Looking for a poem for a funeral

[CatamaranViper]

Specifically a poem that talks about being reunited with a spouse in heaven after death.

I lost a very close relative and I've been asked to read a poem at the funeral. I don't want to dwell too much on the way they died or the pain of losing them, but more a happy focus on the fact they'll be reunited with their spouse (who was the absolute love of their life and they were devastated when they died).

Does anyone have any recommendations? The things I've found online so far just haven't been quite right...

There is one called 'The Ship', sometimes known as 'What is Dying?'. It uses the analogy of a ship disappearing from sight to appear in the horizon for someone else. Might be appropriate?

Chat gpt put in some words and names of the person and it will instantly come up with a poem.

Hi OP,

I don't know if this quite fits in with your question, but in my dad's files he has a poem called Evolution by Langdon Smith.

It's not only about being united after death, it's actually about having always been together, right from "when I was a tadpole and you were a fish".

I absolutely love reading it, though now my dad has passed away even typing this brings me to tears.

An excerpt:

Thus life by life and love by love
We passed through the cycles strange,
And breath by breath and death by death
We followed the chain of change.
Till there came a time in the law of life
When over the nursing sod
The shadows broke and the soul awoke
In a strange, dim dream of God.

Also with this poem, it has a nice humour to it. For a reading, the poem is quite long, but if it was up to me personally, I start with the first verse, then would skip to the verse I posted above and the verses thereafter.

I'm really sorry for your loss OP

Another suggestion would be a song from the Lord of the Rings third movie, sung by Annie Lennox. These are the lyrics:

Lay down
Your sweet and weary head
The night is falling
You have come to journey's end
Sleep now
And dream of the ones who came before
They are calling
From across the distant shore
Why do you weep?
What are these tears upon your face?
Soon you will see
All of your fears will pass away
Safe in my arms
You're only sleeping
What can you see
On the horizon?
Why do the white gulls call?
Across the sea
A pale moon rises
The ships have come to carry you home
And all will turn
To silver glass
A light on the water
All Souls pass
Hope fades
Into the world of night
Through shadows falling
Out of memory and time
Don't say
We have come now to the end
White shores are calling
You and I will meet again
And you'll be here in my arms
Just sleeping
And all will turn
To silver glass
A light on the water
Grey ships pass
Into the West

Possibly this? Though it's more about the earlier death. But I think it could work.

Consolation
BY ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON

Though he, that ever kind and true,
Kept stoutly step by step with you,
Your whole long, gusty lifetime through,
Be gone a while before,
Be now a moment gone before,
Yet, doubt not, soon the seasons shall restore
Your friend to you.

He has but turned the corner — still
He pushes on with right good will,
Through mire and marsh, by heugh and hill,
That self-same arduous way —
That self-same upland, hopeful way,
That you and he through many a doubtful day
Attempted still.

He is not dead, this friend — not dead,
But in the path we mortals tread
Got some few, trifling steps ahead
And nearer to the end;
So that you too, once past the bend,
Shall meet again, as face to face, this friend
You fancy dead.

Push gaily on, strong heart! The while
You travel forward mile by mile,
He loiters with a backward smile
Till you can overtake,
And strains his eyes to search his wake,
Or whistling, as he sees you through the brake,
Waits on a stile.

Definitely the one about the ship going over the horizon xx

Second "The Ship". Its lovely

I’ve just checked and it’s called Gone from sight, it’s beautiful, sorry for your loss x

I love 'do not stand by my grave and weep' its not really about joining a loved one but beautiful nevertheless

It's not a poem but there's a passage in The Amber Spyglass about being reunited after death and it would make a lovely reading:

I will love you forever; whatever happens.
Till I die and after I die, and when I find my way out of the land of the dead,
I’ll drift about forever, all my atoms, till I find you again.

I’ll be looking for you, every moment, every single moment.
And when we do find each other again, we’ll cling together so tight that nothing and no one’ll ever tear us apart.

Every atom of me and every atom of you.
We’ll live in birds and flowers and dragonflies and pine trees and in clouds and in those little specks of light you see floating in sunbeams.

And when they use our atoms to make new lives, they won’t just be able to take one, they’ll have to take two, one of you and one of me.

Death is Nothing At All, by Henry Scott-Holland?

Death is nothing at all. It does not count.
I have only slipped away to 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 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 trace of a shadow on it.

Life means all that it ever meant.
It is the same as it ever was.
There is absolute 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.
Nothing is hurt; nothing is lost.
One brief mement and all will be as it was before.
How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting when we meet again!

Not a poem but an extract from one of my favourite country songs which might be suitable

"If you get there before I do
Don't give up on me
I'll meet you when my chores are through
I don't know how long I'll be
But I'm not gonna let you down
Darlin', wait and see
And between now and then
Until I see you again
I'll be loving you
Love, me"

I'm welling up reading all these!
This doesn't specifically deal with reunion after death.........
But have a look at "She/he is gone" by David Harkins.

Just found this :-
When tomorrow starts without me
And I’m not here to see
If the sun should rise and find your eyes
Are filled with tears for me
I wish so much you wouldn’t cry
The way you did today
While thinking of the many things
We didn’t get to say
I know how much you love me
As much as I love you
And each time you think of me
I know you’ll miss me too
But when tomorrow starts without me
Please try to understand
That an angel came and called my name
And took me by the hand
And said my place was ready
In Heaven far above
And that I’d have to leave behind
All those I dearly love
But when I walked through Heaven’s gate
I felt so much at home
When God looked down and smiled at me
From His great golden throne
He said this is eternity
And all I promised you
Today your life on earth is past
But here it starts anew
I promise no tomorrow
For today will always last
And since each day’s the same way
There’s no longing for the past
So when tomorrow starts without me
Don’t think we’re far apart
For every time you think of me
I’m right here in your heart ❤️

Wonderfully written by David M. Romano