Funeral texts

Most funerals feature readings, often presented by family members or close friends of the departed.

Choosing an approriate text can be tricky  –  unless the deceased has done this for you, or had a collection of favourite poems that you can draw on.

The best funeral texts carry a simple, thought-provoking message. They may focus on the natural, inevitable cycle of life, or  –  for believers – evoke the positive prospects of a life after death.

Funeral texts, above all, are designed to bring comfort to the bereaved. They can even be funny.

Here is a selection of poems and other texts that you might like to consider:

Poems

"Funeral Blues" ("Stop all the Clocks") by W.H. Auden

"They are not dead/Who leave us this great heritage of remembering joy" (Anon.)

"Remember" by Christina Rossetti

"Do not stand at my grave and weep/I am not there, I do not sleep" (Anon.)

Prose

"Death is nothing at all, I have only slipped away into the next room" by Henry Scott Holland

"The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want" (Psalm 23)