Poems for funeral programs: 15 short poems that fit the page

Most families choose the poem for the funeral program late, often the night before the file goes to print. The question is rarely "what is the most beautiful poem ever written." It is "what sounds like them, and will it fit."

This list is built for that moment. Every poem here is in the public domain in the United States, so you can print it without asking anyone. They are grouped by length, because length decides where a poem can go: a back cover comfortably holds 8 to 16 short lines, while an inside page can take a sonnet or a short prose reading.

How to choose a poem for a funeral program

Start with three quick questions.

1. Where will it go? On the back cover, aim for 16 lines or fewer. Inside, under the obituary or opposite the order of service, a 14-line sonnet fits well. Anything longer is better read aloud than printed.
2. What was their voice? A plain-spoken grandfather who fished every Saturday suits Stevenson's "Requiem" more than Donne. A woman of deep faith may be better served by a psalm than any poem.
3. Who is it for? Some poems comfort ("Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep"). Some give permission to grieve ("Dirge Without Music"). Some give permission to laugh ("Death Is Nothing at All"). Choose the one the family needs to read in the pew.

One poem is almost always better than three. A single well-placed poem with room around it reads as calm. Three crowded together read as filler.

Short funeral poems (8 lines or fewer)

These are the best choices for the back cover, under a photo, or on a single-fold card.

"Nothing Gold Can Stay" by Robert Frost (1923)

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.

Eight lines, no religious language, and it works for any age. It is especially fitting for someone who died young or too soon.

"Requiem" by Robert Louis Stevenson (1887)

Under the wide and starry sky, Dig the grave and let me lie. Glad did I live and gladly die, And I laid me down with a will.

This be the verse you grave for me: Here he lies where he longed to be; Home is the sailor, home from sea, And the hunter home from the hill.

A favorite for veterans, sailors, hunters and anyone who loved the outdoors. For a woman, families often print "Here she lies where she longed to be."

"The Bustle in a House" by Emily Dickinson

The Bustle in a House The Morning after Death Is solemnest of industries Enacted upon Earth –

The Sweeping up the Heart And putting Love away We shall not want to use again Until Eternity –

Honest about the strange busy days after a death. It suits a family that kept a home together.

"If I can stop one heart from breaking" by Emily Dickinson

If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain; If I can ease one life the aching, Or cool one pain, Or help one fainting robin Unto his nest again, I shall not live in vain.

Right for a nurse, teacher, volunteer, or anyone whose life was spent looking after others.

An Irish blessing (traditional)

May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face; the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Gentle, familiar, and lightly religious. It is a natural closing line for the back cover.

From "Margaritae Sorori" by William Ernest Henley (1888)

So be my passing! My task accomplished and the long day done, My wages taken, and in my heart Some late lark singing, Let me be gathered to the quiet west, The sundown splendid and serene, Death.

The closing lines of a longer poem. They suit someone who died peacefully after a long, full working life.

Classic funeral poems (12 to 16 lines)

These are the poems people recognize. Each fits a back cover in a slightly smaller type, or an inside page with room to spare.

"Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep" by Mary Elizabeth Frye (1932)

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 glints on snow. I am the sunlight on ripened grain. I am the gentle autumn rain. When you awaken in the morning's hush, I am the swift uplifting rush Of quiet birds in circled flight. I am the soft stars that shine at night. Do not stand at my grave and cry; I am not there. I did not die.

One of the most printed funeral poems in America. It was written in 1932, which is later than the other poems here, but Frye never formally published or copyrighted it and it has been reprinted freely for decades. Versions vary slightly; this is the most common one.

"Crossing the Bar" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1889)

Sunset and evening star, And one clear call for me! And may there be no moaning of the bar, When I put out to sea,

But such a tide as moving seems asleep, Too full for sound and foam, When that which drew from out the boundless deep Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell, And after that the dark! And may there be no sadness of farewell, When I embark;

For tho' from out our bourne of Time and Place The flood may bear me far, I hope to see my Pilot face to face When I have crost the bar.

Tennyson asked that this poem close every edition of his work. It suits a death that came after a long illness, and anyone who loved the sea.

"Remember" by Christina Rossetti (1862)

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 plann'd: 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.

A sonnet that ends by giving the living permission to be happy. Many families choose it for a wife or mother.

"Song" by Christina Rossetti (1862)

When I am dead, my dearest, Sing no sad songs for me; Plant thou no roses at my head, Nor shady cypress tree: Be the green grass above me With showers and dewdrops wet; And if thou wilt, remember, And if thou wilt, forget.

I shall not see the shadows, I shall not feel the rain; I shall not hear the nightingale Sing on, as if in pain: And dreaming through the twilight That doth not rise nor set, Haply I may remember, And haply may forget.

Lighter in spirit than its subject. It works for a natural burial, a garden lover, or a service that asks guests not to send flowers.

"Death, be not proud" by John Donne (1633)

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so; For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me. From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be, Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow, And soonest our best men with thee do go, Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery. Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men, And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell, And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then? One short sleep past, we wake eternally And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.

Defiant and full of faith. It suits a Christian service where the family wants strength more than softness.

From "Fear No More the Heat o' the Sun" by William Shakespeare

Fear no more the heat o' the sun, Nor the furious winter's rages; Thou thy worldly task hast done, Home art gone, and ta'en thy wages: Golden lads and girls all must, As chimney-sweepers, come to dust.

The first verse of a funeral song from Cymbeline. Six lines that carry real weight, good for someone who worked hard all their life.

Readings for a celebration of life

When the family wants the service to feel like them rather than like a funeral, these readings give people permission to smile.

"Death Is Nothing at All" by Henry Scott Holland (1910)

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 are still. Call me by my old familiar name. Speak to me in the easy way which you always used. Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes we enjoyed together. Play, smile, think of me, pray for me. Let my name be ever the household word that it always was. I am but waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near, just around the corner. All is well.

Taken from a sermon, so it is prose rather than verse. This shortened version fits a back cover; the full text is better read aloud.

"Hope is the thing with feathers" by Emily Dickinson

"Hope" is the thing with feathers – That perches in the soul – And sings the tune without the words – And never stops – at all –

And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard – And sore must be the storm – That could abash the little Bird That kept so many warm –

I've heard it in the chillest land – And on the strangest Sea – Yet – never – in Extremity, It asked a crumb – of me.

Lovely for someone who stayed cheerful through a long illness, or who fed the birds every morning.

When the family is not ready for comfort

Not every death comes at the end of a long life. For a sudden loss, a young person, or a family that is angry as well as sad, a poem that refuses easy comfort can feel more honest.

From "Dirge Without Music" by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1928)

I am not resigned to the shutting away of loving hearts in the hard ground. So it is, and so it will be, for so it has been, time out of mind: Into the darkness they go, the wise and the lovely. Crowned With lilies and with laurel they go; but I am not resigned.

The first verse of four. Printed alone, it says what many people at the service are feeling and cannot say.

Bible verses for a funeral program

If the service is religious, a single verse often works better than a poem. These are from the King James Version, which is in the public domain.

• Psalm 23:4. "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."
• John 14:2. "In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you."
• Revelation 21:4. "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away."
• 2 Timothy 4:7. "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith."
• Matthew 5:4. "Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted."
• Psalm 34:18. "The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit."
• Ecclesiastes 3:1. "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven."

The whole of Psalm 23 fits on a back cover, and it remains one of the most requested readings at American funerals.

One-line quotes for the back cover

Sometimes the back cover needs only a single line under the dates or above the thank-you note.

• "To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die." Thomas Campbell
• "Unable are the Loved to die, for Love is Immortality." Emily Dickinson
• "'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all." Alfred, Lord Tennyson
• "For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea." Kahlil Gibran
• "Home is the sailor, home from sea, and the hunter home from the hill." Robert Louis Stevenson

Where to put the poem in the program

A standard bifold funeral program has four panels: the cover, the obituary inside left, the order of service inside right, and the back cover. The poem usually goes in one of two places.

• Back cover. The most common spot. Put the poem in the upper two thirds and a short thank-you from the family below it. This is where most short funeral poems live.
• Inside left, under the obituary. Good when the obituary is short and the poem is a sonnet or under.

A few layout rules make any poem look right:

• Keep the line breaks exactly as written. Never run a poem together as a paragraph.
• Use a size close to the obituary text, around 10 to 12 points, and set it in italic or centered if the design allows.
• Credit the poet on a line of its own under the poem, with the name only or name and dates: "Christina Rossetti (1830–1894)".
• Give it a title, or the first line in small capitals, so readers know where it starts.
• Print a test page at home before the final run. Long lines that look fine on screen often wrap badly on paper.

A note on copyright

Poems published in the United States before 1931 are in the public domain, which is why this list leans on older poets. Some of the most shared funeral poems online are still under copyright, including "The Dash" by Linda Ellis, which its owner actively licenses, and several modern versions of "Footprints in the Sand." Funeral homes often have a license for these. If you want one of them, ask the funeral home, or write to the rights holder. They usually say yes for a funeral, sometimes for a small fee.

Writing your own poem, or asking a grandchild to write one, is always allowed, and families remember those best.

Common questions

What is the most popular poem for a funeral program?

"Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep" by Mary Elizabeth Frye is among the most widely printed in the United States, along with Psalm 23, "Crossing the Bar" by Tennyson, and Christina Rossetti's "Remember."

How long should a poem in a funeral program be?

For the back cover, 16 lines or fewer, which is about 100 words. Inside, a 14-line sonnet fits comfortably. Anything longer is better read aloud at the service and left out of the program, or printed in part with the first lines only.

Do I need permission to print a poem in a funeral program?

Not for poems in the public domain, which includes every poem on this page. For poems still under copyright you need permission from the rights holder, even for a small private print run. Funeral homes can often help.

Who reads the poem at the funeral?

Usually a grandchild, a close friend, or someone who is not giving the eulogy, so more voices are heard. The reader should practice it aloud at least twice; a 16-line poem takes about one minute.

Can the poem in the program be different from the one read aloud?

Yes. Many families print a short poem on the back cover and have a longer reading or scripture read during the service. List the reading and the reader's name in the order of service so guests can follow.