Death is nothing at all

[raynebowranger]

Death is nothing at all

Death is nothing at all
I have only slipped away into the next room
I am I and you are you
Whatever we were to each other
That we are still
Call me by my old familiar name
Speak to me in the easy way you always used
Put no difference into your tone
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow
Laugh as we always laughed
At the little jokes we always enjoyed together
Play, smile, think of me, pray for me
Let my name be ever the household word that it always was
Let it be spoken without effort
Without the ghost of a shadow in it
Life means all that it ever meant
It is the same as it ever was
There is absolute unbroken continuity
What is death but a negligible accident?
Why should I be out of mind
Because I am out of sight?
I am waiting for you for an interval
Somewhere very near
Just around the corner
All is well.
Nothing is past; nothing is lost
One brief moment and all will be as it was before
How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting when we meet again!

Canon Henry Scott-Holland, 1847-1918

Don't worry, I'm not being morbid. This poem was at my Grandad's funeral in 1991, even though I didn't go I read it on the service sheet and I thought it was wonderful, I wrote it out in my best handwriting.

Years later I wanted to read it again, but I couldn't remember it's title, nor where the book I'd written it out in was. However, I recently found the book and sofound a copy of it online. It's now here for future reference as it is a beautiful and moving poem!