Uplifting funeral poems: happy and hopeful poetry and readings
Are you looking for uplifting poems for a loved one's funeral? Explore 8 examples of optimistic poetry and readings.
Traditionally, funerals are sombre affairs. People wear smart clothes in muted colours and sit quietly and respectfully.
This extends to music and readings, too. Often, people choose poems that focus on sadness, grief and reflection.
Increasingly, however, people want funerals to be occasions for joyful remembrance as well as sorrow.
Sometimes, this takes the form of a celebration of life – a positive spin on a traditional funeral encourages people to celebrate as well as mourn.
But even traditional funerals can have readings that lift up and speak of hope, not sorrow. Humour, too, is a possibility.
As with all choices related to funerals, it all comes down to the personality of the person who has died. If you think they would have appreciated an uplifting, happy or hopeful poem, it will probably be an appropriate choice.
Eight uplifting funeral poems and readings
There are lots of poems and readings to choose from. At a time of grief, some people find this a difficult choice to make.
That's why we've put together this list of seven uplifting funeral poems, plus a happy and hopeful reading from the Bible. We hope it helps you choose something that feels like a good fit.
1. David Harkins: "She is Gone"
This poem is a popular choice at funerals. Its simple message is summed up in the closing lines:
You can remember her and only that she is 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 would want: smile, open your eyes, love and go on.
The poem was read at the Queen Mother's funeral in 2022. That led to a search for its true author.
Read the poem in full and learn its fascinating story.
2. William Shakespeare: Prospero's speech from The Tempest
Spoken by the magician and father Prospero in Shakespeare's The Tempest, this beautiful speech compares life to a play or a dream:
Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits, and
Are melted into air, into thin air…
We are such stuff
As dreams are made on; and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.
Read Prospero's speech from The Tempest in full.
3. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: "A Psalm of Life"
"Tell me not," writes American poet Longfellow, "Life is but an empty dream!" He recognises that "Time is fleeting" and that "our hearts… Are beating / Funeral marches to the grave."
He doesn't, however, see this as a cause for sorrow. Instead, knowing this teaches us to "act in the living Present". The poem ends with a rousing verse that could be suitable for a funeral:
Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.
Read "A Psalm for Life" in full.
4. John 14: 1-3: "Do not let your hearts be troubled…"
This passage from the New Testament is spoken by Jesus before his crucifixion. He promises his disciples an eternal home in Heaven with the unforgettable image of a house with many rooms:
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.
My Father's house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am."
5. Walt Whitman: "O Me! O Life!"
This poem by the American poet Walt Whitman takes the form of a question and answer. The question is long and despairing. Listing the bad things in life, he asks: "What good amid these, O me, O life?"
The answer is a celebration of life – and one that could reassure people at a funeral:
That you are here – that life exists and identity,
That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.
6. "Yes" by Tess Gallagher
When a person you love dies, it can be comforting to think that they would want you to be happy as well as mourn. This is the theme of Tess Gallagher's short, romantic poem "Yes":
Do you want me to mourn? Do you want me to wear black?
Or like moonlight on whitest sand to use your dark, to gleam, to shimmer?
I gleam. I mourn.
7. Henry Scott Holland: "All is Well"
This much-loved poem is written from the perspective of a person who has died. It encourages the person left behind to act no differently:
Death is nothing at all,
I have only slipped into the next room
I am I and you are you
He advises against a "forced air of solemnity or sorrow" and encourages the loved one to "Play, smile, think of me, pray for me." After all, he concludes:
I am waiting for you…
Just around the corner.
All is well.
8. Wendy Cope: "My Funeral"
Henry Scott Holland encourages his loved one to "Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes we enjoyed together." This feeling runs through Wendy Cope's humorous poem "My Funeral" – a poem that celebrates human imperfection:
Yes, I was intolerant, and not always polite
And if there aren't many people at my funeral, it will serve me right.
AFD is a London-based independent funeral director. Explore our blog for more funeral ideas, including poems, readings and songs. Or read our funeral planning guides for step-by-step advice on arranging a funeral.
