What is Death? (5): Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep
I found this poem, "Do not stand at my grave and weep" by Mary Elizabeth Frye and the history of how it happened to be written at the Businessballs.com website. This poem, too, tells us again, like the poem by Walt Whitman in my first posting, that death may not be the end of some sort of existence. I think because it has been difficult to ascribe a finality of life to death, this may contribute to the difficulty in defining death itself. In fact, physicians know about families who have taken their dead family members home from the hospital to maintain some sort of continued “support”. ..Maurice.
Do not stand at my grave and weep
Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there; I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow,
I am the sun on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there; I did not die.
posted by Maurice Bernstein, M.D. @ 10:06:00 PM
7 comments
7 Comments:
i love this poem it was read at my best friends funeral (JACOBE ORTA) GOD REST HIS SOUL
i love this poem and had heard about it before viewing your site. i love this site because it gives you all the right information about this truley touching poem. thank you for putting up this amazing site!!!
Thanks for your article. I think it clears up a lot of misconceptions and misattributations whereby many have "claimed" to be the authors of this piece all over the internet. In particular one Melinda Sue Pacho who seems to get credited far more than the orignal author Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Frye. It's sometimes given the title "I Did Not Die" and others take the credit for this poem because it was never copyrighted. (It would've been wonderful if The American Humane Society owned the copyright to this wonderful and much recited piece.) But "Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep" is by Mary Elizabeth Frye, a Baltimore housewife born Mary Elizabeth Clark in Dayton, Ohio Nov 13, 1905 - Died Sept 15, 2004.) and was written circa 1932-1933.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,60-1344731,00.html http://www.businessballs.com/donotstandatmygraveandweep.htm
Cheers and Best Regards,
¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·´ steve steinbach
ssteinbach@hotmail.com
This was the most favourite poem on one of numerous sympathy cards we received after our young son died in his sleep at 27 years of age. Not being religious, I do, however, believe in the spirituality captured in those words. Another beautiful poem this one brings to mind is "In Flanders Field", by John McRae.
Kelly Ryan broadcast her program, Poetic Journey, on the CBC radio program 'Ideas'. This program can be heard at 9:00 any weekday evening in Canada and on many American Public Broadcasting stations.
The poem when I read it at my stepfather's funeral, touched many with its somewhat natural view of death.
I find this discussion very interesting, mainly because the poem being discussed was written by Emily Dickinson, 1830-1886, a famous American poet. You can find a brief biography of her here:
http://www.ibiblio.org/cheryb/women/Emily-Dickinson-bio.html
and her poem, which is referred to as "Do Not Stand By My Grave and Weep"
can be read here:
http://www.muchloved.com/app/content/resources/funeral_poems.htm
as well as in many published volumes of her poetry and anthologies of famous American poetry.
How sad to see other people trying to claim responsibility for a lovely piece of work done by a famous American poet. If you're uncertain, you can go to any library and look at a book of Emily Dickison's poetry for proof that she was the author.
Anonymous from today July 14 2007: I see you are concerned that Emily Dickenson was not given credit for the poem you believe she wrote. However your links do not support your concerns, in fact, the link to muchloved.com's "Funeral Poems and Readings" actually attributes "Do Not Stand At My Grave And Weep" to "Mary Frye (1932)". I also can't find that poem at http://www.bartleby.com/113/index1.html which contains all of Dickenson's poems. I haven't yet gone to a library. ..Maurice.
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