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
Footprints On The Sands Of Time
More Funeral Poems
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The Death Bed
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Do Not Stand At My Grave And Weep
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Love Shines Through
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She Is Gone (He Is Gone)
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Seasons Of Grief
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Heaven’s Rocking Chair
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Missing You
I sit alone now in the darkness of despair. I cry my silent tears. My heart is broken into a million tiny pieces. The silence …
Remembrance
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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 …
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 …
My Lost Love
I have only just lost you; the pain is hard to bear. Do I have to go through life knowing you’re not there? Please, someone …
Crossing the Bar
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