And thou art dead, as young and fair
As aught of mortal birth;
And forms so soft and charms so rare
Too soon return’d to Earth!
Though Earth received them in her bed,
And o’er the spot the crowd may tread
In carelessness or mirth,
There is an eye which could not brook
A moment on that grave to look.
I will not ask where thou liest low
Nor gaze upon the spot;
There flowers and weeds at will may grow
So I behold them not:
It is enough for me to prove
That what I loved and long must love
Like common earth can rot;
To me there needs no stone to tell
‘Tis Nothing that I loved so well.
Yet did I love thee to the last,
As fervently as thou
Who didst not change through all the past
And canst not alter now.
The love where Death has set his seal
Nor age can chill, nor rival steal,
Nor falsehood disavow:
And, what were worse, thou canst not see
Or wrong, or change, or fault in me.
The better days of life were ours;
The worst can be but mine:
The sun that cheers, the storm that lours
Shall never more be thine.
The silence of that dreamless sleep
I envy now too much to weep;
Nor need I to repine
That all those charms have pass’d away
I might have watch’d through long decay.
The flower in ripen’d bloom unmatch’d
Must fall the earliest prey;
Though by no hand untimely snatch’d,
The leaves must drop away.
And yet it were a greater grief
To watch it withering, leaf by leaf,
Than see it pluck’d to-day;
Since earthly eye but ill can bear
To trace the change from foul to fair.
I know not if I could have borne
To see thy beauties fade;
The night that follow’d such a morn
Had worn a deeper shade:
Thy day without a cloud hath past,
And thou wert lovely to the last,
Extinguish’d, not decay’d;
As stars that shoot along the sky
Shine brightest as they fall from high.
As once I wept if I could weep,
My tears might well be shed
To think I was not near, to keep
One vigil o’er thy bed:
To gaze, how fondly! on thy face,
To fold thee in a faint embrace,
Uphold thy drooping head;
And show that love, however vain,
Nor thou nor I can feel again.
Yet how much less it were to gain,
Though thou hast left me free,
The loveliest things that still remain
Than thus remember thee!
The all of thine that cannot die
Through dark and dread Eternity
Returns again to me,
And more thy buried love endears
Than aught except its living years.
Funeral Poems & Readings
Elegy On Thyrza
A funeral poem for comfort during unsettling times
Print
Elegy On Thyrza
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
WhatsApp
Email
Print
Funeral Shop
Keeping the memory alive. See our high-quality range of funeral products and jewellery including urns, ash pendants, keepsakes, candle holders, bracelets, rings and more.
More Funeral Poems
My Mother
Look up to the sky. Now tell me what you see. A cloud, the moon, possibly the sun. Many answers there will be. When I ...
Read Full Poem →
From ‘The Excursion’
And when the stream that overflows has passed,A consciousness remains upon the silent shore of memory;Images and precious thoughts that shall not beAnd cannot be ...
Read Full Poem →
My Dad
We miss your face; you were taken too soon. Your beaming smile that lit up the room, Them cheeky dimples and twinkle in your eye. ...
Read Full Poem →
Hester
When maidens such as Hester die Their place ye may not well supply, Though ye among a thousand try With vain endeavour. A month or ...
Read Full Poem →
The Lord’s my Shepherd – Psalm 23
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. ...
Read Full Poem →
No Goodbyes
Oh Father, can you hear me? I’m sending a prayer your way, I’m clutching hard to my faith, as mom taught me, As she draws ...
Read Full Poem →
Celebrating A Life-In Words Of One Syllable
Strange that it should be so, Be born and live and grow, Watch weird new worlds go by In the blink of an eye.Wake up ...
Read Full Poem →
I Am Standing Upon The Seashore
I am standing upon the seashore. A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean. ...
Read Full Poem →
Letting Go
You’re still here in my heart and mind, still making me laugh because your stories live on. I hold you in a thought and I ...
Read Full Poem →
Requiem
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 ...
Read Full Poem →
Mya’s Wish
Dear God, My name is Mya Hailey Garcia, and I live here on Earth, and as far as I’ve been told, whatever I want, I ...
Read Full Poem →
The Bluebird
The Bluebird of happiness sang high above Bringing joy to a dark world of strife Its soft wings protected and nurtured our love And its ...
Read Full Poem →
When We Lose A Loved One
When we lose a loved one Our world just falls apart We think that we cant carry on With this broken heart Everything is different ...
Read Full Poem →
My Dad
I know this man Who is dear to my heart. Suddenly one day It was torn all apart. This man taught me everything That I ...
Read Full Poem →
In Memory
A thousand times we needed you. A thousand times we cried. If love alone could have saved you, you never would have died. A heart ...
Read Full Poem →