Do Not Stand At My Grave And Weep By Mary Elizabeth Frye

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 glints on snow,

I am the sun on ripened grain,

I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awaken in the morning’s hush

I am the swift uplifting rush

Of quiet birds in circling flight.

I am the soft starlight at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry,

I am not there; I did not die.

 

I don’t remember the first time I came across this poem. But it made me sit up and take notice. Then, that first time around, I remember saving it as drafts in my mailbox (an ancient and anti-tech savvy thing to do, I know!). I even remember sending it to friends or at least putting it down as a to-do. Interesting as this is, I am 200% sure, I googled it and lapped up it’s wiki. There was an interesting story, badly retold by me here: the poetess wrote it to console someone who had lost their someone. She wrote it randomly on some brown paper bag and that was it. She was never a poet and was “discovered” by one of those perky little people going around looking for origins. You should just google this for a more accurate version.

Anyway, since then, this poem has come back to me so many times, through so many different media that I am beginning to find it creepy. I need someone to know that I’ve seen this and that it keeps coming back to me, repeatedly. There, it’s out of my system!

That’s all, really.

10 thoughts on “Do Not Stand At My Grave And Weep By Mary Elizabeth Frye”

  3. This is a such a great poem,calming yet unnerving(and enigmatic), especially the lines-

    Do not stand at my grave and weep,

    I am not there; I do not sleep.

    Do not stand at my grave and cry,

    I am not there; I did not die.

    . A new discovery for me thanks to you, would love to read more by the poet 🙂
    I don’t think it’s creepy,it came back to you time and again,haunted you because of some reason beyond our understanding and what it was trying to tell you is up to you to discover. Loved your story.

    1. thank you so much. You seem to be one of those diligent people who take everything I say seriously. I adore people like that. 🙂 Hope you are having fun here.

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