Funeral Poems & Readings

Footprints On The Sands Of Time

A funeral poem for comfort during unsettling times

Print

Footprints On The Sands Of Time

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.

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.

Sourced From

More Funeral Poems

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 →

All Is Well

Death is nothing at all, I have only slipped into the next room I am I and you are you Whatever we were to each ...
Read Full Poem →

When I Am Dead, My Dearest

When I am dead, my dearest, Sing no sad songs for me; Plant thou no roses at my head, Nor shady cypress tree: With showers ...
Read Full Poem →

Precious Memory

The rain may wash my pain away The wind may dry my tears The Summer sun may heal my heart And time subdue my fears ...
Read Full Poem →

I Let You Go

I send you to the restless sun Awaiting your sweet shine, And in between this world and next I’ll hold your hand in mine. For ...
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 →

I Love You, Son

My dear son, I miss you so much. It keeps hurting; I can’t stop crying. My eyes always search for you in the sky. My ...
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 →

The Candle

A candle burns bright in a window of gold A beacon for life’s weary heart Promising beauty and splendours untold Of a world that now ...
Read Full Poem →

Missing You, Nan

The years will always roll on by and time will always pass, but every memory I have of you will definitely always last. I like ...
Read Full Poem →

The Fight

My body’s cold, lips are blue. Why did I do this because of you? I feel the earth below me like a pillow under my ...
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 →

In Memory Of My Dad

If I could write a story, It would be the greatest ever told Of a kind and loving father Who had a heart of gold. ...
Read Full Poem →

Remember Me

Speak of me as you have always done. Remember the good times, laughter, and fun. Share the happy memories we’ve made. Do not let them ...
Read Full Poem →

Love Shines Through

Like a shadow in the moonlight Like the whisper of the seas Like the echoes of a melody Just beyond our reach In the shadow ...
Read Full Poem →