Funeral Poems for Programs: How to Choose, Print and Credit Them

The back page of a funeral program is often where families place a poem. It is the last thing people read before the service begins, and the piece of the program most likely to be kept, pinned to a fridge or tucked into a book. Choosing it can feel weighty – you want words that sound like the person, comfort the people in the room, and fit on the page at a size older guests can read.

This guide helps with all of that. It prints the full text of several classic poems that are in the public domain and therefore free to print, lists popular modern poems that are still under copyright (and explains what that means for your program), offers short verses that fit on prayer cards and thank-you cards, and finishes with practical advice on layout and crediting.

How to choose a funeral poem

A few questions help narrow the choice quickly:

• Did the person have a favourite poem, hymn or saying? If so, that is usually the answer.
• What was their outlook? Some poems are explicitly religious; others are secular; some sit comfortably between the two.
• Who is the poem for? Some poems speak in the voice of the person who has died, comforting those left behind ("Do not stand at my grave and weep"). Others speak about the person, or about grief itself. Both work; just be aware of the voice.
• What is the tone of the service? A celebration of life may call for something lighter; a traditional funeral for something more formal.
• How much space do you have? On the back of a 5.5×8.5 inch program, a poem of up to about sixteen to twenty short lines sits comfortably alongside other details. A longer poem may need its own page.
• Will it be read aloud? If a family member is reading it, choose something they can read without stumbling, and ideally something they connect with.

Classic funeral poems in the public domain

The following poems were published long enough ago, by authors who died long enough ago, that they are in the public domain in the United States and the United Kingdom. You can print them in full.

"Remember" – Christina Rossetti (1830–1894)

A sonnet in the voice of someone who is dying, asking to be remembered – but saying that if remembering brings sadness, it is better to forget and smile. It is one of the most frequently chosen secular funeral poems, and its gentleness suits almost any service.

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.

"Crossing the Bar" – Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892)

Tennyson asked that this poem be placed at the end of all collections of his work. It uses the image of a ship crossing the sandbar at the mouth of a harbour and heading out to sea. It has a quiet religious hope in its final lines ("I hope to see my Pilot face to face"), and is especially loved for sailors, fishermen and people who loved the sea.

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.

"Requiem" – Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894)

Short, plain-spoken and memorable. Its final two lines are among the most quoted in English. It suits people who loved the outdoors, travel or the sea, and its brevity makes it ideal for a card.

Under the wide and starry sky,

Dig the grave and let me lie.

Glad did I live and gladly die,

And I laid me down with a will.

This be the verse you grave for me:

Here he lies where he longed to be;

Home is the sailor, home from sea,

And the hunter home from the hill.

If the person was a woman, families sometimes adapt the sixth line to "Here she lies where she longed to be." If you adapt a poem, it is courteous to add "(adapted)" after the credit.

"If I Can Stop One Heart from Breaking" – Emily Dickinson (1830–1886)

A short poem about the value of small kindnesses. It is especially fitting for nurses, teachers, carers, volunteers and anyone known for quietly helping others.

If I can stop one heart from breaking,

I shall not live in vain;

If I can ease one life the aching,

Or cool one pain,

Or help one fainting robin

Unto his nest again,

I shall not live in vain.

"Death Is Nothing at All" (extract) – Henry Scott Holland (1847–1918)

Originally part of a sermon preached in 1910, this passage is now read at funerals of every kind. It speaks in the voice of the person who has died, asking those left behind to carry on as before. The full passage is a little long for a back page; the opening is often printed on its own.

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 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 we enjoyed together.

"Fear No More the Heat o' the Sun" (first verse) – William Shakespeare

From *Cymbeline*, this song offers the comfort of rest after a life's work. It suits a formal service or someone who loved literature and theatre.

Fear no more the heat o' the sun,

Nor the furious winter's rages;

Thou thy worldly task hast done,

Home art gone, and ta'en thy wages:

Golden lads and girls all must,

As chimney-sweepers, come to dust.

Other public-domain options worth considering

• "Because I could not stop for Death" – Emily Dickinson
• "Death, be not proud" – John Donne (Holy Sonnet X; religious)
• "Song of Myself" (extracts) – Walt Whitman
• "O Captain! My Captain!" – Walt Whitman (often chosen for a respected leader or father figure)
• "Adonais" (extracts) – Percy Bysshe Shelley
• "Thanatopsis" (closing lines) – William Cullen Bryant
• "The Lord is my shepherd" – Psalm 23 (see Bible verses for funeral programs)

Popular modern funeral poems (check copyright before printing)

Many of the most-requested funeral poems were written in the twentieth century and remain under copyright, or have uncertain authorship. Families still choose them often – and they can still be read aloud at the service. The question is whether you print the full text in the program.

• "Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep" – widely attributed to Mary Elizabeth Frye (1930s). One of the most popular funeral poems in the world.
• "Funeral Blues" ("Stop all the clocks") – W. H. Auden. Powerful and grief-stricken rather than consoling.
• "She Is Gone" / "He Is Gone" – David Harkins. Encourages choosing to remember and smile.
• "Miss Me, But Let Me Go" – author unknown.
• "When Great Trees Fall" – Maya Angelou.
• "When Death Comes" and "In Blackwater Woods" – Mary Oliver.
• "The Dash" – Linda Ellis. About the "dash" between the dates on a headstone.
• "Turn Again to Life" – often attributed to Mary Lee Hall.
• "Gone from My Sight" / "The Ship" – variously attributed to Henry Van Dyke and Luther Beecher.
• "Footprints in the Sand" – authorship disputed; several people have claimed it.

What copyright means for your program

Copyright protects a poem's text for a long period after the author's death – the details vary by country. Printing the full text of a copyrighted poem in a program you distribute is, technically, reproducing it. Practices vary, and many families print popular poems without thinking about it, but there are simple ways to stay on the safe side:

• Print the title and author only, with the name of the person reading it. The reader reads from their own copy.
• Print a short extract, two to four lines, with the credit.
• Ask permission. Some publishers and estates grant permission for funeral programs, sometimes for a small fee; some poems' official websites explain how.
• Choose a public-domain poem for the printed page and have the modern poem read aloud.

If an authorship is disputed, avoid attributing it to someone it may not belong to; "author unknown" or "attributed to" is accurate and respectful.

Short verses for cards and back pages

Short lines are useful for prayer cards, memorial cards, thank-you cards and the bottom of a back page.

Secular

• "To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die." – Thomas Campbell, "Hallowed Ground"
• "Unable are the loved to die, for love is immortality." – Emily Dickinson
• "Home is the sailor, home from sea, and the hunter home from the hill." – Robert Louis Stevenson
• "Better by far you should forget and smile than that you should remember and be sad." – Christina Rossetti
• "Gone from our sight, but never from our hearts."
• "Those we love don't go away; they walk beside us every day."
• "Forever in our hearts."
• "Loved always, missed every day."

Religious

• "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith." – 2 Timothy 4:7 (KJV)
• "Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted." – Matthew 5:4 (KJV)
• "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." – Psalm 116:15 (KJV)
• "Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them."

Poems for particular people

For a mother or grandmother

Rossetti's "Remember" is a frequent choice, as is Dickinson's "If I Can Stop One Heart from Breaking" for a mother remembered for her care. Many families also choose a favourite hymn verse.

For a father or grandfather

Stevenson's "Requiem" suits an outdoorsman or traveller; Tennyson's "Crossing the Bar" suits a man of quiet faith or someone who loved the sea; Whitman's "O Captain! My Captain!" is sometimes chosen for a father who led the family.

For a veteran

"Crossing the Bar" is a long-standing choice at naval funerals. Laurence Binyon's "For the Fallen" (the "Ode of Remembrance": "They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old") is traditional in the UK, Australia and New Zealand; Binyon died in 1943, so the poem is in the public domain in many countries but not all. See military and veteran funeral programs.

For a young person

Families often choose song lyrics, a passage from a favourite book, or something the young person wrote themselves. Holland's "Death Is Nothing at All" is also often chosen for its warmth and directness.

For a celebration of life

Something lighter: Holland's passage, Stevenson's "Requiem," or a short line printed beneath a favourite photo. See celebration of life program wording.

Writing your own poem: a simple method

Families sometimes want to write something themselves but feel they are "not a poet." A poem for a funeral does not need rhyme or clever imagery. A simple method that works:

1. Write down five concrete memories. Not feelings – things. "Your coffee cup with the chipped handle." "The way you whistled while you mowed." "Saturday pancakes."
2. Give each memory one line. Start each with the same words if it helps: "I remember..." or "You were..."
3. Add a turn. After the memories, one or two lines about now: "The kitchen is quiet." "We still set your place."
4. End with something you want to say to them. "Thank you." "We'll keep whistling." "Until we meet again."

Read it aloud. Cut any line that sounds like a greeting card rather than like your family. The result is usually eight to twelve lines – exactly the right length for a back page – and nobody else in the world could have written it. Credit it simply: "by her granddaughter, Emma."

Asking a child to choose or read

Grandchildren often want to contribute. A child can choose a short poem from two or three options, read a few lines with a parent standing beside them, or write a single line of their own to be printed beneath the main poem. Keep the choice simple, and make it clear there is no pressure to read aloud on the day – a printed contribution counts just as much.

Laying out a poem on the program

• Center short poems; left-align long ones. Centered text looks graceful for a few short lines but is harder to read for long stanzas.
• Keep the line breaks. Poems are written in lines for a reason; do not run them together into paragraphs.
• Leave space around it. A poem needs breathing room. If the back page is crowded, consider moving the poem to the inside cover.
• Use a readable size. At least 10 to 11 point for the body of the poem. An italic or script heading can carry the decorative feel instead.
• Credit clearly. Put the author's name beneath the poem, right-aligned or centered, in a slightly smaller size.
• Split stanzas with a blank line, not with a decorative ornament between every stanza.

Reading a poem aloud at the service

If someone will read the poem, help them:

• Give them a large-print copy, not just the program
• Suggest they read it aloud a few times beforehand
• Suggest they pause at line ends where there is punctuation, not at every line break
• Remind them it is fine to stop for a breath, or to have someone stand beside them

Frequently asked questions

Can I print any poem in a funeral program?

Public-domain poems, yes. For poems still under copyright, the safest approach is to print the title and author, a short extract, or to ask permission.

How long should a funeral poem be?

For a back page, up to about sixteen to twenty short lines. For a card, two to eight lines.

Should the poem go on the front or the back?

Usually the back page or the inside cover. A single line can work on the cover beneath the name.

Can we write our own poem?

Absolutely. A poem written by a family member, even a simple one, can be the most meaningful item in the program.

Add it to the program

In our funeral program maker, the back page has a dedicated reading field with a short library of commonly chosen readings and prayers, or you can paste your own. The layout keeps line breaks and adjusts the size to fit. See also our in loving memory template for card designs built around a short verse, and pricing for the print-ready download.