Poems About Losing a Loved One

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When you’ve lost someone close to you, there are many reasons you many want to read poems about losing a loved one. This collection of 48 poems about loss has something for every need.

After losing both of my parents unexpectedly in six months, I was reeling. I found great comfort in reading poems about the loss of loved one and in listening to songs about losing a loved one.

The poems and songs helped me put into words the emotions and thoughts that were tumbling around inside of me. Many of these poems about losing a loved one were able to clarify and express my feelings of profound loss that previously had just been overwhelming. The poems gave me a structure to think about and begin to process and heal from my grief.

I found myself turning again and again to these poems and songs as new waves of grief developed. Different poems helped me at different stages of my grief.

What is a Eulogy Poem?

A eulogy poem is used to express your grief and love for the loved one you’ve lost. The poem beautifully shares the words that you can’t express yourself but feel deeply in your heart and soul.

You can share a eulogy poem by:

• Reading aloud the poem about losing a loved one at the funeral.
• Read as part of the eulogy.
• Have the poem printed in the funeral program, on the funeral card or in the obituary.

Poems About Losing a Loved One

As you read through the poems, you may find that some don’t speak to you. Keep reading and searching, there will be at least one that will be “the one” – the one that expresses exactly what your heart has been voicelessly crying out. When you do find the poem that is the one, you’ll know and it will be a treasure to you.

Short Funeral Poems

Fourteen shorter poems about the loss of a loved one. These poems are often used at the funeral or in obituaries.

• “A Silent Tear” by Gaynor Llewellyn
• “Afterglow” by Helen Lowrie Marshall
• “The Broken Chain” by Ron Tranmer
• “Farewell My Friends” by Gitanjali Ghei
• “Her Smile” by Unknown
• “Let Us Be Contented” by Winston Churchill
• “If I Should Go Before You” by Joyce Grenfell
• “My Angel” by CJR
• “Remember Me” by David Harkin
• “Separation” by W. S. Merwin
• “Turn Again to Life” by Mary Lee Hall
• “We Bereaved Are Not Alone” by Helen Keller
• “We Remember Him” from the Yizkor Service
• “When at Heart You Should Be Sad” by Sir Walter Raleigh

You may find that you want to bookmark or print out these poems about losing a loved one so you can find them again and again when you need the support that they provide. There are also plaques and wall hangings available with many of these poems. You may find it encouraging to hang a poem where you see it daily.

Poems

Thirty-four medium length poems about losing someone you love. It can help you process your thoughts and emotions when you read a poem about the loss of a loved one.

• “A Song of Living” by Amelia Josephine Burr
• “All Is Well” by Henry Scott Holland
• “And Death Shall Have No Dominion” by Dylan Thomas
• “Consolation” by Robert Louis Stevenson
• “The Day Is Done” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
• “Death Is Nothing At All” by Cannon Henry Scott-Holland

• “Epitaph” by Merrit Malloy
• “For Grief” by John O’Donohue
• “How Grateful I Would Be to Just Have One More Day” by Kathy J. Parenteau
• “I Carry Your Heart with Me (I Carry It in My Heart) by e.e. cummings
• “I Measure Every Grief I Meet” by Emily Dickinson
• “I Was Left Diminished” by Paul Curtis

• “In Lieu of Flowers” by Shawna LeMay
• “In My Mind” by Jenn Farrell
• “Last Journey” by Timothy Coote
• “Let Me Go” by Christina Georgina Rossetti
• “Mid-Term Break” by Seamus Heaney

• “My Journey’s Just Begun” by Ellen Brenneman
• “On the Death of Anne Bronte” by Charlotte Bronte
• “On the Death of the Beloved” by John O’Donohue
• “Poem Begun on the Day of My Father’s Funeral and Completed on the First Day of the New Year” by Dean Rader
• “Seasons of Grief” by Belinda Stotler

• “She is Gone” by David Harkin
• “Should You Go First” by A.A. Rowswell
• “That They Love Beyond the World” by William Penn
• “They Are Not Dead” by Unknown
• “To Those I Love” by Isla Paschal Richardson
• “Treya, My Guardian Angel” by Ken Wilber

• “Weep Not for Me” by Unknown
• “When I Must Leave You” by Helen Steiner Rice
• “When I Think of Death” by Maya Angelou
• “When Tomorrow Starts without Me” by David M. Romano
• “Your Spirit” by Tram-Tiara T. Von Reichenbach

In addition to turning to poems about losing a loved one and songs, I found that performing Purposeful Ideas to Honor a Deceased Loved Ones helped me to put my pent up grief to good use. I collected 25 ideas that will help you make a positive impact as a way to honor your loved one.

Be sure to pin so that you can find these poems about losing a loved one if you need them in the future.