Short funeral poems
Short funeral poems fit on the back page of a program, a prayer card or a memorial card, and they’re easy for a nervous reader to get through. The first four were written for this site; use them as they are or change a word to make them fit.
The light you left
Memorial Templates · written for Memorial Templates
We will keep the light you left us and carry it from room to room.
How a day is spent
Memorial Templates · written for Memorial Templates
You taught us how a day is spent: on work, on talk, on people near. We’ll spend the days you didn’t get the way you showed us, year by year.
The bulbs
Memorial Templates · written for Memorial Templates
The bulbs you planted last October will flower now without you here. We’ll walk the rows the way you did and find you in them every year.
Measure
Memorial Templates · written for Memorial Templates
Don’t measure them by how it ended. Measure by the kitchen light, the open door, the second helping, the phone call late on Sunday night. Measure by the people standing in this room because of them.
Time Is
Henry van Dyke, 1904
Time is Too Slow for those who Wait, Too Swift for those who Fear, Too Long for those who Grieve, Too Short for those who Rejoice; But for those who Love, Time is not.
Van Dyke wrote these lines as an inscription for a sundial. They were first printed in his 1904 collection Music and Other Poems.
Afterglow
Author uncertain
Short
A short first-person verse asking to be remembered with happiness rather than tears. Very common on memorial cards; its authorship is disputed.
For more, see short verses for memorial cards.
Comforting and uplifting poems
These poems describe death as a crossing or a rest, or as something love outlasts. They suit a reader who hopes to steady the room more than move it.
Crossing the Bar
Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 1889
Sunset and evening star, And one clear call for me! And may there be no moaning of the bar, When I put out to sea,
But such a tide as moving seems asleep, Too full for sound and foam, When that which drew from out the boundless deep Turns again home.
Twilight and evening bell, And after that the dark! And may there be no sadness of farewell, When I embark;
For tho’ from out our bourne of Time and Place The flood may bear me far, I hope to see my Pilot face to face When I have cross’d the bar.
Hope is the thing with feathers
Emily Dickinson, 1891
Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words, And never stops at all,
And sweetest in the gale is heard; And sore must be the storm That could abash the little bird That kept so many warm.
I’ve heard it in the chillest land, And on the strangest sea; Yet, never, in extremity, It asked a crumb of me.
Do not stand at my grave and weep
Usually credited to Mary Elizabeth Frye
Comforting
The speaker tells mourners they are not in the grave but in the wind, the snow and the sunlight. One of the most requested funeral readings; it dates from the 1930s and is still under copyright.
Death is nothing at all
Henry Scott Holland
Comforting
A passage from a 1910 sermon, read as if the person who died is speaking: asking the family to laugh, talk and say their name as they always did.
She Is Gone (He Is Gone)
David Harkins
Uplifting
Asks the listener to choose between grieving what is gone and living on with what was left. Easy to read with he or she.
Religious and Christian readings
Scripture is the most common reading at a church funeral. The King James Version is in the public domain, so you can print it in full. If the service is in a church, ask the minister or priest which translation they use; some prefer a modern one.
Psalm 23
Psalm 23, King James Version, 1611
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
A time to every purpose
Ecclesiastes 3:1–8, King James Version, 1611
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
In my Father’s house
John 14:1–3, King James Version, 1611
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
Death, be not proud
John Donne, 1633
Death, be not proud, though some have callèd thee Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so: For those whom thou think’st thou dost overthrow Die not, poor Death; nor yet canst thou kill me. From Rest and Sleep, which but thy picture be, Much pleasure, then from thee much more must flow; And soonest our best men with thee do go— Rest of their bones and souls’ delivery! Thou’rt slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men, And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell; And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well And better than thy stroke. Why swell’st thou then? One short sleep past, we wake eternally, And Death shall be no more: Death, thou shalt die!
Footprints in the Sand
Authorship disputed
Religious
A walk along a beach with God, and the realization that the single set of footprints in the hardest times were his. Popular on prayer cards; several people have claimed it, and it is still under copyright.
Non-religious poems
These poems are about memory, nature and ordinary life, and none of them mentions God. They suit a humanist service or a celebration of life, and work for a family with mixed beliefs.
Remember
Christina Rossetti, 1862
Remember me when I am gone away, Gone far away into the silent land; When you can no more hold me by the hand, Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay. Remember me when no more day by day You tell me of our future that you planned: Only remember me; you understand It will be late to counsel then or pray. Yet if you should forget me for a while And afterwards remember, do not grieve: For if the darkness and corruption leave A vestige of the thoughts that once I had, Better by far you should forget and smile Than that you should remember and be sad.
Requiem
Robert Louis Stevenson, 1887
Under the wide and starry sky, Dig the grave and let me lie. Glad did I live and gladly die, And I laid me down with a will.
This be the verse you grave for me: Here he lies where he longed to be; Home is the sailor, home from sea, And the hunter home from the hill.
Because I could not stop for Death
Emily Dickinson, 1890
Because I could not stop for Death, He kindly stopped for me; The carriage held but just ourselves And Immortality.
We slowly drove, he knew no haste, And I had put away My labor, and my leisure too, For his civility.
We passed the school where children played, Their lessons scarcely done; We passed the fields of gazing grain, We passed the setting sun.
We paused before a house that seemed A swelling of the ground; The roof was scarcely visible, The cornice but a mound.
Since then ’t is centuries; but each Feels shorter than the day I first surmised the horses’ heads Were toward eternity.
This is the version printed in 1890 under the title “The Chariot.” Later editions restore a stanza the first editors left out.
Gitanjali 93
Rabindranath Tagore, 1912
I have got my leave. Bid me farewell, my brothers! I bow to you all and take my departure.
Here I give back the keys of my door—and I give up all claims to my house. I only ask for last kind words from you.
We were neighbours for long, but I received more than I could give. Now the day has dawned and the lamp that lit my dark corner is out. A summons has come and I am ready for my journey.
When Great Trees Fall
Maya Angelou
Reflective
Compares a great loss to the fall of a great tree, and follows the grief through to the quiet that comes after. Often read at the funerals of elders.
In Blackwater Woods
Mary Oliver
Reflective
A walk through autumn woods that ends on loving what will die, holding it close and letting it go. Suits someone who loved the outdoors.
Funeral poems for a mother, father or grandmother
A poem that sounds like the person will mean more to the people listening than a grand one. A few starting points follow, and each relationship has its own page with more.
For a mother
The extra chair
Memorial Templates · written for Memorial Templates
She kept the list of birthdays, the spare key and the extra chair. Whatever we came home needing, she had already put it there.
Her children arise up
Proverbs 31:28–31, King James Version, 1611
Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her. Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all. Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.
For a father
What he couldn't fix
Memorial Templates · written for Memorial Templates
He fixed what he could fix and sat with what he couldn’t. That was the whole of what he taught, and we still use it.
The just man
Proverbs 20:7, King James Version, 1611
The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him.
Stevenson’s “Requiem,” above, is also a common choice for a father who loved the sea or the outdoors.
For a grandmother
We carry her a while
Memorial Templates · written for Memorial Templates
Her hands knew bread and buttons, the weight of every child. We are the ones she carried; we carry her a while.
Unto children’s children
Psalm 103:15–18, King James Version, 1611
As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more. But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children; To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.
More funeral poems for a grandma
How to choose a funeral poem and read it aloud
Choosing one
Start by thinking about the person. What would they have rolled their eyes at, and what would they have kept on the fridge? Someone who quoted scripture at breakfast will be well served by a psalm. Someone who spent every weekend in the garden may be better remembered by Rossetti or a short verse about bulbs.
Then think about where the poem will be used:
- A reading during the service: 8 to 24 lines, about one to two minutes aloud. Anything longer is hard to follow by ear.
- The back of the program: under 16 lines, so it can sit at a size older guests can read. Check it fits your funeral program template before you print.
- A prayer card or memorial card: 2 to 8 lines. A short verse or a single scripture passage works well on a prayer card.
Read your shortlist out loud once. Some poems look lovely on the page and are hard to say; others only make sense when you hear them. If the family can’t agree, use one poem in the service and a different one on the program.
If you choose a newer poem, such as “Do not stand at my grave and weep,” you can usually read it at the service, but check with the publisher before printing the full text.
Reading it aloud
- Print it large. Use 16 to 18 point type, double spaced, on a single sheet. Don’t read from your phone.
- Practice three times, at least once standing up. Mark where you’ll breathe.
- Slow down. Most nervous readers go twice as fast as they think. Pause at the end of each stanza and count two.
- Introduce it in one sentence: “Mom kept this poem in her Bible,” or “This is Dad’s favorite, by Robert Louis Stevenson.” Then begin.
- If your voice catches, stop, breathe and carry on. Nobody minds. You can also ask a second person to stand beside you and take over if needed.
If you are also giving the eulogy, read the poem at the end of it rather than separately. For help with the rest of what you’ll say, see how to write a eulogy.
Questions people ask
How long should a funeral poem be?
For a reading during the service, 8 to 24 lines is typical, which takes one to two minutes to read aloud. For the back of a program or a memorial card, keep it under 16 lines so it fits at a size people can read.
Can I print any poem on a funeral program?
In the US, poems published before 1929 are in the public domain and free to print. Newer poems are usually still under copyright, so check with the publisher before printing the full text. Reading a poem aloud at a private service is generally treated differently from printing it.
Who usually reads the poem at a funeral?
Anyone the family asks: a grandchild, a close friend, a sibling or the officiant. Pick someone who will be steady on the day, and give them a printed copy in large type.
Can we read a poem at a non-religious service?
Yes. Many poems speak about memory, nature and love without mentioning God. Rossetti's Remember, Stevenson's Requiem and Dickinson's poems all work well at a secular service.