Poems for a funeral

August 23, 2023 6:27 AM

I'm looking for poems for my Grandmother's funeral. She lived a long full life, and I would like a poem that is in celebration of that. I've got a few Mary Oliver poems that might work. I would like a poem that emphasises the impact that someone has on the world even after they die. Religious or secular are both fine.
posted by Laura_J to Society & Culture (9 answers total)

I am standing upon the seashore
posted by london explorer girl at 7:08 AM on August 23, 2023 [1 favorite]

Thanks to AskMe, my husband and I learned about this poem: Death is Nothing at All. He read it at his mom's funeral and it was very moving.
posted by PussKillian at 7:55 AM on August 23, 2023 [4 favorites]

Whitman’s Song of Myself, stanza 6.
posted by rikschell at 7:58 AM on August 23, 2023 [1 favorite]

At the interring of my father's ashes I read the funeral oration from Shakespeare's Cymbeline.
posted by dunhamrc at 8:20 AM on August 23, 2023

Lucinda Matlock's verse from the Spoon River Anthology, perhaps.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:56 AM on August 23, 2023

This one really speaks to me

May He support us all the day long, till the shades lengthen and the evening comes,
and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over, and our work is done.
Then in His mercy may He give us a safe lodging, and a holy rest and peace at the last.



Im not at all religious, and yet, there is something in that that just gives me peace.

I twist it in my mind to be more like

May I support myself all the day long, till the shades lengthen and the evening comes, and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over, and my work is done. Then may I find safe lodging, and a rest and peace at the last.
posted by Ftsqg at 11:24 AM on August 23, 2023 [1 favorite]

When Great Trees Fall by Maya Angelou
posted by jaksemas at 1:10 PM on August 23, 2023

Epitaph by Merrit Malloy

When I die
Give what’s left of me away
To children
And old men that wait to die.

And if you need to cry,
Cry for your brother
Walking the street beside you.
And when you need me,
Put your arms
Around anyone
And give them
What you need to give to me.

I want to leave you something,
Something better
Than words
Or sounds.

Look for me
In the people I’ve known
Or loved,
And if you cannot give me away,
At least let me live on in your eyes
And not your mind.

You can love me most
By letting
Hands touch hands,
By letting bodies touch bodies,
And by letting go
Of children
That need to be free.

Love doesn’t die,
People do.
So, when all that’s left of me
Is love,
Give me away.
posted by Sassyfras at 1:20 PM on August 23, 2023

Here is a similar question that I asked recently - you might find something that fits or at least inspires you.
posted by metahawk at 3:28 PM on August 23, 2023