Guide to funeral poems

‘If I should go tomorrow’ – Author Unknown

If I should go tomorrowIt 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.

‘When God saw you getting tired’ – Author Unknown

When God saw you getting tiredAnd a cure was not to beHe put his arms around youAnd whispered come to meHe didn’t like what you went throughAnd he gave you restHis garden must be beautifulHe only takes the bestAnd when we saw you sleepingSo peaceful and free from painWe wouldn’t wish you backTo suffer that againToday we say goodbyeAnd as you take your final restThat garden must be beautifulBecause you are one of the best.

‘Stop all the clocks’ by WH Auden

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,Silence the pianos and with muffled drumBring out the coffin, let the mourners come.Let aeroplanes circle moaning overheadScribbling 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.

‘Life Goes On’ by Joyce Grenfell

If I should go before the rest of youBreak not a flowerNor inscribe a stoneNor when I am goneSpeak in a Sunday voiceBut be the usual selvesThat I have knownWeep if you mustParting is hellBut life goes onSo.... sing as well

‘Death Is Nothing At All’ by Canon Henry Scott-Holland

Death is nothing at allI have only slipped away into the next roomI am I and you are youWhatever we were to each otherThat we are stillCall me by my old familiar nameSpeak to me in the easy way you always usedPut no difference into your toneWear no forced air of solemnity or sorrowLaugh as we always laughedAt the little jokes we always enjoyed togetherPlay, smile, think of me, pray for meLet my name be ever the household word that it always wasLet it be spoken without effortWithout the ghost of a shadow in itLife means all that it ever meantIt is the same as it ever wasThere is absolute unbroken continuityWhat is death but a negligible accident?Why should I be out of mindBecause I am out of sight?I am waiting for you for an intervalSomewhere very nearJust around the cornerAll is well.Nothing is past; nothing is lostOne brief moment and all will be as it was beforeHow we shall laugh at the trouble of parting when we meet again!

‘She Is Gone (He Is Gone)’ by David Harkins

You can shed tears that she is goneOr you can smile because she has livedYou can close your eyes and pray that she will come backOr you can open your eyes and see all that she has leftYour heart can be empty because you can't see herOr you can be full of the love that you sharedYou can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterdayOr you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterdayYou can remember her and only that she is goneOr you can cherish her memory and let it live onYou can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn your backOr you can do what she would want: smile, open your eyes, love and go on

‘Remember Me’ by 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

‘Today is a gift’ by Laszlo Kotro-Kosztandi

Many people will walk in and out of your life,But only true friends will leave footprints in your heartTo handle yourself, use your head;To handle others, use your heart.Anger is only one letter short of danger.If someone betrays you twice, it is your faultGreat minds discuss events;Small minds discuss people.He who loses money, loses much;He who loses a friend, loses much more;He who loses faith, loses all.Beautiful old people are works of art.Learn from the mistakes of othersYou can't live long enough to make them all yourself.Friends, you and me ... You brought another friend ... and we started our group ... our circle of friends ... and like a circle ... there is no beginning or end ...Yesterday is history.Tomorrow is mystery.Today is a gift.

‘Let Us Be Contented’ by Winston Churchill

Let us be contented with what has happened and be thankful for all that we have been spared.Let us accept the natural order of things in which we move.Let us reconcile ourselves to the mysterious rhythm of our destinies, such as they must be in this world of space and time.Let us treasure our joys but not bewail our sorrows.The glory of light cannot exist without its shadows.Life is a whole, and good and ill must be accepted together.The journey has been enjoyable and well worth making-----once

‘They Are Not Dead’ - Author Unknown

They are not dead,Who leave us this great heritage of remembering joyThey still live in our hearts,In the happiness we knew, in the dreams we shared.They still breathe,In the lingering fragrance,windblown, from their favourite flowers.They still smile in the moonlight's silver,And laugh in the sunlight's sparking gold.They still speak in the echoes of the words we've heard them say again and again.They still move,In the rhythm of waving grasses, in the dance of the tossing branches.They are not dead;Their memory is warm in our hearts, comfort in our sorrow.They are not apart from us, but part of us,For love is eternal,And those we love shall be with us throughout all eternity.

Of course if you are looking for inspiration many other Poems for funerals can be found on the internet.