Do you have a favourite non-religious funeral reading/poem?

[nevergoogle]

Not feeling my usual buoyant self so apologies for non fun thread, but if you have any suggestions i'd appreciate some inspiration. Thanks.

Sorry you need this Nevergoogle. I wanted to read "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" at my DF's funeral, but went for something v unfunerally, but v personal to him and me instead.

DO NOT GO GENTLE INTO
THAT GOOD NIGHT - Dylan Thomas

    Do not go gentle into that good night,
    Old age should burn and rage at close of day;
    Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

    Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
    Because their words had forked no lightning they
    Do not go gentle into that good night.

    Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
    Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
    Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

    Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
    And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
    Do not go gentle into that good night.

    Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
    Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
    Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

    And you, my father, there on the sad height,
    Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
    Do not go gentle into that good night.
    Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Thankyou.

I?ve always loved ?Do Not Stand At My Grave and Weep?

Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there; I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow,
I am the sun on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there; I did not die.

That is lovely. There will be no grave though. Maybe i'm being too literal.

You can shed tears that she is gone
or you can smile because she has lived.

You can close your eyes and pray that she'll come back
or you can open your eyes and see all she's left.

Your heart can be empty because you can't see her
or you can be full of the love you shared.

You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday
or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.

You can remember her and only that she's gone
or you can cherish her memory and let it live on.

You can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn your back
or you can do what she'd want: smile, open your eyes, love and go on.

I love Mary Oliver's poems about the beauty of the natural world and our part in it, "Wild Geese" is my favourite - I'd like it read at my funeral.

Remember Me
To the living, I am gone
To the sorrowful, I will never return
To the angry, I was cheated
But to the happy, I am at peace
And to the faithful, I have never left
I cannot speak, but I can listen
I cannot be seen, but I can be heard
So as you stand upon the shore
Gazing at the beautiful sea, remember me
As you look in awe at a mighty forest
And in its grand majesty, remember me
Remember me in your hearts,
In your thoughts, and the memories of the
Times we loved, the times we cried,
the battle we fought and the times we laughed
For if you always think of me,
I will never have gone.
Anon

JOYCE GRENFELL?S POEM

? If I should go before the rest of you,
Break not a flower, nor inscribe a stone,
Nor, when I?m gone, speak in a Sunday voice,
But be the usual selves That I have known.
Weep if you must:
Parting is hell,
But life goes on
So...sing as well!?

I guess you could change some of the wording? Doesn?t have to include the word ?grave? and (I think) would still convey the same meaning if you altered it slightly.

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 tears 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 once we shared
Miss me - but let me go.

For this is a journey we all must take
And for each must go alone
It's all a part of a bigger plan
A step on the road to home
And when you are lonely and sick of heart
Go to the friends we know
And bury your tears in their loving arms
Miss me - but let me go.

Thankyou, these are all lovely.
i have a week to decide so keep the suggestions coming.
apologies if i don't reply to everyone, but thankyou and i will be reading them all even if i don't comment.

Just found it:

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting -
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

Gah, what's that one about just being in the next room? I always find that one strangely comforting.

I read of a man who stood to speak
At the funeral of a friend.
He referred to the dates on her tombstone
From the beginning..to the end.
He noted that first came her date of birth
And spoke the following date with tears, 1964-1994
But he said what mattered most of all
Was the dash between those years.

    For that dash represents all the time
    That she spent alive on earth..
    And now only those who loved her
    Know what that little line is worth.
    For it matters not, how much we own;
    The cars..the house..the cash,
    What matters is how we live and love
    And how we spend our dash.

    So think about this long and hard.
    Are there things you?d like to change?
    For you never know how much time is left,
    That can still be rearranged.
    If we could just slow down enough
    To consider what??s true and real,
    And always try to understand
    The way other people feel.

    And be less quick to anger,
    And show appreciation more
    And love the people in our lives
    Like we?ve never loved before.
    If we treat each other with respect,
    And more often wear a smile..
    Remembering that this special dash
    Might only last a little while.

    So, when your eulogy??s being read
    With your life??s actions to rehash..
    Would you be proud of the things they say
    About how you spent your dash?

I don't think this is particularly meant as a funeral or condolence poem but I do find it consoling anyway:

The Dead

The dead are always looking down on us,
they say,
while we are putting on our shoes or making a sandwich,
they are looking down through the glass-bottom boats,
of heaven as they row themselves slowly through eternity.
They watch the tops of our heads moving below on earth,
And when we lie down in a field or on a couch,
Drugged perhaps by the hum of a warm afternoon,
They think we are looking back at them,
which makes them lift their oars and fall silent and wait,
like parents,
for us to close our eyes.

Billy Collins

DrJohn - that is beautiful x

Love is Immortal - Author unknown

Love is pure energy and
No matter how hard you try,
You can never kill love
Because pure energy can't die
The feeling of love can fade,
And the body can cease to give,
But the energy created by love
Is immortal and continues
To live.

CHNL this is the next room one
Death Is Nothing At All
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 to me in the easy way 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 we always 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 effort
Without the ghost of a shadow in it
Life means all that it ever meant
It is the same as it ever was
There is absolute unbroken continuity
What is death but a negligible accident?
Why should I be out of mind
Because I am out of sight?
I am waiting for you for an interval
Somewhere very near
Just around the corner
All is well.
Nothing is past; 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!

Canon Henry Scott-Holland

I put a slightly modified version of the W H Auden (Stop All The Clocks?) one into my grandad's eulogy, it was read by a man who sounds like Sean Connery (I was stuck in Mexico and couldn't get home in time) and was very sweet.

Little Snowdrops

The world may never notice,
If a snowdrop doesn't bloom,
Or even pause to wonder,
If the petals fall to soon,
But every life that ever forms,
Or ever comes to be,
Touches the world in some small way,
For all eternity
The ones i still long for,
we here and then were gone,
But the love that was then planted,
Is a light that still shines on,
and though our hearts are empty
Our hearts know what to do,
Every beating of our hearts,
Say of our love for you.