Don’t stand and weep

This is my all time favourite poem by Mary Elizabeth Frye. A friend sent it to me when my mother passed.

"Don't stand beside my grave and weep,
For I'm 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 circling flight.
I am the soft star-shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there; I did not die."

Mary Elizabeth Frye

Ilana Estelle is a mental health and wellbeing advocate who combines educational insight with her personal experience of living with physical, mental, and emotional disabilities. She holds diplomas in Counselling, Diet and Nutrition, Nutritional Therapy, Psychotherapy and Counselling, and Stress Management. Through her writing, Ilana supports others in navigating their emotional, mental, and physical health challenges. In addition to writing for The CP Diary, her work has appeared in healthy lifestyle magazines. Ilana is also the author of three books: Cerebral Palsy: A Story – Finding the Calm After the Storm, Spirituality, Healing and Me, and Survival: The Covid Years – Time for Change.

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8 comments on “Don't Stand and Weep”

  2. Beautiful words. I've always thought this about people that pass away.

    Their spirit lives on and they are with us in all the beautiful things we see and experience daily. They are with us, beside us, watching over us.

    Reply

  3. This beautiful poem reveals the process life, the physical departure of the body from a life and the departure of a life from the physical body.

    This poem brilliantly describes a rebirth, like a spirit and soul emerging from its egg.

    Reply

  4. Wow, I had never heard this poem before. What profound words and a lovely heartfelt story. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply

    1. I'm really pleased you like it Maria. I only discovered it a few years ago when my mother died. It's words resonate strongly with my own beliefs.

      Reply

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