Most funerals include a time during the service for family and friends to speak, perform readings, play music, or sing songs to celebrate and honor a deceased loved one. If you plan on speaking, you might choose this time to share a poem.
Poems are great to read at funerals because they’re usually shorter but packed with emotion and powerful imagery. Whether you write your own poem or read someone else’s, poems can also serve as lovely eulogies and are a beautiful way to convey the way you feel about your loved one.
What Is a Eulogy?
A eulogy is a tribute speech that honors someone who has died. Typically given at a funeral or memorial service, eulogies celebrate the deceased and the impact they had on the people in their lives. Close friends or family members will typically deliver the eulogy or eulogies, and many people choose to share eulogy poems in lieu of writing a speech.
Eulogy funeral poems are relatively easy to find, and you can usually find ones specific to the loss you’ve experienced. There are thousands of poems about the loss of a grandparent, parent, spouse, friend, or other loved one.
When you’re searching for a poem to read, here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Eulogies usually highlight the deceased’s special qualities and/or accomplishments. Maybe they loved to play the piano or garden or travel. Perhaps they had a favorite song they used to sing in the car. Chances are you can find a poem that reflects on or alludes to what made your loved one unique.
- Eulogies also celebrate the deceased’s impact on those around them and how they will be remembered in years to come. You might choose a poem that reflects the way you felt when you spent time with your loved one and the sadness you feel now that they are gone.
- The tone of the eulogy poem is up to you. You might want a poem that symbolizes the somber feeling of grief or a lighthearted poem that is more celebratory. Whatever you choose, remember that the purpose of a eulogy is to paint a full picture of the person you’ve lost, so if that means your chosen poem includes humor, so be it. Laughter is a great way to uplift people in times of sorrow.
Why a Poem Instead of a Traditional Eulogy?
Writing and reading a eulogy or remembrance speech can be challenging and incredibly emotional for most people. Poems are an easy way to convey your feelings of grief without the added pressure of writing a eulogy from scratch. While it’s obviously okay and completely normal to cry while reading a eulogy, if breaking down makes you nervous, you can also practice reading the poem ahead of time or call on family and friends to support you while you read.
Poems to Read at a Funeral or Memorial Service
All that said, finding the best funeral poem for you and your loved one(s) can be a challenging process. You likely want a poem that conveys your exact feelings and emotions, and while there are a lot of eulogy poems out there, you probably won’t relate to all of them. We’ve chosen 35 poems for memorial services and funerals so that you can find one that speaks to you.
Classic Funeral Poems
“Because I could not stop for death” by Emily Dickinson
Because I could not stop for Death –
He kindly stopped for me –
The Carriage held but just Ourselves –
And Immortality.
We slowly drove – He knew no haste
And I had put away
My labor and my leisure too,
For His Civility –
Read the full poem here.
“Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Robert Frost
Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
“Do not go gentle into that good night” by Dylan Thomas
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Read the full poem here.
Funeral Poems About Grief & Loss
“On a Day, In the World” by Brenda Hillman
We had a grief
we didn’t understand while
standing at the edge of
some low scrub hills as if
humans were extra
or already gone;—
what had been in us before?
a life that asks for mostly
wanting freedom to get things done
in order to feel less
helpless about the end
of things alone—;
Read the full poem here.
“Token Loss” by Kay Ryan
To the dragon
any loss is
total. His rest
is disrupted
if a single
jewel encrusted
goblet has
been stolen.
The circle
of himself
in the nest
of his gold
has been
broken. No
loss is token.
“Elegy, Surrounded by Seven Trees” by Rachel Eliza Griffiths
Ordinary days deliver joy easily
again & I can’t take it. If I could tell you
how her eyes laughed or describe
the rage of her suffering, I must
admit that lately my memories
are sometimes like a color
warping in my blue mind.
Metal abandoned in rain. My mother
will not move. Which is to say that
sometimes the true color of
her casket jumps from my head
like something burnt down
in the genesis of a struck flame.
Read the full poem here.
Uplifting Funeral Poems
“Afterglow” by Helen Lowrie Marshall
I’d like the memory of me to be a happy one.
I’d like to leave an afterglow of smiles when life is done.
I’d like to leave an echo whispering softly down the ways,
Of happy times and laughing times and bright and sunny days.
I’d like the tears of those who grieve, to dry before the sun;
Of happy memories that I leave when life is done.
“All is Well” by Henry Scott Holland
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 and if you want to, 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 a 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.
“I Am Free” by Shannon Lee Moseley
Don’t grieve for me, for now I’m free,
I’m following the path God laid for me.
I took His hand when I heard Him call,
I turned my back and left it all.
I could not stay another day, to laugh,
To love, to work or play.
Tasks undone must stay that way
I’ve found that peace at the close of the day.
Read the full poem here.
“Turn Again to Life” by Mary Lee Hall
If I should die and leave you here a while,
Be not like others sore undone,
Who keep long vigil by the silent dust.
For my sake turn again to life and smile,
Nerving thy heart and trembling hand to do
Something to comfort other hearts than thine.
Complete these dear unfinished tasks of mine
And I perchance may therein comfort you.
Memorial Poems for a Parent
“If Roses Grow in Heaven” by Dolores M. Garcia
If roses grow in heaven,
Lord please pick a bunch for me,
Place them in my Mother’s arms
and tell her they’re from me.
Tell her I love her and miss her,
and when she turns to smile,
place a kiss upon her cheek
and hold her for awhile.
Because remembering her is easy,
I do it every day,
but there’s an ache within my heart
that will never go away.
“The Nightingale” by Vivian Ross
My beautiful Mother, my Angel
Precious nightingale,
you are now free in Heaven
to sing and praise our Lord
without a worldly care.
I hope that GOD in all His Might
will in a dream let me see
how HE now in His arms
holds and fills you with
Eternal Joy and Peace.
To see you laugh
and hear you sing
in God’s presence
is my dream.
“Dad,” Anonymous
We’ll always remember
that special smile,
that caring heart,
that warm embrace,
you always gave us.
You being there
for Mom and us,
through good and bad times,
no matter what.
We’ll always remember
you Dad because
they’ll never be another one
to replace you in our hearts,
and the love we will always
have for you.
Memorial Poems for a Grandparent
“Legacy of Love,” Anonymous
A wife, a mother, a grandma too,
This is the legacy we have from you
You taught us love and how to fight
You gave us strength, you gave us might.
A stronger person would be hard to find,
And in your heart you were always kind.
You fought for us all in one way or another
Not just as a wife not just as a mother.
For all of us you gave your best
And now the time has come for you to rest.
So go in peace, you’ve earned your sleep,
Your love in our hearts we’ll eternally keep.
“Remember Me” by Christina Rosetti
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 the future that you planned;
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 I once had,
Better by far that you should forget
And smile than that you should
Remember and be sad.
“You’ve Just Walked On Ahead of Me” by Joyce Grenfell
You’ve Just Walked On Ahead of Me
And I’ve got to understand
You must release the ones you love
And let go of their hand.
I try and cope the best I can
But I’m missing you so much
If I could only see you
And once more feel your touch.
Yes, you’ve just walked on ahead of me
Don’t worry I’ll be fine
But now and then I swear I feel
Your hand slip into mine.
“Memories in The Heart,” Anonymous
Feel no guilt in laughter, she knows how much you care
Feel no sorrow in a smile that she’s not here to share.
You cannot grieve forever, she would not want you to.
She’d hoped you can carry on, the way you always do.
So talk about the good times and the way you showed you cared
The days you spent together, all the happiness you shared.
Let memories surround you,
A word someone may say
Will suddenly recapture a time, an hour, a day
That brings her back as clearly as though she was here
And fills you with the feelings that she is always near
For if you keep these moments, you will never be apart
And she will live forever, locked safe within your heart.
Modern Funeral Poems
“For Keeps” by Joy Harjo
Sun makes the day new.
Tiny green plants emerge from earth.
Birds are singing the sky into place.
There is nowhere else I want to be but here.
I lean into the rhythm of your heart to see where
it will take us.
We gallop into a warm, southern wind.
I link my legs to yours and we ride together,
Toward the ancient encampment of our
relatives.
Where have you been? they ask.
And what has taken you so long?
That night after eating, singing, and dancing
We lay together under the stars.
We know ourselves to be part of mystery.
It is unspeakable.
It is everlasting.
It is for keeps.
“Blessing for the Brokenhearted” by Jan Richardson
There is no remedy for love but to love more.
—Henry David Thoreau
Let us agree
for now
that we will not say
the breaking
makes us stronger
or that it is better
to have this pain
than to have done
without this love.
Read the full poem here.
“For those laid to rest here” by Fran Hall
Under a soft blanket of fallen leaves,
safe in the hush of the whispering trees
I have come home.
My time here on earth is now done,
all the noise and the clamour, the joy and the pain,
the powerful life force that drove me onwards
has slipped away into the quiet of eternity,
and I am at peace.
From now on, I will dance through your memories
threading thoughts of love through your heart.
The pain of loss will gradually ease, and the sadness will lift.
the days will be lighter, and the nights not so long,
for I am still here.
Read the full poem here.
“Adrift” by Mark Nepo
Everything is beautiful and I am so sad.
This is how the heart makes a duet of
wonder and grief. The light spraying
through the lace of the fern is as delicate
as the fibers of memory forming their web
around the knot in my throat. The breeze
makes the birds move from branch to branch
as this ache makes me look for those I’ve lost
in the next room, in the next song, in the laugh
of the next stranger. In the very center, under
it all, what we have that no one can take
away and all that we’ve lost face each other.
It is there that I’m adrift, feeling punctured
by a holiness that exists inside everything.
I am so sad and everything is beautiful.
Short Funeral Poems
“The Star,” Anonymous
A light went out on Earth for me
The day we said goodbye
And on that day a star was born,
The brightest in the sky
Reaching through the darkness
With its rays of purest white
Lighting up the Heavens
As it once lit up my life
With beams of love to heal
The broken heart you left behind
Where always in my memory
Your lovely star will shine
“Because I Love You So,” Anonymous
Time will not dim the face I love,
The voice I heard each day,
The many things you did for me,
In your own special way.
All my life I’ll miss you,
As the years come and go,
But in my heart I’ll keep you,
Because I love you so.
“Our Memories Build a Special Bridge” by Emily Mathews
Our memories build a special bridge
When loved ones have to part
To help us feel we’re with them still
And soothe a grieving heart.
They span the years and warm our lives
Preserving ties that bind;
Our memories build a special bridge
And bring us peace of mind.
From The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur
when death
takes my hand
i will hold you with the other
and promise to find you
in every lifetime
Obituary Poems
If you don’t want to or are unable to read a poem at the funeral or memorial service for your loved one, consider including a poem in their obituary. Maybe they had a favorite poem that you’d like to use, or you can choose a poem that represents who they were, what they were passionate about, or how you feel about losing them.
Writing Your Own Poem for a Funeral
Similar to writing a eulogy, you can write your own poem to share at the funeral or memorial service for your loved one. Just as you would in a eulogy, write about the person and who they were. Celebrate their characteristics, passions, and special qualities, and express what they meant to you and how you feel about their loss.
Or, if your loved one wrote any poetry while they were alive, you can share one of their poems that feels poignant for their passing.
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