The Art of Saying Goodbye in Verse Through Funeral Poems

A final farewell is the hardest of all goodbyes, and when faced with such deep loss, funeral poems are a healthy way to express one’s sorrow. Poetry is a remarkable source of comfort in difficult moments, providing a way to articulate the complex emotions that accompany grief, or even giving us verses to resonate with other poets. They capture the most profound sentiments of our love, pain, and memories, offering safe solace and a place to honour those we have lost. Below, we’ll explore why funeral poems have the significant impact they do, introduce some unconventional yet poignant examples of poetry about death, and invite you to discover for yourself the healing power of the written word through the AVBOB Poetry Project.

Why Funeral Poems Are So Powerful

Fun eral poems reach the heart in ways that ordinary speech often cannot. They distil our emotions into careful, tender verses, transforming the rawness of our grief into something that can be shared, understood, and even cherished by many for generations to come. Grief is not something we “get over”; it is a lifelong response to loss that we must learn to live with. Funeral poetry helps us to carry our grief in a way that honours the love we still hold. This allows us to live with our grief – not by diminishing it, but by moving forward alongside it so that we can live with a greater sense of peace.

Famous Examples of Poetic Farewells

A q uick search online or in your local library will find plenty of famous funeral poems and poetry centred on death. Some may be more traditional, and others may offer unique perspectives and insights to explore on your journey to healing. Here are three poems that, though not typ ical as funeral elegies, offer meaningful and inter esting reflections on life, de ath, and memory:

1. “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” by Emily Dickinson: Emily Dickinson was no stranger to themes of mortality, and “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” is one of her most famous funeral poems. In this piece, death is personified as a gentle guide who leads the speaker on one last journey. The line “Because I could not stop for Death – He kindly stopped for me” suggests a kind of surrendering to death as a natural part of life. This poem can offer comfort to those who see death not as an end but as a continuation of a journey with a familiar friend.
   
   
2. “Night Funeral in Harlem” by Langston Hughes: Langston Hughes captures the bittersweet reality of loss in this poem, telling us the story of a modest funeral that was rich in community spirit and love. Though “Night Funeral in Harlem” is specific to its own context, its themes of communal care and grieving are universal. In the last few lines, Hughes writes about the shared community grief that shows though the boy may not have had much money, his wealth lay in how much he was loved:
   “It was all their tears that made
   That poor boy’s
   Funeral grand.”
   
   
3. “The Life That I Have” by Leo Marks: During the Second World War, poems were sometimes used to encrypt messages to allies, and these were known as poem codes. Unfortunately, famous poems used for these poem codes made it easy to decrypt messages once enemy cryptanalysts identified their source. As a cryptographer, Leo Marks decided to overcome this issue by using his own work – and one poem he used was originally a piece he had written in memory of his late girlfriend. Beyond its historical significance, “The Life That I Have” is a simple and sorrowful piece about a man devoted to his love for another – a love that not even death could sever.
   
   

Exploring Funeral Poems Through the AVBOB Poetry Project

At the AVBOB Poetry Project, we believe in the power of words to heal, comfort, and remember. Our platform was created to provide a space for South Africans to express their emotions and memories through the art of poetry, and over the years, we’ve gathered a rich collection of poems that reflect the diverse experiences and voices of the talented poets who have contributed. If you would like to read some funeral poems within our library, simply click here. You can also submit up to 10 poems of your own for a chance to win a cash prize of R10 000.