Funeral Poetry Or Readings

[Spins4me]

Mum's ashes are being interred on Armistice Day (next Wednesday) at 11.00 a.m. They're going into the plot where Dad's ashes are. We thought it was an appropriate day because they met, were married and had my brother during WWII. I've been looking for a poem or a reading of some kind to read but can't decide what to have. Neither of them were particularly religious so it doesn't need to be a prayer or blessing.

 

All suggestions welcome. Thanks

[Laurel n Hardy]

There was a reading at my grandfathers funeral years

ago that said something like 'I am not gone, I am in the next room

waiting for you to join me' .

 

I cant remember who it was written by or it's name, but it was

one that said don't mourn I will always be with you.

 

Sorry if thats not much help, I can barely remember the reading

but i think it's quite well known

[Carole Stitcher]

Are you allowed to plant a tree?

 

If you can, I wrote the following some time ago, you're very welcome to use it if you wish.

 

In loving memory

We dedicate this tree

So all the world will know

How much we loved you so

 

And when our time is through

We will be joining you

We'll rest beneath the tree

For all eternity.

[kats n greys]

Do not stand at my grave and weep,

I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am in a thousand winds that blow,

I am the softly falling snow.

I am the gentle showers of rain,

I am the fields of ripening grain.

I am in the morning hush,

I am in the graceful rush

Of beautiful birds in circling flight,

I am the starshine of the night.

I am in the flowers that bloom,

I am in a quiet room.

I am in the birds that sing,

I am in each lovely thing.

Do not stand at my grave and cry,

I am not there. I do not die.

 

Mary Elizabeth Frye.

 

The one Nige refered to is probably

 

Death is nothing at all

Death is nothing at all,

I have only slipped away into the next room.

 

I am I, and you are you.

Whatever we were to each other, that we still are.

 

Call me by my old familiar name, speak to me

In the easy way that you always used.

 

Put no difference in your tone,

Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.

Laugh as we always laughed

At the little jokes we enjoyed together.

 

Play, smile, think of me, pray for me.

Let my name be ever the household word

That it always was.

Let it be spoken without effect,

Without the trace of shadow on it.

 

Life means all that it ever meant.

It is the same as it ever was;

There is unbroken continuity.

Why should I be out of mind

Because I am out of sight?

 

I am waiting for you, for an interval,

Somewhere very near,

Just around the corner.

 

All is well.

Henry Scott Holland (1847-1918)

Edited November 5, 2009 by kats n greys

[Ian]

I'm so sorry for your loss. It's will be a year ago this month since my own Dad died & I always liked one that he placed in memory of his best friends wife & my brother & I then later used / referred to for Dad.

 

 

No one ever really dies just as long as there is someone to remember. When there is no one left to remember it only means that we are all back together again.

 

I also think these are interesting / as "nice" as a poem can be under the circumstances

 

Rupert Brooke. 1887–1915 The Soldier

IF I should die, think only this of me;

That there's some corner of a foreign field

That is for ever England. There shall be

In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;

A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,

Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,

A body of England's breathing English air,

Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.

 

And think, this heart, all evil shed away,

A pulse in the eternal mind, no less

Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;

Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;

And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,

In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.

 

 

 

The 4 candles:

The first candle represents our grief.

The pain of losing you is intense.

It reminds us of the depth of our love for you.

This second candle represents our courage.

To confront our sorrow,

To comfort each other,

To change our lives.

This third candle we light in your memory.

For the times we laughed,

The times we cried,

The times we were angry with each other,

The silly things you did,

The caring and joy you gave us.

This fourth candle we light for our love.

We light this candle that your light will always shine.

As we enter this holiday season and share this night of remembrance

with our family and friends.

We cherish the special place in our hearts

that will always be reserved for you.

We thank you for the gift

your living brought to each of us.

We love you.

We remember you.

 

 

Miss Me, But Let Me Go

When I come to the end of the road,

and the sun has set for me.

I want no rites in a gloom-filled room.

Why cry for a soul set free?

Miss me a little—but not too long,

and not with your head bowed low.

Remember the love that was once shared.

Miss me, but let me go.

For this is a journey we all must take, and each must go alone.

It’s all a part of the master’s plan, a step on the road to home.

When you are lonely and sick of heart, go to the friends we know.

Bear your sorrow in good deeds. Miss me, but let me go.

 

I hope that you find something which will feel appropriate / bring you a little comfort at this sad time

[ReikiAnge]

 

I was going to suggest Do not stand at my grave and weep too. I think it's beautiful.

[Wendbert]

When my grandma died, I asked for suggestions for a reading and Maria sent me this:

 

 

You can shed tears that she is gone

or you can smile because she has lived.

 

You can close your eyes and pray that she'll come back

or you can open your eyes and see all she's left.

 

Your heart can be empty because you can't see her

or you can be full of the love you shared.

 

You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday

or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.

 

You can remember her and only that she's gone

or you can cherish her memory and let it live on.

 

You can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn your back

or you can do what she'd want: smile, open your eyes, love and go on.

 

 

Slightly off topic, but I didn't know who had written it and when we were going through my Grandma's things, we found the very same poem which had been cut out of the newspaper - it had been read out at the funeral service for the Queen Mother. My grandma had saved it and tucked it inside her Bible.

 

I still have her Bible and the reading, I think it's beautiful

[kats n greys]

When my grandma died, I asked for suggestions for a reading and Maria sent me this:

 

 

You can shed tears that she is gone

or you can smile because she has lived.

 

You can close your eyes and pray that she'll come back

or you can open your eyes and see all she's left.

 

Your heart can be empty because you can't see her

or you can be full of the love you shared.

 

You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday

or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.

 

You can remember her and only that she's gone

or you can cherish her memory and let it live on.

 

You can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn your back

or you can do what she'd want: smile, open your eyes, love and go on.

 

 

Slightly off topic, but I didn't know who had written it and when we were going through my Grandma's things, we found the very same poem which had been cut out of the newspaper - it had been read out at the funeral service for the Queen Mother. My grandma had saved it and tucked it inside her Bible.

 

I still have her Bible and the reading, I think it's beautiful

 

I've just found that one and thought I might send to my Uncle as it seemed so appropriate.

[Spins4me]

Thank you all for the replies - lots of really lovely suggestions. Especial thanks to Carol Stitcher - it's very generous of you to say I can use the poem you wrote.

 

I haven't decided yet - I need to discuss it with my brother.

[Ian]

 

I was going to suggest Do not stand at my grave and weep too. I think it's beautiful.

 

The above is a little different to the version I'd seen before but I've always liked that one too

 

 

 

When my grandma died, I asked for suggestions for a reading and Maria sent me this.........

 

Slightly off topic, but I didn't know who had written it and when we were going through my Grandma's things, we found the very same poem which had been cut out of the newspaper - it had been read out at the funeral service for the Queen Mother. My grandma had saved it and tucked it inside her Bible.

 

I still have her Bible and the reading, I think it's beautiful

 

I agree, that's lovely. Equally off topic, the soldier which I posted above was something I found in a book my sister had bought Dad. It was bookmarked & though no one else was sure when I asked, personally I'm convinced that it wasn't just where he happened to have stopped reading - he too was one for tucking away little things he liked.

 

 

Spins4me was there anything of special interest to her that might perhaps inspire a "less obvious" but appropriate poem / verse to come to your mind?

[Spins4me]

Spins4me was there anything of special interest to her that might perhaps inspire a "less obvious" but appropriate poem / verse to come to your mind?

 

 

Sadly, Mum had dementia for the last 14 years of her life. She lost the ability to cook, sew or knit all things she had enjoyed throughout her life. Until she developed dementia her family was the most important thing in her life and she loved seeing her great grandchildren right up to the end - even though she wasn't aware of their relationship to her.

[Ian]

 

Would one of these perhaps be appropriate to her memory then?

 

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art43032.asp

 

http://www.brightcreationspoetry.com/poem.php?id=88

 

I hope you can find something truly suitable soon

[Spins4me]

 

Would one of these perhaps be appropriate to her memory then?

 

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art43032.asp

 

http://www.brightcreationspoetry.com/poem.php?id=88

 

I hope you can find something truly suitable soon

 

Ian, thank you. Those are both lovely. I really appreciate you taking the time to find them.

Edited November 7, 2009 by Spins4me

[blackmagic]

Her Journey's Just Begun

 

By Ellen Brenneman

 

 

Don't think of her as gone away- her journey's just begun

 

Life holds so many facets this earth is only one.

 

Just think of her as resting from the sorrows and the tears

 

in a place of warmth and comfort where there are no days and years.

 

Think how she must be wishing that we could know today

 

how nothing but our sadness can really pass away.

 

And think of her as living in the hearts of those he touched...

 

for nothing loved is ever lost-and she was loved so much.

[k9knitters]

It was my mum's funeral on Monday, and we read "If I Should Go" by 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."

 

It was poignant for two reasons. Mum was a singer and appeared in many operatic productions....so there wasn't a dry eye in the house. And the vicar turned out to be a distant relative of Joyce Grenfell!

 

Cheers, Carrie