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
If I Could
If I could travel back in time I’d travel to your side Back to the day I said ‘I do’ And you made me your ...
Read Full Poem →
My Best Friend’s Departure
I jumped; you caught me. I laughed; you joked. I was down; you picked me up. I crumbled; you glued me back together. I loved ...
Read Full Poem →
Mother’s Love
The greatest wonders man can build Will all in time decay But the wonder of a Mother’s love Will never fade away
Read Full Poem →
The Prophet
For what is it to die? But to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun. And what is it to cease ...
Read Full Poem →
Turn Again To Life
If I should die and leave you here a while, Be not like others sore undone, Who keep long vigil by the silent dust. For ...
Read Full Poem →
Our Memories Build A Special Bridge
When loved ones have to part To help us feel were with them still And soothe a grieving heart They span the years and warm ...
Read Full Poem →
Remember Me – I Will Live Forever
The day will come when my body will lie upon a white sheet neatly tucked under four corners of a mattress located in a hospital; ...
Read Full Poem →
Fare Thee Well
“Fare thee well! and if forever, Still forever, fare _thee well_, Even though unforgiving, never ‘Gainst thee shall my heart rebel. Yet, O, yet thyself deceive ...
Read Full Poem →
In Memory
Serene and beautiful and very wise, Most erudite in curious Grecian lore, You lay and read your learned books, and bore A weight of unshed ...
Read Full Poem →
Remembrance
When to the sessions of sweet silent thought I summon up remembrance of things past, I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought, ...
Read Full Poem →
Reality
I have nightmares and can’t sleep. The loss of you is a wound so deep. My mind recorded the times we had. Knowing there will ...
Read Full Poem →
Adonais
Peace, peace! he is not dead, he doth not sleep — He hath awakened from the dream of life — ‘Tis we, who lost in ...
Read Full Poem →
Greenwood Cemetery
How calm they sleep beneath the shade Who once were weary of the strife, And bent, like us, beneath the load Of human life! The willow ...
Read Full Poem →
Troubled Heart
The moment you took your life, I felt mine ended too. If I could only turn back time, there’s so much I would undo. I ...
Read Full Poem →
But You Didn’t
Remember the time you lent me your car and I dented it? I thought you’d kill me… But you didn’t. Remember the time I forgot ...
Read Full Poem →