 On November 6 , 1842 , Griswold visited his wife in New York after she had given birth to their third child , a son . Three days later , after returning to Philadelphia , he was informed that both she and the infant had died . Deeply shocked , Griswold traveled by train alongside her coffin , refusing to leave her side for 30 hours . When fellow passengers urged him to try to sleep , he answered by kissing her dead lips and embracing her , his two children crying next to him . He refused to leave the cemetery after her funeral , even after the other mourners had left , until forced to do so by a relative . He wrote a long poem in blank verse dedicated to Caroline , " Five Days " , which was printed in the New York Tribune on November 16 , 1842 . Griswold had difficulty believing she had died and often dreamed of their reunion . Forty days after her entombment , he entered her vault , cut off a lock of her hair , kissed her on the forehead and lips , and wept for several hours , staying by her side until a friend found him 30 hours later . 
