Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream! –
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.
Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.
Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.
Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.
Trust no Future, howe’er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act, — act in the living Present!
Heart within, and God o’erhead!
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;
Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.
Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.
Funeral Poems & Readings
Footprints On The Sands Of Time
A funeral poem for comfort during unsettling times
Print
Footprints On The Sands Of Time
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
Remember Me
Remember me as you pass by As you are now so once was I As I am now so will you be Prepare yourself to ...
Read Full Poem →
For My Little One
I never saw your twinkling eyes Or touched your precious feet. I never shared a tiny yawn Or rocked you fast asleep. I never kissed ...
Read Full Poem →
There Is No Night Without A Dawning
No winter without a spring And beyond the dark horizon Our hearts will once more sing …. For those who leave us for a while ...
Read Full Poem →
Goodbye
I never knew a single word could alter all it touched I never knew a word could make me cry I never knew our last ...
Read Full Poem →
A Child Of Mine
I will lend you, for a little time, A child of mine, He said. For you to love the while he lives, And mourn for ...
Read Full Poem →
Songs of the Death of Children (Kindertotenlieder)
You must not shut the night inside you, But endlessly in light the dark immerse. A tiny lamp has gone out in my tent – ...
Read Full Poem →
A Picture Of You
I only have a picture now, A frozen piece of time, To remind me of how it was, When you were here, and mine. 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 →
Annabel Lee
It was many and many a year ago, In a kingdom by the sea, That a maiden there lived whom you may know By the ...
Read Full Poem →
If Only You Could Have Stayed
Constantly thinking, never to be the same. The tears fall quickly just hearing your name. Silence is golden, yet not anymore. Silence brings thoughts I ...
Read Full Poem →
All That Was Her
Where’s she gone, the one we knew, The one we knew and loved, Who knew us all and loved us all – Where now is ...
Read Full Poem →
A Prayer For Mama
My dear sweet heavenly father, I come to you today with faith and hope; I ask, send an angel Mama’s way. I know her time ...
Read Full Poem →
The Last Invocation
At the last, tenderly, From the walls of the powerful fortress‘d house, From the clasp of the knitted locks, from the keep of the well-closed ...
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 →
Tis Only We Who Grieve
Tis only we who grieve They do not leave They are not gone They look upon us still They walk among the valleys now They ...
Read Full Poem →