You might also find these verses helpful when writing a eulogy, obituary, or condolence letter, particularly if you’re having trouble finding the right words and need inspiration.
‘Turn Again to Life’
Mary Hall, American attorney, 1843-1927
“If I should die, and leave you here a while,Be not like others sore undone,who keep long vigils by the silent dust and weep.For my sake, turn again to life, and smile,Nerving thy heart, and trembling hand to doSomething to comfort weaker hearts than thine,Complete these dear unfinished tasks of mine,And I, perchance, may therein comfort you!”
‘The Bustle in a House’
Emily Dickinson, American poet, 1830-1886
“The Bustle in a HouseThe Morning after DeathIs solemnest of industriesEnacted upon Earth —
The Sweeping up the HeartAnd putting Love awayWe shall not want to use againUntil Eternity —“
‘Gone From My Sight’
Henry Van Dyke, American author, 1852-1933
“I am standing upon the seashore. A ship, at my side,spreads her white sails to the moving breeze and startsfor the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength.I stand and watch her until, at length, she hangs like a speckof white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other.
Then, someone at my side says, “There, she is gone.”
Gone where?
Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast,hull and spar as she was when she left my side.And, she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port.Her diminished size is in me – not in her.
And, just at the moment when someone says, “There, she is gone,“there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voicesready to take up the glad shout, “Here she comes!”
And that is dying…“
‘Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep’
Mary Elizabeth Frye, American florist, 1905-200
“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 sunlight on ripened grain.I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hushI am the swift uplifting rushOf 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.”
‘The Letter’
Thomas Bailey Aldrich, American editor, 1836-1907
“I held his letter in my hand,And even while I readThe lightning flashed across the landThe word that he was dead.
How strange it seemed! His living voiceWas speaking from the pageThose courteous phrases, tersely choice,Light-hearted, witty, sage.
I wondered what it was that died!The man himself was here,His modesty, his scholar’s pride,His soul serene and clear.
These neither death nor time shall dim,Still, this sad thing must be —Henceforth I may not speak to him,Though he can speak to me!”
‘Death Is Nothing at All’
Harry Scott-Holland, British educator, 1847-1918
“Death is nothing at all.It does not count.I have only slipped away into the next room.Nothing has happened.
Everything remains exactly as it was.I am I, and you are you,and the old life that we lived so fondly together is untouched, unchanged.Whatever we were to each other, that we are still.
Call me by the old familiar name.Speak of me in the easy way which you always used.Put no difference into your tone.Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.
Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes that 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 an effort, without the ghost of a shadow upon it.
Life means all that it ever meant.It is the same as it ever was.There is absolute and unbroken continuity.What is this death but a negligible accident?
Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight?I am but waiting for you, for an interval,somewhere very near,just round the corner.
All is well.Nothing is hurt; nothing is lost.One brief moment and all will be as it was before.How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting when we meet again!”
‘She Is Gone’
David Harkins, British artist, 1958-
“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 only that she is 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.”
