Poems on Death

Often poems on death are a good way to begin a eulogy speech or have a loved one of the deceased read it separately at the memorial.

Below you'll find a few poems that may touch you in some way that you might wish to share with family and friends.

poems on death - submitted by Ulric

All Return Again

Here you are, all dressed and whispering, nodding heads and some crying.
He was a fun loving man, but there he is in lying.
He is not dead but resting.
He made us laugh with his jokes so stimulating.

Here you are, all dressed and whispering, nodding heads and some crying.
He is gone from this world of hate, hunger, greed and needs.
But he has left us his loving seeds.

Here you are all dressed and whispering, nodding heads and some crying.
While he rests in lying.
Those jokes so stimulating are not dead nor is he.
But remains in our heads and minds constantly.

Here you are, all dressed and whispering, nodding heads and some crying.
As he stares at us whispering.
I am not dead.
My jokes will constantly live in your heads.

- submitted by Ulric

poems on death 1

All Return Again

It is the secret of the world that all things subsist and do not
die, but only retire a little from sight and afterwards return again.
Nothing is dead; men feign themselves dead, and endure mock funerals
and mournful obituaries, and there they stand looking out of the
window, sound and well, in some new strange disguise. Jesus is not
dead; he is very well alive; nor John, nor Paul, nor Mahomet, nor
Aristotle; at times we believe we have seen them all, and could
easily tell the names under which they go.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

poems on death 2

When I die...

When I die
when my coffin
is being taken out
you must never think
i am missing this world

don't shed any tears
don't lament or
feel sorry
i'm not falling
into a monster's abyss

when you see
my corpse is being carried
don't cry for my leaving
i'm not leaving
i'm arriving at eternal love

when you leave me
in the grave
don't say goodbye
remember a grave is
only a curtain
for the paradise behind

you'll only see me
descending into a grave
now watch me rise
how can there be an end
when the sun sets or
the moon goes down

it looks like the end
it seems like a sunset
but in reality it is a dawn
when the grave locks you up
that is when your soul is freed

have you ever seen
a seed fallen to earth
not rise with a new life
why should you doubt the rise
of a seed named human

have you ever seen
a bucket lowered into a well
coming back empty
why lament for a soul
when it can come back
like Joseph from the well

when for the last time
you close your mouth
your words and soul
will belong to the world of
no place no time

~ RUMI

poems on death 3

A REMINISCENCE

YES, thou art gone! and never more
Thy sunny smile shall gladden me;
But I may pass the old church door,
And pace the floor that covers thee,

May stand upon the cold, damp stone,
And think that, frozen, lies below
The lightest heart that I have known,
The kindest I shall ever know.

Yet, though I cannot see thee more,
'Tis still a comfort to have seen;
And though thy transient life is o'er,
'Tis sweet to think that thou hast been;

To think a soul so near divine,
Within a form so angel fair,
United to a heart like thine,
Has gladdened once our humble sphere.

~Anne Bronte

poems on death 4

Death Be Not Proud

Death be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadfull, for, thou art not soe,
For, those, whom thou think'st, thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poore death, nor yet canst thou kill mee.
From rest and sleepe, which but thy pictures bee,
Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee doe goe,
Rest of their bones, and soules deliverie.
Thou art slave to Fate, Chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poyson, warre, and sicknesse dwell,
And poppie, or charmes can make us sleepe as well,
And better then thy stroake; why swell'st thou then?
One short sleepe past, wee wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.

~John Donne

poems on death 5

Do not stand at my grave and weep

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 glint on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you wake in the morning hush,
I am the swift, uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft starlight at night.

Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there, I do not sleep.
Do not stand at my grave and cry.
I am not there, I did not die!

~ Mary Frye

Instead of using poems on death in your eulogy speech you might want to choose a quote instead.

QUOTES ON DEATH

Fear not death, for the sooner we die the longer we shall be immortal.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

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For what is it to die, but to stand in the sun and melt into the wind? And when the Earth has claimed our limbs, then we shall truly dance.

KAHLIL GIBRAN

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Death is the most beautiful adventure in life.

CHARLES FROHMAN

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A man is not completely born until he is dead.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

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Is death the last sleep? No--it is the last and final awakening.

SIR WALTER SCOTT

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Death is simply a shedding of the physical body, like the butterfly coming out of a cocoon. It is a transition into a higher state of consciousness, where you continue to perceive, to understand, to laugh, to be able to grow, and the only thing you lose is something you don't need anymore . . . your physical body. It's like putting away your winter coat when spring comes.

ELISABETH KÜBLER-ROSS

Please feel free to use the form below to submit a poem or a quote that has touched you. It might help someone else cope with the loss of a loved one, always a difficult time.

Submit Your Poem or Quote Please note that all fields followed by an asterisk must be filled in. First Name* First Name* E-mail Address* E-mail Address* My Poem or Quote on Death* My Poem or Quote on Death*

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