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Music, when soft voices die

Reading time: 20 seconds

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Percy Bysshe Shelley · 1824

Music, when soft voices die

Percy Bysshe Shelley · 1824

Music, when soft voices die, Vibrates in the memory; Odours, when sweet violets sicken, Live within the sense they quicken. Rose leaves, when the rose is dead, Are heap'd for the belovèd's bed; And so thy thoughts, when thou art gone, Love itself shall slumber on.

Public domain in the UK and the US · serany.app

What Serany thinks about this poem

ComfortingFor a musicianFor a partner Gentle Non-religious Tear jerker

Background

Shelley wrote it in 1821 and never gave it a name. Mary Shelley found it among his papers and printed it in 1824, two years after he drowned at twenty-nine.

Meaning

Things don't stop when they stop. A tune carries on after the singing, a scent hangs about after the flower has gone, and someone's love outlasts them.

Who's it for

A musician or a singer, and anyone whose house was always full of music. It also fits a husband or wife, because what it says is that their love outlasts them.

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Afterwards

Thomas Hardy · 1917

When the Present has latched its postern behind my tremulous stay, And the May month flaps its glad green leaves like wings,

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Who's it for

Someone who noticed things other people walked straight past. Right for a gardener, a birdwatcher, or anyone who was kind to animals.

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Dirge Without Music

Edna St. Vincent Millay · 1928

I am not resigned to the shutting away of loving hearts in the hard ground. So it is, and so it will be, for so it has been, time out of mind:

1 min

Who's it for

A family who are angry about it and would rather not pretend otherwise. Right for a death that makes no sense to anyone who knew them.

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Epitaph on a Friend

Lord Byron · 1807

Oh, Friend! for ever lov'd, for ever dear! What fruitless tears have bathed thy honour'd bier!

2 min

Who's it for

A best friend, especially one who died young. Right for a family who would rather the grief were said out loud than smoothed over.

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Funeral Blues

W. H. Auden · 1936

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Who's it for

Someone who was everything to one person. It's for a mourner who doesn't want cheering up yet, and there's nothing better for a partner.

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Little Boy Blue

Eugene Field · 1888

The little toy dog is covered with dust, But sturdy and staunch he stands;

1 min

Who's it for

A small child, and a family who need the loss said simply rather than explained away. It is right where the toys are still in the house.

A classicFor a childGentleGone too soonPlain EnglishTear jerker

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Remember

Christina Rossetti · 1862

Remember me when I am gone away, Gone far away into the silent land;

50 sec

Who's it for

A long marriage, or a parent you were really close to. It's the person who died giving everyone permission to be happy again.

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Warm Summer Sun

Robert Richardson · 1893

Warm summer sun, shine friendly here; Warm western wind, blow kindly here;

10 sec

Who's it for

Someone who died young, and a family who want something very short and very tender. Right where a longer reading would be more than anyone could manage.

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When I have fears that I may cease to be

John Keats · 1848

When I have fears that I may cease to be Before my pen has glean'd my teeming brain,

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Who's it for

A writer, a painter, or anyone who had more they meant to make. It belongs to a person who died in the middle of their work.

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With rue my heart is laden

A. E. Housman · 1896

With rue my heart is laden For golden friends I had,

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Who's it for

A friend, which is the one it is really for, and anyone who died young. Right for someone who was good company and quick on their feet.

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Funeral Blues

W. H. Auden · 1936

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Who's it for

Someone who was everything to one person. It's for a mourner who doesn't want cheering up yet, and there's nothing better for a partner.

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Prospice

Robert Browning · 1864

Fear death?--to feel the fog in my throat, The mist in my face,

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Who's it for

Someone who fought their illness all the way and wanted to know exactly what was happening. Also right for a person going back to a husband or wife who died first.

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Remember

Christina Rossetti · 1862

Remember me when I am gone away, Gone far away into the silent land;

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Who's it for

A long marriage, or a parent you were really close to. It's the person who died giving everyone permission to be happy again.

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The Life That I Have

Leo Marks · 1943

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Who's it for

A widow or widower, and anyone who served. Right for a love that was certain, and someone who never went in for big words.

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Crossing the Bar

Alfred, Lord Tennyson · 1889

Sunset and evening star, And one clear call for me!

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Who's it for

Someone who had a long life and was ready. Especially right for anyone who went to sea, or just loved being near it.

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Death Is Nothing At All

Henry Scott Holland · 1919

Death is nothing at all. It does not count. I have only slipped away into 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.

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Who's it for

Almost any funeral, and it is the reading most families have already heard. Right for someone whose house was full of easy talk and jokes.

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Death stands above me

Walter Savage Landor · 1853

Death stands above me, whispering low I know not what into my ear:

15 sec

Who's it for

A family who do not believe in anything particular and would rather not pretend they do. Right for someone who was not afraid at the end.

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Do Not Stand At My Grave And Weep

Mary Elizabeth Frye · 1932

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Who's it for

Almost anyone, honestly. It's best of all for someone who was always outside: out walking, in the garden, never in the house.

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Epitaph on an Infant

Samuel Taylor Coleridge · 1794

Ere Sin could blight or Sorrow fade, Death came with friendly care;

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Who's it for

A baby, or a child who died very small. It is right where a family believe their child is somewhere safe and being looked after now.

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Fear No More the Heat o' the Sun

William Shakespeare · 1623

Fear no more the heat o' the sun, Nor the furious winter's rages:

50 sec

Who's it for

A person who worked hard all their life and had had enough by the end. It also fits someone who never cared much who was important and who wasn't.

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It is not growing like a tree

Ben Jonson · 1640

It is not growing like a tree In bulk, doth make man better be;

35 sec

Who's it for

Anyone who died young, and a family who need to hear that a short life was still a whole one. Right for a person who packed a lot in.

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On Death

Kahlil Gibran · 1923

For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun? And what is it to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?

40 sec

Who's it for

A family who want hope without a particular religion behind it. Right for someone curious about everything, who wasn't frightened of what came next.

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Remember

Christina Rossetti · 1862

Remember me when I am gone away, Gone far away into the silent land;

50 sec

Who's it for

A long marriage, or a parent you were really close to. It's the person who died giving everyone permission to be happy again.

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She Is Gone

David Harkins · 1981

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Who's it for

A mother or a grandmother, and a family trying to turn back towards living. Right for someone who'd have wanted everyone to get on with it.

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When I go from hence

Rabindranath Tagore · 1912

When I go from hence let this be my parting word, that what I have seen is unsurpassable. I have tasted of the hidden honey of this lotus that expands on the ocean of light, and thus am I blessed—let this be my parting word.

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Who's it for

Someone grateful and curious, who found something holy without needing a church for it. Right for a person who reckoned they had had the better of the bargain.

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