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Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep
This beautiful and moving poem, whose author was unknown until the 90s, was left by a soldier killed in Ulster to all my loved ones. This special edition, sensitively illustrated with delicate drawings by Paul Saunders, is intended as a lasting keepsake for those mourning a loved one.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published June 6, 1996
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
October 11, 2017
"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 circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there; I did not die...
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 circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there; I did not die...
June 27, 2018
Simply beautiful.
May 30, 2022
I wish someone would cite this beauty of a poem at my funeral.
March 12, 2019
Beautiful poem...
December 4, 2022
this is the piece of literature id die for!!!!!
January 7, 2023
es una estafa guardar un poema de una página acá pero es tan hermoso que quiero dejar rastros de que lo leí por si me olvido que existe
September 11, 2022
Great poem, but it was plagiarized. It was actually written by Clare Harner in 1934. Mary Elizabeth Frye was wrongly cited as the author of the poem in 1983 by Dear Abby, an American radio show advice column. However, the founder Pauline Phillips and her daughter Jeanne, repeatedly confessed to their audiences that they could not confirm whether Mary Frye was the original author of the poem.
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November 15, 2024Hmmm
December 30, 2018
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 sunlight 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 circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die.
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 sunlight 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 circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die.
December 23, 2012
Perfect illustations in my opinion. A really nice book to pass down the family.
May 5, 2013
Beautiful poem.
March 10, 2017
Do not tell me you did not love it.
This is one of the most important pearls in the Literature.
This is one of the most important pearls in the Literature.
February 7, 2021
Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep was a sweet, soothing book of poetry, and the illustrations within made it even better. In fact, I heard the birds chirp and fly away in flocks, and heard the winds blow and the raindrops pitter-patter on puddles as I read through the book in a warm and sunny side of the world.
It was also a quick read – 2 minutes, exactly, so I read it a few more times to enjoy the soothing, sad-happy feeling it immersed me in.
The poem wasn’t heartbreaking at all; in fact it felt quite uplifting. It was written by an author who is still unknown to this day. The only thing we know about him is that he was a soldier and he had left this poem for his loved ones before he was killed by an exploding mine near Londonderry in 1989. These were simple, raw emotions of a stranger, so I don’t think I can put a specific rating or stars on it.
“Do not stand at my grave and weep –
I’m not there,
I do not sleep.”
It was also a quick read – 2 minutes, exactly, so I read it a few more times to enjoy the soothing, sad-happy feeling it immersed me in.
The poem wasn’t heartbreaking at all; in fact it felt quite uplifting. It was written by an author who is still unknown to this day. The only thing we know about him is that he was a soldier and he had left this poem for his loved ones before he was killed by an exploding mine near Londonderry in 1989. These were simple, raw emotions of a stranger, so I don’t think I can put a specific rating or stars on it.
“Do not stand at my grave and weep –
I’m not there,
I do not sleep.”
July 5, 2021
3.5/5
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January 7, 2026Made me cry, but I love O'Bedlam's narration
August 25, 2022
4.6
Maybe I like it too much. Each year, my taste in poetry takes a sudden turn. I like this one a lot! Slightly shocked it's a funeral poem, but I suppose the titles a dead giveaway.
Maybe I like it too much. Each year, my taste in poetry takes a sudden turn. I like this one a lot! Slightly shocked it's a funeral poem, but I suppose the titles a dead giveaway.
October 15, 2021
man :(
September 13, 2021
Beautiful, moving poem - one of my favorites.
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May 25, 2022It’s my understanding that Mary Elizabeth Frye plagiarized this poem:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do_Not_...
And that this actually "Immortality", written by Clare Harner in 1934.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do_Not_...
And that this actually "Immortality", written by Clare Harner in 1934.
March 11, 2008
This is a beautiful poem that helped me when I was grieving for my dad, who passed away when I was 18.
May 14, 2017
"Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there, I do not sleep."
I am not there, I do not sleep."
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June 25, 2018simple and amazing poem , I really like it
April 16, 2021
This one sent serenity to my soul and shivers to my spine
enjoyed listening to it by Tom O'Bedlam
I adored every line
enjoyed listening to it by Tom O'Bedlam
I adored every line
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September 8, 2025The poem is great. However, Mary Elizabeth Frye is likely not the author of "Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep." Look at the Wikipedia entry. It is highly probable that Kansas native Clare Harner (1909–1977) wrote the poem after the sudden death of her brother, Olin Wade Harner, who died at age 31 on 11/11/1932. She published "Immortality" in the December 1934 issue of The Gypsy, a poetry magazine, with a reprint in the February 1935 issue. Harner's poem began to be read at funerals in Kansas and Missouri. It was soon reprinted in the Kansas City Times and The Kansas City Bar Bulletin. Wikipedia also says that Harner (who earned a degree in industrial journalism and clothing design at Kansas State University) published several other poems. She later married and moved to San Francisco, where she worked as a journalist.
The case for Mary Elizabeth Frye's authorship seems much weaker. Frye, living halfway across the country in Baltimore, would apparently hand out copies of the poem with her name attached, but it appears she wasn't "incorrectly cited" as the author of the poem in 1983--49 years after its publication and six years after Harner's death, so Harner wasn't around to correct he record. Yes, Frye insisted that her authorship was "undisputed" and had been confirmed by Dear Abby, but what I see in Wikipedia and elsewhere is that Pauline and Jeanne Phillips (the "Abigail van Buren" of Dear Abby) are on the record that they could not confirm who wrote the poem.
Before embracing Frye's unlikely tale of jotting the poem down on a paper bag and the circumstances which inspired it, look at the timeline as well:
1. Harner's brother died at the end of 1932.
2. Harner published the poem in Kansas in 1934, and it was republished multiple times in the next year. In the next few years it was used at memorial services in Kansas and Missouri.
3. In 1934 Frye lived in Baltimore, halfway across the country from where the poem had been published and was being used at funerals. This was a time before photocopiers and easy dissemination of writing that wasn't published.
4. Frye's origin story includes a claim that she hosted a German Jewish immigrant girl. In 1933 there was definitely a marked uptick in Jewish emigration from Germany, given Hitler's rise to power, but the destination was often to Palestine or other European countries, not so much to the U.S. It was quite difficult to get U.S. visas. This was at the time of the Great Depression. According to the Holocaust Memorial Museum, "The 1924 US quota law set a limit of 25,957 immigration visas for people born in Germany. In 1933, the State Department issued visas to only 1,241 Germans, Although 82,787 people were on the German waiting list for a U.S. visa, most did not have enough money to qualify for immigration." It appears the number wasn't much greater in 1934, and not all German immigrants were Jewish. .
5. Harner died in 1977. By that time the poem was widely known. For example, John Wayne read it at the 1977 service for director Howard Hawks.
6. Per Wikipedia, Mary Elizabeth Frye handed out xeroxed copies of the poem with her name attached. Photocopiers were not widely used until the mid-1960s.
7. Wikipedia also says that Frye was first wrongly cited as the author of the poem in 1983.
To accept Frye as the poet you must believe that an unpublished poem written by a housewife/part-time florist during the Great Depression in Baltimore made its way in pre-photocopy days to Harner in Topeka in 1934, and that Harner, grieving her brother's death, was willing to tarnish her reputation and her brother’s memory by engaging in blatant plagiarism and falsely publishing someone else's work under her own name. And she would have been taught journalism ethics at K-State too. The whole scenario is troubling..
If you don't want to attribute the poem to Harner, you should at least hesitate before gullibly giving unquestioned credit to Frye. I sure hope I am not falsely maligning her, but it's possible she started lying, had to stiick with the lie, was able to spin a good (and improbable) story, and basked in the unearned attention she got. .
The case for Mary Elizabeth Frye's authorship seems much weaker. Frye, living halfway across the country in Baltimore, would apparently hand out copies of the poem with her name attached, but it appears she wasn't "incorrectly cited" as the author of the poem in 1983--49 years after its publication and six years after Harner's death, so Harner wasn't around to correct he record. Yes, Frye insisted that her authorship was "undisputed" and had been confirmed by Dear Abby, but what I see in Wikipedia and elsewhere is that Pauline and Jeanne Phillips (the "Abigail van Buren" of Dear Abby) are on the record that they could not confirm who wrote the poem.
Before embracing Frye's unlikely tale of jotting the poem down on a paper bag and the circumstances which inspired it, look at the timeline as well:
1. Harner's brother died at the end of 1932.
2. Harner published the poem in Kansas in 1934, and it was republished multiple times in the next year. In the next few years it was used at memorial services in Kansas and Missouri.
3. In 1934 Frye lived in Baltimore, halfway across the country from where the poem had been published and was being used at funerals. This was a time before photocopiers and easy dissemination of writing that wasn't published.
4. Frye's origin story includes a claim that she hosted a German Jewish immigrant girl. In 1933 there was definitely a marked uptick in Jewish emigration from Germany, given Hitler's rise to power, but the destination was often to Palestine or other European countries, not so much to the U.S. It was quite difficult to get U.S. visas. This was at the time of the Great Depression. According to the Holocaust Memorial Museum, "The 1924 US quota law set a limit of 25,957 immigration visas for people born in Germany. In 1933, the State Department issued visas to only 1,241 Germans, Although 82,787 people were on the German waiting list for a U.S. visa, most did not have enough money to qualify for immigration." It appears the number wasn't much greater in 1934, and not all German immigrants were Jewish. .
5. Harner died in 1977. By that time the poem was widely known. For example, John Wayne read it at the 1977 service for director Howard Hawks.
6. Per Wikipedia, Mary Elizabeth Frye handed out xeroxed copies of the poem with her name attached. Photocopiers were not widely used until the mid-1960s.
7. Wikipedia also says that Frye was first wrongly cited as the author of the poem in 1983.
To accept Frye as the poet you must believe that an unpublished poem written by a housewife/part-time florist during the Great Depression in Baltimore made its way in pre-photocopy days to Harner in Topeka in 1934, and that Harner, grieving her brother's death, was willing to tarnish her reputation and her brother’s memory by engaging in blatant plagiarism and falsely publishing someone else's work under her own name. And she would have been taught journalism ethics at K-State too. The whole scenario is troubling..
If you don't want to attribute the poem to Harner, you should at least hesitate before gullibly giving unquestioned credit to Frye. I sure hope I am not falsely maligning her, but it's possible she started lying, had to stiick with the lie, was able to spin a good (and improbable) story, and basked in the unearned attention she got. .
April 6, 2023
this poem is so beautiful and special to me because i will be reciting it at my sisters funeral. it helps to remind me that the one we love is everywhere with us. they are all of the beauty surrounding us. they are the warm sunsets, the crisp wind, the dancing leaves, and the ocean waves. their spirits travel this world, becoming beautiful entities that grace us everyday. they are not dead, but only completely and truly alive now.
March 18, 2023
A short and simple poem about death not being the end, but they become part of the creation around us, they are in the wind and rain etc. The poem has a good flow to it. Nice sentiment, and the first 2 lines are true, but I don't believe that is what happens when we die.
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April 13, 2025I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight 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 circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight 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 circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews