the time arrives for us to exit this earth).
Julius Caesar – William Shakespeare
It was a mournful weekend when the Owusu-Ansah and Agyekum families saw off their beloved Ama. The episodic funeral celebration was attended by thousands of well-wishers. We remembered Patrick Moore’s funny writing: “At my age, I do what Mark Twain did. I get my daily paper, look at the Obituaries page, and if I’m not there, I carry on as usual.”
Ama, who was aged 77, was not lettered, but made sure her younger siblings and her children all had formal education. She lived a successful life which was inexorably marked by a few twists and turns, cut short on February17. Early in March, her ‘one week observance’ was held. Readers may note the use of the word ‘observance’ not ‘observation’ as many funeral announcements indicate.
We remember Ajoa Yeboah-Afari lamenting, “I have been drawing the attention of media colleagues and others to the wrongful use of certain expressions and words… a nephew forwarded to me a short but forceful piece by the renowned newspaper columnist I.K. Gyasi, posted on the Old Vandals Association platform on February 13, 2023. Mr. Gyasi wrote with such admirable clarity, explaining why ‘one week observance’ is correct and ‘one week observation’ is wrong.
Mr. Gyasi’s post: “Marking the one week of the death of a person has become a regular activity in the country. Unfortunately, I would say that in nine cases out of ten, the poster printers get it wrong by using the word ‘observation’ instead of the correct word ‘observance’. Both words come from the verb ‘observe’ but the nouns are used differently.
“Check the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary: ‘Observation’ is the act of watching somebody/something carefully for a period of time, especially to learn something e.g. (exempli gratia): Most information was collected by direct observation of the animal’s behaviour’. OR: A doctor may put a patient under observation. On the word ‘observance’, the same dictionary defines it as the practice of obeying the law celebrating a festival or behaving according to a particular custom. It is an observance of law or rule. A second meaning is ‘an act performed as part of a religious or traditional ceremony’.
Kudos I.K., our octogenarian brother, you played your part full well (not fully well) as headmaster of Ahmadiyya Secondary School, Kumasi and teacher of English Language and Literature in English.
Sorry, let us explain the use of ‘full well’ (both adverbs would grammatically be improper compared with ‘fully well’). So, you would want to say ‘Newly found land’, not ‘New found land’ or ‘iced cream’ not ‘ice cream’. But these expressions have come to stay, defined by usage. What about ‘celebration’? Catholics celebrating mass, yes; but why celebrate a death?
And the funeral progamme for Ama stated ‘lying in repose’ at Kokobra, off Fumesua. Why ‘lying’ we conjugate ‘lie’: lie (Present), lay (Past) has lain (Present Participle) lying (Present Continuous). Then conjugate ‘lay’: lay (Present), laid (Past), has laid, has been laid (Present Participle) laying (Present Continuous). Do not be confused about the fact of ‘lay’ as the past tense of ‘lie’ being the present tense in another context.
Then why ‘repose’ not ‘state’? How can a humble, simple farmer’s daughter put in a humble, simple home for observance be compared with the king or his consort or the President of a country or his consort who can lie in state? What protocol is observed when a simple woman’s body lies in a small remote, God-forsaken hamlet somewhere in Ghana: a guard of honour? Important people filing past?
The Oxford Advanced Learners’ Dictionary says: Lie in state (of the dead body of an important person) to be placed on view in a public place before being buried. In order not to be confused, reserve ‘lying in state’ for a state funeral, and ‘lying in repose’ for a simple personal funeral.
And you may write wrongly: laying in state, the body will be laid in state; all because the body itself cannot lie on its own. Do we forget that “lying in state” is an idiomatic expression? It is fixed. That is how come the Epitaph on King Charles II’s tomb written by John Wilmot states, “Here lies a great and mighty King whose promise none relies on. He never said a foolish thing nor ever did a wise one”.
Try to analyse the expression: ‘More grease to your elbow’ (in French: plus de graisse sur ton coude) NOT ‘more grease to your elbows’ (though a person has two elbows). And ‘more grease to your elbow’ is said to praise and encourage you to put in greater effort.
This is what the records say when John Fitzgerald Kennedy died in the United States of America in 1963: “The state funeral of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th US president, took place in Washington DC during the three days that followed his assassination on Friday, November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas. Six military Pallbearers carried the flag-draped Coffin into the East Room of the White House where he lay in repose for 24 hours. Then the coffin was carried on a horse-drawn caisson to the Capitol to lie in state… with a quarter million passing through the Rotunda during the 18 hours of lying in state… the East Room where Abraham Lincoln had lain a hundred years earlier.”
And an article in Time Out London written by Chris Waywell on the death of Queen Elizabeth II stated, “Following the death of the Queen on September 8, 2022, preparations have been in place for her state funeral which traditionally takes place around ten days after the death of the monarch. Another tradition is that monarchs lie in state for a period of time so that subjects can pay their respects.
“In the case of Queen Elizabeth II, this lying in state will take place over the four-and-a half days immediately preceding her funeral. Traditionally, lying is state is when a well – known public figure or monarch dies and their body is placed on view in a state building so that the populace can pay their respects in person… The Queen will lie in state for four days before her funeral. The Queen’s lying in state begins at 5pm on Wednesday September 14 and ends at 6:30am … who was the last person to lie in state in London? The Queen mother lay in state in 2002 following her death at the age of 101… Prince Philip did not lie in state in 2021.”
Definitely, the Owusu Ansah and Agyekum families can do no less than express their profound appreciation and gratitude to all friends and sympathisers for their support, donations, compassion and prayers during the final funeral rites of their beloved Deaconess Elizabeth Agyekum (a.k.a. Ama Serwaa).
By Africanus Owusu-Ansah