Funeral Poems for Brother

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 for long And not with your head bowed low. Remember the love that once we shared, Miss me, but let me go. For this is a journey we all must take And each must go alone. It's all a part of the master 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.

— Christina Rossetti

Death is nothing at all. I have only slipped away into the next room. I am I and you are you. Whatever we were to each other, That we are still. Call me by my old familiar name. Speak of 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 round the corner. All is well. Nothing is hurt; nothing is lost. One brief moment and all will be as it was before. How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting when we meet again!

— Henry Scott-Holland

I hold it true, whate'er befall; I feel it when I sorrow most; 'Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all. I envy not in any moods The captive void of noble rage, The linnet born within the cage, That never knew the summer's woods: I envy not the beast that takes His licence in the field of time, Unfetter'd by the sense of crime, To whom a conscience never wakes; Nor, what may count itself as blest, The heart that never plighted troth But stagnates in the weeds of sloth; Nor any want-begotten rest. I hold it true, whate'er befall; I feel it when I sorrow most; 'Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all.

— Alfred, Lord Tennyson, In Memoriam A.H.H. (1850)

I cannot say, and I will not say That he is dead. He is just away! With a cheery smile, and a wave of the hand, He has wandered into an unknown land, And left us dreaming how very fair It needs must be, since he lingers there. And you — oh you, who the wildest yearn For an old-time step, and the glad return, Think of him faring on, as dear In the love of There as the love of Here. Think of him still as the same. I say, He is not dead — he is just away!

— James Whitcomb Riley

Those we love don't go away, They walk beside us every day. Unseen, unheard, but always near, Still loved, still missed, and very dear.

— Unknown

Of all the money that e'er I had, I spent it in good company. And all the harm that e'er I've done, Alas, it was to none but me. And all I've done for want of wit To memory now I can't recall; So fill to me the parting glass, Good night and joy be with you all. Oh, all the comrades that e'er I've had Are sorry for my going away. And all the sweethearts that e'er I've had Would wish me one more day to stay. But since it falls unto my lot That I should rise and you should not, I'll gently rise and I'll softly call, Good night and joy be with you all.

— Traditional Irish/Scottish

If I should go tomorrow It would never be goodbye, For I have left my heart with you, So don't you ever cry. The love that's deep within me, Shall reach you from the stars, You'll feel it from the heavens, And it will heal the scars. If I should go tomorrow I would want you to go on. To fill your life with joy and laughter, Even when I'm gone. Remember I will always be Beside you every day, And though you cannot see me, I'm never far away.

— Unknown

When I am gone, release me, let me go. I have so many things to see and do, You mustn't tie yourself to me with too many tears, But be thankful we had so many good years. I gave you my love, and you can only guess How much you've given me in happiness. I thank you for the love that you have shown, But now it is time I travelled on alone. So grieve for me a while, if grieve you must, Then let your grief be comforted by trust. It is only for a while that we must part, So treasure the memories within your heart. I won't be far away, for life goes on. And if you need me, call and I will come. Though you can't see or touch me, I will be near, And if you listen with your heart, you'll hear All my love around you soft and clear. And then, when you come this way alone, I'll greet you with a smile and a "Welcome Home."

— Unknown

If I should die, think only this of me: That there's some corner of a foreign field That is for ever England. There shall be In that rich earth a richer dust concealed; A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware, Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to wander, A body of England's, breathing English air, Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home. And think, this heart, all evil shed away, A pulse in the eternal mind, no less Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given; Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day; And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness, In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.

— Rupert Brooke, 1914 and Other Poems (1915)

An honest man here lies at rest, The friend of man, the friend of beast, If there is another world, he lives in bliss; If there is none, he made the best of this.

— Robert Burns

I know that I shall meet my fate Somewhere among the clouds above; Those that I fight I do not hate, Those that I guard I do not love; My country is Kiltartan Cross, My countrymen Kiltartan's poor, No likely end could bring them loss Or leave them happier than before. Nor law, nor duty bade me fight, Nor public men, nor cheering crowds, A lonely impulse of delight Drove to this tumult in the clouds; I balanced all, brought all to mind, The years to come seemed waste of breath, A waste of breath the years behind In balance with this life, this death.

— W.B. Yeats

The time you won your town the race We chaired you through the market-place; Man and boy stood cheering by, And home we brought you shoulder-high. To-day, the road all runners come, Shoulder-high we bring you home, And set you at your threshold down, Townsman of a stiller town. Smart lad, to slip betimes away From fields where glory does not stay, And early though the laurel grows It withers quicker than the rose. Eyes the shady night has shut Cannot see the record cut, And silence sounds no worse than cheers After earth has stopped the ears: Now you will not swell the rout Of lads that wore their honours out, Runners whom renown outran And the name died before the man. So set, before its echoes fade, The fleet foot on the sill of shade, And hold to the low lintel up The still-defended challenge-cup. And round that early-laurelled head Will flock to gaze the strengthless dead, And find unwithered on its curls The garland briefer than a girl's.

— A.E. Housman

Like a comet blazing 'cross the evening sky, Gone too soon. Like a rainbow fading in the twinkling of an eye, Gone too soon. Shiny and sparkly and splendidly bright, Here one day, gone one night. Like the loss of sunlight on a cloudy afternoon, Gone too soon. Like a castle built upon a sandy beach, Gone too soon. Like a perfect flower that is just beyond your reach, Gone too soon. Born to amuse, to inspire, to delight, Here one day, gone one night. Like a sunset dying with the rising of the moon, Gone too soon.

— Unknown

Feel no guilt in laughter, he'd know how much you care. Feel no sorrow in a smile that he is not here to share. You cannot grieve forever; he would not want you to. He'd hope that you could carry on the way you always do. So, talk about the good times and the way you showed you cared, The days you spent together, all the happiness you shared. Let memories surround you, a word someone may say Will suddenly recapture a time, an hour, a day, That brings him back as clearly as though he were still here, And fills you with the feelings that he is always near. For if you keep those moments, you will never be apart And he will live forever locked safely within your heart.

— Unknown

It was beautiful as long as it lasted, The journey of my life. I have no regrets whatsoever, Save the pain I'll leave behind. Those dear hearts who love and care And the strings pulling at the heart and soul, The strong arms that held me up When my own strength let me down. At every turning of my life, I came across good friends, Friends who stood by me Even when the time raced me by. Farewell, farewell, my friends, I smile and bid you goodbye. No, shed no tears, for I need them not, All I need is your smile. If you feel sad, do think of me, For that's what I'll like, When you live in the hearts of those you love, Remember then, you never die.

— Rabindranath Tagore

Don't think of him as gone away — His journey's just begun. Life holds so many facets — This earth is only one.

— Ellen Brenneman

Copyright Ellen Brenneman.

Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once. Of all the wonders that I yet have heard, It seems to me most strange that men should fear; Seeing that death, a necessary end, Will come when it will come.

— William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Act II, Scene ii

We are connected, my child and I, By an invisible cord not seen by the eye. It's not like the cord that connects us at birth— This cord can't be seen by anyone on earth.

— Lesley Regan

Copyright Lesley Regan.

There is a time for everything, A time for joy, a time for sorrow, A time to hold on and a time to let go. There is a time for peace, A time for quiet reflection. Let today be a time to remember The love and the laughter we shared, To honour a life well lived, And to find comfort in one another.

— Traditional

Do not stand at my grave and weep, I am not there, I do not sleep. Do not stand at my grave and cry, I am not there, I did not die. I am the wind that shakes the trees, I am the snow on the mountain top, I am the sun reflecting off the ocean, I am the warm summer breeze. I am the stars that shine at night, I am the first bird to take flight. I am anything beautiful you can see, Because my spirit is now free. So do not stand at my grave and weep, I am not there, I do not sleep. Do not stand at my grave and cry, I am not there, I did not die.

— Unknown

Many the wonders I this day have seen: The sun, when first he kissed away the tears That filled the eyes of Morn; — the laurelled peers Who from the feathery gold of evening lean; — The ocean with its vastness, its blue green, Its ships, its rocks, its caves, its hopes, its fears, — Its voice mysterious, which whoso hears Must think on what will be, and what has been. E'en now, dear George, while this for you I write, Cynthia is from her silken curtains peeping So scantly, that it seems her bridal night, And she her half-discover'd revels keeping. But what, without the social thought of thee, Would be the wonders of the sky and sea?

— John Keats

You were my brother from the start, My first and truest friend, The one who shared my childhood games, The one on whom I'd depend. We fought like only brothers can, And laughed the way they do. The bond between us needed no words— We always somehow knew. Now that you've journeyed on ahead, I feel the silence where you were. The house is still, the phone won't ring, The world's become a blur. But I carry every memory, Every joke, every shared disgrace. My brother, my first friend in life, No one can take your place.

— Unknown

I measure every Grief I meet With narrow, probing, eyes — I wonder if It weighs like Mine — Or has an Easier size. I wonder if They bore it long — Or did it just begin — I could not tell the Date of Mine — It feels so old a pain — I wonder if it hurts to live — And if They have to try — And whether — could They choose between — It would not be — to die —

— Emily Dickinson

Side by side we walked through childhood, Sharing secrets, sharing dreams. You were always right beside me, Closer than the world could see. Side by side through teenage troubles, Laughing, fighting, standing tall. You were shield and sword together, Ready when I'd start to fall. Now I walk these roads without you, And the world feels far too wide. But I know you walk beside me still, Forever side by side.

— Unknown

Not just my brother, but my friend, You stood beside me till the end. In life you showed me what was true, No finer brother the world ever knew. Your strength was quiet, sure and deep, A thousand promises you'd keep. Your word was bond, your hand was steady, For those you loved, you were always ready. The world is darker since you've gone, But your light within us carries on. Sleep well, dear brother, rest at last— We'll hold you close until we've passed.

— Unknown

Half of me is missing now Since you have gone away. The half that knew my history, The half that made me play. The half that shared our parents' roof, The half that shared my name, The half that kept me grounded— Since you left, I'm not the same. But you're the half that taught me love Is bigger than goodbye. You're the half that proved to me That love will never die.

— Unknown

Where there once was light, Darkness now resides. But love shines through And forever abides. Though we walk in shadow, Love will lead us through, And every cherished memory Will keep me close to you.

— Unknown

We shared a room, we shared our toys, We shared the chaos little boys Bring to a house, a street, a town. We built each other up, then knocked each other down. We shared our teenage years of change, Navigating life so strange. We found our way, we found our voice, Sometimes we had no choice. But always, underneath it all, A brother there to break the fall. And now you've gone, I want you to know: You were the best part of the show.

— Unknown