Stoic funeral poems

Poems that face it squarely and do not complain. They suit someone who got on with things, and a family who would rather not be told how to feel.

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11 poems

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.

StoicNon-religiousComfortingGentlePlain EnglishPeace at last

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Death, be not proud

John Donne · 1633

Death, be not proud, though some have callèd thee Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so:

55 sec

Who's it for

A believer, and a family who want something with some fight in it rather than a quiet goodbye. It suits a person who argued back all their life.

A classicReligiousUpliftingStoicUnusual

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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.

A classicTraditionalComfortingPeace at lastStoicA long lifeAfter dementia

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I Shall Not Care

Sara Teasdale · 1915

When I am dead and over me bright April Shakes out her rain-drenched hair,

25 sec

Who's it for

Someone who was their own person and never needed anyone's approval. Right for a woman who did things her own way and would have hated a fuss.

UnusualNon-religiousStoic

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I strove with none

Walter Savage Landor · 1849

I strove with none, for none was worth my strife. Nature I loved, and, next to Nature, Art;

15 sec

Who's it for

Someone who reached a good age and stayed out of other people's arguments. Right for a person who loved being outdoors or worked with their hands, and was content by the end.

StoicNon-religiousPlain EnglishA long lifeOutdoorsy

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Invictus

William Ernest Henley · 1888

Out of the night that covers me, Black as the Pit from pole to pole,

50 sec

Who's it for

Someone who got dealt a hard hand and never let it decide who they were. The person others called stubborn and you would call brave.

StoicA classicNon-religiousFought to the endFor a veteran

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No coward soul is mine

Emily Brontë · 1850

No coward soul is mine, No trembler in the world's storm-troubled sphere:

1 min

Who's it for

A person whose faith was entirely their own and who had no time for churches. Right for someone nobody could frighten.

StoicUpliftingReligiousUnusual

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Prospice

Robert Browning · 1864

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

2 min

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.

Fought to the endStoicUpliftingReligiousFor a partner

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Requiem

Robert Louis Stevenson · 1887

Under the wide and starry sky, Dig the grave and let me lie.

25 sec

Who's it for

Someone who travelled, or worked outdoors, or just loved a big view. Right for a person who was happy with the life they got.

OutdoorsyStoicA classicPlain EnglishNon-religious

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