Find classic, modern, and contemporary poems to read or share at funerals, in memorial services, or in sympathy cards, including poems about grief, death, hope, family, and comfort.
Classic Poems to Read at Funerals
“Inarticulate Grief” by Richard Aldington
Let the sea beat its thin torn hands…
“Because I could not stop for Death (479)” by Emily Dickinson
Because I could not stop for Death –
“Forever” by Paul Laurence Dunbar
I had not known before…
“Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Robert Frost
Nature's first green is gold...
“Loss” by Winifred M. Letts
In losing you I lost my sun and moon…
“Dirge Without Music” by Edna St. Vincent Millay
I am not resigned to the shutting away of loving hearts…
“[Again and again, even though we know love’s landscape]” by Rainer Maria Rilke
Again and again, even though we know love’s landscape…
“Under the Harvest Moon” by Carl Sandburg
Under the harvest moon...
“I Have a Rendezvous with Death” by Alan Seeger
I have a rendezvous with Death…
“Crossing the Bar” by Alfred Lord Tennyson
Sunset and evening star…
“Do not go gentle into that good night” by Dylan Thomas
Do not go gentle into that good night…
“Warm Summer Sun” by Mark Twain
Warm summer sun…
“A Meeting” by Edith Wharton
On a sheer peak of joy we meet…
“O Captain! My Captain!” by Walt Whitman
O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done…
“Song of the Open Road, I” by Walt Whitman
Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road…