The Holistic Celebrant
I have collected a selection of poems and readings you may like to use during a ceremony, I hope you will find something suitable. I intend to add more regularly.
When I am dead
Cry for me a little
Think of me sometimes
But not too much.
Think of me now and again
As I was in life
At some moments it’s pleasant to recall
But not for too long.
Leave me in peace
And I shall leave you in peace
And while you live
Let your thoughts be with the living.
Anon
Sometime at Eve when the tide is low
I shall slip my moorings and sail away
With no response to a friendly hail
In the silent hush of the twilight pale
When the night stoops down to embrace the day
And the voices call in the water’s flow
Sometime at Eve when the water is low
I shall slip my moorings and sail away.
Through purple shadows
That darkly trail o’er the ebbing tide
And the Unknown Sea,
And a ripple of waters to tell the tale
Of a lonely voyager sailing away
To mystic isles
Where at anchor lay
The craft of those who had sailed before
O’er the Unknown Sea
To the Unknown Shore
A few who watched me sail away
Will miss my craft from the busy bay
Some friendly barques were anchored near
Some loving souls my heart held dear
In silent sorrow will drop a tear
But I shall have peacefully furled my sail
In mooring sheltered from the storm and gale
And greeted friends who had sailed before
O’er the Unknown Sea
To the Unknown Shore
Elizabeth Clark Hardy (1794 – 1854)
Farewell to Thee! But not farewell
To all my fondest thoughts of thee;
Within my heart they still shall dwell:
And they shall cheer and comfort me.
Life seems more sweet that Thou didst live
And men more true Thou wert one;
Nothing is lost that Thou didst give,
Nothing destroyed that Thou hast done.
Anne Bronte (1820 – 1849)
Don’t grieve for me now that I’m free,
I’m following paths God made for me.
I took His hand, I heard Him call,
Then turned and bid farewell to all
I could not stay another day,
To laugh, to love, to sing, to play.
Tasks left undone must stay that way,
I found my peace at close of day.
If my parting left a void,
Then fill it with remembered joy,
A friendship shared, a laugh, a kiss,
Yes, these things I too will miss.
Be not burdened deep with sorrow,
I wish you sunshine of tomorrow.
My life’s been full, I’ve savoured much.
Good friends, good times, a loved one’s touch.
Perhaps my time seemed all too brief,
Don’t lengthen it now with undue grief.
Lift up your heart and share with me,
God wants me now
He set me free.
Anon
Regret not me;
Beneath the sunny tree
I lie uncaring, sleeping peacefully.
Swift as the light
I flew my faery flight;
Ecstatically I moved, and feared no night.
I did not know
That heydays fade and go,
But deemed that what was would be
always so.
I skipped at morn
Between the yellowing corn,
Thinking it good and glorious to be born.
I ran at eves
Among the piled-up sheaves,
Dreaming, “I grieve not, therefore nothing grieves.”
Now soon will come
The apple, pear, and plum
And hinds will sing, and autumn insects hum.
Again you will fare
To cider-makings rare,
And junketings; but I shall not be there.
Yet gaily sing
Until the pewter ring
These songs we sang when we went gipsying.
And lightly dance
Some triple-timed romance
In coupled figures, and forget mischance;
And mourn not me
Beneath the yellowing tree;
For I shall mind not, slumbering peacefully
Thomas Hardy (1840 – 1928)
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