Choosing words for a funeral can feel difficult when every memory leads back to someone you wish were here. These short funeral poems offer a way to honor that person, whether you want to remember their kindness, speak about a parent’s love, or give voice to the sadness of saying goodbye.
The selections below include complete poems and brief excerpts, each identified beside its source. Some offer reassurance, while others stay close to the ache of loss, leaving you room to choose words that feel true to your loved one.
Choosing a Short Funeral Poem
Think about the person you are remembering and the feeling you hope to convey. A few lines about quiet devotion may suit someone who expressed love through everyday care, while a poem about childhood can bring a familiar home briefly back to mind.
This guide can help you compare the selections. For a Christian reading to accompany a poem, you can also browse our short Bible verses for funeral cards.
| Poem | Selection length | A possible choice for |
|---|---|---|
| “Requiem” | 8 lines, complete | A peaceful farewell |
| “Song [When I am dead, my dearest]” | 8 lines, excerpt | A gentle, nonreligious reading |
| “If I can stop one heart from breaking” | 7 lines, complete | Someone remembered for kindness |
| “Remember” | 6 lines, excerpt | Comfort without guilt about future happiness |
| “A Psalm of Life” | 4 lines, excerpt | Honoring someone’s lasting influence |
| “Only a Dad” | 6 lines, excerpt | A devoted father |
| “To My Mother” | 4 lines, complete | Memories of childhood with Mom |
| “Rock Me to Sleep” | 4 lines, excerpt | Longing for a mother’s comfort |
| “Farewell to thee! but not farewell” | 4 lines, excerpt | Keeping treasured memories close |
| “Crossing the Bar” | 4 lines, excerpt | A farewell with spiritual hope |
Short Nonreligious Funeral Poems
These selections offer words for remembrance without asking those listening to share a religious belief. Read them aloud first, allowing yourself to notice which phrases feel comforting and which may be too difficult to say.
1. A Peaceful Final Rest
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.
Robert Louis Stevenson, “Requiem,” complete poem.
Stevenson imagines death as the end of a journey, with the sailor and hunter returning home. Its calm acceptance may suit a loved one who found peace near the end of life, though the line about dying gladly deserves careful thought when choosing it for a particular loss.
2. A Gentle Last Request
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.
Christina Rossetti, “Song [When I am dead, my dearest],” first stanza, excerpt.
Rossetti’s speaker leaves the person she loves free to remember in their own way. The grass and rain give this farewell a quiet outdoor setting, while the closing lines release the mourner from having to prove their love through particular gestures.
Uplifting Funeral Poems
An uplifting reading can honor what someone gave to the world while allowing sorrow its place. These poems turn toward kindness, gratitude, and the possibility of finding comfort in memory.
3. A Life of Kindness
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.
Emily Dickinson, “If I can stop one heart from breaking,” Poems (1890), “Life,” VI, complete poem.
Dickinson measures a worthwhile life through acts of care. These lines may bring to mind someone who noticed when a neighbor needed help or stayed beside a friend through a difficult night. At a funeral, they offer a tender way to acknowledge goodness that rarely asked for recognition.
4. Room to Smile Again
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 Rossetti, “Remember,” final six lines, excerpt.
Earlier in the sonnet, the speaker asks to be remembered. Here, her concern turns toward the happiness of the person who will remain, even if that happiness includes moments when grief loosens its hold.
For someone who feels guilty about laughing or enjoying an ordinary afternoon, the ending offers gentle reassurance. Love can endure through those moments too.
5. The Good They Leave
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “A Psalm of Life,” seventh stanza, excerpt.
Longfellow’s poem urges its reader to live with purpose. At a memorial, these lines can introduce a story about how someone’s example continues through the people they taught or encouraged. A lesson patiently repeated years ago may now guide another generation.
Funeral Poems for Dad
When choosing funeral poems for Dad, consider the details that made his love recognizable. A reading about steady effort may feel especially close to a father who was always willing to help, even when he had little energy left.
6. The Love Behind His Work
Only a dad but he gives his all
To smooth the way for his children small,
Doing with courage stern and grim,
The deeds that his father did for him.
This is the line that for him I pen:
Only a dad, but the best of men.
Edgar Guest, “Only a Dad,” A Heap o’ Livin’ (1916), final stanza, excerpt.
Guest honors the devotion woven through a father’s daily responsibilities. Read at a funeral, the closing line can express the affection behind memories of early mornings, practical help, and the reassurance of knowing he would come when called.
You might follow the poem with one such memory. Our sympathy quotes for the loss of a father offer further words for a personal tribute or condolence message.
Funeral Poems for Mom
Funeral poems for Mom can recall the years when her voice and presence helped make the world feel safe. These two selections approach that bond through childhood memory and the longing to feel her comfort again.
7. Remembering the Early Years
You too, my mother, read my rhymes
For love of unforgotten times,
And you may chance to hear once more
The little feet along the floor.
Robert Louis Stevenson, “To My Mother,” complete poem.
Stevenson addresses his living mother and imagines his verses bringing back the sound of his childhood footsteps. In a tribute to your own mother, these four lines can open a memory of the home you shared and the child you were in her care.
8. Longing for Her Comfort
Backward, turn backward, O Time, in your flight,
Make me a child again just for to-night!
Mother, come back from the echoless shore,
Take me again to your heart as of yore;
Elizabeth Akers Allen, “Rock Me to Sleep,” Poems (1866), opening four lines, excerpt
Allen expresses the wish to return to a mother’s care after the weariness of adult life. The old phrase “as of yore” means as in earlier days, giving words to a longing that can feel very present after losing her. You may recognize it in the impulse to call her when something goes wrong, even after you know she cannot answer.
Short Poems of Remembrance and Hope
A farewell can hold affection for the life you shared and uncertainty about what comes next. The following excerpts offer different kinds of comfort, with the second expressing spiritual hope.
9. Keeping Their Memory Close
Farewell to thee! but not farewell
To all my fondest thoughts of thee:
Within my heart they still shall dwell;
And they shall cheer and comfort me.
Anne Brontë, “Farewell to thee! but not farewell,” first stanza, excerpt.
Brontë’s poem speaks of separation from a beloved person, and these opening lines make a simple promise to cherish their memory. On a funeral program, they can sit beside a photograph that recalls a happy afternoon or a familiar smile, giving mourners something tender to carry home.
10. Beyond the Final Crossing
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 cross’d the bar.
Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “Crossing the Bar,” final stanza, excerpt.
Tennyson imagines leaving the limits of earthly life as a sailor crossing into open water. His capitalized “Pilot” suggests a divine guide, making this passage suitable for a family comforted by faith or spiritual hope. Its closing image places trust alongside the sadness of departure.
Is The Dash Poem Suitable for a Funeral?
Linda Ellis’s “The Dash” reflects on the life represented by the line between a person’s birth and death dates. Its emphasis on how we love and treat others can suit a memorial centered on someone’s character and the lives they touched.
It is longer than the selections above, so allow more room in the service if you choose it. You can read the author’s published text and review the rights holder’s current funeral-program and recitation terms, including the required acknowledgment.
Choosing Poems for Funeral Programs
Short funeral poems can fit beside a photograph or on the back of a program, provided the text remains easy to read. Keep the original line breaks and include the title and author’s name, adding “excerpt” when you use part of a longer work.
Before printing, read the selection aloud at a comfortable pace. A line that looks reassuring on the page may feel different when spoken, and it helps to leave time for breathing and emotion. If you would like someone nearby to take over, give them a copy beforehand.
Choose the passage that best reflects the person you knew. A brief introduction about why you chose it can make even a familiar poem feel deeply personal.
Words to Carry With You
The short funeral poems that stay with us often bring one small part of a person back into focus, whether it is their patience, their humor, or the way they made us feel at home. As you choose a reading, let those memories guide you. A few sincere lines can help others remember the person you loved, while the care you learned from them continues in the life you lead.
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