Christian Funeral Poems

Don't grieve for me, for now I'm free, I'm following the path God laid for me. I took His hand when I heard His call, I turned my back and left it all.

— Anne Lindgren Davison

Copyright Anne Lindgren Davison (1974).

One night I dreamed a dream. As I was walking along the beach with my Lord, Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life. For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand.

— Mary Stevenson / Margaret Fishback Powers

Copyright disputed among multiple claimants. Treat as copyrighted.

When tomorrow starts without me And I'm not there to see, If the sun should rise and find your eyes All filled with tears for me.

— David M. Romano

Copyright David M. Romano Estate.

If tears could build a stairway And memories a lane, I'd walk right up to Heaven And bring you home again.

— Unknown

God looked around his garden And found an empty place. He then looked down upon the earth And saw your tired face.

— Melissa Shreve

Copyright attributed to Melissa Shreve. Copyright status unclear.

God saw you getting tired And a cure was not to be, So He put His arms around you And whispered, 'Come to me.' With tearful eyes we watched you, And saw you pass away. Although we loved you dearly, We could not make you stay. A golden heart stopped beating, Hard-working hands at rest. God broke our hearts to prove to us He only takes the best.

— Unknown

Abide with me; fast falls the eventide; The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide! When other helpers fail and comforts flee, Help of the helpless, O abide with me. Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day; Earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away; Change and decay in all around I see; O Thou who changest not, abide with me. I need Thy presence every passing hour; What but Thy grace can foil the tempter's power? Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be? Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me. I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless; Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness. Where is death's sting? Where, grave, thy victory? I triumph still, if Thou abide with me. Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes; Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies. Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee; In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.

— Henry Francis Lyte

God looked around his garden And found an empty place. He then looked down upon the earth And saw your tired face.

— Melissa Shreve

Copyright attributed to Melissa Shreve. Copyright status unclear.

When tomorrow starts without me And I'm not there to see, If the sun should rise and find your eyes All filled with tears for me.

— David M. Romano

Copyright David M. Romano Estate.

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.

— Unknown

God saw you getting tired And a cure was not to be, So He put His arms around you And whispered, 'Come to me.' With tearful eyes we watched you, And saw you pass away. Although we loved you dearly, We could not make you stay. A golden heart stopped beating, Hard-working hands at rest. God broke our hearts to prove to us He only takes the best.

— Unknown

I will lend you for a little time a child of mine, He said, For you to love the while he lives and mourn for when he's dead. It may be six or seven years, or twenty-two or three, But will you, till I call him back, take care of him for me? He'll bring his charms to gladden you, and should his stay be brief, You'll have his lovely memories as solace for your grief. I cannot promise he will stay since all from earth return, But there are lessons taught down there I want this child to learn. I've looked the wide world over in my search for teachers true, And from the throngs that crowd life's lanes I have selected you. Now will you give him all your love, nor think the labour vain, Nor hate me when I come to call to take him back again? I fancied that I heard them say, Dear Lord, Thy will be done, For all the joy Thy child shall bring, the risk of grief we'll run. We'll shelter him with tenderness, we'll love him while we may, And for the happiness we've known, forever grateful stay. But should the angels call for him much sooner than we'd planned, We'll brave the bitter grief that comes and try to understand.

— Edgar A. Guest

I am standing upon the seashore. A ship, at my side, spreads her white sails to the moving breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength. I stand and watch her until, at length, she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other. Then, someone at my side says, "There, she is gone." Gone where? Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast, hull and spar as she was when she left my side. And, she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port. Her diminished size is in me -- not in her. And, just at the moment when someone says, "There, she is gone," there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices ready to take up the glad shout, "Here she comes!" And that is dying...

— Henry Van Dyke

I am standing upon the seashore. A ship, at my side, spreads her white sails to the moving breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength. I stand and watch her until, at length, she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other. Then, someone at my side says, 'There, she is gone.' Gone where? Gone from my sight. That is all. And, just at the moment when someone says, 'There, she is gone,' there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices ready to take up the glad shout, 'Here she comes!' And that is dying...

— Henry Van Dyke

We seem to give them back to thee, O God, who gavest them to us. Yet as thou didst not lose them in the giving, so we do not lose them by their return. Not as the world giveth, givest thou, O Lover of souls. What thou givest, thou takest not away, for what is thine is ours also if we are thine. And life is eternal, and love is immortal, and death is only an horizon, and an horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight. Lift us up, strong Son of God, that we may see further; cleanse our eyes that we may see more clearly; and draw us closer to thyself that we may know ourselves to be nearer to our loved ones who are with thee. And while thou dost prepare a place for us, prepare us also for that happy place, that where thou art we may also be for evermore.

— Bede Jarrett / William Penn