Funeral Poems –from Celebrated Poets

There’s no better way to express sympathetic messages than with those lovely lines straight from the mouth of a poet. The poems need not be written mainly for the purpose of death or of commemorating the dead. Those picks we so love reading and listening to on ordinary days may very well be a good read during a funeral service or memorial service. For a better looking card (funeral, thank you or plantable seed cards), or even just to fill in a space, poems are the best options.

Here are a few poems dating way back from the 18th century to these days, both written by celebrated poets and unsung writers:

Farewell by Anne Bronte

“Farewell to thee! But not farewell

To all my fondest thoughts of thee;

Within my heart they still shall dwell

And they shall cheer and comfort me.”

Peace my heart by Rabindranath Tagore

Peace, my heart, let the time for the parting be sweet.

Let it not be a death but completeness.

Let love melt into memory and pain into songs.

Let the flight through the sky end in the folding of the wings over the nest.

Let the last touch of your hands be gentle like the flowers of the night.

Stand still, O Beautiful End, for a moment, and say your last words in silence.

I bow to you and hold up my lamp to light your way.

Untitled poem from The complete poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley

“Rose leaves, when the rose is dead,

Are heaped for the beloved’s bed;

And so thy thoughts, when thou art gone,

Love itself shall slumber on.”

A parting guest by James Whitcomb Riley

“What delightful hosts are they-Life and Love!

Lingeringly I turn away,

This late hour, yet glad enough

They have not withheld from me

Their high hospitality.

So, with face lit with delight

And all gratitude, I stay

Yet to press their hands and say,

Thanks. –So fine a time! Good night.”

Miss me but let me go by Anonymous

When I come to the end of the road,

And the sun has set before me,

I want no rites in a gloom filled room

Why cry for a soul set free?

Miss me a little – but not for long.

And not with your head bowed low.

Remember the love that once we shared.

Miss me, but let me go.

For this is a journey we must all take,

And each must go alone.

It’s all part of the master plan,

A step on the road to home.

When you are lonely and sick at heart,

Go to the friends we know,

Laugh at all the things we used to do.

Miss me, but let me go.