Funeral poems that resonate with us, and also poems of exquisite beauty that celebrate the joy of the human spirit are included here.  

The most popular poems included here are:

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 in a thousand winds that blow,
I am the softly falling snow.
I am the gentle showers of rain,
I am the fields of ripening grain.
I am in the morning hush,
I am in the graceful rush
Of beautiful birds in circling flight,
I am the starshine of the night.
I am in the flowers that bloom,
I am in a quiet room.
I am in the birds that sing,
I am in each lovely thing.
Do not stand at my grave bereft
I am not there. I have not left.Mary Elizabeth Frye

I am not there, I do not sleep ,written by Clare Harner (1909-1977). In 2004 The Times newspaper wrote in regard to this poem "The verse demonstrated a remarkable power to soothe loss. It became popular, crossing national boundaries for use on bereavement cards and at funerals regardless of race, religion and social status."

REMEMBER 

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 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 once I had, 
Better by far you should forget and smile
Than that you should remember and be sad.Christina Georgina Rossetti

IF TEARS COULD BUILD A STAIRWAY  

If tears could build a stairwayAnd memories were a laneI would walk right up to heavenAnd bring you back again No farewell words were spokenNo time to say goodbyeYou were gone before I knew itAnd only God knows why My heart still aches with sadnessAnd secret tears still flowWhat it meant to lose youNo one will ever know But now I know you want me To mourn for you no moreTo remember all the happy timesLife still has much in store Since you'll never be forgottenI pledge to you todayA hallowed place within my heartIs where you'll always stay Anonymous

THE SHIP

What is dying
I am standing on the seashore, a ship sails in the morning breeze and starts for the ocean.
She is an object of beauty and I stand watching her till at last she fades on the horizon and someone at my side says: "She is gone."
Gone!
Where
Gone from my sight that is all.
She is just as large in the masts, hull and spars as she was when I saw her, and just as able to bear her load of living freight to its destination.
The diminished size and total loss of sight is in me, not in her, and just at the moment when someone at my side says,
"She is gone"
there are others who are watching her coming, and other voices take up a glad shout:
"There she comes!"
and that is dying.Bishop BrentA CELTIC BLESSING

Deep peace of the running wave to you,
Deep peace of the flowing air to you,
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you,
Deep peace of the shining stars to you,
Deep peace of the Son of Peace to you.
May the road rise to meet you;
May the wind be always at your back;
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
May the rains fall softly upon your fields.
Until we meet again,
May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.
 Anonymous

DEATH IS NOTHING AT ALL

Death is nothing at all. 
It does not count. 
I have only slipped away into the next room. 
Nothing has happened. 
Everything remains exactly as it was. 
I am I, and you are you, and the old life that we lived so fondly together is untouched, unchanged. 
Whatever we were to each other, that we are still. 
Call me by the old familiar name. 
Speak of me in the easy way which you always used. 
Put no difference into your tone. 
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow. 
Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes that we enjoyed together. Play, smile, think of me, pray for me. 
Let my name be ever the household word that it always was. 
Let it be spoken without an effort, without the ghost of a shadow upon it. Life means all that it ever meant. 
It is the same as it ever was. 
There is absolute and unbroken continuity. 
What is this death but a negligible accident 
Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight 
I am but waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near, just round the corner. 
All is well. 
Nothing is hurt; nothing is lost. 
One brief moment and all will be as it was before. 
How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting when we meet again!Henry Scott Holland