A funeral reading can be a poem, a short passage or your own words. Choose something that fits the person and the ceremony, then check the reading length and whether you may reproduce it. A familiar title alone does not settle copyright or tell the reader which version to use.
Make the reading easy to deliver
Agree the exact text and edition with the person leading the service.
Read it aloud once and mark natural pauses in a large, clear copy.
Give a backup reader the same version in case you want them to take over.
Original short introduction: “I chose this reading because it reminds me of [name]’s [quality or memory]. You may hear something different in it, and that is welcome too.” Keep the introduction separate from the author’s words.
Can I change a poem and still attribute it to the original author?
Avoid presenting altered words as an exact quotation. If you want to adapt a protected work, check permission; you can instead choose an original personal reflection clearly written in your own voice.
Should the reader have to continue if they become upset?
No. Agree a simple handover signal beforehand and have another person hold the same text. Pausing or passing the reading on does not lessen the tribute.
GOV.UK distinguishes protection for written works from protection for published editions and recordings. Check the material you actually intend to reproduce, rather than relying only on a poem’s age. Check the work and edition before printing
Once the reading is confirmed, check that its title and any permitted printed text match the final order of service. Funeral order of service: layout and wording
Which classic funeral poems can you read and print in full?
In the UK, copyright in a written work lasts until 70 years after the author's death, so poems by writers who died long ago can be read aloud and printed in an order of service without permission. These four suit many kinds of ceremony, and each was published well over a century ago.
"Remember" by Christina Rossetti
Rossetti's sonnet asks the people left behind to remember her, but not at the cost of their happiness. It was first published in 1862 in Goblin Market and Other Poems (the text is on Project Gutenberg), and it suits a gentle, quiet moment in almost any ceremony.
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" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Tennyson imagines death as a ship putting out to sea on a calm evening tide. It appeared in 1889 in his collection Demeter and Other Poems. The final verse speaks of meeting a "Pilot", which many people read as God, so it sits naturally in a Christian service, though its imagery of the sea also appeals to people who loved the coast or sailing.
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.
"Death is nothing at all" by Henry Scott Holland
This much-loved reading is not a poem at all but part of a sermon, "The King of Terrors", that Holland gave in May 1910, after the death of King Edward VII. It was printed in 1919 in the collection Facts of the Faith. In the sermon, Holland describes this as one of two ways we can feel about death, alongside the sense of terrible loss, so it can sit honestly beside grief rather than deny it. This is how the passage begins in the 1919 text:
"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. Call me by the old familiar name."
"Requiem" by Robert Louis Stevenson
Stevenson's short poem was published in his 1887 collection Underwoods, according to the University of Toronto's Representative Poetry Online. It has no religious language and suits someone who loved the outdoors.
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.
Which modern funeral poems could you choose?
Many well-known funeral poems were written in the twentieth century and are still in copyright, so we name them here rather than quote them. You can find them in published anthologies or on the poets' or publishers' websites. If you want to print one in full in an order of service, check with the funeral director or the publisher first; reading a poem aloud at the ceremony is the more common way to include it.
"Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep", usually attributed to Mary Elizabeth Frye
"Funeral Blues", W. H. Auden
"If I Should Go", Joyce Grenfell
"She Is Gone (He Is Gone)", David Harkins
"When Great Trees Fall", Maya Angelou
"The Dash", Linda Ellis
Older poems such as John Donne's "Death, be not proud", first printed in 1633, are also out of copyright and can be printed freely.
What are good non-religious funeral readings?
A humanist or non-religious ceremony can include any reading that reflects the person and the people gathered. Stevenson's "Requiem" and Rossetti's "Remember" work well, as do many modern poems about nature, love and memory. Prose can be just as moving: a passage from a favourite novel, a letter the person once wrote, a few lines from their own diary or a short piece written by a grandchild.
Sometimes the best reading is a collection of small things: three or four short memories from different friends, read one after another. If you are planning the whole ceremony, our guide to the funeral order of service shows where readings usually sit, and the eulogy guide helps if you are writing your own words.
Which readings suit a religious funeral?
In a Christian service, readings are often chosen with the minister and commonly come from the Bible, such as Psalm 23, the passage from Ecclesiastes about there being a time for everything, or words from John 14. A poem can usually be added as a second reading.
Other faiths have their own scriptures and prayers, and the officiant will guide the family. At Sikh funerals, hymns from the Guru Granth Sahib are sung and the evening prayer Sohila Sahib is recited at the cremation, as the National Association of Funeral Directors' guide to Sikh funerals explains. Islamic funerals include readings from the Qur'an. Hindu, Jewish, Buddhist and other traditions each have their own prayers and texts, so ask the officiant whether a personal poem fits within the ceremony or would sit better at a gathering afterwards.
How do you choose the right funeral reading?
Start with the person, not the poem. Think about what they loved, how they spoke and what they believed. A reading that sounds like them, or that they once quoted, will mean more than a famous poem that does not. It also helps to think about the people listening: a reading that names a feeling everyone shares can bring a room together.
Keep length in mind. A ceremony usually also includes a tribute and music, and crematorium services are short; Coventry City Council, for example, allows 30 minutes for the service within a 45-minute slot. A reading that takes a couple of minutes to read slowly is usually enough. If you love a longer poem, you could read an extract and print the rest.
How do you read a poem aloud at a funeral?
Practise it out loud several times, ideally standing up, so the words feel familiar in your mouth. Print it in a large font, mark where you will breathe and slow down: almost everyone reads too fast when they are nervous. Look up between verses if you can, but there is no need to.
It is completely normal to cry while reading. Pause, take a breath and carry on, and the room will wait for you. Agree in advance that someone else has a copy and can step in if you need them to, which often makes it easier to get through it yourself.
Frequently asked questions: Funeral poems
Can you print a poem in the order of service?
Yes, if it is out of copyright, which in the UK means the author died more than 70 years ago, or if you have permission. For newer poems, print the title and author and read it aloud.
How many readings should there be at a funeral?
There is no rule. It depends on the length of the service and how many people want to take part. In a short crematorium slot, one or two readings alongside a tribute and music is usually plenty.
Can a child read a poem at a funeral?
Yes, if they want to. A short poem, a sentence or two of their own, or reading alongside an adult can help a child feel included. Make sure they know it is fine to change their mind.
Who wrote "Death is nothing at all"?
Henry Scott Holland, a canon of St Paul's Cathedral and Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford. The words come from a sermon published in 1919 in Facts of the Faith.
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