Immortality, or Do Not Stand by my Grave and Weep

Clare Harner... or Mary Elizabeth Frye

(1909 - 1977) (1905 - 2004)

August's poem is beautiful and is often heard at funerals. What makes it appealing is that the poem is written in the voice of the deceased. The poem is a comforting hand to those who are bereaved. When you read it, you may recall hearing it before.

Immortality

Do not stand

By my grave, and weep.

I am not there,

I do not sleep—

I am the thousand winds that blow

I am the diamond glints in snow

I am the sunlight on ripened grain,

I am the gentle, autumn rain.

As you awake with morning's hush,

I am the swift, up-flinging rush

Of quiet birds in circling flight,

I am the day transcending night.

Do not stand

By my grave, and cry—

I am not there,

I did not die.

I would venture that many people will say goodbye to someone whose presence in their life was so strong that they will feel connected to them long after the burial. It's a comforting thought that those special people remain a part of us. The deceased has the comfort of knowing these words will be said to those they care about. Strangely, unlike most well-known poems, its authorship is in question. For more on that, click here.