Please share your favorite memorial verses or poems

[MushyMushy]

I'm am trying to write a tribute/memorial for my friend and I'd like to open or close it with a poem or verse. Would you please share your favorites? Ones that brought you some comfort?

Wow, this is harder than I ever thought it would be. I've been jotting down notes for this and I keep getting choked up again and again.

 

[NMAmy]

This was read at a friend's funeral. I love it but it did make me break down.

Meditation to honor those that have died.
From Mishkan T’Filah (Dwelling Place For Prayer)

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 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 IN YOUR EYES AND NOT IN YOUR MIND.

YOU CAN LOVE ME BEST BY LETTING HANDS TOUCH HANDS,
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.

ETA: I meant to add that I'm sorry for your loss, Mushy. I've been to way too many funerals in the last month. I'm hoping I'm done for awhile.

 

[Bren's Mom]

Oh my...that brought tears to my eyes, it's beautiful.


A butterfly lights beside us like a sunbeam
And for a brief moment its glory
and beauty belong to our world
But then it flies again
And though we wish it could have stayed...
We feel lucky to have seen it.
Author Unknown

------------------

Gone yet not forgotten,
although we are apart,
your spirit lives within me,
forever in my heart.

-----------------

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.
Mary Frye

--------------------

To laugh often and much;
to win the respect of the intelligent people
and the affection of children;
to earn the appreciation of honest critics
and endure the betrayal of false friends;
to appreciate beauty;
to find the best in others;
to leave the world a bit better
whether by a healthy child,
a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition;
to know that one life has breathed easier
because you lived here.
This is to have succeeded.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

[imabrat]

I just attended the memorial for my friend and classmate who passed at 16 to brain cancer. This was the verse that was on the cards they give out:

God saw you getting tired, and a cure was not meant to be.
So he put his arms around you and whispered "Come to Me."
With tearful eyes we watched you, as we saw you pass away,
Although we loved you deeply, we could not make you stay.
Your Golden Heart stopped beating, hard working hands at rest,
God broke our hearts to prove to us, He only takes the best.

 

[Tuffcookie]

Miss Me But Let Me Go
Author Unknown

Submitted by Rhianna Cannuli
In Loving Memory of Samuel William Hyde
July 08, 1981 - February 09, 2000



When I come to the end of the day,
And the sun has set for me.
I want no rites in a gloom-filled room.
Why cry for a soul set free?
Miss me a little, but not too long,
And not with you head bowed low.
Remember the love we once shared---
Miss me, but let me go.
For this is a journey we all must take,
And each must go alone.
It's all part of the maker's plan,
A step on the road to home.
When you are lonely and sick at heart
Go to the friends we know.
And bury your sorrows in doing good deeds---
Miss me, but let me go.

TC

 

[4cruisin]

Sorry that you are going through this.

I had this framed and on display at my mom's callling hours. It just fit her situation perfectly.

I also had "Safely Home" inscribed along with my mom's name and dates on her headstone. It gives me a lot of comfort on a bad day.

SAFELY HOME

I am home in Heaven, dear ones;
Oh, so happy and so bright!
There is perfect joy and beauty
In this everlasting light.

All the pain and grief is over,
Every restless tossing passed;
I am now at peace forever,
Safely home in Heaven at last.

Did you wonder I so calmly
Trod the valley of the shade?
Oh! but Jesus' love illuminded
Every dark and fearful glade.

And He came Himself to meet me
In that way so hard to tread;
And with Jesus' arm to lean on,
Could I have one doubt or dread?

Then you must not grieve so sorely,
For I love you dearly still;
Try to look beyond earth's shadows,
Pray to trust our Father's Will.

There is work still waiting for you,
So you must not idely stand;
Do it now, while life remaineth-
You shall rest in Jesus' land.

When that work is all completed,
He will gently call you Home;
Oh, the rapture of that meeting,
Oh, the joy to see you come!

 

[monkey68]

“You can shed tears that she is gone,
or you can smile because she has lived.
You can close your eyes and pray that she'll come back,
or you can open your eyes and see all she's left.
Your heart can be empty because you can't see her,
or you can be full of the love you shared.
You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday,
or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.
You can remember her only that she is gone,
or you can cherish her memory and let it live on.
You can cry and close your mind,
be empty and turn your back.
Or you can do what she'd want:
smile, open your eyes, love and go on.”
-David Harkins

 

[MushyMushy]

These are good.

I didn't realize how incredibly difficult it would be to wait 6 months for the memorial service! It was all weather related, but it's been so hard to move on for everyone. I've been in touch with my friend's brother a lot lately... and the emotion.... wow.

 

[Handbag Lady]

I love this one by Edna St. Vincent Millay. The last line pretty much sums up how I've felt at every single passing I've had to suffer.


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.
Lovers and thinkers, into the earth with you.
Be one with the dull, the indiscriminate dust.
A fragment of what you felt, of what you knew,
A formula, a phrase remains, --- but the best is lost.

The answers quick & keen, the honest look, the laughter, the love,
They are gone. They have gone to feed the roses. Elegant and curled
Is the blossom. Fragrant is the blossom. I know. But I do not approve.
More precious was the light in your eyes than all the roses in the world.

Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave
Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, the kind;
Quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave.
I know. But I do not approve. And I am not resigned.

 

[WDWLVR]

The Measure of Man

Not "How did he die"? But "How did he live?"
Not "What did he gain?" But "What did he give?"
Not "What was his station?" But "Had he a heart?"
And "How did he play his God-given part?"
Not "What was his shrine? Nor "What was his creed?"
But "Had he befriended those really in need?"
Not "What did the piece in the newspaper say?"
But "How many were sorry when he passed away?"
Was he ever ready with a word or good cheer,
To bring back a smile, to banish a tear?
These are the units to measure the worth
Of a man as a man, regardless of birth.


This is what they had at a memorial service I went to many years ago. When one of my friends son died 2 years ago I used this on the card for her. She loved it.