Funeral Poems

Short Funeral Poems

Four to eight lines fit on the back of a memorial card, at the end of a funeral program, or as a quiet reading before the eulogy.

Until

We won't say goodbye today,
it never sounded right.
We'll say "until," the way you did
each time you said good night.

The Light You Left

The lamp is out, the chair is still,
the kettle waits for two.
But every room you ever filled
is filled today with you.

Walk On Ahead

Walk on ahead, the path is clear,
the hardest part is done.
We'll miss your footsteps over here
and follow, one by one.

What Remains

Not the years, but how you spent them;
not the hours, but whom you held.
That is what you leave behind you,
and we will keep it well.

Religious Funeral Poems

These poems speak of God, heaven and the hope of meeting again. They suit a church funeral, a graveside committal or a prayer card.

Home

The road was long, the work was hard,
and still you sang along.
Now God has called you home to rest
and given you a song.

No pain is there, no tired hands,
no waiting by the door,
just light, and all who went before,
and peace forevermore.

In His Keeping

Lord, take the one we love tonight
and hold them in Your care.
We cannot follow where they've gone,
but You are with them there.

Give us the faith to let them go,
the strength to carry on,
and keep us in the hope of dawn
until the night is gone.

Crossing the Bar, by Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1889)

Tennyson asked that this poem be printed at the end of every collection of his work. Many families choose it for someone who loved the sea.

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 crost the bar.

Death, Be Not Proud, by 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 pictures be,
Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.
Thou art 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.

For scripture rather than poetry, the 23rd Psalm and Ecclesiastes 3 ("To everything there is a season") are the readings families choose most often. Both are among the prayers built into our funeral program templates.

Non-Religious Funeral Poems

These poems remember a life without mentioning faith, for a humanist service, a celebration of life, or a family who would rather keep the words simple.

The Garden

You planted more than flowers here:
a habit, and a way
of kneeling down and making room
for things to grow each day.

We'll keep the rows the way you kept them,
water when it's dry,
and every spring, when something blooms,
we'll know the reason why.

Ordinary Days

We'll miss the big days, that is true,
the weddings and the cheers,
but most of all the ordinary ones
you gave us all those years:

the coffee on, the porch light lit,
the "text me when you're there."
Those small days were the best of you,
and you are everywhere.

Remember, by 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 plann'd:
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, by 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.

Uplifting Funeral Poems for a Celebration of Life

Some people would hate a solemn goodbye. These poems give the room permission to smile.

Throw a Party

Don't dim the lights or draw the shades,
don't speak in quiet tones.
Put on the music that I loved
and pass around the phones.

Show all the pictures, tell the jokes,
the ones I told too long,
and if you cry, then cry and laugh,
and sing me one more song.

Still Here

Look for me in the morning light,
in a good dog's wagging tail,
in a kitchen full of noise and bread,
in a boat with a crooked sail.

I'm in the stories that you tell,
the songs you sing off-key,
and everywhere you're kind to someone,
that's where you'll find me.

Death Is Nothing at All, adapted from Henry Scott Holland (1910)

These lines come from a sermon Holland gave in 1910. They are often read at a celebration of life because they ask everyone to keep talking and laughing the way they always did.

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
which 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.

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 round the corner.
All is well.

Funeral Poems for a Mother, Father or Grandmother

For poems written for one person in the family, see our collections of funeral poems for mom, funeral poems for dad and funeral poems for grandma. Each has short verses for a card, poems from a son or daughter, and classics chosen for that relationship.

How to Choose a Funeral Poem

• Fit the length to where it goes. Four to eight lines fit a memorial card. Up to sixteen lines fit a program page. Read aloud, a sixteen-line poem takes about a minute.
• Choose their voice. A poem that sounds like them, even a funny one, often means more than the most beautiful classic.
• Match the service. At a Catholic funeral Mass, the readings come from scripture, so families usually save a poem for the vigil, the end of the service or the reception, or print it in the program. Ask the officiant where a poem fits.
• Give it the right reader. A grandchild, a close friend or a sibling often reads the poem while someone else gives the eulogy. If you are writing the eulogy too, our funeral speech writer can help.
• Practice it out loud. Print it in large type, mark where to pause, and read it through three times. Pausing to breathe, or to cry, is all right.

Printing a Poem in the Program or on a Memorial Card

Every funeral program on FuneralFolio has a section for a poem or prayer, with dozens of prayers, blessings and poems built in, and memorial and prayer cards carry a short verse on the back. Copy any poem above, paste it into the template, add the photo and dates, and download a print-ready file. For the rest of the program's wording, see our funeral program examples.