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]1 on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you [awaken in the morning's]2 hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in [circled]3 flight.
I am the soft [stars that shine]4 at night.
Do not stand at my grave and [cry]5;
I am not there. I [did not die]6.

P. Moravec sets lines 1-10

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View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Blom: "glint"
² Blom: "wake in the morning hush"
³ Blom: "circling"
⁴ Blom: "starlight" ; Moravec: "star that shines"
⁵ Blom: "weep"
⁶ Blom: "do not sleep"

Text Authorship:

• by Mary Elizabeth Frye (1905 - 2004), an early version, long regarded as anonymous, reproduced widely [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

• by Diana Blom , "Indian Prayer", 2018 [ tenor and piano ], from Portrait of America, no. 4, Wirripang Publishing [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Ilkka Taneli Kuusisto (b. 1933), "Do not stand at my grave and weep" [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Paul Moravec (b. 1957), "In remembrance", lines 1-10, from Vita Brevis, no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]

Another version of this text exists in the database.

• Go to the text. [ view differences ] GER
  

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

• FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2009-10-30
Line count: 12
Word count: 87