Do not stand at my grave and weep
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources (ideally, using inline citations). Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2008) |
Do not stand at my grave and weep is a poem, written by Mary Elizabeth Frye. Although of disputed origin until later in her life, Mary Frye's authorship was confirmed in 1998 after research by Abigail Van Buren, a newspaper columnist.
Contents |
[edit] Text
An early version, printed by others on postcards:
- 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.
Her later confirmed version:
- Do not stand at my grave and weep,
- I am not there, I do not sleep.
- I am in a thousand winds that blow,
- I am the softly falling snow.
- I am the gentle showers of rain,
- I am the fields of ripening grain.
- I am in the morning hush,
- I am in the graceful rush
- Of beautiful birds in circling flight,
- I am the starshine of the night.
- I am in the flowers that bloom,
- I am in a quiet room.
- I am in the birds that sing,
- I am in each lovely thing.
- Do not stand at my grave and cry,
- I am not there. I do not die.
[edit] Analysis
The poem is made up of six (or, sometimes eight) rhyming couplets. Various versions exist but, with the bulk of the work being made up of a selection of images preceded by "I am...", the sense is largely the same. The poem addresses the reader/audience with the voice of a deceased person, invoking spiritual — but not specifically religious — imagery. According to the most generally accepted theory, that of Frye's writing the poem, it was originally addressed to a German Jewish girl, a friend of the author. The girl's mother had died back in her homeland, but returning to pay her respects was not possible and Frye wrote the poem as part of her condolences. The text soothes the addressee, reassuring of the deceased's presence everywhere in nature in both its message and its voice, and as such has become very popular poem, and a common reading for funerals.
[edit] Origins
There is some ambiguity as to the poem's writer, and it was not published by Frye, although she was the only living person to credibly claim its authorship. Frye is near universally cited as the author, and her literary significance is based almost entirely upon it, but other sources, including traditional native American origins, have been suggested over the years.
[edit] A Thousand Winds
Japanese Singer-songwriter Man Arai translated this poem into Japanese and composed the song entitled "千の風になって" (translation: "As A Thousand Winds"), and originally sung by Man Arai himself. Although the album received little success, singers began to cover the song, among them, Japanese tenor Masafumi Akikawa. The tenor made the song popular after performing it during the 57th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen on December 31, 2006. In January 2007, it became the first classical music piece to top the Oricon weekly singles chart and became the first classical music piece to top the Oricon yearly singles chart of 2007.
- Watashi no ohaka no mae de (At my grave)
- Nakanai de kudasai (Do not weep)
- Soko ni watashi wa imasen (I am not there)
- Nemutte nanka imasen (I am not sleeping)
- Sen no kaze ni (As a thousand winds)
- Sen no kaze ni natte (As a thousand winds)
- Ano ooki na sora wo fukiwatatte imasu (I blow in the great sky)
- Aki ni wa hikari ni natte (In the autumn, I am the light)
- Hatake ni furisosogu (that falls upon the crop fields)
- Fuyu wa daiya no you ni (In the winter, I am the falling snow)
- Kirameku yuki ni naru (that shines as a diamond)
- Asa wa tori ni natte (In the morning, I am the bird)
- Anata wo mezamesaseru (to whose song you awake)
- Yoru wa hoshi ni natte (At night, I am the stars)
- Anata wo mimamoru (that watch over you)
- Watashi no ohaka no mae de (At my grave)
- Nakanai de kudasai (do not cry)
- Soko ni watashi wa imasen (I am not there)
- Shinde nanka imasen (I did not die)
- Sen no kaze ni (As a thousand winds)
- Sen no kaze ni natte (As a thousand winds)
- Ano ooki na sora wo fukiwatatte imasu (that blow in the great sky)
- Sen no kaze ni (As a thousand winds)
- Sen no kaze ni natte (As a thousand winds)
- Ano ooki na sora wo fukiwatatte imasu (that blow in the great sky)
- Ano ooki na sora wo (in the great sky)
- Fukiwatatte imasu (I blow)
[edit] Alicia's Poem
A paraphrased version entitled "Alicia's Poem" is available as a quest item in the MMORPG World of Warcraft, memorializing a 28-year-old player named Dak "Caylee" Krause who died of leukemia on August 22, 2007.
- Do not stand at my grave and weep,
- I am not there, I do not sleep.
- I am in a thousand winds that blow,
- across Northrend's bright and shining snow.
- I am the gentle showers of rain,
- on Westfall's fields of golden grain.
- I am in the morning hush,
- of Stranglethorn's jungle, green and lush.
- I am in the drums loud and grand,
- the thunderous hooves across Nagrand.
- I am the stars warmly gleaming,
- over Darnassus softly dreaming.
- I am in the birds that sing,
- I am in each lovely thing.
- Do not stand at my grave and cry,
- I am not there. I do not die.
[edit] Song by Wilbur Skeels
In 1996 Wilbur Skeels recasted Frye's poem as a song, which began with the same two opening sentences and ended with the same sequence, but with an altered middle section. Mary Frye's original lyrics are public domain but those by Wilbur Skeels are copyrighted.
[edit] Use in popular culture
 |
Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (September 2008) |
- The poem was read on the Best Damn Sports Show Period special entitled "The 50 most inspirational sports moments of all time". The poem was read over a picture montage of Pat Tillman, an American pro football player who joined the army, and died while serving in Afghanistan.
- An earlier version of poem was read at a memorial service in the British television drama Prime Suspect: The Final Act.
- Heard in the television series Joan of Arcadia in episode "Jump" in which a shorter version is recited at character Rocky's funeral.
- Heard in the television series Third Watch in episode "My Opening Farewell", sung during Alex's funeral procession by Lizzie West.
- Used as the basis for Lizzie West's song "Prayer" from her album Holy Road: Freedom Songs. This song appeared in Alias Season Two ("The Telling").
- Cited also in the BBC television series Judge John Deed at the funeral of a boy who Deed decided should have a heart transplant against the wishes of the boy.
- The poem was read at Feeder drummer Jon Lee's funeral in 2002.
- Recited by character Mrs. McCluskey in the American television drama Desperate Housewives, episode "Welcome to Kanagawa". The modified version is used just before Lynette Scavo scatters the ashes of Ida Greenberg on the baseball field where Ida had executed a triple play as a women's professional ballplayer. That version is:
- 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 of snow
- I am the sunlight on ripened grain
- I am the gentle autumn’s rain
- Do not stand at my grave and cry
- I am not there, I did not die
- The same version began the introduction of "Stephen Lives" by Anne Puryear, attributed as an Indian prayer in memory of a fallen tribe member.
- Cited in the second episode (season 1) of the American cop drama The Shield.
- Earlier version read on Australian soap Home and Away by Cassie Turner at Flynn's funeral.
- The poem is read over the last part of the song "You Will Make It" by Jem featuring Vusi Mahlasela on the album Down to Earth.
- The poem is sung by Katherine Jenkins on her album Living a Dream.
- The poem is sung acapella as an epilogue to Michael Stanley's 2008 album Just Another Night. It serves as a coda to the song "Winter", which ends abruptly in mid-bar, suggesting a sudden death.
- Cited in the fifteenth episode (Season 2) of the American science-ficion drama Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
- The poem is used as a movement in Eleanor Daley's composition "Requiem" as the movement "In Remembrance".
- Cited in the forward of the BBC book "The Nation's Favourite Poem". It was left in an envelope for his parents by a soldier by the name of Stephens Cummins who at the age of 24 was killed on active service in Nothern Ireland, when a mine blew up an armoured car near Londonderry — to be opened in the event of his death. It was read in 1995, on the BBC TV on Remembrance Day by Mr Cummins' father. Many assumed at first that the soldier had written it. The poem was hailed in the press as "the most requested poem in the English language in the past 60 years" and "the poem that takes the nation by storm." It is reproduced in the forward of the book, written by English comedian Griff Rhys Jones, because although it was considered ineligible for the title of "Nation's Favourite Poem", it was considered to be the de facto winner based on public opinion.
[edit] Translations
The following is a German translation:
- Steht nicht an meinem Grab und weint,
- denkt an mich, wenn die Sonne scheint.
- Ich bin nicht mehr an diesem Ort,
- Ich schlafe nicht und bin nicht fort.
- Ich bin der Wind über brausender See,
- Ich bin der Schimmer auf frischem Schnee.
- Ich bin die Sonne in goldener Pracht,
- Ich bin der Glanz der Sterne bei Nacht.
- Ich bin die Freude der Blumen die blühn,
- Ich bin für Euch in allem was schön.
- Steht nicht an meinem Grab und weint,
- denkt an mich, wenn die Sonne scheint.
- Ich bin nicht mehr an diesem Ort,
- Ich schlafe nicht und bin nicht fort.
