The right words can bring comfort when ours are hard to find.
Finding the words to express how you feel is not always easy. We’ve gathered a selection of poems, readings and quotes that have brought comfort to many families over the years. While it’s impossible to include something for every family and every circumstance, we hope this collection provides a helpful place to begin.
We invite you to explore the collection below. If you don’t find exactly what you’re looking for, many more beautiful poems and readings are available through books and trusted online sources.
A ship sails and I stand watching till she fades on the horizon and someone at my side says, ‘She is gone’.
Gone where? Gone from my sight, that is all. She is just as large now as when I last saw her. Her diminished size and total loss from my sight is in me, not in her.
And just at the moment when someone at my side says she is gone there are others who are watching her coming over their horizon and other voices take up a glad shout There she comes!
That is what dying is. An horizon and just the limit of our sight.
Lift us up, Oh Lord, that we may see further.
Charles Henry Brent
Count your garden by the flowers,
Never by the leaves that fall—
Count your days by golden hours,
Don’t remember clouds at all.
Count your nights by stars, not shadows,
Count your life by smiles—not tears—
And with joy through all your lifetime,
Count your age by friends—not years.
Dixie Willson
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.
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Think of me as one at rest,
for me you should not weep.
I have no pain, no troubled thoughts,
for I am just asleep.
The living, thinking me that was
is now forever still,
and life goes on without me now,
as time forever will.
If your heart is heavy now
because I’ve gone away,
dwell not long upon it, friend,
for none of us can stay.
Those of you who liked me,
I sincerely thank you all,
and those of you who loved me,
I thank you most of all.
And in my fleeting lifespan,
as time went rushing by,
I found some time to hesitate,
to laugh, to love, to cry.
Matters it now if time began,
if time will ever cease?
I was here, I used it all,
and now I am at peace.
Author Unknown
An honest man here lies at rest,
As e’er God with His image blest;
The friend of man, the friend of truth;
The friend of age, and guide of youth:
Few hearts like his, with virtue warm’d,
Few heads with knowledge so inform’d:
If there’s another world, he lives in bliss;
If there is none, he made the best of this.
By Robert Burns
Heaven lit up with a mighty presence, as the Angels all looked down.
Today the Lord was placing the jewels into my mother’s crown.
He held up a golden crown, as my darling mother looked on. He said in His gentle voice, ‘I will now explain each one.’
‘The first gem,’ He said, ‘is a Ruby, and it’s for endurance alone, For all the nights you waited up for your children to come home.’
‘For all the nights by their bedside, you stayed till the fever went down. For nursing every little wound, I add this ruby to your crown.’
‘An emerald, I’ll place by the ruby, for leading your child in the right way. For teaching them the lessons, That made them who they are today.’
‘For always being right there, through all life’s important events. I give you a sapphire stone, for the time and love you spent.’
‘For untying the strings that held them, when they grew up and left home. I give you this one for courage.’ Then the Lord added a garnet stone.
‘I’ll place a stone of amethyst,’ He said. ‘For all the times you spent on your knees, when you asked if I’d take care of your children, and then for having faith in Me.’
‘I have a pearl for every little sacrifice that you made without them knowing. For all the times you went without, to keep them happy, healthy and growing.’
‘And last of all I have a diamond, the greatest one of all, for sharing unconditional love whether they were big or small.’
‘It was your love that helped them grow Feeling safe and happy and proud A love so strong and pure it could shift the darkest cloud.’
After the Lord placed the last jewel in, He said, ‘Your crown is now complete, You’ve earned your place in Heaven with your children at your feet.’
Author Unknown
There was a last time
for everything —
but I did not know it then.
The last time you called,
the last time you laughed,
the last time I held your hand
without knowing
I would never hold it again.
Funny, how the end never tells you
that it’s arrived —
it just stands quietly
at the door,
waiting for you to notice.
Author Unknown
There comes a time
when the flowers have faded,
the visitors have gone,
and the quiet returns.
It is then
we begin to discover
that love has not left with them.
It is waiting
in the favourite chair,
in a well-worn recipe,
in an old photograph,
in the sound of familiar laughter
remembered without trying.
We learn, little by little,
that those we love
do not leave us empty-handed.
They leave us
their kindness,
their courage,
their stories,
their laughter,
and a thousand ordinary moments
that become extraordinary
because they were shared.
Love does not ask us to forget.
It simply teaches us
how to carry someone
in a different way.
© Tidman Funerals.
If tears could build a stairway,
and memories a lane
We would walk right up to Heaven
and bring you back again.
No farewell words were spoken,
No time to say “Goodbye”
You were gone before we knew it,
and only God knows why.
My heart still aches with sadness,
and secret tears still flow.
What it meant to lose you
No one will ever know.
But now we know you want us
to mourn for you no more
To remember all the happy times
Life still has much in store
Since you’ll never be forgotten,
We pledge to you today
A hallowed place within our hearts
is where you’ll always stay.
Author Unknown
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 planned:
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.
Christine Rosetti
Warm summer sun,
Shine kindly here;
Warm southern wind,
Blow softly here.
Green sod above,
Lie light, lie light;
Good night, dear heart,
Good night, good night.
Mark Twain
Death is nothing at all.
It does not count.
I have only slipped away into the next room.
Nothing has happened.
Everything remains exactly as it was.
I am I, and you are you,
and the old life that we lived so fondly together is untouched, unchanged.
Whatever we were to each other,
that we still are.
Call me by my old familiar name.
Speak to me in the easy way which you always used.
Put no difference into your tone.
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.
Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes that we enjoyed together.
Play, smile, think of me, pray for me.
Let my name be ever the household word that it always was.
Let it be spoken without an effort, without the ghost of a shadow upon it.
Life means all that it ever meant.
It is the same as it ever was.
There is absolute and unbroken continuity.
What is this death but a negligible accident?
Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight?
I am but waiting for you, for an interval,
somewhere very near,
just around the corner.
All is well.
Canon Henry Scott Holland
Miss me, but let me go
When I come to the end of the road
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 your head bowed low
Remember the love that we once shared
Miss me-but let me go
For this is a journey that we all must take
And each must go alone
It’s all a part of the Master’s plan
A step on the road to home
When you are lonely and sick of heart
Go to the friends we know
And bury your sorrows in doing good deeds
Miss me- but let me go
Unknown Author
Some folks ride the train of life.
Looking out the rear
Watching miles of life roll by
And marking every year
They sit in sad rememberance
Of wasted days gone by
And curse their life for what it was
And hang their head and cry
But I don’t concern myself with that
I took a different vent
I look forward to what life holds
And not what has been spent
So strap me to the engine
As securely as I can be
I want to be out on the front
To see what I can see
I want to feel the winds of change
Blowing in my face
I want to see what life unfolds
As i move from place to place
I want to see what’s coming up
No looking at the past
Life’s too short for yesterdays
It moves along too fast
So if the ride gets bumpy
While you are looking back
Go up front and you may find
Your life has jumped the track
It’s all right to remember
That’s part of our history
But up front is where is it happening
There is so much mystery
The enjoyment of living
It’s not where we have been
It’s looking ever forward
To another year and ten
It’s searching all the byways
Never should you refrain
For if you want to life your life
You gotta ride the train!
Author Unknown
Those we love don’t go away,
they walk beside us every day.
Unseen, unheard but always near,
still loved, still missed
and held so dear.
Author unknown
When someone we love leaves us,
the world can seem a little darker.
Then, little by little,
we begin to notice
that the love they gave us
still lights our days.
It is there
in the stories we tell,
the smiles we share,
the kindness we pass on,
and in the quiet moments
when we think of them.
Love does not disappear.
It simply becomes
a different kind of light.
© Tidman Funerals.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
Laurence Binyon
My Mother kept a garden.
A garden of the heart;
She planted all the good things,
That gave my life it’s start.
She turned me to the sunshine,
And encouraged me to dream:
Fostering and nurturing
The seeds of self-esteem.
And when the winds and rains came,
She protected me enough;
But not too much, she knew I’d need
To stand up strong and tough.
Her constant good example,
Always taught me right from wrong;
Markers for my pathway
To last my whole life long.
I am my Mother’s garden,
I am her legacy.
And I hope today she feels the love,
Reflected back from me
Author Unknown
This world has many heroes
You’d know most of them by name
It’s apparent they gave their best
And they deserve their fame
But among all of the hero’s this world has ever had
There’s not one I admired more than my precious Dad
Author Unknown
We are unable to publish the full text of the following beautiful poems because they are protected by copyright. However, we have included the title and author to help you locate them.
Many of these poems can be found in published collections or through other authorised sources.
Please speak with us if you would like to include one of these poems in a service. We may be able to provide you with a copy and guide you on the appropriate permissions or licensing required for its use.
She is Gone (You Can Shed Tears) – David Harkins
Hope – Michael R Berman
Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep – Mary Elizabeth Frye
Something Beautiful – Martha Vashti Pearson
Funeral Blues (Stop All The Clocks) – W H Audin
Go Gently – Kate McIlhagga
Look For Me In Rainbows –Vicki Brown
The Star – Catherine Turner
Gone Fishing – Dalmar Pepper
Silent, Strong Dad – Karen K Boye
The Golfer’s Prayer – Jeff Hiatt
Love Is Not – Sri Chinmoy
I Only Wanted You – Vicky Holder
“Though a life may end, love remains—carried in every memory, every story, and every heart it touched.”
“In every farewell, there is gratitude for a life that will never be forgotten.”
“May words bring comfort, memories bring peace, and love remain forever.”
“Every life leaves a legacy of love that time can never erase.”
“Where words fall short, memories speak with quiet grace.”
“A life well lived becomes a lasting light in the hearts of those left behind.”
“Together we remember, together we honor, together we find comfort in love that endures.”
“Poems give voice to love, remembrance, and the bonds that never truly end.”
“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
“Those we love never truly leave us.”
— Anonymous
“Better by far you should forget and smile than that you should remember and be sad.”
— Christina Rosetti
“Love leaves a memory no one can steal.”
“How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”
— Commonly attributed to Winnie the Pooh
“When we die,” asked Rabbit, “where do we go?”
“Nowhere,” said Pooh. “We stay right here… in the hearts of those who love us.”
— Commonly attributed to Winnie the Pooh
“What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.”
— Helen Keller
‘“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt within the heart.”
— Helen Keller
“The song has ended, but the melody lingers on.”
— Irving Berlin
Even though you didn’t make it to the end of my story, I will always have the corner folded on your page…because it was one of my favourites.
— Akhira
“Perhaps they are not stars in the sky, but rather openings where our loved ones shine down to let us know they are happy.”
Some readings on this website have been written especially for the families we serve and may not be reproduced without permission.
