17+ Poems About Death to Help You Through Grief

Have you noticed that in the deepest moments of grief, we are unable to find words?

Especially on the death of a loved one.

Yet somehow, some poets have found ways to capture the emotions.

Their verses are a source of comfort for people who have lost someone close.

Funerals are one of the most emotional occasions, as we imagine what our life would be without the person we have lost.

Mahatma Gandhi once said,

“You don’t know who is important to you until you lose them.”

We need some words of comfort, understanding, and even a new way of thinking about our loved one’s legacy.

You can read some sad poems from famous poets, or you can make your own poems.

Yes, you can! Even if you are not a poet. You can generate a poem using AI.

You will just have to provide a little description of the occasion and the emotions you have.

It will generate a relevant poem, and you will just have to modify it according to your will.

The following poems by some famous poets are perfect for occasions of grief and sorrow.

Death poems to read at your mom’s funeral

The loss of a mother is a theme that has moved many famous poets over the centuries.

These elegy poems have efficiently captured the grief, memories, and profound love associated with this loss.

1. Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep

Writer: Mary Elizabeth Frye
Published: 1932

Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there; I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glisten on the snow.

I am the sunlight on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you wake in the morning hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush

Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there; I did not die.

2. On My Mother's Death

Writer: Abraham Cowley
Published: 1656

Most truly honoured, and as truly dear
If worth in me or ought I do appear,
Who can of right better demand the same?
Than may your lights from me claim?

The principal of what I owe,
I mean the seeds to all that's good,
The father of the flower is there,
Though the fruit elsewhere grows and mature;

Not that my sufficiency is strong
But that the sacred hunger still remains.

3. Epitaph on my Mother

Writer: Richard Crashaw
Published: 1646

Here lies
A woman, who had no fame but virtue
A life, that knew no noise but her own prayers
A mind, that did converse above the stars

A tongue, that never spoke against the skies
A heart, whose love was such as ne'er could rise
Until it reached that happy place wherein
It now does rest, free from grief and sin.

4. On the Death of Anne Porter, My Mother

Writer: Lucy Terry Prince
Published: 1770

Farewell dear mother, now thou art gone
And left me here to weep;
Gone to thy heavenly throne—
Laid in thy lasting sleep.

No more thy tender voice I hear,
No more behold thy face;
No more thy counsels now I share,
Nor feel thy fond embrace.

Express your grief at losing your dad

Dads are the first love of daughters and the first heroes of sons. Their loss is the ultimate loss you can suffer on the face of the earth.

There should be some ode poems along with sad ones on the loss of a father.

5. Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

Writer: Dylan Thomas
Published: 1951

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rage at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,

Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,

Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

6. Father And I

Writer: Ruby Archer
Published: 1900

Father and I were gypsies.―
We tried to lose our way
Among the woodland mystery,
When we'd a holiday.

My hand about his finger,
We followed brook and dell.
No need to voice our ecstasy―
The robins told it well.

His love I took for granted,
Owned every dear caress,
Nor dreame'd of how a little girl
Would feel when fatherless.

Now I, poor lonely gypsey
Roam wood and hill and blue;
But no one loves them all with me
As Father used to do.

7. Goodbye Dad

Writer: Leanne Brady
Published: 2017

It's never the right time
To say goodbye.
I will miss you, Dad,
And here is why.

You taught me so much:
To show no fear,
To always have fun,
And face the day with cheer.

You were always so able,
So fast and so strong.
In your little girl's eyes
You could do no wrong.

You would always listen,
And you never pried.
You were the arms around me
When I cried.

You never looked for praises,
And you were never one to boast.
You were always there
For those you loved the most.

You worked so hard,
And those strong working hands
Led me through life
And helped me understand

That life can be hard,
And tough, and sad,
But through it all
I had my Dad.

And because of you,
I understood
That life was actually
Pretty good.

I believe in you
And will follow your path,
And when things go wrong,
I'll look back and laugh.

I hope you can hear me
So I can let you know
That you were and will forever
Be my superhero.

So yes, today
I am full of sorrow,
But I will smile a little more
With each tomorrow.

So please, Dad, go
Be at rest
And know to me
You were always the best.

8. Dad, What's It Like In Heaven?

Writer: Patricia A Fleming
Published: 2019

If time exists in heaven,
Do you still rise with the sun?
Do you and Mom share breakfast
Before your day has begun?

Can the heavens hear your laughter
As you sit and reminisce
About the time we had together
And other people that you miss?

And Daddy, do you still take walks
Along heaven's seas?
And when you gaze upon the surf,
Do you remember walks with me?

Are your standing with those brave young men
Upon its perfect shores?
Finally by their sides again,
Your comrades from the war.

Do you gather with your family
Beneath heaven's glow?
And gaze upon those mountains still
That once you called your home.

Is music all around you,
All those songs you held so dear?
Do you and Mom still sing together,
The way you did when you were here?

Do you ever have long talks with God
About those left behind?
Do you tell him all the stories
Of all our grand and treasured times?

I think that heaven must be grateful
To have you there each day,
To bring your easy laughter
And your silly sense of play.

And I'm sure that God already knows
The special father you had been
And how I wish that you were here
To guide my way again.

But I carry you inside my heart.
You are never far from me.
I see you in my smile
And in who I grew to be.

And I'm sure that on this Father's Day
God will help you celebrate
All those dads who changed the world with love.
What a party that will make!

Sad poems for the loss of a brother

Brothers are the best friends. They play along, laugh along, and cry along, but die alone.

You can cope with your loss with these famous sad poems.

9. In Memory of My Dear Brother

Writer: Anne Bradstreet
Published: 1678

Thou wast a brother in thy love to me,
More than a brother in thy loyalty;
Taught me the path to life; then didst thou rise
To mansions fair, prepared above the skies.

Dear heart, adieu! Till we shall meet above,
In those bright regions where all breathe pure love;
Where sin and sorrow from each heart shall fly,
And no more drops shall dim any eye.

10. On the Death of My Brother

Writer: Walt Whitman
Published: 1851

A presence that came in silence to me,
That walked by my side in the evening light—
Then sunlight grew dim and faded away,
And the day turned swiftly to night.

The warmth of a hand that held mine tight,
The echo of footsteps down the hall,
Now lingering only in memory's sight,
Like shadows that dance on the wall.

11. Dirge

Writer: Christina Rossetti
Published: 1862

Why did he go so early?
Why did he leave me so?
The day was scarcely turning
From darkness into glow.

The birds were hardly waking,
The flowers still closed in sleep—
When he whom I loved dearly
Went down the darksome deep.

12. The Brothers

Writer: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Published: 1875

We were two brothers, and we strayed together,
In the same path through morning's dewy flowers;
The same sweet sounds we heard, the same bright weather
Made glad our boyhood hours.

But now alone I wander, faint and weary,
Through evening shadows to the setting sun;
The path is dark, the wayside cold and dreary,
And thou art gone, loved one!

Heartbreaking poems about the death of a sister

Sisters are the sweetest creatures. They care for you more than you care for yourself.

Losing a sister is sadness on another level.

13. On My Sister's Death

Writer: Dorothy Wordsworth
Published: 1832

Sweet Sister, from this world of pain
Thou hast been called away,
And I, who loved thee, here remain
To weep from day to day;

Yet not with grief that murmurs still,
For well I know thy gentle will
Would bid me calm my breast,
And think of thee in heavenly rest.

14. To My Sister's Spirit

Writer: Emily Brontë
Published: 1846

I know that thou hast gone to rest;
I know thy spirit now is free,
And I, who loved thee here the best,
Will follow soon and be with thee.

The world is dreary, void, and cold,
Since thy dear form has passed away;
And life can never more unfold
The beauty of its former day.

15. Remembrance

Writer: Christina Rosetti
Published: 1849

She stood there leaning on my arm,
A breath of spring in winter's day;
But oh! how short-lived was the charm,
For she has passed away.

The flowers she loved now bloom in vain,
And vainly sweet the birds' refrain;
For she will walk with me no more
Along life's weary shore.

16. Sister and Friend

Writer: Sarah Helen Whitman
Published: 1848

We were more than sister-friends,
Bound by ties no time transcends;
Now alone I walk the way,
Missing you from day to day.

In each flower and morning's light,
In the stillness of the night,
I feel your presence, soft and clear,
Though you're gone, you're ever near.

Poems on the loss of a friend

Friends are the ones with whom you share your secrets. We always read and share limerick poems with them. But as they leave us, they leave us sad.

17. She is Gone (He is Gone)

Writer: David Harkins
Published: 1981

She is gone.
He is gone.
A ship has sailed,
A star withdrawn.

Gone into the silent sea,
The quiet land, the untrod air.
Gone from the world of touch and sight,
Of sound and scent and warm embrace.

Gone into the realm of dream,
Of thought, of memory, of prayer.
Gone into the ancient peace
That fills the timeless everywhere

18. Sonnet 30

Writer: William Shakespeare
Published: 1609

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,
And with old woes new wail my dear time’s waste;

Then can I drown an eye, unused to flow,
For precious friends hid in death’s dateless night,
And weep afresh love’s long-since-cancelled woe,
And moan the expense of many a vanished sight:

Then can I grieve at grievances foregone,
And heavily from woe to woe tell o’er
The sad account of forebemoaned moan,
Which I new pay as if not paid before.

But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,
All losses are restored, and sorrows end.

19. In Memoriam A.H.H.

Writer: Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Published: 1849

Dark house, by which once more I stand
Here in the long unlovely street,
Doors, where my heart was used to beat
So quickly, waiting for a hand,

A hand that can be clasp'd no more—
Behold me, for I cannot sleep,
And like a guilty thing I creep
At earliest morning to the door.

He is not here; but far away
The noise of life begins again,
And ghastly thro' the drizzling rain
On the bald street breaks the blank day.

20. On the Death of a Friend

Writer: Emily Dickinson
Published: 1862

The Birds begun at Four o'clock—
Their period for Dawn—
A Music numerous as space—
But neighboring as Noon—

I could not count their Force—
Their Voices did expend
As Brook by Brook bestows itself
To multiply the Pond.

The Listener – was not—
Except for me – 'twas all—
But I grew wiser every Day—
And now, I have them all.

Conclusion

This heartfelt selection of poems for the loss of loved ones can provide some relief during the painful experience.

Each poem captures the unique sorrow that comes with saying goodbye to family members or close friends.

At those times, poetry gives us a special way of expressing the emotions we struggle to show. 

Reading these verses provides moments of peace and perspective, honoring the legacy of those we miss.

So, whenever you lose someone beloved, read them to relieve your emotional stress.