Lying in state is the tradition in which a coffin is placed on view to allow the public at large to pay their respects to the deceased. It traditionally takes place in the principal government building of a country or city. While the practice differs among countries, a viewing in a location that is not the principal government building is referred to as lying in repose.
Read more about Lying In State: Canada, North Korea, Russia, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City
Famous quotes containing the words lying in, lying and/or state:
“It was very agreeable, as well as independent, thus lying in the open air, and the fire kept our uncovered extremities warm enough. The Jesuit missionaries used to say, that, in their journeys with the Indians in Canada, they lay on a bed which had never been shaken up since creation, unless by earthquakes.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Strange is this alien despotism of Sleep which takes two persons lying in each other’s arms & separates them leagues, continents, asunder.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Mother,
each time I talk to God
you interfere.
You of the bla-bla set,
carrying on about the state of letters.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)