Below I have given you 14 of the most popular funeral poems that please feel free to use.
However, I want you to consider a few important facts that you should seriously consider before you select one.
The funeral poems below are used by over 90% of the population of the world.
Q. Why do people use them then?
A. I believe that people find themselves in a state of grief and just want to pick something to use quickly and then move on.
Q. What is wrong with that?
A. The reason why I built this site (and you can read My Story Here) was that, like you, following the passing of my mother I found the popular and free funeral poems. But when I discovered the state, as above, I didn’t want to be the same.
I wanted to say some words that truly reflected the individual and unique relationship I had with my Mum. I wanted the words to be memorable and truly impress.
Q. What did you do?
A. I spent years putting a list of over 250 funeral poems together, which has some rarely used little gems. I also give some invaluable advice on all matters regarding eulogies.
Q. How can I have a look at it?
Q. How much does it cost?
A. Well at the moment I am giving a 60% discount and will cost £15.00. Whats that a couple of coffees?
Just Click Here to have a look and if it’s not for you then you can select one of the poems below.
1. Do Not Stand At My Grave And Weep – Mary Elizabeth Frye
Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there; I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow,
I am the sun on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there; I did not die.
2. The Parting Glance
I’ve spent it in good company
And all the harm that ever I did
Alas it was to none but me
And all I’ve done for want of wit
To memory now I can’t recall
So fill to me the parting glass
Good night and joy be with you all
If I had money enough to spend
And leisure to sit awhile
There is a fair maid in the town
That sorely has my heart beguiled
I own she has my heart enthralled
So fill to me the parting glass
Good night and joy be with you all
Oh, all the comrades that e’er I had
They’re sorry for my going away
And all the sweethearts that e’er I had
They’d wish me one more day to stay
But since it falls unto my lot
That I should rise and you should not
I’ll gently rise and softly call
Good night and joy be with you all
3. funeral Blues – W.H. Auden
Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.
Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message ‘He is Dead’.
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.
He was my North, my South, my East, and West
My working week and my Sunday rest
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.
The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood;
For nothing now can ever come to any good.
4. Life Goes On – Joyce Grenfell
If I should go before the rest of you
Break not a flower
Nor inscribe a stone
Nor when I am gone
Speak in a Sunday voice
But be the usual selves
That I have known
Weep if you must
Parting is hell
But life goes on
So …. sing as well
5. To Sleep – John Keats
6. When I am Dead – Christina Rossetti
7. Remember – Christina Rossetti
8. If I Should Go Tomorrow –Unknown
If I should go tomorrow
It would never be goodbye,
For I have left my heart with you,
So don’t you ever cry.
The love that’s deep within me,
Shall reach you from the stars,
You’ll feel it from the heavens,
And it will heal the scars.
9. Remember me – David Harkins
Do not shed tears when I have gone but smile instead because I have lived. Do not shut your eyes and pray to God that I’ll come back but open your eyes and see all that I have left behind. I know your heart will be empty because you cannot see me but still I want you to be full of the love we shared. You can turn your back on tomorrow and live only for yesterday or you can be happy for tomorrow because of what happened between us yesterday. You can remember me and grieve that I have gone or you can cherish my memory and let it live on. You can cry and lose yourself, become distraught and turn your back on the world or you can do what I want – smile, wipe away the tears, learn to love again and go on.
10. Death is Nothing At All – Henry Scott-Holland
Death is nothing at all,
I have only slipped into the next room
I am I and you are you
Whatever we were to each other, that we are still.
11. Don’t Be Too Sad – Unknown
I’ve lived my life
I’ve tried my best
The memories I hold dear
Are experiences I have known
Of happiness and tears
The love of my family
The care of my friends
The good times I’ve shared
Right to the end
I’ve traveled life’s byways
Seen children grow up
Experienced life’s living
And drunk from love’s cup
I leave you with memories
With thoughts of you all
I’m no longer with you
But your mind will recall
The good times we shared
The laughter we had
Please cherish these memories
And don’t be too sad.
12. Happy the Man by John Dryden
Happy the man, and happy he alone,
He who can call today his own:
He who, secure within, can say,
Tomorrow do thy worst, for I have lived today.
Be fair or foul or rain or shine
The joys I have possessed, in spite of fate, are mine.
Not Heaven itself upon the past has power,
But what has been, has been, and I have had my hour.
13. William Wordsworth, Intimations of Immortality
What though the radiance which was once so bright
Be now forever taken from my sight,
Though nothing can bring back the hour
Of splendor in the grass, of glory in the flower;
We will grieve not, rather find
Strength in what remains behind
14. Away – James Whitcomb Riley (1849 – 1916)
If needed, you can change ‘she’ to ‘he’ in this poem.
I cannot say and I will not say
That she is dead, she is just away.
With a cheery smile and a wave of a hand
She has wandered into an unknown land;
And left us dreaming how very fair
Its needs must be since she lingers there.
And you-oh you, who the wildest yearn
From the old-time step and the glad return-
Think of her faring on, as dear
In the love of there, as the love of here
Think of her still the same way, I say;
She is not dead, she is just away.